Can you really call this an “action” figure? After all, the Dude was quite possibly the laziest man in Los Angeles County, putting him in the running for laziest worldwide. At least that’s what the Stranger said …
Anyway, a huge shout-out to the peeps at the Lebowski Podcast, who sent me this fine, fine statue of The Dude for winning one of their summer giveaways.
Here’s the winning entry:
Why I Want to Win Something in the Lebowski Podcast Summer of Give-Aways Contest in 300 words or less (including this title)
I want to win something during the Lebowski Podcast Summer of Give-Aways Contest for two reasons:
First: I never win anything. I know, it’s cliché. Ninety percent of all contest entrants include this trite phrase in their entries under the delusion that this matters to the judges. It doesn’t. So why do I include it here? Well, read on.
Second: I am delusional. I have talked myself into going to the west coast of this fine country — the opposite coast from which I live — and following a bunch of Lebowski Podcast listeners and fellow Achievers to the cities of Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and San Diego for the Lebowski Fest Speed of Sound Tour. Why? I have pondered that question, too, and it may have something to do with the delusion that this “research” into Lebowski Culture will garner me praise and adulation from the Academy. This is the biggest delusion of all. After all, isn’t college the place for thai stick and demonstrations in front of the ROTC? To tell you the truth, I don’t remember much of it.
But if I were to win — alas, ACHIEVE — in the Lebowski Podcast Summer of Give-Aways Contest, it could spur me on towards the task that is my charge. I could go out and achieve anyway. Despite what the academy thinks.
P.S. I am also under the delusion of thinking that putting the name of the contest, the Lebowski Podcast Summer of Give-Aways (everthus the academic, here’s the citation: http://lebowskipodcast.com/index.php/component/option,com_mojo/Itemid,154/p,394/), I will also give me the edge over my other competitors who are likewise deserving but will not be traveling as much.
So here’s the lesson:
there are decent people out there, like, for instance, Chalupa and Liz at Lebowski Podcast; and
and you can win something from them if you try … even if you don’t think you can, should you complain? No, you can go out and achieve anyway!
In the book The Philosophy of the Coen Brothers, chapter authors Matthew Douglass and Jerry Walls* bestow upon the Dude four central tenets to his chosen ethos — laziness:
Reality is inherently chaotic and purposeless; yet the interactions between chaotic molecules creates a mighty force we cannot resist.
One should expend effort only on simple, short-term goals; since everything is chaotic and ever-changing, long-term planning is pointless.
Since one can do very little to affect this mixture of good and bad, one should accept life as it is and learn to be content. As successful dude can tell the difference between simple problems that can be solved and complex problems that take more effort than necessary to solve (and are, therefore, pointless).
The purpose of life is to be as happy as possible in any situation. The purpose of life must come from the inside the individual; it cannot come from anything external.
Hmmm. That’s interesting and all; at least it’s an ethos, I guess. But I wonder what the Dudeists at Dudeism.com (or at The Dude’s Paper) would say. Can someone check for me?
I’m feeling a little lazy. And I’m not sure that’s very Dude of me.
* Douglass, M.K. and Walls, J.L. (2009). “Takin’ ‘er easy for all us sinners,” in Conrad, M.T., ed. The Philosophy of the Coen Brothers, Lexington, Ky: The University of Kentucky Press. Their essay is pages 147-162.
Saw this posted on a light pole at the intersection of highways 98 North and 60 West in that hotbed of political activity Bartow, Fla. today.
I guess the sign first been popped up in California in August, at least according to this report.
As a political statement, this is blatantly offensive. Think what you want about the President, but there is no freaking way the Joker is a socialist! That’s just ridiculous.
The Joker is obviously more of an anarchist; possibly a nihilist, in The Big Lebowski sense of the term.
So, in review: Obama as socialist, go for it; just slowly back away and leave the Joker out of it.
By the way, if you want to make the Obama-as-Socialist kind of statement, combine Obama’s picture with this guy. If you don’t know who this guy is, I suggest you stop making political statements that are offensive to the comic book sensibilities in all of us.
If this clip from Fanboys is accurate, then the Star Wars-Star Trek rivalry would be considered the Duke-Carolina of the movie world.
Rocky Horror = Notre Dame?
If that’s so … then …
Rocky Horror is probably Notre Dame, you know, the classic, sentimental favorite that no one really roots for any more.
Twilight is probably Southern Cal, you know, all glitzy and good-looking.
Harry Potter would be Ohio State. Huge. Just huge.
The Big Lebowski … well … that’d probably be a party school somewhere, with a low retention rate (but it would be fun, albeit confusing, while you were there). Or a community college. Either way, it’ll tie your college years together.
Wes Anderson films would be some Ivy League school, you know, a little elite.
Coen brothers films would have a little of that elitist feel, too; probably an NYU.
Here are some others:
N.C. State: Smokey and the Bandit (a little redneckey, but fun);
University of Florida: You’ve Got Mail (all gooey and romanticey);
Florida State: Dukes of Hazzard (gooey and romanticey, but Southern)
Hmmmm … what about your favorite movie or college? Who would be the Magnolia (all drama), The Pulp Fiction (it’s a little out of order, but that’s why you like it), or Fight Club (probably a traditionally all-boys school like The Citadel).
Come on, movie people, as the college football season approaches, let’s not let the co-eds have all the fun. Let’s get our rivalries going, too!
So, in review: Obama as socialist, go for it; just slowly back away and leave the Joker out of it.
