August 23, 2005
Still hot, about 105 today, supposed to be a big storm coming in tonight. Got up at 6:40, took the dogs for a run and then cleaned and filed in studio before going into work (Operation Fresh Start is in full swing as I dig out from my multiple messes).

On the way back from Kingman Sunday, Kathy and I stopped at the Desert Caballeros Western Museum in Wickenburg ($8 cash entry fee). Excellent show on Taos artists which included some of my fave artists like Victor Higgins. Always inspiring. Grabbed lunch at El Rancheros, a place Dave Daiss discovered last week.

Almost didn’t have a staff meeting today (to give my employees a break from my pontificating), but Robert Ray insisted we have one and we actually got some good things accomplished and saved the company $1,000.

So, I took Robert Ray to lunch today at El Encanto to talk about needed equipment and future projects. Considering what I put him through in the past two months, it’s amazing he’s even speaking to me. I had the Sonoran enchiladas with an egg on top and Robert had the machaca ($19.03 plus $4 tip, biz account).

Brian and Bill from The Cowboy Legacy Gallery vetoed Dan Harshberger’s poster design for CGII and prefer the simpler image from the full page ad (see September True West, page 39). I told Dan I’d split the cost of printing with him for a second poster design (to prove to them they made a mistake) and so we’re going to have two posters for the show and book. They’ll be $10 each at the show on September 30, and then $20 each after the show. I’ll post the two poster designs for your consideration tomorrow.

Last night I finally checked out a bargain basement DVD Kathy picked up for me at Target. It contains three Westerns, including Angel and the Badman, 1947, and The Lawless Frontier, 1934, also starring John Wayne and a cartoon, The Mild West. I watched the cartoon and Lawless Frontier which was beyond awful and racist to boot, with a Mexican bandit named Pandro Zanti (Earl Dwire) and a young whippersnapper named Dusty (Gabby Hayes with only tints of gray). However, the riding stunts by legendary Yakima Canutt were outstanding and inspiring, although it appears they were tripping horses for certain stunts and that always makes me wince.

After the movie I went to bed and finished reading Once Upon A Time In Italy, a companion book to the Autry Museum show I saw last weekend in LA. Really a great read and it gave me many great ideas on how to approach new Western heroes and movies. More on this later. . .

"Look for strength in people, not weakness; for good, not evil. Most of us
find what we search for."
-- Wilbur J. Chapman