Day 45 - Photo 45. Per un Pugno di Dollari or the translation from Italian..."A Fistful of Dollars." Or, the American version "Fistful of Dollars." However you want to list it, unarguably the beginning of the Spaghetti Western. Sergio Leone's 1964 Western starring Clint Eastwood. Released in the United States in 1967 and making it's way to late night television not long after, it captured my imagination.
A saddle weary, dusty, armed to the teeth, cigar chomping, rugged stranger, with no name, strolls into the middle of feud between to two families in a forlorn Mexican border town. We're talking total archetypal character. The Stranger quickly recognizes an opportunity to make some money and schemes on the two families. He makes money from both families, rescues the girl, sets the town free from the grips of the "evil" families and rides of into the sunset, sans girl...kinda, and saddle bags stuffed with the bad guy's cash. A true testosterone fairy tale.
Today while filling my gas tank, I was kind of pleased that the price of gas has dropped. But, as I thought about, it was just a short four months ago and we were paying $2.00 more a gallon...at the very station where I was now filling my tank. Suddenly, I was transported. I was the saddle weary, dusty, armed to the teeth, cigar chomping, rugged stranger, with no name, in the dusty Mexican border town and looking for an opportunity to scheme on the bad guys. Well, okay...maybe I wasn't armed to the teeth, or dusty, or weary (maybe...it's Friday.) I didn't have a cigar and I, well, I supposed I could pull off rugged...work with me here...and I just won't tell anyone my name. Oh geez, you get the idea. I wanted some kind of justice! What the heck just happened. How could we have been paying nearly $5.00 a gallon for gas and now be thankful we're not. And here's the big difference...we can't find the bad guys!
I returned the nozzle to the pump, ignored the final price and rode off into the sunset. At least I got the girl!
A saddle weary, dusty, armed to the teeth, cigar chomping, rugged stranger, with no name, strolls into the middle of feud between to two families in a forlorn Mexican border town. We're talking total archetypal character. The Stranger quickly recognizes an opportunity to make some money and schemes on the two families. He makes money from both families, rescues the girl, sets the town free from the grips of the "evil" families and rides of into the sunset, sans girl...kinda, and saddle bags stuffed with the bad guy's cash. A true testosterone fairy tale.
Today while filling my gas tank, I was kind of pleased that the price of gas has dropped. But, as I thought about, it was just a short four months ago and we were paying $2.00 more a gallon...at the very station where I was now filling my tank. Suddenly, I was transported. I was the saddle weary, dusty, armed to the teeth, cigar chomping, rugged stranger, with no name, in the dusty Mexican border town and looking for an opportunity to scheme on the bad guys. Well, okay...maybe I wasn't armed to the teeth, or dusty, or weary (maybe...it's Friday.) I didn't have a cigar and I, well, I supposed I could pull off rugged...work with me here...and I just won't tell anyone my name. Oh geez, you get the idea. I wanted some kind of justice! What the heck just happened. How could we have been paying nearly $5.00 a gallon for gas and now be thankful we're not. And here's the big difference...we can't find the bad guys!
I returned the nozzle to the pump, ignored the final price and rode off into the sunset. At least I got the girl!
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1 comment:
I'm gonna put type on this photo, too. :-P
KIDDING...
You've hit it on the head here. I was initially relieved it only cost me $35 to fill my tank today, but then really cheesed off that I could think $2.55/gallon was a GOOD price for gas. Boo.
And yes, we should hunt down the bad guys. Then maybe we wouldn't need this stupid bailout.
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