When I read the script for The Big Lebowski, I saw the part of Walter and I thought, "That part has Steve Buscemi written all over it." I could picture it so well in my mind... When I actually sat down and watched it, I saw his name on the DVD box and thought, "Hey! Whadya know!" Then I looked at the box a little close and saw John Goodman with a gun and then thought, "Oh, so John Goodman is gonna be Walter... so does that mean that Steve Buscemi is Donny?" Sure enough... I really wish that Steve Buscemi had been Walter and they would have gotten someone else to be Donny (because Donny's role was rather small, and I'm a pretty big Buscemi fan). As it turns out, Goodman was really good in the role... so I didn't feel that bad.
The only clip I had previously seen from the movie was when they go to spread Donny's ashes at the ocean (and instead, pretty much spread them all over the Dude)... a great scene... we talked about that at my dad's wake. I still have a big chunk of my dad's ashes. I often wonder if I should go up to Long's Peak (the local "fourteener") and let some of 'em fly. Eh. Maybe... I mean, he already resides in some plants at the Riviera in Vegas, amongst the sand in Windy Hill, South Carolina, with a tree that he, my brother and I planted on Mother's Day out front of the house in 1976, and in upstate New York... I may just hold on to what I have.