Hollywood and Booze – The Good Old Days

We have often poked fun at the modern hysteria surrounding the use of alcohol here at The Notes.

I can’t remember the last time I read or watched a news story involving booze which didn’t also include some overly simplistic moral subtext wagging a disapproving finger at our inability to be anything other than reckless, impulsive infants while under the influence. And while I’d love to write a screenplay which involves an adult, and comical, relationship with the bottle I can’t see the possibility of any modern television or film production doing so without feeling it also has to show the consequences. Consequences which, in our modern cultural climate, could only be portrayed as bad.

Which is why I’d have loved to have been writing in an era when booze was celebrated in the way it was in The Thin Man series. Great gags. Fabulous on-screen chemistry between William Powell and Myrna Loy. And, boy, did they sink a few…

Liquor review — Hayman’s Old Tom Gin

A new brand of gin, Hayman’s Old Tom Gin, has turned up on the shelves at my local liquor store, so before buying, I thought I’d do a little research on line.

I found what seemed like a most excellent review at Tasting.com:

Clear with a silvery cast. Interesting aromas of graham cracker, almond, creamy lemon frosting, sweet spices, and delicate herbal juniper follow through on a soft, round entry to a sweet medium body with

The thin edge of the wedge

This from The Guardian Health section, with doctors talking about alcohol consumption:

There should be a total ban on alcohol advertising, including happy hours and sponsorship of

Binge drinking: Katherine Hepburn-style

New pandemic alert: binge drinking sweeps the Western world! The latest outbreak of binge drinking has erupted in Italy where:

Traditional restraints are breaking down, to the horror of parents, health authorities and the government, which has described the problem of alcohol abuse as a national emergency.

Where once becoming drunk was a social taboo and a cause for shame, it is now regarded by many young Italians as acceptable, even desirable.

The origin of the outbreak has been traced to . . .  the United Kingdom:

Having been introduced to the cheap shots, happy hours, and down-in-one drinking games of Anglo-American drinking culture, many Italians are now hooked.

Oh, the irony; only last month the Brits were looking to Italy for some help with this problem.