Last night a bunch of amateurs and urban achievers descended upon 300 New York at Chelsea Piers for another night of White Russians, beer bongs, and bowling in celebration of the Coen Brothers' comic masterpiece The Big Lebowski. In keeping with Lebowski Fest tradition, attendees dressed in costumes referencing the cult classic: there were 15 Dudes, a dozen Walters, one Donnie in a Folgers can, Maudes of various styles (including a standout sexy '60s-era art school Maude), one buxom Bunny Lebowski, a buddy who died face down in the muck, Marty the interpretative-dancing landlord, a nihilist with giant castrating scissors, a half-dozen pederasts, The Stranger, and the Dude himself: Jeff Dowd, who partly inspired the character brought to life by Jeff Bridges.
There were strikes and gutters, ups and downs along the way: a barback carrying a tray of glasses took a nasty spill in a puddle of White Russian mix behind the bar, and a woman went into a seizure and had to be carried out on a stretcher. (Separate incidents.) But nothing could dampen the unleashed inner geeks as they flashed their piece out on the lanes. And even though 1st prize in the trivia contest was stolen from Gothamist (we placed 2nd) by ringer and festival founder Will Russell, you can't be worried about that shit. Life goes on, man.
Tonight, at a sold-out Hammerstein Ballroom, most of the principal actors in the durn human comedy will gather together for the first ever cast reunion, coinciding with the release of The Big Lebowski Blu-ray DVD, which Russell says he's looking forward to because it features an F-bomb counter that keeps a running tally of the number of F-bombs dropped during the film. Jeff Bridges, John Turturro, John Goodman, Julianne Moore, and Steve Buscemi are set to appear for a lengthy interrogation preceding a screening of the film. (Maybe now we'll finally settle the debate over who Walter was talking to?) Tickets for the what-have-you sold out almost immediately, but there are tickets being scalped on Craigslist. You'll just have to go find a cash machine.
