zepp's daily thought compendium 2015 ed. #NoHashTags early access KICKSTARTER INSIDE

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#14

So my thought of the day is: who the hell drinks Budweiser anymore? I was at a bar this weekend with like 70 different beers on tap (the rapid expansion of beer choice since I left for China in 2005 is crazy. Some of the bars I used to hang out at before going that literally had only one or two taps have like 15-20 taps now), and they had Bud Light on sale for $1,000 a bottle. The ultimate in elitist ironic snobbery.

Apparently, Bud Light is still the best selling beer in America by a pretty wide margin, and males age 28-34 are Budweiser’s main drinking demographic (according to this WSJ article. I’m right smack dab in the middle of that demographic, and I don’t know a single person who ever drinks any variety of Bud. I know some people who “ironically” drink PBR (i secretly think they’re just cheap asses who try to make it seem cooler by embracing a false sense of irony - I personally have nothing wrong with being a cheap ass either, but don’t try to pretend it is what it isn’t), but that’s about it. But then I realize that I only hang out with other rich hipsters and young professionals…so um, do any of you guys actually drink this stuff?

#15

A bunch of former PBR drinkers who can’t drink their behr cuz it ain’t 'murican no more. :toast: /fakemurican

#16

It’s tolerable if I’ve already knocked back enough decent wine or hard liquor that my sense of taste has vanished temporarily. Then it’s just like fizzy water that vaguely smells like a wet dog.

#17

Confirmed with your signature :smugyoshi:

As some of you may know, I’ve been obsessed with electronic music since basically forever. For those not in the know, electronic music fans are second only to metal fans when it comes into splintering off into a million meaninglessly different genres and sub-genres. One of my favorite things is reading music reviews to find the latest and greatest of these retarded classifications. I found a new one today.

pagan folk-techno

As opposed to…religious folk-techno? agnostic folk-techno? also what the fuck is folk-techno? anyway, here’s a song off the album it was reviewing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWL4xRp5I8w

It sounds like…um…techno? I don’t know what the hell these music reviewers are talking about, but I think they’re just trying to spawn new hashtags and get famous or something.

#18

“post”-“dubstep”

#19

Penny Arcade was ironically on topic re: the beer. Considering how a huge chunk of my patients drink 1/5 to half a gallon of vodka per day, most people don’t have discerning tastes +/- just want to get wasted.

#20

How many Baltimore longshoremen do you treat?

#21

I’ve seen people from all walks of life, including a few former longshoremen.

#22

So not-so-fun fact about the law office I’m in.

First off, we mainly represent the various longshoremen labor unions and their ERISA Pension and Welfare Funds. Very niche law, particularly the labor union defense side. Well, in all of American pop culture, there are two very famous and very important works which deal with labor unions: On the Waterfront and The Wire. Funny enough, both deal with LONGSHOREMAN labor unions.

Well no one in my office has seen either of those. The Wire can be forgivable since it’s an HBO series and ended within the past ten years or whatever. However, when my boss had to go to Baltimore recently for a labor union issue, I made some reference to The Wire (as in, “Oh, was that the same union the longshoremen in The Wire belonged to?”), and no one in the office even knew what the show was about. That’s a little disheartening given who we represent, but I guess it’s forgivable.

However, when I referenced On the Waterfront and no one had seen it, that’s just… WRONG. On the Waterfront is not only the single most important movie which deals with both the longshore industry and labor unions, but it is also, in my estimation, one of the 25 best films EVER, irrespective of subject matter. To have never seen that movie when you day in and day out deal with longshoremen… Disgusting.

#23

They’re lawyers and I bet they haven’t even watched Harvey Birdman. For shame.

Also Sin, a HALF GALLON of vodka PER DAY?? Holy crap, the ability of the human body to withstand incredible self-inflicted torture never ceases to amaze me, although I’m sure you probably have seen a number of far more ridiculous experiences than even that.

Edit: I’m going to Colorado next week, and I can’t wait to make fun of Coors all the time to my friends there.

Second Edit: The translation of Coors Light in chinese (yes they sell coors light in China) literally means “silver bullet”, so at the bar you’d have to ask for a silver bullet.

#24

Or played Ace Attorney.

#25

In law school, professors would jokingly ask students if they wanted to be lawyers because of Law and Order. Whenever I was asked that question, I literally literally always responded with “I want to be an attorney because of Harvey Birdman.”

#26

Working in Baltimore has definitely redefined what I believed was compatible with life. The big issue with these guys is that over time 1/5 vodka per day doesn’t do to them what it would do to us and the problems start if they’re admitted and aren’t put on withdrawal protocols. Agitation, seizures and intubation can ensue. This is particularly risky if you don’t have a reliable historian, friends or relatives. Gotta love those outside hospital transfers. The fun ones are the 60-70 year olds who some in complaining of chest pain after doing cocaine. The really horrifying cases are on our specialized infectious disease service. We have parts of Baltimore that have HIV rates comparable to sub-saharan Africa, who present with complications of HIV people haven’t seen in 20-30 years. It also treats some of the victims of gang violence. Apparently there is a Baltimore style shooting where they shoot their rivals in the spine so a) they can’t be charged with murder and b) it sentences their opponents to a slow and horrible death as paraplegics. These are 20-30 year olds who develop worsening lower back ulcers that dig into their bones and abdomens with infections resistant to almost every antibiotic we have. Re-watching The Corner or The Wire is REALLY weird now.

You definitely see the impact of poverty here and I’m looking forward ending my stint here in July and starting fellowship. This has been interesting, but I’m done with this.

#27

Sounds like those gangsters have moved up from storing their knives in shit to storing their bullets in shit. I’ve heard stories of the ways gangsters would end a person, one of which involved stabbing them in the back with a knife that’s been sitting in shit for a while. The inflicted wounds would be deep but not life threatening and for other gangsters who can’t or won’t come forward to a hospital to get immediate treatment, they’d end up treating those wounds as superficial and ignore them until it’s far too late to do anything about as the resulting infection would slowly poison the blood stream and kill the victim in a very slow, agonizing way.

As fascinating as your horror stories are, I hope you’ll find a better work environment soon.

Edit: Also Happy Birthday. :caik:

Oh yeah? Well I wanted to become an attorney because of Lionel Huntz.

And now you know why I never got into law school.

#28

Thanks man :D. I already have my fellowship waiting for me, so less than 6 months to go!

And that story is more gross factor and in reality, treating that wouldn’t be hard.

#29

Moving things more to Zepp’s territory, what’s happening globally in the markets? What drove this sudden crash in oil prices (not that I am complaining)?

#30

The short version is twofold: Weak demand in many countries due to insipid economic growth, and it’s also coupled with surging US production. Contrary to popular belief, the United States has never been held hostage by other countries when it comes to oil because they rely on oil exports more than the United States relies on any one particular country for oil. Especially when so much oil is produced domestically or imported from Canada or Mexico.

#31

Aren’t people paid gargantuan sums of money to see this shit coming?

#32

Economics is a pretty imprecise and chaotic system. It’s probably really hard to predict things with any sort of reliability even within the span of a few years.

#33

Regardless, the important thing to take away from this is that its now totally okay to completely forget about any and all lessons learned about the harshness of pricey petroleum (as its no longer your problem). The Humvee’s back in vogue baby! :mwahaha: