Jeremiah Weed -- Music To My Liver

Cheap, popular, and super sweet, Jeremiah Weed bourbon apparently strikes a chord with song-writers. I can't help but wonder if CCR/3DN were similarly inspired:

Jeremiah is a bourbon
Is a good friend of mine
Never understands a single word I say (being a bottle and all)
But we still have a mighty good time

Weight: 209 lbs (10/09)
Weight: 210 lbs (10/02)
Weight: 207 lbs (9/25)
Weight: 206 lbs (9/18)
Weight: 204 lbs (9/11)

Ate a Dumbbell

As some may have predicted, I managed to reclaim 20 lbs of the 49 I lost in a scant 6 weeks. A good chunk of that is likely due to eating thick grilled cheese sandwiches between "Breaking Bad" episodes at midnight. Ironically, here's a contemporary show about a guy who just turned 50 and starts a new, high-risk life. And while I may not start a meth lab, I can eat grilled cheese like nobody's business.

Weight: 201 lbs
Weight: 200 lbs (8/28)

Oh, Say Can You Drink?

The music for "The Star-Spangled Banner" was originally a sophisticated drinking song written for "The Anacreontic Society", a London gentlemen's club of amateur musicians founded in the mid-18th century. And here is a modern gentlemen's club singing it:



Lyrics:

To Anacreon in Heav'n, where he sat in full glee
A few sons of Harmony sent a petition,
That he their inspirer and patron would be,
When this answer arrived from the jolly old Grecian:
"Voice, fiddle and flute,
No longer be mute.
I'll lend you my name, and inspire you to boot...
And, besides, I'll instruct you, like me, to entwine
The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus' vine."

The news to Olympus immediately flew,
Where Old Thunder decided to give himself airs.
"If we suffer these mortals their schemes to pursue,
There's Devil a goddess will stay above stairs.
Hark! Already they cry
In transports of joy,
A fig for Parnassus, to Rowley's we'll fly!
And there, my good fellows, we'll learn to entwine
The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus' vine."

"The yellow-hair'd god, and his nine fusty maids,
To the hill of old Lud will incontinent flee.
Idalia will boast but of tenantless shades
And the biforked hill a mere desert will be.
My thunder, no fear on't
Will soon do its errand,
And damme!, I'll swinge the ringleaders I warrant,
I'll trim the young dogs, for thus daring to twine,
The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus' vine."

Apollo rose up; and said prithee ne'er quarrel
Good king of the gods with thy vot'ries below!
Your thunder is useless---then, shewing his laurel
Cry'd "Sic evitable fulmen, you know.
Then over each head
My laurels I'll spread,
So my sons from your crackers no mischief shall dread,
Whilst snug in their club-room, they jovially twine
The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus' vine."

Next Momus got up, with his risible phiz
And swore with Apollo he'd cheerfully join.
The full tide of harmony still shall be his
But the song, and the catch and the laugh shall be mine.
Then, Jove be not jealous
Of these honest fellows,
Cry'd ove, "We relent, since the truth you now tell us
And swear, by old Styx, that they long shall entwine
The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus' vine."

Ye sons of Anacreon, then join hand in hand
Preserve unanimity, friends and love.
'Tis your's to support what's so happily plann'd
You've the sanction of gods, and the fiat of love.
While thus we agree
Our toast, let it be
May our club flourish happy, united and free!
And long may the sons of Anacreon entwine
The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus' vine.

Weight: 197 lbs

My Foodcation

Weight: 195 lbs

5 Lowbrow Canadians

Or rather, 5 great bargains for poor slobs like me! I thought I was done with my close-but-far liquor super store, but my 4-year old daughter needing more Hello Kitty lip gloss was somehow an excuse to pay it a visit and buy 8.75 liters of Canada's overcrowded rear end. Canadian whisky is supposed to "possess the aroma, taste and character generally attributed to Canadian whisky". In the category that I drink, anyway, that distinctive taste most closely resembles ammonia (presumably from rye), the strength of which helps set one "expression" apart from the other. It's the kind of taste that straddles the border between pleasure and pain, and I suspect that too much of it could make one instantly ill. Personally, I favor Canadian whiskies with less of this Canadian flavor, which are the Canadian Hunter and Northern Lights in this bunch. I don't hate that rye taste, though, so I will still happily imbibe the Canadian Lake, Canadian LTD, and the alluring sounding Canadian Gold. Come to think of it, I have yet to meet a whisky I won't drink.

Weight: 195 lbs

Drink weller with LYTEshow

Those righteous dudes over at Drinkwel have done it again and devised a new product for the serious drinker. And this time there's no pill to swallow--just a tiny capful of critical, calorie-free electrolytes to replace those lost to beerination. Alcohol is awesome at fighting heart disease, and a great tool for losing weight, but there's no doubt that it sucks you drier than a fossil of a raisin in a kiln. That's why I usually drink plenty of water with my whisky. I've often thought of supplementing that with a sports drink designed to replace fluids, but such concoctions tend to have sugar or artificial sweetener, both of which I try to avoid.

LyteShow is just what the doctor ordered (or might order if I really saw one or cared what they said). I actually find that it gives water a slightly pleasant taste and makes it seem like I'm drinking something of substance--and I am: magnesium, zinc, chloride, and more. An order of LyteShow includes a small and handy travel flask-- the cap of which doubles as a convenient measuring device.

So whether you're abusing diuretics for sport doping, fighting forest fires, getting drunk off your ass, or drinking alcohol and caffeine for good health like myself, LyteShow is the perfect addition to smooth out some of the pitfalls and rough edges.

Weight: 191 lbs

Last of the Irish

Gained 9 pounds in a week!

Last November, I drank 2 day's worth of Canadian and Irish whiskey in 2-3 hours and got pretty darn sick. On my birthday last week, I ate 2 day's worth of food in 10-11 hours and also got sick. While events like these are undoubtedly stupid, I believe they serve the greater purpose of rekindling motivation. Maintaining a healthy balance forever is both difficult and boring. Extreme negative experiences, even self-inflicted, can create polarized goal posts that we are driven to defend against repeating, at least until they slowly fade into the past. Anything we can do to refresh those negative memories can help renew continuous improvement, and so it is under that guise that I again drink what I previously vomited up on my fleece jacket several moons ago.

A bit farther into my past, I considered Bushmills, Jameson, and Tillamore Dew to be my favorite, premium whiskies. Having completed my Irish whiskey tour, they now taste somewhat bland compared to others--Tillamore Dew being the most distinguished of the trio. But I'm still more than happy to have them on my team reminding me of the past. I really do think it makes me stronger, in my typically twisted fashion.

Weight: 189 lbs