a man called horsefeathers

In 1970 an unusual Western was released starring Richard Harris.  In 'A Man Called Horse' an English aristocrat, played by Richard Harris, is captured by Indians while bathing naked in a river. As the white man lives (and treated like an animal) with the tribe, he began to understand and accept their culture. After he is hung by his nipples, he is eventually accepted as part of the tribal family and soon becomes their leader.

In 'The Return of A Man Called Horse' (1976) the aristocratic John Morgan is back living the aristocratic lifestyle when he sensed in his spirit that something bad has happened on to his Indian tribe.  He decides to leave his comfy home and return to his other people.  When he arrives, Morgan finds Yellow Hand tribe defeated and casted out from their tribal lands.  For some reason though, our hero has lost his way somehow.  He sulks around and then decided there is only one recourse.  He must get naked once again and get smoked like a ham while getting high.  This is apparently how Native Americans got their visions.  Far out-um!

Of course A Man Called Horse sequel wouldn't be a A Man Called Horse sequel without Richard Harris getting his nipples pulled again.  This sequel though tries to outdo the first movie by having lots of Indians get their nipples pulled together in a manly-man nipple pull ceremony.

I remember seeing this movie at the old Rebel Drive-in with my brother Brook and friend Jamey Moore.  I recently saw both of these movies again and actually appreciated them a little more than I did back when they were first released.  I still can't get past the weird nipple hanging ritual thing.  Why make movies featuring Richard Harris' naked bee-hind?  The movies have merit, but it's still a little weird to watch.  They should have named it A Man Called Ass.

friendly fire

When I think of Vietnam, I think of all the young men that America betrayed.  America will forever have to live with the shame of sending their sons into harms way without a commitment to do what it takes to win. The war was fought from Washington.  Politicians tied the hands of those soldiers, and limited their ability to fight to win. Their story continues to be miss-told. Those boys deserved the support of everyone back home. They did not deserve being misrepresented by the media. They didn't deserve the jeers mixed with spit when they returned from that living hell. They did not deserve what was handed to them.  They came back home without welcome and their sacrifices criticized and mostly forgotten.  We know them - these old Vets.  Many of them have still yet to be welcomed home and thanked.  Maybe doing so would help to heal old wounds.

My heart still breaks for these brave forgotten men.

we knew him as a cowboy

May 26, 1923 -  June 3, 2011

Some of our heroes on television were also heroes in real life.  This is James Arness, a guy we usually picture sporting a cowboy hat, badge and gun.  Gunsmoke was one of the longest running westerns on television, running from 1955 to 1975.  I loved all the regular characters on the show.  I liked what Marshal Matt Dillon stood for.  He was one of the good guys

I posted this picture because of the uniform he once sported during a world war many years ago.  James Arness fought at Anzio, where he was wounded.  He once wrote that his experience there made him realize how very precious life is.

"His military awards and decorations include: the Bronze Star Medal; the Purple Heart; the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with three bronze service stars; the World War II Victory Medal and the Combat Infantryman Badge."

http://ourww2history.com/page/james-arness

Today we didn't just lose and old actor - we lost a hero.



There was a role that Arness played where he wasn't a good guy.  Because of his tall stature, 6'7", Jim played the monster in the original The Thing From Another World (1951). He also starred in another science-fiction classic - THEM! (1954). Brother to actor Peter Graves, James Arness got the part of Marshal Dillion because John Wayne had turned down the role (for obvious reasons).  Wayne and Arness were close friends and had worked to together in several of Wayne's movies.  It was John Wayne that recommended James Arness for the part of the Marshall of Dodge City.  He did a good job filling those cowboy boots intended for The Duke himself.

the last days

Most of you who know me know that I didn't have a pleasant public school experience.  Let me just say that my favorite days of school were always the last days of school.  For the most part, classwork, studying and testing had come to a halt.  We were now all over the hump, just biding our time.

Through out the year, I would glance outside the large steel framed windows every chance I got.  Outside where the grass was green and the sky so blue.  The birds and all God's little creatures were always free but me.  The outside burned with vibrant colors. The inside was dark, drab and ever bleak.  My soul was in captivity.  I can't tell you how many times I just wanted to slip out that heavy door at the end of the hall and run away.  I could make it home from here.  Sure it would take me an hour or so, but I could get there.  I wanted to be free!

The last days were always my favorite days.  It was a three month reprieve.  Summer meant not being reminded daily of ever trying and ever failing.  Summer meant not having to walk quietly in single file, or fear certain teachers.  What a terrible world.  The last days meant I could go home to friendlier faces.  Home meant freedom, riding my bike with my dog Emma racing beside me.  Disappearing in the woods, climbing rocks, and not think about all my academic shortcomings.

My children are down to their countdown till Summertime.  I am always reminded of those old feelings.  The last days meant counting down the moments.  The daily tension let up as children were allowed to enjoy a longer recess, more time to draw or play board games on the floor at the back of the classroom.  I usually kept to drawing or looking out the window thinking of that blessed moment.

Usually there was a little party.  A teacher would bring store bought sugar cookies or cupcakes for the children - swallowed down by Hawaiian Punch or Kool-Aid.  I'm sure that school would have been more tolerable if the teachers had done that more often.  I don't know many kids who liked going to school - I hated it.

I don't know if any other kid felt like I did...how I wished that big clock on the wall would hurry up.  I believe school clocks are made to run slower just to torture you.

badge 417

Jack Webb
Apr. 2, 1920 – Dec. 23, 1982

My dad liked this guy.  The older I get, the more I like him too.  Jack Webb played a straight-laced straight talking gum shoe police Sergeant Joe Friday on the television series Dragnet.  Jack wasn't a 'hip' guy, and that didn't seem to bother him one iota.  Joe was a real good guy.  He and his partner always caught the bad guy, and Friday always had the last word.  Joe Friday was old school and a lot of riff-raff got old schooled by him.

If Joe were around today, I'd don't think he'd be much of a hipster.  He wouldn't be very PC.  He's too honest for that.  Like me, Joe Friday is a black and white guy with very little grey to be seen.  I never heard a Sergeant Joe Friday speech that didn't ring of truth, that wasn't spot on.  Now decades later, Joe's dialogue and style might seem campy and corny - but his sermons on right and wrong are still right on.

"A small role in the film noir classic He Walked by Night (1948) led to the creation of "Dragnet". During production, Webb befriended a LAPD police consultant assigned to the film and became fascinated with the cases he heard told. He successfully pitched the idea of a radio series to NBC using stories drawn from actual LAPD files. Dragnet first aired over NBC radio on June 3, 1949. There was a time when Dragnet was used as training films at the LAPD Academy.
-IMDB

Jack Webb, the guy that played a cop, was buried with full honors befitting an LAPD detective, including a 17-gun salute.  When Jack died, the badge number 417 was officially retired by the Los Angeles Police Department.