Swanky profile picture

Swanky

Cunning Linguist

About Me

Eclectic, iconoclast. Modern and retro. Refined. I love to go explore the world, the weird and wonderful and somewhat dangerous places. I like to dress up and hit a quiet dark bar or restaurant. Or dress down and hit a honky tonk for beers and pool with Elvis and Jerry Lee on the jukebox. I'm a city boy. Like Chicago, New York. I enjoy a good drink. If you don't enjoy a cocktail, especially by Friday, you aren't my kind of person. I collect modern design stuff from the 50's and 60's and kitschy stuff. A wide range of musics. I have my own Internet radio broadcast through my website www.SwankPad.org I am also the co-creator and original co-organizer of Hukilau , the biggest tiki party of the year. I like the juxtaposition of Vintage Modern and pseudo-primitive Tiki.

My Interests

Gardening; creating; photography; mid-century antiques; mid-century preservation; lounge; rockabilly; classic country; crooners; divas like Peggy Lee, Julie London and Rosemary Clooney; tiki; great cocktails; sixties luxury cars; cheesecake pictures; Burlesque; back road exploration...

I'd like to meet:

Locals ready to force positive change in this town!

Music:

Mostly the music of 40 and 50 years ago. Early rock. Bands like Nelson Riddle, Perez Prado and Esquivel. Singers like Dean, Sammy, Julie London. That era when the orchestra was facing the rock world and doing odd and wonderful things. I like classic country like Buck Owens and Webb Pierce and new stuff like Wayne Hancock and Cave Catt Sammy and Big Sandy. Combustible Edison. Classical like Charles Ives and Steve Reich. Music so bad it's good. So odd it's wonderful. Classic, but no the kind they play on "Classics" stations. Some remixers like Theirvery Corporation and Pizzicato 5.

Movies:

My all time favorites are: Do the Right Thing; Easy Rider; The Haunting (1956); Blue Velvet; Brazil; All About Eve; Rumble Fish

Television:

24; Antiques Roadshow; some guilty pleasures

Books:

Who has time to read?

Heroes:

Father Rik

My Blog

Blathersphere

Blather If you didn't know, and you wanted to know, and even if you didn't care, or thought you didn't, I have been blogginating over on my wacky site at Swank Pad Blather...
Posted by Swanky on Mon, 12 Feb 2007 07:12:00 PST

Gimme a dollar and I might be your friend

I am not your friend. You can't ask to be my friend. Well, you can try, but I doubt it'll help. This is not a popularity contest. Adding lots of fake friends just means I can't keep up with the bullet...
Posted by Swanky on Wed, 18 Oct 2006 01:22:00 PST

Hi, my name is Swanky, and I have a shoe fetish.

I have tried to deny it for a long time. The notion that I had a fetish just didn't sit right. People with fetishes go to strange clubs or get arrested for lewd acts or something. It just sounds wrong...
Posted by Swanky on Mon, 01 Jan 1900 12:00:00 PST

Why SUVs are for idiots

For those who drive an SUV because it's safer, let me lay a little science on you. First: SUVs are not safer because they handle poorly which means A) you are less likely to avoid an accident and B...
Posted by Swanky on Mon, 01 Jan 1900 12:00:00 PST

Modern insanity

How does this make sense? We pay high dollar for bottled tap water. More for water than a soda, yet, a soda also has purified water in it, plus other stuff! But what really gets me is the gym. We p...
Posted by Swanky on Mon, 01 Jan 1900 12:00:00 PST

Post Hale Tiki

It's is strictly amazing what happened this week. What a few guys did with a ton of bamboo and a 1/4 acre of tapa is not to be believed. I've been to a few classic tiki bars. This one may top them....
Posted by Swanky on Mon, 01 Jan 1900 12:00:00 PST

Hale Tiki bound

Tomorrow I head out for a week of work to help make Hale Tiki a reality. A whole lot of people have given their time and money and stuff to make this thing happen. Why? I think it's all our own ...
Posted by Swanky on Mon, 01 Jan 1900 12:00:00 PST

Marijuana leads to...

I watched a dumbass on TV saying how we should not legalize marijuana because its the "gateway" drug. That 1/4 of kids who use it had been offered other drugs. Well, why would that happen? Because the...
Posted by Swanky on Mon, 01 Jan 1900 12:00:00 PST

Gin and Tonic

A "tonic" was a medicine. Still is. A gin & tonic is good medicine too. Just about any bar you go to in the universe serves gin and tonic. And on a Friday, after a long week, that Happy Hour G&T is go...
Posted by Swanky on Mon, 01 Jan 1900 12:00:00 PST