Cowboys #5

Westerns, of course, were not only made in the USA. So, what comes next, a feature on Spaghetti Westerns? Later perhaps, but here is a strange Soviet/ Cuban collaboration from 1972.
Всадник без головы (The Headless Horseman)was based on a novel by the Irish-American adventure writer"Captain"Thomas Mayne Reid (1818 – 1883). The novel was an adaptation of a South Texas folk tale.

The movie was filmed in Cuba- local actors (dubbed from Spanish) playing the Hispanic carachters and the black slaves. The Caucasians and Native Americans are played by Soviet actors. Leading man (and Soviet heartthrob) Oleg Borisovich Vidov was born in Moscow in 1943. In 1985, he defected to the U.S. You'd have to go a long way to find a more handsome cowboy.

The past is a foreign country...

The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there
This is the opening line of The Go-Between ,a novel by L.P. Hartley (1895 – 1972), published in 1953.
I've decided to drop the Bossa Nova reference from the title of the blog because it was becoming misleading. There will still be Bossa Nova posts on here, but it is becoming increasingly difficult to source music that is not widely available on other sites (Loronix for example). This is not to suggest that Joao Kartoshka's love of Bossa Nova genre was insincere or fleeting, but rather that it was the tip of an iceberg in terms of his fascination for popular culture of the recent past.
I would hesitate to call this a nostalgia site, as we must remember
the development of new ideas and the quest for change is a positive force in life.

Time out...

Spring is coming.

I'm off to see Mrs Kartoshka.

Sadly I don't think the weather will allow me to wear holiday threads like those modelled here by The Duke.

Spain 1982...

If 1978 was about Mennoti and his cigarettes 1982 was, thanks to Enzo Bearzot, the year of the pipe.

Italy triumphed in the final against a lacklustre West German side despite missing a first half penalty. The Italians had overcome dire treatment from their press (accusations included players being involved in gay love affairs) and emerged from what is considered to be the original 'Group of Death' (second round group C saw them matched with Brazil and Argentina).

Most neutrals would have favoured Italy over a West Germany team who had introduced kung fu to the tournament in the shape of Schumaker's assault on Battison, and who in the opening phase had been involved in the darkest episode in World Cup history. In a match known as The Shame of Gijón West Germany and Austria colluded in providing a result that ensured they both progressed at the expense of Algeria.
Algeria had beaten West Germany 2–1 on the opening day, becoming the first African team to defeat European opponents at the World Cup. Now, when West Germany took a 1-0 lead against Austria, both teams gave up playing and spent 80 minutes aimlessly punting the ball to and fro.

El Salvador had a desperate time. The country was ravaged by civil war, and they arrived in Spain just 72 hours before their opener with Hungary. They had to borrow footballs from the Hungarian camp in order to train. Their manager advised them to take the game to Hungary. On this occasion attack was not the best form of defence, and they got on the end of a 10-1 defeat When Luis Ramírez Zapata (nicknamed El Pelé) had pulled it back to 5-1 his teammates were annoyed with his joyful celebrations, worried that the Hungarians would , in their anger, step up a gear. Their fears were realised to some degree when substitute Laszlo Kiss netted a seven minute hat trick.

Zico and Socrates featured for Brazil, two of the greatest players never to win the World Cup.

Stowaway...

The blue-and-silver Walkman TPS-L2 (the first commercially available Walkman) went on sale in Japan on July 1, 1979.

This magazine ad comes from June 1980 (in the UK the Walkman was known as The Stowaway).It was not cheap (around £100, with a second set of headphones costing around £15 extra- the average weekly wage in the UK in 1980 was £110)

007...

Nostalgia... cars, women, exotic locations, adventure, guns, smart clothes, wit...

Pa Kartoshka used to take me to the cinema to see the James Bond movies (the Sean Connery ones) and I've always retained a fondness for them. Back home my mother had a musty and already dog-eared selection of the Ian Fleming novels. They became the first 'grown up' books that I read. Just thinking about them now reminds me of my bed on a winter's night, under the heavy covers, understanding about 50% of what I was reading.

Bossa Nova

Walter Santos (1939-2008)
Walter Santos is not such a big name outside Brazil, but at home he was counted as one of the major stars of the Bossa Nova movement.
He started out in the Os Enamorados do Ritmo group together with Joao Gilberto.
This LP came out in 1963 at the heighth of the Bossa Nova boom.

http://rapidshare.com/files/358559208/Bossa_Nova.rar

Who are they?

http://thecrowncompetitors.blogspot.com/

Курите Сигареты

Good advice for the people of The Soviet Union! Smoke Cigarettes suggests the poster.