The USB Absinthe Spoon mixes virtual hallucinations (and nothing else)

People will tell you that the USB Absinthe Spoon serves no real purpose. And apparently, in the modern physical world all grown up since 1920's Paris, it doesn't. But as the neo lost generation of the Metaverse can attest, Second Life is a movable feast where a digital Absinthe Spoon could someday be traded for a pair of wings. No need for a shotgun here, right Papa?

[Via GearlLog]

[TS @ Mar 8th 2007 9:58AM]

W.T.F. mate?

[CowboyGA @ Mar 8th 2007 10:05AM]

I'm going to have to agree with TS on this one. WTF?

Oh, and Absinthe apparantly never caused hallucinations, just myth. It's back on the market (with wormwood, I believe) in the Czech Republic, and sans wormwood in many other countries.

[Brian @ Mar 8th 2007 10:19AM]

"Oh, and Absinthe apparently never caused hallucinations, just myth."

Very true. I just tried several shots of absinthe last week - no hallucinations.



: (

[tzhuge @ Mar 8th 2007 10:52AM]

Absinthe is legal in a lot of places. There is also a 'modern' version that is some sort of vodka/green liquor and has very little similarity to the original wormwood absinthe. (I think it's called bohemian absinthe or something)

Absinthe is also not really hallucinogenic. That was mostly a rumor to support a ban of absinthe. The truth is, it was just a fairly cheap and very strong alcoholic beverage and had the social problems usually associated with that.

[Liqwid @ Mar 8th 2007 10:23AM]

Yea, you can either get it with essence of wormwood (Absinthe) or with southern wormwood (Absente). Apparently southern wormwood isn't near as strong, or something like that.

[Liqwid @ Mar 8th 2007 10:24AM]

Oh, and Absente is legal in about every country, I do believe.

[CowboyGA @ Mar 8th 2007 10:33AM]

It's not legal here in the US, though that shouldn't be a surprise in my beloved yet hyper-conservative country. When the absynthe research came out, it became legal (with limitation) in Europe and the UK, but went unheard of here. I had to travel to Prague before I stumbled upon it. There are tons of tourist traps selling the spoons and other pointless novelties.
For those of you who haven't tried it, you're not missing much. While the folklore is great, the taste is vile.

[Ben @ Mar 8th 2007 10:52AM]

Actually Absente not Absinthe is legal in the US as it contains basically no thujone (the active ingredient in wormwood). Now the stuff you can get in czech is the lower power stuff (10 parts thujone -- I forgot if its 10ppm or ppL or what). The stronger stuff (the stuff that can probably give you hallucinations) is like 200 parts thujone is no longer legal in Czech or anywhere else AFAIK, although you can still find some bottles of it in Czech as it was only recently unlegalized.

[einsteinx2 @ Mar 8th 2007 10:51AM]

Actually Absente not Absinthe is legal in the US as it contains basically no thujone (the active ingredient in wormwood). Now the stuff you can get in czech is the lower power stuff (10 parts thujone -- I forgot if its 10ppm or ppL or what). The stronger stuff (the stuff that can probably give you hallucinations) is like 200 parts thujone is no longer legal in Czech or anywhere else AFAIK, although you can still find some bottles of it in Czech as it was only recently unlegalized.

[Peter Buckley @ Mar 8th 2007 10:55AM]

Actually "Absente" as in wormwood-is-absent is legal in the US. I've bought it at the liquor store. You can do the whole melt-the-sugar-on-the-spoon-with-fire thing to impress your friends and pets, but it often adds charred black stuff to your drink that just doesn't seem as healthy as hard liquor.

It tastes like strong licorice, sweeter and lighter than black sambuca. Plus it is neon green, so no horrible purple stains everywhere when you puke it up.

[john @ Mar 8th 2007 12:02PM]

Actually absinthe is illegal to sell in the US however it is legal for personal consumption and you can import for personal use up to 2.25 liters. As to hallucinations it was to be said it was caused by the 'Wormwood Plant' chemical name 'Thujone' for the cause to hallucinations as 'Wormwood' (Thujone) has the same chemical reaction as Cannabis.
The law states in the EU that absinthe can not contain no more than 10mg Thujone but if the absinthe was classed as a 'Amer' or 'Bitters' absinthe then it can contain up to 35mg Thujone. The Czech's do not have an EU law so they can put as much Wormwood (Thujone) as they want in there absinthe production i.e KING OF SPIRITS GOLD contains up to 100mg wormwood (Thujone).

[sal @ Mar 8th 2007 12:31PM]

I drank a whole bottle of absinthe in Aruba and I was only really drunk. No hallucinations. I have to also note that it was the worst tasting liquor I have drank in my entire life.

[crackpipe @ Mar 8th 2007 12:36PM]

I once drank something green (Thujone) and it had the effect (Thujone) of causing some words (Thujone) to become postfixed with Thujone (Thujone) in parenthesis (Thujone)

[Craig Shergold @ Mar 8th 2007 1:01PM]

Don't take the brown ones.

And if you want to know about this stuff read erowid.org.

[Electromodo @ Mar 8th 2007 1:52PM]

Guys, it is pointless to share your experience about trying absinthe, because you were not yet born when REAL absinthe was available. The modern (and legal in many places) version is 20-30 times less powerful than the one French artists used at the end of XIX and beginning of XX century. Not to mention that the components of today's drink are often not what they are supposed to be.

I am a fan ob absinthe, but I strongly believe nowadays you can not find the one even close to the power of old-times absinthe. Anywhere in the world.

In USA it is illegal, but you can order it on the Internet AS A MEDICINE. Runs for about $80 - $120.

[ernest @ Mar 8th 2007 2:24PM]

On Endgadget it is not for whom the bell tolls, it is for whom the blackberry rings. Impressive Hemingway references, Thomas, though the shotgun comment was maybe a little crude.

[Vidiot @ Mar 8th 2007 2:39PM]

There's so much FUD and just plain misinformation about absinthe out there.

This article may prove useful, as may this link.

And Czech absinthe is nothing of the sort, and is unspeakably vile besides.

[CowboyGA @ Mar 8th 2007 2:50PM]

Vidiot, try again with the linkage.

[Mike @ Mar 8th 2007 4:43PM]

http://www.eabsinthe.com/ for all your absinthe needs... here in the UK at least!

[Mathew @ Mar 8th 2007 11:27PM]

Okay, everyone, get back to playing Oblivion or whatever.

[Ari @ Mar 9th 2007 3:17PM]

Make sure to download iSinthe to your USB absinthe spoon.
http://www.i-sinthe.com/

[_blackjack_ @ Mar 11th 2007 6:10PM]

1) Absinthe is not legal to produce, sell OR IMPORT into the US. This is because wormwood is not approved as a food additive by the FDA, and it is illegal to import, even for personal use, food or drink not approved by the FDA. That's also why it is illegal to bring Kinder Eggs into the US.

2) Absinthe is now legal in most of the EU.

3) There is absinthe being produced today that is, for all practical purposes, identical to that which was produced 100 years ago. The original recipes are still known, and some manufacturers have even gone to the trouble of performing mass-chromatography of existing 100-year-old samples to insure the authenticity of their products.

4) These authentic products are NOT produced in the Czech Republic. Most are now produced in France and Switzerland. Czech "absinth" is generally foul and bears little resemblance to the real stuff.

5) Authentic absinthe actually contains very little thujone. This was true 100 years ago and it is true today. Those who market based on thujone content are playing to hype.

6) Absinthe is not hallucinogenic. It IS a very high-proof alcoholic beverage with a pleasant anise flavor which is easy to drink to excess if you aren't careful.

7) Far and away the best source for absinthe information on the net is http://www.feeverte.net/.

[thegreenfairy @ Mar 19th 2007 4:35AM]

Visit www.seborabsinth.com for the best absinthe and shipping to the USA!!