"Not just another pretty sauce." That's the slogan at Smoque BBQ, a new restaurant in the Irving Park neighborhood on Chicago's Northwest Side. They've got a funky, roadside vibe going -- plus some of the best ribs we've tasted in awhile.

After eating at Smoque BBQ, we motor along in the Mobile Recording Studio and discuss other barbecue restaurants we like. Leah and Dick have high praise for Bar-B-Que Bob's up in Rogers Park. Even though I wish their ribs weren't so soft, I like the sauce so much at Gale Street Inn that I can almost forgive them. And for all things barbecue, I've never gone wrong with Calvin Woods' Smokin' Woody's and Calvin's BBQ.

We also bring up L. Woods Tap & Pine Lodge.

By the way, when the talk turns to side dishes, I even have the effrontery to ask whether Smoque BBQ's delicious beans are likely to induce rip-roarin' nether zephyrs. Fear not! Help is available.

Read Leah's published review.

Other assessments:

Chicagoist
Chicago Reader
Chicago Sun-Times
Chowhound
Metromix Chicago
YoChicago

Smoque BBQ
3800 N. Pulaski Road
773-545-RIBS

ChicagoScope feedback line: 312-683-5272.

I've been visiting Flickr quite a bit this past month or so, and, based on the searches I've done (places I've lived and worked, people I've known and know) I've concluded that Frank Zappa was absolutely right when he concluded:

"It isn't necessary to imagine the world ending in fire or ice -- there are two other possibilities: one is paperwork, and the other is nostalgia."

The latter definitely is what's going on with me, as I Flickr my way to Casper, Wheat Ridge (and also Wheatridge), Rock Springs and Kingman.


As an occasional photographer who's lucky enough to actually get paid to take pictures, I've been blown away by the photos on Flickr. Not only are there plenty of images with decisive moments personal and otherwise, but there's also a lot of good news sense and technical skill there, as well.

Based on a recent article by Amy Gahran on the Poynter Institute website, I'm convinced that before long, a site like Flickr (or perhaps even Flickr itself) will become a clearinghouse for news photos as traditional journalism begins to embrace the concept of citizen journalists. There are plenty of people in the right place at the right time, and news organizations are finally going to tap this resource. And if they're smart, they'll pay for it.

But back to nostalgia...

During a recent trip to Wheat Ridge, I had hoped to do a lot of shooting, especially using a low-tech analog Holga camera. I especially wanted to get pictures of the Wheat Ridge and Maple Grove grange halls. However, at least I managed to grab a somewhat-artsy picture (above) of the famed "concrete cowboy" who's stood guard at the entrance to Rustic Ranch Mobile Home Park on Federal Boulevard for as long as I can remember. What's fun is to see how many other folks have taken pictures of the same view.

See photos I've put up on Flickr.

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I've been thinking a lot about "The Rifleman" lately.

It all started just before Christmas, when I walked a slightly different route after work to get to the CTA Blue Line station at Daley Center -- and I passed by the still-under-constriction Museum of Broadcast Communications near the Marina City House of Blues. I'd visited the museum many years ago when it was housed in River City and enjoyed the exhibits a great deal. (I toured the museum with Chicago sportswriter and broadcaster George Castle, who's a font of pop-cultural information.) For a time, the MBC moved to the Chicago Cultural Center, but I never stopped in when it was there.

Anyway, as I walked past the museum, I began reflecting on TV shows that had an impact on me. Sure, the original "Star Trek" fueled my imagination, and "Adam-12" briefly stirred some interest in pursuing a career in law enforcement, but the one show that caused me to seriously reflect on the human condition while still in elementary school was "The Rifleman."

The two photos above are screengrabs from the first episode's scene in which we're introduced to Lucas McCain (Chuck Connors) and his son, Mark (Johnny Crawford), as they arrive in the New Mexico Territory of the 1880s. The show's haunting main theme plays in the background and, for a moment, shifts to a minor chord as Mark expresses concern and regrets in dialogue wonderfully written by Sam Peckinpah and masterfully handled by Connors and Crawford...

Lucas: Well, it's new and mighty fine country, son.

Mark turns and stares over his shoulder.

Lucas: There's no looking back -- we've come too far.

Mark: I wasn't really looking back. I was just remembering back.

Lucas: What do you say we start from here?

Mark: Fine.

Lucas: Let's go.

I like how the characters' backstories are only hinted at -- and then played out slowly in the episode and, indeed, in the series, as well. In a later scene the McCains check in at North Fork's hotel. In the lobby, they meet Vernon, a young gunslinger played by Dennis Hopper -- who'll be competing against Lucas later that day in a turkey shoot. Lucas heads upstairs to stow their bedrolls and tells Mark to go into the restaurant and "order for both of us." What's engaging about the following scene is how naturally Crawford and Hopper play their parts. It's acting done so well it doesn't seem to be acting. And the dialogue is finely crafted, as well. A lesser writer would have glopped it up with dialect, yet Peckinpah uses it sparingly.

Mark: Would you like to come and sit with me?

Vernon: Yeah, I guess I might as well.

Mark (to waitress): I'll have some of that beef stew.

Vernon: I'd like the same.

Mark: I guess you must be pretty fast with that gun.

Vernon: Well, I guess I'm just about as fast as anybody there is.

Mark: My pa, he doesn't use a pistol -- he uses a rifle, but he's pretty fast, too.

Vernon: No man with a rifle is as fast as a man with a six-gun.

Mark: My pa is. When we was living in the Nations, they used to call him "The Rifleman." He's the greatest shot in the world.

Vernon: Well, he may stand tall where you come from, kid, but he ain't shooting against no sodbusters. He's shooting against me.

Mark: You'll see. What's your name?

Vernon: My name's Vernon.

Mark: Mine's Mark McCain. Was that your pa in the lobby?

Vernon: No, he's my uncle.

Mark: My pa says I'm not old enough to carry a pistol right yet.

Vernon: I've been wearing one and shooting ever since I can remember. I must've had a gun since I was six years old.

Mark: You're lucky, Vernon.

Vernon: That's what my Uncle Wes says.

Mark: I can shoot my dad's rifle, but he won't let me carry a pistol.

Vernon: What about your ma?

Mark: She died -- a long time ago. What happened to yours?

Vernon: I never had one.

Mark: Don't it bother you, I mean, not having a ma or a pa?

Vernon: I reckon. Sometimes it bothers me considerable.

The scene is made all the effective by Herschel Burke Gilbert's gently poignant music. I especially like how Crawford delivers the line "He's the greatest shot in the world" with the genuine pride a child has for a loving parent. It reminds me of the way Billy Gray describes his mom's government job in "The Day the Earth Stood Still." He points out to Klaatu that the guy everybody calls a secretary isn't a secretary at all and that "My mom's a real secretary!"

I have to admit that while the hints of sadness and darkness Peckinpah injects into "The Rifleman" make the series -- especially its first season -- a classic for me, much of his later film work strikes me as needlessly cruel and violent. An exception is his 1972 "Junior Bonner," a star-laden (Steve McQueen, Robert Preston, Ida Lupino, Ben Johnson) picture that also explores father-and-son relationships, but in a latter-day setting. A similar but more-Hollywooden treatment of this theme appears in Stuart Rosenberg's excellent "My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys," a 1991 production with Scott Glenn, Kate Capshaw and Ben Johnson.

SEE "THE RIFLEMAN" -- You can view this pilot episode as well as 50 others on Hulu.com.

SEE A TRIBUTE TO "THE RIFLEMAN" -- Here's a cool tribute to the show and its late star, Chuck Connors.

SEE LUCAS McCAIN IN ACTION -- Another nifty YouTube clip compiles a number of North Fork shootouts.

"THE RIFLEMAN" MEETS "THE WILD BUNCH" -- Clever fan editing shows "'The Rifleman' opening if Sam Peckinpah had been allowed to direct the way he wanted."

STEVE McQUEEN AGAIN -- And hey, what a great way to wrap this up: Steve McQueen's last film was "The Hunter", filmed on location here in Chicago. Its show-stopping stunt happens at Marina Towers, those twin-corncob highrises two doors up from the Museum of Broadcast Communications. This spectacular scene features a car crashing through the retaining wall in one of the tower's parking garages and then plowing into the Chicago River.

That scene provided the inspiration for a recent Allstate commercial.

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ChicagoScope cohort Leah Zeldes has a Palm PDA packed with thousands of entries relating to food, restaurants and entertainment -- and she combined that expansive database with a lot of good, old-fashioned legwork to whip up a comprehensive look at the many ethnic grocers in the suburb of Niles. Check out her story in this week's Chicago Sun-Times food section. (If that link is down, try the PDF version.)

Speaking of independent food stores, I always enjoyed checking in on F---CorporateGroceries. The site's no longer being updated, but is still a fun read.

Plus, read this bonus review of Leah's visit to Des Plaines' Falafel Inn.

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I wasn't sure I'd like this place, but with a name like "Big Buns & Pita," how could it not have at least some redeeming qualities? (Makes you wonder if their first choice for a name was "Fat Ass & Bread" but Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises Inc. had a prior claim on the tradename.)

Well, it turns out that the food was pretty spectacular and we had a really swell time.

By the way, the Spanish-dubbed movie showing on the TV while we were in Big Buns & Pita was "Red Sun," starring Charles Bronson, Toshiro Mifune and Alain Delon. The film isn't nearly as bad as some reviews on IMDb might suggest.

OTHER ASSESSMENTS

1. LTHForum.com
2. Chowhound.com
3. Yelp.com
4. Read about Jedi mind tricks of the restaurant industry -- and then scroll to see a nice comment about Big Buns & Pita.

Big Buns & Pita
6649 N. Clark St.
773-262-2000

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La Granja restaurant in Palatine, Illinois. (APS photo; see CinemaScope version.)

In a wide-ranging post-dinner discussion, Leah, Dick and I talk about our visit to La Granja, a new restaurant in the Chicago suburb of Palatine -- and then weigh in on topics that include (but are not necessarily limited to) "Three Days of the Condor," the Bradford Exchange, Fiestaware, Booby's restaurant in Niles and keeping guinea pigs as pets.

I also discuss The Three Stooges and that whole Shemp issue to describe my disappointment at the ribs I ordered at La Granja. Speaking of The Stooges, you can download a fun Modern Man song about Moe.

Oh, yeah. We also talk about this place, which now seems to have closed.

Read Leah's published review of La Granja here. For another view of La Granja, check out Lisa & Joe's February 3 podcast over at Cheap Date.

By the way, as I'm writing these show notes, I'm watching "Thelma & Louise" on cable. (They're just getting ready to pick up Brad Pitt right now.) Along with "Starman" and the original 1971 "Vanishing Point" (the first movie in which I ever saw a woman topless at the movies and I mean on the screen, but that's another story) this is one of my favorite road movies. Maybe it's because my family moved around a lot, but I could definitely identify with wanderlust and the call of the open road. Chris LeDoux and Steve Wariner were right.

ChicagoScope feedback line: 312-683-5272.