February 5 2003
One of the benefits of reading this is you get to read stuff that won’t be in the magazine for months. I just got word today that the old TV show “Paladin” is being remade for the big screen. The producer is Jordan Kerner and he is quoted in Variety as saying, “The creation of Paladin as a leveler of the moral playing field in the Old West caught my imagination as a kid His deep concern over using a weapon was a lesson for an entire generation … but when he was forced to do so, the outcome was certain.” Also according to Variety, Dan will write a screenplay “full of action, morality, deeply etched characters, humor and a number of profound twists and turns." We’ll soon see. If you’ve seen the new True West (Feb.-March issue) you know about all of the Western projects now filming. It’s going to be a tidal wave by next fall.

Added another page to Classic Gunfights. Also added another article on Thom Ross, the artist. Faxed a rough of cover idea to Dan H. down in Phoenix. Sales staff is breaking all records. Might even go bigger. Deadline is Friday.

Last night at five, Kathy picked me up and we went down to El Conquistador for an early dinner ($22 cash). It was mole night so I had the mole chicken enchiladas. Aichi-carumba! Muy bien! One of Kathy’s old school mates Michelle joined us and then we all went to our second Conversational Spanish class. The teacher handed out a Spanish Newspaper, La Voz (The Voice) and I glanced at several of the stories but what caught my eye was a piece on “Todoterrenos”, which is Spanish for SUVs, or “all terrain vehicles.” Funny. This session we learned the important stuff: “Hay tostaditos con salsa” (I’ll have the chips with salsa) and “Hay margarita sin sal, con hielo.” (I’ll have a margarita without salt and on the rocks). And, if you’re in Mexico and you have four or five of those, you’ll need to know how to say: “Quanto le debo Gordo?” (How much do I owe you, Pig?) And if you can say that correctly, your next phrase will probably be, “Muy bueno hoosegow, mi amore.” (Nice jail you got here, bitch.). Having spent quality time in a Nogales jail, I should know.

“It is very easy to overestimate the importance of our own achievements in comparison with what we owe others.”
—El Jefe, Dietrich Bonhoeffer