January 19, 2006
Cloudy and cooler. Got another tie on today from my Jane Bischoff stash. Working hard to finish the Tiburcio Vasquez Classic Gunfights feature this morning. Did more studies last night, still not quite there. John Boessenecker wants something cover worthy for his upcoming book, so I’m putting extra effort into the process.

We got an advance look at Gary Roberts’ new tome on Doc Holliday. Intriguing insights and new findings from the foremost Doc expert in the land. Mark Boardman just finished reading it yesterday and is recommending we do some sort of excerpt in the magazine. Meanwhile, Gary contacted me about a source on the comments Wyatt Earp made when Billy Breckenridge’s book, Helldorado came out and, in it, Breck accused Earp of wearing an iron vest at the Mescal Springs fight. As the story goes, the Earp party, including Doc Holliday, rode into a ranch, north of Willcox, and Doc allegedly said, "The steel saved you that time." The steel being a crude, bullet-proof vest. Years later, Earp was quoted as saying, "I wonder if they thought about how hot one of those things would be on the Arizona desert." Gary wants to know the source of that quote (it’s in my Wyatt book) but for the life of me I can’t find it. Perhaps one of the Earp experts who reads this blog will remember the source and citation.

Wrangler Comments From Yesterday's Post
“Dear Wrangler Whore: I hate to be the first to break the news to you, but you most likely can no longer wear the slim-cut denims that Wrangler is famous for unless you have gotten rid of the budding spare tire I saw at our 40th reunion. No offense, man, it's just physics. You will look like one of those chubby women at the mall wearing those low-rider jeans, and that is not a pretty sight."
—Charlie Waters

"Hysterical. And by the way, do REAL cow-boys wear Levis 501 or Wrangler 13MWZ? Here in West Texas, ranch working cow-boys tend to favor the Levis as the original cow-boy jean (although their 19th Century ancestors would have rather died than dress as a nester or miner) and seemingly, to separate themselves from the PRCA types who insist on Wranglers or suitable variant."
—Alan Huffines

I grew up on Levi's being the only cowboy brand of jeans, but the San Francisco company has become so PC (politically correct) in recent years that they’ve turned off most of the cowboys I know. I think Marshall Trimble had in a recent Ask the Marshall column the news item about Levi’s coming out against rodeo as being cruel to animals, etc. In spite of the snide comments made by my old Kingman compadre (above) I actually enjoy the fit of Wranglers, but still feel some residual guilt over abandoning my Levi's roots. But, in my defense, I still drive a Ford, just like my father and his father. Unfortunately, my daughter didn’t get that gene and drives some Godless Prius vehicle.

Depressing Statistic for Small Business Owners Like Myself
“Over 90 percent of new businesses fail, while over 90 percent of franchises succeed.”
—Dale Dauton

Maybe this is why whenever I go on a road trip I go out of my way to eat in a homegrown cafe and not a franchise restaurant, unless there is no other choice. I want regional uniqueness, not bland homogenization.

Favorite Onion Headline de Jour
U.S. To Give Every Iraqi $3,544.91, Let Free-Market Capitalism Do The Rest

Much talk in our house this morning about the current memoir argument regarding made up stories, or fiction passing as fact. Kathy believes the furor over the book, “A Million Pieces” is ridiculous, and that the alleged exaggerations have very little to do with the overall book. I agreed, although I had to cringe about the controversy because in a recent posting where I told the genesis of the name Boze, I was confronted by one of my former teammates who insists the naming incident didn’t happen in a game with Needles, but in a scrimmage. Ouch! If true, it severely reduces the dramatic impact of the story. Oh, well.

“Mysticism and exaggeration go together.”
—Milan Kundera