Half of Twenty-Four

What better way to celebrate Canada day than twenty-four brews. This is the task ahead of me as I bring the stuff-myself phase to the end. Given the other experiences I've shared, a day's bender seems the most appropriate way to bring the pre-diet to a close.

If you're interested in the particulars: last Friday, I walked home a two-four of Lakeport Strong beer. (5.9% alcohol.) The walk was about a half-mile, necessitating a few rest stops along the way. (The fact that I have no car, and the closest beer store is that half-mile's distance, pretty much assures that this will be a seldom occurrence, unless I smarten up enough to use either a bundle buggy or public transportation. Both seem unlikely in my case.)

This entry will be a liveblog, updated every hour on the hour. As you may have already guessed, the quality of the writing, as well as the editing and proofreading, will deteriorate as afternoon turns into evening.


Weight before the final fling: 263 lbs.

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The following took place between 12 PM ET and 1 PM ET: I have to stipulate to a certain patriotism. A large part of the first hour of ye bender was devoted to watching CBC's televised Canada Day celebrations; I stuck around for the pomp. I watched the Governor-General of Canada inspect the Horse Guards and a winning poster design for this year's Canada Day. At the end of my stint at this, there was a song by a band called "Delhi2Dublin," which performed a song that was a mix of traditional Indian music and Irish riverdance. I was impressed with how well the two meshed. During this time, I quaffed 2 beers plus a bit fo a third.

The following took place between 1 PM ET and 2 PM ET: I started watching Hang 'em High, starring Clint Eastwood. (The judge is played by Pat Hingle.) This movie is a sympathetic portrait of a stereotypical "hanging judge," humanized through showing what he faced. Even the prisoners like seeing another one offed. One interesting part of it was the use of a schizophrenic as a minor character, who was shot because he wouldn't (couldn't, really) heed the marshal. I believe that the addition of black people as deputies and bailiffs was realistic, as such a hiring practice is consistent with the Reconstruction effort to make it clear that black people were freemen. As of 2 PM, I've quaffed 5 1/2 beers.

The following took place between 2 PM ET and 3 PM ET: I continued with Hang 'Em High. The focus in the 45 minutes of so that I've seen since the last update is the difference between the cop's view of juistice and the judge's. The cop's view is the one treated sympathetically relative to the judge's, as the cop would go easy on a person that the judge would administer upon the full penalty of the law. This difference, though, is supposed to show the law's disinterestedness. As of now, I've guzzled down 7 1/3 beers.

The following took place between 3 PM ET and 4 PM ET: Break. I couldn't get through more, so instead I lied down and snoozed for a bit.

The following took place between 4 PM ET and 5 PM ET: An outright snooze.

The following took place between 5 PM ET and 6 PM ET: I woke up, and went back to the movie while nursing a "pre-hangover."

The following took place between 6 PM ET and 7 PM ET: I finished Hang 'Em High, whose denouement provided a reason explaining why frontier justice was often rough justice: no checks and balances. It was also made clear throughout the movie that the people wanted swift justice.

The following took place between 7 PM ET and 8 PM ET: After filling my gullet, I started on another Clint Eastwood movie: The Outlaw Josey Wales. It's a movie about how an army's descent into marauding calls forth opposing guerillas who would otherwise have been peaceable. I'm up to 10 beers consumed.

The following took place between 8 PM ET and 9 PM ET: Sometimes, you have to throw in the towel. It tuns out that me getting through that movie in a one-shot is too tiring right now, so I lied down and turned on some music. The same thing goes for consuming all the beers I've gotten; it retrosepct, thinking I could consume all twenty-four in a day was foolish. My tolerance is just too low.

The following took place between 9 PM ET and 10 PM ET: After mulling things over with the help of music, I finally figured out what made this stunt dribble off: I find it too lonely drinking alone. I just can't stand it.

The following took place between 10 PM ET and 11 PM ET: It finally sunk in that the food fest is over for me; tomorrow, the dieting starts. The twelfth and final beer of the day is gone, so this means I'm going to have two six-packs in storage, for what likely will be a long time.