Complex Numbers

Mmmmmmm Beer

16. I believe I'll have another beer. My current favorite is Old Rasputin. http://www.northcoastbrewing.com/beer-rasputin.htm I might have to go Russian out to get some more.

The only place I've found around here that sells it is Whole Foods, which I semi-affectionately call Whole Wallet. I should be kinder; I do, after all, own stock in them, and I'd like to eventually recover my investment. Ha ha ha.

But it's not the only Imperial Stout available to me; oh, no. A Charlottesville brewery/pub/restaurant called South Street creates the delicious Anastasia's Imperial Stout.

The thing about an Imperial Stout is this: apparently, England tried to gift Russia some beer during the time of the Czars. But the casks froze and exploded en route. So the English, in a fit of invention not seen since Newton and never seen again until Wallace and Gromit, created a special stout with a greater alcohol content - with a lower freezing point, it made the arduous journey to Moscow unexploded, thus turning Russian heads away from vodka for just a little while.

So while Imperial Stouts tend to be named after Russians, they're a British invention.

Which is not to say that Russia is any slouch when it comes to invention. Just recently, their economy collapsed, much as ours did, only worse, because whatever we do, Russia has to prove it can outdo us. But while our banks spent their "bailout" dollars on management bonuses and exotic retreats, the Russian banks...

I gotta stop laughing here; hang on...

The Russian banks took their bailout money and...

*snort* *pffhahahaha*

...placed large wagers against the ruble.

Okay, maybe it's only funny if, like me, you follow finance and Russia. I thought it was hilarious. It's like the old joke: How many Russians does it take to change a lightbulb? None - why bother? We like the dark.

Okay, I just made that one up.

Anyway, where were we?

Right. Beer.

I'll have another.