KENTUCKY FRIED

Since I am, sadly, a person of leisure these days (waiting for unemployment checks is a biweekly hightlight, I'm afraid), I've decided to stick it to the Man and become an entrepreneur. Yes, it's true, I've started a company (Kojakcolumbo Productions -- for the uninitiated, an homage to my hero Harry Nilsson). I'm now officially in the "entertainment" business and have embarked on a project I hope will turn into a compelling (and hugely lucrative) feature documentary. First stop, Louisville, Kentucky, to attend and shoot the 6th Annual Lebowski Fest, held primarily at the Executive Lanes, conveniently located about 45 seconds from the airport.

After a hellish early morning flight last Thursday from LAX with my cohort Abigail Parsons, we finally arrived in Louisville late that evening. We secured lodging with Dave and Maryann Packard, the aunt and uncle of my wife's former business partner (you rock, Lori!). I am greatly obliged to Maryann and Dave for opening their home to us. As an added bonus, Dave, a funeral director, told us he embalmed Col. Sanders (of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame). How cool is that?

I'd never been to Kentucky before, and I must say I was pleasantly surprised. The folks of Louisville seemed uniformly cool, and besides, I'd never seen such a greater concentration of Dairy Queens, which always makes me happy. Shockingly, I managed to avoid my favorite place on earth. I deferred to my cameraman Jim Ricker and to Abigail, natives of Ohio and West Virginia, respectively, who pined for the bad fast food of their misbegotten youth -- White Castle and Steak and Shake.

Lebowski Fest itself was everything I could have hoped, and more. We shot the hell out of the myriad Dudes, Walters, Maudes and Jesuses (not to mention a World of Pain, a Nice Marmot, and a New Shit That's Come to Light) who sucked down White Russians, bowled, and traded lines from the 1998 film The Big Lebowksi. Fest organizers Will and Scott couldn't have been more accomodating, and the whole exercise reconfirmed my hunch that this documentary project is something that'll really resonate with an audience and really speak to the culture at large.

I'll keep you posted.