Four Neat Things

1. Adam Aaronson drank every cocktail on the IBA list. IBA stands for International Bartenders Association, and its list is, in Aaronson's words, "the closest thing the bartending industry has to a canonical list of cocktails:"

The journey has taken me to some interesting places, and now that it's done, I have a little story to tell for each cocktail. I'm not gonna tell you all 102 stories, but I do want to debrief the experience. Drinking all 102 cocktails turned out to be unexpectedly tricky, and for reasons you'll soon understand, I might be one of the first people in the world to do it.

This entertaining read takes about 15 minutes and includes mentions of interesting bars, particularly in New York and London.

2. Much modern technology would look like magic to people from only a couple of centuries ago, and resembles the science fiction of only decades ago.

For that last time span, Are We Trek Yet has you covered:

This guide is intended to be a comprehensive look at the tech that Star Trek suggested to drive humanity forward ad astra per aspera. The emphasis is on innovations that don't violate physics according to present consensus understanding. Go ahead and explore boldly, and if you have any corrections or additions, pop into the Are We Trek Yet channel on the Bingeclock Discord. Just don't waste too much time on idle speculation: there's a whole lot to do if we're going to get to Trek, and it's going to take all of us.

The site rates things from sliding doors (available) to tricorders (in progress) on a green-yellow-red scale.

Each entry links to the series where the tech occurs and, when available, firms offering or developing it today.

3. Fellow railroad buffs might enjoy the below video of the Wuppertaler Schwebebahn, making two trips over its route over a century apart.

Wuppertal's suspension railway in 1902 (l) and 2015 (r).

Image by jnateduff.ms, via Wikimedia Commons, license.

4. Mississippi's Delta State University has a fighting okra as its unofficial mascot, and, although I left the state for college and have no alumni relatives, I have the shirt.

Who wouldn't want one of those?

The image randomly popped into my mind one day while I was standing in line, so I did what I do, and found an entertaining article about botanical sports mascots, of which there are quite a few famous ones.

The author, a North Carolinian transplant ends by noting the botanical connection for tar heels, and has the following idea:

Next time I'm at a Carolina women's basketball game and shout out "Pinus" I want to hear all members of the North Carolina Botanical Garden in the stands roar back, "palustris." Go Heels!

One hopes she is no Latin scholar, and goes for an anglicized pronunciation of the generic name.

-- CAV