His nickname meant “Killer” in the Zulu language, and he was proud of it, signing himself Alf Bulala Taylor. If you’ve seen the film Breaker Morant, the Intelligence Officer and Native Commissioner is played as a kind of sinister eminence by John Waters. Taylor was as responsible as any man for the killing spree that went down in the remote … [Read more...] about Bulala Taylor, Hard Man Of The Veld

On February 12, I have the honor of leading a group discussion after a screening of Breaker Morant at Sisters Movie House. This is part of the Sisters Community Church Creativity, Culture & Faith series, an outreach program that invites members of the broader community to engage on thorny moral and ethical questions accessed through films. I … [Read more...] about Working The Trapline — February 2020

Do you like to see a mountain stream a-flowin’ Do you like to see a young ’un with his dog Did you ever stop to think about, well, the air your breathin’ Well you better listen to my song And lord I can’t make any changes All I can do is write ’em in a song I can see the concrete slowly creepin’ Lord take me and mine before that comes — … [Read more...] about ‘All I Can Do Is Write About It’ — The Country Soul Of Ronnie Van Zant

Amazon Prime has proved to be a rich treasure trove of historical documentaries. Over New Years, I watched the three-part doco based on Ben Macintyre ’s outstanding book SAS: Rogue Heroes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ffkrQuDH60 Presented by Macintyre himself, it serves up dramatizations, period film and interview footage from 1987 … [Read more...] about Going Rogue

* I always enjoy checking the traps at this time of year, because they’re always full of prime peltries of promise for the new year. Like this here: * Born For The Saber is available in North America through iTunes and Amazon Prime, with English subtitles. This “education of a warrior” tale is a labor of love and a fine documentary tribute … [Read more...] about Working The Trapline — January 2020

May all your traps be ever full in 2020! … [Read more...] about Happy New Year! Party Like A Mountain Man!

Looks like we’ve got us a trippy Ned Kelly movie coming down the pike. From The Guardian: Justin Kurzel detonates a punk power-chord of defiance and anarchy with this brutally violent and unflinchingly stark tale that unfolds in a scorched, alien-looking landscape. The film is adapted by Shaun Grant from Peter Carey’s Booker prize-winning … [Read more...] about Ned Kelly Gets His Freak On

Bass Reeves was a helluva man, by any man’s measure. The first black man to become a deputy u.S. Marshal west of the Missisippi River, Reeves was a holy terror to bad men in the notoriously dangerous jurisdiction Judge Isaac Parker’s federal court. By the end of a storied career, he’s arrested more than 3,000 wrongdoers and planted 14 men. He was a … [Read more...] about More From The Trapline — December 2019

A messenger from the Wild East came bearing messages about the History presentation on the Polish Frontier Partisans, Born For The Sabre (I’ll post as soon as I have word as to how and where to watch this in the U.S.) The scout’s report included concept art by the great Anatoly Telenik. Frontier Partisans has featured some of his art portraying … [Read more...] about The Majestic Frontier Partisan Art of Anatoly Telenik

Editor’s note: This series on Canyon de Chelly and the Navajo Campaign of 1863-64 were inspired by my friend Jack McGowan’s trip through the American Southwest this fall. The first two parts of the series can be found here and here. * Kit Carson was a desperately sick man. By 1864, the robust mountain man of decades gone was beginning to fade. He … [Read more...] about Canyon de Chelly — Part III — The Long Walk