I’m usually pretty cynical about the effect of online petitions, however one turned up in my inbox this morning through the form of a blogpost by the excellent beer writer: Mr Pete Brown.  The matter in question is that of the UK’s “beer duty escalator”: a tax measure implemented by the Labour government in 2008, whereby an annual increase in duty on beer is pegged at inflation plus 2%.
Pete’s post describes in better words than I’ve got at my disposal what effect that has on the middle tier of the …

It’s just past the middle of Movember, and you’ve had to endure my constant pleading for funds for a couple of weeks – so I thought I’d treat you all to a glimpse of how this year’s sub-nasal adornment is going…
After an initial gestatory Chopper phase, I brandished the precision tools this morning and the result is something which I’ve grown fond of addressing as “The Colonel”.

Thanks to your combined generosity so far we’ve managed to crack the £500 barrier, which is EXCELLENT!  As I mentioned previously if I can …

As someone who spends a fair bit of time around booze at the moment, there’s a teeny weeny little issue that’s been bothering me for a while, and like any niggling issue it has grown over time to be a source of disproportionate frustration.
The problem is when someone’s describing a – typically Herculean – whisky drinking episode to me: “Me and a mate…” (this typically comes up among people with a poor grasp of grammar) “had this stuff on the weekend… it was pretty strong… 100 percent proof!”.
Stop.  Stop right …

Mid October already?! Well, as anyone who’s known me for any length of time will be able to tell you, that time coincides with only one thing: the preparatory phases for…
MOVEMBER

Starting on October 31st with a clean-shaven face, then participants in Movember grow as much of a moustache as they can for the month of November (see – grow a mo, in November – Movember!), and whilst doing so we raise funds for mens’ health charities via the Movember movement.  In the UK this year it’s The Prostate Cancer Charity …

Among the things I already do to over-occupy the fleeting amount of spare time I have on this little blue-green planet, it seems the latest addition is thatnks to the enthusiasm and cooperation of The Whisky Guy – Mr Darren Rook – and booze blogger Mr Billy Abbott: a new video podcast about whisky, which we’ve hilariously dubbed Village of the Drammed.
We’ve recorded a couple, and so far it’s great fun.  What’s interesting/puzzling me at the minute though is the production process – Darren’s mixed down the first episode, and …

I don’t usually like to get involved with issues of the day, but given the messages and whatnot I’ve had in the last 24 hours I thought I’d break that rule and put together a synopsis of how I’m feeling about what’s going on in London at the moment.
For starters, so far I’m ok.  The place I’m living at the moment is about a mile from the Debenhams store that got smashed up last night (approx 20 mins’ walk).  Last night my eyes were glued to Twitter, trying to see …

Hey wow, it turns out you can use your personal blog as a noticeboard.
So, as mentioned in my previous post, I’m in the US right now and will be here for a few weeks.  I’ve got a few tickets booked for things which I now can’t use, so I thought I’d mention it here and see if anyone’s interested in taking them over from me.
I realise this is another manifestation of my irritating habit of having extra tickets for things and optimistically hoping that my friends might want to make …

When you feel a cold coming on you hit it with vitamins, right? Everyone knows that!
Feeling the unwelcome presence of a cold announcing itself, I went out to [a British chemist chain] and procured the cold-busting trifecta of Berocca, Echinacea and Ginseng.  Berocca because it’s packed with vitamins including C, and that’s widely established to be The Thing For Colds – everyone I’ve spoken to since I was about 10 years old would more than likely tell you that.  Echinacea, because it’s meant to be good for your immune system, …

I am a South Australian, and as such the topic I now write is one of the utmost gravity and import.  For 7 years now I have optimistically purchased milk-based drinks in British and European supermarkets, hoping against all hope to find anything which might come within 400 miles of satisfying my craving for that nectar of the gods – Farmers Union Iced Coffee.
For nearly 2500 days now I have scanned every café, deli, kiosk and supermarket fridge with hopeful eyes and spent pound after futile pound on all manner …

There’s a chap in South Australia by the name of Ryan (pictured – yes, he’s just a floating head), who I’ve known since I was about 4 years old, and who is a bit of an expert at putting words next to each other.
Recently he posted the following stuff on Facebook, and I thought it was so well expressed that the best thing to do would be to share it here as a sort of guest-post.
It should be fairly clear, but I’ll explain anyway because it feels like a cop-out …