October 10, 2007 Bonus Bonus Bonus Bonus Blog
Well, this is a record of sorts (more Bonus Blogs than ever before), but this can't wait:

Our Favorite Bandit
By Larry McMurtry, Billy the Kid: The Endless Ride, by Michael Wallis, Norton, 328 pp., $25.95
Billy the Kid was ambidextrous—according to some. His favorite song —according to some—was 'Silver Threads Among the Gold,' though once he discovered dancing, for which he had a flair, 'Silver Threads' may have been bumped for 'Turkey in the Straw.' According to some, his last (and perhaps only true) girlfriend, Paulita Maxwell, was pregnant by him on that fateful night—July 14, 1881—when Sheriff Pat Garrett, of Lincoln County, New Mexico, snuck up on her father's ranch house and shot Billy dead, firing into darkness at the sound of Billy's voice.

"You need to go on the NYRB website < www.nybooks.com > and fork over three dollars (house account) for the complete review, which I am sure you will be doing in what's known as a New York second, because deep in the piece McMurty refers to "the brilliant cartoonist Bob Boze Bell's ILLUSTRATED LIFE AND TIMES OF BILLY THE KID."

"Could he have meant 'brillantine cartoonist,' 'brindled cartoonist,' or 'bright-eyed cartoonist'? No, he said brilliant. Now we know."
—Dan Buck

Personally, I would have settled for "brillantine cartoonist," but hey, it's McMurtry, and I'll take it standing up.

And, by the way, about the segue from sepia to. . .

BBB Back In Black


"Back in black, I hit the sack,
I've been too long, I'm glad to be back
Yes I'm let loose from the noose,
That's kept me hangin' about

[Chorus]
"'Cause I'm back! Yes, I'm back!
Well, I'm back! Yes, I'm back!
Well, I'm baaack, baaack...
Well, I'm back in black,
Yes, I'm back in black!"
—AC/DC