December 10, 2006
Still cool out, but afternoons are sunny and warm. Very patented Arizona weather and delightful I might add.

Kathy and I spent most of the morning going over the Bisbee Budget. Here's our problem in a nutshell: no matter how much money we make, the debit part of the tracking manages to be more than the income side. And this is where our different philosophies come into play. I say, "Well, I need to sell more paintings," and Kathy says, "No, you need to stop buying $650 custom-made boots and taking boo-koo trips to New Mexico to play with your friends!" I hate that logical side of women. What is their problem? Can't they see that bitchin' boots and essential fact-finding trips to New Mexico are essential to the mental well-being of a selfish only-child who refuses to listen to reason? Oh yes, she gets that loud and clear. Just to appease her I sent back one of the boots.

Not really.

We switched to Directv a couple weeks ago (saving $12!) and I finally got to see the Akira Kurosawa classic film Rashomon on the Independent Film Channel yesterday afternoon. Of course, I’ve heard about this famous film for years and years so it was a treat to finally see for myself what all the hub-bub is about. The tracking shots and black and white cinematography seemed quite advanced for 1950 and the multiple versions of the crime told from the different points of view (even the dead husband is channeled through a wacked-out medium!) still worked. Of course, some of it was goofy, and didn’t hold up, but all in all a visual treat. And yes, it was Chris Casey who informed me he didn’t think it was filmed at Old Tucson (it’s listed as being filmed there in the Film In Arizona catalogue we have at the office), and Chris is absolutely right. Nothing even hinted at being filmed at Old Tucson. And speaking of Chris. . .

“I had heard about the book, THE CONQUEST OF DON PEDRO, from the late Glenn Shirley when I lived in Stillwater, OK a few years ago. I had always meant to track down a copy; but, to be honest, the book sort of slipped my mind until I read about it on your blog. So, I immediately jumped over to Amazon.com to see if I could locate a copy....and would you believe it? I found one for a mere 54 cents....hardback!! Can't wait to get it and read it!

“And, oh yes...Your Mule sketches are, indeed, outstanding, amigo!”
—Chris Casey, Maniac #946, Sierra Vista, AZ

And For You Chris, A Little Taste
“Santa Fe was then a boom town. . .and the air was full of dust, bilingual profanity and the deadly crack of bullwhips. At night the town was a flower of sin and passion. . .there were bailes every night where soldiers and Mexicans danced with brown-skinned girls on the sanded floors. . .every soldier seemed to have a Mexcian girl. It was the common joke of the post that to learn the language you had to sleep with your dictionary. Coming home one night Leo saw a soldier and a Mexican girl grappling on the ground in the dark plaza, and the gutteral fury of their desire left him shaken and disturbed. The place seemed overcharged with youth and energy, with passions endgendered by the sudden conjunction of two races, erupting into lust and battle, as though conquerer and conquered struggled violently to become one.”
—Harvey Fergusson, The Conquest of Don Pedro

How do I tell Kathy that I need to make another research trip to New Mexico to see if I can find the soldier and chiquita in the above paragraph? And speaking of stubborn mules, I’ve got several mule oriented set pieces going in the studio with my mule reference spread out everywhere. I’ll post some of those in the next few days.

“He who reigns within himself and rules his passions, desires, and fears is more than a king.”
—John Milton