November 13, 2004
Worked all day on Johnny-Behind-the-Deuce. Did 11 sketches, then shifted to gouache. Fun, but I think I overworked it. I'll post one tomorrow.

Girls went shopping at the new Ikea store down in Chandler. Huge hype and lines, traffic jams. I wouldn't even dream of going near the place, but Kathy and Deena are drawn there like moths to a flame sale.

Speaking of flames, had my second fire of the season in the studio stove this morning. Felt good.

Pack rats got in the engine of the '49 Ford. Need to clean out the cholla tomorrow. Have Eric from 24 Hour Car Care coming out Monday to assess the damage.

Went up town at three to check mail, drop off Cody photographs to Bill Welch, make a bank deposit, check the mail. Buddy Boze Hatkiller rode along. Not sure if that was a good idea, but he pretty much behaved. He did pass some gas on the way home that made me wish he had stayed home. It's funny, males, and even male dogs give you that, "Hey, it wasn't me!" look. Must be a chromosone deal.

I knew Emma Bull would come through on the Bisbee movie being filmed down there. Here's her commentary:

"It's called Desolation, you silly git.Yesterday they were shooting on Subway Street, behind the old Woolworth building. The fading paint on the business signs and the old stained brick wall wasn't good enough for 'em—they dressed the set with old wooden pallets, ratty cardboard boxes, miscellaneous discarded junk, more dented galvanized metal trash cans than can be found in all of Bisbee--and three imported tumbleweeds. I have no idea where they
brought those in from.

“It was a hoot, and reminded me of the magic of movies. The process itself is like watching paint dry, everyone involved is worked like a slave and subject to verbal abuse from whoever's above them in the pecking order, projects that start off promising are usually compromised into the ground before they're finished... And yet, there was a back street in a near-abandoned mining town in Nevada, on the back side of a building that houses one of the best and fanciest restaurants in Arizona and not ten yards from one of the most beautiful houses in Bisbee.

"Moviemaking is like Fairyland--it'll kill you if you try to live there, but visiting is like nothing else on earth."

And here’s some astute commentary from one who knows on the recent flap over the banquet speaker, etc. at the recent WHA conference in Vegas: "The Mountain Man toast and the Green River knife ceremony are . . . toast. The banquet speaker is a thing of the past. The buffs have been shown the door. High Seriousness reigns. We will in the future not meet in any Western state not colored ‘blue’ on the electoral map, since while Nevada may be unionized, it's a bit too titty for some, leaving only California to host future meetings. C'est fini, I said, using the language of America's favorite ally."

"The truth will set you free.
But before it does, it will make you angry."
—Jerry Joiner