Thursday, August 28, 2008

Dude of the Week! (#7)

This week the not quite weekly Dude Of The Week award comes to you via reader nomination. Well done, reader who nominated! And the winner is... Batmobile Dude! Read about him here and here.

Batmobile Dude, aka Bob Dullum, built this thing above with no plans and no help. Dude. That's a lot of time in the garage with manly tools, cheap beers, and cock rock. Or at least that's how the DW would have got it done. If, you know, he had any tools. Or could build anything. Or had a garage.

So, cheers to you, Batmobile Dude. For building some huge technical contraption that isn't really practical, cost you a sh&tload of time and money, and will do quite the opposite of getting you laid just because you damn well want to and f*ck anybody who thinks it's silly- you are the Dude of the Week!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

i gotta disagree with you here, DW. this isn't dudely, it's geekly. reproducing a fictional sci-fi vehicle at the expense of everything else dudely--sports, sex, beer (you can't drink beer on such a detailed mission) and other activities intended for the socially ept--is the prime marker of a total geek.

i have to ask: what is your definition of "dude" in your dude of the week feature? sometimes it's "asshole," sometimes it's "lizard-brained," and now it's "geek." i need clarity.

thedudewhisperer@yahoo.com said...

(first of all, love the site (everyone reading this click on “claire” above, like, now) and thanks for the shout-out. methinks your link has brought some traffic, you internet guru you.)

oh, such difficult questions.

okay, so- the DW catches your drift, but still thinks there is something very dudely about pursuing a Batmobile even at the expense of other dude things like boobies and beer. A similar case would be this- The DW’s penchant for aggressive driving doesn’t exactly get the wifey in the mood, shouldn’t involve beer, doesn’t have much to do with sports, etc., yet the DW is compelled to sing-song, ‘thanks, f*ckface’ and nudge in anyway if someone doesn’t let him merge and act, in general, like you can win or lose your commute. The point is that the Batmobile, like a-hole driving (or having six fantasy football teams or collecting porn or…) is such a dude compulsion that even the other dude compulsions can’t keep it in check. It trumps other dude things. Which makes it extremely dudely. (Dudeliness, as always, not being an inherently positive or negative thing.)

To your broader question, the DW suspects the lack of focus you feel in the DOW in general has to do with the fact that it’s the writing on the site least centered on interpretation and advice and problem solving. The theories of deceptively simple dudeliness are not deeply explored here. Actually, that’s why the DW let it fade away for awhile until reader mail encouraged him to bring it back. However fun it might be it’s not 100% “on message”, a politician might say.

But here’s the idea. Basically, each DOW has one facet of A Dude that earns him the award. That’s what the parting sentence gets at. So, maybe you’re the most powerful dude in the free world not named Dick Cheney and you use the power to meet hot volleyball chicks, or you’re a dude who turns male model (extremely un-dudely vocation) into a ten year orgy (dream of young dudes) or you’re a dude who does not have his 9-year old interests ever go away and ends up spending his life trying to build a jetpack- one way or another, the highlighted behavior is typical of A Dude and gets a little fun light shined on it. Seems like most of DOWs so far are not the most admirable chaps, it’s true. Maybe the DW will make it a point to have the next DOW be a dude for more awesome reasons.

Anonymous said...

I think the essence is that boys will be boys, but some boys will be overly fascinated as to how to excel in that field somehow. The Dude Whisperer explains the behaviors of any dude, not just the ideal specimens - is there such a thing? It wouldn't be as interesting a feature if he had to find the model citizens carrying every feature of dudedom to the max. Are there any?