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I’ve been enjoying the first few episodes of a show on Netflix called “Ragnarok.” I’ve always been mildly interested in Norse Mythology, and this modern rendition of those themes is fun.

In the show, a kind but somewhat depressed and not terribly bright teenager finds himself in the middle of ancient conflict in the small (fictional) town of Edda in western Norway. (You might recall the Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson — if you took those kinds of classes in college.)

The bad guys know there’s something different about this boy, and they want to find out what it is, so they have him over for a dinner party and stuff him with food and drink. Including mead.

The show seems to want you to believe that mead is some really powerful stuff.

From an ABV (alcohol by volume) perspective, mead can be comparable to a light beer (around 4%) up to a strong wine (15% or so). It’s just fermented honey water. While it has a reputation for delivering serious hangovers, there’s nothing all that powerful from an alcohol perspective. (Mead is supposed to give legendary hangovers, possibly because some meads are very sweet, but also possibly because mead doesn’t have the same vitamins that beer has. To avoid a hangover, (1) don’t drink too much (obviously), (2) drink lots of water, and (3) take B vitamins and aspirin before you go to bed.)

Mythologies often attribute strange powers to alcoholic beverages. There is, for example, the Mead of Poetry, which causes the drinker to become a skald (poet) or a scholar, and to be able to recite any information and solve any question. (That would be handy!)

Mead is often called the drink of the gods. I’ve always thought that was simply because mead is one of the oldest, if not the oldest fermented beverage. But there might be more to it, so I’ve been looking around.

If you come across any interesting information about special properties of mead, please let me know. (No, of course I don’t believe it has such properties, I’m simply interested from a literary / historical point of view.)

Oh. I should also mention that I have made a braggot (fermented honey + barley) that would make the gods jealous.

Redskins Legend Gary Clark Says Name Not Offensive.

“The reason I initially visited the Native American reservation was because people were saying that saying the word ‘Redskins’ was like saying the [N-Word) to a black person,” Clark told Donaldson. …

Clark continued to NBC Sports Washington: “What I found was Native Americans wearing Redskins gear and saying that they were proud to be a Redskin fan and the 5% that weren’t Redskins fans were Cowboys fans and that’s why they didn’t like the name.”

My impression has been that most of the people who are offended by “Redskins” are not Native Americans. Most of them are woke white people bring offended on behalf of Native Americans.

But … the woke mentality is immune to such things, and it’s inevitable that the team will have to change their name. I hope they keep some tie to Native Americans. If they become “the generals” or something like that, I will have no feeling of continuity at all with the old team.

Starting immediately, The Crowhill Report is now private. You will have to login to access any pages.

If you’re seeing this, congratulations, you’re already logged in.

P&C drink and review Southern Comet, a New England IPA, then discuss the American Declaration of Independence.

People have a right to decide what kind of government they want. That is the amazing, radical idea that has led to hundreds of years of liberty.

Pigweed and Crowhill review some of the history — the Stamp Act, the Tea Act, and other things — and then run into the fundamental problem with the declaration. “All men are created equal.” Really? What about the slaves?

I’m sure you’ve seen the video of the armed St. Louis couple, and I’m sure you’ve seen lots of jawing on both sides.

A few points.

1. The mob broke down a gate, trespassed and threatened the couple.

2. They had every right to defend themselves.

3. For the sake of basic gun safety, they should not have pointed their weapons at anyone, or put their fingers on the triggers.

4. If you were confronted with a mob like that, you would want an assault rifle, or a substantial weapon with a large magazine.