Western wildlife

From the Associated Press: "Governors from several Western states voted Sunday to form a council that will study ways to protect wildlife habitats in the face of ever-increasing demand for energy development in their region."

Wild West Fest

Country music, chili cook-offs and world-class rodeo action are among the main attractions this weekend, June 27-29, at the 2008 New England Wild West Fest in Marshfield, Mass. And it's all for a good cause: This is the signature fundraising event of the Spirit of the American Cowboy Foundation, a Boston-based non-profit organization dedicated to raising money for children’s cancer research. Check out the detailed ticket info here.

Czech out these cowboys

They're shooting straight and riding tall at the Cowboy Action Shooting event in... well, would you believe the Czech Republic?

Coming soon to a theater near you: Appaloosa

Good news, pardners: Appaloosa, Ed Harris' eagerly awaited film version of Robert B. Parker's popular Western novel, finally has a release date. The movie -- which stars Harris, Viggo Mortensen and Oscar winners Renee Zellweger and Jeremy Irons -- will gallop into theaters Sept. 19 nationwide. While you're waiting, take a look inside the current issue of Cowboys & Indians -- yep, the one with Tom Selleck on the cover -- to read my interview with Parker (who's very excited about the movie) and see some photos of Mortensen (above, left) and Harris (right) as lawmen Everett Hitch and Virgil Cole.

Viewer alert: Jewel on Great American Country

Recording artist and Nashville Star judge Jewel will invite viewers to her ranch in Stephenville, Texas, when Great American Country showcases the singer on an episode of the cable network’s Origins series at 9 pm EDT Saturday, June 28. According to a network press release, "GAC cameras go on a guided tour of the multi-platinum selling artist’s Stephenville home she shares with rodeo legend Ty Murray, who also appears in the episode. Jewel demonstrates her cowgirl showmanship while riding her horses and she proudly allows the cameras into the couple’s saddle barn and newly renovated home studio."

But wait, there's more: During the program, Jewel will perform acoustic versions of cuts from her top-selling country album, Perfectly Clear, and talk about the strong family influences in her music.

"At the heart of it all,” Jewel says, “ I’m the daughter of pioneers and homesteaders. I was raised on a remote ranch in Alaska, and grew up listening to my father’s cowboy music and songwriting by campfire during our summer cattle drives. That lifestyle became the foundation to everything I’ve achieved in my life since -- and I’ve exceeded every expectation I’ve ever had for myself. It’s such an honor to be able to make a living writing and singing the music that I love. I still work every day to maintain the things I care about and to uphold the proud pioneer spirit of my family.”

Westerns get the White House vote

Will Dean of the U.K.'s Guardian newspaper notes: Only three modern U.S. Presidents -- Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford -- didn't list a Western when each was asked to name his favorite movie of all time. Indeed, three Presidents -- George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Richard Nixon -- placed the same movie atop their personal-fave lists: High Noon. What are we to make of this? Well, Dean wonders whether a perference for romantic comedies might have "drastically altered U.S. foreign policy throughout the 20th century." But, then again, maybe not.

Arthur Penn goes West

Director Arthur Penn likely will forever be best known for Bonnie and Clyde. But as Henry Cabot Beck of True West reminds us, the 85-year-old filmmaker also has three notable Westerns on his resume. Cabot chats with Penn here.

Nashville Star update

Episode 2: Jewel continues her mentoring ways as the competition gets even fiercer.

Shane: No. 1 with a bullet

According to members of Western Writers of America, a nonprofit organization of more than 600 professional scribes, the greatest Western movie ever made is -- drum roll, please! -- Shane, George Stevens' 1953 classic starring the late, great Alan Ladd as a weary gunfighter forced to take sides in a Wyoming land war. The writers also have announced their choices for the all-time Top Ten cinematic sagebrush sagas, a list that also includes:

2. High Noon

3. The Searchers

4. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

5. Dances With Wolves

6. The Wild Bunch

7. Red River

8. Tombstone

9. The Magnificent Seven

10. Open Range

"It's not the Top 10 I would come up with," says incoming WWA president Johnny D. Boggs, "but that's the fun of lists like these. It prompts lively debate, and members of Western Writers of America can be as passionate about Western film as they are about literature of the West."

In any event: Congratulations to Kevin Costner for making the final cut with both Dances With Wolves and Open Range -- here is a link to a 2003 Cowboys & Indians interview in which he talks about his high regard for Westerns -- and thanks to WWA for also listing what might be described as 90 runners-up.

From Iron Man to shootin' irons for Robert Downey Jr.?

Fresh from his success as the super-heroic Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr. may continue riding tall along the comeback trail as the star of... no kidding... Cowboys & Aliens. Based on the graphic novel by Fred Van Lente and Andrew Foley, the sci-fi Western centers on a battle between Apache warriors and paleface settlers that is interrupted by the crash-landing of a spaceship near Silver City, Arizona. Downey currently is in negotiations to play Zeke Jackson, a notorious gunslinger (and Union Army vet) who leads an alliance of settlers and Apaches in a counter-attack against invading extraterrestrials bent on enslaving (or destroying) all Earthlings. The movie is tentatively set as a 2010 release.

Update, June 17: Evidently, some folks aren't too happy about the "allegorical" content of this "liberal Hollywood" movie. They're also unhappy about the "blatant foolishness" of the equally offensive Tombstone. No kidding.

Nashville Star premiere

Here's a recap for those of you who missed last night's episode.