newman day

ok, so i read with horror this morning on-line at princeton.edu about the upcoming newman's day...april 24...the annual 24-beers-in-24-hours tradition that takes place on campus a la Paul Newman, whose alleged "24 beers in a case, 24 hours in a day. Coincidence? I think not" quote is supposed to be the origin of the tradition's name.
The story attracted national media, and Newman subsequently took out a full-page ad in The Daily Princetonian discouraging binge drinking. a student group is handing out free orange rubber wristbands engraved with the word "Livesmart" at Frist Campus Center 'we're not saying don't drink....we are just saying to be smart about it'..... last year the same group handed out t-shirts that said "Celebrate Newman's Day 2004 . . . by honoring Scott's memory." Scott Newman, the actor's son, died of a drug overdose in 1978 at age 28. horror was my first emotion, because i recalled with a wave of nausea the experience that our family has had with alcohol poisoning....the consumption of enough alcohol to hospitalize if not kill....not a scenario to be desired by those seeking a good time....but i guess i should say that my horror was tinged with amusement....as the thought of drinking 24 beers in 24 hours for some higher purpose seems silly enough to be funny.......kind of like the amusement/horror i feel when i think of the dining room at the usda....1n 1977 US government officials staged a grand opening ceremony of their brand new Department of Agriculture staff canteen, attended by Robert Bergland, US agriculture secretary. Bergland unveiled a brass plaque naming it the "Alfred Packer Memorial Dining Facility", after one of Americas most famous nineteenth century frontiersmen. A few months later the plaque was hurriedly removed when someone remembered what the late Mr Packer had been chiefly famous for : he was a cannibal, convicted of killing and eating five Colorado gold prospectors in the 1870s. so while i am amused that the usda would name its cafeteria after a famous cannibal.....i am certainly not promoting cannabilism.....there are few people that i like well enough to befriend..let alone eat....and what fun would it be to eat strangers or folks one dislikes...but i digress from newman's day.....the day would be far less dangerous if smaller beers...say those cute 7-ounce little kings were substituted....24 x 7 oz is still a lot of beer, but far less toxic.......