October 19, 2006
Beautiful morning, very cool and clear. Bike ride was a delight. J.D. and I wailed on the chicken house last night and got most of the framing done. I dug out the footings to put in the chicken wire and we'll whip that out tomorrow night.

Carole Glenn and I went to lunch today at Saba’s Greek Grill up in Carefree. Went over budgets and staffing. Good working lunch ($25, plus $5 tip, biz account).

If Looks Could Chill
“Are you the only one working as a spokesman for cowpokes? I see you everywhere! You’re all over my TV and all over my True West magazine. By the way, did you know that the older you get the more you look like Robert Redford! Or is it the older Robert Redford gets the more he looks like you!! HAHA Take care and thanks for all you do.”
—Bob Rogers

“If the gentleman in yesterdays blog with the mustache is Al Sieber, you might want to check your family tumbleweed. He looks a great deal like a Bell. I would like to read some more about Mr Sieber. Unfortunately, I can find only one out of print book about him. It's on Amazon for a cool $100. I don't think so. Do you know of any books that might be available where he is discussed? By the way, my John Wayne painting looks real nice in my office.
—Hugh Howard, Maniac# 9

I’m assuming the book on Amazon is Dan Thrapp’s classic book on Sieber. I think I paid $60 for mine, and it was worth every penny. What an amazing story. Sieber shows up in almost every book on the Apache Wars and Geronimo, but the Thrapp book is the one to have. And by the way, the Burt Lancaster character in Ulzana's Raid is based on Sieber, and the Top Secret Writer thinks it is a perfect portrayal of Al.

Speaking of the Apache Wars and the TSW, a Hollywood friend of mine warned me yesterday that The Top Secret Project is going to be a tough sell in Hollywood. He said that no major Western star (Selleck, Elliott, Costner) will touch a story that involves fighting Indians. The last movie that tried was The Missing, which bombed terribly. Which takes out half the stories! He also told me that the only commercial subjects left in a Western are cattle drives (Open Range), horse drives (Broken Trail) and anglo lawmen arresting other anglo outlaws (3:10 To Yuma). That’s it. Yikes!

To be honest, I kind of freaked out about this and so I called the Top Secret Writer, who is sick and in bed, and said, “Do you think we’re pissing up a rope here? I heard heavy coughing and cussing on the other end, then: “If I wasn’t sick I’d come over there and wring your neck!” Ah, it's so nice to be understood, and by someone so distinguished. The doctor then reminded me that he lives in the PC world and that nobody knows it better than he does, and to stop being wimpy and quit doubting our story.

So I got down off the ledge of the crow’s nest and came back inside and went to work on my six drawings for the day.

“Doubt takes you out of action.
Action takes you out of doubt.”
—William Hamilton