Show A The Herald Journal Logan Utah Wednesday July 23 2003 — C5 SHERMANS LAGOON cult is born: Fans flock to ‘Big Lebowski’ festival A uuJusrovRNOBopr NICKNAME UffOFPRttWf CAU KIN6AWARK pMUMmRt OFUtEPEET YOU Jm LOUISVILLE Ky (AP) —The Real Lebowski lives And people love him Jeff Dowd the inspiration for the main char- acter in the Coen brothers’ 1998 mistaken identity comedy “The Big Lebowski” joined more than a thousand fans at the second annual Lebowski Fest — a celebration of bowling white Russians and all things Lebowski The film “has a rewatchability that most other films don’t” said Russell Cooley a research analyst from Madison Wis who drove more than 10 hours to attend “You can watch it over and over again and it’s still CATHY PlBElBst ALUW DOfrS! RESTAURANTS HOT ALUM DOSS' BEACHES THAT MUM DOSS! MUSEUMS THAT ALUM DOSS' MOTELS TIVflT PEOPLE CAM FINALLY TAKE A REAL VACATION IM 1 A ty&msA:--' ? funny” BEETLE BAILEY HAGAR THE HORRIBLE PEANUTS 'LUCY IF YOU MI55 ONE MORE FLY BALL YOU'VE HAP IT! IF ID HAD it r UIOULPN'T HAVE MISSED IT! e ' In the film Los Angles slacker The Dude — “I bowl Drive around The occasional acid flashback” — is played to perfection Dowd says by Jeff Bridges He then becomes entangled in kidnapping and pornography when all he wants is restitution for his ruined rug — and he’s mistaken for a millionaire of the same name “Let me explain something to you Urn I am not Mr Lebowski You’re Mr Lebowski I’m the Dude So that’s what you call me You know that or uh His Dudeness or uh Duder or El Duderino if you’renot into the whole brevity thing’? explains The Dude who's accompanied in his misadventures by bowling partners Walter (John Goodman) and Donny (Steve Buscemi) said it's Will Russell the fest’s his favorite movie because “the characters are brilliant the dialogue is hilarious ” Said Dowd the Dude: “Sometimes I think they made the film just because they liked rifling on the name” On Saturday night 900 people gathered at the AMF Rose Bowl in the garb of The Dude Walter and Jesus — The Dude’s purple-cla- d ' bowling nemesis played by John Turturro — to film which in roll a few frames and discuss the “The Dude abides" ' Friday night 500 showed for a midnight screening with crowd participation rivaled only by “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” “Rarely when I see one of my films on TV do I watch the entire thing but whenever ' ‘Lebowski' comes on I get hooked" Bridges said from New York where he's promoting his new film “Seabiscuit” ‘Tve got to sec Turturro lick the bowling ball” This year's fest featured some Bridges autographed photos from the set “It’s kind of a ’Star Trek’ convention but without all the geeks" suggested Jon Cook a Louisville salesman It also was being taped for a future documen- tary Producer Rob Roman who journeyed from Los Angeles to Louisville already had 1 00 hours of footage before Friday night's He wonders: “What is it about this screening film that would make two guys put a lot of time and energy into creating this festival and what would make people drive as far as Virginia and Arizona to attend?” This will be the first documentary for Roman who has produced segments for MTV ' - h 'ot t i k :'f - i ft v f LJ A tiV-- : 4 j vw: AP Photo the basis for" Jeffrey “The Dude" Lebowski the main character in Joel and Ethan Coen's 1998 comedy The Big Lebowski” rolls a frame Saturday at the AMF Rose bowl for the 2nd Annual Lebowski Fest in Louisville Ky Jeff Dowd Scott Shuffitt Russell’s of the fest offered: “It’s set in a bowling alley and it’s about completely normal people There are no heroes in ‘The Big Lebowski'" But Bridges disagrees The Dude is “sort of an existential hero He takes life as it comes makes the best of things" The Real Dude was the unequivocal hit of the festival followed by hordes of fans wherever he went “People come I think seeking some kind of friendship in some bizarre world” Dowd said “It’s very much about camaraderie” Dowd met Joel and Ethan Coen in 1 98 1 and helped them secure a distribution deal for their first film 1984’s “Blood Simple” Now 53 The Dude has remained friends with the brothers arid had parts of his past infused into the Character ' The film was not as well received as other Coen films such as “O Brother Where Art Thou?” “Fargo” and "Raising Arizona” but included the quirky characters and comedy that have become the brothers’ calling card Russell and Shuffitt lifelong friends first conceived the notion of the Lebowski Fest and sticker booth at a while running a tattoo Convention The pair found a small affordable bowling alley printed up $30 worth of flyers and waited to see what would happen Russell is a Web developer and Shuffitt designs and concert postern What happened was about 150 people showed up for the inau- gural Lebowski Fest last year Fans of the movie gathered in a tiny bowling alley to bowl’ sip white Russians — The Dude's adult bever- age of choice — and wear the costumes of their favorite Lebowski characters Word of"' mouth and other Lebowski fan sites touting the festival spurred this year’s massive turnout “It (the festival) just started as a joke and has kind of snowballed” Russell said irt : MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM Sons of Bear Lake A FOX TROT NO MR THIS IS HOW AU TbuR 6otF HA ' MA & 3 6o SHOTS V REAL LIFE ADVENTURES CLOSE TO HOME novel by Douglas D Alder the LDS meetinghouse for tomorrow morning It was good he did: hewould have Walked a r long way trying to find it Even then he could have mistaken it for a Protestant church which it had obviously been prior to its purchase by the Mormons Professor Harris insisted on picking up Alan setting the time at 7:45 am When the hour arrived the next morning Alan was surprised to find Sister Harris driving with three children: the father had long been at the church holding sessions with his counselors That Sunday opened many doors for Alan particularly to Bishop Harris' family Alan had n no idea that the astronomer was also presiding over the Bloomyille Ward This Could make his stay akin to the years in Logan where his bishop was clearly Alan's intellects al compatriot It was so comfortable to have a bishop who could read and doubt and live with intellectual tension Perhaps Dr Harris would understand him Dinner at their home that day seemed to weave hijn into their family fter passing through a lovely grove of dogwood trees near the library he crossed the street to the small stores on Elm Street discovering coffeehouses that were obviously the hangout and talkathon spots for many students as well as folks who clung to the campus even though they were not registered There were small groups of them scantily clad bearded barely awake even at this afternoon hour A block away was Fraternity Row —a collection houses obviously of a dozen huge three-stor- y homes to undergrads and their freewheeling lifestyle The windows were open drapes blowing out into the air from rooms that wouldn’t know air conditioning systems for another decade Admitting that he had consumed a whole day with dallying Alan was compelled to end his isolation He dialed the phone number of the Harris family introduced himself to Dr Harris and asked directions to well-know- See tomorrow's Herald Journal for the next install- - ment of this story Win at bridge By Phillip Alder ry Sitting South how would you plan to bring home this contract? West leads a low club the unbid suit Did West have a more effective opening salvo? Note North’s two-hea- rt rebid Since South did not : this rebid rebid one is forcing for one round It takes up too much bidding space if the responder must jump to three hearts to force Ytyi have seven top tricks: one spade one heart three ' diamonds and two clubs (given the lead) If the dia-monds are splitting 3-- 3 you have overtricks in your future But a 4-- 2 division is much more likely And if you must concede a diamond trick three-no-tru- no-tru- 'He's very excited about our upooming trip to California” where is the to your hand? There is only one candidate in clubs So you must win the first trick with dummy's club ace retaining your queen-jac- k as a guaranteed lifeline to those diamond winners You continue with four rounds of diamonds discardfrom both ing spot-carmajors in the dummy If East shifts to a major win in the dummy and play a club your- self If East returns a club he is doing your work for you Regardless you will win nine tricks: one spade one heart five diamonds and two clubs West can defeat the contract by leading a low spade Later the opponents can shift to hearts and build up five winners before you can cash ds r V nine But who would find that? CNEA 2003 North ¥ A J 8 7 3 A 10 5 4 5 A 7 3 Aest ' East K 9 5 2 K 8 2 9 3 K 9 8 4 A ¥ A Q 10 4 Q 9 7 J 10 8 10 8 2 7 South 6 ¥ J 6 3 A K Q 6 4 3 Q J S Dealer: South Vulnerable: Both South 2 NT West North East Pass Pass ¥ 2 3 NT Opening lead: All pas: 4 |