I stopped into one a my favorite establishments - Crown Wine and Spirits - just off 17th Street in Fort Lauderdale - and asked them it they had something interesting and something British. This is what I got. A more complete story of this beer will be posted soon.
Trooper has been around for a few years, but this was the first time I found it for sale - cheers!
If you are like me and like vintage British TV, then you are well acquainted with the show The Prisoner. I have the entire boxed set of dvds, and even used the title "Number 6" on the tag of my MG. I choose "Number 6" because the letter/number combination of his Lotus - KAR120C - was already taken in Florida. Of course, I also have the Danger Man set, although Patrick McGoohan never said the two story lines were related. I like to think they were.
Filming for The Prisoner started on 5 September 1967 - 50 years ago today.
Click here for an article by the folks over at the BBC.
Be seeing you.
This is one of the former Huffaker-designed MG Liquid Suspension Specials, built in the mid 1960s, for Kjell Qvale. Now part of Vatis Racing and under the sponsorship of Valvoline, this photo shows Wally Dallenbach during the 1967 Indy 500. This car was powered by a turbocharged Offy engine - note the turbocharger on the tail. Dallenbach crashed out of the race.
For more on the MG Liquid Suspension Specials please see the Indy 500 entry in The MG Encyclopedia.
Here a quiz from the folks at Quizfreak.co.uk - can you recognize these beers based on small clips of their labels? Give it a try here.
I got 12 of 12. Maybe I think about beer too much - naw!
There is actually an Institute of Physics - apparently in the UK - that is running a campaign to drum up interest in physics by applying their science to the past time of drinking beer. Read here the 21 facts of physics that directly relate to the beer in your hand. From Kelly Oakes at Buzzfeed.
After all that science you may need a little comedy relief - check out these nutty folks in Leeds. Click here. From Sophie Gadd, also at Buzzfeed.
An interesting little article brought to by Emily Bell, and the folks at VinePair.
Click here.
It seems that one London council, in a time when local pubs are disappearing at a distressing rate, has taken some action to protect its public house heritage from unfettered development. Good article here - from the BBC.
As much as I would like to believe that every pub in the UK is absolutely perfect in every way - decor, cask conditioned ales, great food, years of history - well, that's just not always the case. Here are a couple of tongue-in-cheek articles about the world of S**t pubs.
Hey, these are from a Brit writer over at Buzzfeed, so don't blame me. Still funny, all the same.
18 Things You will Find In Every Shit British by Sophie Gadd . Click Here
and also by Sophie...
22 Beautifully S**te British Pub Beer Gardens. Click here.
Yesterday, in Margate, was opening day for what claims to be the World's Smallest Pub. Called The Little Prince, it can serve up to six customers - that is if they are all standing up.
There is another pub - called The Signal Box Inn - that claims to be smaller, but it has an outdoor beer garden, so perhaps it doesn't quite qualify.
Anyway, to read the whole story - click here.
It seems a public house landlord had enough of unsocial mobile phone use, so he built a Faraday Cage. Hmmmm? Sounds interesting. Check out Tom Cheshire's report on Sky News by clicking here.
Personally, I would love to go to a place called the Gin Tub, with or without a Faraday Cage, but the article failed to note where it is - pity.
So, do you think you know your Bond trivia better than your Bourne trivia - or vice versa.
Take the quiz here - courtesy of the folks at Anglophenia.
(I aced it!)
Good little article on the BBC, along with some great photos.
On the BBC site - click here.
Here's something you don't hear about everyday - The Beer Mile. It seems that certain number of track enthusiasts - you know, runners - compete in an event that calls for running one mile - four laps - on a track, and at the end of each lap you have to chug a beer. Wow - what fun.
Some people do rather well at it - the current record (can it be considered an "official" record?) is 4 minutes, 47 seconds, by some dude in California. Want to know more - click here for an article by Katie Williams, of The Guardian.
Don't you love it when you read an article about a list of places to go, and you have actually been to one of the places? Alas, I have been to none of these places, but now that I have the list I have a reason to catch a flight back to the Old Sod.
Anyway, a great article, with some great photos - Pubs, Beer and Food.
Click here
Clearly I have a bit of work to do - I checked about a quarter of the beers listed. I need to spend more time in a pub. I have even found a few of these over on this side of the pond.
See how many you can check off here.
From Hannah Jewell, at Buzzfeed UK
After a period of stagnation due to funding issues, the Bloodhound SSC - supersonic car - project is again underway. At a goal of 1,000 miles per hour - that's one fast British car - click here for the update. I have noted earlier in this blog that when I clock upwards of 60 miles per hour in my Midget I get a bit nervous.
Here's a link to the project's homepage - click here.
The Bloodhound SSC. Photo: Stefan Marjoram via Flock and Siemens
Have you been spitting on the sidewalk lately - You do know that in many places in the US you would be breaking the law, and subject to criminal prosecution. If you're a lady, and you happen to live in the UK, and you happen to be attending the Thetford Town Council meeting, did you know that you are required to ask the mayor's permission to remove your hat.
Here's a few links to articles about some rather odd laws in both the UK and the US.
First, by Bethan Bell of the BBC - click here.
Next, here's one from Sean Clare, also of the BBC - click here.
And, here's one from the US, actually one from each state - click here
Finally, here's a good one in urban legends in the UK, by Bethan Bell - click here.
Those Dudes - the UK Chief Medical Officers. I just go this communique from the good folks at CAMRA - scary stuff. Here is the letter in full.
Click here to find out more about CAMRA - like I said, good folks. To bad we don't have access to MPs over on this side of the pond.
Urge your MP to attend a debate on the new alcohol guidelines
As you may be aware, in January this year the UK’s Chief Medical Officers issued new guidelines on alcohol consumption. These guidelines are amongst the most restrictive in the world. The new guidelines state that:
CAMRA is concerned that these guidelines were formulated by an Advisory Group which included members with links to a group associated with the temperance movement.
Further, a survey of GPs has shown that the majority of respondents disagree with the Chief Medical Officers’ statement that there is no safe level of alcohol; and believe that moderate alcohol consumption can be part of a healthy lifestyle.
We need you to help us raise this issue with your MP ahead of a debate that will be taking place in the Westminster Parliament on Tuesday 28th June from 4:30-5:30pm. Please write to your MP today to ask them to attend and raise the following points in the debate:
Lobby your MP today to ask them to speak out on this important issue during Tuesday’s debate.
I just picked up a couple of old press photos of one of the MG Liquid Suspension Specials, which raced the Indy 500 for a few years, back in the mid-1960s. Click on our MG Archives for more details on these "sort of" MG racing cars.
Bob Veith at the helm of Race #54 - a Huffaker/Offenhauser racer known as the MG Liquid Suspension Special - 1965.
I stopped in my local bottle shop the other day, and found this - Jameson Caskmates Irish Whiskey. I am not exactly sure when this particular collaboration began, but since the Franciscan Well Brewery opened in 1998, it must have been some time after that.
What this is - not unlike the cooperation between Grant's Whisky and Innes & Gunn brewery - is a whiskey aged in barrels that formerly held beer, in this case a stout brewed by the folks at the Franciscan Well Brewery.
I haven't tried this yet, but as a fan of good Irish whisky, I am looking forward to it - and will report back soon.
For the full story on Jameson Caskmates Irish Whiskey, click here.
As John Jameson said: "So smooth I would drink it even if my name weren't on it." I agree!
Update: I was cruising around the interweb today and found the Jameson press release for Caskmates. In part it noted: Born in 2013 over drinks at a local neighborhood pub in County Cork, Ireland, Caskmates was created by two longtime friends, Dave Quinn, Master of Whiskey Science at Jameson Distillery and Shane Long, Head Brewer at local Irish micro-brewery Franciscan Well.
There you go - cheers!