Zane Lamprey, host of several traveling-drinking shows (including Three Sheets, Drinking Made Easy and Chug, which airs Monday nights at 7:30pm on the National Geographic Channel) has begun a campaign for an accessory no drinker should be without - the Drinking Jacket.

The Drinking Jacket is a hoodie that the Swiss Army would likely wear, while drinking. Which would be often, since we're not entirely sure what the Swiss Army does besides enjoy schnapps and use their knives for anything imaginable.  Incorporated into the Drinking Jacket is a bottle-opener zipper, a neoprene-lined koozie pocket, drinking mitts, a hidden flask pocket which holds the optional metal-detector-proof flask (for this innovation alone we've come up with 3,274 uses) and a sunglass holder (which may be the tipping point, since this author has lost several pairs of sunglasses when day-drinking has turned into night-drinking and outside-drinking has turned into inside-drinking).  It also has everything that you'd want in a hoodie, like deep pockets and a zipper cover (to keep the bottle-opener zipper from hitting you in the face).

Most appealing is that it just looks like a nice hoodie, and the incorporated gadgets are not readily visible.

The campaign ends 12/22/14 so visit thedrinkingjacket.com for more info!

Ladies and gents, the holidays are here! Wait until you see all of the amazing beverage-related ideas in store to make home parties, office parties and every party the place be. This holiday season is all about thinking out-of-the-box for fantabulous gift solutions. Whether you are getting a nice gift for your closest drinking buddies, or you just want to liven up the party, these creative items will quench your thirst for the perfect gift.

Wine Glass and Bottle Combo

Give the gift that keeps on giving with this conveniently crafted wine glass and bottle combination. Reduce holiday kitchen traffic by reducing glass refill trips to the fridge. This handy, all-in-one decanter-style bottle and glass extravaganza is the perfect design to keep hosts, hostesses and guests in the spirit. Plus, it is a fun piece if any of your friends are wine aficionados.

Wine Label Couture

Today's top recommendation is all about adding creative holiday flair to favorite wine bottles. Be the hit of the party with custom designed and personalized wine labels. Design labels around favorite holiday themes, celebrations and personal festivities. Check the internet for several sites that can help you design the perfect wine bottle labels for the most memorable holiday cheer.

I couldn’t leave Budapest without writing about an essential aspect of the local drinking culture, the city’s ruin pubs.

Over the last 15 years or so a number of pubs have opened in buildings that were due to be destroyed, such as tenement houses and abandoned factories. They were equipped with furnishings from old community centres, cinemas and flats to create a unique retro feeling.

It didn’t take long for these ruin pubs to become extremely popular amongst the city’s drinkers. However, they take a bit of work to keep track of as they will often move around or close for a few years then reopen in a new place.

Not only do they offer a great place to drink and meet like-minded people, but they also function as film clubs, theatres, host concerts and exhibitions and sometimes creative workshops as well.

A nice thing about them is that no two ruin pubs are the same. For instance, in ‘Szimpla Kert’ (Simple Garden) you can have a beer in a cannibalised old Trabant car. In ‘Instant’ you can get lost in the maze of the tenement house while in ‘Kertem’ (My Garden) you get a sense of what it would have been like in a socialist beer-garden in the 1980s.

These days, it seems the internet rules all forms of information acquisition. If you want to know it, the internet will provide it.

Some people have gone so far as to claim print is dead. Fortunately, that isn’t true. Print is alive and well—which is a good thing. While the internet does have its uses, nothing can replace tried and true publications like magazines.

Magazines with Spirit

If you are an honest to goodness alcohol connoisseur, you’ll be happy to hear there are several magazines created with you in mind.

There are plenty of publications devoted to six packs (abs, unfortunately), fashion, beauty supplies, cars and other nonsense, but the alcohol publications are harder to come by.

That’s why we consulted the magazine professionals at Priority One Clearing. Priority One Clearing is a magazine subscription clearing house. Therefore, they know allll about the good publications to buy—no matter the industry.

Men love to drink, and can you blame us? After a hard day at work, there’s nothing like unwinding with a nice cold one. And what better way to enjoy the weekend than with a few tasty adult beverages?

But the old way of drinking just doesn’t cut it anymore. Walking to the fridge to fish out of a beer every time you need a fresh one is so retro. Thankfully, alcohol and ingenuity go hand in hand. Some of us get our best ideas after a couple of drinks. That’s why it comes as no surprise that some insanely cool and innovative drinking gadgets have been invented over the years.

If you’re a guy who likes to drink, these are 6 gadgets you need to get in your life ASAP.

The Beer Holster

Image source: http://www.waycoolgadgets.com/beer-holster/

Prohibition was definitely not one of those shining points in American history. In fact, attempts to regulate alcohol consumption go way back to the early days in US (even during the Colonial period).

This infographic spells out a history of attempts (and failures) of alcohol legistlation, protests, repeals and so on. While everyone should be against abuse and for moderate and responsible drinking, it's seems that any attempts to really clamp down on drinking is met with firm opposition and doomed to failure as effective legislation.

Click on the infographic below for a high resolution version suitable for printing (and hanging behind the bar).

Have a great weekend.

Misconceptions swirl around the consumption of alcohol.  Some of these purported truths have been passed along by older folks, among your friends, or from popular media.  What should you believe? 

Read the alcohol related myths below to discern what is true, what is false, and how to drink safely.

·         Cold shower, fresh air, or coffee will help sober someone who is intoxicated.

o   This is not true at all.  You may end up feeling less sleepy, but it won’t magically expel the alcohol out of your system.  It differs depending on your weight, but the rule of thumb is to expect your body to process one unit of alcohol in an hour.

·         Alcohol affects men and women in the same way.

Many people boast their years in college were better – or at least more eventful – than any other time in their lives.  Most college careers are filled with wild parties and nights bellied up to bar with very little thought given to the actual course work. 

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  Granted, flunking out is frowned upon; but having a good time and testing your new found independence is something everyone should experience. 

In order to make the most of your years partying, it is best to stay safe.  Here are some tips for making the fun last as long as possible.

1.  Eat Before You Go Out

You want to remember the night – not pass out after the first hour.  Before you go to the party or bar, grab a bite to eat. 

Drinking on an empty stomach makes your blood alcohol content rise very quickly.  Since it does no good to chow down after you’ve toss back a few drinks, eat first.  High fat foods can take several hours to digest.  If you have a long night of drinking ahead of you, grab a bucket of fried chicken or a large pizza – as if you needed encouragement to eat those things!    

Being a designated driver is an important responsibility, but have you ever thought that being the designated driver can also be fun?  The next time it is your turn to drive your friends home after a night out, don’t let it get you down.  Read the following points below to find out how being the designated driver can be a lot of fun and is actually enjoyable.

Laughter: the Best Medicine

You have a captive audience and a group of people that will find almost anything hysterically funny, so let the jokes fly.  You have the perfect chance to get great laughs and to be the center of attention.  They laugh at jokes they’ve heard hundreds of times before.

Instead of white-knuckling the steering wheel and fuming all the way home, relax.  Help your friends get situated comfortably and then get rolling.  If your friends mock you for being sober, laugh it off and just remember it’s the beer that’s talking – not your friends.

Say Cheese!

Chances are your friends will have some tipsy moments.  Pull out your camera.  Record your friends in all their glory as they trip over each other or need to be helped into the car.  Post the pictures to social media networks and have another laugh all over again.  Feel good that you’re not one of the tipsy people in the pictures.

Freebies

Inform the servers and bartenders that you are the designated driver.  You may be surprised at getting free soft drinks and virgin drinks throughout the night.  Take full advantage!  You may even get a free appetizer as well.  Your friends may also feel inclined to buy you some soft drinks and virgin drinks as well for taking on the responsibility of being the designated driver.

For most of us, our twenties and thirties are filled with two things – relentless attention to our appearance and late night parties.  Unfortunately, those two things don’t play nicely together.

We all know excessive alcohol consumption is bad for our livers, morning-after mental state, and overall health.  However, even less heavy drinking sessions can have negative side effects.  Your hangover will fade, but the damage done to your skin is irreversible. 

Why Alcohol is Bad for the Skin?

Water acts like an internal moisturizer for the skin.  The more water you drink, the healthier your skin.  Healthy, hydrated skin will be free of wrinkles and appear more youthful. 

Meanwhile, alcohol and caffeine have the opposite effect.  Instead of hydrating your skin, these beverages dehydrate your body.  The opposite of healthy, hydrated skin is wrinkly, old looking skin.  Who wants that?!

Additionally, alcohol is rarely paired with healthy, nutritious foods.  When was the last time you ordered a salad from the bartender to go with your Jager bomb?  What did you order instead?  Greasy, fattening wings? 

Many weight loss hopefuls ask the question: can I drink alcohol and still lose weight?  Fortunately, the answer is yes!  However, that happy reply comes with a stipulation.  You can drink and lose weight if you are smart about your beverage selection.

If you are determined to shed a few pounds, here are some things to consider:

What Are You Eating?

If you go out for a night with the guys and the scale tips heavier the next morning, you can’t blame the alcohol.  At least, the alcohol probably isn’t the only thing responsible for your extra pounds. 

Usually, the bar food that goes with the drinking is what damages your weight loss efforts.  Don’t fill up on high-calorie foods at the bar.  If you must snack while you drink, avoid the fried chicken wings.  Instead, see if you can get a bag of peanuts or some butter-free popcorn.

What Are You Mixing?

The people who are tossing back shots of vodka aren’t the ones packing on the pounds.  Why?  Because straight alcohol isn’t the bad guy.   All the sugary mixers are the true villains. 

According to the Center for Disease Control, around 80,000 people die every year from alcohol poisoning. Alcohol poisoning occurs when an individual consumes multiple drinks within a short period of time. The body cannot metabolize the alcohol quickly. Blood levels rise, causing potentially lethal effects. Body mass and gender contribute to intoxication levels, which vary from one individual to the next. The amount of alcohol safely consumed by one person may prove toxic to another. 

Though the body absorbs alcohol rapidly, digesting and metabolizing alcohol requires an extended period of time. The liver requires at least one hour of time for metabolizing or processing the alcohol in an average drink. One average drink equals:

• 12 ounces of beer
• 5 ounces of wine
• 1.5 ounces of distilled alcohol rated as 80 proof 

The CDC advises that alcohol poisoning may occur after consuming four or five drinks rapidly. When the rate of alcohol consumption exceeds the liver’s processing ability, alcohol levels rise in the blood and affect the central nervous system, producing intoxication symptoms. Alcohol rich blood travels to the brain and inhibits nerves that control various vital functions that include breathing, gag reflex and heart rate along with level of consciousness. The initial symptoms of poisoning resemble intoxication. As the body absorbs more alcohol, symptoms progress, creating a life threatening condition. 

Confusion, slurred speech and lack of physical coordination progress to unconsciousness. Individuals in this state cannot regain consciousness and do not respond to external stimuli. As alcohol irritates the stomach, vomiting often occurs but being comatose, vomit blocks the air passage causing suffocation. Breathing slows to fewer than 10 respirations per minute. Body temperature declines along with heart rate. The combination of these deficits produce bluing around the lips and skin. Individuals may exhibit seizure activity. The steady decline of basic functions progresses to cardiac arrest. 

Forcing the individual into a cold shower or attempting to make them “walk off” intoxication does not reverse the symptoms or effects of alcohol poisoning. Allowing someone to “sleep off” the alcohol may end in that person’s death. Know the warning signs of alcohol poisoning and do not wait for the appearance of all of the symptoms before calling 911. 

James Bond remains one of the most iconic British characters in either book or film, he is the dashing spy who kills the bad guy and always gets the girl. With the release of the blockbusting new film Skyfall, there has been a new surge of interest in this brooding and mysterious character. But there has also been some controversy about his changing drinking habits. As everyone knows, James Bond’s most famous catchphrase is ‘shaken, not stirred’, but it seems that Bond may soon need a new line to match his recent tastes.

Let’s take a look at James Bond’s drinking habits and how they’ve evolved in recent times, starting with the martini.

The martini: the classic Bond drink

Bond’s consistent drink of choice throughout the great majority of his films and books is a martini. He takes this shaken, not stirred.

But why did he prefer it ‘shaken?’  There could be for a number of reasons, including a scientific explanation from the scientists at the University of Western Ontario.  Apparently, a shaken martini has more antioxidants than if it were stirred, but do we really think Bond would drink a shaken martini for the benefit of extra antioxidants?  Probably not.  It’s far more likely that this stemmed from the author of the Bond novels, Ian Fleming’s, love of shaken and not stirred martinis.

In any case, and for whatever reason, the shaken martini is instantly recognisable as a James Bond drink.

Everyone in the nation has legal rights. Understanding your legal rights is extremely important whenever you are facing a conviction for driving under the influence. While the easiest way to avoid an arrest for DUI is to plan ahead and avoid drinking and driving, in some cases people think they are below the legal limit when they truly are not. It is best to learn what you should do if you are pulled over for a DUI before it ever happens. It is best to hope for the best and prepare for the worst and preparing yourself on what to do if you have been pulled over is the perfect type of preparation.

Here are some tips on how to conduct yourself and how to exercise your rights when you are pulled over by an officer who suspects you have been drinking and driving:

• Always Be Polite to the Officer
• There is nothing worse than being rude or belligerent towards an officer of the law. Sure, being pulled over can be inconvenient but it is the officer's job to keep the roads safe. You should always obey all of the officer's commands the first time they ask you to do so. If you refuse to get out of the car or take a sobriety test, the officer can arrest you on the refusal alone. If you are alone and in a very desolate area, you may have the right to request the officer to call backup so that you feel more comfortable. This generally applies when females are pulled over by male officers.

What You Should Understand About Field Sobriety Tests

• An officer will not advertise the fact that you are not legally required to take field sobriety tests. These tests are designed to spot signs of intoxication but they are not a surefire way to detect drinking and driving. It is up to you to decide if you want to take a field sobriety test. If you are sober, you may want to take the test so that you can go on your merry way. If you have been drinking, you have the right to refuse participating without even explaining why. Keep in mind that choosing not to take the test is a quick way to get arrested and will help the prosecution's case if the case goes to trial. Taking the test, for those who have been drinking, can also be used as evidence. In fact, many lawyers believe it is better for your defense case to refuse taking the tests if you have been drinking.
• Drinking and driving something that should always be avoided. If you do choose to drink before you drive, make sure you keep these tips on the back of your mind and exercise your rights.

Nicole Berenston is a professional writer that enjoys reading, gardening and spending time with her family. She obtained her law degree at 4LawSchool.com and specializes in case briefs.