Last night a small army of urban achievers and amateurs packed Williamsburg's Brooklyn Bowl to celebrate the Coen Brothers' 1998 comic masterpiece The Big Lebowski. The festivities entailed watching the movie, bowling, the occasional acid flashback, heavy Caucasian consumption, a reading fromThe Two Gentlemen of Lebowski, and a costume contest. (Musical diversion was provided by Diamondsnake, an ironic Hair Metal band featuring Moby on the axe.) Like last year's Brooklyn what-have-you, there were more amateurs than achievers in the costume category, and festival impresario Will Russell told us he thinks it's a Brooklyn thing.
"Brooklyn has a reputation for standing back and observing a little bit," Russell told us last night. And he's right, goddamn it. Stop standing around with your arms crossed, you lousy hipster bums, and get into an iron lung costume or at least dress like a roadie from Metallica ("Speed of Sound" tour)! To be fair, there were a few noteworthy standouts last night. We particularly appreciated the guy dressed as a United States Army Cavalry captain, just so he could indignantly respond to questions about his costume with the line, "Ever hear of a little show called Branded?"
Cynthia and Marty Ackerman were spotted on their Hawaiian vacation, and perhaps the most obscure costume prize goes to a guy dressed as Charlton Heston ("Chuck"). Special props go to the little toddler dressed as a castrating nihilist in the Dude's nightmare. In the end, our only hope is the big Lebowski kills us before the child nihilist can cut our dicks off.
