November 15, 2005
What started as a trickle has ended up to be a torrent of questions about the Old West coming in over the transom and the internet. Here's just one of them I got in this morning. it's a fax from the True Grit Cafe in Ourray, Colorado:

"In the Old West you always hear references to whiskey, rye or gin and often the so-called ‘Red Eye,’ ‘Who Hit John’ and ‘Corn Squeezins’ but rarely hear a brand name mentioned. Although, bourbon was fairly well named by 1840 you rarely hear it referred to in western writing or movies. A drink is always ordered from a bar keep as whiskey, rye or gin. Can you shed some light on this aspect of western history?"
—Dale Tuttle, True West Maniac #1060

I am busy trying to answer all of these inquiries (this is a good thing) and trying to convert them into scripts for the next batch of True West Moments.

I had a doctor’s appointment at 11:45 AM to go over my blood work reports. Liver: normal. Thyroid: normal. Prostrate: normal. Iron: normal. Cholesterol: not good. Level is at 234 (better than last year’s 263, but not good enough. Should be below 200). So Lisa C. gave me a month’s worth of Lipitor. "Watch for liver damage and muscle spasms." Oh, great. Dodge one bullet, catch another one between the eyes.

I read a good piece on the actor Steve Buscemi in The New Yorker last night. Very inspiring. Here's this gangly Long Island kid, too skinny, bad teeth. "Kinda funny lookin'" as the hooker in Fargo described him, and yet, the little Bastard has a thriving movie career, because of all of that pathos and perceived ugliness. And I thought he was over the top great in Fargo. Just brilliant. He just finished directing his fourth or fifth episode of The Sopranos for the next season. By the way, the rumor is that Tony gets whacked early on, but I'm betting he somehow, some way survives, because there ain't no show without the fat man with the funny morals.

"When an actor comes to me and wants to discuss his character, I say, 'It's in the script.' If he says, 'But what's my motivation?," I say, 'Your salary.'"
—Alfred Hitchcock