A whole bunch of people have inspired me in my life: R. Crumb, Frederic Remington, Charlie Russell, Pat Oliphant and Richard Pryor to name just a few. But it's been rare that someone has picked me up off the canvas, got my heart going again and pushed me, with force, right back into the ring, to take another swing. . .
So, I dedicate this blog to Joan Walton. Just when I was about to pack it in, she came to my rescue and inspired me to write another 1,000 blogs. Thankyou Joan, and please thank all those Kingman bloggers whoever they are.
I ran home for lunch today (okay, I drove) and whipped out my six sketches in record time. Thankyou Joan Walton. Because my energy levels are so high, I bailed in with no expectations, just let my hand glide along, confident form would follow. And follow it did. Within a half hour I stepped back and realized what my unconscious mind was noodling:
Parapets To Heaven
From there I went out into the garage and found a New Times cartoon, circa 1985, inspired by growing up in Kingman (and inspired by Joan Walton's love for these cartoons!). The piece is entitled "Drivel Pursuit," which was a play off of Trivia Pursuit with the caveat that "We all have a ton of answers stored away in our brains—if only we were asked the right questions!"
Highlights include: Who Pretended to Enjoy Kingman, Arizona? And the answer is, "Cornell Wilde in his toughest role yet as he pretends to actually ENJOY being in KINGMAN, ARIZONA!" [He filmed Edge of Eternity in Kingman]
And Joan, you'll love this, the blurb coming out of Cornell's mouth is: "What's an obnoxious little twerp like you doing in Kingman?" He's talking to me Joan. Don't you just love it?
On page two of the doubletruck is the question: Who Opened for the Beatles in 1964? And the answer in the cartoon is:
Paul: "Well maties, wot if no one comes to see us in Vegas? [the Beatles played the Convention Center in August of 1964]
Ringo: "Righto, we'd better add some drawing power to the bill."
George: "Wot about Bill Black's Combo?"
John: "Yep, that'll get the Kingman crowd for sure!"
And here's a bonus question: "Name six movies filmed in or around Kingman, Arizona, and the year they were released?"
Answer: The Badlanders, 1958; Edge of Eternity, 1959; How The West Was Won, 1963; The Rebel Rousers, 1967 [Jack Nicholson's first film]; Easy Rider, 1969; Two-lane Blacktop, 1971.
And, because I'm so inspired by all of this Kingman love, here's a holiday offer: Send me $25 (includes shippng and handling for "media mail" which can take three weeks to deliver. If you want faster delivery, please add $10) and I'll send you a signed copy of Even Lower Blows, the book these cartoons appeared in. Supplies are limited, so order yours today!
Send your check to:
Bob Boze Bell
PO Box 4410
Cave Creek, AZ 85327
No, don't thank me, thank Joan Walton.
"Peace is the skillful management of conflict."
—Old Kingman saying
No comments:
Post a Comment
Post your comments