Documentary Being Made of Couy

Couy Griffin, as part of his quest to ride horseback from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Gates of Jerusalem, spent the last few days riding around Paris horseback. He rode from the Eiffel Tower down to the Arc de Triumph and along the Champs Elysees, as I recall him telling, and then rode through some other parts of the city as well. He has been accompanied by a documentary crew interested in his story and although navigating the city and keeping in contact with the crew was challenging, Couy feels they got some good footage. A few guys from the show were interviewed as part of the documentary including me, today. I tried to sound real smart but we'll see how it actually came off in a few months when the documentary is finished. I'll let you know here what happens as the story continues.

In the interview and off camera I talked with Couy about many things ranging from the state of the human spirit in modern society to the state of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. He still has a passion for Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show and admitted he missed performing. He is keeping open the option of one day returning to the arena.

Jesse James Nearly Crushed by Horse

Jesse James Townsend, who plays Cowboy and sometimes Stunt in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show (La Legende de Buffalo Bill), Disney Village, Disneyland Paris Resort France, was nearly crushed during the Roping Contest of the Rodeo Games when the Bay mare he was riding stumbled and fell. Jesse was launched over her front left shoulder and landed hard, his head thwacking against the packed sand surface of the arena. As he landed, Jesse struggled to scramble to safety but the horse's momentum carried her over the saddle and onto her right side, pinning Jesse's legs and leaving him directly exposed to her hooves with no way to escape. She kicked frantically for several seconds trying to right herself, each kick seeming as if it must be connecting with Jesse. Finally she found her footing and struggled to her feet. I expected Jesse to have something broken or twisted and need immediate medical attention, but he rose slowly to his feet, visibly shaken but apparently sound. He dusted the biggest chunks of muck off his clothes and walked over to the mare without assistance. The cowboys and the actress playing Annie Oakley had lead the mare away from Jesse and re-adjusted the saddle, which had come askew in the process. As all true cowboys do when they come off a horse, he didn't walk off stage but simply got back on and did his job. The second time around Jesse's horse didn't stumble and he caught Cremelo handily. Afterwards backstage Jesse said that he was kicked and pinned just as it appeared but he was lucky enough not to sustain serious injury. From what I saw I'd say very lucky. Nice work, Jesse!

Wild West Actor Stars in Major Hollywood Film

Ben Badra is The Warlord in one of Spring 2008's biggest feature films: 10,000 BC. This is old news to most of the cast of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show (La Legende de Buffalo Bill), Disney Village, Disneyland Paris Resort, where Ben works frequently as either Cowboy or Indian to cover absences and injuries among the full-time cast. 10,0000 BC is not Ben's first on-screen role nor will it likely be his last. The Internet Movie Database (imdb.com) credits Ben currently in 12 acting roles and 9 stunt roles. Ben is also a talented and aspiring guitarist, singer, and songwriter, as highlighted on his MySpace video page. The Warlord is the lead bad guy in 10,000 BC and Ben's highest-profile role to date. Acting in the film has elicited phone calls and emails to Ben from film fans and film industry professionals around the world. Those of us who work with Ben at the show know him as a focused, energized, talented, and very likable professional performer no matter what role he is playing. These attributes and his striking physical features should allow Ben to build on his current success for years to come. Great work Ben! See you in the show..!

Couy Riding for Israel in France

Just before I left for the states with my family, Couy Griffin showed up at the Wild West Show. It was good to see him. I chatted with him for a few minutes and learned that he hadn't really mapped out exactly how he was going to get across France, it was just go with the flow I guess and trust in the Lord. I mentioned it must be strange for him setting foot in the show again, implying that the last time he was here he hadn't yet found Jesus and all that being born again implies. He said something to the effect that it was like coming back sober after having gone out partying all night long. Everyone seemed pleased to see him. Couy had finished crossing Ireland and England and was preparing for his journey across France and onwards towards Israel. I checked in on his YouTube site and found this video, but it was posted awhile back so I don't know how he's doing at the moment. Hopefully he's found a horse and some means of getting across France. Maybe he'll poke his head in again at the Wild West Show sometime soon. If I learn any more, I'll let you know.

Richard Lovelace Plays Buffalo Bill

Richard is the newest Buffalo Bill understudy! I took my family to the states during the first couple weeks of June and while I was gone Richard, one of the five remaining original cast members of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show (La Legende de Buffalo Bill, in French) finally had the opportunity to play Buffalo Bill! Richie, as his friends often call him, is the quintessential cowboy character. If you see an authentic-looking 50-ish mustache'd cowboy walking around Disneyland Paris or Paris itself wearing a straw cowboy hat, vest, neckerchief, boots and Wranglers, there's a good chance it's Richard. He always wears his hat, and he usually wears a big smile on his face along with it. I haven't yet had a chance to watch Richard in action as Buffalo Bill but as soon as I do, I'll try to get some footage and post it for you all to see.

Patrick "Auguste" Makes Silent Film

Patrick, who plays the French impresario Auguste Durand-Rouel in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, Disney Village, Disneyland Paris Resort, made a fun little silent film sometime fairly recently. He was silent about making it as well, but I found it on his MySpace profile so I'm going to put it here as well.

How Longhorn Cattle Got to France c.1992

The cattle in our show are among the luckiest outside of India, where cattle are sacred. Wild West Show cattle are well-fed, pampered, and in no danger of being butchered for meat. As a consequence, our small herd probably has some of the oldest longhorns in the world. They are a distinct feature of our show, imported from North America specifically for the production of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, Disney Village, Disneyland Paris. For anyone who wonders how Texas Longhorns got to France, check this video out, c.1992. Video embedding has been disabled so you'll have to follow the link below.
Longhorns from the Wild West Show

The Making of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show

This is mint footage c.1992 of the making of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, cutting between training footage at legendary stunt coordinator Mario Luraschi's place, where initial blocking and training took place, and the actual show as it was produced in "Festival Disney" in "EuroDisney" in 1992 (now Disney Village, Disneyland Paris Resort). The footage is a must-see for anyone interested in or affiliated with our show. First:
The Making of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show - Video A
The Making of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show - Video B
The Making of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show - Video C

Music Video of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show

YouTube member eurowest74 has posted 17 YouTube videos on his profile, most of which feature the cast of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. Content ranges from talent reels to footage of the show set to modern music. Some, like the Rodeo Road series, have video embedding disabled so you'll have to click through to see them. Others, like the one here, I will post as I find time. Enjoy!

Very Funny Comedy Routine

This was sent to me some time ago. I ran across it again and still find it funny so I thought I'd share with you. It contains swear words so don't play it if swear words offend you.

The Pinkie Chronicles: Recent Sightings

The photo above was forwarded to me by former Cast Member Sundore Laplant. As far as I know the man in the photo is NOT Pinkie, but since significant portions of Pinkie's time occasionally go inexplicably missing, one never knows. The dimensions are more or less correct..

Although The Casual Reporter does not condone excessive alcohol consumption, public intoxication, or any other nasty or tragic effects of alcohol abuse, alcohol-saturated stories are a natural feature of chronicling Pinkie and are a hit with many of my readers. So I will continue to include them. I also note a practical purpose: to let Pinkie know what he did "last night".

Recently Pinkie took a month off with his cousin/buddy and returned to his homeland where he performed his trick-roping routine in a number of shows. Jessie, Pinkie's next door neighbor and fellow Wild West Show Cowboy, was momentarily surprised Pinkie came back from a very sunny and hot part of the world with no sign of a tan but then calculated that Pinkie probably slept most of the day and "socialized" at night so sun exposure didn't naturally factor into Pinkie's activities.

Upon returning to France, Pinkie hurried to his favorite social establishments, mostly on Disney property, to return as much money as possible to Disney through the purchase of alcoholic beverages. In this regard, so I'm made to understand, Pinkie sometimes goes the extra mile. Not only does he sacrifice his own pay; he returns a fair amount of others' pay as well. Pinkie is such entertaining company that few seem to mind the inconvenience of loaning him beer money.

On this night, another ingredient was added: Tequila. The good stuff. Straight from the homeland. After several hours in the bars, Pinkie and cousin returned to the safety of their home and started on the Tequila. What follows is a brief outline of Pinkie sightings that subsequently resulted:

- Jessie heard the sound of someone being slapped repeatedly in the kitchen. Concerned someone was being mistreated, he went to investigate and discovered Pinkie leaning in close to his cousin, whose was being supported by the refrigerator. Pinkie was mumbling mostly unintelligibly and periodically slapping his cousin across the face. His cousin kept nodding, mumbling something in return, and accepting each slap. No apparent harm being done, Jessie returned to the living room.

- Later, Pinkie and cousin were discovered in a semi-conscious state in a different room, propping one another up back-to-back in the middle of the room, heads bobbing in semi-consciousness, in what was described as a human "tripod" with four wobbly legs.

- Later still, Pinkie was found standing at the kitchen counter, balancing his upper body on one extended arm, slightly swaying as he snored. His roommate checked there were no sharp objects or lit burners and left him alone. Nearly an hour later his roommate came back and found Pinkie in the same position, still snoring. The next day Pinkie asked, "Man, what did I do with my arm? It really hurts.."

- Pinkie's cousin was snoring sitting up in another room. The housekeeping situation at Pinkie's pad was described as "two-week old Mexican food scattered everywhere - tortillas, salsa, beer.. it looked like the remnants of a migratory path."

The following day I had the good fortune to meet up with Pinkie's cousin who was well-presented considering the stories I'd just heard of the night before. But something didn't seem quite right. He turned towards me with a big smile and subtle sway and extended his hand in greeting, looking straight at me but with his eyes focused about 2 feet behind mine. I said, "Hey, how's it going?" He said, "Not too much, man.. not too much.."

The Pinkie Chronicles are "Pinkie-Approved™".
The Casual Reporter encourages responsible living. Please don't drink and drive.