Nice marmot!

Last night, FMC and I went to Lebowski Fest West. It was a lot of fun, especially once the $5 White Russians started flowing. We bowled with two other couples who we met there, though one of the women had two broken fingers, so she couldn't bowl. (Nasty rollerblading accident - she actually didn't think they were broken, but they were pretty swollen and colorful.)

Unlike the characters in The Big Lebowski, we didn't have much of a competitive streak. The five bowlers among our group just went with the flow, sometimes skipping someone, rolling multiple times, or substitute rolling for those who stepped away for a drink or a smoke. We had some excellent strikes and spares, as well as some spectacular gutter balls.

The other woman in our group, dressed as Bunny, was convinced that bowling would break her nails. She insisted on lifting her arm and dropping the ball onto the lane rather than throwing it. Oddly enough, she did better with this technique than when we counseled her to do otherwise. She gave a half-hearted effort to roll the ball in the conventional way, but never hit a single pin with that method. Every time she rolled a gutter ball, she would turn to her boyfriend and give him the evil eye, as though it was completely obvious that it was all his fault that the ball wouldn't go where she intended.

By the end of the night, FMC and I were fairly toasty from the well-poured White Russians, which seemed to improve our bowling abilities. We didn't wear costumes, so we didn't win any prizes, but we greatly enjoyed the variety of Dudes, Maudes, Walters, and interpretive dancers present. There was even a Larry Sellers Homework in a Baggie costume, as well as the Ringer, a guy covered in pairs of tighty whities.

All in all, it was enjoyable. The Dude abides, man, the Dude abides.