Louisville's 10th Annual Lebowski Fest

This summer, I was able to cross something off of my Bucket List: The Lebowski Fest in Louisville. My little sister and I drove up there from Nashville for 2 days of festivities. The whole thing took place either at the Executive Strike and Spare bowling alley or on the Executive Lawn.

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It all started Friday, July 15th @ the MOVIE PARTY with music by J Roddy Walston &amp The Business and The Broken Spurs. Followed by a screening of The Big Lebowski.

Here's moi with my little sister on the right:

That night, we also met up with my dear friend Laurie, a Louisvillian and fellow MSU alumni: 

J Roddy Walston &amp The Business on stage with the Bowling Alley in the background:

...and the movie screening:

Then on Saturday, July 16th we had the Garden Party w/ music by Those Darlins, The Seedy Seeds, How I Became The Bomb & Junk Yard Dogs. There were also some Lebowski themed games (Ringet Toss, Marmot Fling). Here's Will Russell a co-founder of the fest for a drawing to give away the dude car which no one really wanted:

...And here are Those Darlins, the stars of the show:

...and us all sweaty after the show:

 And that day there was a photo booth by Magnolia Photo Booth Co.

And here's Those Darlins with Will: 

Then that night @ 8pm was THE BOWLING PARTY: - Bowling, costume contest, trivia and white russians

Liz and I both participated in Martin Randah's auditions, but we were quite lousy.

 Lego Walter with Walter:

Costume Contest:

Then, around midnight, we decided we needed some grub and went outside for the After Party Food trucks. Yummy Grilled Cheeses were sold here:

 ....And for a souvenir, Liz and I got this Tshirt :

Conclusion: Calmer than you are dude: 

My little sis and I were surprised time and time again how lax this festival was and how lax Louisville is in general. This fest could never have taken place in Nashville, we decided. We also expected that in it's 10th year the fest would've been taken over by the hipster youth culture at least a little bit. We were wrong. The fest was still quite small and reserved for those pretty obsessed with Lebowski.

 

So, here's our advice for the Fest in Louisville:

1) Don't worry about buying tickets in advance and loosing money on service charges. It ain't needed.
2) Bring lawn chairs, blankets and bug spray. This is for the festivities on the lawn.
3) Bring a group and a group that's at least a little into Lebowski. Be prepared to act ridiculous.

4) Dress down for Friday festivities. My 5 inch wedges weren't serving me very while dodging the little dips on the Executive lawn.

5) Dress up for Saturday night bowling party. It's too fun too pass that up. 

 
So...maybe see you at the fest next year?

Le Dimanche au Musée: Michael Tompert and Paul Fairchild

John Prine's "Spanish Pipedream" song says
"Blow up Your TV/
Throw away the paper/
Go to the country/
Build you a home/
Plant a little garden/
Eat a lot of peaches/
Try to find Jesus/
On your Own"

Discussing this song with my friend Kelsey, she responded that now, the lyrics would need to be much longer, saying, "BLOW UP YOUR TV, LAPTOP, IPHONE, IPOD, IPAD, NANO, ETC" Well, sometimes, when I intend to be at a bar with 3 people, but really end up with just 3 entities on their iPhones, I want to blow up (their--keyword, their) technological devices. Yet, this art by Michael Topert and Paul Fairchild beat me to it...with handguns and such.

"[Michael's] methods of destruction varied by gadget. to destroy an iphone 3g device, he used a heckler & koch handgun to blow a hole through it. [T]o obliterate a set of ipod nanos, he placed the devices on a train track so that a locomotive would run over them.” --via Slamxhype

 "Tompert said the idea for the project came to him after he gave each of his two sons an iPod Touch for Christmas, when one of the  two boys fought over one of the devices, which had a certain game on it. Fed up with the quarrel, Tompert said he grabbed one of the iPods and smashed it on the ground....'They had to be a brand-new product,' Tompert said. 'It’s not about destroying old products. it’s about our relationship with the new.' --via Juxtapoz

Well, don't let my bitchin' about ppl on their iPhones fool you, because I and my tricky friend called time are consumed with technology/ the internet (hence this blog)/ apple products. I.E. Here's me using one fruit product to display another, meet my new friend, the iPad:

Well, to tie this all together, you need listen to John Prine's "Spanish Pipedream" now. It's a goodin' that will make you feel alright and cute about the world.

Photos of the art taken from Fubiz.