The causes of Whitney Houston’s death were announced last week – and cocaine abuse appeared to be a major contributing factor.  Something else that happened last week while I was working at the Tully Community Library was that a representative of the nonprofit Asian American Recovery Services came into the branch bringing a stack of newsletters with Houston’s tragic death as one of its front page stories.  It was filled with articles on all the ways that someone can come under the power of addiction:  alcohol, prescription and illegal drugs, emotional abuse, smoking – but the one I knew the least about was problem gambling – which apparently can be a real problem for people and their families.   

Our neighbors come into the library for a lot of reasons, of course, but one is that it is a clearinghouse for free and useful information for the entire community.  Some of this helpful information can be found in the “Community Bulletin Board / Free for All” area in every library branch.  For example, there are the services that Asian American Recovery Services offers, such as support, counseling, resources and education are either free, based on a sliding-scale or Medi-Cal paid.  Their mission is to decrease the incidence of substance abuse and other addiction in the Asian and Pacific Islander communities in the Bay Area.  You can reach them at (408) 271-3900.  

So it turns out Three Sheets, besides being a reference to the phrase “Three sheets to the wind” is also the name of a popular travel show focusing on drinking customs around the world. The show is hosted and created by Zane Lamprey, author of the book also aptly named Three Sheets. For those not familiar with the show, the book's subtitle “Drinking Made Easy! 6 Continents, 15 Countries, 190 Drinks, and 1 Mean Hangover” gives a hint at what lies between its covers.

You will learn many useful things in this book such as: How to open a champagne bottle with a saber (pictures included!), How to properly pour a Guinness, and Why the Irish spell whiskey with an “E” and the Scottish without. Of course the book also gives instruction on how to make a variety of drinks and cocktails… and also what to eat or drink the day after.

The journey starts fittingly in Ireland – a country known for and proud of its claim to fame as a land of intoxication – and then moves on to other locales with a focus on their alcoholic specialty. You will find out how to make Sake in Japan, all about Vodka in Poland, Tequila in Tequila Mexico, Beer in Belgium, Rum in Jamaica and much more.

But the book is not just all fun and games…. Take the description of Snake Alley in Taiwan, where you can get liquor that contains not just the blood, venom and bile of snake, but even all that marinated in a bottle along with snake penises and testicles. (Picture included). The experience of drinking this concoction is described in excruciating detail along with its after effects. Read at your own discretion.