Sam Elliott

Sam Elliott

Obsession Level: He Made Me Love Westerns

I don't remember the first time I laid eyes on Sam Elliott, but it wasn't long before I was in love.  He was the perfect man's man.  He was rugged, tough, and his voice was amazing.  It's like "velvet over gravel" according to one of my friends.  I have seen him in a lot of movies, always playing a tough guy and something of a charmer. (Obviously, I mean who wouldn't he charm?)  For me, though, his real masterpiece was when he played Wild Bill Hickok in Buffalo Girls.  I got the movie originally because Reba was in it and I needed it to finish up my collection of Reba movies, but then I discovered I had a billion other reasons to fall in love with the movie.  First of all, it was based on the book by my favorite author, Larry McMurtry.  Actually, it was the movie that led me to Larry McMurtry, but I'll get to my obsession with him as well as the other obsessions spawned by this movie in later blogs.  In fact, I think that Buffalo Girls deserves its own post.

The point here is that I fell in love with a man named Wild Bill Hickok, both the character and the man with a mustache behind the character.  I had absolutely no problem understanding why Calamity Jane (Anjelica Huston, another plus!) had fallen in love with him and had a child with him.  He was gorgeous, charming, and his voice would basically paralyze any woman around!  I knew after seeing Sam Elliott in that role, we were going to enjoy a long and happy relationship together through my newly formed obsession!  It's an admittedly small role in the movie, but it was enough for me!  

After Buffalo Girls I picked up a lot of movies with Sam Elliott, many of which you'll probably end up reading about here, if you're reading this, that is.  Mask was another one of my favorites.  Now I got to see Sam not as Wild Bill Hickok, but as a bad A biker!  He was just as amazing as he was in Buffalo Girls, but I got a different taste to what he was capable of.  It was also an added bonus to see him with Cher, another obsession.  (If you haven't noticed, a lot of my obsessions overlap, leading me always to question which obsession begot the other.)  He's both sensitive and tough in the movie, and that signature voice and mustache are there for all the world to enjoy.  Besides that, who doesn't love a man who can sport leather (whether it be "animal hides" or a biker jacket) and look totally amazing in it?!  

Reba McEntire

Reba McEntire

Obsession Level: Out of Control!

There she is, it's Reba McEntire, or just Reba.  We're on a first name basis in my head.  My discovery of Reba was an accidental one.  Somehow I ended up with a cassette tape by her and I fell in love instantly.  Her voice was so powerful and amazing.  My first favorite song was "Take it Back," but I immediately fell in love with every song I heard after that.  She definitely took her place among my Barbie games (I had a rock star Midge with crimped red hair that I used for her), and she was typically my main Barbie in games with friends.  

I used to leave the television on CMT just in hopes that her videos would come on, and I would tape them every chance I got so that I could watch them whenever I wanted.  You can imagine my happiness later in life when she released collections of her videos on DVD.  That made life much easier!  

In junior high and high school, my room was like a shrine.  I had posters of Reba on the wall, and I was so obsessed that I even wrote messages like "Reba's #1" on the back of my door with glow in the dark stars.  I had a scrapbook where I collected every picture and article I could get my hands on about her.  I went to concerts, collected t-shirts, and never missed a chance to tell someone how amazing she was.  

My video collection is pretty extensive, though much of it is limited to VHS.  Unfortunately Reba hasn't gone back and released her old VHS concert tapes on DVD, but I'm hopeful that it will happen before the tapes I have completely wear out.  I also, of course, have every movie she's been in, and I have the box sets of the Reba show that I watched religiously.  I basically know every line from every episode!  

I read her autobiography (both actually) several times.  I even read "My Story" out loud to my great grandmother when I would stay with her on the weekends.  It was great entertainment for us both!  

Reba's an amazing person, in my opinion, and she does so many things that I'm never surprised to find out that she's broken into something new.  I can't think of anything that she probably couldn't do!  She's definitely the Queen of Country Music as she has been called many times over!  

You can be sure you'll be seeing more about her here!