6 Fest: May 16, 2009!!!

Ohio University's biggest Spring party

Click the image for more details…

A Letter to the Cleveland Plain-Dealer about Gov. Strickland’s Education Plan

Check out this slammin’ letter to the editor by my friend Megan! It appeared in the Cleveland Plain-Dealer 2/26/09:

As an Ohioan teaching English in rural Austria, I have a very different perspective on Gov. Ted Strickland’s proposed education reforms.

I was among those over-achievers who took all of the toughest high school classes while involved in several extracurricular activities. A “senior thesis” would have been superfluous. It would only add to the overwhelming stress that highly motivated high school pupils face daily. Those who want to achieve will do so. Determination isn’t instituted through a required project.

And 20 extra classroom days a year would serve largely to make pupils fidgety and distracted. Shorter summers mean less opportunity for employment to pay for ever-increasing college tuitions.

Want to really equip Ohio’s youth with “21st-century skills”? Add a serious foreign language program in early elementary school, when students’ brains are still linguistically malleable.

I teach at three high schools here in Austria — two “middle level” and one “upper level” in difficulty and prestige. My seniors at all three are not just bilingual — they are trilingual. They can converse fluently in German, English, and Italian or French. While Ohio attempts foreign language offerings, the impression I took from my own high school and from peers at others was that most who opted to take a foreign language (in Austria it is mandatory) might at best have been able to locate the post office or library, or announce whence they hail — hardly a marketable skill set.

If Gov. Strickland truly wants distinguished Ohioans, he should add a far more world-competitive language program. As things stand, any of my Austrian students would be a much more desirable out-of-high-school hire than any Ohioan — or any American, for that matter. And that puts us at a serious global disadvantage.

Megan Strang
Avon, OH
Judenburg, Austria

PICKLEFEST ’09: Sign up today!

Picklefest is Friday March 13, 2009!
Sign up ASAP at Bagel Street Deli:
27 South Court Street, Athens, Ohio 45701. 740-593-3838

Check out this awesome article about Picklefest 2008:

By Maria Varonis
Insider contributor

Local eatery Bagel St. Deli closed up shop a bit early this past Friday to commence its ninth annual Pickle Fest. Highly anticipated by both BSD employees and local pickle lovers alike, the annual pickle-eating contest is an event not for the faint of heart – or stomach.

“I think you have got to be a complete maniac to enter this contest,” said Ohio University sophomore Rob McConnell, who beat out more than 40 competitors to become champion of this year’s contest. McConnell ate 13 full-sized dill pickles in 10 minutes He tied the existing record and gained the coveted title of “Pickle Champ 2008.”

The eating competition has become somewhat of a staple at the bagel shop for everyone involved.

“Pickle Fest is simply a tradition, and traditions are a nice thing to continue,” Megan McElligott, part-owner of the deli, said. “We have established almost a decade of pickle-eating, crazy college students.”

“I think it’s one of the coolest things we do,” Art Oestrike, another BSD part-owner, said. “(The previous owner) wanted to use something in the menu, but who wants to do an all you can eat bagel contest? I mean, think about the repercussions of that. So, hence, the pickle thing.”

For some, this “pickle thing” includes extensive research and vigorous training. For instance, McConnell studied and used the techniques of world-renowned hot dog-eating champion Takeru Kobayashi.

“I just came in prepared, psyched myself up and shoved 13 pickles in my mouth somehow,” he said of his performance. “It felt great until about an hour afterwards, and then it really hurt.”

Many fellow participants commiserated with this downside of competitive eating.

“Pickle Fest was a lot harder than I had anticipated,” contestant Katie Knauff said. “Eating all those pickles makes your teeth feel horrible, and I felt sick for a good couple of hours. I probably won’t do it again. I just don’t like pickles anymore.”

Competitor Michael Swepston used his experience to better prepare for the future.

“Pickle Fest was intense but I have to do it again because this year I sucked,” he said. “I need to do better next year, so I probably won’t eat another pickle until then.”

Although some were less than thrilled with the reality of mass pickle-eating, the event itself seemed to leave a good taste in contestants’ mouths.

“Everyone was so friendly and wearing funny T-shirts. I loved it,” Knauff said.

And though stomachs may suffer, winning the Pickle Fest is not a feat to be taken lightly. Bragging rights and glory aside, winners receive a complimentary Pickle Fest T-shirt, and ultimate Pickle Champs are also invited to invent and name their own bagel sandwich creation to be added to the extensive Bagel Street Deli menu. Past winners have created bagelwich hits such as the Debbie, Debbie, Debbie and Ritter’s Meat.

McConnell already has a bagel creation in mind, though he’s not ready to divulge it just yet.

“I can’t believe I did it,” he said. “And, hey, if I’m around next year, I’ve got to see if I can win it again. It was too much fun.”

Add this to your calendar while you’re at it: Ohio Brew Week

July 12-18, 2009

Athens, Ohio

www.OhioBrewWeek.com

Sex, Drugs, and Backdrop: Winter Quarter Magazine Release Party at 19 South

The geniuses at Backdrop Magazine are back at it again! To celebrate the premiere of their Winter issue, Backdrop Magazine is throwing a crazy party at 19 South in Athens, and believe me, if you were at the party last quarter you would KNOW to be at this one!!

Info from the Facebook event page:

Round two of the Backdrop Magazine Release party has arrived.
Come out to 19 South February 20th for some Sex, Drugs, & Backdrop.
We’ve got a stacked lineup starting at 8:30 that will continue rocking until 2:00 a.m.

Check out the new issue of Backdrop magazine, available Friday 2/20

Upstairs:
Amish Electric Chair
Two EB
Kaslo
She Bears
Front Royal
Mind Fish

Downstairs:
DJ Nig-Unit
Rapper Nig-Unit Featuring Notorious L.I.Z.
Self Help
D Jones

With comedian Matt Karp as MC

$3 over/$5 under

Sex, Drugs, & Backdrop–Live Dangerously…

Don’t forget to pick up your copy of Backdrop as soon as they hit newsstands February 20th!

Why is Swiss cheese holey?

No, not holy, but holey. I started thinking about why Swiss cheese has holes and of course, Wikipedia came through for me like always. Here’s the explanation:

Swiss cheese is the generic name, in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States, for several related varieties of cheese, all of which resemble the Swiss Emmental. Some types of Swiss cheese have a distinctive appearance, as the blocks of the cheese are riddled with holes known as “eyes”. Swiss cheese is known for its nutty, bittersweet taste.

Three types of bacteria are used in the production of Emmental cheese: Streptococcus salivarius subsp. thermophilus, Lactobacillus (L. helveticus or Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus), and Propionibacter (P. freudenreichii or P. shermani). In a late stage of cheese production, the Propionibacter consumes the lactic acid excreted by the other bacteria, and releases carbon dioxide gas, which slowly forms the bubbles that develop the eyes. Swiss cheese without eyes is known as “blind.”

In general, the larger the eyes in a Swiss cheese, the more pronounced its flavor; this is because the same conditions that lead to large eyes—longer aging or higher temperatures—also allow the bacteria and enzymes to produce a stronger flavor. This poses a problem for makers of pre-sliced Swiss cheese, the most popular category in the United States. Cheese with large eyes doesn’t slice well, sometimes coming apart in mechanical slicers. This costs time and money and is one reason why US manufacturers usually produce a product less aged and flavorful than imported cheeses of the same style.

Baby Swiss is another related cheese, often found in the US. Made by substituting water for the milk’s whey to slow bacterial action, baby Swiss cheese has smaller holes and a milder flavor. Baby Swiss is often made from whole milk.

Lacy Swiss is a further variety of US small hole Swiss cheese made with low fat milk

The Largest manufacturer of Swiss cheese in the world is Brewster Dairy, Located in Brewster, Ohio.

[information from Wikipedia]

OH senate to vote on medical marijuana

By Margo Pierce
CityBeat.com
Click here for the original article

Marijuana is a medicine. Not many doctors are willing to make that kind of statement publicly, especially when U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration raids result in the jailing of physicians, terminally ill patients and state-licensed marijuana growers in states where the medicinal use of marijuana is permitted by law.

But Richard J. Wyderski, a physician at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, believes the benefits of the herbal therapy far outweigh the risks of pushing for legalization. In this case he’s publicly backing Senate Bill 343, most commonly referred to as the Ohio Medical Compassion Act sponsored by Sen. Tom Roberts (D-Dayton).

“I provided testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee,” Wyderski says. “I talked about the historical aspects of marijuana — it was a medicine back in the 1800s and early 1900s — and the regulatory stuff that happened that led to it no longer being used medicinally even though it was on the U.S. pharmacopoeia until the early 1940s…

Click here for the full story

Brown Dog the puggle eats delectable grapes to the sound of Mister Got Heat

No real rhyme or reason.. just my friend Jon Slater’s puggle (that’s half pug, half beagle, 100% snuggle) eating some green grapes to the sounds of Mister Got Heat, one of the best bands in Athens, OH.

The History of the Barber Pole

I was walking home this morning when I passed a barber shop on Court Street here in Athens. I got curious what the meaning of the red, white, and blue pole meant because I’ve seen them my whole life but never realized what purpose they originally served. Here is the history of the barber pole according to Wikipedia:

Image from Wikipedia.org

The origin of the barber pole is associated with the service of bloodletting.^[1] During medieval times, barbers performed surgery on customers as well as tooth extractions. The original pole had a brass basin at the top (representing the vessel in which leeches were kept) and bottom (representing the basin which received the blood). The pole itself represents the staff that the patient gripped during the procedure to encourage blood flow.

In the middle ages in France a decree was issued banning facial hair in men. This helped the barber trade to organise. Later, their role was defined by the College de Saint Come, established in Paris circa 1210, as academic surgeons of the long robe and barber surgeons of the short robe.

The red and white stripes symbolize the bandages used during the procedure: red for the blood-stained and white for the clean bandages. Originally, these bandages were hung on the pole to dry after washing. As the bandages blew in the wind, they would twist together to form the spiral pattern similar to the stripes in the modern day barber pole. The barber pole became emblematic of the barber/surgeon’s profession. Later the cloths were replaced by a painted wooden pole of red and white stripes.

After the formation of the United Barber Surgeon’s Company in England, a statute required the barber to use a blue and white pole and the surgeon to use a red pole. In France, surgeons used a red pole with a basin attached to identify their offices. Blue often appears on poles in the United States, possibly as an homage to its national colours. Another more fanciful interpretation of these barber pole colours is that red represents arterial blood, blue is symbolic of venous blood, and white depicts the bandage.

Spinning barberpoles are supposed to be oriented so that the red (blood) will appear as if it was flowing down.

Autopsy results on two OU students shows heroin, alcohol cause of deaths

By Jim Phillips
Athens NEWS Senior Writer
July 21, 2008
Click here for the original article

Autopsy reports released Friday confirmed that two college students found dead in an Athens apartment bathtub in May died from a drug/alcohol overdose.

The autopsy reports on Hocking College student Christopher A. Theil and his girlfriend, Ohio University student Kelly P. Armbruster, lists the cause of death for each as “acute heroin and alcohol intoxication.” Both were 22 years old.

In the autopsy findings, the Montgomery County Coroner’s office also noted that both of the bodies displayed “severe pulmonary edema” (fluid in the lungs), and that drug paraphernalia was found at the scene of their death.

Authorities were called to the Riverpark Towers apartment complex early on the morning of May 3, by a 911 call from Theil’s mother, who was visiting for OU Moms Weekend.

She told the dispatcher that she had just “pulled my son and his girlfriend out of the bathtub,” and that both appeared to be dead.

Both Theil and Armbruster were from the Columbus area, Theil from Dublin and Armbruster from Powell, and both had attended the same high school.

Toxicology reports found that Theil had apparently consumed marijuana, Xanax (a prescription anti-anxiety drug), alcohol and opiates before his death.

The drug screen on Armbruster turned up alcohol, marijuana metabolytes, benzodiazepenes (anti-anxiety medications such as Xanax) and opiates, according to the report. The heroin reference in the autopsy report evidently relates to the opiates listed in the drug screen.

Early on, authorities apparently ruled out any foul play in the couple’s death, and suggested that drugs were probably the cause.

Click here for the original article