January 16, 2006
The annual Road Runner Regional Rodeo was held last weekend down at the new Rawhide location (next to Firebird Lake on the way to Tucson). For those of you who don’t know, this is the annual gay and lesbian rodeo. Yes, they’ve been holding it for a decade or so, and yes, they said in the paper they are hoping the movie Brokeback Mountain will increase awareness about their sport and event. And yes, in addition to bull riding and bareback bronc riding, they have goat dressing and something called “wild drag racing.” I am going to be curious to see who the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, got to be the “bigoted straight guy” since Marshall Trimble flat turned them down. I would guess the piece will probably run this week on the Comedy Channel.

Meanwhile, here’s another comment on the movie seconding the connection of Jake and Heath being sheepherders and gay in the movie:
"I would hazard a guess that most cowboys would rather be called queer than be labeled a sheepherder."
—Paul Rolly, in the The Salt Lake Tribune

Ed Mell’s son Carson has a piece in the LA Weekly on a forgotten science fiction writer named Lucas Reed. Here’s the link and a taste:

http://www.laweekly.com/ink/06/07/feuilletons-reed.php

Burnt Past Black (Wizard Serials)
“We were blasting them back with our laser cannons, the smell of their burning hides wafting across the dunes. 'Full Power!' I shouted. Before I’d finished issuing the command, one of the Ginger Wasps whipped past my lips, darted down my throat, its razor sharp backside hot and frothing with eggs. How long now until I became one of them?”
—Lucas Reed

“The art of reading is to skip judiciously.”
—Old Vaquero Saying