Not to be confused with the early 90's cringe-fest soap opera of same name (minus the space bar and Jesse Birdsall), El Dorado was film #63 on my list and hopefully a perfect tonic to a tough Thursday at work, with a perfect Rotten Tomatoes approval rating (100%) and a pretty good audience one too (87%).
WEIGHING HEAVILY ON MY MIND
Whilst we are talking percentages, I was under serious pressure from 4.44444% of my followers (well, Reg and Becca) to 'experiment' with the new Giant Wotsits. I said 'never', but I soon relented. I rolled a '1' for a second consecutive week (still a very welcome result after all those 5's), noted that a standard Wotsit multipack weighs 16.5g, and set about weighing the equivalent number of giants.
It ended up being quite a bit more than you can see above, but my weighing scales only go up in increments of 25g, so I had to sort of guess, and have a very steady hand and eye, to do it justice!
So how were they? I was hoping I'd be able to tell you I much prefer the traditionals, but I really enjoyed them. Being a 'bigger' snack, they had more crunch, less fluffy maizey cheese powderyness, and when you think cheese and heavy food is quite often part of a WWWSI night, I wonder if these are a less onerous snack. There is even a non-cheese Hot variety. Dare I try this in the coming weeks?
A PIZZA THE ACTION
And speaking of cheese, pizza was tonight's food 'pairing' according to the red wine bible. Less faff than the traditional buffet, this was a chicken one with an Italian dressing. Interestingly, the wine wasn't Italian which is usually the only time my book recommends pizza! I was annoyed I didn't have any olives in, to prod with a cocktail stick. C'mon Si, standards are slipping.
To be honest, the background tea selection got most Twitter reaction on the night, most notably 'why don't I have any Yorkshire Tea, am I traitor to my home county?' The answer, and I can be a bit more frank here in my blog 'it is shite'. Well okay, that's maybe a bit strong, but it is too strong, made in Harrogate, which may as well be in Surrey anyway. If it was cultivated in the paddyfields of Wakefield's arsehole, I'd be more amenable. The Cornish Tea is strong too, but it was a present from a lovely couple, so I am sticking with it.
WINING MY STOMACH
La Piece De Resistance (or whatever those charming little froggies say) to any WWWSI set up is an elaborate and probably over priced bottle of red wine.
The music (a homemade CD which will be a Daddy Wotsit Christmas present, based on Uncle Matt's Western Hits) was bouncing away so I cracked it open, and yes, French again, and at 14%, a bit of a bruiser.
Marselan was the grape, because the Garnacha and Malbec were delayed in the post (the latter particularly embarrassing as I could've got some from my local Sainsbo). Meaning I've gone out of order for the first time on my checklist, boo.
Not that you care, but Marselan is one of the newer grapes out there, a mixture of Grenache and Cab Sauv (not a blend) and too young to be certified by the wine snobs, or something. In California, they mix it with other wines to give them a bit more spice. Monsters. I found it very easy going for 14%, tasted much weaker than a pint of Abbots Ale. My tastebuds are a bit odd though.
Time to stop chattering and go through to the WWWSI 'living space', now with pool table since Lockdown II forced me to reassess my life away from pubs ......
Callum Elder-ado
The greatest Westerns should always start with a bar scene, and in a pub reminiscent of the Cuckoo at Toddington (I'm sure you've been), Robert Mitchum, the sheriff, finds John Wayne, the 'hired gun' having a piss and they have quite a nice catch up by the hand dryers and examine each others guns.
Landlady Charlene Holt walks in (unisex toilets, very South Manchester) and she's been been with both of them, so it is a little bit awkward, but they all laugh it off and someone does a Ted Talk on Slut Shaming. John Wayne decides not to work for the baddies, but fatally wounds the son of this bloke called Old MacDonald (eey i eey i o) who kills himself so John Wayne takes his body back to the family.
Daughter MacDonald hasn't read the script, and hates John Wayne, lodging a bullet in his spine. Cos John Wayne is tough, he carries on, but occasionally has paralysis at the most inopportune of moments. No doctors around to fix him properly.
A cool young dude called Mississippi (great with knives, shite with guns) links up with John Wayne 6 months later, and they pop back to El Dorado for first time in ages cos there's new pubs in the Good Beer Guide that need ticking.
Turns out Robert Mitchum has become a proper drunkard, so isn't a very good sheriff so up to John Wayne and the young lad to stick around, sober him up, and restore law and order. A good gunfight sobers Mitchum up, but they all get injured and have to hide in the gaol for most of the rest of the film. The wine was kicking in by now so details a bit sketchy. Anyway, John Wayne gets told he can have his operation, and all ends all happy n smiles.
Joking aside, really enjoyable film.
ANY OTHER BEESWAX?
Welcome to our latest and 45th follower, Andrew "Mad as a Hornet" Mackean. Hope you all make him very welcome in the WWWSI community. He might be Irish, West Cork(?), and seems to like fishing, good beer, nature, and presumably some combination of wine. Westerns or Wotsits. Welcome Andrew.
This week, slightly later date of Friday 27th (only third time ever on a Fri), and this is due to Hull City's FA Cup match at Stevenage being on the Sunday and my Skype friends 'dice' night being on a Wednesday!
The film is number 51 on the list, the Ox-Bow Incident, we'll be giving Giant Cheese Wotsits a second bite, and the Garnacha wine has now arrived, food will be a splendid buffet but ALL three of my Sainsbury's home delivery substitutes related to this, so that's a bit annoying.
See you on Twitter on Friday evening!
Si