In July, the prominent BrewDog brewery inAberdeenshire, Scotland, began producing The End of History, the world'sstrongest and most expensive beer: 55% alcohol by volume at a cost of 500pounds ($780) a bottle. BrewDog decided to incorporate taxidermy into therelease of the first 12 bottles by inserting the beer bottle into the carcassesof roadkill (seven ermines, four squirrels and a rabbit). According to companyfounder James Watt, BrewDog aims to "elevate the status of beer in ourculture."
Questionable Judgments
Disrespecting Electricity: (1) New Hampshire teenagerKyle Dubois was critically injured in March when, during an electrical tradesclass, he and fellow students attached clamps to his nipples and plugged in anelectrical cord. (2) As an alternative to the surgical scalpel, zapping a peniswith electricity can produce a cleaner cut and with much less bloodthoughmodern laser therapy may be a better option, according to a team of doctors fromthe Institute of Biomedical Engineering in Taiwan.As noted in their July report, since the experiments were too risky forordinary test volunteers, they performed all procedures on themselves.
The Entrepreneurial Spirit!
- In May, at least two employees at the Olive View-UCLA Medical Center inSylmar, Calif., were accused of carrying on a makeshift "beautysalon" inside the facility's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Allegedly,eyebrow waxes and manicures were given near sensitive equipment used to combatinfant infections and respiratory disorders. An investigation is continuing,but a hospital official said the notion of a "salon" was overblownand that perhaps a few nail treatments were involved. (Simultaneously, thefacility is being investigated for taking kickbacks from nursing homes forplacing discharged Medicare or Medicaid patients into those homes.)
- Unlikely Successes: (1) In July, one of the world's largest four-dayrodeos, the Pendleton Round-Up, released a signature men's cologne, Let'er Buck,to mark the company's 100th anniversary. A spokesman claims that the$69-a-bottle product has the fragrance of "sensuous musk and warmsandalwood." (2) Thai Airways announced in June that it would beginselling seven curry sauces directly from its airline food menu in takeout shopsin Bangkok,Phuket and Chiang Mai.
Weird Science
When Ron Sveden's left lung collapsed in May,doctors initially diagnosed a tumor. On closer inspection, however, they foundthat Sveden, of Brewster, Mass., had ingested a plant seed that hadsomehow migrated to his lung and sprouted open. He is recovering.
Leading Economic Indicators
- To most, the toilet is a functional appliance, but to thoughtful peopleit can be an instrument upon which creativity blossoms. Thus, the price tagswere high this summer when commodes belonging to two artistic giants of the20th century went on sale. In August, a gaudy toilet from John Lennon'sresidence from 1969 to 1972 in Berkshire, England, fetched 9,500 pounds (about $14,740) ata Liverpool auction. Also, a North Carolina collectibles dealer openedbids on the toilet that long served reclusive author J.D. Salinger at his homein Cornish, N.H. The dealer's initial price was $1 million because, as he putit, "Who knows how many of [Salinger's] stories were thought up andwritten while Salinger sat on this throne!"
- Blairsville, Ga., advertising agency owner and “teaparty” supporter Mike Patterson recently introduced the "first everpatriotic home-based business opportunity," and, though it resembles atraditional "pyramid" scheme, Patterson termed it "networkmarketing" and claimed that it is an important way to fight "liberaltyranny." For joining up at $12, $24 or $50 a year and enlisting others,Patterson promises recruiters "up to $50,000" (actually, later heoffers the chance to make up to $283,000 by securing $50 memberships). Onspelling- and grammar-challenged Web pages, Patterson laid out salesmanship"levels" and "matrix" patterns that promise a member 60cents per $24 recruitleaving $12 for patriotic programs and $11.40 forPatterson.
© 2010 Chuck Shepherd
