I just posted Episode 43 - Lebowski Studies at Carmichael's.  It's the audio from the book event for The Year's Work in Lebowski Studies that occurred July 15, 2010.  The co-editors, Ed Comentale and Aaron Jaffe were there along with some of the essay authors.  We had a great discussion and question-answer session.  Hopefully this will make you feel lik you were there if you weren't able to attend.

Click here to jump to the episode: Episode 43 - Lebowski Studies at Carmichael's

I know this is old news, but have you seen pictures of John Goodman lately?  Since Walter's stint on the hit show Rosanne and his appearance in The Big Lebowski, Goodman had put on a lot of weight.  It was getting kind of scary.  It started reminding me of other large actors like John Candy or Chris Farley.  A while back there was news that Goodman went into alcohol rehab and apparently he's really taking care of his health these days.  People are estimating that Goodman has lost over 100 pounds so far this year.  Way to go Walter!  Here's a good image from an article I found.

http://www.catholic.org/ae/celebrity/story.php?id=36955

This is the kind of thing that can give Achievers the hope and motivation to shed a few pounds of their own.  We're very proud of your Walter and are glad you're here to stay.  We're also looking forward to your upcoming role in Monsters Inc 2 even if all we get to hear is your voice.

This one comes from Larry over at Sub Rosa Drive-in. It's a motorboat commercial from the 1970s.

Try not to laugh. I dare you.  I double dare you.

I just posted the first piece of our audio from the Fest last week in Louisville.  Let us know what you think.  We always appreciate your notes.

Episode 42 - 9th Annual Lebowski Fest

We do have some more Fest audio coming up so keep your eyes peeled.

In September Jeff Bridges will be performing two nights, the 1st and 2nd, at the Fallsview Casino at Niagara Falls.  He will be performing songs from his recent Academy Award winning performance in Crazy Heart, as well as his own album Be Here Soon.

If you're surprised to hear The Dude is a musician, then all you have to do is check out a few of his films where he sings like Fabulous Baker Boys or Crazy Heart.  He even sings snatches of songs in other movies.  Tickets start out at $60 and the shows begin at 8:30pm on each night.  I really wish I could go.  Tickets are available at Ticketmaster.

Click here for more information - http://www.fallsviewcasinoresort.com/entertainment/event.aspx?id=165

Here's a series of videos by Rob Ager analyzing The Big Lebowski. This is a different format than I've seen in the past. Rob made videos using clips from the film with text, voiceover and other images. There are four separate videos which I can't embed. You'll have to go directly to YouTube to watch them.  There's some really good stuff here if you have time to watch.

The Big Lebowski - film analysis by Rob Ager 1 of 4 (length: 9:38)

The Big Lebowski - film analysis by Rob Ager 2 of 4 (length: 8:13)

The Big Lebowski - film analysis by Rob Ager 3 of 4 (length: 9:53)

The Big Lebowski - film analysis by Rob Ager 4 of 4 (length: 7:17)

If you can't watch the videos (you should really watch these if you can) you can also access a text version - http://collativelearning.com/big%20lebowski%20analysis.html

Here are a few places you can catch a screening of The Big Lebowski:

Thursday July 22nd at 6pm

The Big Lebowski is playing  at the Brooklyn Bridge Park.
Cost: Free
Pier 1 at the corner of Old Fulton Street and Furman Street

Friday July 23rd and Sunday July 25th

The Big Lebowski is playing at 5 Point Theater in Jacksonville, Florida
Cost: $6.50
1028 Park Street Jacksonville, Florida 32204 For movie information or questions please call: (904) 359-0047

July 15th, 22nd, and 29th

Wynne Home screenings featuring Coen Brother films in Huntsville, TX
More info here

The second day of Lebowski Fest, commonly referred to as the "bowling day," consists of more than just bowling. The Garden Party happens before the bowling event, and this year we (The Lebowski Podcast) hosted a meet up before the Garden Party.

The meet up was a random idea that we came up with a few months ago. I can't remember who thought of it first, it could have been Liz or Tom, but it was a great idea nonetheless. One thing people always comment about on the Fest forums is the awkwardness of finding other forum members. We all interact using nicknames and pseudonyms, but most have no clue what people actually look like. So we scheduled a meet up, get together, or what have you. It took place in the Executive Strike and Spare at 3:00. Tom and I got in a couple minutes late, but nobody minded because we were all functioning on Dude-time. I laid out some sticker name tags and a few sharpies. Some slapped on a name tag and others did not - and that's cool. Different strokes for different folks. Other than that, we all just milled about, met new friends, and said hello to old ones. One guy I met, Greg, wrote up an article for Media Geeks. You can read it here - http://www.media-geeks.com/articles/1472/Media_Geeks_hits_LebowskiFest_Louisville! I'm not really sure how many attended, but a lot of people kept coming in and out between 3:00 and 4:00.

The Garden Party started up at 4:00 with several bands playing before the bowling event. I spent most of the time tracking down those in Dude costumes for short interviews. This year I wanted to just talk to Dudes in an effort to do something different. I also had a great sit-down with Prof Tim. He's working on a dissertation/thesis centered on the pop culture of The Big Lebowski. Eventually we switched roles and Prof Tim started asking me questions. I haven't listened to the audio yet, but we talked for almost an hour.

The bowling event started around 8pm. When Prof Tim and I walked out of the bowling alley around 6:45, the line to get inside had already started. I don't even try to get into the bowling event early. The lanes get so packed I don't even try to bowl. I spend most of my time walking around talking to people and checking out interesting costumes. Some of my favorites included The Stranger, the cash machine, Donny with his walrus on his shoulder, the Chinamen with severed legs, and the lawyers - Ron Kube and Bill Kunstler. The trivia contest is also of great interest to me because I'm into that kind of stuff. It was a close competition this year and the 1st and 3rd place winners were a married couple. They took two golfing trophies home to place on their mantel.  The guy who took 2nd place was also dressed up as Walter.  I think he also won Best Walter and the bowl-off.

Bill Kunstler and Ron Kube

I'll save the rest of the details for our episode. We should have two coming out in the next couple weeks. In one I'll be posting the audio from the book event for The Year's Work in Lebowski Studies, and the second will consist of Liz interviewing me to find out what happened at the Fest.

I always think the movie night at Lebowski Fest is always just going to be the same.  You know, like, watch the movie.  It never really quite works out that way though.  You have the bands playing beforehand, a few Achievers show up in costumes, and the reunions of old friendships combined with the creating of new ones.

When it got to be about that time, the Dude and I drove over in the Gran Torino.  Did I mention it's green with some minor rust coloration?  I always enjoy riding around in that beast because it always gets the crowd going.  As soon as we parked and exited I noticed another dude and his special lady kind of hanging off to the side.  I decided to say hi and it turns out we kind of knew each other.  It was paparon from the messageboards at JeffBridges.com!  Here's someone whom I have been talking to and conversing with for I dont' know how long and here they were just standing next to our parking space.  Some would call that a "Lebowski miracle."

Along with paparon I was able to meet up with Prof Tim and Donny, TQ, Liam, Christee, Ed and Aaron, and a few others.  Coming to a Fest and experiencing everything is fun, but the people are the reason I want to come back.  The bands were good and The Felice Brothers were pretty awesome just as I expected.  I ended up helping out at the door, ripping tickets, stamping hands and what-have-you.  Some might find this boring but I got to strike up some interesting conversations with Ryan the security guy, and was also able to stand under the tent.  The Kentucky heat was unforgiving this weekend.

One thing I made sure I did was to check out the merch tent for any deals.  I was able to score a Liam shirt from the 7th Annual Fest for just $5.  That's a deal.  It's always worth checking out what they have on clearance.  That night Dude, Mayor and I went over to Spinelli's for some pizza.  It wasn't too busy there, but it took a while for our pizza because of all the delivery orders.  While waiting, Mayor and I got to hear some very "interesting" conversation from a group of kids sitting out front.  The excitement even spiced up a bit when a couple of Little Larry types tried to cut the power to the building.  I never quite caught why they were pissed, but those kids did no succeed in their modest task and went running down the street.

So last night one item on our agenda was go to Carmichael's Bookstore on Frankfort Ave to attend the conversation and book signing for A Year's Work in Lebowski Studies. This book is the printed version of the Lebowski academic symposium held a few years ago during a Lebowski Fest. The co-editors, Ed Comentale and Aaron Jaffe, compiled the best 20 or so essays into a book and it's been available for almost a year now.

I must admit this is one of my favorite things associated with the film. Yeah, Lebowski Fests are fun, quoting the film with strangers is cool, and dressing up as your favorite character can be a blast, but what I really dig is sitting down and just talking about the film. This may be because I work in academia, or maybe it's just how I roll. The event was great. Everything went off w/o a hitch. Ed and Aaron had some opening statements, took some questions from the group, and even passed out some index cards for people to give their ideas on "Why did Donny have to die?" The winner won a Lebowski fan kit.

We, the royal we, was also asked to come and record the discussion. It was a lot of fun. Duder and I hung out in the back row (something I did throughout my academic career) with Scott, Will, and a few other achievers. I would guess 30 people came for the event which may sound small, but packed the room was packed. Several authors of essays in the book showed as well. I was able to get autographs from Andrew Rabin, Tom Byers, and Judith Roof, along with the co-editors Ed and Aaron. Here's a snippet of the audio below.

EDIT: Here's a link to the complete audio - Episode 43 - Lebowski Studies at Carmichael's