Bacchus

I have been sat here enjoying the fruits of Bacchus(wine) and it has taken my meandering thought train to sin tax. Governments all over the world rely upon the populace(povo, pobre, citoyen, comrade, mug) to continue to fill the coffers of Government for our consumption of alcohol and tobacco. I am sure that if they could work out a way to charge us for each thrust as we fornicate/copulate/procreate they would. As someone who is avowedly anti tobacco I have no issue with taxing tobacco and all it's derivatives and yet selfishly I resent every penny, euro, cent that they impose on my sin of choice.

I suppose this goes to prove that we are intrinsically self interested and self involved. In some respects this correlates with my previous ramble in that our political representatives reflect our society as a whole. I therefore pose the question-" are we all by nature venal and self serving"?

Since there are few if any who view or indeed comment on my ramblings I guess this is to some extent a fart in a forest, no-one smells or hears it, so no one responds. Ah Grasshopper, what is the sound of one hand clapping?

Randoms

Everything I enjoy is likely to kill me!

Government advice

I like sitting in the evening after I have finished work and enjoying either a few cocktails or some wine or even a bottle of Champagne occasionally. The way I do it is described as binge drinking and will probably kill me according to the advice from Gov't. I don't smoke so I am safe from Nanny on that(have to agree with her but that is because I am an Anti Smoking Nazi). I have never done drugs but feel that looking back at it, when it wasn't prohibited there wasn't the money in it and criminals didn't get involved. Not sure about this one, don't want it around but the solution we are trying at the moment isn't working. Sex, ah the eternal joy, licit, illicit, hidden, paid for, over the side in what ever form, it is great! If they could the Gov't would tax it, if they could they'd put a meter on dicks and fanny's and charge for entry. Food, we all love it, we all eat too much. Like sex it is a universal lever and pleasure. Food is unique however because so many of us have love/hate relationships with the dinner table. I wonder how much of it stems back to the days of "eat up, clear your plate or you don't get down from the table" that was imposed post rationing?

If I could answer these questions and pick the right numbers tonight, life would be simple.

Malt Whisky

Just read a fellow bloggers comment about the joys of the simple things in life. Felt like sitting and writing about this. There is so much negative press about binge drinking, the ill effects of alcohol and the damage to society. The good that it does is so hard to quantify. There must be millions of people, who like myself enjoy sitting and saviouring a glass(or two) of a favourite tipple. It's been one of those days, you get home, deal with all the problems and pleasures of home life. That moment when you sit down holding the glass, sip and savour the taste of the elixir, it often causes a loud exhalation, a clearing of all the pent up frustrations of the day. I love a malt whisky(no brand mentioned but it's a peaty, smokey Islay delight), I always have it in a particular tumbler when I am at home. The ritual of preparation getting the glass out, taking the bottle off the shelf and out of the tubular storage box and pouring a splash, a scoosh, a modicum, a suitable measure and the first notes rise like an old friend greeting me, welcoming me back. Add a splash of water sometimes an ice cube and sip. I rarely have more than one because if I did it would detract from the exclusivity of the pleasure. I wonder if this falls under the heading of simple pleasure, it does for me. That, at the end of the day(pun intended)is the criteria that it has to meet for me.