Germans are the third highest per capita consumers of beer, at about 28 gallons per person per year. Americans are 14th highest, at 20 gallons. Czechs are the highest, at 39 gallons. What about the Irish? Well the UK is 22nd highest, at 18 gallons.
In terms of total national consumption of beer, Russia consumed 2.8 billion gallons of beer in 2012. The US was twice that, at 6.4 billion gallons. The top country was China: 11.8 billion gallons of beer. This is based on 2012 data.
In 2012, Germany fell behind Austria in a tight race for the second spot. Czech Republic leads, with about 40% more per capita consumption than any other country.
For decades, Darwin Australia has been the world leading beer-drinking city. but in recent years, Alice Springs (also in the Northern Territory) has surpassed Darwin.
(I will be in Darwin in a couple of weeks, I’lll report back.)
Do let us know.
In play: The Australian Alps receive more snowfall than Switzerland.
Mountain ranges and highlands with the name “Alps” outside Europe include the Japanese Alps, the New Zealand Alps, the Issaquah Alps in Washington State, the Trinity Alps in California and the Montes Alpes on the moon.
L’Alpe d’Huez, in the Rhône-Alpes region of the central French Alps, is one of Europe’s premier skiing venues. L’Alpe d’Huez is also climbed regularly in the Tour de France. It was first included in the race in 1952 and has been a stage finish regularly since 1976.
The second-longest river in France at 504 miles, the Rhône River originates in Switzerland, from the Rhône Glacier in the Swiss Alps (in the canton of Valais). It empties into the Rhône Delta in La Camargue, at the Mediterranean Sea.
The Verdon Gorge (Les Gorges du Verdon, or Grand canyon du Verdon) in the southeasr of France is a river canyon that is often considered to be one of Europe’s most beautiful. It is about 16 miles long and 2,000’ deep. In comparison the Grand Canyon of Arizona is 277 miles long and 6,000’ deep, and the Copper Canyon of Chihuahua Mexico (Barrancas del Cobre) is even longer and deeper than that.
The Fish River Canyon in Namibia is the largest canyon in Africa at 100 miles long.
The largest known canyon in the Solar system is Valles Marineris on Mars, which is 6 miles deep and almost 2,500 miles long.
A box canyon is a canyon (or gorge) within mountains that has an opening on only one side. One example is Box Canyon in Ouray County, Colorado. Slot canyons are very narrow canyons, often with smooth walls. One example is Antelope Canyon, east of Page, Arizona.
The antelope that is said to “play” in the song “Home in the Range” is not a true antelope species, but is the American pronghorn, often called an antelope.
Antelopes are members of the cow family, bovidae.
In the Westminster parliamentary tradition, members of Parliament are not addressed by name when in the House of Commons, but by the name of their constituency.
For example, the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, is formally referred to as the member from Papineau, and the leader of the Opposition, Rona Ambrose, is the member from Sturgeon River—Parkland. The leader of the third party, Thomas Mulcair, is the member from Outremont, the leader of the Bloc Québécois is the member from Rivière-du-Nord, and the leader of the Green Party is the member from Saanich—Gulf Islands.
The only time a member is referred to by name is if the member’s conduct seriously breaches the rules of the House. The Speaker has the authority to call on the member by name, which means that the member is excluded from participating in the business of the house until the member formally apologises.
The US and Canada use the same names of primal beef cuts. For the forequarter cuts there is chuck, rib including short rib, prime rib and rib eye, and brisket, shank, and plate. For the hindquarter cuts there is loin, which consists of short loin (T-bone, porterhouse, strip steak), sirloin, and tenderloin (filet mignon, tournedo), and round, and flank.
Primal therapy is a trauma-based psychotherapy created by Arthur Janov, who argues that neurosis is caused by the repressed pain of childhood trauma. Janov argues that repressed pain can be sequentially brought to conscious awareness and resolved through re-experiencing the incident and fully expressing the resulting pain during therapy.
Primal therapy has since declined in popularity, partly because Janov has not demonstrated in research the outcomes necessary to convince research-oriented psychotherapists of its effectiveness. Janov and others continue to advocate and practice the therapy or various developments of it.
The screenplay co-writer of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), science fiction writer Sir Arthur C. Clarke, was awarded the Sri Lankabhimanya, the highest civil honor in Sri Lanka. Clarke immigrated to Sri Lanka in 1956 primarily because of his interest in scuba diving, and he lived there until his death in 2008. Clarke was knighted in 1998. Clarke was awarded the Sri Lankabhimanya in 2005 for his contributions to science and technology and his commitment to his adopted country.
Arthur C. Clarke’s homosexuality was not widely acknowledged until after he died. Journalists who enquired of Clarke whether he was gay were told, “No, merely mildly cheerful.”
A few hours before Clarke died, Gamma Ray Burst 080319B was observed on Earth, visible to the naked eye. There were calls to name it the Clarke Event, in honour of Clarke and his short story, “The Star”. SDMB alumnus, Phil Plait, said that he did not see a need for a formal naming of it: "The poetic alignment of the two events is enough for me, to be honest.”
Human-habitable worlds like Earth are referred to as Class-M worlds in the various incarnations of Star Trek. The TV show Star Trek: Enterprise established this as originally being a Vulcan planetology designation.
Vulcanization, named after Vulcan, the Roman god of fire, was not developed until the 19th century, mainly by Charles Goodyear from New Haven CT. Vulcanization typically involves adding sulfur.