The Gulf Needs a Local Hero

The Gulf Needs a Local Hero

Just got done watching for the nth time the movie Local Hero. It is a story about Nature and tradition actually winning out over Big Oil.  I am sure that is not the nature of the Beast here but it is a movie that makes me very happy.

I learned about this movie back when I was in grad school and a big fan of Mark Knophler. This is the same way I learned to love the Princess Bride.

Here is something I did not know. There had to be a soccer tie in

This tune "Going Home" borrows some riffs from traditional songs. 'Local Hero' from the soundtrack is played as Newcastle United take to the field in their home games played at St James' Park

Mac" MacIntyre (Peter Riegert) is a typical 1980s hot-shot executive working for Knox Oil and Gas in Houston, Texas. This is what we learned to be in grad school but hopefully not become.

Mac ultimately spends several weeks in Ferness, gradually adapting to the slower-paced life and getting to know the eccentric residents, most notably the hotel owner and accountant, Gordon Urquhart (Denis Lawson) and his wife, Stella (Jennifer Black) in his quest to buy the entire town and coast so that Knox Oil can pillage and plunder.

The quirky locals also want to get drunk first and rich in the end. 

But in the end the people and Nature do win out.  It was a refreshing watch of an old favourite of mine (the movie and the music) and I am not a nostalgic person but also a hopeful reminder of F*ck Big Oil, Buy Local and we have only one earth and at times it can be pretty amazing.

The Aurora borealis is always present much the same as the quirky motor cycle that appears out of nowhere. The Aurora borealis is a personal quest of sorts in my own life. I have seen it from an airplane and I want to see it for myself some day. It's a reminder that little things in life are a lot more important than making tons of money. People matter, Nature matters and music matters.