Ben Raskin

Author: Ben Raskin

  • Zee Germans Are Coming

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    Ben Raskin
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    It must be real nice to be European. Specifically, it must be real nice to be German. It must be nice to come to our country and utilize our National Park system, berate bartenders and tip nothing. It must be real nice to think that the sun never sets on the German Empire and that…

  • Notes From Behind The Bar: Douche Bags, Zombies and Regrets

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    Ben Raskin
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    If he was the lead in a Saturday Night Live sketch, Loren Michaels would say tone it down. He was over six feet tall with broad shoulders. He was sporting a frosted-tipped buzz cut, tattoos covering his bulging arms and a cross the size Jesus of Nazareth carried up Golgotha.  His snap-buttoned shorts-sleeved shirt was…

  • Lessons Learned From Roadhouse and Cocktail

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    Ben Raskin
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    Before opening The Woodshed, I used to joke to myself that the only employee handbook I would ever have would be two DVDs. One would be a copy of the 1988 classic, Cocktail, starring Tom Cruise, Bryan Brown and Elisabeth Shue. The other would be the stunning 1989 masterpiece, Roadhouse, with Patrick Swayze, Sam Elliott…

  • Dia De Muerte: Notes From Halloween

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    Ben Raskin
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    Hope you had a good Halloween. I did. For the first time since we’ve moved into the house, I was home on the 31st of October and was able to hand out candy with Erin. We spent Monday night carving pumpkins, eating BBQ, drinking whiskey, watching the new Pearl Jam documentary, PJ20, and handing out…

  • Trick Or Treat: The Four Rules of Halloween Costumes

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    Ben Raskin
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    When my only two customers are middle-aged white guys in golf shirts drinking Johnny Walker Black on the rocks, she was definitely a ray of sunshine. It was a slow at the club last week. I could offer a handful of theories why it wasn’t busier but it just came down to the fact that…