DEPRESSING INTRO
I'd been in a real mental slump on the eve of this festive special, what with all this Tier 4 nonsense, talk of 'Christmas cancelled', pubs not reopening for drinks only any time soon, a good friend poorly in hospital, my football team losing the plot and an unfair work incident from the previous Thursday still playing out in my mind. The perils of living alone! Especially at a time like this.
Time to snap myself out of it, and after an invigorating walk around 'outer' York and a quick chat with my parents, I felt much more like my usual self, and with the Strictly Come Dancing final whirring around in the background like a baleful Christmas donkey, if donkeys whirr, I don't know, it was time to get going.
POINTS OF ORDER
The previous day, Uncle Matt's 4th album arrived, a Jive Bunny fuelled megamix of 50's rock n' roll, 70's glam rock and much more. I'd forgotten what a great song Runaround Sue was, and I'd almost forgotten Gary Glitter existed. Almost, but not quite. It really did get me in the mood!
THREE new followers to bolster our little community to 49. First up, Elliefin, who might be called Ellie Beavan, not to be confused with the actress who was on all those classic shows when I was growing up. The Wild House, Down to Earth, errrm that's all I can remember. Second, we have BRAPA legend and Derbys fave Steve Halstead who sends me a few Grand Central tickets each year to help my travelling. And last but not least, another BRAPA familiar name, Dyfed Lloyd Griffiths, a Wrexham auctioneer from Chirk wherever that is. Welcome Ellie, Steve & Dyfed, great to have you on board! Can we make it 50 by the end of the year?
And finally, for this section, just want to say a big GET WELL SOON to one of our most vocal followers Tom Irvin who was rushed into hospital this week and has been on oxygen, and winking at all the nurses! Hope you are on the mend Tom.
WOT IS SIT?
With Jive Bunny bouncing away on my Sony tape deck, time to roll the Wotsit dice and this week it was a '4'. Again, we weighed the equivalent in Giant Flamin' Hot Wotsits which was 66g from memory. Felt like a lot to get through, but I put my face in the trough and ploughed on.
Not sure I'll re-buy the flamin' hot variety, if a Wotsit ain't cheesy, it doesn't feel quite right.
WINE-A LOT PRIME
Delighted that my Bulgarian Villa Melnik Bergule wine had finally arrived on the slow boat from Italy, the lengths I go to to follow my 'Wine Checklist' and this latest one was the Mavrud grape varietal.
There's a joke in the wine world that Mavrud has so much body, you can pick it up in a handkerchief. Hilarious! Seriously though, I love the oomphy full bodied beasts, and this was one of my favourite wines for a good few weeks. Less said about the hangover the better but similarly oomphy, thank goodness it wasn't a working day.
Food-wise, I went for Chilli Con Carne. Now I wish I could tell you I minced my own cow, picked rice in my own paddy field, cultivated my own kidney beans, and plucked my own chillis, but sadly it was a lot more lazy than that.
For extra festivity, I did have it with some rather cute Christmas tree shaped tortilla chips.
Anyway, with everything set, I reluctantly switched off Mr Bunny (did I once read he was from Rotherham?) and went on through for the main event.
The Three Godfathers (1948) was a bit of a cheat on my part in that I didn't roll the dice to decide which film I was watching, but selecting it on the basis it had a Christmas theme. It was 97th on my list.
So, we had these three chancers (John Wayne, a Mexican dude and one called 'the Kid' who looked a bit like Mark Lillis and Chris Whitty caught in some strange tryst). They robbed a bank (which always upsets me, due to my job) but bungled the ride out of town, dropping the cash, the Kid got shot in the shoulder, and the sheriff shot their water pouch so it all leaked out, cruel!
They were chased over the harsh Arizona desert, evading their captors, but failing really to get any water, the Kid in pain. Soon, they happen upon this abandoned wagon and the Mexican has to help the lady in the back give birth!
Crazy times, she's dying so she makes the three promise they'll be Godfathers and keep the baby safe. They don't really know what they are doing, despite finding a book about about looking after a young 'un, which bizarrely involved rubbing it with grease ......
Well, 'the Kid' can't go on and ends up dying of dehydration. Then the Mexican breaks his leg and can't go, so shoots himself. That leaves John Wayne with the baby, and he's all for giving up but the ghosts of the other two spur him on, then he finds a donkey, rides into a town called New Jerusalem, straight into the local micro pub, plonks the baby on the bar and says 'gimme a pint of best bitter', a dude plays Silent Night on the piano, John Wayne gets arrested for the earlier bank robbing, but gets the minimum sentence, and everyone seems pretty darn pleased with the outcome.
So all in all, enjoyable film without being an absolute classic, I was feeling nicely happy and fuzzy ......
And it was time for bed. Merry Christmas to you all, and see you probably in the first week of January for Week 25, where we'll be adding 10 new films to the list to celebrate reaching the quarter way mark, which makes no sense does it?
Thanks for reading, Si