Category Archives: Cowboys!

Alan Bennett: On the art of the monologue & being teenage “jailbait”

Posted on May 9, 2014 by samiraahmed

To mark Alan Bennett’s 80th birthday, this is an updated post based on an In Conversation with the playwright, diarist and screenwriter  at the British Film Institute in March last year. It was focussed on his skills with the monologue, as part … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Comedy, Cowboys!, Sport, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

How The West Was Fun: When Britain loved cowboys

Posted on April 5, 2013 by samiraahmed

The Unforgiven (1961) – The Searchers in reverse This is about the back ground to the April 6th documentary I made for Radio 4 about the Western in British culture. You can listen again here: Archive on Four documentary Riding … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Children, Cowboys!, Culture, Film, History, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Mocha in the Family Latte: Race on American screens

Posted on January 15, 2013 by samiraahmed

“He should not be here, ” said the fish in the pot. ” he should not be here when your mother is not.” – The Cat In the Hat Dr Seuss (1957) It is a conundrum worthy of the massive … Continue reading →

Posted in Children, Cowboys!, Culture, Film, Media, TV, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Code-name Geronimo: Parallels between the Apache hero and Osama Bin Laden

Posted on May 3, 2011 by samiraahmed

Played out via helmet cam, Hollywood-style still photos released of the Commander-In-Chief, in the Situation Room supervising the kill. For an operation that was reportedly a year in the planning, an elementary understanding of the history of the American West … Continue reading →

Posted in Cowboys!, Film, Politics, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The romance of Apache: RIP Jet Harris

Posted on March 20, 2011 by samiraahmed

I’ve always loved The Shadows, and when important figures in music die amidst major world events, I feel sad that their contribution gets overlooked. Jet Harris, apparently one of the first people to play electric bass guitar in Britain, as … Continue reading →

Posted in Cowboys!, Culture, Music, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Women Prefer Jane Russell

Posted on March 1, 2011 by samiraahmed

Ain't There Anyone Here For Love by avinot In my early 20s I started working my way through a lot of old movies I hadn’t yet seen. When I sat down to watch Gentlemen Prefer Blondes this eye popping clip of Jane … Continue reading →

Posted in Comedy, Cowboys!, Culture, Film, Music, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Why I love Westerns

Posted on February 9, 2011 by samiraahmed

A long time ago, when all the grandfathers and grandmothers of today were little boys and little girls or very small babies, or perhaps not even born,” the Wild West was still – just about – in living memory. And … Continue reading →

Posted in Children, Cowboys!, Culture, Film, TV, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Little Feminist on the Prairie

Posted on January 10, 2011 by samiraahmed

This is the full version of my Guardian article published in November 2010, about why I chose her as my specialist subject on Celebrity Mastermind. What Laura Ingalls Wilder still  teaches us about independence, and living through an age of austerity. … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Business/Economics, Children, Cowboys!, Culture, TV, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment