The World Series of Bowling (WSOB) kicks off this weekend in Detroit. The event, put on by the Professional Bowlers Association, is a big shift from the way that things have been done in previous years. Instead of an autumn long multi-city tour across the nation, the top bowlers’ tournament will be held over five weeks in and around the Detroit metro area.

It makes sense to put the tournament in Detroit. Is there a bigger bowling city? Plus it will be a boon to the economically struggling area.

If you can’t attend the finals will be shown on ESPN Sundays at 1 starting October 25. For more information check out PBA.com.

Why do we have cocktail recipes at the lounge, you may ask. Because we hope that our readers are enjoying a drink here in the lounge and if you decide to pass up the beer fridge and the wine rack on your way to the liquor cabinet, we want to make sure that you are enjoying your drinks right.

Why the White Russian tonight? Because we covered the Lebowski Fest last time and it only seems right. If you don’t understand that go rent The Big Lebowski and watch it again. And this time take notes.

So, to make a White Russian gather:
• Old Fashioned glass
• Ice (Cubed, not cracked, crushed or shaved. The White Russian is an indulgent drink and you don’t want to water that down.)
• Vodka
• Kahlua
• Cream

Now do this:
Put four or five ice cubes in the glass. Pour in 1 ½ oz. of vodka and ¾ oz Kahlua and stir. Top with up to ¾ oz. of cream, no more but a little less would be OK. Drink. Repeat.

Some sports easily jump onto the big screen. Movies about basketball, baseball and football translate very nicely into the formulaic plots that Hollywood so adores.

Other sports, the sports we tend to prefer here in The Lounge, aren’t quite so easy to turn into movies. We like to think that is because they are more complex and cerebral than the overly easy life solutions that movie makers are looking for.

That’s what we like to tell ourselves.

Even so, a movie does occasionally surface featuring one of our beloved pastimes. And, even rarer, really great movies about something like bowling come along. The last time that happened in recent memory was in 1998 when The Great Lebowski was released.

So the movie flopped at the box office. But it has been steadily gaining a devoted following since and, with a currently touring celebration called the Lebowski Fest, has officially passed into cult movie status.

Much like the screening of other cult classics like Rocky Horror Picture Show, attendees show up dressed as their favorite characters. The festival is being held at a bowling alleys and theaters across the nation and, where possible, gallons of White Russians are served.

Sounds like a pretty good time. But I’m generally frightened of costumed people so I probably won’t be attending.

We love our cocktails here in the Lounge, especially the classics. And there’s no more classic a cocktail than the original – the Old Fashioned. Here’s how to make it.

Gather:
• Old fashioned glass (Its one of those standard, squat glasses that look perfect with four cubes of ice and four ounces of whiskey.)
• Sugar cube
• Bitters (Type/style is up to you but our favorite maven of the cocktail, Colleen Graham, suggests that Angostura bitters are best.)
• Orange slices
• Muddler
• Ice cubes
• Whiskey (again, up to you but Bourbon is the classic choice.)
• Maraschino cherry

Do this:
• Drop the sugar cube in the glass.
• Dash it two or three times with the bitters until it is saturated.
• Add one orange slice.
• Muddle.
• Fill the glass with ice.
• Pour in about 3 ounces of whiskey.
• Stir.
• Garnish with another orange slice and the cherry.
• Drink.
• Repeat.

Perhaps you’ve noticed it, too. The rise of the geek in today’s society is a disturbing trend that seems to only gain momentum every year.

Of course, it’s been going on for quite a while. Ever since Q first showed up on the screen with James Bond we’ve all found affection in our hearts for the brilliant nerd. But these days nerds or geeks – call them what you will – are showing up everywhere. Just about every movie or new TV show features a brilliant geek and with increasing frequency he is the main character. Careers have been built on the adorable nerd quality. (Looking at you, Tobey Maquire and Daniel Radcliffe.)

Can geeks be cool? It’s a vexing question because all signs in today’s society are that the answer is yes. However, the very idea of the geek is antithetical to coolness. Almost by definition geeks cannot be cool. The closer the geek gets to coolness the more the idea of both mutually dissolves into meaninglessness.

In the end, we’re not sure where we stand on this issue here in the Lounge. As a bastion of coolness it is certainly something that we plan to explore more in the future.

We love to bowl here at the Lounge. So much so that we’ve been considering adding a bowling lane but have yet to find a wordpress app for it.

Anyway, when we hear about a bowler as cool as Rick Mousouleas attention must be paid. Mousouleas has had a rough time of it over the last few years. After two back surgeries and work on his knee and rotator cuff, Mousouleas’s doctors told him that he could probably get around OK but bowling was out.

But he’s been going to the lanes his whole life and couldn’t see any reason to let this nonsense stop him.

So, three years ago Mousouleas started bowling again. He’s competed and won a few times since but last week marked his biggest win yet. He came out on top at the nation’s biggest amateur bowler championship in Las Vegas which earns him a nice trophy and an even nicer check for $25,000.

As the self-admittedly fascinated with Charlie Sheen we were quite excited here at the Lounge to hear that a sequel to Wall Street is in the works. In almost the same instant we were roundly and soundly disappointed because the Charlie won’t be in it. Not cool!

I know, it’s only natural. The end of the movie had Charlie’s character in such a position that to work him back into a plot that a) captured the nastiness of high finance and b) included Gekko (because what could this sequel be without him?) would be so convoluted that it would defy most audience’s ability to buy it.

But still! We want Charlie!

Ah well, even if it’s predictably sitcom-formulaic and embarrassingly sexist we still get to see the Charlie every week in Two and a Half Men so it’s not all bad. We’d just like to see him in a proper movie again.