The man responsible for putting solar panels on the White House, known as The Green Cowboy, has just been named the Deputy Mayor in charge of environmental issues for the city of Los Angeles. S. David Freeman, who was on the forefront of alternative energy in the 1970’s, is a best selling author and will be replacing Nancy Sutley in the position after her appointment in the Obama administration.

Though 83 years old, Freeman is often referred to as "the smartest man in the room" and was the current head of the Port of Los Angeles after serving on the boards of major utility companies in New York and California, including the LA Dept. of Water & Power.

His bestseller Winning our Energy Independence: an Energy Insider Shows How describes in detail the urgent need of weaning the U.S from what he calls the "three poisons" — coal, oil, nuclear.

One place you’d never think of a cowboy taking care of business is in Los Angeles politics, but The Green Cowboy is there to do just that.

We all know that behind a great cowboy is an even better cowgirl, and for all of the ladies out there, you might want to check out the awesome Pioneer Woman website. It has a ton of fantastic information including recipes (even some for “cowboy food”!), amazing photography, home and garden tips, plus a fun blog. The woman behind it all is Ree Drummond, and here’s a self description of her site:

Here, I write about my decade-long transition from spoiled city girl to domestic country wife. I post photos of cows, horses, and my four weird children, and frequently include shots of cowboys wearing chaps. In my Photography section, I include Photography and Photoshop tutorials. In my Cooking section, I post step-by-step photos of all the cowboy-friendly dishes I’ve taught myself to cook through the years, and in Home & Garden, I chronicle the start-to-finish remodeling project of an old guest house on our ranch.

If you love the cowboy lifestyle, the Pioneer Woman may be a great place for you to keep up with all things out on the ranch.

One of the best kept secrets in cowboy culture these days, or maybe not so much a secret anymore, is Vicente Fernandez. Cowboys and Indians magazine profiled Mr. Fernandez for their April issue and called him the “king of the Mexican signing cowboys”. Also known as “the world’s greatest ranchera singer”, Fernandez practices what he preaches, owning a horse ranch in Guadalajara, Mexico of over 400 horses.

With more than 20 feature films and nearly 80 albums to his credit, and 50 million CDs sold, El Rey, as he’s called, proved he de-serves the title when his 2007 release, Para Siempre [For Always], became the best-selling Latin record in the U.S. market in its first six months on the charts. On it, the rags-to-riches Fernández performs signature songs of longing and hard luck, love and jealousy, and the lure of the open road.

His album covers portray a six-gun-toting Mexican cowboy of the Old West merged with a Latin pop star of the 21st century, but Fernández is more than just a colorful stage presence. Comparisons to Elvis and Sinatra are inevitable both for the mania and devotion of Fernández fans and for the energy and sincerity of emotion that power his live performances and recordings. Regularly playing to packed crowds, he can sell out weeklong engagements in Los Angeles in a heartbeat. Make it to any of those U.S. concerts and you’ll see cowboys tossing hats (and cowgirls throwing unmentionables onstage), clamoring for one more song.

While the press might call Mr. Fernandez “the Sinatra of Mexico”, he’s just doing what he loves best: passing on the love of cowboy culture.

While it may be cowboys and cowgirls that you associate most with rodeo, there is a quiet unsung hero behind the scenes keeping all of the animals healthy: the veterinarian. During the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, two vets were responsible for almost 27,000 animals that were there to compete during the three week event. The doctors worked long hours to ensure that all of the animals on the grounds were in good health and well maintained while they were competing in various events from being shown themselves in the livestock show to steer wrestling at the rodeo.

While the crowd cheers the cowboys’ scores, Knape tracks each calf’s progress after release. During team roping, one calf trotted away with a slight limp. But as it neared the exit, the limp disappeared. Knape noted its brand number. He said he’ll examine the calf later for a strain and advise the handlers to give it a week’s rest.

“We watch the animal so you see what happened, if they slipped or they tripped. To see the way they are injured,” Knape said.

“I have as much respect for the animals — if not more — than for the cowboys,” he said.

Next time you are at a rodeo event, be sure and think of all that goes into making sure it runs smoothly…there may be more people to thank than just the cowboys for an entertaining evening.

It’s hard to sum up just how amazing The All American Cowgirl Chicks are. These women not only exhibit excellence, they live and breath it. The Cowgirl Chicks entertain and inspire while being unabashedly patriotic and American. You can’t say that about most folks these days. They seem both Super-Human and Super-American.

The All American Cowgirl Chicks are an equestrian drill team that perform at horse shows, rodeos, and other events across the United States and even in Sweden last year. Their shows center around trick riding but the chicks can sing and dance as well. The team is lead and couched by singer, songwriter, and cowgirl Trish Lynn. The horses the Chicks ride have their own stories as well. They were previously abandoned, turned away, or abused and the Cowgirls have transformed them into trusting companions.

I was a little bummed out that I couldn’t make it to se the Chicks performing performing at Road to the Horse a few weeks ago in Franklin Tennessee. They do about 50 shows a year so there is a good chance I’ll see them live sooner than later. Until then here are some videos of The All American Cowgirl Chicks.

It’s rodeo time in Houston, that two weeks a year where the city is transformed from the fourth largest city in America to the city that hosts the world’s largest rodeo. The best cowboys around come to compete for massive prize money, and folks flock 70,000 or more a night dressed in their best western wear to see the best the rodeo circuit and the world of music have to offer. The Houston Chronicle sheds light on what it is truly like to be traveling around the country competing in rodeos:

It’s a life — one most competitors inherited from fathers and mothers who lived rodeo before them.

Hundreds of days a year, they crisscross the country, packed into sedans or hauling horse trailers. In locker rooms competitors greet each other as friends as they tape hands, wrap knees and ice injured muscles. In barns they engage in the routines of animal care, brushing, feeding and nurturing the horses that will help them strike gold or accompany them as they return home empty-handed.

Then, chaps, gloves or hat on, they enter the stadium to perform for their living.

“You spend hours and hours getting your horse ready and practicing, traveling, driving up and down the road, and you pull in somewhere and in 16 seconds you’re done, and you get to do it all over again,” said Sherry Cervi, a barrel racer from Arizona.

The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo runs through March 22 at Reliant Stadium.

Award winners for the 48th annual Western Heritage Awards have been announced by The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in the following categories: film & television, music, and literary. The museum, located in Oklahoma City, is known as America’s Premier Western Heritage Museum, and the awards are open to the public on April 17-18.

The Western Heritage Awards are presented at a black-tie banquet at the Museum, set for April 18, 2009. Each winner in attendance receives the Wrangler, an impressive bronze sculpture of a cowboy on horseback. Awards presented in 2009 are for works completed in 2008. Qualified professionals outside the Museum staff judge all categories.

Would your children like to take their hand at being a cowboy for a day? An organization in Denver called Cowboys for Kids is hosting “Extreme Dummy Roping” at the Rocky Mountain Horse Expo. What exactly is Cowboys for Kids?

Cowboys for Kids believes in the old-fashioned virtues of the American cowboy and the Western way of life. Using these values as a foundation, the organization offers programs to physically impaired, underprivileged, and at-risk children. Activities at the Cowboys for Kids headquarters include therapeutic riding and animal care programs, plus special events, barbecues, clinics and more throughout the summer.

The Rocky Mountain Horse Expo runs from March 13-15 in Denver, Colorado.

What do you get when you combine a western shirt, a cowboy hat, a roughstock cowboy, and a kitchen? Chocolate of course. Chocolate and beer to be precise.

If you have spent anytime in rural America, especially out west, you would know the folks that live in fly-over country are often multi-talented and resourceful. I have been in ice cream shops where you could get a cone, buy a postcard, and get a key made in one stop. When I lived in Montana my neighborhood hair salon sold custom made gun racks right next to the shampoo and hair products. These people are entrepreneurs and make best and better with what resources and skills they have.

While drinking my coffee this morning I ran into a story about a cowboy named Tim Kellog who resides in Meeteetse Wyoming, population of about 350. Tim is a working cowboy at the M.C. Land and Cattle Co. ranch. When he’s not working at the ranch he’s in the kitchen at his chocolate shop, the Meeteetse Chocolatier, located on Main Street.

Tim learned to make chocolate truffles from his grandmother. However, I doubt the Coors beer and Jack Daniel’s Truffles were her recipes. They sound like a cowboy thing. He can now create about 800 truffles a day. When he’s on the ranch Tim has employees to run the chocolate shop which opens it’s doors 7 days a week.

Kellogg tailors his flavors to his customers.

During the Harley rally, he created a Jack Daniel’s truffle. The popular Coors truffle was born out of a joke.

One day, Kellogg was baking and having a Coors — it’s his kitchen, after all. Someone joked that he should make a truffle flavored with the beer.

“I said, Why not try it?’” Kellogg said. “I opened a new beer, made the centers … and it didn’t taste bad. I sold 30 in one afternoon. People were buying it because it was so bizarre. It took off.”

Wyoming cowboy creates chocolate delights, The Dickinson Press, , February 19, 2009

So let me get this strait. Chocolate, whiskey, beer, sage, and huckleberry? 5 items that I can honestly say are some of my most favorite things in the world. I’m nowhere near Wyoming but it’s a good thing the Meeteetse Chocolatier ships their goodies all over the United States.

The wussification of America marches on as virtually everything in our society is shaped to be “fair” and “non offensive”. We a rapidly losing our grit, free spirit, and can do attitude. Real men built this country. Wussies could never achieve such greatness.

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