Oct 20 - 04:20 PM: Couple of Beers : Joe McBane

Not sure who wrote this but I like it.

Couple of Beers

A philosophy professor stood before his class with some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a "VERY LARGE" and empty mayonnaise jar. He proceeded to fill it with rocks, which were about 2 inches in diameter. He filled the jar to the top!

He then asked the students if the jar was full. They said, "Yes."

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into thejar. They rolled into place, all around the rocks. He shook the jar lightly. This allowed him to pour more pebbles in, until they were up to the top of the jar.

He again asked the students if the jar was full. They said, "Yes."

The professor then picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled the spaces between the pebbles.

He asked once more if the jar was full. The students wondered what the right answer was this time, wondering what else could be poured into the jar.

The professor then produced two cans of beer from under the table and proceeded to pour their entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty spaces in the sand. The students mumbled.

"Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.

The rocks are the important things -- your family, your partner, your health, and your children. Things, that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, and your car.

The sand is everything else. The small stuff.

"If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the rocks! The same goes for your life. If you spend all of your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out dancing. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party and fix the disposal. Take care of the rocks first . . . the things that really matter . ..then the pebbles.

Set your priorities. The rest is just sand (the little stuff)!"

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the beer represented. The professor smiled and said, "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of beers."

Oct 02 - 12:18 PM: Beer Advocate Evening : Joe McBane

All beer lovers are invited to attend this event. The aim of it is to hopefully introduce more people to the wonderful website/community that is beeradvocate.com. Over the years I have met many people through BA and used it as a resource for finding good beer and particularly good places. It is a free user supported site that has done great things in championing the cause of craft beer.

There will be a number of local BA's in attendance so come and hang out with like minded beer lovers. John Schmitt has been a very active member for many years now and will taking the mic during the evening to say a few words.

We are going to put on a selection of Oktoberfest and Harvest beers at special prices along with some free German munchies, so come on down. Starts at 5 on Saturday October 17th.

Here is a link to the event on BA. http://beeradvocate.com/events/info/27593

Sep 22 - 10:13 AM: Hair of the dog explained : Joe McBane

If after a bit of a heavy night out, myself and many other people would describe the consumption of another alcoholic beverage as 'hair of the dog'. It was always under stood what it meant but I never knew how it came about. Well thanks to Bella Online via a Twitter post I have the answer.

Much has been written about hangover cures throughout history. As early as 400 B.C., Hippocrates was writing, "Through the like, disease is produced and through the application of the like, it is cured." In this spirit of reasoning, dog bites were treated by burning some of the dog’s hair, grinding it into a powder, and pressing it into the wound. This is the derivation of “Hair of the Dog.”

Well there you have it. I have never found it to work for more than 10 minutes with the feelings after that usually being worse than before.

By the way does anyone know where the term 'the dogs bollocks' devirved from?