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deadwood

Back in Time with Deadwood

June 4, 2019 by robertforto Leave a Comment

Way back in 2011 I wrote a blog post about Deadwood. I think it was one of the best t.v. shows ever. I have always thought that it was like Shakespeare played out in the Old West. Every character is so well defined with near perfect back stories.

I liked the show so much that I flew down from Alaska and met Michele for a road trip. It was in the year that we were living in two states. Me in Alaska and her in Colorado and a perfect way to spend a weekend. We checked out all of the local history and even went to the cemetery where Calamity Jane, Seth Bullock and Wild Bill are buried. This was years before our now famous, epic road trips that we do now but it was fun to see where history took place.

Deadwood was such a sensation that my sled dog kennel partners at the time named a litter of pups after the main characters. It is hard to believe that a lot of those dogs have passed on from old age by now but forever I will remember running Wu, Joanie, Jewel, Alma, Sophia (who we called Sophie), and Trixie.

A lot of the Deadwood Crew are running in this picture taken in 2011.

As many of you know HBO didn’t renew the show after the third season and left its fans hanging. That was until this month when the movie was released. Michele and I sat down to watch it and it brought so much back.

They did such a marvelous job. It was like sitting down with an old friend. When the intro music started to play, I was immediately smiling and could not wait for the story to work itself out. The film takes place in 1889, ten years where it left off. It was so good to see Doc again. Brad Dourif is such an incredible actor. Gerald McRaney plays the perfect villain as Hearst. Timothy Olyphant as Bullock was very well done. Older but looking strikingly like the real person, his character was a great example of Black Hat/White Hat melodrama that is played out in western lore. Dayton Callie playing Charlie Utter and his matter of speech is not to be forgotten. Of course, Ian McShane as Swearengen was over the top. His character and Doc and Wu were always my favorite and they did not disappoint. The writing and the dialogue are incredible. Did you know that the top hat worn by Joanie (Kin Stubbs) is the same gray hat she wore in the original series but it was refashioned with brown fabric to make it look new. This was common practice in the 19th century. The music, the lighting and the sets  are fabulous. It was truly a walk back in time.

What was so impressive, and I’ll leave most of the spoilers in tact is that this is truly a story about impeding progress. The entire movie is about leaving things as they were. If you remember in the series that the telegraph coming to Deadwood was pivotal plot point. In this movie it is the telephone. Thinking back to my old blog post it was much the same way. Things were a lot different in 2011 than they are today and just like in Deadwood, time marches on, whether you like it or not.

This is a must watch. I told you that you should have kept that subscription to HBO after Game of Thrones ended. This is well worth the wait.

Break out the peaches, this is an important event.

Filed Under: Daily Post Tagged With: deadwood, Movies, t.v.

Road Trippin: Deadwood Thyme Bistro and Winery

May 29, 2011 by robertforto Leave a Comment

When people think of Deadwood, South Dakota, they think of Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane, gunfights, brothels and gambling.

But tucked away a couple blocks from the famous main street where Seth Bullock administered justice and Al Swearengen entertained at The Gem, you will find the Deadwood Thyme Bistro and Winery.

Michele and I have a practice that whenever we can we stay away from the chain resturants and the same ole dining fare that you can find in any town in the country.

We were in Deadwood for the first day of our road trip and we were looking for a place to grab breakfast and/or lunch. We went into the historic Adams Museum and asked the curator for a good place. She suggested the Deadwood Thyme Bistro but warned us it might be a bit pricy.

The little bistro was tastily decorated and had the air of a little french cafe. They weren’t too busy. Just one other table was taken and it was about 11 am on a Friday.

I looked over the menu and a lot of things sounded delicious. There was quiche, omelets, salads and soups. I decided on the Parisian.

The Parisian is an open-faced ham and swiss topped with béchamel and served over greens drizzled with vinaigrette.

It was wonderful! I am a sandwich guy but I don’t think I have ever had béchamel. This sandwhich was the perfect blend of all my favorites. It had exceptional flavor and it’s prestantion was perfect.

We had a wonderful meal at the Deadwood Thyme Bistro and I would highly recommend it to anyone. The staff were courteous and the prices were not that high. Remember I am used to Alaska prices. Our meal was less than 25 dollars an that included tip and soft drinks.

So the next time you are on a road trip, do yourself a favor and stay away from clown burgers and advertisers that are based on the forbidden fruit (apples). Sure those places have their place for a quick meal on the go but when you are on vacation you are supposed to do things different. That’s why they call it vacation.

Filed Under: Daily Post, Road Trippin Tagged With: deadwood, deadwood thyme bistro, Michele Forto, postaday2011, road trip, robert forto, south dakota

Al Swearengen and the present day nanny state

April 19, 2011 by robertforto Leave a Comment

I admit it. I absolutely love the HBO series Deadwood. I am starting season three on Netflix right now. In fact, I am so enthralled by our American History that my wife, Michele, and I are going to take a road trip to Deadwood sometime next month when I am back in the Lower 48.

While I plan to give a synopsis of the series with my rants and raves once I am finished with it, I have to say–man, what it would be like to live there back in 1876-1878.

In Deadwood there were no laws. In fact they despised even the arrival of the telegraph thinking that it would disrupt their vices, criminal empires and shady deals.

In Deadwood roamed characters like Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane and Al Swearengen. Who could not like a pimp and an “entertainment entrepreneur” like Swearengen?

Then I think to the present day American and our nanny state laws that come up and are enacted with as little as a soapbox speech in legislative sessions throughout the land.

Think about it: 

They ban cell phones while driving. Tell us when to wear seat belts in our own private cars. How many dogs we can have in our yard.  Helmets on our motor scooters. No smoking in public places. And so on, and so on…

No matter what our political leanings are– conservative or (God forbid) liberal, the mind-set of nanny stater is you will do what I say and there will be no questions asked.

This isn’t just about helmet or seat belt laws. This is about a freedom to make a bad decision. People know that helmets are important as well as seat belts, but we should have the choice as to whether we wear one or not, regardless of what the law says or the threat of a ticket.

Here is an honest-to-goodness-real-life-example: When my brother was three years old he was riding in the back seat of my step-father’s-mother’s car (boy is that a mouth full) with three other adults. He was standing up between the seats on that little hump in the back seat.

They spent the day picking apples in Kentucky and a coal truck blasted into them head on and killed every one in the car–except my brother, Chris–he flew through the windshield and down and embankment. No one would have ever known he was in the car if it wasn’t for his crying and a Good Samaritan hearing him.

He ended up with a scrape or two and a bump on the head and that was it. He is 31 today and training to be a cop.  If he were in a car seat or wearing a seatbelt he would be dead.

I digress…

I think the people that are disgusted by these laws are a silent majority, until these laws affect them in one way or another. But then it is too late.

I thought I learned in American Civics class way back in the 11th grade that laws are supposed to be about protecting a person’s rights from being infringed upon.

I guess I was wrong.

So as I sit here pecking away at my keyboard on my iPad in the 21st century I find myself thinking–sometimes even yearning–to be back in the days of Swearengen.

Heck, at least back in those days, you didn’t even have to take a bath!

What are your thoughts on this? 

Robert Forto | Team Ineka | Alaska Dog Works | Mushing Radio | Dog Works Radio | Denver Dog Works | Daily Post

___________________

Robert Forto is a musher training for his first Iditarod under the Team Ineka banner and the host of the popular radio shows, Mush! You Huskies and Dog Works Radio Shows


Filed Under: Daily Post, Robert Forto Tagged With: al swearengen, deadwood, nanny state, postaday2011, robert forto, seat belt laws

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