Gila Monster Mama Meets Flattop City Drama

 August 16, 2026

   Back in Cave Creek after a delightful run up and back down off the mountain from Payson. Yes, drove up yesterday morning early, and did the same on the return this morning.

   I met some very creative filmmakers at the Third Annual Payson Film Festival and we just might do some business together on projects like this:

Daily Whip Out: "Gila Monster Mama!"

T W O-L A N E

Daily Whip Out: "Two Lane Flattop"

   And, if you are wondering, yes, I had one.

BBB Flattop City

   And, I have a sneaky hunch that hairstyle led to this strange love.

Whole Lotta Strange Love

   And, that, in turn, led to here. . .

Daily Whip Out:

"Baby Dust Devil In A Tattered Sky"

"Real Wild Women"

   Got this sweet comment from a very talented playwright I know.

"There is absolutely no one who captures the heart of a woman on canvas like you."

—Jody Drake

Searching For The Searchers With John Ford

 August 15, 2026

   Took off from Cave Creek at three minutes before five this morning and took the back way to Fountain Hills via Rio Verde. It was a very nice 73 degrees out when I left and the serenity out on the desert was absolutely magical.

   No AC, driver's window down, cruising along in the quiet cool for the first time since, maybe 1987? No, that's a joke, but when it's 112 every day and 86 for the low every night, this kind of reprieve seems that long ago and it definitely seems heaven sent.

   After Fountain Hills I cruised up and over the Four Peaks Range, past the Gisela turnoff,  thru Rye, up the hill, and landed at the Airport Cafe in Payson for a 7 a.m. breakfast with the Payson Film Festival crew. We laughed it up pretty hard and got kicked out at 8:30.

   Next week, I have a longer drive.

Heading for Mission Beach next week

to spend time with these crazy offspring.

Meanwhile, back in Payson. . .

   At 11:30 I found myself at the same spot in the same restaurant—High Country BBQ—as last year. Only this year I was expounding on "The Searchers."

   I also, actually watched "The Searchers" on the big screen with the film festival crowd and I have to say the big Navajo landscapes loomed like behemoths, but I had forgotten how hokey, the subplots are. The silly romantic subplot really fell flat and other characters hauled in for comic relief, including the Swedish neighbor Lars Jorgensen (John Qualen), who uses a faux Norsky accent, and Mose Harper (Hank Worden), a half-wit treated like a mascot, really came off lame. This second strand is without interest, and those of us who value The Searchers filter it out, patiently waiting for a return to the main story line. On the other hand. . .

"Two things make Western pictures—horse manure & dust."

—John Ford

Heading to Payson Tomorrow

 August 14, 2026

   Hard to believe it's time for the Third Annual Payson Film Festival. I will be up there tomorrow at the High Country BBQ to talk about the film "The Searchers." If I see you there, remind me I should give you a free copy of the new issue which just landed at my doorstep yesterday.

Hot off the Press!

   Remember, you get it for free only if you mention this offer, the one I made right here on the blog. Otherwise, it's $5 bucks, baby.

   Meanwhile, Rebecca Edwards and I are working on a few movie poster ideas. You know me, I like to start at the end of the process and work backwards. Here's one in progress.

A Movie Poster Rough of My Next Film

   Yes, the leap of imagination here is that the guy who lived one of the most celebrated lives on the American frontier did not know how to tell his own story. And, if that isn't enough of a mind blower, try this one on. . .

"History without discomfort is propaganda."

—Old Vaquero Saying

Dust to Dust to Record Guacamuggies From The Duke of Dust

 August 13, 2026

   Sometimes the most subtle strokes can convey an entire world. This is one of those happy accident moments—less is more—in my long quest to capture the nuance of the many dust storms I grew up in.

Daily Whip Out: "Dust Storm Refugees"

Daily Whip Out: "Dust Up In Oraibi"

Daily Whip Out: "Dust Buster 13"

Daily Whip Out:

 "Erotic Nude In Dust Storm"

And, speaking of beauties, here's one final dust up for you.

"Dusty Springfield"

Okay, I lied.

"A Bonus Guacamuggie In Full Bloom"

   Speaking of full blown Guacamuggies, as reported in The Arizona Republic, a dust storm several days ago had a maximum dust concentration of 6,136 micrograms per cubic meter, the second-highest ever recorded in the Valley.

"Contrary to popular belief, dust is not my middle name."

—The Duke of Dust

Pushin' Eighty

 August 12, 2026

   Yes, you might say I've got "pushin' eighty" on the brain. Just the damn number is haunting me, especially since it represents eight decades on the planet! This is daunting enough, but now I hear it everywhere. Read on.

BBB in the Alabama Hills

BBB in the Alabama Hills II

Eighty Is The New Forty?

Dream on grandpa.

When Bad Things Happen to Good People

"I don't think bad things happen to good people. I think bad things happen to everyone and the way good people respond is what makes them good."

—David Lynch

An Italian style poster for "Fistful of Dollars" in the Scottsdale Museum of The West's new show, Still In The Saddle.

Morning Thunderhead Over Green Door

"Cleanin' my truck, get it pushin' eighty

Pickin' you up and later, maybe

Gettin' one kiss and goin' half-crazy. . ."

—Drake Milligan, "Sounds Like Somethin' I'd Do"

They Rode All Night & Remembering Chip DeMann

 August 11, 2026

   I keep finding little throw aways in my studio and wonder if they could be saved.

Daily Revised Whip Out: "They Rode All Night"

   And, as you might have noticed, some Whip Outs just lend themselves to one more pass. . .

Daily Revised Whip Out: "Not A Care Mare"

Then there are Whip Outs I don't remember doing. 

Daily Whip Out:

"Young Vaquero Guards The Fronteras Juzgado"

   And, it isn't just Whip Outs. Sometimes I look back on the work our design team has done and think to myself, "That was pretty righteous, but I wonder if we could improve it?" This is one example:

Geronimo:

Warrior, Founding Father,

Legend

   Pretty damn sweet. Speaking of sweet, there was a great guy from Northfield, Minnesota who really helped me—and many others!—who wanted to know the truth about the ill-fated bank job of the James-Younger gang in September of 1876. His name was Chip DeMann and he was a born-and-raised local and he went out of his way to help me, and many others, find the right look and the right history. Charles E. "Chip" DeMann II, age 70, of Northfield, passed away on Sept. 13, 2024. On August 19th the town of Northfield is honoring him with an exhibit.

“If you want to understand today, you have to search yesterday.”

—Pearl S. Buck

The Long Riders In The Rearview

 August 10, 2026

   Drove down into the Beast yesterday to introduce a classic Western at the Scottsdale Museum of the West.

Real Brothers Riding As Historic Brothers

All The Way to Northfield, Minnesota

   Back in 1971, James Keach wrote a play for he and his brother Stacey to star in, called "Brothers." This led to a Country Musical, "The Bandit Kings" which appeared off Broadway, then that led to a screenplay, "Outlaws" which morphed into "The Bad Guys," and finally as "The Long Riders," which was made into a film directed by Walter Hill and released in 1980.

   Of course, we now know, the title is a misnomer, because the real James-Younger gang actually rode trains from Missouri to Minnesota and bought horses when they got there (although for at least Frank and Jesse, they did, in fact, have a long ride home). The hook to the movie is that real brothers are portraying real brothers and they are:

• James & Stacy Keach, as Jesse and Frank James

• David, Keith and Robert Carradine as the Youngers.

• Dennis and Randy Quaid as the Millers

• Christopher and Nicholas Guest as the Ford Brothers.

   At one point Jeff and Beau Bridges were slated to appear as the Ford brothers but Jeff's filming commitments got in the way.

   They filmed the Northfield scenes in Parrott and Leary, Georgia and the train sequences were done in Sonora, California and the Texas State Railroad.

   The film cost $7.5 million and it only made back $5,891,149 so it was considered a failure, but it has since found an audience and is considered by many a classic. It doesn't hurt that Ry Cooder did the authentic music.

"I hates the Yankee nation

And everything they do

I hates the Declaration of Independence, too:

I hates the glorious Union

 'Tis dripping with our blood

And I hates their stupid banner

I fought it all I could."

—Ry Cooder, "I'm A Good Ol' Rebel" (traditional)