February 28, 2007
Worked hard on finishing both my Billy the Kid classic gunfight and my editorial. Robert Ray helped me layout the Joe Grant gunfight and we culled several BTK paintings that will be in the Albuquerque Museum show (they are requesting 28 of my paintings). Our goal is to have a strong presence in their gift shop, when the thousands of people get out of the show. Should work, at least on paper. Ha.

When I was in New York I saw a ton of advertisements for the upccoming Frank Miller movie-graphic novel adaptation of 300 which opens soon. Posters were plastered on walls, vacant buildings, on cabs and buses. On Saturday at the showing of Pan's Labrynth I saw the extended trailer for the Spartan splatfest and it looks, in a word, marvelous.

Of course it isn't new at all. It's essentially a remake of the 1960s flick The 300 Spartans. Also, in the 1950s Steve Reeves starred in a series of sandal epics that touted the three Bs: big battles, big biceps and big breasts. As we walked down Park Ave. in NY and a bus came by with the movie poster for 300 blaring out at us, I laughed, because it really is a modern retelling of all those old Steve Reeves movies. And, of course, if you want to get technical, it goes all the way back to Homer doesn't it?

The story of 300 is about the battle of Thermopylae Pass where King Leonidas and his 300 Spartans stood and fought against a million Al Queda fighters, I mean, Spartan fighters, and fought to the death. Yes, we are living in strange times, but then I have a hunch that all times have been strange. Although I would have hoped that the familiarity of the cycles would be comforting, but instead it's just daunting. Stop war? Good luck.

Onion Headline de Jour
Bloodless Coup A Real Letdown

“Of every one hundred men, ten should not even be here. Eighty are nothing more than targets. Nine are real fighters. We are lucky we have them, they the battle make. Ah, but the one. One of them is a warrior, and he will bring the others back."
—Hericletus, 500BC