The LP Questionnaire - Will Russell of Lebowski Fest and WHY Louisville

Local dandy Will Russell runs Lebowski Fest (a successful ode to The Big Lebowski), which has branched out with celebrations in New York, Los Angeles, Austin and Edinburgh. He and his partners even put out a book that was on impressive display at Powell's in Portland when I was there a few weeks ago. You can also find the divine Mr. R at the kitschy cool WHY Louisville store on Bardstown Road (yes, the place where you can find the Adrian Brody 502 t-shirt that he created with Ko-Pilot's Danny Cash).

I applaud Russell's entrepreneurial skills, and he is a fine example of a Louisville Luminary.

Here he answers The LP Questionnaire...

Name: Will Russell
Pro Wrestling Name: Bad News Venus

1. Pretend you're 15. Name three songs you'd put on a mix tape for your girlfriend (and tell us what year it is).
Nineteen Hundred and Ninety One

Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car - Billy Ocean
Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now) - C & C Music Factory
Unskinny Bop - Poison

2. Which evil villain would make the best President? Are you implying that it is possible for someone to be more evil than our current president? I reckon Skeletor would do a good job. It would be sweet if Castle Greyskull stood where the White House is.

3. What was your favorite cartoon as a child? Even though it's not a cartoon, I'm going to have to go with Pee Wee's Playhouse. For better or worse, Pee Wee was a big personal influence on me. He had the King of Cartoons and Penny on his show but those were always my least favorite segments. Gotta have more Conky!

4. What superpower do you wish you had? X-ray vision, of course.

5. What would the title of your autobiography be? Advantage Russell with a foreword by Tom Nord. The cover would be a picture of me in full tennis gear (headband, knee high striped tub socks, etc) giving the thumbs up with one hand while diving to hit a tennis ball. The subtitle will be "I'm not very good at tennis - A true story."

Louisville Luminaries Week comes to a close tomorrow with Wax Fang, whose record release show is this Saturday night at Headliners.