Robert Duval

Robert Duval was born in 1931 which makes him 88 years old and still kicking. His last movie "Widows" was made in 2018. His Filmography reads like it will take me the rest of my life to watch them all, though I have seen a good many of them before I paid attention to who he was.

The first movie I really 'saw' him in was "Tender Mercies" for which he won an Oscar.  After that, I started looking for his movies. "Second Hand Lions" was and still is one of my favourites. And of course he does westerns with the best.  I have watched dozens if not hundreds of Westerns and have had a hard time picking out my favourite actor. "Lonesome Dove" settled that for me. Duval said it was his best, too.

A few lines from a few movies:

Tender Mercies:
Mac Sledge : [to Rosa Lee]  I don't know why I wandered out to this part of Texas drunk, and you took me in and pitied me and helped me to straighten out, marry me. Why? Why did that happen? Is there a reason that happened? And Sonny's daddy died in the war, my daughter killed in an automobile accident. Why? See, I don't trust happiness. I never did, I never will.

 Secondhand Lions
Hub : Sometimes the things that may or may not be true are the things a man needs to believe in the most. That people are basically good; that honor, courage, and virtue mean everything; that power and money, money and power mean nothing; that good always triumphs over evil; and I want you to remember this, that love... true love never dies. You remember that, boy. You remember that. Doesn't matter if it's true or not. You see, a man should believe in those things, because those are the things worth believing in.

Hub : I'm Hub McCann. I've fought in two World Wars and countless smaller ones on three continents. I led thousands of men into battle with everything from horses and swords to artillery and tanks. I've seen the headwaters of the Nile, and tribes of natives no white man had ever seen before. I've won and lost a dozen fortunes, KILLED MANY MEN and loved only one woman with a passion a FLEA like you could never begin to understand. That's who I am. NOW, GO HOME, BOY!

Open Range

A man's trust is a valuable thing. You don't want to lose it for a handful of cards.

We come for justice, not vengeance. Now them is two different things.

We'll drink to good health for them that have it coming.

Lonesome Dove

“I won’t say I did and I won’t say I didn’t, but I will say that a man who wouldn’t cheat for a poke don’t want one bad enough.”

“Woodrow, you just don’t ever get the point – ‘It’s not dyin’ I’m talkin’ about, it’s livin’.”

“You see, life in San Francisco is still just life. If you want any one thing too badly, it’s likely to turn out to be a disappointment. The only healthy way to live life is to learn to like all the little everyday things – like a sip of good whiskey in the evening, a soft bed, a glass of buttermilk, or a feisty gentleman like myself.”

Well the first man comes along that can read Latin is welcome to rob us, far as I'm concerned. I'd like a chance t' shoot at a educated man once in my life.

I'm just tryin' to keep everything in balance, Woodrow. You do more work than you got to, so it's my obligation to do less

Ford Nation expands to Kenney Country

Well, they got it. Enjoy.

If you thought Peter Lougheed was the best premier Alberta ever had (I did), you voted for Notley.  If you thought Klein was the best, you voted for Kenney.  Klein took the wrecking ball to the Alberta economy and successive premiers pretty much kept the beat. Alberta was a one trick pony, depending on oil revenue and increased debt. When the bottom fell out of the oil prices and jobs disappeared like fog on a hot morning, the province went into a slump. A slump which was not addressed by the federal or provincial government to the satisfaction of Albertans. Global oil prices and lack of pipeline capacity to tidewater and eastern Canada were the big issues. And still are.

Notley and the NDP had four years to clean up a mess not of their making and needed another four years which they did not get.  The UCP did an incredible job of blaming the NDP for the economy.  The fact that the NDP made a number of changes which helped the poor and marginalized, improved education and health care, improved labour conditions and did more for the oil patch than previous governments, counted for nothing.  These changes may have in fact boosted UCP chances as the poor, marginalized and labour are always out of favour in Alberta.

So here are my predictions for the next four years:

• Taxes will be cut for the wealthy and large corporations and labour will be attacked, all in the name of "job creation"
• Budgets will be slashed for health, education, social services, in fact, anything that benefits the citizens of the province, especially the poor and marginalized.
• No pipelines will be built and the "eco-terrorist" NGOs will not only win every court case but enrich themselves with donations as they now have a very visible, hateable enemy.
• Oil prices will not recover without a war in the Middle East and jobs in oil patch will never recover to previous levels.  Alberta will not return to previous boom days.
• Republican Jesus theocracy will be the rule of the day on the social front.
• Violence against POC, Muslims, Indigenous peoples, LGBTQ, and women will increase.
• All carbon tax court cases will be found in favour of the federal government.
• None of the above will matter to Albertans as long as they do not have an NDP government.
• JT's ineptness as PM will throw the election to Scheer and the Conservatives, bringing Ford Nation and Trumpism to all Canada.

These are obviously not things Albertans care about

I will not regret returning to Ukraine in a few months.

Running Against the Wind

Against the Wind

Bob Seger

Seems like yesterday
But it was long ago
Janey was lovely she was the queen of my nights
There in darkness with the radio playin low
And the secrets that we shared, mountains that we moved
Caught like a wildfire out of control
Til there was nothin left to burn and nothin left to prove

And I remember what she said to me
How she swore that it never would end
I remember how she held me oh so tight
Wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then

Against the wind
We were runnin against the wind
We were young and strong we were runnin against the wind

And the years rolled slowly past
And I found myself alone
Surrounded by strangers I thought were my friends
Found myself further and further from my home and I
Guess I lost my way
There were oh so many roads
I was livin to run and runnin to live
Never worried about payin or even how much I owe

Movin' eight miles a minute and for months at a time
Breakin all of the rules that would bend
I began to find myself searchin
Searchin for shelter again and again

Against the wind
Little somethin against the wind
I found myself seekin shelter against the wind

Well those drifters days are past me now
I've got so much more to think about
Deadlines and commitments
What to leave in, what to leave out

Against the wind
I'm still runnin against the wind
I'm older now but still runnin against the wind

Well I'm older now but still runnin against the wind
Against the wind
Against the wind
Still runnin
Against the wind
Against the wind
Against the wind...

Sometimes a song sticks in your head and won't leave you along.  Not an ear-worm. They are common enough.  A song where the lyrics and music come together in a way that speaks to you.  I posted Bob Seger's "Against the Wind" on FB a couple months ago and it has haunted me ever since.

"I wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then". How often have we wished we knew then what we know now.  This line says it better. Regrets for the things you learned the hard way and wish you hadn't.

And who among us hasn't felt at one time or another we were running against the wind? Sometimes I feel like I have always and am still running against the wind.  Mostly of my own choosing and my own decisions. Too old to quit. Or too dumb.

Reminds me of another ditty:

If you're happy and you know it, overthink.

If you're happy and you know it, overthink.

If you're happy and you know it, 

Give your mind a chance to blow it.

If you're happy and you know it over think.