Italy -- A Western Film Festival in Orvieto!

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

I can't believe it -- found out that there is going to be a western movie festival this May in Orvieto, the beautiful hill town in central Italy near which I have a house and spend a good chunk of the year.

Western Festival Orvieto will take place May 11, 12 and 13. The program of films to be shown is not yet online, but there is a guest list that includes big names such as Bud Spencer and Franco Nero.

Karl May -- 60th Anniversary of the Karl May Movies!

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

This year does not only mark the 100th anniversary of Karl May's death -- it also marks the 50th anniversary of the first Karl May movies, starring Pierre Brice as Winnetou and Lex Barker as Old Shatterhand.

The first movie in the series was Der Schatz im Silbersee -- The Treasure of Silver Lake -- which came out in 1962. It was shot on various locations in Croatia and starred Herbert Lom as the villainous Cornell Brinkley as well as Brice and Barker.

Here's the trailer in English:

Various events are taking place to celebrate the half-century and there is a web site devoted to the anniversary. Events include a Golden Jubilee celebration in Croatia June 5-9, with Pierre Brice in attendance.

Fashion: (Very) Imaginary Wild West

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

From Nudie to Ralph Lauren (and beyond) the fashion industry has long looked to an imaginary vision of the West, cowboys, the Frontier, Native Americans and all that for inspiration. The Autry Museum some years ago chronicled this love affair in a major exhibit, How the West Was Worn, which also resulted in a book by my friend Holly George Warren.

The latest (very) imaginary take comes now from the LA-based designer Jeremy Scott, whose Spring-Summer 2012 menswear line, called Urban Cowboy Couture, "updates an American classic" goes way beyond Rhinestone Cowboy glitz with a collection that features everything from rubber cowboy boots to crotchless fringed plastic pinto pants.....

Imaginary Wild West meets Modernity.... off geographic topic but interesting

The New York Times runs a piece today about historic Tombstone Arizona's battle to deal with the mountains of trash produced by the 200,000 tourists who visit each year to experience the world of Wyatt Earp, etc

It is fair to say that well before the Earp brothers shot three cowboys in a lot behind the O.K. Corral, this city had a trash problem. Mule and horse droppings were everywhere. The stench of leather being tanned, charcoal burning and ore being dug out of the earth burned the nostrils. Garbage piled high in the muddy streets.

The article notes that Tombstone issued an ordinance in 1881 -- Ordinance 6 -- that created a Board of Health and stipulated how to dispose of animal carcasses, rotting food and dead bodies. This ordinance was enacted before the much better known Ordinance 9 -- the one, also issued in 1881, that banned carrying guns in the city.

And still, more than 130 years later, the city continues to wrestle with its refuse.

Happy Karl May Year!

Poster for one of the exhibits

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

Happy Karl May Year! The German adventure writer who gave us Winnetou and Old Shatterhand was born 1842 and in died in 1912 and many events are scheduled to mark the 170th and 100th anniversaries.


A web site has been set up to keep track of events and news. There is a long series of exhibits, festivals, symposia, conferences, lectures and other events programmed throughout the year, mainly in Germany but also in other countries. Some of the exhibits kicked off already in later 2011.

With any luck, I'll be able to get to some of these and report here.

Italy -- Country Christmas. The imaginary Wild West in Italia

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

Looks like the second annual Country Christmas in Pordenone, Italy is in full swing; actually the Dec. 8-11 event is winding up today. And here I am in Budapest, not northern Italy....

Country Christmas is a full-fledged country and western festival, like those in Germany and France -- with rodeo-style competitions, shops, other events and even live country music (Buddy Jewell), an element that has been largely missing from the horse and cowboy-action-shooting dominated Italian imaginary western scene.

The Festival web site calls it "the perfect mix of culture, entertainment, spectacle and nature, the ideal occasion for everyone who loves horseback riding and  approaches 'country' also as a real lifestyle. The 'look' of visitors is de rigueur -- jeans, shirt, vest, cowboy boots and Stetson hat, with an attentive eye to the American style of the 1950s."

Insomma, Pordenone diventa capitale del West, tra dimostrazioni con cowboy e cavalli americani, prove di roping (tiro con lazzo) gare di toro meccanico e naturalmente, tanta musica country con dj e gruppi dal vivo che faranno ballare il pubblico dall’alba fino a notte fonda sulla pista più grande d’Europa, oltre 1.500 mq. Proprio qui si sfideranno le scuole di ballo country di tutta Italia, in arrivo gruppi dalla Sicilia come dalla Valle d’Aosta, che si contenderanno il terzo trofeo italiano di ballo country in programma sabato 10 e domenica 11 dicembre. Ma tutti potranno scendere in pista, e partecipare agli stage e corsi per imparare i passi giusti. E magari entrare nel Guiness dei Primati: Country Christmas infatti cercherà di battere il world record di Barn Dance (sabato ore 16.00)2, ovvero il più alto numero di coppie che si lanceranno nella barn dance, lo scorso anno il conteggio si è fermato a 465 coppie in pista contemporaneamente. Country Christmas 2011 lancia una nuova sfida ai suoi visitatori: la maratona di two step, primo premio una vacanza stile “Scappo dalla città” in un meraviglioso ranch in Wyoming.

Ad accompagnare le danze saranno alcune delle migliori band italiane e americane di country music. Star della manifestazione sarà Buddy Jewell, cantante leader della musica country americana, che sabato 10 alle ore 21.00 salirà sul palco con una miscela di musica e stili che richiama l’anima musicale dell’America Bianca. Da non perdere, domenica 11 dicembre, il 2°raduno italiano delle leggendarie auto americane degli anni ’50 che, dopo una sfilata nel centro di Pordenone, potranno essere ammirate nell’area esterna ai padiglioni della fiera. In un ambiente western non potevano mancare i saloon dove gustare i tipici piatti dei cowboy: t-bones, carne secca e fagioli, specialità tex-mex e ottima birra. E per concludere, niente di meglio di una puntatina al Country Market, con tanti stand per lo shopping, e per i più piccini tante attività a loro dedicate: la visita al villaggio degli indiani d’America, il recinto degli asinelli e il battesimo a cavallo, per coloro che salgono in groppa per la prima volta.

England et al -- February International Country Music Festival Line-up Expanding

Ray Benson of Asleep at the Wheel. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

The program for the International Festival of Country Music to be held in February in London's Wembley Arena and other venues is expanding -- Charlie Pride and Asleep at the Wheel have been added to the line-up.  Acts now include headliners  Pride, AATW, Reba McEntire, Ricky Skaggs, and Lonestar, as well as supporting acts Narvel Felts, John McNicholl, Jo-El Sonnier, Will Banister, George Ducas, Sandy Kelly & George Hamilton IV, Raymond Froggatt, and Tim McKay.  

The Festival kicks off  Feb. 26, 2012 at Wembley -- scene in the 1970s and '80s of famous country music festivals  -- and then travels to Belfast, Zurich and Germany.

Returning to Wembley after more than two decades thus really marks  a symbolic return of big-time country music to the mainstream arts agenda -- and signals a revival of popularity in the genre. As the web site says:

The International Festival of Country Music introduced country music to the British public almost 45 years ago.  The shows, promoted by the legendary Mervyn Conn, ran for 23 years from 1969 to 1991 at Wembley Arena.  Hugely popular, the shows always featured the biggest stars of Country music fans were treated to outstanding performances by artists including; Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Tammy Wynette, Jerry Lee Lewis, Crystal Gayle and many more.

Now after a gap of 20 years the Festival is back, and one thing that has not changed is world class line-up.

International Festival of Country Music founder Mervyn Conn said: “I’m bringing the International Festival of Country Music back after over twenty years due to popular demand. The regard for Country Music has grown significantly in the UK since the first year I promoted this event and I believe that now is the time to reintroduce this once hugely popular event to converted fans of country music and to a new and emerging group of country music lovers”.

Reba McEntire comments; “My band, crew and I are really looking forward to going back to Europe to play our music. The last time we performed there was in 1999! We have been very busy for the last 10 years doing the REBA TV show and concerts in North America. Now, we are so excited to be able to travel abroad and do both our new and old songs for our European audience, who has always been so good to us.”