Lebowski Podcast

After a year of theorizing, we finally sat down and tried out some orange drinks Donny might have enjoyed. Slice isn't available anymore and Crush has taken its place. What's your favorite orange drink?

Adam Bertocci's book, Two Gentlemen of Lebowski, was released today and we give our two cents. We really enjoyed it and think you will too. We're giving away 5 copies next month so be sure to enter our contest!

Earlier this summer I had the pleasure of chatting with someone from the crew of The Big Lebowski, Jeff DeLucia. Jeff is a card-holding union member and has been working on the sets of TV shows and films for the past 20 years. Jeff has a lot of interesting things to say about lighting a scene, and great stories from his past jobs. The audio is a little rough on this one. Had some technical difficulties with the recording. The whole interview is available in our member section.

The day before the 9th Annual Lebowski Fest officially started, there was an event at Carmichael's Bookstore in Louisville for Aaron Jaffe and Ed Comentale's book, The Year's Work in Lebowski Studies. Ed and Aaron are no strangers to the podcast. They were our guests back on Episode 15. Jaffe and Comentale allowed me to record the discussion between them and the audience at the event. I hope this gives you a good idea of what it was like.

Review of the 9th Annual Lebowski Fest in Louisville, KY. This year I went solo and arrived a little early with Tom to enjoy the city a bit. As usual there were great costumes, great events, great food, and I was able to meet and reunite with many Achievers. We have more Fest coverage coming up so stay tuned.

This month I talked with Dudesong's creator, Phil Wells, via Skype. This episode is a few weeks late, but we'll be doubling up next month to make up for it. If you're coming to Lebowski Fest in Louisville please find us and say hello. We're organizing a meetup and will post details on our blog.

Since President Obama was elected into office as the 44th president of the United States of America, he has been pushing for Congress to enact health care reform for the American people. In March of 2010, a health care reform bill (H.R. 4872) was passed by a narrow margin. Leading up to this historic vote and after, there have been many heated discussions and debates over the value and even legality of this new legislation. This month we tried to understand this issue by discussing it through the characters of The Big Lebowski. We have a new segment titled Dude Thoughts with Tom where Tom Esterline "phones in" and chats about what's going on in his life. He shares some Dude dos and don'ts, along with ideas about how to best achieve at Achieverdom. Tune in next month to hear our interview with Phill Wells who created Dudesong, an epic poem version of The Big Lebowski.

Jeff Bridges finally won an Academy Award and we felt the need to celebrate. TJ and Larry joined us to talk about Jeff Bridges' life, career, and some of his films other than The Big Lebowski. In a new segment we relate a real life "Dude story" from one of our listeners. Join us next month as we'll be discussing health care reform and how that might affect the The Dude, Walter and Donny.

March 6, 2010 marks LebowskiPalooza, the biggest Lebowski event in Canada. I had a great time interviewing two of its organizers. They even graciously stood by while we troubleshot an echo problem. This even coincides with Day of The Dude - Dudeism's Dude holiday and don't forget to cheer Jeff Bridges on to his first Oscar win on March 7th.

In January of 2010, Adam Bertocci released his Shakespearean-themed translation of The Big Lebowski script. We were able to get him on the phone for an interview and talk about how his project came about. It's something that really exploded on the internet and there are now readings and productions being planned all across the US. There might even be a book deal in the works. For February we're hoping to talk with Rev Dom and his crew who are working on a Dudeism documentary.

TJ and Larry came back for another episode to discuss Fargo, the Coen Brothers' first Oscar winner. Contest winners announced and round 2 of contest in January. Happy holidays.

Fred Melamed played the character of Sy Ableman in the most recent Coen Brother film, A Serious Man. In our interview with Fred we heard his first-hand experiences working with the Coen Brothers, some ins and outs of the film industry and what it was like on the set of A Serious Man. Check out Bill Green's new art show, Jaffe and Comentale's new book The Year's Work in Lebowski Studies, and be sure to enter our contest to win a Liam bowling ball shammy.

On November 25th, a new item will be available from the Lebowski Fest store. Listen to my interview with Jim "Liam O'Brien" Hoosier to find out about his new, officially endorsed, piece of bowling equipment. Tune in to Episode 35 for details on how you can win one.

Eddie Chung's documentary, The Achievers, is finally available for purchase! Larry, TJ, Liz and I sat down to talk about our thoughts on Lebowski Fest and the documentary. Prof Tim won our final item from Entertainment Earth. Keep your eyes peeled for a new Liam item from Lebowski Fest. Later this month tune in for our interview with Fred "Sy Ableman" Melamed from A Serious Man.

Lebowski Fest came to Boston this month. Liz and I hung out with the Will, Scott, Tom, Dave and Roli back in the green room at the House of Blues. Here's some of that conversation and all of the "inside stories" from the Speed of Sound Tour. Next month we'll review the documentary The Achievers and give away a Dude action figure. This month's winner of a Maude bobble head was Carolyn "dudeabides" from Vermont.