tag:www.cattivi.com,2007:mephisto/Home Mephisto 2007-05-05T21:36:27Z Hash Andrew Shebanow tag:www.cattivi.com,2007-01-10:/article/2007/1/10/an-apology-and-info-on-my-other-blog 2007-01-10T22:33:00Z 2007-01-10T22:33:00Z <p>By the way, sorry I’ve been such a slacker on this blog.</p> <p>I haven’t been entirely blog-free, though - I now have a new <a href='http://shebanation.com/'>work blog</a>. Check it out sometime.</p> Hash Andrew Shebanow tag:www.cattivi.com,2007-01-10:/article/2007/1/10/andre-the-drinker 2007-01-10T22:22:00Z 2007-01-10T22:22:00Z <p>An absolutely hilarious <a href='http://www.moderndrunkardmagazine.com/issues/10_06/10_06_andre_giant.html'>story in Modern Drunkard Magazine</a> about the drinking abilities of Andre the Giant, of Princess Bride fame (oh and he wrestled, too, but who cares about that?). [I have to mention that the very idea that a magazine called <em>Modern Drunkard Magazine</em> exists at all is in itself a fascinating concept.]</p> <p>The stories of his drinking are amazing. For example:</p> <blockquote> <p>A very green rookie wrestler named Hulk Hogan toured Japan several times with Andre and witnessed the Giant’s alcohol consumption first hand. According to Hogan, Andre drank, at a minimum, a case of tall boys during each bus ride. When he finished a can Andre would belch, crush the can in his dinner-platter-sized hand, and bounce the empty off the back of Hogan’s head. Hogan learned to count each thunk, so he could anticipate when Andre was running low. Whenever the bus stopped, it was Hogan’s job to scamper off to the nearest store, buy as many cases of beer as he could carry, and make it back before the bus departed, a sight that never failed to make Andre roar his bassoon-like laugh.</p> </blockquote> <p>It gets better, though:</p> <blockquote> <p>When ill health forced Andre to largely quit wrestling in the late ‘80s, he accepted the role of Fezzik in Rob Reiner’s movie The Princess Bride. Everyone on the set loved the big man, with the possible exception of Reiner himself. Ever the sociable fellow, he kept fellow cast members Mandy Patinkin and Carey Elwes out night after night, drinking and otherwise goofing around. The actors were incapable of matching Andre’s intake, but certainly gave it a serious try. As a result, they often showed up on set still loaded or suffering from the sort of hangovers that make death seem a pleasant alternative. Reiner tried to get Andre to leave the actors alone, but Andre could only be Andre, and the other cast members continued to pay the price.</p> <p>The shooting schedule required Andre to be in England for about a month. When his part wrapped, Andre checked out of his suite at the Hyatt in London and flew back to his ranch in North Carolina. His bar bill for the month-long stay?</p> <p>Just a shade over $40,000.</p> </blockquote> <p>But wait, there’s more:</p> <blockquote> <p>The time arrived, and the anesthesiologist was frantic. He had never put a person of Andre’s size under the gas before and had no idea how much to use. Various experts were brought in but no solution presented itself until one of the doctors asked Andre if he was a drinker. Andre responded that, yes, he’d been known to tip a glass from time to time. The doctor then wanted to know how much Andre drank and how much it took to get him drunk.</p> <p>“Well,” rumbled the Giant, “It usually takes two liters of vodka just to make me feel warm inside.”</p> </blockquote> <p>As the Ferocious Beast would say: Great googly moogly!</p> <p>A tip of the hat for the original link to <a href='http://blog.amber.org/'>Chris Petrilli</a>.</p> Hash Andrew Shebanow tag:www.cattivi.com,2006-09-04:/article/2006/9/4/it-s-alive 2006-09-04T16:04:00Z 2006-09-04T16:04:00Z <h2>Welcome to the new, improved cattivi.com</h2> <p>I’ve switched over to using Mephisto, the nifty Ruby on Rails-powered blog engine.</p> <p>I plan on having the old, archived site available again soon.</p>