Part of my Old Songs project. A cowboy song about a lawman and the murderer who plans to kill him. Another cowboy song, written in about 2003 when I was living in Omaha and performing a singing cowboy show. I remember listening to a lot of contemporary country music and finding myself quite frustrated that anything Western had been eliminated from country/western. Where there had once been a musical tradition that was parallel to -- and often intersected -- the cowboy movie genre, there were very few musical tales of rough-riding, 10-gallon-hat-wearing buckaroos and the bed men they battled. And so I went ahead and wrote one. This couldn't be much more Western, but I wanted it also to have a sort of folk song quality to it, somewhat like Dimitri Tiomkin's song "Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darling," from the film High Noon, which doesn't so much sound like a singing cowboy song, instead sounding like some ancient ballad. I never sand this during my singing cowboy show, which was intended for children. The show consisted of me yodeling, twirling a pistol (it was a non-firing reproduction, and I generally brought a child out of the audience and taught him or her to do a simple twirl), and an episode of the Gene Autry serial The Phantom Empire. I also read short poems and performed what I called "Toy Theater" productions -- these were short plays acted out entirely with store bought toys. In the first one I did, I had a plump stuffed doll of a woman that was missing a leg, and, throughout the performance, I had her scream "I have the DIABETES." I found this quite funny, but the children just seemed confused and the parents responded with embarrassed silence, so I thought it might be a good idea to take care to distinguish between "what I enjoy" and "what is appropriate for children." This song, with its melancholy theme of a lawman going to face his death at the hands of a murderer, did not seem right for children. "BACK TO THE RIO GRAND" LYRICS: There's a town I know in old Texas That is near the Rio Grand There's a pine box with my name on it And a duty I understand O will you wait for me O will you hold my hand O will you bury me When I go back to the Rio Grand There's a star I wear upon my chest And a six gun in my hand There's a killer waiting there for me Down at the Rio Grand O will you wait for me O will you hold my hand O will you bury me When I go back to the Rio Grand There's a fight that every man must face If he is to be a man And this fight I know will take my life Down at the Rio Grand O will you wait for me O will you hold my hand O will you bury me When I go back to the Rio Grand Less

The music composer of "The Love Guru" dishes his inspirations for the movie's tunes. Can we get some 1970's bow-chica-bow-wows for Jacques "Le Coq" Grande? George uses porn music, The Beatles, and traditional Indian elements to draw ideas for this comedic film. Less

New in theaters, Rolf de Heer’s Ten Canoes and Michael Winterbottom’s A Mighty Heart , Angelina Jolie’s passion project. Both deal with marginalized people and raise the question, “Can westerners make a movie to help us understand non-western people?” Dances with Wolves and Apocalypto come under a bit of scrutiny as well. Download FilmCouch #25 or subscribe in the iTunes store (search for “filmcouch” or click here to launch iTunes) and a new free episode will download every Friday. Join the FilmCouch group Less

Another packed edition of THE podcast on classic movies. Coming Attractions : Derek has news of classic film DVD releases. Live Audio Commentary : The Grapes of Wrath (1940) The Fox story : Derek is joined by Maria to discuss the history, films and stars of Fox and 20th Century Fox. Comments both positive and negative are welcome. Less

Sunset Boulevard special ! Live Audio Commentary on the final moments of the movie. Derek is joined by Maria to discuss one of the greatest movies about Hollywood. Less

Alfred Hitchcock special Coming Attractions : Latest Classic Movie DVDs and TV highlights Live Audio Commentary : the last 15 minutes or so from North by Northwest (1959) Main feature : Hitchcock – Master of Suspense : Derek is joined by Maria and David to discuss the master’s films. Any comments positive or negative are welcome. Less

A Packed Edition of THE Podcast on classic movies. Coming Attractions : New DVDs and TV Highlights Live Audio Commentary : the chariot race in the silent version of Ben Hur (1925) Main feature : John Ford Derek profiles one of Hollywood’s greatest filmmakers. He is then joined by Maria to discuss Ford’s career Less

This is the 4th song of the Final Ensemble with 100+ violins CARVA (www.carvatrust.org) students playing along with their master C.A.Rajasekar, during their annual festival in September 2005. This is a mix of various pieces from western classical Less

The teenager and the cowboy: Evan Rachel Wood and Ed Norton fall in forbidden love in this modern-day Western that plays out like Badlands by the way of Koyaanisqatsi. Down in the Valley, directed by David Jacobson, opens today. Listen to Jürgen’s review. Less