Day 42: Watson, Come Here - We Need Booze

As I write this I just finished watching Watson completely destroy Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter on Jeopardy.  Watson finished with a higher score than the combined totals of the humans and it rarely made a mistake. I’m sure there will be dozens of articles that compare this moment to when HAL takes over during 2001: A Space Odyssey or when Skynet becomes self-aware and eventually unleashes Terminators to destroy mankind and Christian Bale.  Those comparisons are easy and obvious, otherwise I wouldn’t have thought of them.  For me, a more personal moment comes to mind.

Even this guy can't beat Watson

It reminds me of January 17, 1996.  That is the day when I realized that I could not beat game number 11,982 of Freecell no matter how much I tried.  I already knew I could not beat a computer at chess, Reversi, Connect Four, or checkers, but once I couldn't even win Solitaire I knew it had a larger meaning.  I accepted on that day that machines are pretty much better at everything than I am.  As the years passed it became ever more apparent.  Mathematics, translation, lovemaking, navigation, and composing music are just some of the arenas where I have been bested by machines.  I’m sure the list is much longer, but computers are also better at making lists than I am. 

Red sky at morning,
drinker take warning

Watson might be smarter than me, but he derives no pleasure from adult beverages, which is the whole reason we are here. Suck it, Watson. Today we have tequila, vodka, triple sec, orange juice, and grenadine, also known as a Hairy Sunrise.  It is basically a Tequila Sunrise with the addition of vodka and triple sec.  I like a good Tequila Sunrise and I like vodka and triple sec, but I do not like them all mixed together.  This drink really had an “off” flavor.  Neither Mrs. Bottle nor I could figure out exactly what caused it.  Each ingredient tasted fine individually, but just didn’t go together.  It also didn’t come close to filling the glass.  We followed the instructions explicitly and you can see the results.   It looks ridiculous.  Not only that, but it is the second time a drink with tequila and orange juice came up short, both literally and figuratively. Did anyone even test these recipes?

I bet those instructions were written by a computer trying to keep us down.  Or maybe it knew the drink was bad and it was trying to save us?  We'll never know.

Overall Rating for the Hairy Sunrise

Taste: 2

Presentation: 4 – Would be a 5 if it filled the glass

Ease of Preparation: 4

Drinks Until Blackout: 7 – 14% alcohol

Ingredients

.75 oz Tequila

.75 oz Vodka

.5 oz Triple Sec

3 oz Orange Juice

2 dashes Grenadine