Jerry Bruckheimer, Walt Disney Studios and Johnny Depp may just supply the proverbial silver bullet for the flagging New Mexico film industry.

On Friday, the Governor’s Office announced that Disney/Bruckheimer’s film version of The Lone Ranger will indeed shoot in and around Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Shiprock and other locales in the state starting in February.

Gore Verbinski of Pirates of the Caribbean fame will direct Depp as Tonto and Armie Hammer as the Lone Ranger.

“It’s great news,” said Nick Maniatis, director of The New Mexico Film Office. “This is a large-budget, major film that is putting faith into the idea of coming back to the state of New Mexico to make movies.

“I think a major production like this coming here shows signs that we are looking pretty healthy for film and TV production in the state.”

He said the production will probably utilize Albuquerque Studios. He did not think it would be shooting at the newly built Santa Fe Studios.

The producers reportedly cut the original budget of some $250 million down to the $215 million range to get the go-ahead to film this new version of the fabled story of a mysterious masked man who rode the West, righting wrongs with his faithful Native American pal, Tonto.

Online blogs and entertainment venue reports have indicated that the venerable Western hero and his partner would face off against American Indian shamans and werewolves in this new version.

One such blog, citing Hollywood-Elsewhere as a source, noted that the script is laden with special effects and described it as a kind of an “Indian-spirituality werewolf movie — a.k.a., The Lone Ranger Meets the Wolfman.”

Which makes sense, given The Lone Ranger only uses silver bullets in his guns, rides a horse called Silver and makes Silver wear silver horseshoes. (Werewolves shy away from silver stuff.)

In a very early episode of the old Lone Ranger television series, the Lone Ranger asks a miner pal of his to melt down silver ore into bullets. “Silver bullets will serve as sort of a symbol,” the Lone Ranger explains. “Tonto suggested the idea … a symbol that means justice by law.”

Created by George W. Trendle and written by Fran Striker, The Lone Ranger originated as a radio show in 1933. In 1949, ABC turned it into a long-running television series starring Clayton Moore as the title character and Canadian Mohawk actor Jay Silverheels as Tonto.

The 1981 film The Legend of the Lone Ranger — a notable critical and commercial failure — also utilized New Mexico locales.

The new version was canceled and restarted over the past year while the issues of budget and locale were reworked.

Last autumn, Bruckheimer told The Hollywood Reporter that in trimming his budget he had to consider the film incentives that various states offered.

“We found that Louisiana gave us a better tax incentive than New Mexico — that was another $8 million,” he said. “We’re still shooting in New Mexico, and we might go to Louisiana.”

Last year Gov. Susana Martinez urged state lawmakers to revamp the state’s film-incentive program, putting a $50 million cap on what the state will pay out in one year to qualifying productions.

Though the $200 million production The Avengers shot in New Mexico last year, the state attracted few other big-budget films in 2011.

Two longtime television series anchored in Albuquerque, Breaking Bad and In Plain Sight, are slated to stop shooting this spring after completing their final seasons.

The state played host to several television pilot shoots in 2011, including A&E’s Longmire, starring Australian actor Robert Taylor, Lou Diamond Phillips and Katee Sackhoff. A&E has announced that it has picked up Longmire as a series, though it has not yet announced where it will film.

Maniatis said he couldn’t yet confirm any possible upcoming film or television projects, but noted, “I hope to announce a TV show shortly, a project that’s been here already, and we are excited it is coming back.”

He said he’s a fan of the old Lone Ranger television show. “Now I have a couple of boys and they will get to see the film shot in our state. The fact that it will be shot in and around New Mexico will be great for us. The production will hire over 300 New Mexico crew members, about 30 actors and 1,200 extras. It will have a big impact on the state.”

Asked whether he knew anything about the werewolf angle, Maniatis laughed and said no.

Because it’s important to remember that the Lone Ranger never shot to kill, preferring to wound his adversaries and bring them to court instead. How this humanitarian approach would work with werewolves, should they remain in the new script, remains unclear.

“The Walt Disney Studios has committed to shooting the majority of the feature film The Lone Ranger in New Mexico. Our past experiences shooting in New Mexico have been extraordinarily positive thanks to the state’s sophisticated infrastructure – including world class crews; quality vendors; local talent; spectacular locations; and of course, its generous tax incentive program. We’re thrilled to be heading back to New Mexico.” – Tony To, Executive Vice President, Production, The Walt Disney Studios

Sincerely,
Trip Van Noppen, President

Help us fight for their lives in court.

Stop the slaughter of the Yellowstone bison!

Bison cow and calf.(Jesse Achtenberg/USFWS)
A critical court case in Montana will decide the fate of hundreds of Yellowstone bison. Help us win in court to help protect this iconic species with an emergency gift today!
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Dear Pony,

If our attorneys don’t win in court, hundreds of wild bison will be brutally hazed, captured and slaughtered this winter when they stray from the safety of Yellowstone National Park in search of food.

Help us win in court to protect these iconic animals with an urgent gift today.

In past years, thousands of bison who wandered outside Yellowstone National Park to find food after harsh winters were met with a brutal onslaught of helicopters and four-wheelers. These terrified animals were violently corralled and sent to slaughter.

Ranchers fear that bison could spread brucellosis to their cattle, but no transmission of this disease has ever been documented from bison to cattle in the wild.

A recent decision to spare these Yellowstone bison from slaughter is now being challenged in court by local ranchers. And we need your support today to fight back.

Please make an emergency gift to help us protect these wild bison before the winter conditions get too harsh.

Like other wild animals, these bison should be allowed to occupy suitable habitat within areas of Montana adjacent to Yellowstone Park without brutal and deadly harassment.

To be absolutely clear, if Earthjustice doesn’t win in court, hundreds of our country’s last remaining wild bison could soon be brutally killed.

We need to win. And these bison need your support now more than ever.

Give now to help protect some of our last remaining wild American bison from unnecessary and brutal hazing, capture, and slaughter.

With your support, Earthjustice will continue to fight tooth and nail to protect this and other wild animals.

Thank you,

Trip Van Noppen
President, Earthjustice

Donate Today!

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Our new blanket is here, Sacred World Peace Alliance would like you to know that this is the only color the blankets come in. The back of the blanket is beige, not green.
The size is 64” x 80”. These blankets are all wool and have the shed of the white buffalo shed going through the weave. 
We honor this blanket in memory for Jim Riley and his wife Dena, the first guardians of the white buffalo. We promised to move the buffalo back to Jim’s home land in Oregon and we did.

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“Cowboys & Aliens” collide on July 29,2011

.On a windswept plot of land about an hour outside Santa Fe, New Mexico, the cast and crew of “Cowboys & Aliens” worked feverishly throughout the day. The production would soon wrap its final weeks of location filming before moving back to Los Angeles to shoot the remainder of the scenes on sets, but that didn’t keep director Jon Favreau from showing CBR News an alien’s arm.

The Universal Pictures/DreamWorks film, based on the Platinum Studios graphic novel, pits Daniel Craig’s unnamed loner against Harrison Ford’s Colonel Woodrow Dolarhyde in 1873 Arizona. Craig’s stranger, who awakens with no memory and a mysterious shackle on his wrist, wanders into Absolution, the town ruled with an iron fist by the Colonel, who has little time for outsiders. It’s a classic Western setup, writer/producer Roberto Orci readily acknowledges.

“Filmmakers love the Western because they can’t hide behind anything — unless you have aliens, of course,” Orci said. “It’s just very elemental. It’s truly one of the most basic stories – you, against an untamed environment, attempting to get to the civilization that we all love and enjoy.

“This movie could keep going as a Western. It would be a compelling story and everyone would be happy,” Orci continued before joking, “Harrison, I think, sometimes would prefer that there were no aliens in the movie.”

With a traditional western setup, the film opens as the town is attacked by alien invaders, forcing the stranger to unite not just with Dolarhyde, but a disparate band of Apaches, criminals and townsfolk, portrayed by actors Clancy Brown, Keith Carradine, Adam Beach, Walton Coggins, Raoul Trujillo and Brandon Wayne, the grandson of Western legend John Wayne.

In addition to the all-star cast, the film also sports an impressive pedigree behind the camera. Orci, along with writing partner Alex Kurtzman, penned the recent, massively successful reboot of “Star Trek,” co-writer Damon Lindelof was one of the key members of the “Lost” creative team, and director Favreau is a veteran of the “Iron Man” films. Even Steven Spielberg is on-board as executive producer.

Which brings us back to that alien appendage. “If Steven likes this, he’ll give us the rest of the alien,” Favreau joked as he shifted the arm around in the New Mexico sand. While the aliens seen on-screen will mostly be computer-generated images, they will also appear in certain shots as traditional special effects. “We have full [aliens], too,” the director said. “This is taken from a cast and then we bring it out into the light. We see how the light reacts to it so we’re matching [it in the computer] perfect.”

Although Favreau was willing to show us the extraterrestrial appendage and praise his cast and crew, he wasn’t at liberty to discuss much more about the aliens. When asked how tall they are, the director answered, “You know, it depends on how they’re standing.”

Director Favreau with co-stars Craig and Ford

Despite having cutting-edge technology at their fingertips, the cast and crew are quick to let it be known that the aliens will not be the film’s only practical effects. “We had these light rays that were flying over our heads at 60 miles an hour,” recalled co-star Paul Dano, referring to a scene shared with an enthusiastic audience at this past summer’s Comic-Con International. According to the actor, much of that was actually shot live on set. “[It] is like a dream for an actor, you know, not having to like look like an ass in front of everyone,” he said, referring to the often-awkward business of shooting special effects-laden scenes in front of a green screen.

“It’s nice and cool in here,” Favreau said between takes of a key scene in the dramatic wind- and rain-eroded landscape. As he looked around his tent, set up with a monitor to watch just-shot scene, he joked, “I know when we have visitors, because we’ve got the air conditioner in here.” The director likened the movie to playing the video game “Red Dead Redemption,” but with one huge difference. “I tell Daniel, ‘Go there.’ I don’t use a joy stick.”

The New Mexico nature preserve where the movie was shot is decidedly off the beaten path. Working in a canyon on a downward slope, crew members told CBR flash floods were not uncommon in the otherwise dry riverbed. “If the thunderheads come in and it starts to rain, we have to evacuate,” Favreau said. “We’ve been up to our knees [in water].” Even the tent containing thousands of dollars of filmmaking equipment was located in the flood plain. Luckily, while ominous clouds occasionally blew into the sun-drenched area, no rain — or floods — ever hampered the visit. Despite the difficulties the terrain presented, Orci told us, “Spielberg was pretty adamant from Day One that [the location] had to be either like Monument Valley or here.”

Looking around the location, anyone not in period costume still dressed in a manner fitting the film’s Old West vibe, with wide-brim hats, bandanas and blue jeans everywhere. The sudden winds and desert sun required every possible method of protection, but it didn’t dampen the spirits on-set. Harrison Ford, for example, happily drove to set in his golf cart, decked out in full Western fashion. “We found out that he’s been interested in doing a Western for a long time,” Orci said. “He was skeptical about the genre blend but agreed to a meeting. It wasn’t until he actually came in and saw the artwork and what the amazing production design team had done — what the aliens looked like and what the ships look like — and how they looked in relation to the traditional Western that he said, ‘Ah, now I get it.’ And that’s when he agreed to join.”

“Harrison’s a presence, you know?” Dano added. “I’m pretty cool, usually, you know, meeting people. But I grew up watching his movies. He’s a badass! Then you hear he’s riding up on his motorcycle, on his Chopper, and it’s like, ‘Oh, my God, this dude’s even cooler in life than in the movies.’”

Favreau offers Craig advice

For Sam Rockwell, who plays Doc, “Cowboys and Aliens” is a return to the Western setting. The actor, who appeared in “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,” joked, “I’m probably better on the saddle now than I was then. I actually get to do more shooting and riding and stuff like that in this movie than I did in ‘Jesse James.’”

Having worked with Favreau on the heavily improvisational set of “Iron Man 2,” Rockwell told us the freedom to ad-lib is somewhat more subdued on this film. “We have a solid script, but we improvise within that,” he said. “The obstacle here is obviously that we’re doing a period piece. So it’s not like you could just say anything — you can’t just say, ‘Ah, dude, that sucks.’”

Popular from the advent of cinema, the Western eventually went into decline as a dependable money-making genre in the 1970s, so the opportunity to make a Western/sci-fi film infused the production with a special energy. “We have people from all over the country who came out just to be in this, because you don’t get to make [Westerns],” Favreau said. He offered the example of his Second Unit Director Terry Leonard. “He worked with John Wayne, [but] he switched over to being a stunt coordinator for car movies. Now, to be able to do a Western, with all the horse falls and all these things that he knows how to do in his sleep, it’s great to have that.”

“It’s been as positive experience as I’ve ever had,” Favreau said, describing his time spent on location. Indeed, he was already missing the harsh, but beautiful, desert landscapes. “I’m starting to get a little nostalgic,” he said. “The whole experience has been good, and I would – if there’s any way to feel it again, you know, it’s something I wouldn’t run away from. It’s something I would embrace.”

“Cowboys & Aliens” opens July 29, 2011 from Universal Pictures

Discuss this story in CBR’s TV/Film forum.  | 0 Comments

On the Set of “Cowboys & Aliens” – Comic Book Resources

On Monday, November 29, 2010, Congress will be back in session at 2:00pm and here some of what will be happening with the Food Safety Bill.

(NaturalNews) Senate Bill 510, the Food Safety Modernization Act, has been called “the most dangerous bill in the history of the United States of America.” It would grant the U.S. government new authority over the public’s right to grow, trade and transport any foods. This would give Big brother the power to regulate the tomato plants in your backyard. It would grant them the power to arrest and imprison people selling cucumbers at farmer’s markets. It would criminalize the transporting of organic produce if you don’t comply with the authoritarian rules of the federal government.

“It will become the most offensive authority against the cultivation, trade and consumption of food and agricultural products of one’s choice. It will be unconstitutional and contrary to natural law or, if you like, the will of God.” – Dr. Shiv Chopra, Canada Health whistleblower (http://shivchopra.com/?page_id=2)

This tyrannical law puts all food production (yes, even food produced in your own garden) under the authority of the Department of Homeland Security. Yep — the very same people running the TSA and its naked body scanner / passenger groping programs.

This law would also give the U.S. government the power to arrest any backyard food producer as a felon (a “smuggler”) for merely growing lettuce and selling it at a local farmer’s market.

It also sells out U.S. sovereignty over our own food supply by ceding to the authority of both the World Trade Organization (WTO) and Codex Alimentarius.

It would criminalize seed saving (http://foodfreedom.wordpress.com/20…), turning backyard gardeners who save heirloom seeds into common criminals. This is obviously designed to give corporations like Monsanto a monopoly over seeds.

It would create an unreasonable paperwork burden that would put small food producers out of business, resulting in more power over the food supply shifting to large multinational corporations.

I encourage you to read more about this dangerous bill at the Food Freedom blog on WordPress: http://foodfreedom.wordpress.com/20…

Watch this excellent video on NaturalNews.TV which explains S.510 in more detail:
http://naturalnews.tv/v.asp?v=9209B…

Take action now or lose your right to grow your own food

Sign this petition at Citizens for Health:
http://www.citizens.org/?page_id=2312

Do it today! This is really important.

In addition, the Cornucopia Institute recently sent out an urgent call-to-action email containing the following information: (http://www.cornucopia.org/2010/11/a…)

How to protest Senate Bill 510

1) Go to Congress.org and type in your zip code in the box in the upper right hand corner.

2) Click on your Senator’s name, and then on the contact tab for their phone number. You can also call the Capitol Switchboard and ask to be directly connected to your Senator’s office: 202-224-3121.

3) Once connected ask to speak to the legislative staff person responsible for agriculture. If they are unavailable leave a voice mail message. Be sure to include your name and phone number.

Give them this message in support of the “Tester Amendment” which would exempt small farms from S.510:

“I am a constituent of Senator___________. I ask that he/she support the Tester Amendment to the food safety bill. The Tester Amendment will exempt the safest, small, owner-operator farms and food facilities and farmers who direct market their products to consumers, stores or restaurants. Food safety legislation should not create inappropriate and costly regulatory barriers to family farms and the growing healthy food movement in the drive to crack down on corporate bad actors. Please support the Tester Amendment and market opportunities for small and mid-sized family farms, and small food processing facilities.”

You may also wish to explain that you oppose the Food Safety Modernization Act in its entirety, and it is a destructive, freedom-crushing law that will destroy the future of food in America.

Remember, America has already lost control over its money supply to the Federal Reserve (nearly a hundred years ago). America has lost its health due to the medical industry and its profit-from-sickness agenda. Now we may lose our right to grow our own food and save our own seeds if Senate Bill 510 passes.

This is a dangerous, tyrannical law that would thrust the American people into an age of darkness and malnutrition. It would criminalize many of the very people growing our food and turn food production into yet another corporate monopoly.

Please take the time right now to contact your U.S. Senator and voice your strong opposition to this bill.

S. 510:FDA Food Safety Modernization Act
A bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act with respect to the safety of the food supply.
This bill was considered in committee which has recommended it be considered by the Senate as a whole. Although it has been placed on a calendar of business, the order in which legislation is considered and voted on is determined by the majority party leadership. Keep in mind that sometimes the text of one bill is incorporated into another bill, and in those cases the original bill, as it would appear here, would seem to be abandoned.

If this atrocious bill is passed don’t expect to see SWAT teams waiting outside every organic farm waiting to toss a flash-bang grenade. Modern tyranny most often comes first in the form of a suit knocking at your door and demanding to see your licenses and documentation. And that is precisely what this bill outlines. Exhaustive records must be kept for anyone producing food, which will place growing, production and sale of food outside the reach of the average small time operation. Just think back to the Oregon Lemonade stand that was shut down by Health Inspectors.

The restraints placed on local farms, food co-ops and farmers markets will destroy whats left of independent agriculture. A wise move in the midst of the Great Recession. Without the freedom to strive for self sufficiency, a god given right endowed to all creatures, we are left only one option. Dependence. The forced symbiosis to factory farms, process plants and the GMO mafia, without so much as the freedom to store and save seeds.

Scale Appropriate
In addition to the focus on facilities that manufactures, processes, packs, or holds food for sale farmers who supply the nation with fresh produce would also be subject to a number of new regulations and recommended practices. The new rules haven’t been written yet, but are expected to focus on water quality, employee hygiene, the use of manure and compost as fertilizer and wildlife intrusions.

Because farmers across the nation have warned against punitive rules and many feel they are already taking extreme steps to make sure their food was safe, FDA officials and bill supporters have professed their commitment to ensuring that the final bill is “scale-appropriate.”

The version of the Bill that passed the House last July fell far short of this goal, but a slew of amendments expected to be added to the Senate bill would bring the bill in line with what many small farm advocates consider an acceptable level of protection for small time producers and processing facilities. Specifically, the amendment package would direct the FDA to:

1. Allow for the exemption of farms that engage in value added processing but are deemed as “low-risk” or “no-risk”
2. Set farm-size appropriate regulations for growing produce
3. Limit record-keeping requirements for farmers to the crop’s first point-of-sale.
4. Exempt from record-keeping farm’s that direct-market their products to consumers and grocery stores or those that sell under their own brand.

Looking Ahead

There are very few weeks left for the Senate to act and the midterm elections only complicate the political calculus. Before these amendments surfaced, I wasn’t losing much sleep over the dubious outlook of passing the Food Safety Modernization Act.

Too many regulations for food safety are already on the books that feed into to the get-big-or-get-out mentality of agriculture. Just ask the family at the farmers’ market selling their grass-fed beef out the back of the truck about the safety standards they have to meet to have their cattle processed and packaged. But if these amendments pass, food safety advocates and defenders of small farms can both win.
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About National Recycling Week

National Recycling Week (NRW) was founded to bring national focus to recycling, minimizing waste and effectively managing material resources.
Read More here: Planet Ark

When is National Recycling Week?

National Recycling Week runs from 8 – 14 November 2010. (NRW10)

How Can I Make a Difference?

Garbage is a growing problem every year. Each year we recycle more, yet we are also creating more garbage. With a little thought, and a little creativity, we can all change our habits and make a difference.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

• Recycling Bins – Always have recycling bins available and labeled with the appropriate recycling stickers
• No More Plastic Grocery Bags – A reusable canvas shopping bag is a great alternative to plastic shopping bags that fill up the landfills.
• Reusable Water Bottles – Invest in a reusable water bottle and coffee mug. Save money while reducing waste in the landfills.
• Paperless Reading – Read books, magazines and newspapers on an iPad, Kindle or PC. Save the trees with eBooks and eReading Devices.
• Rechargeable Batteries – Save money and reduce waste buy using rechargeable batteries.
• Buy Recycled – Buy products made from recycled materials help you to save the planet while shopping
• Donate Clothing – Never throw out clothing! Donate old clothes to your local thrift stores.
• Bed Sheets – Use old sheets for drop clothes when painting
• Crafts – Recycle egg cartons, old Christmas cards and Kleenex boxes for craft supplies.

Recycling Clip Art

The recycling symbol is universally recognized. The “mobius loop” symbol is used to designate recyclable materials and reduce needless waste.

Take this free recycle clip art and use it on your blog, website or school. This recycle clipart is also great for environmental holidays such as National Recycling Week and Earth Day. This green recycling symbol represents the need to reduce, reuse and recycle.

This symbol was created for the first Earth Day Celebration in 1970. Today, we see this symbol everywhere – on garbage cans, bins and even t-shirts. The recycle sign is an important part of the global warming solution. Together, we can save the trees and save the planet.

Feel free to use this recycle symbol clip art wherever you like. Print it out, add it to your website or attach it to a garbage bin. Green recycle clip art is free for any use that will help stop global warming.