"drinking" news and stories

Sometimes, it has to be done. Maybe you're celebrating something. Maybe you're entertaining a client. Maybe your editor just chopped up your interview and you want to kill everyone. What am I talking about? Drinking at lunch.

Drinking at lunch can be dangerous. Some people get bad headaches from it, even from a glass of wine. It's really best to drink at lunch only if you're going to have time for a nap, but since that isn't realistic, make sure you have Advil at your desk - it might not hurt to pop a couple as a preventative measure.

Don't scare your clients, and don't knock yourself out. Avoid hardcore drinks like martinis, and avoid drinking your night drink during the day; it's likely to make you tired because your brain is used to having it before sleep. If you're particularly prone to afternoon headaches, it's a good idea to drink something involving juice or coffee to try and trick your brain a little.

In addition to headaches and naps (and wildly inappropriate crying jags), drinking at lunch can also cause raucous laughter, the closing of deals; the alleviation of unbearable tension, and a more carefree afternoon to follow.

My picks for what to drink at lunch ( In moderation) are after the jump...

I'm not sure what it is about the 2008 Election that has driven people to the bottle. Sure, coping with the anxiety of tough decisions by imbibing alcohol has been around since, well, the day alcohol was invented (good day, by the way), but this year's campaign for the ages has really upped the ante.

Tonight is the first, and presumably only, vice presidential debate. Maybe it stems from those viral videos of Sarah Palin's Katie Couric interview or Joe Biden's generally gaffe prone nature, but people are expecting it to be a doozy. Many peoples answer: Get boozy.

Googling "Vice Presidential Debate Drinking Game" (in quotes) racks up a respectable 839 results -- and not many are leftovers of Cheney/Edwards. Want to join in on the fun? After the jump see the links to the top 8...

What exactly is the definition of a nerd? I like spending all day on the web and reading and Star Trek. Does that make me a nerd? Or is that just a cliche and the real meaning of nerd is a lot more complex than that?

It's a question for smart people to mull over, preferably when drunk, and CocktailNerd.com can help you get there. It's a cool blog about the world of cocktails and drinking. It's updated regularly and has a really smart sense of what the good stuff is to link to. It got a bookmark from me instantly.

It also has a "Daily Cocktail" page, but I can't seem to get it to work right now, so let me know exactly what's on that page.

Recently I've found myself at events where, just as the evening seems to be winding down, games of beer pong spring from fully formed from the ether. For those of you not in the know, beer pong is a game in which two people stand on either ends of a ping pong table (or similar structure of rectangular shape) and set up a triangle of plastic Solo cups in front of them. Each cup gets filled to some predetermined level with beer. A player tosses a ping pong ball at their opponents cup, trying to land a ball into a cup. If the ball does make it into a cup, the player to whom that cup belongs must then drink its contents. It is amusing to watch and if you're looking to get drunk, this is a quick way to do so (not that I'm encouraging excessive drinking).

The people know don't seem to require much in the way of special equipment in order to play, but when I sent a link to the PortOPong to one of the regular instigators, he was thrilled and immediately placed an order. Apparently, it's always been his dream to play in a swimming pool and now that wish can become a reality.

I've been working on this story for months, because I wasn't sure which songs I should include and which songs I should leave off the list. And then I finally decided what the rules would be: only songs that are about food or drink or have them in the title. In other words, just because a song mentions food or drink doesn't mean it's about food or drink, so I'm leaving those off the list. Here we go:

1. "Black Coffee" (Julie London): OK, I'll admit it, this is a truly personal choice. I'm a big fan of standards, and also a big fan of film noir. And this song has noir written all over it. Julie London (you might remember her as the head nurse from the TV show Emergency) sings it so seductively and in a sultry manner you just want to run out and buy some coffee and take up smoking (several people have covered this song, including Sarah Vaughan and k.d. lang, but London's version is the best). Really cool song.