March 17, 2006
On Thursday night, Mark Boardman, Paul Hutton, George Laibe and myself went out for beers. We started at the Buffalo Chip, and three pitchers of Fat Tire later, we floated, on foot, over to Harold’s for dinner and mas cerveza. Three more pitchers and a prime rib later (Mark Boardman was drinking diet Pepsi) we were getting quite rowdy and solving every problem known to man (or at least as it applies to True West).

I woke up Friday morning with a well-deserved headache and when I met Mark at the breakfast table I asked him what he got out of last night and Mark said, “I’m so glad I haven’t had a drink in nine years.” I laughed and asked him if we were really that bad, and he assured me, yes, we were pretty bad. He also commented that I got quite “morose.” I didn’t enjoy hearing this because I consider myself an upbeat guy (even in my cups), but when I later mentioned this to Hutton, he laughed and said, “No, I noticed you stopped drinking and stopped talking and it was obvious we were keeping you up past your bedtime.” He was right. When I saw it was approaching 9:15, I thought to myself, “Well, this is enough of that.” Ha.

More Broke Black Mountain Comments
“If I was to offer advice, which as you know I never ever do, I would say Do Not Go There, because you are on what we Brits call a thick ear to a hiding—by making a choice that pleases the 50% who agree with you, you are certain to infuriate the 50% who don't. And in the ultimate analysis, who cares whether TW capitalizes or lower-cases? What are you, the Supreme Court? Confucius, he say, man who try to please everybody end up pleasing nobody."
—Fred Nolan

“Re: Jana's comments. Wow. This from someone who seems to think every other cowboy did the Brokeback Mountain jig. Sheesh.

“Again, in terms of historic reality and accuracy, most folks back then used Negro or negro, not black. ‘Nigger’ was used more often. So her comment on ‘African American’ is specious. I love the word ‘specious.’ So I still argue...If the NAACP doesn't do it, why should we? If capitalization is a sign of respect, then we must capitalize Deaf, Blind, Leper, Pederast, Whore...whatever. Methinks this is just a strange strain of political correctness--one that is not even adopted by the liberal crowd, for the most part.

“Seriously, I think we strive to be fair to folks. We try to put them in the context of their times, which were so different than ours. We've directly attacked the misinformation promulgated about Kit Carson by minority groups and academics who want to blame whites for all the problems of the world. We've laughed that known outlaws like Tiburcio Vasquez and Joaquin Murrieta are regarded as heroic by at least some Californios, who ignore the depredations committed by these guys against their own people. And I think we've shaken our heads over politically correct folks who would paint all Indians with the stereotype of nobility, grace and peacefulness when at least some tribes (and individuals) were anything but that.”
—Mark Boardman

Favorite Onion Headline de Jour
Mexicans Sweeping The Nation

“It was darkness which produced the lamp. It was fog that produced the compass. It was hunger that drove us to exploration. And it took a depression to teach us the real value of a job.”
—Victor Hugo