Guaranteed to Get Rid of Your Headache -- And Maybe More

Anyone who knows me knows that i love my coffee.  It's south Louisiana, after all, and coffee is a religion.  It needs to be be black as the swamp mud and hot as the bayou in July, chicory optional but enjoyed.

There are even quotes and taglines about coffee that i love and will cite at the drop of a hat, such as: 

"A morning without coffee is like sleep!"

"Set a new course.  There's coffee in that nebula!" (Captain Janeway of Star Trek: Voyager)

"Picard always drank tea.  Kirk always drank coffee.  Any questions?"

"The morning cup of coffee has an exhilaration about it which the cheering influence of the afternoon or evening cup of tea cannot be expected to reproduce." ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

That latter i quoted to the pastor of the church one day, and he was speechless, a very unusual state for him.

So it was with great curiosity that i clicked on a link to a news story about a new coffee company that bills its coffee as the strongest in the world.

Now the average cup has anywhere from 120 to 300 mg of caffeine.  Thus i limit myself to one 14oz cup a day, as an excess gives me very unpleasant side effects.  This new coffee company calls itself "Death Wish" and refers to "sissy Starbucks" on its homepage.

It gives you 600mg of caffeine in a cup.

When i told Sweetie about it, he noted that, "They should say it's guaranteed to get rid of your headache, and maybe even of you!"

Or, to quote Col. Potter of M*A*S*H, "I like my coffee strong, not lethal!"


Today is:

Anniversary of the Arengo and the Feast of the Militants -- San Marino

Annunciation of the Virgin Mary -- Roman Catholic Christian
     Lady Day/Quarter Day -- England; Ireland; Wales (traditional New Year's Day)
     Varfrudagen -- Sweden (waffle day)

Day of the Shining Ones of Heaven move Upstream -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Festival of King Amenhotep I -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (rituals depicting his death and burial, performed for the Deir-el-Medina workforce; date approximate)

Hilaria -- Ancient Roman Empire ("Day of Joy", honoring Attis)

Independence Day -- Cyprus; Greece

International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade -- UN

International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff Members -- UN

International Waffle Day -- based on Sweden's tradition of having waffles on Annunciation Day

Medal of Honor Day -- US (first one awarded this date in 1963)

Mother's Day -- Slovenia

National Day of Celebration of Greek and American Democracy -- Greece; US

National Lobster Newburg Day

National Pecan Day -- anniversary of George Washington's planting of Pecan trees at Mt. Vernon in 1775

National Waffle Day -- possibly also International Waffle Day, depends on the site you search

Numbskulls and Clodhoppers' Dance -- Fairy Calendar (i know a couple of people who qualify on both counts; i need to find out how to buy tickets!)

Old New Year's Day -- until 1751, British Empire

Otago Provincial Anniversary -- Otago, New Zealand

Pesach -- Judaism (Passover; begins at sundown)

Revolution Day -- Greece (anniversary of the revolt against the Ottoman Empire in 1821)

Sacrifice to Kronos -- Ancient Greek Calendar (private sacrifices to Kronos; date approximate)

Seward's Day -- Alaska, US

St. Dismas' Day ("Dismas" is the name given to the unnamed "Thief on the Cross", crucified next to Jesus according to Biblical accounts, and who repented; Patron of condemned/death row prisoners, funeral directors/undertakers, penitent criminals, prisoners, reformed thieves; Merizo, Guam)

Struggle for Human Rights Day -- Slovakia

The Tichborne Dole - in Alresford, Hampshire, UK; since 1150, a gallon of flour is given to every resident by the Tichborne family head on this day, to avoid a curse

Tolkien Reading Day -- sponsored by The Tolkien Society on the anniversary of the fall of Sauron


Birthdays Today:

Danica Patrick, 1982
Sheryl Swoopes, 1971
Sarah Jessica Parker, 1965
Paul Miles, 1952
Elton John, 1947
Bonnie Bedelia, 1946
Paul Michael Glaser, 1943
Aretha Franklin, 1942
Anita Bryant, 1940
Gloria Steinem, 1934
Simone Signoret, 1921
Howard Cosell, 1920
David Lean, 1908
Bela Bartok, 1881
Arturo Toscanini, 1867


Today in History:

The first Easter, according to calendar-maker Dionysius Exiguus, 31
According to legend, Venice, Italy is born today at noon, 421
Richard I is wounded by a crossbow bolt while fighting France, leading to his death on April 6, 1199
Robert the Bruce becomes King of Scotland, 1306
Sir Walter Raleigh renews Humphrey Gilbert's patent to explore North America, 1584
Henry Hudson embarks on an exploration for Dutch East India Co., 1609
Lord Baltimore founds Catholic colony of Maryland, 1634
Saturn's largest moon, Titan, is discovered by Christian Huygens, 1655
Mount Etna in Sicily erupts, destroying Nicolosi, killing 20,000, 1669
The Slave Trade Act becomes law, abolishing the slave trade in the British Empire, 1807
The Swansea and Mumbles Railway in England, then known as the Oystermouth Railway, becomes the first passenger carrying railway in the world, 1807
Percy Bysshe Shelley is expelled from the University of Oxford for publishing the pamphlet The Necessity of Atheism, 1811
Greeks revolt against the Ottoman Empire, beginning the Greek War of Independence, 1821
In New York City, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire kills 146 garment workers, leading to factory reform laws, 1911
The Georgian Orthodox Church restores its autocephaly abolished by Imperial Russia in 1811, 1917
The first successful tornado forecast predicts that a tornado will strike Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, 1948
The European Economic Community is established (West Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg), 1957
Canada's Avro Arrow makes its first flight, 1958
Civil rights activists led by Martin Luther King, Jr. successfully complete their 4-day 50-mile march from Selma to the capitol in Montgomery, Alabama, 1965
The first fully functional space shuttle orbiter, Columbia, is delivered to the John F. Kennedy Space Center to be prepared for its first launch, 1979
The world's first wiki, a part of the Portland Pattern Repository, is made public by Ward Cunningham, 1995
The European Union's Veterinarian Committee bans the export of British beef and its by-products as a result of mad cow disease, 1996
Protesters demanding a new election in Belarus, following the rigged Belarusian presidential election, clash with riot police, 2006