Absinthe & Anzac Day

Its officially cold. Have started making porridge in the morning for the screamies. Yes, winter is upon us.

Yesterday was Anzac Day, and no, I was unpatriotic and did not manage to crawl out of bed at 4.30am like James next-door and attend the dawn service. My Grandfather was in the RAAF during WW2 but at 92 he is still pretending that the horrors he experienced didn't happen so there has never been a family emphasis on Anzac Day. I am however having him over to spend the day tomorrow. What better way than to say thanks than to let him see his Great-Grandkids looking cute and angelic and, most likely, having howling tantrums about the place. (He comes for the food, I know this).

Have been doing research on Absinthe (or Absynthe). After a demented day yesterday which included a trip down to Ingleburn (godbless the new in-car DVD player), was avoiding writing The Bunker and ended up in the Romance Australia chat room for a couple of hours (as well as taking part in a Samhain HTML newsletter workshop, bidding on ebay and rearranging iTunes). It went off, and if you're a RWA member drop by next Friday, 8pm - 10pm. So anyway, in the chatroom we had a long discussion with Tracey the absynthe expert, its always intrigued me given it was illegal for most of last century. Here's what wikipedia has to say about it (oh how I love wikipedia).

Absinthe is a distilled, highly alcoholic (45%-75% ABV), anise-flavored spirit derived from herbs, including the flowers and leaves of the herb Artemisia absinthium, also called "wormwood." Absinthe is typically of a natural green color but is also produced in both clear and artificially colored styles. It is often called "the Green Fairy."

Absinthe was portrayed as a dangerously addictive, psychoactive drug. The chemical thujone, present in small quantities, was blamed for its alleged harmful effects. By 1915 absinthe had been banned in most European nations and the United States. Although absinthe was vilified,^[2] no evidence has shown it to be any more dangerous than ordinary liquor. Its psychoactive properties, apart from those of ethanol, have been much exaggerated.

So, further to Thursdays post (a long moan about turning into a boring fart) in addition to possible hair dyeing, tattooing, and piercing, I'm adding a taste for absinthe - hmm, I do believe I'm starting to find my inner Goth.