posted by Andy on Nov 21
After a bit of a slumber – I assure you we were off on many an adventurous escapade, we bring you this video in which Lee Dunteman, Chief Ethanolmixologist of the League of Gentlemen Adventurers, shares how he makes the perfect gin and tonic. He recommends two ounces of gin, six to eight ounces of tonic water (preferably Fever Tree), and a squeeze of citrus.
posted by Andy on Aug 26
After five score and three years of holding the land speed record for a steam-powered vehicle, the dusty crown of the honorable Fred Marriott has been handed over to Charles Burnett III, whose vehicle tore across the California desert at 139 miles per hour. Burnett and his team spent a full decade working on “the fastest kettle in the world,” a project that was essentially designed to provide Burnett with the most awesome 30 seconds of his life.
In an interview with the BBC, Burnett described the car as “very stable.” Immediately following that claim – and without any sense of irony – he explained that the car was “fading back and forth probably two to three feet in either direction” while he was going over 150 miles and hour (the speed record is an average over a mile, the car actually goes faster than 139). Charles Burnett III, I bow to your adventuring might. Swaying back and forth two to three feet at 150 miles an hour would leave me with very, very wet pants – not to say that I wouldn’t give it a shot. According to Burnett, “the key there is not to try and drive the car, but let the car do what it wants, because once you start trying to control the car, you put yourself in danger of overcontrolling it and throwing it sideways.” I think I’m going to start applying that rule to every aspect of my life.
Read the rest of this entry »
posted by Andy on Aug 7
Today’s gentleman’s tip is: always pull toward the thumb. This tip will surely prove valuable in a scuffle. But before explaining the meaning of this rather cryptic tip, I’d like to provide you with the best advice you could ever receive on the subject of fights: avoid them entirely. The results of fighting include, but are not limited to: bruising, bleeding, broken bones, crooked noses, cauliflower ear, chipped teeth, missing teeth, missing limbs, split fingernails, lost hair, headaches, dizziness, nausea, and death. Bear in mind that many of the items on this list greatly reduce the gentleman’s potential for adventure. Following a bout of such violence, the great Harry Flashman once looked down in horror and “saw the most unpleasant sight I know, which is my own blood.” We strongly recommend avoiding situations that would cause you to see that most unpleasant of sights.
Unfortunately, we also strongly recommend adventure. Read the rest of this entry »
posted by Andy on Jul 2
“There are people who would perhaps call me a dilettante, because it looks like I’m having too much fun. I have never been convinced there’s anything inherently wrong in having fun.”
- George Plimpton (1927-2003)
Born with blue blood bursting out of his veins, George Plimpton decided not just to live a life of gentlemanly leisure, but to thoroughly embrace adventure – specifically, somewhat ridiculous adventure. As a sports writer, he could not be satisfied with simply telling his gentle readers what he saw, he had to invent an entirely new form of journalism – the kind where you get blood punched out of your nose by light heavyweight boxing titan Archie Moore.
Every list of Plimpton’s achievements is long and absurd, but woefully incomplete. He simply did too much. Plimpton drove a tank in the war; drank cocktails with Norman Mailer and Ernest Hemingway; pitched to Willie Mays in an all-star game; edited the Paris Review; threw legendary parties; dabbled in trapeze; snapped photos for Playboy; wrote about the witch doctors of Zaire who helped Ali destroy Foreman; and was expelled from Exeter for aiming a Revolutionary musket at the football coach. Oh, and he wrestled the pistol out of the hands of Sirhan Sirhan after the assassination of Bobby Kennedy.
In 2003, at the Brook Club, Plimpton stood up to have a broken drink repaired at the bar. Then, he collapsed and cracked his skull on the table. The paramedics, who recognized him, began slapping his cheeks and desperately saying, “George, wake up!” The maitre d’ simply would not tolerate this kind of behavior and declared, “At the Brook Club, sir, we refer to him as Mr. Plimpton.”
posted by Andy on May 27
This is me firing the Smith & Wesson Model 500 on our recent shooting trip. This gun is made for shooting bears and elk. Seriously. You may have seen its longer-barreled cousin in Resident Evil. Even Popular Mechanics bowed to its almighty absurdity: Smith & Wesson Model 500 .50-Cal. Magnum Is The King Of Handguns.
For more pictures of our day of jackassery, ridiculosity, and guns – lots of guns, check out our Flickr page.
