#scumble

I think it causes such cognitive dissonance because in England cider is, famously, a drink broke people drink to get trashed - certainly, when and where I grew up, anyway, in the working class North. It's what teenagers drink with their mates sitting in bus stops or graveyards; it's what homeless people have stashed under their coats; add a splash of "black" to it and it's what working class Goths drink in nightclubs. (I once worked a Gary Numan club night and I think I served about 4 drinks the whole night that weren't cider and black).

There's a reason one of the most lethally alcoholic drinks on Discworld (scumble) is "made from apples. Well, mostly apples." Because all English readers will get the joke. When I used to work in a real ale pub, we sold scrumpy cider that was the highest alcohol percentage pint we had, a favourite of all the hardcore drinkers.

There are whole advertising campaigns now by drinks manufacturers designed to change our minds on this and see cider as a pleasant, classy summer drink; there're regular Government noises about increasing how much it costs to stop the sale of giant plastic bottles of the stuff being too cheap (already in existence in Scotland, which has minimum pricing rules about alcohol).

All of which means even though I *know* American shows mean "classy non-alcoholic beverage often used in fancy celebrations" my instinctive reaction is... Not that.

So when I watched the "Tarlos announce their engagement scene" in Lonestar and Paul** notices it's sparkling cider not champagne in the ice bucket so TK can drink it my first reaction was NO BUT THAT'S WORSE!

Then common sense kicks in and I'm like, oh wait, right.

*Obviously I would not be surprised to watch a British Christmas movie where characters were day drinking at the Christmas market.

day 7: Mr. “no one calls Soundwave uncrazamatic himself Rumble (scumble)

Samson Beaumont from the Savvy series by Ingrid Law! I really like him. Basically, his entire family has powers, and his is invisibility.