European Tribune - Comments - With the Red Dirt in My Ear

With the Red Dirt in My Ear | 28 comments (28 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

Brass Spitton (4.00 / 18)

Acknowledgements and credits will be handled at the end of our journey...

by de Gondi (publiobestia aaaatttthotmaildaughtusual) on Sat Sep 6th, 2008 at 12:28:42 PM EST

Re: Brass Spitton (4.00 / 2)

is that spaghetti western country?

wicked good writing, worldweary and topical...

write about anything, just write!

A+++

~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Sat Sep 6th, 2008 at 05:56:43 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Brass Spitton (none / 1)

Spaghetti Western country is West Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and Utah. This is much, MUCH further north, and a completely different world.

by Zwackus on Sat Sep 6th, 2008 at 06:50:48 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Brass Spitton (none / 0)

I was always of the impression that spaghetti Western country was some of the drier portions of southern Italy, where there are rain shadows. The buildings in the old Clint Eastwood movies never looked quite right. Am I deceived?

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Sat Sep 6th, 2008 at 08:03:33 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Brass Spitton (4.00 / 2)

Spaghetti westerns - including the "Clint Eastwood" which were directed by Sergio Leone - were as a rule shot in Spain. Italy lacks sufficient flat deserts.

Un roi sans divertissement est un homme plein de misères

by linca (antonin POINT lucas AROBASE gmail.com) on Sat Sep 6th, 2008 at 09:30:37 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Brass Spitton (4.00 / 2)

All true. But it's Italy and Spain standing in for the desert Southwest, and it does a good job because they look rather similar.

by Zwackus on Sat Sep 6th, 2008 at 09:39:25 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Brass Spitton (none / 1)

And Arizona, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico and West Texas are the palette of John Ford westerns.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Sat Sep 6th, 2008 at 10:44:49 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Brass Spitton (none / 1)

Specifically, Monument Valley.

by ATinNM on Sat Sep 6th, 2008 at 11:14:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Brass Spitton (4.00 / 2)

(Which, depending on the movie, is supposed to be set in Utah, Colorado, Texas, New Mexico...)

Un roi sans divertissement est un homme plein de misères

by linca (antonin POINT lucas AROBASE gmail.com) on Sun Sep 7th, 2008 at 07:05:15 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Brass Spitton (none / 0)

Later spaghetti Westerns (Leone BTW hated the term, and composer Morricone hates it to this day - he would interrupt interviews if the interviewee is stupid enough to use it for Leone's films) were also (at least partially) filmed in the USA, e.g. Once Upon A Time in The West.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Sun Sep 7th, 2008 at 02:59:39 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Brass Spitton (none / 0)

What I remember most from the Eastwood westerns is the artful use of flies. There is simply no substitute/stand-in for a good house or horse fly.

I can swear there ain't no heaven but I pray there ain't no hell. _ Blood Sweat & Tears

by Gringo (stargazing camel at aoldotcom) on Sun Sep 7th, 2008 at 12:23:16 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Brass Spitton (none / 0)

Methinks the artful use of a fly was part of the all-time best opening scene in a Sergio Leone western without Clint Eastwood: Once Upon A Time in The West (starring instead Charles Bronson as Harmonica and Henry Fonda as the evil guy).

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Sun Sep 7th, 2008 at 04:02:14 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Brass Spitton (none / 0)

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Sun Sep 7th, 2008 at 04:03:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Brass Spitton (none / 0)

Love it! Don't recall seeing that one. Guess Sergio had a good stable of flies for "bit parts." Wonder if there was a guild for them. LEP might know.

I can swear there ain't no heaven but I pray there ain't no hell. _ Blood Sweat & Tears

by Gringo (stargazing camel at aoldotcom) on Sun Sep 7th, 2008 at 11:00:14 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Brass Spitton (none / 0)

The first fly I recall was on James Stewart's face in the 1962 How the West Was Won. It was a fixed front face shot of Stewart looking into the distance as the fly walked all over his face.

by de Gondi (publiobestia aaaatttthotmaildaughtusual) on Tue Sep 9th, 2008 at 07:50:57 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Brass Spitton (none / 0)

Another fly had a bit part in Red Sun with Charles Bronson, Alain Delon and Toshiro Mifune as the usual samurai. At one point Mifune dispatches the fly to better pastures with his sword.

by de Gondi (publiobestia aaaatttthotmaildaughtusual) on Thu Sep 11th, 2008 at 07:22:41 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Brass Spitton (none / 0)

Impressive travel log with historical and moral accompaniments!

I can swear there ain't no heaven but I pray there ain't no hell. _ Blood Sweat & Tears

by Gringo (stargazing camel at aoldotcom) on Sun Sep 7th, 2008 at 12:19:13 PM EST
[ Parent ]

With the Red Dirt in My Ear | 28 comments (28 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

. Home
. About
. Contact
. New User Guide
. FAQ
. ET Editorial Guidelines
. Search
. Search (Google)

Username:
Password:

. Make a new account
. Reset password

Recommended Diaries

Socratic Economics XII: Utopian Government Finance
by Zwackus - May 25
241 comments

A Star is Born
by ChrisCook - May 23
23 comments

The French newspaper Le Monde reports 1.5 million living the...
by Democrats Ramshield - May 27
4 comments

$1,000,000,000,00
0 or what we must remember
by Metatone - May 19
69 comments

The balance of anger and fear
by Frank Schnittger - May 17
44 comments

Stable pricing is to metaphysics as variable pricing is to...
by Upstate NY - May 16
8 comments

Another NRW election
by DoDo - May 13
118 comments

Bundesrat saves PV (and loses Röttgen)
by DoDo - May 12
18 comments

Recent Diaries

The French newspaper Le Monde reports 1.5 million living the...
by Democrats Ramshield - May 27
4 comments

Socratic Economics XII: Utopian Government Finance
by Zwackus - May 25
241 comments

A Star is Born
by ChrisCook - May 23
23 comments

$1,000,000,000,00
0 or what we must remember
by Metatone - May 19
69 comments

The balance of anger and fear
by Frank Schnittger - May 17
44 comments

Stable pricing is to metaphysics as variable pricing is to...
by Upstate NY - May 16
8 comments

A little American intercine battling
by rootless2 - May 14
27 comments

Another NRW election
by DoDo - May 13
118 comments

Bundesrat saves PV (and loses Röttgen)
by DoDo - May 12
18 comments

The mainstream German Magazine Spiegel asks, has the US mixed ...
by Democrats Ramshield - May 10
27 comments

Short Term Climate Forces: Black Carbon, Methane, and...
by gmoke - May 9

Twenty days of Crisis for Cameron
by ceebs - May 9
22 comments

SYRIZA and the Eurocrats: a letter of intent
by talos - May 9
363 comments

French Parliamentary Elections: a look under the hood
by Bernard - May 8
59 comments

Sunday Train: The Rock Island Line is a Mighty Fine Iowa...
by BruceMcF - May 6
18 comments

Why haven't we had WWIII yet?
by Migeru - Apr 30
258 comments

More Diaries...

Occasional Series

Click for full list