July 12, 2007 Bonus Blog
Gus Walker ("The Mapinator") received his comp copy of the newest Classic Gunfights, Volume III and I asked him for a critique and what he liked about it. Got this response (FYI: Gus is notorious for not using capital letters):

"obviously my favorite part is on the opening page where it says Maps & Graphics by Gus Walker.'

"no, serioulsy i think it is the best of the three and should be since we should have learned from the other two. content wise, i don’t think you can’t exactly compare it to Blaze Away because you were following a theme beyond random fights. as far as a sampling of Old West gunfights i think it is better than CGI. of course i would hope someone looking to buy would want both CGI and CGIII, or better, all three. i enjoyed seeing some art i don’t think i have seen before and also some new photos such as the Medicine Lodge banks interiors.

"only a couple of groans and they are resricted to the maps because that is the part i am closest to. they are basically cosmetic or aesthetic and most readers would probably not notice them.

"Map pg 24 - The label for Stillwater doesn’t have a circle symbol to locate the town and i probably should have labled some of the rivers.

"Map pg 63 - Did not label California as a state. i’m sure folks know what it is having labels for San Francisco and L.A. etc., but it still bus me.

"Map pg 67 - There is no lable for Medicine Lodge. can’t believe i let that one slip by.

"Map pg 78 - This could be one that haunts. the lable for the San Carlos Rez is in the upper right hand corner of the rez and i think that would actually be the Ft. Apache Rez. also, there is a small San Carlos lable, almost too small to read, near Globe.

"Map pg 99 - on the opening maps some of the type is approaching non-critical mass, being almost too small to read with out heavy lenses.

"Map pg 120 - in the Phase Two map the numeral “2” is a different size than the others. probably go to the gallows for that one!

"Map pg 106 - nice, goodlooking map by somebody
in the Production dept. before picking out a few faves i think i might need to go back an read everything."

And you thought I was critical?

Red sketch series number 33:



I got three postcards from my Honey yesterday. She's having a great time on her Semester At Sea trip down the Pacific slope of the Americas. I believe she's in Chile today, which reminds me of a classic Dusty Chaps tune: "Chile Today, Hot Tamale."



Speaking of hot, working hard to locate the watch of Sheriff Glenn Reynolds, who was killed by the Apache Kid. Just got off the phone with his grandson in Arkansas. I love talking to the oldtimers, they are such a hoot.

Got some very good ideas today on the Top Secret Project. More later.

"Several big ideas have come by taking a deep breath, leaving the bulding and taking a nice long walk in the sunshine down to get some ice cream."
—Nolan Bushnell