The Awl http://www.theawl.com/ Be Less Stupid Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:40:53 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.2 How To Waste Money http://www.theawl.com/2012/02/how-to-waste-money http://www.theawl.com/2012/02/how-to-waste-money#comments Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:40:53 +0000 Alex Balk http://www.theawl.com/2012/02/how-to-waste-money "The dollar per drink you might tip for some “well” alcohol on the rocks is not adequate these days for that Cucumber Basil Crush. Mixologists are becoming chefs, and take special care in how their drinks are assembled and served. And for that reason, I’d tip $2.50 to $3 on a $14 cocktail — even if the bartender isn’t a great conversationalist."
—I don't actually disagree with this judgment. If you're drinking $14 cocktails you should be tipping the same way. Which is to say, stupidly.

---

See more posts by Alex Balk

15 comments

]]> "The dollar per drink you might tip for some “well” alcohol on the rocks is not adequate these days for that Cucumber Basil Crush. Mixologists are becoming chefs, and take special care in how their drinks are assembled and served. And for that reason, I’d tip $2.50 to $3 on a $14 cocktail — even if the bartender isn’t a great conversationalist."
—I don't actually disagree with this judgment. If you're drinking $14 cocktails you should be tipping the same way. Which is to say, stupidly.

---

See more posts by Alex Balk

15 comments

]]> http://www.theawl.com/2012/02/how-to-waste-money/feed 15 Can You Have A Few Drinks After Running? http://www.theawl.com/2012/02/can-you-have-a-few-drinks-after-running http://www.theawl.com/2012/02/can-you-have-a-few-drinks-after-running#comments Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:20:53 +0000 Alex Balk http://www.theawl.com/2012/02/can-you-have-a-few-drinks-after-running The pros to this piece are alcohol and Science. The con is exercise. I guess overall I can recommend it, but it's still a close-run thing.

---

See more posts by Alex Balk

1 comments

]]> The pros to this piece are alcohol and Science. The con is exercise. I guess overall I can recommend it, but it's still a close-run thing.

---

See more posts by Alex Balk

1 comments

]]> http://www.theawl.com/2012/02/can-you-have-a-few-drinks-after-running/feed 1 British Man Commits Treason http://www.theawl.com/2012/01/british-man-commits-treason http://www.theawl.com/2012/01/british-man-commits-treason#comments Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:50:52 +0000 Alex Balk http://www.theawl.com/2012/01/british-man-commits-treason "Design aside, you've got to question the capacity. The pint is too much. These colossal containers made sense back when Britain was a manufacturing power and when sweaty browed folk could quaff large quantities of liquid (often around 3-4% ABV) after a hard day hitting stuff, building things and generally working up a mighty thirst. But they're outdated in a nation where more people work in marketing and PR than manufacturing, where the majority of construction lies in building the hopes of deluded reality TV contestants or mountains of debt. Why don't we drink smaller measures? The pint really is an absurd amount of liquid when you think about it. That the only other drink sold in pints is milk says it all. Lovingly crafted beer shouldn't be classified as a commodity like semi-skimmed – it's a quality artisan product deserving of reverence equal to wine and spirits."
—Man, they are gonna carve this guy up and throw the little bits left of him into the pond. [Via]

---

See more posts by Alex Balk

10 comments

]]> "Design aside, you've got to question the capacity. The pint is too much. These colossal containers made sense back when Britain was a manufacturing power and when sweaty browed folk could quaff large quantities of liquid (often around 3-4% ABV) after a hard day hitting stuff, building things and generally working up a mighty thirst. But they're outdated in a nation where more people work in marketing and PR than manufacturing, where the majority of construction lies in building the hopes of deluded reality TV contestants or mountains of debt. Why don't we drink smaller measures? The pint really is an absurd amount of liquid when you think about it. That the only other drink sold in pints is milk says it all. Lovingly crafted beer shouldn't be classified as a commodity like semi-skimmed – it's a quality artisan product deserving of reverence equal to wine and spirits."
—Man, they are gonna carve this guy up and throw the little bits left of him into the pond. [Via]

---

See more posts by Alex Balk

10 comments

]]> http://www.theawl.com/2012/01/british-man-commits-treason/feed 10 Science Will Get You Drunk http://www.theawl.com/2012/01/science-will-get-you-drunk http://www.theawl.com/2012/01/science-will-get-you-drunk#comments Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:40:55 +0000 Alex Balk http://www.theawl.com/2012/01/science-will-get-you-drunk Science meets alcohol! I believe I need to leave early today to do a little "research."

---

See more posts by Alex Balk

6 comments

]]> Science meets alcohol! I believe I need to leave early today to do a little "research."

---

See more posts by Alex Balk

6 comments

]]> http://www.theawl.com/2012/01/science-will-get-you-drunk/feed 6 Alcohol Good http://www.theawl.com/2012/01/alcohol-good http://www.theawl.com/2012/01/alcohol-good#comments Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:20:53 +0000 Alex Balk http://www.theawl.com/2012/01/alcohol-good "Tiny portions of ethanol, the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, can more than double the lifespan of a tiny worm known as C elegans." So larger amounts of alcohol probably double the lifespan of a larger specimen like a human, right? That's the way I'm choosing to interpret this finding.

---

See more posts by Alex Balk

2 comments

]]> "Tiny portions of ethanol, the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, can more than double the lifespan of a tiny worm known as C elegans." So larger amounts of alcohol probably double the lifespan of a larger specimen like a human, right? That's the way I'm choosing to interpret this finding.

---

See more posts by Alex Balk

2 comments

]]> http://www.theawl.com/2012/01/alcohol-good/feed 2 How Drunk You're Going To Get http://www.theawl.com/2012/01/how-drunk-youre-going-to-get http://www.theawl.com/2012/01/how-drunk-youre-going-to-get#comments Wed, 18 Jan 2012 11:40:52 +0000 Alex Balk http://www.theawl.com/2012/01/how-drunk-youre-going-to-get Attention wine drinkers: Scroll down here for a handy chart correlating alcohol content and blood alcohol concentration. [Via]

---

See more posts by Alex Balk

1 comments

]]> Attention wine drinkers: Scroll down here for a handy chart correlating alcohol content and blood alcohol concentration. [Via]

---

See more posts by Alex Balk

1 comments

]]> http://www.theawl.com/2012/01/how-drunk-youre-going-to-get/feed 1 Space Wine! http://www.theawl.com/2012/01/space-wine http://www.theawl.com/2012/01/space-wine#comments Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:50:09 +0000 Alex Balk http://www.theawl.com/2012/01/space-wine Would you drink wine made with meteorites? Assuming someone else is buying, I can tell you that my answer is a resounding sure, why the hell not.

---

See more posts by Alex Balk

5 comments

]]> Would you drink wine made with meteorites? Assuming someone else is buying, I can tell you that my answer is a resounding sure, why the hell not.

---

See more posts by Alex Balk

5 comments

]]> http://www.theawl.com/2012/01/space-wine/feed 5 Cheap Wine Saves Lives http://www.theawl.com/2012/01/cheap-wine-saves-lives http://www.theawl.com/2012/01/cheap-wine-saves-lives#comments Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:50:33 +0000 Alex Balk http://www.theawl.com/2012/01/cheap-wine-saves-lives "In a working paper for the American Association of Wine Economists, [Cornell University economist Brad] Rickard and his team start off by looking at the states that allow grocery stores to sell wine, versus those that limit such sales to liquor stores. The increased competition of grocery stores selling wine, unsurprisingly, correlates with both lower wine prices and higher rates of wine consumption. There’s a surprising, public health benefit that grows out of that: States where wine makes up a larger part of total alcohol consumption tend to have lower rates of traffic fatalities."

---

See more posts by Alex Balk

4 comments

]]> "In a working paper for the American Association of Wine Economists, [Cornell University economist Brad] Rickard and his team start off by looking at the states that allow grocery stores to sell wine, versus those that limit such sales to liquor stores. The increased competition of grocery stores selling wine, unsurprisingly, correlates with both lower wine prices and higher rates of wine consumption. There’s a surprising, public health benefit that grows out of that: States where wine makes up a larger part of total alcohol consumption tend to have lower rates of traffic fatalities."

---

See more posts by Alex Balk

4 comments

]]> http://www.theawl.com/2012/01/cheap-wine-saves-lives/feed 4 More Drunk People Answering Their Cellphones http://www.theawl.com/2012/01/more-drunk-people-answering-their-cellphones http://www.theawl.com/2012/01/more-drunk-people-answering-their-cellphones#comments Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:00:34 +0000 Alex Balk http://www.theawl.com/2012/01/more-drunk-people-answering-their-cellphones Binge drinking—or, as some of us refer to it, "drinking"—is getting popular: "About 17 percent of U.S. adults, or 38 million people, say they binge drink, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Binge drinkers reported an average of four episodes a month, each consisting of eight drinks at most, according to the report, which is based on data gathered during a 2010 survey. The biggest group of binge drinkers are young adults, with about 28 percent of people between ages 18 and 24 reporting binge drinking. Men are twice as likely as women to say they binge drink.... A 2009 survey showed that about 15 percent of U.S. adults binge drink. The apparent uptick in prevalence is likely due to the polling of more people with cellphones in the current report, the researchers said."

---

See more posts by Alex Balk

6 comments

]]> Binge drinking—or, as some of us refer to it, "drinking"—is getting popular: "About 17 percent of U.S. adults, or 38 million people, say they binge drink, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Binge drinkers reported an average of four episodes a month, each consisting of eight drinks at most, according to the report, which is based on data gathered during a 2010 survey. The biggest group of binge drinkers are young adults, with about 28 percent of people between ages 18 and 24 reporting binge drinking. Men are twice as likely as women to say they binge drink.... A 2009 survey showed that about 15 percent of U.S. adults binge drink. The apparent uptick in prevalence is likely due to the polling of more people with cellphones in the current report, the researchers said."

---

See more posts by Alex Balk

6 comments

]]> http://www.theawl.com/2012/01/more-drunk-people-answering-their-cellphones/feed 6 Avoid The Gym, It's Bad For Your Drinking http://www.theawl.com/2012/01/avoid-the-gym-its-bad-for-your-drinking http://www.theawl.com/2012/01/avoid-the-gym-its-bad-for-your-drinking#comments Tue, 10 Jan 2012 14:20:39 +0000 Alex Balk http://www.theawl.com/2012/01/avoid-the-gym-its-bad-for-your-drinking Further reasons to not work out: "A lean, muscular person will be less affected by drink than someone with more body fat: Water-rich muscle tissues absorb alcohol effectively, preventing it from reaching the brain."

---

See more posts by Alex Balk

2 comments

]]> Further reasons to not work out: "A lean, muscular person will be less affected by drink than someone with more body fat: Water-rich muscle tissues absorb alcohol effectively, preventing it from reaching the brain."

---

See more posts by Alex Balk

2 comments

]]> http://www.theawl.com/2012/01/avoid-the-gym-its-bad-for-your-drinking/feed 2