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An artist replaced the men in these classic Westerns with women. The images are awesome.

She turned the "sexy cowgirl" trope on its head.

Two paintings of women in iconic western poses with cowboy hats
Felice House

When Felice House moved to Texas from Massachusetts, she quickly fell in love with "Western" culture.

Felice House stands in a hallway art galleryTimothy Douglas

House, a painter and artist, moved to Austin to study for her master's degree before becoming an assistant professor of painting at Texas A&M University.

At first, the culture shock was fun. House says she quickly became infatuated with the Western genre: the outfits, the cowboy boots, the music.

"But when I actually got around to watching Western movies," she adds, "I was horrified by the roles for ... anybody except white men basically."

The stoic renegades played by John Wayne, James Dean, and Clint Eastwood stood in stark contrast to the helpless damsels they shared the screen with. The empowered and the powerless.

House had spent much of her career painting women in ways that clashed with media representations, so she decided to tackle the male-dominated Western genre.

She put out a call for models and was quickly overwhelmed with women who wanted to participate.

Woman in cowboy gear with red bandanaFelice House

House says many of the models already knew which iconic cowboy they wanted to portray.

Woman in cowboy gear with pink shirt and red bandanaFelice House

Virginia Schmidt became "Virginia Eastwood."

Woman in old fashioned Western sceneFelice House

Then there was "Liakesha Dean."

Woman in cowboy hat and red bandanaFelice House

And "Rebekah Wayne."

Woman in cowboy hat with eye patch and yellow bandanaFelice House

House first photographed the models in Western getups, then painted from the images she captured.

Woman in cowboy hat riding a horse and reaching for holsterFelice House

She also says practicing the facial expressions and body language was the hardest part for the models.

Woman lounging cowboy gear and red bootsFelice House

"Women are kind of trained to make coy, approachable facial expressions," she says.

Woman in cowboy hat pointing pistolFelice House

Turning these women into iconic and powerful heroes meant stripping away any remnants of the "sexy cowgirl" trope.

Two women in cowboy hats and Western gear holding a rifleFelice House

The paintings themselves are larger than life. Roughly 1.25 times larger, to be specific.

Woman in cowboy hat and Sheriff star holding a pistolFelice House

"When you see them in person, people are surprised by the scale." People aren't used to women towering over them, House says.

Woman in old fashioned Western clothing with rifleFelice House

And that's exactly the point. House wanted to start a conversation about who is assigned power and how we view it.

Woman sitting in cowboy boots holding two pistolsFelice House

In that sense, the timing couldn't have been better. "Issues with gender and power in the U.S. are kind of in the forefront of people's minds, " she says.

Woman in old fashioned Western scene in cowboy gearFelice House

In the very beginning of the project, House says she simply digitally clipped one of the models heads and put it on John Wayne's body.

"It looked ridiculous," she says with a laugh. "But then I thought, what if I could find a way to give this same sense of power [that iconic male heroes have] to women?"

With a brush and a few massive canvases, she managed to do just that, and she hopes it'll make a few people think differently about how we define who can be a hero.

In the meantime, and despite her criticisms of the films of yesteryear, House says pop culture is getting better at representing women. Projects like this one definitely help.

After all, it was John Wayne himself who once said, "Tomorrow hopes we have learned something from yesterday."


This article originally appeared on 3.17.17

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85-year-old woman in senior home brings down the house with Fleetwood Mac 'Landslide' cover

There wasn't a dry eye in the house.

Cecily Knobler

A woman sings "Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac at karaoke.

On a hot Sunday in July, Carole Wade took the mic at a Dallas senior living facility where my mom lives. I happened to be visiting for the karaoke event, and the list of residents who couldn't wait to put their stamps on their favorite tunes was so long, the event had to be extended. ABBA's "Mamma Mia," David Lee Roth's "Just a Gigolo"—you name it, they sang it.

When it was Wade's turn, the microphone was brought to her table. She took it in her hands as though it was an extension of her fingers as the music cued up. Then, as she began to effortlessly sing "Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac, the room got still. Frozen. All eyes were on her, and most of those eyes were wet. The lyrics, so beautifully fitting:

"Well, I've been afraid of changin'
'Cause I've built my life around you.
But time makes you bolder,
Even children get older,
I'm getting old too."

A man sitting at our table took notice of how emotional I had become. He leaned over to say, "Never stop feeling the music."

I had the honor of chatting with Wade, who at 85, has been singing nearly her whole life. She got started in the business as a backup singer in Elvis impersonator groups in Dallas and surrounding areas. In and out of bands, playing Deep Ellum clubs and local hotels, she shares, "I've been singing since I was a small child. I've loved music all my life."

As luck would have it, she was at a jam session when she started harmonizing with other musicians. They would soon form her most recent band, Psychedelic Oatmeal. They officially stopped playing gigs when she was in her 70s, but they remain close. (She notes her bandmates were all much younger.)

 bands, carole wade, music, old friends, singer Carole and her band mates.Carole Wade

They covered classic rock tunes from Stevie Nicks, The Eagles, Janis Joplin, and Led Zeppelin. Songs like "Me and Bobby McGee," "Seven Bridges Road," and "Whole Lotta Love." She laughs that most of the men in the band couldn't hit those Zeppelin high notes made famous by Robert Plant, so she took on the challenge—with great success.

They even branded themselves at gigs, making little Ziploc bags of oatmeal and glitter, which they would throw to the audience at shows. That is, until a club owner asked them to stop, as the oatmeal was mixing with spilled drinks, "creating goo."

Rare footage of Psychedelics Oatmeal.

  The band Psychedelic Oatmeal plays in Dallas.  www.youtube.com  

Wade makes clear that music is her therapy. "If you're down on a certain day, it will bring you up." She has lived a full life, with two grown sons who are both excelling in life. But music, and the friends with whom she makes it, brings her that extra piece of joy and purpose.

Michael Hatcher, the Resident Services Director at The Reserve at North Dallas (the senior facility in which this event was held), has seen firsthand how music soothes seniors. It reconnects them to their purest selves, no matter how hazy their memories might become. Hatcher shares, "They remember the music, and the time. It's a vessel for anyone of age. It can be used to bring someone out of the deepest sun-downing and back to life."

A man sings "Just a Gigolo" at The Reserve karaoke day.

@cdk213

Senior living karaoke! Fabulous! #seniorlivingcommunity #justagigalo #dallas

There is much research to support this. Bannerhealth.com quotes music therapy coordinator Tammy Reiver for Banner Hospice in Phoenix: "Music holds the power to increase dopamine levels (happy hormones), decrease symptoms of depression and pain, and improve a person’s quality of life. Pleasing music plays an important role at every age, but for aging adults, the benefits are even greater.”

As for Wade? She jokes that she and a few other musicians at the senior home have plans to start their own band. She certainly has the chops for it—and the fans.

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Jimmy Fallon asked if viewers had ever been caught red-handed. Here are 11 epic responses.

Oh, some of these are cringeworthy.

Danielle Marie Carolan/Wikimedia Commons

Jimmy Fallon asked his fans to share stories of being caught in the act.

There is nothing worse than being caught in the act when you're up to no good. You can't lie about it, you can't take it back, all you can do is pray for forgiveness. Some people unfortunately have to learn that lesson the hard way, which makes for some pretty epic life stories, hopefully without too much lasting damage or embarrassment along the way.

While laughing at another's misfortune isn't cool, when someone brings it upon themselves and shares their misdeeds in a spirit of solidarity, it's fair game. So when "The Tonight Show" host Jimmy Fallon asked his viewers on X if they had ever been caught red-handed, asking them to tag stories with #IGotCaught, people's responses were too embarrassing, cringeworthy, and hilarious not to share.

Here are 11 of the funniest and/or most embarrassing Tweets of people being caught red-handed:

 
 

The teacher who ditched class only to run into one of his students doing the exact same thing.

"Called in sick to work one day. Saw one of my students at the beach. We nodded as we both realized we were skipping my class."

 

How do you explain this one?

"I googled a guy before meeting him. Later I pulled out my phone to show him a picture of my dog and he saw the picture of him."

And sexting your husband when your mother-in-law's in the chat? Mortifying.

"Sent a sext to my husband…forgot his mom was in a group chat."

 
 

When your crush catches you looking him up…

"#IGotCaught looking up a guy's info on a college computer. Heard his voice behind me telling me how to correctly spell his last name."

 
 

Life lesson: If you're going to try calling out sick from work, don't get caught on television at a rock concert.

"I called off sick to go to a music festival. The next day my boss said, 'Next time don't stand in the front row.' I was on TV."

 
 

Ah, the innocence of youth caught being not so innocent.

"I snuck out at age 15 to go to a drinking party. The doorbell rang, I answered the door, there stood my mom."

 


 

If you're going to fall asleep at work, at least make it entertaining for the boss.

"#igotcaught when my boss caught me dozing off at my desk. I raised my head slowly and said, 'Amen.'"

 

Oh, this is one that will stick for a long time. Ouch.

"On a first date and sent a text to what I thought was my buddy saying 'this date is awful SOS'…sent it to her."

 

At least this one was a compliment:

"I was telling my friend about a guy that had a cute butt. The guy heard me and said Thanks."

 

When you think your parents are noobs:

"Parents found out my bro threw a house party after finding the wifi password pinned up everywhere. His excuse, 'I forgot it…a lot.'"

 
 

Or, when your dad is already one step ahead of you…

"Once I tried to sneak out my window and it was dark so I put my hand on something for balance…it was my Dad."

 

Thanks for all the vicarious, second-hand embarrassment, Jimmy Fallon. Yeesh.

This article originally appeared eight years ago.


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I spent a week chatting with people over 80. Here are 4 pieces of wisdom they shared.

"No one warns you how many of your new friends will pass on."

Canva

Two hands of different ages grasp one another.

There are only a few things in this life we can't evade. One of them is aging. Sure, there's Botox and facelifts and all that jazz to help us look younger. But in the end, our cells simply insist on keeping score, and no matter how hard some might fight it, our DNA is bombarded with hits that will eventually take us down.

The good news is that with years often comes wisdom. I like to think of our minds as though they were hiking trails. Each trail has a sign, but instead of telling us which way to go, the signs remind us who we are. This past week, I was honored to read some of those signs at the senior home where my mom resides. Nearly every conversation, at least for me, yielded little sage sachets of advice that are truly invaluable.

 

Know someone before you marry them.

 

A woman in her early 80s shared that it takes about a year for someone's "true nature" to be revealed, even in the most intimate of relationships. (This, at least according to a professor she had in graduate school.) In other words, she says, "A person can hide their psychological pathologies, on average, for about a year."

So, she wishes younger people would wait at least that long before moving in or getting married. "Slow down," she said. "Really take your time before you take the leap. Everyone puts their best foot forward at first and then sometimes that mask can slip. Don't get stuck."

 elderly man, elderly woman, relationship, honeymoon phase A man kissing a woman near the ocean.  Photo by Esther Ann on Unsplash  

Some research shows that the "honeymoon phase" can, of course, vary in length. Brides.com shares, "The honeymoon phase is an early part of a couple's relationship where everything seems carefree and happy. It usually lasts from six months to two years and can be marked with lots of laughs, intimacy, and fun dates."

No matter how long that phase lasts, her advice to slow down and really get to know someone before fully committing seems like (mostly) a good idea.

 

Listen to your doctors

 elderly man, doctor's office, health, blood pressure A doctor examining a patient's wrist with a stethoscope  Photo by CDC on Unsplash  

 

I met a woman who was a retired OBGYN. We talked at length about perimenopause, hormones, and life after 50. She urges, "Do the research, but also (for the most part) listen to your doctors. Most of them know what they're doing."

We both kind of laughed, and then she leaned in and said, "No. Really." She added, "Nothing wrong with getting a second, or even third opinion. But listen and read all you can before it's too late."

 

Understand that time is precious

 elderly, aging, friendship, time, Two men play chess.  Photo by Vlad Sargu on Unsplash  

 

One thing my mom rather casually mentioned really stuck with me. This was how difficult it is to make new friends—and not for reasons one might think. Sure, senior living facilities can be just as cliquey as groups were in middle school. But for my mother, it was less about fitting in and more about fearing she would lose people as she grew to love them.

"No one warns you how many of your new friends will pass on. When I first moved here, I befriended a brilliantly funny woman and within six months she was gone. This happens more and more and you never get used to it. You're never prepared."

 

If you don't want to eat dinner at 4:30, you don't have to.

 

On a simpler note, this one might be obvious to some, but it was certainly a common topic among the people with whom I spoke. Even though they serve dinner at 5:00 in many senior homes, it doesn't mean you can't put it in Tupperware and save it for later. To that point, just because people age, doesn't mean they have to go to bed at 8:00 p.m. (Though for many, that timeline is just perfect.)

One man noted, "Just because we all live in one place doesn't mean we all become one person. We've got night owls and early birds and every other kind of bird you could imagine. Eat and sleep when you want to. It's still your life."

His friend added, "If you want to play Mahjong at midnight, do it!"

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What will Earth look like if all its land ice melts? These maps show the clear answer.

Climate change isn't pretty.

via Business Insider Science/YouTube.

A map of the United States post land-ice melt.

Land ice: We got a lot of it. Considering the two largest ice sheets on earth — the one on Antarctica and the one on Greenland — extend more than 6 million square miles combined ... yeah, we're talkin' a lot of ice. But what if it was all just ... gone? Not like gone gone, but melted?

If all of earth's land ice melted, it would be nothing short of disastrous. And that's putting it lightly. This video by Business Insider Science (seen below) depicts exactly what our coastlines would look like if all the land ice melted. And spoiler alert: It isn't great. Lots of European cities like, Brussels and Venice, would be basically underwater.

I bring up the topic not just for funsies, of course, but because the maps are real possibilities.

How? Climate change.

As we continue to burn fossil fuels for energy and emit carbon into our atmosphere, the planet gets warmer and warmer. And that, ladies and gentlemen, means melted ice.

A study published this past September by researchers in the U.S., U.K., and Germany found that if we don't change our ways, there's definitely enough fossil fuel resources available for us to completely melt the Antarctic ice sheet.

Basically, the self-inflicted disaster you see above is certainly within the realm of possibility.


 

   assets.rebelmouse.io  

 


In Africa and the Middle East? Dakar, Accra, Jeddah — gone.



 

   assets.rebelmouse.io  

 


Millions of people in Asia, in cities like Mumbai, Beijing, and Tokyo, would be uprooted and have to move inland.



 

   assets.rebelmouse.io  

 


South America would say goodbye to cities like Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires.


 

   assets.rebelmouse.io  

 


And in the U.S., we'd watch places like Houston, San Francisco, and New York City — not to mention the entire state of Florida — slowly disappear into the sea.


 

   assets.rebelmouse.io  

 

All GIFs via Business Insider Science/YouTube.

Business Insider based these visuals off National Geographic's estimation that sea levels will rise 216 feet (!) if all of earth's land ice melted into our oceans.

There's even a tool where you can take a detailed look at how your community could be affected by rising seas, for better or worse.

Although ... looking at these maps, it's hard to imagine "for better" is a likely outcome for many of us.

Much of America's most populated regions would be severely affected by rising sea levels, as you'll notice exploring the map, created by Alex Tingle using data provided by NASA.

Take, for instance, the West Coast. (Goodbye, San Fran!)



 

   assets.rebelmouse.io  

 


Or the East Coast. (See ya, Philly!)


 

   assets.rebelmouse.io  

 


And the Gulf Coast. (RIP, Bourbon Street!)

"This would not happen overnight, but the mind-boggling point is that our actions today are changing the face of planet Earth as we know it and will continue to do so for tens of thousands of years to come," said lead author of the study Ricarda Winkelmann, of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.

If we want to stop this from happening," she says, "we need to keep coal, gas, and oil in the ground."

The good news? Most of our coastlines are still intact! And they can stay that way, too — if we act now.

World leaders are finally starting to treat climate change like the global crisis that it is — and you can help get the point across to them, too.

Check out Business Insider's video below:


 

  - YouTube  www.youtube.com  

 


This article originally appeared eleven years ago.

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