Diversey Rock & Bowl was the site of Chicago's Lebowski Fest last night.
I knew it would be an awesome experience and my expectations were surpassed. Here I am in my Viking Maude outfit (sewed on my machine that very morning!). I'm hanging with my eldest son Rory, who knows every line of dialog from the movie.
Being a thirsty crowd, we consumed some White Russians during the evening.
We cheered on the bowlers who threw lots of gutter balls, but improved as the evening wore on.
The Achievers!
So the guy who created the facebook page for Terre Haute's Headstone Friends said he would kiss the front step if he reached 1,000 fans this week ... and he did! In fact, I think he has something like 1,400 people following the page right now. My brothers, nephew and I happened to be in town for a graduation (congrats Rob!) and so we made sure we were there to see all the action.
I frequented Headstone from 1971 on and have taken my kids there for music and posters over the years. They love it, too ...
The guy on the far left is our facebook buddy. At right is Robert, Rob and Mike.
What you are about to see is a lot scarier than Paranormal Activity. Chuck's company, which shall remain nameless, hosted a Halloween costume party today. Thankfully, they don't normally welcome clients into this particular office because anyone in the vicinity today would have turned and scrambled out the door as fast as possible. Chuck got a wig and raided a few of my things (don't ask)for his outfit. I think he looks like Tootsie's grandma.
Chuck's friend, above, really is from France.
This pic leaves me speechless.
Chillin' in the cubicle.
After "ten years of experiments and discoveries," the brilliant minds at Zubbles have confounded the scientific community by coming up with a way to add bright, lively colors to this mainstay of childhood. That's right, bubbles no longer have to be plain and ordinary, so say the Zubbles folks whose website I stumbled upon this morning. The brilliant blue, red, yellow and other colors of bubble dyes won't stain your clothes, according to the Zubbles creators. We'll have to see about that. I haven't tried these 21st Century bubbles yet, but you can bet that I'm ordering them for the kiddos in my family. Take a look at the pics, videos and info on the Zubbles website.
We figured we would sandwich ourselves in-between the crowds at Taste of Chicago on the lakefront and the Cubs game in Wrigleyville, so we ended up along the Chicago River just off the Magnificent Mile. It was a beautiful, sunny day with a nice breeze, so we walked all along the river, visited Navy Pier, strolled over to the ABC studios, stood under the L, and drank a few Blue Moons at Dick's Last Resort. What a fun place with crazy waiters!
God bless the Cincinnati SPCA. That's where we got our great little Joey so many years ago, the best wiener dog-terrier mix you could ever imagine. Boys, remember the fake fire plug where he stopped to wee on that first day on the way to the car?
We're putting it all together this weekend. The tree, the ornaments, the miniature houses, the lights. Wheeee.
Here we are in front of our hotel. Chuck's on the phone checking on things back home.
Lou and Julie were fun travel companions, staying up much later and covering far more territory on foot than we could ever do.
A great thing about Vegas is the freedom to stroll around with a drink in your hand without fear of getting put in the slammer. Here we are patronizing a local jello shot stand. Very tasty.
You say you want a Revolution ...
Wheel of Fortune took my money at The Mirage, but I still got to see "Love."
Rory just sent me this photographic evidence from Night of the Living Mud, a Mudhippie festival from back in September. As I recall, the setting for this annual event was a pretty cool farm in Logansport. Oh, and face paint was involved. That's Rory on drums.
On Saturday, Chuck (below at left) returned to his roots in Romeoville, Illinois, where we attended a get-together for friends Bill and Val who were visiting from Texas. Chuck was quarterback at Lockport West High School (now called Romeoville High) located right down the road, and he was quite the dashing figure on the football field. Bill is always a dashing figure and so is Val. Their gang of buddies just kept coming and coming until we all basically filled up the entire front portion of the restaurant. Hold on ... video will be posted soon.
Jay told me about this event last week and I'm sure he was somewhere in this crowd of about 30,000 onlookers yesterday. Having lived in conservative Cincinnati for 18 years, I am thrilled to see an event that celebrates a little craziness. The Red Bull Soapbox Race rolled in to Mt. Adams, a beautiful hillside, where racers launched their homemade cars for a hair-raising ride down St. Gregory, Hatch and Wareham Streets.
Wizzing by were cars constructed to look like a mummy, a plate of Skyline chili, a taco, The Last Supper (think The Bible), a football, and the Deathmobile (from Animal House) among other clever concepts. A high school team from Westlake, Ohio took the People's Choice Award, as determined by text votes sent by the crowd. The team, called Crapple Jax, threw toilet paper from their car on their way down the hill.
View The Last Supper, below.
As you probably know, Red Bull sponsors unique events all over the world.
Here are some cuties from the Red Bull Flugtag held in the Republic of Latvia.
Jay has gone out and rounded up a pirate kitty for Caturday this week. Looks pretty fierce.
