Buffaloes and Westerns

I took this picture at a Smith and Western restaurant last year during a family gathering on my wife's side. This is one of these many nice props that makes the chain a truly imaginative experience for a child. Going there reminded me of my old childhood games, when we played cowboys. Buffaloes are a staple of westerns, they are one of the animals one associates with the Wild West and all its dangers. I'd go to a Buffalo Gap Hotel just for a drink (a shot of bourbon?) in its saloon. You?

A Barrel of Bourbon

I took this picture during the family gathering on my wife's side at a Smith and Western restaurant. I enjoyed my time not so much for the food (although it was all right) than for the company and the ambiance, very much western themed. It was like stepping in a giant playground looking like a saloon. And there was this barrel at the entrance. Wolfie wondered what it was, so I had to explain what bourbon is. It's funny, I didn't notice untilrecently how bourbon was associated with westerns. I don't think I ever drank any, except maybe in cocktails. Some of you ever drank bourbon? How is it? Leave me a comment.

Smith & Wesson

Last weekend, we had a family gathering on my wife's side in a Smith and Western restaurant. Honestly, I didn't know this chain existed until last week. Anyway, it's a Western themed restaurant, with a Western themed menu and an even more Western themed decor. I had to explain to my wife that the name of the chain was a pun on a brand of revolvers. Which is displayed on the wall of the very restaurant. I think Smith & Wesson was the very first firearms brand I knew about when I was a child, because I watched so many westerns and spaghetti westerns. We often played westerns too, my friends and I, with plastic S&W. Seeing this poster reminded me of this. And on a side note, I wish we had a restaurant chain like Smith and Western when I was a kid.

Rifles and Revolvers

This picture was taken in the Isle of Wight, in one of the boutiques of Blackgang Chine, the oldest theme park in the UK. They sold very realistic looking rifles and revolvers. I did not buy a single one. Because we were already fully packed and I was worried we would have no room in our baggages. I also thought they looked a tad too real. Like the old toy guns from my childhood. But boy, I regret it to this day. I would just love to play cowboys and desperados with Wolfie and I think I really missed a good opportunity there. Sure they were costly, but they looked like really good quality toys. Oh well, maybe next time.

An Outlaw from Blackgang Chine

During our time in the the Isle of Wight, one of Wolfie's and mine favourite places to visit was Blackgang Chine, the oldest theme park in the UK. They had an old Western town which really made me forget my age a moment (although Wolfie was less enthusiastic): I felt like I was stepping in an old western of spaghetti western I was so fond of as a child, which inspired many of our Western games. I found the bankrobber (pictured) particularly convincing. I envied the young kids who shot at him using toy revolvers and rifles, bought at the general store. They had everything there: (toy) guns (some very realistic), cowboy hats (well of course), bandanas, etc. I asked Wolfie if he wanted anything, he was not really interested. I guess I truly wanted one for myself. So we never captured the outlaw. Maybe next time.

Trinity: Titoli

I thought I would put some music on this blog, as I haven't had much recently. I don't know why, but recently I got in mind the theme song of the spaghetti western They Call Me Trinity. Which to my great shame I have never watched (I intend to correct this one day), but I know it from Django Unchained. I loved that movie, but I also fell in love with that song, which is simply uber cool. So here it is:

RIP Ennio Morricone

Sad news from yesterday: the great Italian film composer Ennio Morricone died at age 91. When you come close to be a hundred, this may not be a tragedy, but it is sad all the same for all who appreciate true cinema and a real musician. I cannot remember one of his score I did not like, even in the lesser movies he made. His music was both a character and a setting, which is no mean feast. So to commemorate his death and celebrate his work, I am sharing something from Once Upon a Time in the West which I think has the right pathos for the circumstances. This is as good as anything for a farewell. Grazie mille, maestro.

Honouring Ennio Morricone

A bit of art and leisure news, movie score composer Ennio Morricone received his Walk of Fame star. My brief editorial comment: it was about time. And he's not even retired, as he recently composed the score for The Hateful Eight. I adore his music. And to celebrate this well-deserved accolade from Hollywood, I have decided to upload here the main theme of the movie that started it all, A Fistful of Dollars. It is a sort of song, a minimalist one with only one line of lyrics: "We can fight." Maybe not his most lyrical or his most operatic, but still it takes your mind right in the middle of the action. Grazie maestro.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

I don't upload enough music these days. I was looking for something really epic and visceral, and of course I thought immediately of Ennio Morricone. This is the main theme of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly by Sergio Leone. You cannot get more epic than this.

The Django song

What about a song to start the weekend? For some reason, I had this one in the head, the theme song of Django, which was reused in Django Unchained. I have a confession to make: I have seen neither movie. I will see the original soon, it is on YouTube. I love spaghetti westerns, even the lesser ones (although I know Django is not among the lesser ones!), I love their excesses and their violence, the whole operatic feel and atmosphere. Spaghetti westerns represent such a nasty, twisted side of Italian culture. But for better or worse, I love this side of Italian culture, unapologitically violent. So anyway, here is the song.

Evil Sun

And no, I am not talking about the tabloid. I came up with this title today, which sounds a lot like one of Agatha Christie's novels. This was not intentional. I just thought it would be a great title. And now I have to find a post to fit the title, to be worthy of it...

Well, I came to think about it because the sun and heat a lot of people here (including me) have been craving for has nearly giving me sunburns already. I avoided it, I think, but I feel my skin red and dry and it is utterly uncomfortable, either inside or outside. The sun when it is strong is plain evil. Crime fiction is often read during summertime, not only because it is a "light" read, but because it is a bloody one. Plots set during summertime, on sticky hot days show evil men doing evil things. Same thing goes with spaghetti westerns: it's all about lots of sweaty men with skins darkened and roughened by a merciless heat, killing each others in gunfights in the middle of the day. Meursault killed blinded by the sun. The sun can lead to madness, sometimes even to murder. The sun corrupts food, attracts vermin on it, it dries rivers, it can blindly turn entire countries into deserts. Oh and it gives sunburns.

Man with Harmonica

Twice in a row, in an English blog post, I upload music. Well, sometimes I am in a musical mood. Maybe it is because I have been thinking about Italy recently. It was hot today. I was wearing my summer cold when I went outside for a walk. A black, thin, long summer coat which the pocket broke down stupidly two years ago and which I sewed myself. I don't know why, but it reminded me of the spaghetti westerns I used to watch, especially those of Sergio Leone. Well, actually, they are the only ones I watched back to back, over and over again (which reminds me: I need to watch more of them). And I had in mind the great music of Ennio Morricone. I have been wanting to upload some on this blog for a while. I actually wonder why I didn't, in four years of blogging. So now is as good a time as any. It is beautiful and operatic and it deserves to be listened to. So here is Man with Harmonica from Once Upon a Time in the West. Italians know how to be truly epic, in their movies and in their music.