Pastoral Narrative With Teeth

April 6, 2012

Enjoyed reading this posting this morning: "I don't know about y'all, but I love this website. It's a great respite from all the crap going on in this world. I often think (and wish) I'd been born in the early 1800's instead of the mid 1900's. Granted, the life expectancy for a man at that time was about 50 and you were considered an Old Phart at 40.

"Nonetheless, I think I would have been a whole lot more satisfied with life way back when.

"Anyhow, the purpose of this is that you may have friends who need a place to hang their hats and kick back at the end of a long hard day in the old grind. Why not let them know about this site? All y'all need to do is CLICK HERE to import your e-mail contacts and invite them. Once you enter your invitations, you'll have a chance to send them a brief message. Just tell them this ain't no dadgum political site, it's about history and the Old West."

I think this dovetails with the article I was telling Ken about in the New York Times where an urban mother writes that she can't quite figure out why she so enjoys reading "Little House On The Prairie" to her two daughters and why THEY enjoy it so much. She guesses it's because deep down we all love "pastoral narrative with sharp teeth," and we all love "a fantasy of total isolation and total control." This is the secret power of Davy Crockett, Billy the Kid, etc. People want to get away from the stress of the modern world and the frontier West takes them there. I told my staff: "Let's don't forget to take them there!"

Last night I shot a couple dozen photos off of The Westerns Channel. One of my favorite shows growing up was "Lawman". Loved that dude's chiseled face.

That's Peter Brown at right who I just had lunch with two weeks ago. Peter and his wife stayed in the exact same flat we stayed at in Paris a year ago. Peter said the landlord told him, "Oh, you are in into all things Western? We had a crazy American here last year who publishes a true magazine." What are the odds?

Using the screen captures on "Lawman" to utilize in the Wyatt Earp time travel story. Sketches to follow.

"You have merely replaced one myth with another."
—Wyatt Earp to a young whipper snapper named Burns