Apr 15, 2016

Beer Myths Debunked

False - If Cold Beer Gets Warm, Cooling It Again Will Make It Stale
This is a myth brought on by marketers. The fact is, beer experiences substantial fluctuations in temperature during shipping. Of course, you do not want these changes to be drastic, and excessive heat will certainly ruin beer.

Maybe - The Color of the Bottle Affects Beer’s Shelf Life
It is not the color of the bottle so much as its translucence that affects beer’s long-term quality. Clear and green bottles allow in significantly more UV light than brown ones. If you store green or clear bottles in complete darkness, there is no discernible difference in shelf life from that of a brown bottle in similar conditions.

True - Putting Beer in the Freezer Is an Easy Way to Quick Chill It.
This is true as long as you do not freeze it. Beer will explode when frozen. Placing a beer in the freezer for a short period should be fine. According to the American Homebrewers Association, freezing beer alters the molecular structure of the proteins in the beverage. It can also reduce the carbonation level and, in the case of bottle-conditioned brew, possibly kill the yeast.

True - Beer Should Be Stored Upright.
There are a few reasons why beer should not be placed on its side, and this applies to both corked and capped bottles. Yeast is critical to beer, but the sediment it leaves behind has a way of corrupting flavor. You want the yeast sediment to settle at the bottom of the beer. According to Beer Advocate, prolonged storage on the side will create a “yeast ring” along the walls of the bottle. Upright storage slows the process of oxidation and prolongs the life of the beer.

False - Bottles Are Better Than Cans. This is a matter of personal taste. Canned beer has is often associated with mass-market. cheap beer and so the myth. It is not so much the receptacle, it is the beer that makes the taste. Many craft brewers have begun to can their beer. Some craft brew fanatics even swear by the distinctive flavor of canned brew. The Huffington Post conducted a blind taste test and found participants preferred the taste of canned beer to bottled three times out of four.

The Real Popeye

Frank "Rocky" Fiegel (January 27, 1868 - March 24, 1947) was a real-life person from Chester, Illinois who inspired the Thimble Theatre character, Popeye.

Rocky was a well-known Chester individual and something of a local legend. He supposedly had an inordinate strength and often participated in fights. Like Popeye, he smoked a pipe and was toothless. He is said to have been kind to children as well. Incidentally, Wimpy and Olive Oyl were also based on real people.

Difference Between Perfume, Cologne, Toilette, and Other Fragrances

Fragrances are complex mixtures of what people in the industry refer to as raw materials. These raw materials can be extracts from natural sources or synthetic raw materials.

Oils are dissolved in a solvent (usually alcohol), to preserve pleasant scents. The higher the concentration of oils, the greater the strength of the fragrance. The strength determines how long an application lasts on your skin.

All fragrances are largely the same, but they are given a name based on the concentration of oil in alcohol and water, such as:

    Eau Fraiche – The most diluted version of fragrance, usually with 1% – 3% perfume oil in alcohol and water. Usually lasts for less than an hour.
    Cologne (Eau de Cologne) – Oldest term for perfume, used in North America for masculine scents. Light, fresh and fruity, typically composed of 2% – 4% perfume oils in alcohol and water. Usually lasts for about 2 hours.
    Toilette (Eau de Toilette) – A light spray composition with 5% – 15% pure perfume essence dissolved in alcohol. Usually lasts for about 3 hours.
    Perfume (Eau de Parfum) – Historically genderless, used to describe both men’s and women’s fragrances. The best term used to describe a fragrance. Contains 15% – 20% pure perfume essence and lasts for about 5 to 8 hours.
    Perfume – A corruption of the Latin phrase per fumum (through smoke). The most concentrated and expensive of all fragrance options. Slightly oilier, perfume is composed of 20% – 30% pure perfume essence. A single application of perfume can last up to 24 hours.

Usually, the amount of concentrate a fragrance contains will affect its price.

Major brands create perfumes that are part science and part marketing. They have a familiar feel to all their perfumes. Ralph Lauren perfumes are made to have a family of familiar scents, such as the newest Polo perfume should smell comfortable, even though it is not the same original scent.

The shelf life of an average bottle of perfume is 3-5 years from the date of manufacture.

More money does not necessarily mean better colognes or perfumes. Some of the most popular fragrances are relatively cheap forumalea. It is possible to mix expensive raw materials and create bad fragrances. Most often price is determined by the marketing cost and the image associated with a brand, but not necessarily the cost of raw materials comprising the scent. Buy the scent, not the name.

Jimmy Carter Peanut Statue

The Jimmy Carter Peanut stands 4 meters (13 ft) tall with a wide, toothy smile and no eyes. The peanut can be found on the side of the road in Plains, Georgia (Jimmy's hometown). The structure started out being constructed in Indiana in 1976 to honor Jimmy Carter’s visit to the state during his presidential campaign tour.

Before he was president, Carter was a peanut farmer. The statue has the same grin that was known so fondly as one of Carter’s traits during his years in office. It is the most photographed thing in Plains.

Zika Virus Update

There are now 346 cases of Zika confirmed in the continental United States, all in people who had recently traveled to Zika-prone countries, according to the most recent CDC report.

A Brazilian study released this week also links Zika to a second autoimmune disorder that resembles multiple sclerosis and involves a swelling of the brain and spinal cord. "Though our study is small, it may provide evidence that in this case, the virus has different effects on the brain than those identified in current studies," said Dr. Maria Lucia Brito, a neurologist at Restoration Hospital in Recife, Brazil. Six of 151 patients tested positive for Zika.

Scientists reported in the April edition of the New England Journal of Medicine that while evidence gathered does not provide conclusive proof that Zika causes microcephaly and other birth defects, an increasing amount of scientific research suggests that is the case. Still no need for panic.

Girl Scout Cookies

Girl Scout cookies trace their roots back to 1917, when an Oklahoma scout troop sold cookies as a fundraiser at their local high school.

The cookies are produced by two bakeries: ABC Bakers (a subsidiary of Interbake Foods) and Little Brownie Bakers (owned by Keebler/Kellogg’s). There are some major differences between the cookies they produce, but the core five cookies are the same, although with different names: Thin Mints, Trefoils or Shortbread, Samoas or Caramel deLites,  Tagalongs or Peanut Butter Patties, and Do-si-dos or Peanut Butter Sandwiches.

Samoas, Tagalongs, Trefoils, and Do-si-dos, are produced by Little Brownie. Shortbread, Caramel deLites, Peanut Butter Patties, and Peanut Butter Sandwiches are produced by ABC. The only cookie name shared by both companies is Thin Mints.

Other, newer names cater to specific audiences. Both Little Brownie’s Toffee-Tastic and ABC’s Trios are gluten-free. Little Brownie’s Thin Mints and ABC’s Lemonades, Thanks-A-Lots, Thin Mints, and Peanut Butter Patties are vegan.

About 25 percent of all Girl Scout cookies sold are Thin Mints. Samoas or Caramel deLites are second with 19 percent of sales. Once the cost of the cookies is repaid to the bakery, all of the net revenue raised through Girl Scout Cookie sales stays with the local councils and troops. Am waiting for a new flavor, bacon peanut butter sammie.

Apr 8, 2016

Happy Friday

"I think you can destroy your now worrying about tomorrow." - Janis Joplin

I never worry about tomorrow while enjoying a Happy Friday!

Buying Light Bulbs

We typically have been buying light bulbs based on how much energy they consume (Watts), regardless of light emitted (Lumens). All that began to change with the advent of different types of light bulbs, such as CFL, halogen, LED, etc., since they consume different amounts of energy to produce the same amount of light.

Lumens measure how much light you are getting from a bulb, regardless of type and regardless of energy consumed. This equalizes all bulbs and types for comparison. More lumens means brighter light.

Another measurement that is not well understood is Kelvin. It is a scale of measurement for the color a light produces. The higher the Kelvin (K) number, the cooler the light appears. Most bulbs will be in the 2,500K to 6,500K range, with 2,500 being the warmest and 6,500 the coolest. Kelvin is usually ignored except for specific lighting circumstances. The 2,700K to 3,000K range is warm and inviting, 3,500K casts a neutral light, 4,100K casts a cool and bright light, 5,500K to 6,500K range is closest to daylight.

To compare brightness of typical old style bulbs, here are a few examples:
Replace a 100-watt incandescent bulb with a bulb that gives you about 1600 lumens,
Replace a 75W bulb with a bulb that gives you about 1100 lumens,
Replace a 60W bulb with a bulb that gives you about 800 lumens,
Replace a 40W bulb with a bulb that gives you about 450 lumens.

Sixty watt bulbs used to be the standard as they offered the best compromise of minimum required light and cheaper cost. Now that energy cost has been so greatly reduced, 1100 lumen lights are becoming the standard minimum. Brighter lights make it easier to see and make everything look better, especially when trying to sell your house.

Wordology, Accumagate

When an individual, while under the influence of alcohol, stumbles over his or her words and accidentally invents a new one, they have accumagated, such as while trying to say 'communicate' you accidentally say 'accumagate'. It goes with the next morning feeling crapulous.