The Daily Tonic: A Pint For Hale, A Pint For Pace

It’s going to be a while until we can host a Popbitch Popquiz IRL again, but you don’t have to miss out entirely. We’ve got all sorts of brand new Popquiz bundles that you can download and host at home – including full, eight-round quizzes, with all the materials you need to play.

[Take a look here]

A quick dose of gossip, smut and silliness Subscribe

* Ray Charles’s coffee cocktail!

* Pints of wine with the boys!

* PLUS: Another audio round…

>> What the Fox? <<

Striving for balance

Given that he’s in today’s Sunday Times talking about how his outspoken performance on Question Time cost him professionally, and we’ve been asking for stories of strange celebrity cocktails – it feels like the stars have aligned for us to revisit this little anecdote.
A few years ago, Laurence Fox was lined up to host a pilot episode of a new TV entertainment show – but the shoot did not go well. After seeming alright for the day leading up to filming, Lozza suddenly became very weird on camera. Bleary-eyed, erratic, no-one could figure out what had gotten into him.
They later discovered it was a massive amount of cocaine – which he’d apparently tried to counterbalance with a touch of ketamine.
Needless to say, he didn’t get a call back.

Nominative Determinism of the Day: Currently considering changes to licensing laws to allow UK brewers to offer direct sales to the public… Kit Malthouse!

>> The morning after <<

Question of the day

A sort of sister-question to yesterday’s request for celebrity cocktails, we also want to know if any of them have any bright ideas on recovery. Living a life of excess has to teach you a lesson or two about how to shake a headache, surely…
Today’s Question: Do you know any celebrities who have their own special hangover cures? Are there any routines or recipes they swear by?
Send your best celebrity cures to hello@popbitch.com and we’ll send some goody bags to our favourites.

Other celebs who’ve been known to drink their wine by the pint, a la Big Sam Allardyce: Ian Botham, Hale and Pace, George Best. (Know any others? hello@popbitch.com)

>> (S)hot coffee <<

#1: Gin-ius loves company

Mars writes:
“When I worked with Ray Charles he used to have a pint mug of Bols gin and white coffee on the go at all times, which his valet had to keep permanently topped up.
“Apparently he took it up when the feds made him stop the heroin…”

Marillion have a song called ‘Grendel’ named for a cocktail they used to enjoy after gigs. An impressive mix of vodka, rum, cointreau, curaçao, advocaat, creme de menthe and fresh cream – shaken, then topped off with lemonade.

>> In her cups <<

#2: G & tea service

Susan Tully (formerly Michelle Fowler from EastEnders; now a hotshot TV director) is a big fan of on-set G&Ts and will generously provide them for her crews at every possible opportunity.
On the set of the forthcoming Cormoran Strike series, we’re told she would cheer up the occasional night shoot by taking a leaf out of Ronnie Wood’s book and disguise the drinks by serving them up in coffee cups.

Judge Jules enjoys a champagne mixed with cranberry juice.

>> Quarantunes <<

Sunday’s quizzical activity

Here’s another ten songs for you, inexpertly cut and shut together so you can spend a couple of minutes trying to remember the name of a band you probably last heard on commercial radio at some point in the late 90s.
You get a point for getting the song title, and a point for getting the artist. Functionally worthless points, but points all the same.
[Have a go here]

SH writes: “After a Nada Surf gig in Dublin, Matthew Caws hung around and we introduced him to Baby Guinness. Not knowing what it was, he seemed excited when he got a shot glass of what looked like Guinness. He drank it, looked disgusted and didn’t talk to us anymore afterwards.”

>> Hmmms <<

A couple of quick things

A fox giggling when tickled

[Watch on YouTube]
Ambient music x police radio

[Play You Are Listening To]
Addictive browser game of the day

[Cookie Clicker]

THANKS TO: PB, EP, Mars, TM, SH, LJ, AV, NW, KI, A

Old Jokes Home

I just found out I’m colourblind.

It came completely out of the purple.

Fancy Another?