April 3, 2005
Got up and bailed into my new sketchbook early, whipping out three heads, one of James Taylor (who looks a bit like Buckskin Frank Leslie), one of a band guy (Blink 142?) and one of Clint Eastwood as Wyatt Earp (all cribbed from a book of mostly Annie Leibowitz photos from Rolling Stone magazine).

From there I got inspired to do an overview of a train chugging across the desert towards Tucson at dusk. The sun is setting over the Tucson Mountains and the Old Pueblo is lit up by the brand new gas lights. The train is below us about two hundred feet down. Did two versions, good steam floating up towards us in the first one, better sunset in the second. Worked all morning and into the afternoon on that. The gas lighting in the distance is not what I'd hoped for, doesn’t glow right, my atmospheric techniques suck.

Speaking of April Fools' jokes gone awry (see April 1 posting), I got this Email from a former KSLX morning show listener who signs himself, Braveson, who said, referring to one of our more infamous pranks, "One of the funniest mornings in my life:"

And it is written - (law.indiana.edu/fclj/pubs/v52/no2/levine.pdf)

“Despite the rare instances of license revocations for repeated violations, the primary FCC reaction to hoaxes has been an admonishment. Admonishments serve as a slap on the wrist to a station. However, they also put a station on notice that it should refrain from such behavior in the future, lest it jeopardize their license at the next renewal hearing. Typical examples of such cases include KSLX-FM in Scottsdale, Arizona, which had broadcast an April Fool’s Day joke that the station had been taken hostage by Indians. [actually I think it was the Albertsons store!!!~braveson]

105
The hoax resulted in a number of calls to the police as well as the 911 operators. However, because the joke was a one-time incident and the licensee instituted station policies to prevent such hoaxes in the future, no further action was taken beyond an admonishment.

106, Additional Reference:
www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Mass_Media/Databases/documents_collection/92-208.pdf

This was an April Fools’ morning show stunt which we (The Jones & Boze Radio Show) pulled off, by telling our 6 AM listeners that we were going to pull a joke on the people who weren't up yet. We told them to start calling at seven and give us first-person accounts of an Indian uprising on Pima Road (local Indian tribes were actually giving Scottsdale fits about closing the road that ran across their res). We thought it would be a goofy take on "War of the Worlds" and that it would be a harmless giggle. The stunt worked so well ("The Albertson’s near me is on fire and police are everywhere!"), that some listeners got hysterical and soon callers, say, parents of kids who worked at the Albertson's, melted the emergency 911 lines. I remember two Scottsdale cops coming into the studio and demanding we go off the air. We spent many months on the phone with radio station attorneys who asked us over and over, "What exactly were you thinking when you did this?" The station spent a reported $20,000 in legal bills defending the action.

Mother Radina came out at about three. Kathy and I took her over to the Cave Creek Museum to see a certain historical display. When we came in the door and met the docents and paid ($3 for adults, $2 for seniors), Betty said, "We’re here to see the Bob Boze Bell historical display." The docent looked quite confident and said, "Bob Boze Bell's historical display is right over here," as she walked us over to a modest glass case by the north wall. "Are you familiar with his work?" she said, trying to be helpful. "I'm his mother-in-law," Betty said. The docent still didn’t get it. "Really. Well, this is his display and his work. He lives out here, you know." Finally Kathy couldn’t take it any longer and said pointing at me, "He's Bob Boze Bell. You can't recognize him because he gave you all these photos of himself so much younger." The docent was quite humiliated by this, but I assured her she had nothing to be ashamed of. Actually, I was kind of humiliated that she couldn't see the resemblance (Am I really that old looking?). I imagined someday coming into the museum and trying to convince someone that it's really me in the glass case. ("No really, I'm him. Picture me with teeth. Here's my social security ID card. SEE? I was taller then and could actually walk in those days. Really. It's me, Dammit!").

Ended up at El Encanto for an early dinner. Place slammed with winter visitors. Sat in bar, had a margarita and the Sonoran enchiladas with an egg on top. ($40, house account, Betty got tip, $8). Very nice time.

Came home and took a nap. Got up at 6:30 and watched Deadwood (actually last week’s episode where Al gets the probe up the you-know-what).

"It is only possible to live happily ever after on a day to day basis."
—Margaret Bonnano