The presentation of our first True Westerner Award last Saturday night in Tucson was a hoot and a half. Got to talk to both Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana which was fun. I asked Diana how she met McMurtry and she said they met at the Catfish House out on Ruthrauff Road and I did a doubletake because that is where I played in a honkytonk band in the late seventies. The same building was then known as The Hayloft and it was in that bar that I drew the first sketch that would become my cartoon character Honkytonk Sue's best friend Donna Jean.
Went home for lunch and found this sketchbook page:
In case you didn't know, Larry McMurtry and Leslie Marmon Silko wrote three scripts on Honkytonk Sue for Columbia Pictures in the early eighties. So the fact that McMurtry would meet his next writing partner in the same building where I created my cartoon honkytonk world is pretty sweet. Small world, yes?
Meanwhile, while I was home for lunch I whipped out this little sketch, utilizing the authentic jug I bought yesterday at the Rattlesnake Ranch east of Tombstone:
Daily Whipout #445, "Jugs Iced Free #4"
Notice how much more authentic the jug is and how it gives heft and gravitas to the scene. It makes me feel like I could tap that spigot, drain the warm water, fill it with clean ice cubes and top it off in 15 seconds flat.
"Thanks for shopping Flying A ma'am. Drive safe and come back and see us on the way back thru."
—The 66 Kid
