The worse beers are the low grade malt liquors and cheaper canned beers found in most grocery stores . Also light beers are really just malt beverages designed for people who don't really like beer . I would like to clear up the confusion on Corona . It is one of the highest quality commercial beers available . It is brewed with all malt and Noble hops imported from Europe such as Saaz , Hallertau or Tettnang . It is the most popular beer in Mexico and the recipe was brought by German settlers in northern Mexico . Most American beers are much lower quality and use garbage additives such as rice and corn syrup to cut cost and create a lighter watery color . These adjuncts are illegal in Bavaria and cause strong hangovers . The bright yellow color of Corona is because they don't add the headache ingredients . Most large breweries blend 20 different cheaper hops to create a consistent low grade flavor . Cheap malt liquors and other American beers will use scrap byproducts such as apples or potatoes instead of malted barley to cut costs . Here is a link that might be useful: Hop varieties

Dr Edward Jenner: The Man Who saved the World from Smallpox - George Smith (leel, from where I am now sitting I can see across the fields and the distant River Severn to the small town of Berkeley where Jenner lived and carried out his experiments) Here is a link that might be useful: Edward Jenner

Am I the only person here who was a 'slower reader'? I grew up in what was technically my Grandfather's house. He and my Father had moved into it on the death of my grandmother in the 1930's and had been looked after/waited on by a housekeeper. During WWII my Father married and brought my Mother to live there . . . and boy did she resent Grampy . . . and being told by neighbours that she was lucky to have a roof over her head, as though she had been rescued from the gutter. So, I was often left with Gramps, who between sleeping and looking at the sports pages would read to me. My Grandmother who worked in a US book store/library often sent American books, so I had several little Golden books plus a few early 'Ladybird' books. I loved listening to stories but never once did it occur to me to try and read them myself. Reading was just something that Grown-ups did. I really struggled at school with reading and can still remember the incomprehension when given a card with pictures on it. A cat, a dog a doll etc. With the card came a small tin containing individual words. Of course the idea was to match the words to each picture. This I could not do because I never recognised any of the words! It appeared no-one (certainly not the teacher a kindly young woman) knew how to help me. Spelling tests were equally dreaded. I always go nothing out of ten and was late home to lunch as I had to write out my many mistakes five times each. I remember the 'correct' words were written on the board but I never knew which was which! As we were never given words to learn or take home and practice, the tests must have been hit and miss anyway. 'Reading' took place in small groups and I was so useless the 'best reader' leading the group would kindly let me off my turn for which everyone was grateful. It wasn't until I was probably nearly seven and had received a copy of What Katie Did for a Christmas present from US Granny, that my Father, not a 'family man' by nature, and bored with all this quality time told me to read the book to him. He sat me on the floor gripping me with his knees and soon found it was quite beyond me. I clearly remember him turning to my Mother and saying 'Why can't she read?" Mother probably answered "I don't know, that's why we send her to school, shouldn't they be teaching her?" She most likely went on "Well I was reading Scott and Dickens when I was seven/eight." Our parents loved to tell us how good they were at 'stuff' and how useless we were! That seemed to be the Damascene moment. It still took me some years to be able to cope with a 'proper' book, but fear (of my Father) was the starting point. And I still don't know what it was that Katie did. ;-)

I have actually searched Etsy and eBay for giant forks and spoons before--I wanted some for my dining room because I remembered loving them as a kid in the 70s'. So funny that Sophia Loren and I have the same taste... I do agree with gramarows that I would not feel obligated or be forced to display anything I didn't want to. Probably my friends and family know that I am kind of taste-specific and likely to not see the appeal in things they pick out, because I haven't been given any decor gifts other than consumables like candles and wall calendars. Years ago I gave one of my best friends an illustration I painted and framed for her baby's nursery. Ten years later she got divorced and I embroidered her a new family tree without The Deadbeat on it, mostly as a humorous F.U. to him. Neither of these creations were "serious" works of art or craft, just whimsy to me. I recently visited her (she lives on the other side of the country) and it's now 25 years later and she has both of these items in her dining room. I cringed, thinking that she has perhaps felt obligated to display them all this time, or that she had perhaps dug them out of some storage because she knew I was coming to visit. Either way, I felt bad I had given her things she would perhaps feel stuck with. Maybe I should send her a note releasing her and letting her know it won't hurt my feelings a bit if that (purple and green!) family tree comes down and the nursery art is saved for a grandchild's room.