You're a Lebowski, I'm a Lebowski, that's terrific

Okay sir, you're a Lebowski, I'm a Lebowski, that's terrific, but I'm very busy, as I imagine you are. What can I do for you, sir?

Well, as it turns out, we are in the The Decade of the Dude according to Rolling Stone Magazine. At first I couldn't believe I missed the article, then I realized I stopped reading Rolling Stone when I was 15, so go figure.

You might know that I am a huge fan of the movie The Big Lebowski, a Cohen Brother's film that made little or no impact on the big screen, but garnered a cult-like following for the last 10 years. If the name of my blog didn't give it away, then you probably weren't paying attention.

I've even been to the Lebowski Fest in Austin to watch movies, dress in costumes, and drink White Russians. I have a "Mark it Eight" sticker on my car, which often elicits loud shouts of "Mark it Zero" as I drive around Denver. In my circle of friends, the Lebowski quotes flow like water, and have since the late 90's. I've introduced more people to the movie than I can count, all of which have thanked me for it later.

I once stopped a conference call with business associates dead in its tracks by announcing that our revenue plan was necessary because, "you gotta feed the monkey". Uncomfortable silence followed, reminding me that the movie isn't a cult favorite for everybody.

What makes the movie so appealing to me? I think the Rolling Stone article sums it up pretty well.

Early in Lebowski, the narrator (a cowboy named the Stranger, played by Sam Elliott) intones, "Sometimes there's a man, who, well, he's the man for his time 'n place." The odd truth is this man — the Dude — may have been a decade ahead of his time. Today, as technology increasingly handcuffs us to schedules and appointments — in the time it takes you to read this, you've missed three e-mails — there's something comforting about a fortysomething character who will blow an evening lying in the bathtub, getting high and listening to an audiotape of whale songs. He's not a 21st-century man. Nor is he Iron Man — and he's certainly not Batman. The Dude doesn't care about a job, a salary, a 401(k), and definitely not an iPhone. The Dude just is, and he's happy.

"There's a freedom to The Big Lebowski," theorizes Philip Seymour Hoffman, who played Brandt, the wealthy Lebowski's obsequious personal assistant. "The Dude abides, and I think that's something people really yearn for, to be able to live their life like that. You can see why young people would enjoy that."

I am that business man tethered to the internet, emails, blogs, and constant barrage of mobile communication. I find The Dude becomes more appealing over time. He reminds me to chill out, slow down, and take it easy man.

So in summation, let me explain something. I'm not Mr. Lebowski. You're Mr. Lebowski. I'm the Dude. So that's what you call me. That or His Dudeness... Duder... or El Duderino, if, you know, you're not into the whole brevity thing...