As I was serving away today in the wonderful little cafe where I call work, I was given a wonderful little peek at the scope of influence one of my favorite films has had. I was in a rather hipster sort of mood when I left our apartment and the weather was permitting, so I threw on a graphic T of the Dude and Walter and rolled. As I was waiting on a table of sunny side uppers one said to me as I sat down his plate, “Well, the dude abides, man.” Pleasantly plucked from my manic serving mentality and finding myself in the midst of an honest to God human interaction I stopped and replied, “Far out, man.” My newfound friend and I began discussing how well made and easily accessible the film is. He then proceeded to tell me that he had actually stumbled across a Lebowski shrine, of sorts, in Dresden, Germany of all places! He said that as he was walking down the street they passed a little hole in the wall that was called, “Lebowski House.” He made note of it and continued to his destination hoping to have a spare moment in the future to return and at least get a photo opp for his own sake. As fate would have it he did have time to revisit it and what he found inside was an homage to the movie itself. Movie posters lining the old world wooden walls, music from the soundtrack rumbling away in the background, and of course there was an ample supply of white russians to be consumed. How incredible. Unable to find the pub’s website, I’ve found something that might be just as fun to peruse.
Feliz Ano Nuevo
Ok, so posting everyday for a year will have to start today instead of my birthday (boo, travel-mania). But I have so many wonderful things to start off my new blog year! I had a wonderful New Year’s Eve here in northern California, with a cultural conglomeration that kept my head spinning all night long. I had dinner last night with my girlfriend and her family. Sounds simple enough, right? Tu no comprendes. This family dinner consisted of her half-sister and boyfriend from Australia and a different half-sister’s half-sister and her husband who are from Mexico and speak a very limited amount of English. Even if the Spanish lesson wasn’t enough confusion to freeze me in my tracks, fleshing out a mental family tree certainly occupied all of my mental faculties for a few minutes. After that we took turns playing guitar and then lit firecrackers until the neighbor’s bush caught on fire. Once the New Year had arrived we all took a drink of champagne and then my dear one and I said goodnight to 2007.
In the morning we had chilie quiles with freshly made salsa and guacamole; this is also known as “the best meal to start the year with that is known to humankind,” in case you were unaware. Once we made our way down to San Fransisco the cultural extravaganza continued with a Norwegian grocer who informed us that a princess from his country actually lives in the bay area, and ended up having dinner here at the apartment of a friend of a friend who is an architect living with a Philippino med student who’s dating an elementary school teacher. In the midst of these young future working class individuals … I’m bumming a place to sleep on the floor but hopefully we’ll be able to go home tomorrow afternoon. Stay tuned to see where I end up!
