July 13, 2006 Bonus Blog
Finished my editorial for the October issue after lunch (mentioined Bob Love, Michael Hickey, Allen Barra, Bob McCubbin, Richard Ignarski, Rod Cook, Harold Love, Phil Spangenberger, Lee Silva and Henry Beck), then concentrated on the James Talbot-Caldwell, Kansas gunfight copy. Emailed Gus Walker the parameters of the map quest, and Robert Ray Emailed him Rod Cook’s Sanborn Special.

Got some good feedback on previous postings, including these gems:

“No small irony here, THE NEW YORKER, the magazine of what you call the ‘urban, mostly coastal (Manhattan and Hollywood) market’ publishes a fascinating, detail-rich, and affirmative feature on the blue-collar comedy industry.

“The only sour note was the ‘poor little me’ undertone in the remarks made by some blue-collar comedy partisans. Jeez, what's all the complaining about; they're are all getting rich. We should all be so victimized. Yes, I get it, feigned antipathy to "hip urbanites" is part of the blue-collar comedy industry shtick. A useful Yiddish word, shtick.

“Second, though I realize -- that is, I hope -- you were being polemical, the idea that there are two major markets in the United States, the urban mostly coastal market, and then everything in between is horse pucky. America is a largely urban country. Ever heard of Chicago, St. Paul-Minneapolis, Houston, Denver, Salt Lake City, Boise, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Phoenix, Atlanta—if I keep this list up I'll run out of pixels.

“But it's urban and variegated -- Dame Edna, Toby Keith, River Dance, Jeff Foxworthy, Bernie Mack, Merle Haggard, Richard III (the drama, not the king -- he's dead), Chicago (the musical, not the city), play all over the country. Marty Stuart's recent concert in New York City rocked, and got a warm review in the NEW YORK TIMES.

“Here's a perfect example of the world out there: The Belfast-born Van Morrison's ‘Pay the Devil’ tour is working its way around the globe, literally. Among the shows, past and future: the Ryman in Nashville, Jones Beach outside New York City, Austin, Minneapolis, Washington, DC, Phoenix, London, Rotterdam, and Vienna. And what is he crooning? Webb Pierce, Hank Williams, Connie Smith, Chuck Willis, George Jones, Blue Lu Barker, and Patsy Cline.”
—Dan Buck, Washington DC

And by the way, for all of you who don’t know what “polemical” means (that would include me), here is the def: “an aggressive attack or refutation of the opinions or principals of others.”

Hell, yes! That's exactly what I was doing. And then some.

[Regarding yesterday’s Pioneertown entry] “Expertise is knowing where to look it up. (This is why my heroes have always been research librarians.)"

“And hey, that [Eric Clapton] joke offends me. Coffee is great without cream.”
—Emma Bull

“This was not the first time my name has appeared in the same space with Jeb Rosebrook's. His Junior Bonner, and Steve Ihnat's and my, The Honkers, were released at the same time in 1972; as was Cliff Robertson's J.W. Coop. Three movies with a rodeo theme, playing in theaters in the same time-span. All three pictures had very good depictions of modern-day cowboys. I still think it was a mistake to put them out at the same time. Sometimes Hollywood decision makers make wrong decisions.”
—Stephen Lodge

”Frustration is the difference between what you are and what you think you are.”
—Old Vaquero Saying