Fake it

Mr. Lebowski, the old man pretending to be a successful millionaire who turns out to be a looser reminds me so much of an old TV show called Fake it. The show is about inviting a person who’s totally irreverent with the identity he or she’s going to pretend, for example a guy who works in a laboratory to be a painter. He gets trained from professionals in the industry for two weeks and then attends an artistic event with other three painters and some dealers. Finally they let the dealers identify who’s the fake painter. I’ve seen episodes about faking a hairstylist, cloth designer and painter. Some participants fail and some partially succeed. All of them are grateful of the special experience and some even thinking about other career options. Thinking of Mr. Lebowski, He never needs to work hard to earn a living and nor the participants who just get stress out of the intense training. He sees so much glamour of being rich just like the participants in the TV show getting a sense of the different identity they pretends. So I’m thinking maybe Mr. Lebowski’s greedy is partially because he’s been taken good care of by Maude and his ex-wife and never gets exposed to the payoffs of being rich.

The Dude

I really don't have some better ideas for this blog because there are full of exam materials in my brain. However, when i was thinking of the topic, my dog walked in my room, an idea came up with me, I said," here it is."

His name is Cocoa who is a breed Dachshund. He has chococate hair and big big eyes(smaller than aliens'). As we know, a breed of hunting dog used for hunting such animals as badgers, foxes, and raccoon dogs in their burrows. Dachshunds have long bodies, very short legs, tapering heads, and drooping ears; the tail is swordlike. Cocoa is a very naughty boy, he almost jumps up to everyone he notices, even they are totally passer-by. His short legs are my favorite part. Since it is so cute while he tries to jump up a coach or chair. Even through, he never did it because the short legs but it is the cutest thing for me. He is 5 months now, but he does not look like a five months mini Dachshund. he is eight pounds, a fat boy for true.That is from his edacious. In my memory, he seems never feel full, he is together with me when i finish classes every day, and his eighty percente of the purpose is to get food from me. So i have to prepare food for him many times

I love Cocoa, his cute and naughty. He is the dude i want to treasure forever.

Quoting Movies

After reading the essay Logjammin' and Gutterballs I found myself relating to the men who attend Lebowski Fest. As odd as that seems. Every single day find myself quoting movies like Superbad or Forgetting Sarah Marshall out loud and my roommates and anyone around usually looks at me weirdly and, as usual, I say, "Quoting a movie, sorry." But on a rare occassion, after saying a line from a film, a person will be there, look at me, smile, give a simple nod or even and say the next line of the script. And right off the bat I know that me and this person will get along. We both have a mutual appreciation of the film and quite possibly the same perspective of the world. It also breaks the ice and adds a bit of humor to a conversation. I don't know what it is about quoting movies that makes people feel connected, but it does. It's so weird. I could have a whole conversation with someone and just be quoting a movie but it will make perfect sense to me.

Which Dude is the best Dude?

The Big Lebowski is a film made for men. Not a surprise, the cast is also composed of primarily men. There is the Big Lebowski, who appears to be successful throughout most of the movie, but then turns out to be a big phony. Walter is the movie’s manly man, but when the Dude’s car is being destroyed he does not even put up a fight. Treehorn is the man who seems to have all of the power, but at closer look turns out to be a loser. And then there is Donny, who is just your average guy and a typical wimp. And of course, there is the Dude himself. He has figured out the secret of living a carefree life, but fails in the eyes of society as he appears to be wasting his life. So even though I would personally choose Walter as the “best dude”, because I think he is hilarious, there is no clear “best dude” in the film. They all have their pros and cons, except for Donny, who does not really have much going for him. The movie has such success as a buddy film that men love because it reflects the truth that no man is perfect.

You think you're cooler than me?

You walk around campus, and all you see are faces of people that you may or may not know. It's impossible to tell, you know why? Because their faces are hiding behind the biggest pair of sunglasses you've ever seen. Oh yeah, they're in South Florida, they're in the sun, and they think that they're so cool, eh... I think I've only had one pair of sunglasses in my life, and I'm glad I've lost them. I've looked at some people and I could never tell if they were originally looking at me, or looking back. I bet they must feel the same way when they see how confused I am, but it's just not fair. I'm telling you, it's worse than sticking your face all day on a cell phone screen or numbing your eyes with an iPod - well, to me it is at least. How does this tie in with the Dude? Well, isn't he holding up a facade just like all the other cool wannabes? To put things into perspective, above is a picture of a guy that I like. Tony Sporano, head coach of my beloved Miami Dolphins. Last night I read a story about him. You know why he's ALWAYS wearing sunglasses? Because of a freak fryer accident that permanently made his eyes too sensitive to light! Screw those Raybands that my roommate has been talking about! Sunglasses have a true purpose!

Stunt. Hard.

Life changing events just don't happen as often as they used to. The most important and meaningful person in my life was faced with a challenge that I could not help with no matter how hard I tried recently. My Grandfather had his third heart-attack while I was at a concert oblivious to the outside world.

Four hours after I had gotten the initial text from my mother that sent the night into a downward spiral, (Go home. Get jacob. Meet us in hospital. Abuelo.) he was in surgery getting a pacemaker put into his chest and I was stuck sitting with my head in my hands in a hospital waiting room. The last time this had happened I was eight years old and couldn't comprehend just how serious it was. I was just a kid. This time I knew exactly what was happening and I was numb and confused at the same time. Why did this happen now? How did this happen again? The unthinkable crossed my mind and I quickly gulped and shoved the thought into the deep abyss of my mind.

I have never been one to sit. I always need to do something active or move around. I was paralyzed in fear holding my grandmothers hand and refusing to let go as if I was a baby. I had been sitting in a waiting room for borderline fifteen hours, my phone was dead and all I wanted and needed was my grandfather to come out and make a perverted joke or to ask me how school or work was going and then threaten to throw my ass into a raft and send me back so Fidel could deal with me if I wasn't doing well.

After a day and a half in the hospital my grandfather was in recovery but still not concious. I went home to sleep and dreamt of a lot of things. This was unusual as I don't usually dream. I dreamt of my grandfather and Sukkot* (the Jewish holiday that started last Wednesday). He came into the Sukkah (A hut built to remind the Jewish people of the 40 years spent wandering in the desert where all meals are eaten during an eight day period) and told me everything was going to be all right. I woke up in a sweat and called my mom. She reassured me my grandfather was doing better and to come back if I wanted to. I drove back to the hospital and I walked into the recovery room. He was out of it but still managed to give me a wink and a smile and said "Papo I need one of these nurses to give me a good doming (a word that I taught him) or something, I feel like shit." I almost cried hearing this because to me it meant he was ok. Even my grandmother laughed when he said this (I don't think she knew what it meant).

My grandfather has the same mentality as the Dude. He lives every single day like he wants to. He answers to nobody and runs things in his life. He just enjoys himself to the fullest because he understands everything can be gone in a second. The Dude abides, the Dude Survives. So does Julio Grosfeld.

*Sukkot emphasizes the tenuousness of our lives, the fragility of our existence and the temporariness of our sojourn

The Reversal of Societal Gender Roles

While women in the film were the ones with all the power and control, the men were portrayed as failures, a blatant contrast to society’s stereotypes for these two genders at that time period-although women weren’t exactly thought of as failures then, just somewhat inferior to men. If we look at the two main female characters in the film, Maude and Bunny, we see that the film essentially grows and develops through Bunny’s actions (control), and while the men in the film deceive and fight one another to gain their own perception of power and control, Maude is above them all, with the knowledge of everything that’s going on throughout the film. Knowledge is power, and while Bunny has control-although some would say unconscious control-Maude has the power in the film. If Bunny hadn’t run off, a kidnapping would never of occurred, which was the driving force behind the plot of the movie. Similarly, Maude had so much power that she used The Dude, the epitome of a male failure, for his seed so she could bear a child and willingly raise it on her own. Besides the effect she had on the male race, more evidence of Maude’s power is seen in her genuine wealth and fortune, especially when compared to Mr. Lebowski, who faked his own fame and fortune. Ultimately, an effect of the Coen Brothers’ film was an interesting, and at times humorous, interpretation of what society would be like if societal roles were reversed, and women became the ones with all the power and control. However, luckily for the male race, we still have a little ways to go in the evolution of society before that becomes a realistic possibility.

The Dude

He is the newest member of our family. He's only 5 days old, weighing approximately 7lb 1oz and yet he controls everyone. Unlike Jeff Lebowski we are not able to call him a slacker or a bum but we can say he is an controller. he has mind control over all the adults around him. When he cries everyone runs around trying to figure out just what it is that he may need. Whether it is a diaper change, feeding him, or sometime he just wants to be held and cuddled next to your heart and the sound of your heart beat calms him down and soothes him back to sleep. It's hilarious how we all run to him every time he makes a peek sound. Since the first day the little Dude was welcomed home, everyone everyday routine has changed to accommodate him and his needs. Although he is little this Dude can really have you exhausted with taking care of all his needs, but at the end of the day and you have accomplished the mission he has unkowingly put you on, and you stare into his handsome little face and think, I will do it all again just for him.

Reality!?

While trying to figure out what I should write about in this second blog post, I decided to look up some information about the movie. I’m still undecided about what the point of this movie actually was, and therefore, of course, the first thing I looked at was Wikipedia.com. I went straight to read about the development of the movie, since I am very curious to know how the heck the Coen brothers came up with this plot and why. Looking at this, I didn’t get an answer to my curiosity, but I did find something else that I found interesting. From watching the movie, you’d think that the characters are “made up” and straight from imagination. Turns out that a couple of them (Maude, The Dude, Walter) are actually based on people that the Coen brothers knew, AND that some of the scenes are true stories that these people experienced. For example, the person they knew who represented the Dude lived in a dump just like him and had a rug that “tied the room together”. Another scene from the movie that has happened in real life is the one where they find the high school boy who stole the car because of a paper they found inside of the car. Who would have thought? To me some things in this movie are so out of the ordinary. But hey… I guess there are some that live this kind of life.

"Big" Lebowski and The American Economy

In the movie the "Big" Lebowski seemed to have all the makings of a very rich man, but it all turned out to be a fraud, the appearance of his wealth turned out to be a facade. His huge home and expensive rugs indicated nothing close to the tune of poverty. For the last forty years America has been "Big" Lebowski. Our perceived wealth has been credit driven and the collapse of that system bought the 2008-2009 recession to our doorsteps.
Who was to blame for Big Lebowski's financial problems? Himself of course. How did he get there? I will not speculate on the reasons for a fictional character's financial demise. However, I will theorize how America has gotten to this point.
We are all not as rich as we behave. Yes our GDP rises every year but more and more of that wealth has been going to a small percentage of people. I am not arguing on whether this proceeding is ethical or not, but that's just the way things are. The problem comes when we live beyond our means, knowingly and unknowingly, and drown ourselves in debt. This rings true for both financial institutions, who were caught with their pants down leveraging their assets beyond reasonable limits, and families who mortgaged homes that were a hundred or two hundred thousand dollars more than what they could afford. But just as in the case of Big Lebowski the truth is always exposed. For us the shit hit the fan, everyone was affected, and hopefully we have learned our lesson. But we know as much about our future behavior as we do of Big Lebowski's future when the movie wrapped. So for us in real life, I guess we have to wait and see.

Reading vs. Watching movies

I found it much more exciting when informed to watch a movie than asked to read a novel. To be honest, reading actually provides readers with imaginative experience and seems academic while watching movies sounds like an entertainment. When we watch Big Lebowski in class, we were just passively receiving the information the movie conveys. The characteristics of the protagonists, the way they speak and behave, every plot and even every second is designed by the director of the film. The story has already been "recreated" by the director, and everything reflects his taste. The director help us complete the task of imagining. We enjoy the movie because we marvel at the director's technique of framing varieties of scenes. As audience, we like the feeling of being caught by surprise from time to time, we would rather be passive. However, reading is a process which require much more efforts than watching films. If we don't take time thinking about it, the novels will appear to be boring and pointless, especially for the ones like Big Lebowski which contain some underlying values. But if we readers can try to read in an active and imaginative way, every reader might have a particular Dude in his/her mind which is totally different from that in others' minds. To read and think actively is actually more beneficial for us, though the easy and relaxing ways are popular.

Lebowski Women

The movie really only has two women in the plot line. Two significant women that contribute to the plot anyway. Bunny and Maude Lebowski represent two extremely different women. Maude is the super feminist in the film that seems to hold all the power (money) from her father, while Bunny relies on an allowance given to her by her husband, The Big Lebowski, who receives an allowance from his own daughter. Basically, Bunny is a whore and Maude isn't. Maude has a wealth of power, knowledge and money. Her way of thinking seems somewhat transcendent throughout the film because of her extremist views on feminism and the role of men for women and women for men. Bunny is clearly the woman in the film representing the opposite side of the spectrum where she is relying on men for money and owing men for men because of her involvement in pornographic films she has made. I can't even find a picture where the two are together in the film because they're never even in the same scene in the movie. I mean, how further apart can the two be? Yet they have the same last name. Maude's father (at some point) must've really cared about Bunny in order to live with and marry her. It's interesting to think about the fact that these two ended up being so heavily associated with The Big Lebowski. Maude is the result of his first marriage and Bunny is his second marriage. The fact that these two extremes of women are present in the film make it almost impossible for women to fully identify with any single female character in the film. I, for one, don't heavily associate myself with Maude's extremist feminist ways or Bunny's encounters and repercussions of being a porn star. I think this may contribute to the fact that the film appeals so much to men. It's not merely the fact that there are so many men present in the film, but it's also the fact that it's so difficult to relate to the only two women.

Logjammin and Gutterballs

I started to read this essay last week and my initial response was damn, I wish I had found this before I wrote my paper. My paper, on masculinity in The Big Lebowski, would have greatly benefited from all of the insight that Dennis Allen provided in Logjammin' and Gutterballs. Though the essay was quite confusing and did not make sense to me at times, I thought that it was very interesting how he used so many different angles to look at masculinity in the movie. (If only I had thought of that a week ago...) Allen shows that masculinity is a major theme throughout the movie, and found motifs in places I would not have even thought to look for them. He dissected the movie and essentially found some sort of manly inference in every scene. There are characters, events and symbols that allude to the idea of masculinity being a failure. I touched on this in my essay however Allen goes much deeper into it with the phallic symbols, motif of castration and the question of why this movie attracts so many male viewers. I agree with him as far as the film being a "buddy movie", one that a bunch of guys get together to watch, but I still think it is a little funny that there are so many blows to the manliness of the characters. Overall it was an interesting essay that, had I read it before my essay, I could've gained some serious understanding of the roles of masculinity in the movie. Let's just hope my paper was already graded before last Thursday's class....

Societies Impact

The Dude is a guys guy. He is the dude every guy would love to be, if they weren't so worried about their rankings in society. So is there such thing as the female "dude"? What type of person would women want to be if they felt no pressure from society? Some might say women would be more wild, or less domestic if they weren't judged by society. I'm not sure if this is true. Some women would continue to be the way we are stereotyped. Who would I be if society played no role in my character? I don't have an answer to that. Children grow up with society's standards impressed into our heads, like a stamp. Without ever realizing it we abide by the rules society has set. Who would you be if society hadn't molded your personality?

I believe the dude does not abide to society like it is said in the movie. He smokes pot, drives drunk, goes in public with a bath robe on... No the dude does not abide... but lets face it... most of us do abide to society.

The Meaninglessness of Life

Who really is the Big Lebowski? The one who cowardly sits behind a desk, concealing his true self from the world, while emulating a false perception of success to those around him? Or is it "The Dude", who shamelessly lives his life as a bum, without the slightest hint of false perception? The Dude doesn't care about how others perceive him, or fame or fortune, or any of that other bullshit for that matter. Rather, he lives his life to his enjoyment, acting on every whim of his subconscious mind to fulfill momentary happiness, and essentially, The Dude lives his life in the moment of Happiness itself. Perhaps it is this shamelessness that makes The Dude the bigger Lebowski, at least in a figurative sense. Not the Lebowski who fakes an aura of excellence and uses money that is not his, to portray himself as one living in the American Dream.

Perhaps, the difference in the two Lebowskis' lifestyles stems from how they handle the meaninglessness of life. One Lebowski can't fathom the fact that there isn't any more to Life than to just live, and so he feels the need to give his life a purpose. As a result, he strives to give his Life meaning by drowning himself in self accomplishments, all in the name of achieving the American Dream. But the American Dream is just a product of society's inability to accept the meaninglessness of life. In a sense, it cannot be attained because of the very nature of the dream itself. There will always be a desire to be fulfilled, something more to strive for, and ultimately, it is merely human nature to never be content with what Life has handed us.

On the other hand, I think The Dude has accepted the meaninglessness of Life and this is what makes him the Big Lebowski. He realizes that in the grand scheme of things, it really doesn't matter what he has accomplished in life. He lives in the moment, satisfying one whim at a time, and doing whatever it is that will bring him happiness or contentment for that moment. That is the key to life and maybe there is something that every one of us can learn from The Dude after all.

Lebowski Vs. The Dude

The Dude and Lebowski represent the two extremes of how people cope with the meaninglessness of life. Lebowski feels that the success of people’s lives is determined solely by how they are remembered. People are usually remembered for achieving or succeeding in a certain field. Thus Lebowski has to put on a facade that demonstrates achievement and success, because it is the only way he sees that he can make his life matter and in turn succeed. The Dude, on the other hand, represents the other extreme. He does not care what others think, or how he is remembered, but feels life should be spent living in the moment, being content with what you have. He goes with the flow and enjoys the ride called life. This attitude of spontaneity causes him to get into situations where, for instance, he can go on a ransom drop without even thinking twice.

Everyone falls somewhere in-between these two extremes of people. We all want to achieve, and we all want to “slack off” and enjoy life in the moment. After a summer of being a complete slacker, I can see the appeal of the Dude’s lifestyle. It has been very hard for me to get back into “school mode”, and as a consequence this blog is late. But no worries… it shouldn’t happen again.

After today's discussion in class, I can definitely say I have sympathy for "The Dude". At the end of the day, he's still getting shit for being perceived as some type of confused loser from an objective standpoint. I personally think he's the man. His life entails few problems, at least that are of concern to him, and he goes about his day how he pleases, staying low-key, while enjoying every moment. To me, that's the American dream. It seems to me as if most people these days are too caught up in everyday bullshit to take a look at themselves and really consider whether they are happy with themselves. When watching The Big Lebowski, even though "The Dude" had a threatening beard and a worn down jacket, I found him to be most content with his life and himself. But yeah, as for this whole "slacker's" concept, i think its bullshit. I think that everyone is so judgmental of each other that a "slacker" is a term that was set precedent to describe someone that doesn't meet society's standards. But who's society to judge? You do your thing, I'll do mine, and so on. If your goal is to hit up med school and become a virologist or somethin, more power to you. But in the end of the day, my American dream is classified by the amount of time that I'm enjoy what I do each and every day. I'd rather have smiles on my face then dollars in my pocket.

The Dude is the American Dream

How can you define the American dream? You can't. The American Dream has a different meaning to every person. It can mean having a good job and having a lot of money to one person, or it can mean having a wife and kids to the next. What you make of your life in the United States is up to you. I bet if you asked the Dude if he thinks he is living the American Dream his answer would be yes...100 percent. He lives his life the way he wants to and that, in turn, can be the definition of the American Dream. Let's face it, the Dude lives a carefree, stress free and lackadaisical life. He somehow has a job that makes enough money to live this lifestyle and have hours upon hours of free time on his hands. All he ever wanted was his rug back. He wasn't even interested in making money in return for getting Bonnie back. He just wanted to go on living his life. And who wouldn't? Who wouldn't want to wear a comfortable robe everyday, walk around drinking and smoking weed. (If you are into that stuff).

I have been staring at this blog page for approximately thirty minutes and cannot think of anything to write. I decided to think about what the dude would do and in my opinion he'd take a joint, make a white russian and say " I'm not fuckin doing this" and sign out. So that's what I'm going to do. Just kidding. Yet, I just cant figure out what to write. When I think about the movie, I think it was hysterical but I can't seem to go deep into analytical thought. Maybe it's because right now, with the movie in thought, I morph into the mindset of "the dude" which makes me think that I can just slack off and bullshit my way through life slash this assignment. But in reality, I will get absolutely nowhere. In life, for most people, things aren't going to be handed right to you. You have to work hard for what you want to, in theory, achieve the American dream. Even though some people try to make it through life by slacking, the feeling of satisfaction might never be attained. Sometimes, working hard and pushing yourself to achieve your goals can create the greatest feeling that you've gotten what you deserve. The Dude may be completely and utterly satisfied with the way his life turned out, but if he had put a little effort into it, he might be even happier.

Who says the American dream is something worth dreaming for? Is it not true that the more we get the more we want? As we work harder to achieve our goals we are left feeling unsatisfied in the end. There is always something else, something better, something worth desiring. This American dream, to have it all, has created an insurmountable amount of unhappiness in the lives of individuals who seek this dream. At the end of the day we are left with a insatiable feeling eating our insides. The American dream in all senses is unquenchable, unattainable, and down right incredible.

This is not to say that something to fight for is bad. We all need a factor that motivates us to be our best but the greed that comes along with the American dream will one day wreck us all. We will never be fast enough, good enough, or tough enough to achieve the dream.

Maybe "The Dude" has the right idea. Without a greedy bone in his body he seems to have found contentment. He is happy with what he has and feels no need to push his limits. Has The Dude uncovered the real path to happiness? Maybe if we all just take what comes to us we will be able to feed our insides, lower our desires, and in our own ways succeed all the more.

American vs Slacker Dream

I found the discussion in class about the American Dream vs. the Slacker Dream to be quite interesting today. Growing up in a small suburban town, I was always accustomed to being around families where the father went to work everyday and the mother stayed home to take care of the children. People were happy and one might say that these families were living the “American Dream.” There were always families with two working parents or a singe working parent, but the common theme was to work hard and make money. As children and even adolescents, you come to realize that it that not everyone has a steady job and family to tend to. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but until today I had never really considered that someone might aspire to do nothing, have no responsibilities and be a “slacker.” The Dude is a perfect example of a person who is content with this type of lifestyle. The “Slacker” Dream to avoid work and adulthood all together is a somewhat foreign concept to me. It does remind me of the few lazy teenagers in high school who knew they had potential but really just didn’t feel like doing work. This, however, seems to go further than that, implying that a person (The Dude) may actually have no desires or goals in life but to evade any type of jobs or tasks. I was surprised to hear of Fiedler finding this connection and viewing it as the typical masculine American. I understand that this may be a theme with different characters in stories and books, however I do not think that it emulates the “American Dream” in any way. In my opinion, if you ask most Americans to describe the classic American male, you will not get responses that illustrate The Dude or any of his personality traits.

Live and Let Live

What the dude represents is an irreverence to the traditional lifestyle, that's more than obvious. Is there a problem with the way he lives his life? The answer to that question depends on the disposition of the person whom is asked it. For me, a live and let live liberal kool-aid drinker, I'd say no. Hell no matter of fact. His lifestyle neither hurts or inconveniences no one - whether he's hurting himself is another question which answers depends on the person answering it.

For all of those who would cry, "but accepting people who lead "that" type of life encourages others to do so and that is bad for society," take a look at history - progressing societies have the tendency of correcting its flaws. The free living hippies of the sixties figured out that shit wasn't all it was cracked up to be - being jobless turned out not to be as fun as it sounded, the LSD made people crazy, open marriages led to divorce, and the marijuana - well the marijuana has persevered through time - but nonetheless it was unfitting for those who eventually wanted a productive life. So don't worry about society when you think of the dude, the American society is in the good hand.

Also, as systematic as American society can seem sometimes, people like The Dude Lebowski can serve as reminders of our American liberty; a reminder that we can say "you know what? I really don't have to do this shit," when we're on our way to class or work. Most of us won't act on that thought but at least we know it's an option.

"You are Lebowski, I'm not, I'm dude!"

At the start of this semester, my ENG teacher played the movie named " the big lebowski", that was the first time i saw the movie and i think i have to write something about it. I just want to make some opinions on one sentence said by lebowski, which is " You are lebowski, I'm not, I'm dude." I believe most people included me should consider lebowski as a shameless man. He does not want to or has no brave to face his negatives, so he tries his best to avoid it. In the movie, he found a rich man who is also named lebowski to transfer his debt to that man. Eventually, he was successful, he completed a perfect character transition, which is the rich man becomes the lebowski who bears huge debt and he becomes dude... Such a funny story made many people laugh their ass off, but people should consider it as a normal issue as well. In our daily life, everyone tried to cover own mistakes or negatives, the lebowski just tried a wired and special way to cover. An idea comes up with me- everyone can make mistake, the most important is not to cover it, but has brave to over and fix it. If not, everyone should have possibility to do what lebowski did. " You are lebowski, I'm not, I'm dude!"

My city, my life

I went to Los Angeles for four days before school started. Beforehand, I had heard quite a few people described it as fantastic. I had a lot of imagination in my mind. The story changed after I came back. To me, it was a city only for travelling few days and that was it. Lately, when I thought back, I realized that I automatically considered Shanghai style (the city where I’m from, which is so much like New York) to be fantastic and refer that sense of modernization to Los Angeles instead of accepting its own style. I’ve met people in different countries who moved abroad to other cities with no regrets. Their eyes were so brightened and sincere when they said “I left my heart here”. I wonder if I can form a tight bond with a city other than Shanghai. Maybe I’ll meet someone and feel so belonged in another city, but so far, I guess what I wanna say is: I miss Shanghai, a lot.

Every time I go out Bird Bowl bowling alley there is at least one group of people that reminds me of the movie "The Big Lebowski". I always find some half drunken man dressed with pajama pants, a white t-shirt, and old dirty bowling shoes which he wears to the Bowling alley, surrounded by his friends which some are dressed like him. They all sit around him like he's a king or "The Dude". He come to the Bowling alley with his ball in hand, bowling shoes on but never really get up to bowl. He just sit lay back with his feet up, drinking beer and smoking cigarettes as his friends harass other bowlers claiming to be the best bowlers but no one ever see them play, only a few of them would actually bowl. Unlike the men form "The Big Lebowski" this group of men has a lady friend whom they bring to bowl with them. She wears short skirts to bowl I think they both like the attention from the other men there bowling. I believe they use the Bowling alley as a place to hang out on a regular instead of just coming to bowl and have fun.

I know the Dude

Yeah I said it. I think I know the Dude. The Miami Dude at least. This Dude is a good friend of mine. After watching the movie, it became so clear to me. My friend Andy is the Dude. Everything in his life has worked out for him despite the fact that he puts forth minimal effort. In no way is this an insult. He is a little less lax then the actual Dude I have to admit. But this guy is the Executive Producer of shows on UMTV and makes it look like cake because, from the outside, it looks like he never does much. He's a Senior here at UM and is graduating a semester early with A LOT of experience and several internships including one at NBC studios. There are however several LARGE differences between Andy and the Dude. They include: looking like a modern Jesus, wanting to be in a committed relationship, being obsessed with bowling, having a "Big" richer person with the same exact name, and having an obsession with "White Russians." Aside from those factors, Andy is the Dude. I told Andy he was the Dude last Thursday right after class. Andy is a film buff and he wasn't offended in the least bit seeing as the Dude is basically his role model. I had no idea that Andy almost lived his life and approached tasks as nonchalantly as he does to be more like the Dude. You learn something new (even about your closest friends) everyday. Looks like the Miami Dude will and has gotten by with minimal effort just like the L.A. Dude from the movie.

The Dude

"Dude..." I freakin' love that word; I use it all the time. For me, and like for many American-raised males (and maybe Canadians), you could probably say that I have a serious fascination with that term. In a linguistic sense, I guess it's simply used to refer to another "guy," "bro," "cat," "fella," "man," etc. (I probably use "man" a bit more and so does Lebowski in the movie). But in a figurative sense, it means so much more. To me, "dude" represents a person we can envy at any point in our stressful lives - something that truly exist in our minds more so than legitimately measurable on the outside. When I say it, it becomes a manifestation of coolness - you know, the calm and collective type that exists comically but not so much as a badass. This is the type of laid-back attitude that instead of having the mindset of taking on the world, he just lets it come on by and laughs things off. Maybe that's why Walter was so attracted to the Dude, simply because he abides so much that it just balances those personalities out. In a way, me calling someone a dude is a sign of respect. So, I officially love the Dude because I am one! And yes, I believe (in the way I've used and observed it at least) that the term only goes for fellow males so I guess someone else can give a feminist spin in their respective blog if they choose to.

Appreciate Work

This summer I spend two months in a little house in the middle of the forest in Copenhagen, Denmark. After having been there for two weeks without internet, just relaxing, watching tv, going for walks, going to the beach etc., I was almost killing myself due to boredom. This was only after two weeks of not having any concrete activities to do. Watching ‘The Big Lebowski’ made me realize that there are actually people that live a whole life like that – unemployed, nothing worrying them, no commitments or the feeling of guilt from not doing anything a whole day. Even though we always complain about how stressed we are, how we have to do a million things before a certain date, how bored we are and this and that I’ve decided that I rather live like that than living like “the Dude”. Just after a couple of days of having nothing to do I go crazy, so my new goal is to stop complaining about stress or time and instead appreciate that I actually have things to do.

miscellaneous

Every time when I open a text book for English course, I need to take a deep breath beforehand. Just as expected, the process was tough. As the picture on the left shows, the blue parts are Chinese translations of the words I got from Google Dictionary. Actually, I was reluctant to do so for looking words up in dictionary may slow down my reading a lot while those separated translations of words don't seem to help understanding. So I tried to combine the movie we watched in class with the COMENTALE AND JAFFE. I finally came to catch on the scenes in the movie. But everything still seems obsecure to me, I don't see why the Dude was involved in the kidnap of Big Lebowski's wife, why those marmots showed up, why Walter is always so violent, and why Dunny would die in a sudden. Too many questions arose in my mind. So I log on Youtube to search for the movie The Big Lebowski in Chinese version, but failed, only found a advertising vedio for the film which is full of F-word and just F-word. So if someone can describe the whole story to me, I'll be extremely grateful. But I learned the style of Dude from the movie. He's a slacker, always so relaxed, drinking alcohols, driving a broken cab. slackers in China would never 'enjoy' life like this. Dude's house can hold a bourgeois family in China. I see the point why Dude laid back as long as he can enjoy the bowling, bathtub and alcohols. Then I turn to the book Rewriting, I read it much faster than COMENTALE AND JAFFE. Although it seems like a dreary math instruction book, it presented a clear development of ideas. Hope that I can solve my confusions soon!