Cruz once ruined a school play after getting loaded on Everclear

[47of74]

Cruz's habit of screwing stuff up goes back to his college days;

Cruz played Rev. Samuel Parris in a Harvard production of Arthur Miller's "The Crucible." Here is what happened:

After the successful first performance, Cruz spent the cast party imbibing so much Everclear — a powerful grain alcohol — that he couldn’t make it through the next night’s performance. His fellow actors had to coax him into going onstage, but by Act III his condition worsened.

A video of the performance shows him sitting on a bench onstage, his head buried in his hands for nearly five minutes straight. After meekly delivering a line, he walked off stage in the middle of the scene, forcing cast members to improvise around the departure of a lead character. He didn’t return for the remainder of the play.

This story would be better if it were about his fake filibuster back in September.

[Archae]

1. Joe McCarthy drank himself to death.

Looks like Cruz is taking up where his hero left off.

[nikto]

88. A Pic of Ted's favorite...

"Play da' hockey, score da' goal. Fajarse!”

[yurbud]

92. Google Joe McCarthy and Ted Cruz. Cruz IS McCarthy without the Brylcream & eyeliner

[MannyGoldstein]

2. Everclear is like 170 proof IIRC

Degenerate.

[VanillaRhapsody]

4. 1t's 190 proof actually...it's grain alcohol.

It's what you make P.J. or Hunch Punch out of down south...

IN the famous words of Jesse James Dupree...

Brain Drain......."it's not the 'caine...it's not the Mary Jane...its the Golden Grain!

&feature=kp


It's as close as you can get to 'Shine legally....

[nomorenomore08]

10. Oh shit, a Jackyl reference on DU!

[VanillaRhapsody]

22. I was hoping someone would get a kick out of that idea!

[Are_grits_groceries]

11. We used to make PJ in bathtubs or trashcans in college.

Nothing will survive that crap. Mix in your choice of noxious fruit drink or whatever and you have a drink that will make you knee-walk in a nanosecond. You don't have hangovers. You have what appear to be death throes. They feel like it too.

PJ means Purple Jesus. I think that's because that is one apparition you probably will see.

I cannot believe I have lived this long knowing some things I did. Drinking PJ is one of them.

[trof]

18. Where the term 'Purple Jesus' came from:

"What the hell is THAT?"
"It's a drink I made. Try it."
"It's PURPLE! (takes a sip) JESUS!!!

We mixed it up in empty 1 gal. coke syrup glass jugs for easier portability.
Myrtle Beach, S.C. summer of '63.

[VanillaRhapsody]

23. we may know each other....

P.J. the poor mans kegger!

Made many a batch back in the day!

[trof]

73. I was a lifeguard in M.B. in '63.

It was a good summer.

[VanillaRhapsody]

74. I was being potty trained in 63...but I am from that area!

[trof]

75. Ha! I am SUCH a geezer.

[Are_grits_groceries]

25. Ha! Never heard that one.

We drank at the beach and all through college. If nothing else, somebody could get 'shine to mix up with whatever.
One Xmas my cousins and I were talking about PJ and other escapades we had growing up. The elders really never knew of any of this. The looks on our parents faces were priceless. They wanted to ground us right then for the rest of our lives. lol

[LuvNewcastle]

54. If we're talking about the same drink, we call it Purple Passion

in Miss. It must be the same basic shit because we also made it up in big batches. Some liquor stores around here sell Purple Passion in bottles and cans, already mixed up. I never drank much of it myself. I used to sometimes have a sweet drink, like a daiquiri or a margarita, when I was a novice drinker, but now I really don't like sweet alcoholic drinks. Sugar and alcohol are a bad combination for me.

[arcane1]

79. Purple Passion in 1980's Virginia too. Usually had a bunch of fruit fragments floating in it.

Oh, the memories

[MissMarple]

66. When I was in college it was called spouly oly.

I'm only guessing at the spelling. Whole grain alcohol, lots of Thirsty Smash and a trash can. And sometimes a paddle to stir it with. Guys seemed to love that stuff.

[VanillaRhapsody]

77. We did it for weekend party's using lots and lots of fruit...

You drank the liquid on Friday...then all day and night Saturday you eat the "drunken fruit"

[Jamastiene]

103. I was the last one standing after PJ parties.

That is why I cannot drink Everclear. I seem immune to the buzz from it. Same with PJ parties. It is like I start to get a buzz, then nothing. It doesn't matter how much or how little I drink. I'm the last one standing and seem to never get drunk. When I do finally sleep, though, and wake up, it feels like death warmed over. That is why they had to watch me at PJ parties. I have no way of knowing my limit, because there was no limit for me, except maybe dying in my sleep when I finally did go to sleep. I'll stick to silver label vodka from now on. I can actually get a nice buzz from that and not risk drinking so much I accidentally kill myself, because I don't know when I am drunk on the Everclear. It's a shame. PJ parties were always fun, because I always "won."

[Mojorabbit]

27. I went to the second woodstock

and when I arrived the lead singer was on stage wearing nothing.

[EOTE]

37. How does Everclear differ from shine, exactly?

I thought the only reason that 'Shine was illegal was because it's not taxed and regulated. From what I recall, moonshine only has to be 100 proof (the proof being that liquor that's 50% or more alcohol is flammable). I know quite a bit of moonshine is a good deal less than 190 proof. I've had some moonshine that actually goes down fairly smoothly. I certainly can't say the same thing for Everclear which is like drinking straight up gasoline.

[VanillaRhapsody]

39. "Shine could be 200 proof....

Grain Alcohol is as close as you can get to that legally. You have heard of Ethanol right? Everclear aka Grain Alcohol is as close as you can get legally for consumption.

[EOTE]

42. I doubt there's very much if any shine that's 200 proof.

It's extremely difficult to get pure alcohol, especially using such rudimentary equipment. Again, the only requirement for shine is that it be 100 proof as such that it's flammable. Most shine isn't much more than that. I can guarantee you that Everclear is a good deal stronger than most shine out there. The reason it's legal (in a number of states) is that it's taxed and regulated. I'd actually drink quite a bit of shine straight. I'd never even think about drinking Everclear straight, it's just foul.

[VanillaRhapsody]

43. Good point...but 'Shine ain't what it used to be either...

it's what killed my grandfather...he drank himself to a very early death on 'Shine.

[backwoodsbob]

71. trust me...no shine goes over 140 or so

everclear is MUCH stronger than any shine you will ever drink

[Spitfire of ATJ]

45. I knew someone who made shine from "corn squeezings" that had to be near 200 proof....

Regulating the temperature is the key. Hold at the boiling point of alcohol (Which is about 25 degrees lower than water) and collect and condense the vapor and it doesn't much mater what you fermented.

For that matter, you could distill pure alcohol out of ordinary vodka, rum, bourbon, etc... assuming you know alcohol vapor and open flames don't mix.

[EOTE]

47. The issue becomes the very hygroscopic nature of ethanol.

Any water in the air or anywhere else will be readily absorbed into the alcohol. That's why about 95-96% can be obtained without too much crazy work, but the last 5% can be almost impossible to obtain without rather expensive equipment. Even 90% isn't obtainable by most moonshiners.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

48. He ran his coil though ice.

[robbob]

86. Where's Walter White when you need him?

8-)

[EOTE]

101. LOL. I miss Breaking Bad.

I can't wait to see the "Better Call Saul" spinoff.

[LuvNewcastle]

55. Moonshine is supposed to be smooth and strong at the same time.

If you get some shinny that's harsh-tasting, find yourself another maker. That guy doesn't know what he's doing.

[EOTE]

56. I would definitely agree with that.

My only issue of contention was the suggestion that Everclear isn't as strong as typical shine. I would imagine most shine to be under 150 proof. I love to sip good shine. I would never even think of drinking Everclear straight.

[robbob]

85. Its also great for making a tincture out of pot

35grams pot to 335ml (small bottle) of "Alcool" (as we call it up in Quebec). Simple extraction process; one teaspoon of that, roll it around in your mouth until it absorbs into your system (you hardly even drink any) and prepare to be relaxed.

Great for back pain, fast acting and you don't have to smoke the stuff.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

91. news you can use!

[Warren DeMontague]

6. Yeah, pure grain alcohol.

I certainly drank my share, back in the day. Fucked my shit right up. And I had an impressive tolerance.

[Major Nikon]

17. I drank like a fish in college

As did many, if not most of us. Doesn't seem all that significant to me and isn't like Shrub and Dick who were serious drunks much later in life.

[Heather MC]

3. Where's Alcohol Poisoning when you need it?

[MADem]

5. Where's that VIDEO when ya need it?

Damn, that's damning!

[csziggy]

67. Wouldn't make any difference - "youthful indiscretions" by Republicans

Don't count.

[MADem]

68. Video is a gift that keeps on giving.

Smart people on Jimmy Kimmel and Conan O'Brien and Tosh.O take that footage, green screen bits of it, add stuff, and make funny situations that take on a life of their own.

If he goes any further, that film has gotta come out.

[pnwest]

7. Ok, so I totally am creeped out

by the guy, and am not trying to defend him, but hey - how many of us DIDNT fuck something up at that age because we were stupid drunk?

[BainsBane]

9. I'm just grateful Twitter and Facebook weren't around then.

[Are_grits_groceries]

12. Somebody would have let my parents know what I was up to

and gawd knows what they would have done. Nunnery comes to mind.

[nomorenomore08]

14. Pissing myself was probably the worst. Only happened once, which was also the first time I puked.

Far from the last, though.

[xmas74]

16. Grabbing the ground and crying because I thought I would fall off the Earth

was my worst. That came from a night of Hunch Punch at the TKE house.

[BainsBane]

58. There was the time I thought I was Lady Macbeth

courtesy of a certain controlled substance.

[xmas74]

60. I once carried on a conversation with a Big Mac, in the middle of McDonalds,

courtesy of another controlled substance. Turns out the Big Mace was lonely and just wanted to make friends.

[msanthrope]

40. I woke up in St. Petersburg with my head balanced on a window sash, and long dribbles of vomit

going down the side of a building, with some frozen in my hair. Pissed myself? Oh yeah.

I have no memory of gettting there. I had been in Moscow the night before.

[bettyellen]

50. you win!

[xmas74]

61. Now that's a night!

My hat's off to you.

[nomorenomore08]

76. These are some great stories, you guys. Put mine to shame.

[BainsBane]

8. Why pull this out? Who cares?

Everyone did stupid stuff in college. What matters is that Cruz is intent on fucking up America. I could care less about his college play.

[Berlum]

13. But not all of us have become holier-than-thou finger-wagging RepubliVangelist annoinTED Ones

I'm just sayin...

[VanillaRhapsody]

34. Everyone knows the preacher's kids are the worst...I suspect there are more...

[Paladin]

21. If Obama had pulled something like this, would the Repubs follow your advice?

We need to use every potential weapon which comes our way, BB. No sense in adhering to good-conduct rules which the right wing discarded, years ago.

Now---let's find that old video......

[nxylas]

33. If most of us don't care, chances are no-one else will

The Repubs tried to milk Obama's teenage drug use for all it was worth, but that turned out to be not very much. If the video just happens to fall into someone's lap, then by all means play it, but I wouldn't expend too much effort looking for it.

[BainsBane]

46. I suppose

I personally do not care.

[awoke_in_2003]

57. agreed...

college kids do dumb things. Let's attack the asshat for his policies

[cstanleytech]

65. +1. nt.

[xmas74]

62. I feel the same.

College is a time to do stupid, stupid things. I'd be more concerned about Prunella who never did anything wrong in college. This makes him slightly less douche-y in my eyes, though I still cannot stand him.

I am disappointed about one thing, though: Cruz attended an Ivy League school. I thought there would be a bit more class than drinking Everclear. Everclear and Golden Grain is what us poor kids at state schools drank to get drunk fast and save money.

[KamaAina]

78. Deep down, Ivy League drinkers are just plain folks

the drinks at our SAC parties at Yale were made with decidedly plebeian spirits like Caribaya rum.

[xmas74]

82. I just associate Everclear with bathtub punch

sweaty wife beater tees and smoky, moldy basement rec rooms with paddles on display sporting Greek letters.

Ah, the good old days.

[KamaAina]

87. I'm actually surprised our rivals from Dartmouth never used it in their Jell-O shots

or did they??

[xmas74]

93. We did that here in Missouri.

We also used it in watermelon.

I realized that we actually drank more Golden Grain than Everclear. Golden Grain was a couple of bucks cheaper. It's the same proof (190). What I didn't know was that it's made by the same company.

http://www.luxco.com/public/brands/brands.asp?brandid=75&brandname=Golden%20Grain%20Alcohol#

I love how in the description it states that GG provides great value, lol.

[840high]

83. We certainly all did

stupid things in college.

[B Calm]

15. I remember when you had to cross over the state line to buy Everclear,

it was illegal to purchase in Indiana.

[Brother Buzz]

38. Back in the day, us Californians would reprimand anyone who returned from Nevada without a bottle

I always enjoyed the warning on the label Caution!! EXTREMELY FLAMMABLE HANDLE WITH CARE

[Laxman]

19. This Explains So Much...

Everclear. A product with many uses. Arson, paint removal, brain damage... not necessarily in that order.

[VanillaRhapsody]

24. talked my ex husband who didn't know anything about Grain Alcohol

to light his lighter 3 feet in front of the empty bottle opening!

Hilarity ensued!

Wish I had a picture of the look on his face when the blue flames shot out!

[Laxman]

32. Nothing good ever comes from drinking something...

that you can either buy in the liquor store or the hardware store. Comes in a can or a bottle... and the can looks just like the one the stuff for a Coleman Camp Stove comes in!

[Spitfire of ATJ]

51. .....rheumatism.....

[rudolph the red]

20. I once came close to ruining a wedding while shit-faced on that stuff...

Cruz is a giant douche, but I give him a pass on this one.

[liberal N proud]

26. Everclear will fuck you up

I have seen many a college student in real bad shape after parties where koolaid and fruit was mixed with Everclear. What a mess.

[sigmasix]

28. strong stuff

in my college days we mixed it with mad dog 20/20 and some fruit juice and vodka. We called it "swamp water" or "Wapatui"

[dionysus]

53. jesus, using MD as a mixer. i know this crazy guy who uses 4 loko as the mixer for his rum...

suicidal....

[arcane1]

80. Using Mad Dog as a mixer?? Good lord, I'm getting dizzy just thinking about that.

That would've made even your blood flammable

[gopiscrap]

29. guess he was just born an asshole!

[Brickbat]

30. It's not that he wrecked a school play, it's the fact that he was dumb enough to drink Everclear.

You don't fuck around with that shit.

[dynasaw]

31. Everclear is illegal in several states including Massechussetts

It is illegal in 14 states. These states are California, Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Iowa, Michigan, New York, Nevada, Ohio, Washington, North Carolina, New Hampshire and Minnesota.

[xmas74]

63. I didn't know that.

I went to school in Missouri. Everyone drank Everclear with a mixer. Actually, Everclear was what we drank when we had an extra dollar, otherwise we drank Golden Grain or stole from a friend's uncle who had a still.

[heaven05]

35. POS

and this mccarthy looking POS wants to be POTUS. And many good amerikkkans will vote for him.

[mimi85]

70. I seriously doubt

that he'll get the GOP nomination. Even if he did, he'd lose by the largest margin ever! And yep, you are so right, the low info folks would vote for him. OTOH, if he got the nomination it would be great for us.

He does look like McCarthy which totally freaked me out. I'm still trying to figure out when he seemingly crawled out from under a rock. Never even heard his name until the last few months. Was I not paying attention or what?

I used to think Rand Paul and Issa were two of the biggest assholes in Congress until Cruz came along. Of course, Paul and Issa are still assholes - along with dozens more.

[heaven05]

100. +1000

[Dopers_Greed]

36. This explains his fake filibuster

Maybe he was on the sauce for that one

[Bluenorthwest]

41. Good casting however. Rev Parris is a hell fire preacher soaked in paranoia and

using a self righteous attitude of certainty to disguise a basic greed for property and power.

[NastyRiffraff]

69. That was my first thought

Samuel Parris was the guy who was instrumental in getting the Salem Witch mess started. Talk about type casting!

[Douglas Carpenter]

44. I heard when he orders a Beef Wellington - he smothers it in ketchup and hot sauce

[zappaman]

49. I heard he cheated on a math test in 7th grade as well! n/t

[Blue Owl]

52. Carnival Booze Cruz

n/t

[Kingofalldems]

59. Idiot freepers will now proclaim him a hero

for 'ruining a liberal play.'

[PeteSelman]

64. I find this to be something about him to like.

It shows that he wasn't a complete stick-up-the-ass douche his whole life. Everclear is a real deal party.

[RiffRandell]

72. I had him pegged for a Zima guy. nt

[Crowman1979]

81. Being the Canadian he is, I'm surprised he hasn't tried Swish.

[obama2terms]

95. I love this show!!!!

Guess I'm not the only American who knows what this show is.

[47of74]

97. And you would've thought that being Canadian Ted would be a bit more handy...

[mmm413]

84. Everclear?

Explains a lot.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

89. C'mon, who HASN'T ruined a school play while on Everclear?

... or done something similar.

A story like this only serves to make him seem almost human.

[iandhr]

90. I don't think that a performance in a school play is relevant

Unless what he drank is what messed up his mind to lead him where he is now.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

94. despite him being the a creep of mammoth proportions - can't blame him for partying - and seems we'd

be the first to laugh it off if it was anyone else. just saying

[oberliner]

99. Good point

Plenty of things to get on him about - this isn't one of them.

[obama2terms]

96. Everclear that stuff is the worst

A double shot of that stuff and you're already stumbling around.

[JEFF9K]

98. In more ways than one, Ted Cruz is a "bad actor."

[cleanhippie]

102. Meh. Over drinking in college stories are a dime a dozen.

Plenty if people did stupid shit like that while young and are not stupid assholes like Cruz is now.