August 7, 2005
Very hot and muggy out. But not as hot as Tonopah, west of here, which allegedly has 125 degree tap water this time of year. Mad Coyote Joe claims in his new book, "On The Chile Trail" that Tonopah means “hot water under bush,” which I’m not sure I buy, but it’s sure funny.

I was looking at Joe’s new book because this is my first weekend off in a very long time and I want to make some Sonoran style Mexican food chicken and Joe is the Man.

Last night Kathy and I drove out to Glendale and took Mother Radina out to dinner at Applebee’s. I got a $25 gift certificate from a speech I gave (can’t remember who it was, been carrying the gift card for some time). Had a grand time. I had a steak and garlic mashed potatoes, Betty had the salmon and Kathy had an exotic burger deal. Bill was $33 minus $25. We left the waitress a $10 tip.

On a whim, we dropped in at Deer Valley 30 Cinemas on the way home and played Russian Movie-ette, meaning we took whatever was showing closest to the time we pulled up. Turned out to be “War of the Worlds.” ($19! Eight bucks a piece! Ay-yi-yi! The next thing you are going to tell me is that gas is above $2.40 a gallon). Deena saw it several weeks ago and told me she hated the ending and basically ripped the movie so neither Kathy and I were expecting much. We both had a great time. Great special effects. There were plot holes (so if the machines needed people to eat for sustinence, why did they destroy so much food in the New York sequence?), but beyond that it was just fun.

A couple weeks ago I mentioned that I took Tomas out in the back yard and posed him for a painting I was doing of a stagecoach robbery. Cristina took a photo of me sketching the T Boy in his skivvies and frock coat. When Cristina got back to Spain she posted the digital photos of her trip on one of those webside photo deals which Tomas took me to online and showed me. I asked him to download the photo of me sketching him, so I could use it as another reference for the painting. I’ll post that photo, plus the sketch I did of Tomas, and then the final painting, which will run in CGII which goes to the printer tomorrow. Got that?

Oh, and I couldn’t help myself, Today I started a big painting of the three assassins of Virgil, utilizing the effects I originally wanted but didn’t get for the book. I’ll post those two for your comparison as the week goes on.

For those of you paying extra attention, Mickey Free is on deck.

”A pint can’t hold a quart—if it holds a pint it is doing all that can be expected of it.”
—Margaret Deland