Want to be fashionable? Forget Ralph Lauren. Think Ralph Kramden. The newest New York City hotspots--complete with bouncers and velvet ropes--are upscale bowling alleys ("True Economic Barometer? How About Bowling").
Bowling. It's not just for overweight Rotarians anymore.
And the beautiful people frequenting the alleys sometimes don't even bowl well--if at all. Some are just there for the atmosphere. And of course the drinks. White Russians, perhaps? It would make sense: A semi-well-known piece of Lebowskiana is that, throughout the entire movie, the Dude never actually bowls. (And if anyone out there is asking "What movie?". . . . Well, we're just sad, that's all.)
(Image from The New York Times)
Yes. It is. Just for overweight Rotarians. That's the appeal of it to the Dude. Otherwise, what's the point?
ReplyDeleteHaven't seen the movie, but have to guess you're referring to the "Big Lebowsky" since you refer to, I gather, a piece of trivia as Lebowskiana. Upscale casual bowling is fun for a lark, but I'd be surprised if bowling endures for long on that level of the social scene. A few years back when my friends and I were blogging, getting ready for an anticipated high school reunion, someone mentioned bowling. For one-upsmanship, I promptly left work for lunch to bowl at the serendipitously located upscale bowling alley next door near the Moscone Center in San Francisco, determined to get a good score. In fact, I bowled a 170, the best I had ever bowled, and pdf faxed the score-sheet to my internet compadres. I was back at work as Controller within the hour and pretty self-satisfied. That was an upscale bowl, but I can't see getting together with friends or socializing centered around bowling on a regular basis. Lots of people would need to actually bowl!
ReplyDeleteWe've had an upscale bowling alley here in Portland for a couple of years now. Been there. Kinda gives me chills. It's so hipster dufus hip that it's unhip. The funny thing is that most hipsters don't realize that they are now tragically unhip and therefore anything they put their stamp of approval on is doomed.
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