Power Hour
Encyclopedia : P : PO : POW : Power Hour
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Music may accompany each minute of the power hour, with songs changed at the 1:00 mark. This way, a dedicated timekeeper is not required. "Themed" power hours are not uncommon, including songs only from the "70's," "80's," "90's," or even "Christmas Songs".
In the Mid-West, the "Power Hour" is the first hour of one's 21st birthday during which one goes out and attempts to take 21 shots of liquor within the hour.
Rules
- A timekeeper has the very important role of instructing everyone to take a shot each minute. Any timekeeping device may be used.
- Vomiting or abandonment of the goal usually result in elimination. In some cases the re-drinking of vomited liquid is acceptable behavior to stay in the running.
- Players may be allowed bathroom breaks, but must "catch up" after - or even before - taking the break.
- As a tie-breaker, if more than one person reaches the end, places are decided by either continuing the game until all but one player drops out (at one ounce per minute), or by having all remaining players try to drink a pre-designated amount of beer the fastest.
- Some Power Hours are played with specially programmed CDs, possibly including introductions and smooth fading, or a computer media player that plays songs for only a minute. When the song changes, everybody knows they must take a shot of beer. For software details, see [myPowerHour] which works with both Winamp and iTunes (Windows), [Power Hour] for Mac OS with iTunes, [iPowerHour] for Windows with iTunes (Windows). [The GMan's Power Hour Plugin] for Winamp (Windows). These application will change the song in the current playlist every 60 seconds along with other features. The stand alone program [Hour-of-Power] is free offering the same features and more.
- An extended variation of the game is known as the century club, where the game is extended to one ounce of beer per minute for 100 minutes. This is also practised at the University of Auckland Tamiki Campus, where it is knowen as the Tamaki Ton. This practice is also known as a Centurion; an Elite Centurion lasts 150 minutes. In a Monash Centurion two ounces are drunk for each of 50 minutes; its pace makes it more dangerous. Alternately, "Century Club" can also refer to an extended drinking challenge in which the goal is to drink 100 beers in under 72 hours. For a player to drink over four cases of beer in three days is both difficult and dangerous.
- Century Club is also practiced monthly at Drexel University, following the completion of the 100 minutes players who wish to be crowned champion compete in a 'Last Man Standing' portion. When any player quits they must 'ring out' much like Navy SEAL candidates announcing their failure.
- A common way of augmenting the game is to play a tribute game in honor of some hero relating to a number for example a Great One would be 99 shots, a Tim Brown would be 81 (also could be called a Kobe) and for the very ambitious a Splendid Splinter would be 406 shots (much like hitting .406 this is a task most of us won't achieve in this life).
- In an atomic century, each tenth shot is augmented by a shot of tequila or another liquor. This level of alcohol consumption is above the LD50 for humans and potentially fatal.
Notes
Many power hours actually contain 61 shots (91.5 ounces) of beer. A first shot may be taken at 6:00 and the final shot at 7:00, for a total of 61 shots.
In January 2006, central Illinois comedy rock band White Trashistan (pronounced "White Trash-i-stan") completed their own Power Hour CD. This is believed to be the first ever Power Hour CD to be performed completely by one band. [link].
Variation with liquor
In some circles, "Power Hour" refers to taking shots of liquor (vodka, tequila, rum, etc.) every ten minutes for one hour (6-7 shots total depending on how it starts and ends). This game version is a little less focused and doesn't require are much attention to the time and is more comfortable in some settings.
Physiological effects
Like many other drinking games, alcohol poisoning is a legitimate danger to players of power hour or its variants. Typical beers have one unit of alcohol (0.25 ounces of alcohol, or 7.4 ml) per 8 ounces, meaning that a player completing the power hour would ingest approximately 7.5 units of alcohol, or 1.88 ounces (55.5 ml). Assuming a typical metabolism rate of .4 ounces of alcohol (12.7 ml) per hour, a person's blood alcohol content upon completing the power hour would be 0.232, well over the american legal limit defining intoxication and considered "serious intoxication." Completing the century club would raise the player's blood alcohol content to .393; the LD50, or lethal dose for 50% of humans, is .400. Any drinks had before starting or after completing the game would raise the player's BAC to even higher levels.Habitual drinkers often have a much higher metabolism rate for alcohol (up to three times the average rate used in the sample calculations above) and therefore some feel that they can complete the power hour or century club games without significant danger. However, alcohol metabolism rates vary by many factors, even for individuals, and playing the power hour or century club drinking game can lead to dangerous blood alcohol content for anyone.
External links/Resources
- http://hour-of-power.com/ Hour of Power the MP3 drinking game (another variation of the game, and free download)
- http://www.powerhour.tuckwat.com myPowerHour - Freeware download to play Power Hour with iTunes or Winamp (Windows).
- http://www.geocities.com/powerfulhour/ The Power Hour (And Related Drinking Challenges) - A complete guide to Power Hour strategy, variations, and some BAC analysis.
- http://celtickane.com/projects/bac.php Blood Alcohol Content Calculator - Essential for determining the safety of multiple power hours
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