An old friend (both literally and figuratively) recently shared with me his collection of pictures from our days together in college.  I spent some time going through them this morning and, while many of them are wholly inappropriate to share on a blog about your children, this one spoke to me as being equal parts awesome and inspiring.

This, my friends, is The Beer-Zooka.  If memory serves this puppy was capable of holding 80 beers.  Equipped with 4 2-person independently controlled funnels, this party machine required 2 people to hold and a week’s worth of meal money to fill.  Don’t be fooled though, there was definitely an education that came along with this beast.

Forces of Pressure

First, and foremost, we learned about liquid flow.  When the Beer-Zooka was fully occupied, 8 young males could tackle their libations.  Like any good team, each spout leader would dutifully grasp the shutoff valve and the holder would count “1-2-3” and all would let the beer flow.  This worked well until, undoubtedly, a few seconds would go by and one of the spout leaders would grow cold feet and turn their flow off.  I can distinctly remember (that’s a lie, I barely remember it from photos) the summer night when I first learned that, when everyone else turns their spout off, the same amount of liquid will flow through the last available path.  Suffice it to say, it was showered with beer like I had spent the afternoon sunbathing on the back of a humpback whale.

Beer Does Not Kill Mold

There are those who’ve said that alcohol kills mold.  This has been proven true in certain types but I can assure you, Beer is not one of those types.  Within days, the first run of the Beer-Zooka had its own ecosystem.  This did not stop us from “washing it out” because, after all, many of the finest cheeses in the world have mold.

Brain Power Is Best Spent With Friends

There were a lot of smart people who I went to school with.  Most of my teammates and friends were straight A students who enjoyed learning.  I very much the later and not so much the former.  My learning was best done with friends and the classroom I’ve learned the most in is the classroom of life.  The Beer-Zooka might not be the best result of my educational experience but it sure is a fun memory.

Youthful Ingenuity

This brings me to my last point, the obligatory serious message I like to include.  The one that, hopefully, someday my boys will read and laugh, and maybe learn.  I want my boys to be smart, I want them to grow up to be successful and creative and, most of all, I want them to experience life.  I hope they grow a sense of youthful ingenuity, the sense that they can (and should) build a Beer-Zooka or anything else their minds can create.