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New in GTA IV: Driving Drunk

Grand Theft Auto - especially the latest version, GTA IV - has experienced its share of criticism for its realistic violence and excessive profanity but a new portion of the game, in which the sensation of driving drunk is simulated, is raising even more eyebrows, especially with the group Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

The drunk driving portion occurs as part of a mission where Niko has to drive Roman home. Even the task of walking is made challenging by a wavy camera angle and overly sensitive controls. When in the car the same, shifty camera angle and twitchy controls lead to further difficulty.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving - know as MADD - says it is extremely disappointed by the decision of the game’s makers. They say drunk driving is not a game and it is not a joke.

Some defend the drunk driving portion of the game, claiming that might actually discourage people to drive safe in real life. A recent post in a GTA IV forum reads: “to anyone who hasn’t driven drunk, it exaggerates the effects to a degree that I’m sure would scare someone from ever trying to really drive drunk, so it’s actually helping their cause.”

We haven’t had a chance to test out the game, so we can’t comment about the drunk driving experience. Is there anyone out there who has seen it, and what do you think?

Your Cheap Booze– Older!

Hate the taste of Busch and Natty Lite? Want to do something about it? Now you can!

Using a luminous transformer that he found in his basement, VOLT/AGED’s Jon Sarriugarte decided to test what would happen if he pumped 15,000 volts into a bitter brandy. What he found was that, after the treatment, the brandy was considerably smoother and seemed to have aged a great deal.

Expanding on this idea, Jon and friends threw on some copper pipes, a safety cage, a timer (so you can see how many years you have aged your alcohol), and gave it the name VOLT/AGED, essentially creating their own “boiler bar.”

A machine that can age brandy, whiskey, beer and maybe even wine? Now that, my friends, is something every College Drinker needs.

See how it’s done here.

7yo in Foster Care after Dad “Mistakenly” Buys Him Booze at Ballgame

Father claims he “didn’t know” Mike’s Hard Lemonade was alcoholic

7 year-old Leo Ratte was taken from his parents custody after his father “mistakenly” purchased a Mike’s Hard Lemonade for him to drink at a Tiger’s game. A Comerica Park security guard noticed the bottle in young Leo’s hand and notified police after confronting the father.

The father, Christopher Ratte - 47 years-old and a tenured professor of classical archaeology at the University of Michigan - said that he did not know the drink was alcoholic when he purchased it for his son. “I’d never drunk it, never purchased it, never heard of it,” Ratte told reporters. “And it’s certainly not what I expected when I ordered a lemonade for my 7-year-old.”

The Comerica security guard estimated that Leo had drunk about 12 ounces of the Mike’s Hard Lemonade, which is 5% alcohol. Leo was taken, by ambulance, to nearby Children’s Hospital where, 90 minutes later, an ER physician performed a blood test that found his BAC to be normal.

The kid was discharged, but it would be two days before the state of Michigan allowed Ratte’s wife, U-M architecture professor Claire Zimmerman, to take their son home, and nearly a week before Ratte was permitted to move back into his own house.

What do you think?

Should the Michigan cops have cut Ratte a break? Or should he have known that Mike’s Hard Lemonade was alcoholic?

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