cranky ranch

Where the grouches
come to grouse.


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Tiki:

Donovan's Reef
eBay
Munktiki
Outre Gallery
Reyn's Aloha Shirts
Rusty Zipper
Roadside Tiki
Shag
Tahiti
Tiki Bar Reviews
Tiki News
Tiki Trader

Modernism:

Angela Adams
Design Within Reach
Go Mod
Highbrow Furniture
Jens Jensen
Jet Set
Krypton
LA Modern Auctions
Lever House
Herman Miller Furniture
Isamu Noguchi
R20th Century Design
Reference Books
Retro Modern
Useful Things

Drink:

Belikin Beer (Belize)
Berghoff (Chi)
Billy Goat Tavern (Chi)
Green Mill (Chi)
Duda's (B-more)
Hinano Beer (Tahiti)
Jack Daniel's Distillery (Tenn)
Tom Bergin's (LA)
Webtender

Vigorous Life:

Cap'n Dave
Field & Stream
Partypoopers
PATC
Real-time Streamflow
Bully!

Miscellaneous:

Heather Havrilesky
Instapundit
James Lileks
700,000,000
Page Six
Alan Shepard
Sam Snead
Wayback Machine

Rounds Owed:

Andrew, 0
Hal, 0
Jim, 0
Lee, 0
Liz, 1*
Thomas, 1

Rounds Paid:

Andrew, 7*
Hal, 2
Jim, 3*
Lee, 4*
includes 1 Bond Special
Liz, 1
Thomas, 0

*includes one Skinner Special for the unfortunate Lost Weekend oversight




E-mail:

kahuna -at-
crankyranch -dot- com

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Wednesday, January 28, 2004

 

Yawn

Funny, I don't remember seeing Hal at the Berghoff when I had my foot on the rail and a plate of wurst in front of me. I guess that didn't work because it conflicted with the airing of 60 Minutes II. However, I will spare the Ranch at large from a tedious laundry list of Hal's trangressions. Suffice it so say, if I never manage pay off my "special round" no sleep will be lost over it.

I believe the subject on the table was a Chicago round up in May. Can we return to that topic?


posted by Henry Basenji at 1/28/2004 01:37:00 PM

Thursday, January 22, 2004

 

Happy Year of the Monkey

In honor of 2004's ProjectRead I bought a lamp this weekend. It gives a warm, midcentury glow to my Arlington bungalow. I'll have to consult the Col. on my presidential bios, but for Gilligan's Wake I need only go across town. I bought that for my sister's birthday last year and forgot to borrow it when she was done.

If we were on an oil rig, wouldn't it increase the likelihood of someone drowning after having been the asshole for too many hands? Who then would buy the rounds? And what would happen if you ran out of booze early? It would be like Connecticut on a Sunday.

In March we are planning a tentative road trip called "Henry's March to Georgia" during which he will douse all Sherman's fires with urine. May is wide open though. I'd consider a long weekend if it means another shot at hitting Andrew with a shaving cream pie. I wouln't expect to see Hal though, I assume he'll be busy washing his hair that weekend.


posted by Henry Basenji at 1/22/2004 12:26:00 PM

Friday, January 16, 2004

 

The Literary Crank

Attention Cranks Who Read, AmStuds and those who pretend to work in the Humanities: this year, I am starting on my new resolution to read good biographies about all of the dead presidents. I decided to do this last year after reading the McCullough's John Adams and Morris's The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt. (Obviously this will go on beyond 2004 and there are some presidents I'm not in a big hurry to read about.) The problem is finding GOOD biographies. I just finished one on James K. Polk, which was a solid overview but frankly didn't give me much more than that They Might Be Giants song. I feel better about the one I just started, Robert Remini's Life of Andrew Jackson. Recommendations are welcome. Non-presidential recommendations are also welcome. Has anyone read Guiding Icarus : Merging Bioethics with Corporate Interests?

Here are recommendations from my 2003 reading list:

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
The very best book available for those interested in American Studies, Chicago, architechture, serial killers, politics, assasins, nineteeth century celebrities and Frederick Law Olmstead's teeth.

John Adams by David McCullough
If you thought Jefferson was kind of a jackass, well, so did John Adams.

Edith Kermit Roosevelt : Portrait of a First Lady by Sylvia Morris
No wonder Alice was such a headcase.

The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris
Bully! TR also found Jefferson to be a jackass.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
A treatise for burgeoning young libertarians.


posted by Henry Basenji at 1/16/2004 10:23:00 AM

 

2004 Resoultion: States on which Henry has peed

This year, he looks to increase his territory.

Alabama / Alaska / Arizona / Arkansas / California / Colorado / Connecticut /Delaware / Florida / Georgia / Hawaii / Idaho / Illinois / Indiana / Iowa / Kansas / Kentucky / Louisiana / Maine / Maryland / Massachusetts / Michigan / Minnesota / Mississippi / Missouri / Montana / Nebraska / Nevada / New Hampshire / New Jersey / New Mexico / New York / North Carolina / North Dakota / Ohio / Oklahoma / Oregon / Pennsylvania / Rhode Island / South Carolina / South Dakota / Tennessee / Texas / Utah / Vermont / Virginia / Washington / West Virginia / Wisconsin / Wyoming / District of Columbia


posted by Henry Basenji at 1/16/2004 09:57:00 AM