September 19, 2003
Yesterday’s photo came off great. We have become a pretty large family. I think there were over 20 of us lined up along the porch. Board meeting also went well. Hashed out stock value, etc. always tricky. Think we came up with a decent compromise. Had a victory dinner at R.G. and Karen’s house in the evening. Fun time, except my flaming liberal wife got to cranking on Bush and it didn’t exactly go over with all the Fox News Hounds at the table (two vets, one marine, and three conservative spouses, and that would include me). Fortunately Bob Brink finally let Kathy out of the hammerlock and we were allowed to go home.

Mark Boardman is visiting from Indiana. He is the president of WOLA (Western Outlaws & Lawmen Association). Fun talking to him. He told me of a new book coming out on William S. Hart, which is going to be an eye opener. The guy was flat out weird.

Talked to my old band mate and childhood friend Charlie Waters yesterday. He’s the editor of the Fresno Bee and related a story about assigning one of his new copy editors the homework assignment of how to get data on news subjects. He instructed her to go on the internet and find some dirt on someone. The woman came in the next day, handed him a piece of paper and said, “Is this you?” Charlie read it and this is what it said:

“In 1963 I helped form a rock & roll band with my friends, Charlie
Waters and Wendell Havatone. We got our name when Charlie and I
were walking out of history class and in the hall, we saw the Exit sign
and Charlie said, "Why don't we call ourselves the Exits, because when
everybody hears us play, that's where they'll go."

Charlie asked the intern how much it would cost him for to pretend she never saw that paragraph. They laughed. It is from my life story which appears at bobbozebell.com.
In a related incident, I asked Gus if he’d look up Tranter pistol on the internet and see if he can find any info on it. He plugged “Tranter” into Dogpile and the first entry to come up was my blog entry right here, explaining how I was looking for a Tranter pistol.

Expanded our Johnny Cash coverage yesterday with Jana writing up a good homage. Larry Johns wrote the obit and also did a very fine job. Here is a quote about Johnny from the new issue of Time that I think is just brilliant:

“His was not the rocker’s shriek but the dark, deep voice of a man counting out his demons and his losses with the stoicism of a poker player dealt a bum hand.”

Jana also interviewed Billy Bob Thorton on the phone yesterday. He laughed when he heard Dennis Quaid’s remark that the producers of the Alamo got a hillbilly celebrity (Billy Bob) to play a hillbilly hero (Davy Crockett).

”You got to have smelt a lot of mule manure before you can sing like a hillbilly.”
—Hank Williams, Sr.