April 3, 2004
By the way, I got burned by Minnesota Mike on April Fool’s Day. He came into my office with the newest Route 66 Magazine and told me there were some very good articles in there and that I needed to check it out. I was in the middle of a Custer cluster deadline and muttered something and added the mag to the general pile next to my computer, and went back to work. About a half hour later I started printing out some of the Custer copy, and as I was waiting for the printer, I picked up the magazine and took a gander. When I got to page 34 I did a double-take and jumped out of my chair. There, big as life, was a photo of a sixties rock band looming before me and on the bass drumhead were two words: “The Exits.” I flipped out! The Exits is the name of the band I was in! Is it possible there was another band with our name? What are the odds? I jumped up with the mag in my hands, but as I rounded my desk, in the light of the window, I finally saw that the drumskin in the photo had a little round addition pasted over the top of the real name (The Fireballs).

“Melrose!” I blared as I got to my door. “You son of a gym teacher!” He was already laughing. He got me good. Here is the photo of the Fireballs (with the addition) and a photo of the real Exits. Mike thinks the Fireball's drummer has a close resemblance to the Exits’ drummer, especially the big ears.

Kathy and I watched the fourth episode of Deadwood last night. When you see it a week from now, you’ll find out why they haven’t let out the name of Jack McCall. Very clever and shocking, if Kathy’s reaction is any indication (I didn’t tell her on purpose). They handled it quite well. Very accurate to what happened. The Number 10 Saloon’s layout is perfect. There is a scene where McCall tries to mount a horse, but the cinch is loose and he falls in the mud. This actually happened. The only problem is, the saddle, which they show in close-up is a “bad saddle.” It’s a modern, 1950s roll back. Peter S., who worked on the series told me he offered to provide them with authentic, period saddles, but some mid-level production person owed a favor to a kid and he got the gig. Too bad. For Old West authenticity fanatics like me (and I want to stress that there are at least forty of us in the United States alone!) it ruins the whole show.

Not really. But it did make me wince. Why would they go to so much trouble on everything else and then blow it on a saddle? It would be like showing JFK in the back of the limo playing a Gameboy in Dealy Plaza.

“Television is actually closer to reality than anything in books. The madness of TV is the madness of human life.”
—Camille Paglia