May 2, 2004
Big Radina pow-wow and dinner last night at Earl’s Fine Foods in Peoria. It was ‘Cedes first communion (Catholic) and we all met at the Radina family restaurant for some great Mexican food afterwards. I had the homemade Chiles Colorado, which Brad made specifically for this week’s Cinco de Mayo celebration. Really great. I also had three Horni Margaritas (made with Horni tequila), and I wasn’t alone. Most of the Brown clan were there, Myra, Mercedes, Carol and Aunt Pat, and they all hail from the Great Falls, Montana area and I guess they showed us “flatlanders” how to party.

Aunt Pat offered up a mean Watusi, then segued into a nasty little Dirty Dog and Frug, ending up with the Pony and what looked to me like the Alligator, but she was moving so fast, and dishes were flying off the table at such dangerous angles, I had to duck underneath and only saw part of the finale.

Myra, who is an airline pilot and doctor, finally got Aunt Pat down off the table and helped her put her blouse back on. It was wild and expensive ($152, fortunately we put this on Doyle’s credit card, because he wasn’t there).

Some of the above has been exaggerated for petty effect.

Got two movie reviews from Johnny Boggs:

THE ALAMO: Forget the advance negative buzz. This movie works, one of the few successful mixes of historical accuracy and mass-market entertainment. Certainly not a great movie but well done. Ron Howard goofed. He should have directed this one instead of the ludicrous THE MISSING. (***)

HILDAGO: A wholesome family adventure flick, about as loose with the truth and logic as Frank Hopkins. For a horse-racing epic that lacks much giddie-up, it's not a bad way to kill a couple of hours, though it's left in the dust by the movies it desperately wants to be: LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK and the underappreciated gem of an endurance-race Western, BITE THE BULLET. (** 1/2)

And speaking of the HBO series Deadwood, I also got this inside skinny on the real Jack McCall from J.Rae:
“Reportedly Mc Call clutched a rosary on the gallows at Yankton, where he was hung for the killing of Wild Bill Hickok on March 1, 1877. Mc Call's last spoken words were "make it tighter, Sheriff" as the hemp was being secured around his neck. Years later, Mc Call was disinterred and reburied—the noose was still tied around his neck.”

"Here's some exciting news. Maybe you can still get tickets. P. Diddy is starring in a Broadway musical. It's a classic revival of 'Guys and Hos'."
—David Letterman