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.

Parlons du Cinéma de 17 heures

 Bon, l'année étant entamée depuis un petit bout maintenant, faisons un retour nostalgique dans ce qui me divertissait durant mon enfance les jours de semaine ordinaires. J'ai déjà blogué et re-blogué sur le Cinéma de 17 heures à Radio-Canada, sur lequel il n'y a pratiquement rien en ligne. Alors je songe à chercher dans mes souvenirs et les vôtres (si vous vous en rappelez) et faire une liste des films qui y passaient. Je la partagerai ici et bloguerai plus en détails. Certains lecteurs (pas des réguliers) ont commenté sur le sujet au fil de mes billets, alors je crois qu'on a un peu de matière.

Plus de détails sur le Cinéma de 17 heures

J'ai écrit en mars 2019 un billet sur Le Cinéma de 17 heures de Radio-Canada. Je m'en rappelle beaucoup et peu à la fois, puisque ça passait alors que j'étas très jeune. Mais j'adorais. Enfin bref, quelqu'un a commenté sur le sujet la semaine dernière, de manière anonyme. Voici son commentaire: "Moi je m en rapelle très bien, avec Jean Ducharme et les 2 roues, une rouge et une bleue, mais je ne sais plus à quoi elles servaient 😅 il y avait les dents de la mer, à la recherche de la perle noire (film de pirate je crois? ) et des westerns". J'espère qu'il va commenter à nouveau et donner plus de détails. Anonyme, si vous me lisez, laissez-le moi savoir. Et en passant, les deux roues servaient à gagner des montants d'argent, si je me rappelle 100 dollars était le gros lot.

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.

First ever Christmas present from Wolfie

A few weeks ago, at his school's Christmas fair, Wolfie bought me his very first Christmas present. There was a section with gifts for daddies and mummies, where a teacher would help children choose something they would then wrap. So Wolfie got me this book: True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey. I know nothing of the Kelly Gang, but just by the cover I can tell it is going to be a great read, the kind of stuff I would have bought for myself had I seen it in a bookshop or a thrift sales. I am amazed at how well my son knows me: just a look at the cover and he knew that was a good gift for daddy. Of course this is the best Christmas present this year, bare none.

Felipe, Susanita et les jeux de l'enfance

Je partage aujourd'hui un gag de Mafalda mettant en scène Felipe et Susanita. De tous les amis de Mafalda, Felipe était sans doute celui avec lequel je m'identifiais le plus. Notamment à cause de son imagination fertile. Inversement, Susanita est le personnage que j'aimais le moins dans la bédé, parce que c'était une commère sans imagination. Enfin bref, voici le gag, que je n'ai pas besoin de traduire. Il me touche parce qu'enfant, nous avions parmi nos amis qui étaient des gâcheurs de jeux. Pas de la même façon que Susanita, mais certains à un oment donné refusaient de prendre les choses au sérieux ou à rentrer dans leur personnage. Alors j'ai beaucoup de sympathie pour Felipe.

Dr Quack's Elixir

Like many pictures I shared here in the last few days, I took this one at Sundown Adventureland. As usual I am sharing it today just because. It was of course in the western section. You know that in the Old/Far West there used to be quack doctors selling dodgy elixirs that cured everything. They were a common trope in western and parodies. These phoney doctors were of course more charlatans salesmen than doctors. This one at least had the honesty to call himself Dr Quack. I thought it was quite funny when I saw it. In a way, it is quite a topical photo: I am sure they have modern Dr Quacks during the pandemic making a lot of money out of gullible people.

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.

Of old westerns

Recently, I rewatched The Magnificent Seven. Not one of the many remakes, for which I care not, but the old 1960 film. And I know it is a remake of a Japanese movie, but the western is a classic and a great film in its own right. It must have been the third time I watched it. I remember distinctly the very first time I did, I must have been seven or eight. I watched it with my mother. She was never keen on violent movies and was never happy when dad made us watch some stuff that was really violent, but somehow she loved old fashioned westerns, the ones made before the spaghetti western craze, so we watched them with her. She particularly liked Yul Brynner in this one, so since then he's the one of the seven I root for the most. There's just something about a good guy all clad in black that makes him uber cool. But rewatching it, I also appreciated the villain played by Eli Wallach. What a magnificent bastard! What I also love in The Magnificent Seven is the end of era feel: these men are larger than life heroes of quasi mythical stature when we meet them, or at least this is what their reputation would let you believe, yet they truly are broken men looking for a job. Anyway, I think I might watch more westerns these days. If you have any suggestions, please give them to me in the comments section.

Gun Play

A few years ago, I bought some cheap plastic toy revolvers for some reason, you know the kind that is in a cowboy outfit for kids, with a plastic star, plastic ammos and plastic holsters. I had stored them when we moved house and yesterday Wolfie stumbled on them. I explained to him what it was and I think he quite liked them, although he mostly wanted me to handle the plastic guns. His mother was not keen on it, because she thinks even plastic revolvers are associated with violent objects. But I spent my childhood playing cowboys, cops and robbers and war with such toy guns, so I was quite happy that Wolfie showed interest in them. His maternal grandfather seemed quite happy when he saw his grandson playing with the revolvers as well. So gun play seems to be something that transcends generations. And I will say something again: being the father of a boy, it is often living your childhood a second time.

Hooded Outlaw

During our last English holidays in September, when we visited the family of the childhood friend of my wife and especially her son Uber who is Wolfie's best friend ever, we spent a day at Sundown Adventureland, a theme park for young kids. The kind of place that can also appeal to daddies who never quite grew up. There were many fun rides. We did not try them all, but we enjoyed a few, including the Rocky Mountain Railroad, which was basically a western setting. It was a goldmine full of gold diggers and also bandits attacking the convoy we were one. I took a few snapshots, including this one which I think is pretty neat. A menacing hooded outlaw (and what a hood!) gunning down on us. With the light, it almost looks like a desperado in a real ambush.

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.

Bisbee, Arizona

I am reading Hombre by Elmore Leonard at the moment, the first western novel I ever read, I think. They made a movie adaptation, which I never saw. Anyway, in the novel they mention the town of Bisbee, Arizona. Its Wikipedia entry says it's a city, but it really is a town. Funny coincidence, I recently watched (again) L.A. Confidential, which mentions Bisbee as well, since this is where Lynn Bracken, the Veronica Lake lookalike character of Kim Basinger, is from. So... Well, so nothing. I just found it funny, this obscure town (no offense for the people living there), being mentioned in one of the most acclaimed movies of the 90s. It made me curious about it. From what I found on its website, it looks quite pretty. If I ever go to Arizona, I might visit it.

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.