David's World

November 26, 2005

Britpubs, Britclubs.

8-12pm: pubbing

In England, Wales and soon in Scotland, the barriers to 24-7 drinking in selected bars are falling - up to now, the last round was called at some point before 11 (or 12 in Scotland). They're hoping to get people to abandon the habit of binge-drinking: "make sure you're wasted by the time the pub closes." Looking to Europe where long hours have been the standard for decades, politicians wonder if they can get the British to drink less.

I know that prohibition doesn't really work in general. But I'm not sure if long hours are going to make things better. Getting drunk slowly is probably not any less detrimental to people's mental health. A British judge recently said that having long hours would only do the job if we had continental European drinking habits: sitting down over a glass of wine or a beer and having a good conversation. What's happening here (and even more so in Ireland): people, with pints in their hands, scream at each other standing in overcrowded pubs.

12-3am: clubbing

Here's a warning for all fellow Edinburghians. Avoid the City Club at all cost. Embarrassingly I admit I was there last night, joining the Love Train at their 70s party. I should have checked what's on...

You may safely ignore my warning after passing the following check-list:

1 Your IQ has been reliably measured and you're sure it's below 90.
2 You have had at least five pints.
3 You are dressed appropriately for the occasion, so you don't run the risk of receiving tonight's Polyester Award. (I didn't get it, thank god.)
4 If you're a medic student and up to 21 years old (at heart), you are exempt from check 1 and you may skip check 2 (probably holds true anyways).

i wondered whether you would be interrested in buying my domain name britpubs.com