I watched the ‘intro’ for the new 7th series of American TV perennial ‘24′ last night - the 2 hour one-off show titled 24: Redemption - and was struck by how much Jack Bauer has morphed into the cowboy icon from movie classics such as Shane.
A few years ago the show was ground breaking and original and fun to watch. Now I find I’m a little cynical about Jack and his magic bullet-dodging powers and the whole ’saviour of the poor African children’ routine in Redemption did grate a little.
The funniest part had to be the cartoon-like one dimensional portrayl of the UN peacekeeper - not only did the man with the funny accent and wimpy blue helmet hide with the kids in the cellar when the bad guys rode into town, he also tried to barter the children and their protectors for his own safety!
I realise this is shown on Fox in America and the centre ground is never going to be the political place to be but I thought the American Might vs European Flight routine was a little overdone.
Anyway I’m getting into politics when what I really want to say is Jack/Kiefer does indeed make a very good ‘man in white’ cowboy hero, ready to sacrifice himself for the sake of the downtrodden vilagers (whether they be African orphans or the poor people of Los Angeles under siege by Middle Eastern militants).
I know Sutherland once played a cowboy in New York in the early 90’s film The Cowboy Way. What I’d like to see now is a movie studio ready to put CGI to good use and cast Kiefer / Jack in all 7 roles for The 21st Century Return of the Magnificent Seven…
Is it time for a re-make?
I’ve been a little quiet the last two weeks being fully occupied with a new business venture. After 7 years of hard work and research I can now reveal the source of this distraction: www.cowboycountry.co.uk:
Cowboy Country is a unique wild west themed gift for line dancing fans, country and western music lovers, western movie buffs or anyone with an interest in the USA.
Visit the website now and you can buy your own piece of America, quickly, easily and - most importantly- legally.
How does it work?
Well back in the year 2000 I bought some land north east of the city of Holbrook, Arizona. Read the rest of this entry »
He acts, produces and directs.
He won 7 Oscars, including Best Director, for the modern western drama Dances with Wolves (somewhat of an apology for all those John Ford westerns that went before).
And now it turns out Kevin Costner likes to play country music AND has had a hit record in Japan!
With band Modern West Costner performed recently on the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville and has managed to get three songs from the album Untold Truths into the soundtrack for his latest film, Swing Vote.
Not bad going for the man who also brought us Waterworld and The Postman. And it seems there may now even be a sequel to 1991’s “well-crafted PC touchy-feely hippie crap“.
The post on the Libertas film blog is over a year old so ‘The Holy Road’ may not be coming soon but some of the comments are well worth reading.
The richest man in the world must love buying footwear, particularly boots fit for a rodeo star.
How do I know this? Well the Oracle of Omaha happens to own (through his investment company Berkshire Hathaway) Justin Boots, purveyor of quality cowboy boots since 1879.
Now, at the start of this year, Mr Buffett had an estimated net worth of $62 billion - as ranked by Forbes magazine - so he won’t personally feel too bad about the theft of 20,000 pairs of Justin boots from a Fort Worth warehouse. But then again a $3 million dollar theft in the current economy is going to upset any CEO.
I first heard about Buffett’s investing skills after reading Peter Lynch’s classic book Beating the Street. His theory was ‘buy what you know and love’ and (not wishing to simplify a whole library of Buffet books) I think Buffet aims to keep things just as simple - buy what you understand.
The classic ‘Sage’ quote I remember is about investing in Gilette, maker of shaving paraphenalia:
You go to bed feeling very comfortable just thinking about two and a half billion males with hair growing while you sleep. No one at Gillette has trouble sleeping.
Are there that many people out there willing to buy cowboy boots? A month ago I wrote about a shopping trip down the Kings Road in London, R Soles boots and the fact every shop had cowboy boots for sale.
Today this is the most popular post on this blog and if there are people out there willing to risk jail to steal 20,000 pairs of boots then maybe we should all follow Warren’s example and start buying shares in bootmakers!
Clint Eastwood, one of the most famous cowboys of the 20th century, introduced Kendall Nelson’s book Gathering Remnants - A Tribute to the Working Cowboy with the words:
“Working cowboys are the embodiment of the true American spirit. They live a rugged, clean life: a difficult yet simple life”
Perhaps the series of scandals that have shaken the foundations of modern America (think Enron, WorldCom and the global fallout of the sub-prime mortgage market) mean it’s time for corporate America to embrace a new clean-living approach to life?
Bill Hartman, writing in the Texas newspaper the Taylor Daily Press, certainly thinks so:
Politics, Wall Street, Congress, big insurance, big finance, globalization ad nauseam. Lies, cheating, stealing, gouging, greed, cowardice and regulations. I am so tired of these and other disgusting words usurping news columns and air waves… The unlikeliest sounding guy has the finest and most sincere answers to our nation’s woeful ills.
So who is this guy? Hartman thinks author James P. Owen, a 35 year veteran of Wall Street, has the answers in his book Cowboy Ethics, which has at its heart a ‘Cowboy Code’ that should keep any individual on the straight and narrow.
So just what forms the Code of the West?
- Live each day with courage
- Take pride in your work
- Always finish what you start
- Do what has to be done
- Be tough, but fair
- When you make a promise, keep it
- Ride for the brand
- Talk less, say more
- Remember that some things are not for sale
- Know when to draw the line.
Can you live by the code and enjoy a clean and simple life?
Another great find on Flickr - Denise’s short set of photos taken only 10 days ago on the Park Springs Ranch, Anton Chico, New Mexico.
My favourite picture is ‘Heading out across the Chaperito Trap‘ - certainly beats the London commute any day of the week.
