ODO 131

Birthdays and Coffee Gods: ODO 131

I’m rewinding a bit to talk about my birthday, and more accurately the gifts I got for my birthday and Yule (spoilers it’s coffee.) In Recommended Listening I’m doing another little rewind to the other show from previous guest, Derek, from the Sometimes Geek podcast. with Rolling Misadventures. Finally in the Jackass of the Week, I’ve got a guy who lied about his age so bad, I don’t know what’s worse, him or the people who fell for it.

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ODO 75: Cereals, Stoners, and Surprise Mother Effers

I’ll admit it. I love cereal. I especially love those sugar cereals from my childhood. So when General Mills announced that they are going to give us back the original recipe Trix. I got really excited. How excited? Excited enough to devote an entire segment to breakfast cereal. This week’s news brings a recall from Death Wish Coffee, a lawsuit from an armed robbery suspect, and a tie for J.A.W. with a couple a people too inebriated to function. As promised last week, this week’s Recommended Listening  feature goes to my fellow Surprise Mofo, Mike Jolitz.

(download mp3)

 -WEIRD NEWS-

When consumers complained about artificial colors and flavors in food, the cereal companies responded by replacing all artificial colors and flavorings with natural options. In the case of Trix, the new, natural, recipe resulted in muted colors and bland unpleasant flavors. Now, consumer backlash against the natural Trix has lead General Mills to return to the original recipe.  They have said that they will still sell the natural version for those that prefer it.

After lab test showed the possibility of botulism developing in their cold brew coffee cans, Death Wish Coffee decided to recall all of their cold brew cans as a precaution. Nobody was reported sick from the coffee.

Equifax sent a tweet about how to sign up for their TrustedID service. Instead, the tweet rewrote equifaxsecurity2017 as securityequifax2017, a site tagged for phishing.
FEMA sent a tweet intended to provide people with information on assistance for dealing with damaged roofs. Instead it went to a phone sex hotline. The number was supposed to be a “1-888” number, not a “1-800” number.

A guy goes into a Starbucks with a mask and tries to rob the place. A customer tries to stop him and they scuffle. The customer gets stabbed but then takes the knife and stabs the would be robber multiple times. Now the robber may sue the customer for his injuries.

 -JACKASS OF THE WEEK-

A couple of hikers had to call for a rescue after they decided to smoke some weed at the peak of their trip and found themselves too stoned to hike back down.
A New Zealand Woman, convicted of drunk driving and public endangerment, showed up so drunk to her sentencing hearing that the judge was unable to complete the hearing at that time. Court staff claimed she was so drunk they would have to carry her into the courtroom. Eventually she received jail time, a suspended license, her car was impounded, and she will have 3 years with a no-alcohol license. 

 -RECOMMENDED LISTENING-

http://www.spreaker.com/user/mikejolitz

“My goal is to entertain you each and every show. Now in my second year, this rebooted podcast has interview segments and musical guests. Come back and check the show out again.”

 

 -Promos This Week-

Gareth’s Random Ramblings
Couch Potato Files

ODO Ep 17: “Wine of the Bean”

 

Episode 17: “Wine of the Bean”


What do 90% of nerds have in common? COFFEE!! True nerds love coffee and research. As I am a nerd, what could be more fitting than researching coffee? This week we learn a bit about coffee and make fun of the strange history and haters of the “Wine of the Bean.”

 

Fun Coffee Facts / History

  • Coffee beans are actually the pit of a berry.
  • Legend has it that coffee was discovered by Ethiopian goat herders in the 9th century who found that their goats would “dance” after eating the berries.
  • Coffee comes from an Arabic phrase that means “wine of the bean”
  • Caffeine, and by extension coffee, is psychoactive stimulant and in extremely high doses can cause hallucinations and death.
  • But it would take drinking 100 standard cups of coffee in one sitting to actually die. 
  • 1.4 billion cups of coffee are consumed every day
  • Most expensive Starbucks coffee is a 16 shot espresso which will set you back about $24.
  • Most expensive coffee in the world comes from the feces of a Sumatran wild cat. While digesting the berries, the pits are fermented. The collected beans cost as much as $600 per lb.
  • Claiming to be the strongest coffee in the world, Death Wish Coffee boasts 660 mg of caffeine per 12 oz cup.
    • By comparison a standard cup of coffee contains from 100-150 mg of caffeine
    • A single shot espresso  is between 80-120mg
    • Tea 40 mg
    • Average chocolate bar has between 20-60 mg caffeine
    • Standard 12 oz cola has from 40-60 mg

(For reference the lethal amount is approximately 10,000 mg for the average adult) 

Coffee’s Bad Rap

  • For years coffee has been blamed for everything from hypertension and heart disease to birth defects and cancer.
  • Coffee houses were actually banned in England in the late 1600’s because the king thought that’s where people were plotting against him.
  • Italian priests in the 16th century labeled coffee as satanic until Pope Clement VIII declared it delicious and had it baptised. (Hence all the Italian coffee houses)

Fortunately for all of us coffee lovers, they were all wrong…

  • Modern research has found no concrete proof that drinking coffee has any long term negative effects and has actually disproven almost all previous accusations.
  • Long term moderate (2-4 cups a day) coffee consumption has been shown to reduce the risk of:
    • Some forms of Cancer
    • Cirrhosis of the liver
    • Asthma attacks
    • Parkinson’s Disease
    • Alzheimer’s Disease
  • Regular heavy coffee consumption has actually been shown to reduce blood pressure and help strengthen the heart.
  • Coffee actually contains 4X the cancer fighting antioxidants as a cup of  green tea.

Now that you know it’s not going to kill you, drink up, and make it a double.