“Howdy, pardner!

“Yer new in town, ain’t ya? Well then, let me be the first to welcome ya to the best lil’ rum-mill this side of the Pecos. In fact, mosey on over here and bend an elbow — here’s a shot of Red Eye on the house. Nope. No catch. I just like the way ya cut a swell, son.

“Go on, drink up. No rot-gut in my establishment. No sir! We do it according to Hoyle ’round here. Respect yer customers and they’ll respect ya back (and if yer lucky, they might be gentlemanly enough to take it outside when they kick up a row, too).

“I didn’t lie, did I? Powerful good stuff. Just make sure ya don’t get too roostered up — don’t want ya shootin’ the cat all over my nice clean bar, here.

“So are ya planning to hang around for a spell, stranger? A week? Well that’s just great! We’re fixin’ to start us a week-long shindig — it’ll be a real hog-killin’ time!

“But keep yer eyes peeled for Ol’ Gr3ml1n McG33. Ya seen the wanted sign on the post out front? He’s a ornery one. A real four-flusher, that McG33. He ain’t likely to show face ’round these parts, as the Sheriff wants to take him to the necktie social, but if yer heading out of town, best be on yer guard.”

Welcome to the Old West!

Well, not really. But it’s about the best we can manage without the cowboy boots, shootouts and lack of personal hygiene.

Cowboys and Indians, gunfights and gold mines, outlaws and… outhouses? From the middle half of the 1800′s through the turn of the century, the American west was a place of exploration and lawlessness. The freedom of the open plains and the majesty of the desert mixes with the savage clash of man against nature. The Wild West has long held a romanticized place in the heart of America.

We realized a couple of weeks ago that we had a fair bit of Western-related posts stacking up in our virtual warehouse, so we figured it would only make sense to strap on some spurs, saddle up our horses and package it all together into a themed week of original content.

Don’t worry – we’ll still have our usual weekly stuff — The Xbox Live Indie-Dome is still on tap, we’ll be posting news and we’re also going to kickstart our oft-mentioned fundraiser, as well — but the rest of our content until this Saturday will have a decidedly cowpoke flavor to it. We hope you enjoy!