Benefits of Global Warming

dakota
Originally uploaded by wirthy.

Maybe land in ND will be worth something someday.

This is why I always have beer in my car

Man peed way out of avalanche

A Slovak man trapped in his car under an avalanche freed himself by drinking 60 bottles of beer and urinating on the snow to melt it.

Rescue teams found Richard Kral drunk and staggering along a mountain path four days after his Audi car was buried in the Slovak Tatra mountains.

He told them that after the avalanche, he had opened his car window and tried to dig his way out.

But as he dug with his hands, he realised the snow would fill his car before he managed to break through.

He had 60 half-litre bottles of beer in his car as he was going on holiday, and after cracking one open to think about the problem he realised he could urinate on the snow to melt it, local media reported.

He said: "I was scooping the snow from above me and packing it down below the window, and then I peed on it to melt it. It was hard and now my kidneys and liver hurt. But I'm glad the beer I took on holiday turned out to be useful and I managed to get out of there."

Parts of Europe have this week been hit by the heaviest snowfalls since 1941, with some places registering more than ten feet of snow in 24 hours.

WTF (What the F#%@!!!!)

How exciting: earlier this week the Arizona Cardinals announced they would be adopting a new logo. What marketing genius came up with this new design?


Old Logo vs. New Logo

Interesting Undercard

Interesting Undercard
Originally uploaded by wirthy.

I saw this poster while in Vegas over the weekend. It looks like an interesting undercard bout, I'll have to order it.

Lets Get Serious, Just for a Minute

While I usually do not spend much time on this site discussing serious topics, sometimes there are things in this world too important to ignore.

It has become clear to me, and to thousands of others, that we no longer need Ashlee Simpson. PetitionOnline.com is seeking signatures on a petition to her record label and management company demanding that she cease recording, touring, modeling and performing.

So take a few minutes out of your day and help make our world a better place.

Sign the petition on petitiononline.com

New Publicity Photo

It looks like all those years of hoisting 12 ounce beers is finally paying off.

Barta's new baby

Barta's new baby
Originally uploaded by wirthy.

Utilizing advanced computer generated imaging software, I was able to create a photo of what Chad and Brenda Barta's baby will look like once it is born.

The program also estimates an 82% likelihood the baby will be named Daunte.

It's amazing what we can do with techology these days!

Drinking bet ends early

Any drinking that Mark 0tto did Friday or Saturday did not violate the bet he made with me nine days earlier.

Last Wednesday 0tto bet me $50 that he could go two weeks without alcohol. After nine days of watching him drink Coke and iced tea, I conceded victory to him. We came to an agreement that allowed him to win the bet, resume drinking and collect partial payment. I gave him $25 but then stuck him with the tab.

Quote

If Wirthy can walk to his car, Wirthy can drive his car, because it is a lot harder for Wirthy to walk to his car than it is for him to drive his car.

- Brian Goeser, circa 1995

Photo Archive

Here's a shot of a then-single Missy Dosmann I found in the Wirthy.com archives.

C'mon 0tto - step it up!

Mark 0tto quits drinking beer for 6 days and look what's being reported:

Beer Is Losing Ground in Alcohol Market
From Yahoo.com

ST. LOUIS - If you sometimes find yourself ordering a glass of wine or a mixed drink when you used to order a beer, you're not alone.

Wines and distilled spirits continue to gain a bigger share of the alcoholic beverage market, at the expense of the beer industry.

It's a trend that has been going on since the late 1990s and continued in 2004. Analysts who follow the alcoholic beverage industry don't see it stopping anytime soon.

"We believe there is an overall image crisis with beer," Smith Barney Citicorp analyst Bonnie Herzog said.

As baby boomers age, they are more willing to buy wine and spirits instead of beer. And the wine and spirit companies are successfully targeting younger drinkers with advertising and promotions.

"Our wholesaler contacts have told us through a survey we conducted recently that beer has lost its 'sexiness' and 'appeal to young consumers,'" Herzog said. "We continue to believe the road ahead is a long one for the beer industry."

Beer remains, by far, the most popular alcoholic beverage in the United States. But its share of the alcohol market has slipped.

Beer Marketer's Insights, a trade publication, estimates that beer accounted for 59.5 percent of the absolute alcohol content sold in its peak year, 1995. That had fallen to 56.7 percent in 2003.

The spirits industry began its big push in 1999, when it had 28.6 percent of the market. In 2003, its share had risen to 29.7 percent. Wine went from 12.6 percent to 13.6 percent.

The totals for 2004 aren't in, but it was "more of the same," said Benj Steinman, president of Beer Marketer's Insights.

The spirits industry spent almost $100 million on broadcast advertising in 2004, compared with "almost zero" in 1999, said Frank Coleman, a senior vice president at the Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S. in Washington.

August Busch IV, president of Anheuser-Busch Cos. brewing unit, has said that wine and spirits represent "a threat" to his company and the rest of the beer industry.

Miller Brewing Co. President Norman Adami said, "The single biggest threat facing the American beer business today is the possibility that we will allow the American consumer to get bored with beer."

So what are the brewers doing about it?

For one thing, they are spending more money on promotions, including what they call on-premise spending. That means mostly bars and restaurants, but also hotels, clubs, and concession stands.

On-premise sales, as opposed to store sales, account for only 25 percent of all beer volume in the United States, but 48 percent of all beer retail dollars, making it an important battleground.

Wine and spirits companies have promoted themselves aggressively in bars and restaurants, increasing their sales, Legg Mason analyst Mark Swartzberg said.

Anheuser-Busch, the brewer of Budweiser and Bud Light, has said it plans to spend an additional $30 million for on-premise promotions in fiscal 2005, a 150 percent increase.

Milwaukee-based Miller Brewing also has increased spending.

"Miller is spending about 40 percent more on advertising and promotion than 18 months ago," Swartzberg said.

And a little generational rebellion must be overcome, as well, Swartzberg said. Younger drinkers may choose wine and cocktails because their parents chose beer.

"Any given generation wants to be different than its parents," he said. "It's the natural ebb and flow."

Reason to Never Get Pregnant

Here are some photos of actress Leah Remini. There's something different about one of them. Hmmm...can't quite put my finger on it.

We need more judges like this

Being ordered to have no more children should be the punishment for more crimes: speeding tickets, red light violations, etc.


Judge orders drug addict to stop having children
From CNN.com

ROCHESTER, New York (AP) -- A Family Court judge who last year stirred debate about parental responsibilities ordered a second drug-addicted woman to have no more children until she proves she can look after the seven she already has.

The 31-year-old mother, identified in court papers only as Judgette W., lost custody of her children, ranging in age from eight months to 12 years, in child-neglect hearings dating back to 2000. Six are in foster care at state expense and one lives with an aunt.

The youngest child and two others tested positive for cocaine at birth and all seven "were removed from her care and custody because she could not and did not take care of them," Judge Marilyn O'Connor said in a December 22 decision made public Tuesday.

"Because every child born deserves a mother and a father, or at the very least a mother or a father, this court is once again taking this unusual step of ordering this biological mother to conceive no more children until she reclaims her children from foster care or other caretakers," O'Connor wrote.

In a similar ruling last March, O'Connor ordered a drug-addicted, homeless mother of four to refrain from bearing children until she won back care of her children. The decision, the first of its kind in New York, is being appealed.

Wisconsin and Ohio have upheld similar rulings involving "deadbeat dads" who failed to pay child support. But in other states, judges have turned back attempts to interfere with a person's right to procreate.

O'Connor said she was not forcing contraception or sterilization on the mother, who had children with seven different men, nor requiring her to get an abortion should she become pregnant. But she warned that the woman could be jailed for contempt if she has another child.

The New York Civil Liberties Union maintained that the opinion cannot be enforced because it "tramples on a fundamental right -- the right to procreate."

"There is no question the circumstances of this case are deeply troubling," said the group's executive director, Donna Lieberman. "But ordering a woman under threat of jail not to have any more babies ... puts the court squarely in the bedroom. And that's no place for the government."