PARACELSUS ON BEER

“A little beer is divine medicine”

(Paracelsus was a 16^th century physician)

EON BY GREG BEAR

 Interesting book, actual SF like they used to write in the old days before everyone started writing fantasy, etc. The really interesting part, to me, was the actual ‘foreseeing’ of the future in two instances in the book, first published in 1985.

 The first one reads: ‘A slate lay one one corner, it’s silver-grey screen blank. A memory block had been plugged into the aperture in the right side of the slate, just above the small keyboard.’ 

Not quite an i-pad, but pretty damn close for 1985!

 The second one reads: ‘”Why, young Ivan doesn’t know a computer terminal from a tractor wheel. Even the Chinese are beating them.”

“The Chinese might edge ahead of us in a generation or two.”’

 Which certainly seems prescient in light of economic developments in the 2000s, it seem to me.

So an interesting book with a fascinating story, with an author who actually put some thought into the future (but only by 20 years -  the story takes place in the early 2000s).

FRIDAY FUNNIES

SORTA IRONIC

The Bissell Pet Hair Eraser is now our top hand vacuum and costs just $35.While It was superb on carpets, floors, and edges, it was worst of all the small vacuums in our pet-hair test.

(from Consumerreports.org)

ZAPPA BEER QUOTE (& BEER #698)

“You can’t be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline; it helps if you have some kind of football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer.”

And this one-time beer was a nice dark stout-ish beer (I believe the label called it a dark ale, lots of flavors; quite interesting and glad I got a chance to try it.

FROM BROOKSTON BEER BULLETIN

" In the brewer’s world it’s more along these lines.

 “When the beer tastes good, promote the beer. 

When the brewery has personality, promote the brewer.

 When the beer has neither, promote a celebrity, a cartoon, or 

both.”"

BRAD PITT?

 I woke Phyl up this morning before leaving for work. Thought she had a Dr appointment but it was a haircut instead. Anyway, she tells me about this dream where the two of us were in Mexico with Brad Pitt, but then Brad Pitt disappeared.

So I told her that he probably left because he got tired of stopping every 10 minutes so she could pee!!! (Which is actually true...the peeing that is, not Brad Pitt...)

BIG MAC = SPICY CHICKEN?

 OK, I’m missing something here. There’s a new McD’s commercial on that shows a guy emoting on a stage with 2 girls watching; I’m guessing it’s auditions for some show.  One girl leans over to the other and says something about going to lunch because she’s craving a Big Mac. The other one tells her it’s only 9:30A.M. Then we cut to a voice-over talking about a spicy chicken sandwich…ummm, excuse me but I wanted a Big Mac, why are we talking about spicy chicken???

FRIDAY FUNNIES

A WHOLE LOTTA ZEP

Led Zeppelin’s first album was released in 1969. Heavy metal? Hard rock? Don’t know what it was, but sure remember it blowing my 16 year old mind away when I bought it with my birthday money. Never heard any single on the radio; it was the kind of album you bought just because the cover was so cool and then you found out the music inside was just incredible!