Early Oscar odds favor Invictus

Veteran Oscar prognosticator Scott Feinberg has posted his latest projections for this year's glittering prizes. And it looks like, even before anyone has seen it, Clint Eastwood's Invictus is shaping up as a front-runner. Which will be very good news for my editors at Cowboys & Indians magazine: Award-winning actor and long-time horse enthusiast Morgan Freeman -- who plays Nelson Mandela in the Best Picture contender -- will be the subject of a cover-story profile in the January issue on sale Dec. 8 at fine newsstands everywhere.

Honoring a Straight Shooter

Sharpshooter Joe Bowman was known professionally and affectionately as "The Straight Shooter" -- and, better still, "The Master of Triggernomics" -- because of his flamboyant showmanship and dazzling prowess as a marksman. He rubbed shoulders with notables ranging from Roy Rogers to Sammy Davis Jr. -- and taught Robert Duvall how to handle a very special firearm while playing a former Texas Ranger in Lonesome Dove. I met Bowman on a few occasions during his visits to the Houston offices of Cowboys & Indians magazine, and was always impressed by his courtly manner and vivid storytelling. He passed away last June -- while on his way back home to Houston after a rootin'-tootin'-shootin' performance in Albuquerque --and was posthumously inducted into the Texas Heroes Hall of Honor at the Frontier Times Museum in Bandera, Texas, just one month later. It was my privilege to help produce this tribute video honoring The Straight Shooter.

Cowboys & Indians Magazine Reports 2008 Circulation Jump

I want to take full credit for this, because I wrote the cover stories for the magazine's three top-selling issues of 2008. And on the seventh day, I rested.

Clint Eastwood speaks his mind (and doesn't give a damn if you or Neil Cavuto or Michael "Mad Dog" Medved agree)

A few years back, Clint Eastwood told me: “You know the greatest thing about getting old? You can do anything you want. Really. I was talking about this with a friend one time, and he agreed. He told me: ‘You get to be 65 or 70 — you can do what you want, and you don’t have to take any more crap. Because what can they do to you if you fail?” When I reminded him of those comments in a subsequent interview, he chuckled heartily, then added: “And you know what?He’s right. I mean, what can they do if I fail? Take back the Oscar?”

 

Obviously, this self-assured, straight-talking, take-no-crap attitude informs his approach to political discussions as well.