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Convoy (1978)

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Last updated: March 12, 2020

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Action Comedy, based on the hit novelty song by C.W. McCall. A trucker seeking to escape a pursuing lawman gets support from hundreds of his fellow truckers and becomes a folk hero along the way. Directed by Sam Peckinpah; starring Kris Kristofferson, Ali MacGraw, Ernest Borgnine, Burt Young, Seymour Cassel, and Jorge Russek. Filming on highways around New Mexico and locations in Albuquerque, Algodones, Belen, Bernalillo, Cerrillos, Cuba, Estancia, Las Vegas, Madrid, the State Fairgrounds (Albuquerque), White Sands National Monument . In 2010 this film and Red Dawn were screened at the Fort Stanton Drive-In in Las Vegas New Mexico as part of the Austin Texas Alamo Drafthouse's Rolling Roadshow to show films near where they were filmed; semi tractors were parked outside the theater and every time horns were blown in the movie the trucks added their own horns to the scene.


"Convoy" is a complicated movie to examine, because Sam Peckinpah and crew filmed so much footage in the general Albuquerque area. Many locations are there, many of which I can't quite ferret out, like the ones near Cuba, NM. I note that imdb.com doesn't list Los Lunas and San Ysidro as filming locations, but they definitely were.

Notes on Individual Scenes
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White Sands - appears to be WSMR P Rt. 10, and maybe the National Monument road too.

Scenes look like Estancia, NM

Sheriff sets up a trap on Highway 41 (35.259615°, -105.948961°)

Looks like towards Estancia

Raphael's and Big Al's Crossroads - Raphael's Silver Cloud - Sandias look like Algodones filming location (35.380853°, -106.465756°)

U-turn 313/85/Hagen Rd. turnoff

Narrow bridge next to power plant

Circle K at Highways 44 & 85 - truck rollover - head east.

Current view of the southeast corner of the intersection, where the truck rolled over.

Curve on road to Placitas (35.300451°, -106.475029°)

Curve on road to Placitas (35.301327°, -106.471495°)

Take a Friend to Church (35.301275°, -106.478430°)

View of bridge - unclear

Powerline scar and turnoff and bridge - unclear

Highway 16?

Probably Waldo Canyon Road, but could also be parts of Highway 16

Convoy - Near San Ysidro (Approximate) (35.554328°, -106.808197°)

Squishing a Police Car

Looks like they're towards Cuba

(35.585172°, -106.880767°)

Welcome to NM sign (35.582923°, -106.878080°)

Horse w. rider

Turnoff to Zia Pueblo, and aerial view along Highway 550 towards Bernalillo

NM Highway - State of NM Scales

Overpass

NB I-25 on-ramp at Highway 550 in Bernalillo

I-25, @ Isleta Pueblo (34.927337°, -106.718023°)

I-25, just south turnoff @ Isleta Pueblo (34.900849°, -106.725407°)

Probably I-25 crossing over Rio Grande

Winding road

Roadblock

Madrid, NM (35.405479°, -106.154034°)

Town - Las Vegas Plaza

Aerial shot of Reinken and Main St. in Belen, NM

Highway interchange

314/ I-25 intersection at south end of town

All along I-25 (34.688365°, -106.793946°)

Waystation (Fairgrounds?)

Town (where?)

Road....

Convoy - Preparing To Storm Jail - View of Chevrolet dealership - Estancia - (34.757230°, -106.055557°)

Estancia View, looking North (34.759323°, -106.055402°)

Possible site of Alvarez Police Station (34.759746°, -106.055262°)

Aerial view of Madrid, NM

Needles, CA, apparently

Highway 6 & Hwy 85, Los Lunas????

Almost directly in front of Luna mansion

Down near Needles, CA

NM State Fairgrounds

NB I-25 on-ramp at Los Lunas

Lonely Are The Brave (1962)

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Last updated: March 12, 2020

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Starring Kirk Douglas, based upon the novel The Brave Cowboy by Edward Abbey. Douglas stars as a fiercely independent cowboy rebelling against shrinking freedoms in the Southwest. Filming locations around Albuquerque, including the Sandia and Manzano Mountains and Tijeras Canyon.


Notes on Individual Scenes
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Kirk Douglas' favorite movie project!

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Several West Mesa points - all estimates are approximate!

http://www.canyoncountryzephyr.com/2014/12/02/lonely-are-the-brave-revisited-by-jim-stiles/
I basically agree with Jim Stiles. I'm thinking near Volcano Vista High School. The shallow soil there appears to be good for junipers. You can see a row of utility poles in the near background (when Burns prepares to give Whisky an apple), and I believe those poles are beside the old Pole Line Road, which Unser Blvd. basically supplanted. They can't be too far away from that road, because they had to get the film crew up there too. Approximately: (35.173472°, -106.736884°)

Near Rinconada Canyon in Petroglyphs National Monument (35.121599°, -106.740712°)

River View - Lonely Are The Brave (35.109965°, -106.694567°)
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Regarding the highway crossing by Jack and his horse, I'm certain that's where 2nd and 4th streets meet. There was a gas station at the corner of those streets until the late 70s. It would not be possible to get the foreground of modern images to align properly with the Sandias. The North Diversion Channel Sedimentation Basin behind the gas station had not been completed in 1962. The basin was completed later in the 60's. Every landmark in the middle distance was thus altered in the process, including the access road to I-25.

Cemetery - Aargh! Which one? I'm thinking maybe this cemetery. Every nearby landmark has been altered: (35.183518°, -106.602737°)

Bondi House - Thinking near Edith Blvd., much nearer Edith Blvd. than Jim Stiles thinks, maybe a little north of Osuna Blvd., where that big, old complex of buildings is (was) used to be.

Road scene - The Joplin Jackrabbit

Bar

Police station

Jail

Jailbreak/ Clark's Dept. Store

House

Train/Tulsa 7 miles - Truck driving scenes quite unclear - may not be NM at all.

Police office view - crenallated building top

Looks like La Luz cabin

Glorieta Brewery & Building on First St.

When Walter Matthau looks through bars, out of police headquarters, you can see the Historic Glorieta Brewery and the building at the NE corner of Marquette Ave. and 2nd St. NW. Both buildings are still there, and indicates the POV is from approximately the current location of the Albuquerque Convention Center.

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Sandias - Approximate Locations

Jack Burns Ponders on Horseback (35.192582°, -106.485121°)

Jack Burns Higher Up in Sandias (35.211712°, -106.453217°)

Jack Burns Comes Up Over Rim - Near Kiwanis Cabin ( 35.204595°, -106.444250°)

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Road scene

Visit To The American River

Effie Yeaw Nature Preserve

"Lonely Are The Brave" - Discussion On Illegal Immigration

Watching Albuquerque-based movies, my attention turned to the 1962 Western classic "Lonely Are The Brave," starring Kirk Douglas as Jack Burns. To my surprise, they started discussing illegal immigration. I like Jack Burns' take on the matter:

The Southwestern Monsoon Starts Now

It's fun every year to try to spot the exact moment when the Southwestern monsoon starts. I'm calling it today, June 26, 2019. Humidity is ramping up in Albuquerque and thunderstorms are firing up in New Mexico.

First Possum In Years

The nighttime neighborhood goes through changes. When I walked Sparky the dog (1994-2009) I never saw raccoons and saw possums all the time. When I walked Bella the dog (2015-2016) I saw lots of raccoons and never saw possums. Tonight, Jasper (2018-present) noticed a very-furtive something hiding on the roof. Could it be? Yes, a very shy possum! Changes!

Celebration of the Life of Lillian Baxter

A gathering of the Runaway Stage Productions group, with support from other theater companies on the afternoon of June 22nd at Brian and Kimmie McCann's home.

Frank Lloyd Wright and "Breaking Bad"

I've been looking into the myriad of ways that the City of Chicago (a modernistic den of corruption) is represented in "Breaking Bad," particularly in Albuquerque architecture, and thought it sad that Chicago's best-known and most prolific architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, couldn't be represented in the TV series, since he never designed any buildings in Albuquerque.

Nevertheless, there are buildings in Albuquerque designed in the manner of Frank Lloyd Wright, and these are available for use. In particular, Marie’s escapade of outrageous lies shown in the Season 4 episode of ‘Open House’ appears to pass through three homes designed in the manner of Frank Lloyd Wright.

One house, in particular, is interesting, where Marie steals a souvenir spoon. The house is built in the Prairie style, the style that Wright devoted his early career to, and his style most-closely associated with the City of Chicago. The windows at the house’s entrance feature art glass, for which Frank Lloyd Wright was also well-known.

The hobby of collecting souvenir spoons reveals a lot too. In the 1890s, there was a real mania for them. According to this reference:

Why did this mania happen? In Europe, beginning about the time of the Crystal Palace Exhibition in London (1851), there developed a brisk trade in the production of souvenir spoons which travelers who visited various cities purchased to remind them of their visit. Soon late 19th century American travelers returning from Europe brought back with them souvenir spoons from the various cities which they had visited.

…The 1890s was the "golden era" of souvenir spoon production. At the end of the year 1890, there were only about five souvenir spoons patented or in production in America; by May 1891, there were hundreds on the market. More patent designs were issued for souvenir spoons during this decade than for the entire period from 1790 to 1873 or after 1900.

…It was probably the Columbian World's Fair Exposition held in Chicago in 1893 which provided (by a quirk of fate) the venue and greatest impetus to the collecting of souvenir spoons and made it a fashionable national hobby that crossed social and economic boundaries. When the Chicago World's Fair opened on May 1, 1893, the population of the United States was about 67 million. When the Fair closed five months later more than 28 million people had visited the Fair. There is little doubt that every Fair visitor took home with him/her at least one souvenir spoon which celebrated some building or person or highlighted some aspect of the Fair itself.

So, not only do souvenir spoons represent the City of Chicago, they also descend from London’s fabled Crystal Palace, to which several other allusions are made in “Breaking Bad,” not least, the nickname for the tawdry Crossroads Motel. Souvenir spoons are the perfect vehicle to fortify these symbolic architectural links.

Travel Suggestions

Top 10 funniest prison and jail reviews on Yelp - From San Quentin to Rikers Island, here’s what Yelpers had to stay about the accommodations at these correctional facilities::

A unique and memorable lodging and dining experience in Chicago can be found here. The personal service and hospitality I received here are second to none.

They will come and pick you up anywhere in Chicago and personally escort you to the front desk to be sure that you find it OK and arrive safely as you are dropped off in front of most places.

Guest services took a while to check me in but the personal attention that I received was outstanding. They held on to all my personal items and kept them securely stored. The person who took my personal items was carrying a weapon so I knew that anyone who tried to mess with my stuff would really have it coming. They gathered as much personal information from me as they could in order to fine tune my experience. They loudly spoke to the group of people waiting to check in with short easy to understand terms probably for those who may have been hard of hearing.

Pip Blom - Daddy Issues

Banging around town on a blazing hot Saturday afternoon in the Flaming Chariot, I heard this song on the radio. Good Indie tune. Like it!

Trying To Save The Snails of Hawaii

Endlings:

When the last of a species disappears, it usually does so unnoticed, somewhere in the wild. Only later, when repeated searches come up empty, will researchers reluctantly acknowledge that the species must be extinct. But in rare cases like George’s, when people are caring for an animal’s last known representative, extinction—an often abstract concept—becomes painfully concrete. It happens on their watch, in real time. It leaves behind a body. When Sischo rang in the new year, Achatinella apexfulva existed. A day later, it did not. “It is happening right in front of our eyes,” he said.

Hawaii was once known for its snails, or kāhuli. Most are smaller than the average garden snail, and far more beautiful. ... But in recent decades, kāhuli have come to exemplify the opposite force: extinction. Confined to specific valleys, slow to breed, and inexperienced with predators, they are uniquely vulnerable to the carnivores that have been introduced to Hawaii. Rats and chameleons are serious threats, but their archnemesis is another snail—Euglandina rosea, the aptly named rosy wolf snail. Voracious and fast (for a snail), it tracks its indigenous cousins by following their slime trails, then yanks them from their shells with a serrated tongue or swallows them, shell and all.

Three Wise Guys (2005)

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Last updated: June 30, 2019

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Comedy crime caper set around a casino at Christmas. Starring Tom Arnold, Judd Nelson, Katey Sagal, Nick Turturro, Eddie McClintock, Jodi Lyn O’Keefe, Arye Gross, and Roddy Piper. Filming locations: Albuquerque, Cerrillos, Cochiti Pueblo, Laguna Pueblo, Madrid, Santa Ana Pueblo, Santa Fe.


Notes on Individual Scenes
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McCarran Airport

Airport signs have ABQ fonts

ABQ airport parking area, 4th level

Las Vegas panorama

Casino

Hotel

Digging Grave

Roadside

Vicinity of Jemez Dam Overlook - thinking near (35.380476°, -106.548207°)

Bus station - maybe old station at 300 2nd St. SW? - Or another place?

Home

Casino

Car Rental place

Highway 16 (35.528303°, -106.237814°)

Drive - unclear - near Golden?

Bathroom stop, and juniper tree (35.376153°, -106.557706°)

Jemez Dam overlook

Information office

Gas station/convenience market

Restaurant - Great place, what is it?

Nazareth, NV - Entrance into Cerrillos, NM - (35.434723°, -106.120465°)

Madrid, NM

Emergency room -

Madrid, NM - (35.407337°, -106.151923°)

Church - Nuestra Senora de Las Remedios, 7 1st St., Cerrillos, NM

House, immediately adjacent to church

Turnoff into Cerrillos

Aztec Motel in ABQ

South 14 bridge over the Rio at Cerrillos

Drive

Sunport

Bar

Buildings - Hospital

Aztec Motel

Santa Fe Downs and stables