Vernors ginger ale shares the title of America’s oldest surviving soft drink with Hires Root Beer. It was invented in 1866 by James Vernor, a Detroit pharmacist.
Although Vernors is the oldest surviving ginger ale sold in the United States, there were a number of brands of ginger ale and ginger beer sold in commerce prior to 1866.
According to company legend, prior to the start of the American Civil War, while a clerk at the Higby & Sterns drug store in Detroit, James Vernor experimented with flavors in an attempt to duplicate a popular ginger ale imported from Dublin, Ireland. When Vernor was called off to serve in the war, he stored the syrup base of 19 ingredients, including ginger, vanilla and other natural flavorings, in an oak cask. Vernor joined the 4th Michigan Cavalry on Aug. 14, 1862 as a hospital steward, was promoted to second lieutenant Sept. 20, 1864, and was discharged on July 1, 1865. After returning from battle four years later, he opened the keg and found the drink inside had been changed by the aging process in the wood. It was like nothing else he had ever tasted, and he purportedly declared it “Deliciously different,” which remains the drink’s motto to this day.
In a 1936 interview, however, his son, James Vernor Jr., suggested that the formula was not developed until after the war. This was confirmed in a 1962 interview with former company president, James Vernor Davis.
Mixed 4:3 with Maker’s Mark and served over ice, it makes a damn fine beverage.
— Me
Usually I think these are stupid except when I do it. And this is clearly an exception. Whatever. You know what I mean. Don’t talk to me, I had to go to Walmart today, I’m not happy.
Adorable or weird?
(note: NOT THEONION. REPEAT. NOT THEONION)
POTTER TOWNSHIP, CENTRE COUNTY - Police have arrested a third person in connection with the murder of Samuel Boob.
Boob was shot and killed at his home in Potter Township, Centre County, on the morning of August 23rd, 2009.
Kermit Butts, 26, of Madisonburg, is accused of driving the suspected killer to and from the crime scene on the morning of the killing. He was charged with aggravated assault and assisting a murder suspect and placed in the Centre County Prison.
Police believe that Butts drove Ronald Heichel to the Boob home and picked him up later in the day on August 23rd, 2009. Police believe Heichel shot Sam Boob twice with a shotgun and killed him. Heichel was charged with 1st degree murder.
The victim’s wife, Mirinda Boob, is accused of working with Heichel to have her husband killed. Police say they have text messages that were sent between her and Heichel, proving that the two were working together to kill Samuel. She has been charged with conspiracy to commit murder.
PLAAAAAAAAY BALL!
Get it? Because it’s a slider
rachelarogers asked: Please tell The Boy that I am very sorry I can't come visit right now. But! I would love to keep playing WWF with him.
And then after you tell him that, pour some water on him!
:D
~ A true story from bedtime tonight ~
(Background: at school, they get color cards for different behavior every day. Green = good behavior, no problems. There’s also yellow, red, and blue, but for the purposes of our discussion, you just need to know Green = Good.)
The Boy: Yesterday at school, if we got a full month (i.e. all of August) with all greens, we got candy.
The Wife: Oh, well that was nice.
The Boy: Yeah, I got a Rachel Rogers, a blue one, and I sucked on it.
Me: …
The Wife: …
Me: …
The Wife: …
Me: …
The Wife: …
Me: …
The Wife: …
Me: …
The Wife: You got a what?
The Boy: A Rachel Rogers…
Me: Did you mean…
The Wife: Did you mean Jolly Ranchers?
The Boy: Yeah, that’s what I said.
Me: No, no it’s not.
The Wife: You said you got a “Rachel Rogers”
The Boy: NO, I SAID RACHEL—, I MEAN JOLLY RANCHER!
Me: That’s totally not what you said.
The Boy: (pulls his blanket over his head)
The Wife: (singing) I think someone has a little crush!
The Boy: (from under the blanket) I DO NOT!
Me: (laughing pretty much uncontrollably)
The Boy: DAD!
The Wife: Oh yeah, I think we have to tell her that.
The Boy: DO NOT TELL HER ANYTHING, MOM.
The Wife: Ok, I won’t.
(The lights were out, but I swear I could still see the red glow of embarrassment shining off his face.)
He’ll be 18 in 10 short years, Rachel.
Her: “You fell asleep with the TV on and I woke up around 4 a.m. and Sesame Street was on and I kept hearing Bert and Ernie and it was totally freaking me out.”
Me: “…”
Tucker patiently waits for the houseguest to wake up.
ORLY WHEN DID HE LEARN THAT TRICK, BECAUSE TWO WEEKENDS AGO HIS NICKNAME WAS “SIR STOMPZURBALZANDLIXURFACE”
Please find me a place to live in New York so I don’t have to hollow out Bee and Mike and use their hides to fashion myself a tent.
Signed,
Desperate DaveBut seriously, NYC people, let me be your roommate, or point me at someone who knows about a cheapish studio, or something. Do it for Bee and Mike’s husks if nothing else.
calculator at gmail dot com
Reblogged for Bee and Mike.
Rev. Jim Martin, S.J. wrote a nice article on Beck v. Bible.
If you’re going to listen to a priest, do yourself a favor and make sure it’s a Jesuit.
Amen to that.
My dad just got home from the doctor. He had his yearly physical. He wanted to tell me all about it. Apparently the doctor had some positive things to say about his prostate gland and that is when I started shouting “WHY??? WHYYYY ARE YOU TELLING ME THIS??? WHYYYYYYYYY?????”
His response was, “Well, don’t you want to know how healthy I am?” YES, BUT YOU CAN TELL ME THAT JUST BY SAYING THE DOCTOR THINKS YOU ARE HEALTHY OH MY GOD.
The good news is I’ll probably lose like 4 pounds this week because I’m pretty sure I’ll never be able to eat ever again. BARF.
A friend (who is a nurse) was talking with her Dad’s doctor after he had a heart attack, and the doctor told her “You should tell your dad that while he’s on [name of some kind of medication] he should stop taking Viagra. It could cause problems.”
Just in case thinking about your dad boning your mom isn’t embarrassing enough, learning that he needs medication to get it up should certainly help.
Razing Hell: Rethinking Everything You’ve Been Taught About God’s Wrath and Judgment
Seventy percent of Americans believe in hell, as do ninety-two percent of those who attend church every week. Clearly, it’s a hot topic. Baker offers readers a safe space to contemplate tough issues as we rethink our traditional views of hell. In her candid and inviting style Baker explores and ultimately refutes many traditional views of hell, presenting instead theologically sound ways of thinking that are more consistent with our image of God as a loving creator who desires to liberate us from sin and evil.
I’m a sucker for a good title, especially one with a good word-play, and “Razing” Hell certainly fits the bill.
I’m especially interested because the author is a professor at Messiah College, which is — how shall we say? — “not known for being liberal.” Or, more precisely, known for being really/very/quite conservative.
The author has written a post on HuffPo called “Why I want to raze hell” (they seem to have renamed it “The problem with hell” which is lame) which seems to serve largely as a preview of the issues she’ll discuss in the book.
So, yeah, I ordered it. (After clicking the link that says “I’d rather have read this on my Kindle!” Yeah, I’m already turning into That Guy.)
Just finished watching the “Host” episode of X-Files and now will never be able to sleep or poop again. (It lives in the sewers.)
[video]
“Jesus never, not once, went to the mat for doctrine. Yet every split and schism in the church happened because of our stubborn insistence that others must profess the “right” beliefs. We have expended huge amounts of resources and goodwill, defending the very aspect of religious life Jesus valued least. This is the great irony of Christ’s church — a significant number of its members care more about believing certain things about Jesus, than following his example of love and service. If the church were Christian, mirroring the compassion of Jesus would be more important than echoing the orthodoxy that has built up around him.” —
Philip Gulley (via azspot)
Can I get an Amen?? (via mommybird)
AMEN! Jesus taught us about living in relationship, which is what YHWH had been trying to get across to Israel for centuries. Christianity is, therefore, not a religion of right belief or even right behavior. Christianity is a faith of right relationship, of living with God and living with one another.
Doctrine is a tool that helps us to see how Jesus models right relationship for us, but it is there merely to guide us into relationship with God through Jesus Christ, and not to be the be-all and end-all of Christianity.
Want to be a Christian? Live with God and love God. Use this loving relationship with God to live with and love everyone else. Everything else follows from this.
(via hedwyg)
This is the same author I mentioned to you earlier regarding If the church were Christian
“hedwyg” aka “undercover nun” is fast becoming my favorite new site.