Kevin's Watch

Apparently, it's 2.5 pints, or 1.4 litres. Even drinking beer out of the damn thing is pretty stupid, and when you start drinking spirits out of it, it's more like suicidal. Gotta get alcohol poisoning at the very least.

--A

Absinth is made throughout Europe, even spain, although illegal there, it is produced there correctly.....with the distilled biproduct THUJONE. It is illegal through out most of Europe, but is legally obtained in the Czech republic,

Thujone, the biproduct of the distilleration process, makes you insane, truly. just ask Mr Van Gough

Lord Absinth

Heh, leave it to Lord Absinth to know about what he's lord of.

Myste wrote:A yard of ale is indeed still a yard of ale. Also, it is a glass tube three feet long, with a bulb at the bottom, and a bell-shaped opening at the top. There are special stands for them. I haven't personally had one, but I've seen it done, and it's definitely impressive. Cail can probably tell you.

It seems my reputation preceeds me....

I actually owned a yard my last year of college, and absolutely loved drinking out of it. No one over here had really seen tham before, so it was quite the novelty. IIRC, it held just a bit more than 4 12 oz. beers. Here's a picture of a half-yard... www.groomsonlinegifts.com/hayaofaleinw.html , now double that, and you've got the full yard.

The fun part is getting the beer out of the bulb at the bottom. Just tip it over and it goes glug, and you end up wearing it. You've got to spin it as you're drinking to get it to come out evenly.

i found a couple sites that ship to the US, but im wary about testing customs like this...

Regardless of whether you can get it or notin the states, thujone is very toxic. In fact it is used as a vermicide in purer forms. I would advise you as a safety professional to stay away from it.

Pay attention to the Safety Jedi!

*waves hand in circular motion*

'This is not the high you're looking for.'

I wouldn't mind trying it. I'll try anything once. Even death.

Tastes strongly of liquorice more than anything else. The thujone content is strongly regulated, but I agree with SafetyJedi -- alcohol is bad anyway.

--A

Alcohol is good. Abusing alcohol is bad.

Well said.

Absinthe yer the divil...yer leadin' me astray!


Okay, I'll stop.

I told a guy I work with about the title of this thread. He had some pretty harsh things to say about absinthe. He's a mentor, or RA, or whatever they're called, in college, so he had to go to some lectures about such nastinesses. About as nasty as it gets, I guess.

Finally got around to reading the rest of this thread...Very interesting!

thujone is very toxic.

And how. Basically, thujone is the opposite of Valium, and toxicity is typically manifested by hyperexcitability and seizures. Thujone also binds to the same receptor as marijuana, which also explains some of it's hallucinogenic effect.

Except of course for the fact that marijuana isn't a real hallucinogen. I'm even extremely hestitant to brand it a pseudo-hallucinogen.

The opposite of Valium huh? Very interesting Dlb.

--A

Absinthe was banned all over Europe because, back in Vincent van Gogh's day, it contained wormwood, a powerful hallucinogen. Presumably the methanol content varied quite a bit too, hence the blindness.

To be fair, there's nothing sinister or dangerous about modern absinthe. Provided that it's treated with a degree of respect. When I first started university one of my friends heard about absinthe and started getting bottles imported (at £40 a pop too) so we'd take shots of it on a fairly regular basis. We always did it the proper way; teaspoon of sugar dipped in the drink and flamed, then dropped in with an equal measure of water, then down in one. A shot each before going out would really start the night off with a buzz, and we almost never did more than two shots in one session. Even then I've seen a few people not take it very well, usually resulting in little more than a bruised ego/backside, an empty stomach and/or soiled linen.

The problem is when people decide to show off in front of their friends by chugging a spirit that's 80% proof.