Anger in Britain, where a government plan to redesign the pint glass is coming under fire from publicans, a group normally swift to embrace change. The British Beer and Pub Association is protesting the potential move to plastic glasses, a response to figures showing that "5,500 people are attacked with glasses and bottles every year in England and Wales." A Beer and Pub spokesman expressed concerns that pub-goers will be put off by the new cups, noting that the current tankards just feel better, but designer Nick Verebelyi thinks it is possible to innovate while still keeping the steins "desirable and acceptable and cool." From this side of the pond, the whole thing seems like a useless bit of government interference: The main takeaway from the whole controversy is that Britons will turn pretty much anything into a knife, even beer mats. They love the stabbing, Britons do.
Monday, August 24, 2009
9
Francis Begby thinks this is shite.
Whither the crystal ashtray?
Helmets and body armor might be a cheaper fix.
ah, knife crime!
The Brits'd be less stabby if they'd adopt some sensible, open-carry gun laws.
Less Stabby More Shooty!
How's that law in Tennessee where you can carry a gun to a bar working?
"..a group normally swift to embrace change."
Ahh, my best laugh of the day so far.
The trouble is, there are all sorts of different pubs, and it's a shame they'd have to make it a universal law.
I lived in Oxford and London, and sure you see places you just know not to go into, or if you you're parched and you just have to, you don't linger. Fancyapint.com refers to these as 'grim locals'.
And then there are the real quaint old Inspector Morse-type places where one just can't imagine drinking from a plastic cup, like in Oxford the Turf (where Clinton got high in the garden) or the Bookbinders (my local in Jericho): places where few, if any, people get glassed on an average week.
I have always wanted to read publican Norman Balon's memoirs, "You're Barred, You Bastards," but it is prohibitively expensive. It sounds like it would be great, though:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1519137/Norman-calls-last-orders-for-the-barred-of-Soho.html
Sounds good! I never did make it to (or, I admit, even hear of)the Coach & Horses - there's just so much damn choice in central London.