Figuring out the hidden meaning of stock photos

"Lily and Peter were supposed to have a romantic night in, but Peter and a few coworkers went out for happy hour drinks. Peter got drunk, missed dinner, and passed out on the couch.

This actually happens all the time, and Lily is pretty understanding. She’s crying about the ending of Toy Story 3, which they saw four weeks ago."

Some stock photos are just weird. And you can easily spend too much time wondering what the idea behind the photo was. I've definitely wasted part of my life making up stories of the cryptical display in some stock photos. And Kevin Nguyen has done so, too: he imagines the stories behind stockphotos he found of couples fighting.

Liricas Analas

I like architecture. And I like slightly crappy hip-hop music. When the two collide, it's even better: like in this music video for the song called "Siemis", where the Swiss rappers of Liricas Analas rap their way through the world famous Therme Vals by Peter Zumthor.

Other than a slightly weird video, Liricas Analas (from the Graubünden region in Switzerland) is also quite remarkable because they rap in the Romansh language, the fourth official language of Switzerland (spoken by 0,8% of the Swiss population - only by a couple thousand of people). This, in combination with the display of a famous (and very Swiss) architectural icon whows a certain regional (or national) pride. Since I'm not one of the few that speak Romansh, I have no clue what their lyrics are about. So if it's offensive for any of the Romansh-speaking people out there, don't blame me...

The dude

Let me explain something to you. Um, I am not "Mr. Lebowski". You're Mr. Lebowski. I'm the Dude. So that's what you call me. You know, that or, uh, His Dudeness, or uh, Duder, or El Duderino if you're not into the whole brevity thing.

You can say whatever you want, but I am absolutely convinced that The Big Lebowski is one of the masterpieces of modern cinema. Period. There are just so many great things about that movie that I wouldn't even know where to start.

And Jeffrey 'The Dude' Lebowski is a role-model if there ever was one. There is so much wisdom in the way he lives that he has inspired scores of individuals over the years. This made way for an entire new religion, called "The Church of the Latter Day Dude". The teachings of The Dude are converted in a simple, easy to apply religion, based on Taoist and/or Buddhist principles, combined with a laid-back, laissez-faire attitude.

As said on the site:
The beauty of Dudeism is its simplicity. Once a religion gets too complex, everything can go wrong.

That’s why the “To What/From What/By What Means” method of identifying a religion is a great way to summarize the Dudeist ethos for your un-Dude friends.

For example, if you apply this method to Buddhism (a compeer of Dudeism), you can easily answer what the point of it is.

From what is Buddhism trying to liberate us? Suffering
To what state of being is Buddhism trying to bring us? Nirvana
By what means does Buddhism attempt do this? The Noble Eightfold Path.

Isn’t that fucking interesting, man? Now let’s apply it to Dudeism:

From what is Dudeism trying to liberate us? Thinking that’s too uptight.
To what state of being is Dudeism trying to bring us: Just taking it easy, man.
By what means does Dudeism attempt do this? Abiding.

Now, that’s fucking ingenious, if I understand it correctly.


The dude abides. Damn right so. Can I get an AMEN?