Thursday, August 9, 2012

The Dude Outside

Lara, I don't want summer to end.  I've been so happy spending so much of my life outside. It reminds me of when Z was a new baby in the East Village.  Our apartment was so tiny (even smaller than the small one we currently reside in) and grimy and noisy, that we lived out the summer in the Tompkins Square playground, bringing in food, swimming in the Park's public pool, bonding with other parents also escaping their sweaty tenements.

Last night, we ate dinner in the grass to music.  Tonight, we walked over to Tompkins to see catch the music before The Big Lebowski.  (Next week is, Poltergeist, the last summer movie in TSP!)

The band happened to be made up of students and grads of Z's school.  As soon as she realized that she might be spotted with her mom, she peeled off with S, but I settled myself in the grass to listen.   The band--The Luddites--was great, experimental rock/jazz (heavily influenced, I'm sure, by their school's music teacher who has them cover John Zorn during class).

You can listen to The Luddites here.

After that, the kids reconfigured to present themselves as the Lebowski All Stars and proceeded to cover every song featured in the film, including this one (And, dude, that's Kenny Rogers.):

 When the opening frames of the film finally bloomed on the huge portable screen (oddly inflatable), the crowd cheered, and then got wild when Jeff Bridges as "The Dude" appeared. People seem to love The Dude, and the movie itself, which seems to have something of a cult following. I talked to a fellow parent who had seen it over 200 times.
 I walked home through the park.  I looked out for rats and saw none. I stopped in a bookstore and bought a used copy of The Crucible for Z's summer reading. It was another good summer night. Thank you, Dude.

2 comments:

  1. i think christian's seen it 200 times. he's a follower. that sounds like a blast. once again, wish i was there!

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  2. But do you know what I MISSED LAST NIGHT in Coney Island? JOAN JETT! Banging my head against the wall this morning

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