A Mess Takes Shape

August 31, 2014
   Curator Cal came over this morning and we dug into the piles and piles of art, organizing artwork into large envelopes. In the garage I ran across a very colorful series that ran in New Times in 1986:



The Doper Roper, circa 1986, with an assist from Judy Darbyshire and lettering by Bob Steinhilber

Too bad the story is thin. Looks good though. Even though we worked most of the morning, and organized a dozen different categories into envelopes it sill looks a bit disheveled.


A Mess Takes Shape, looking north


A Mess Takes Shape, looking west


Jon Nelson gets ready to put in L-shaped anchors to secure the cubby holes in BBB morgue

"I've always thought that the key to a good sex life is variety. That's why God gave me two hands."
—Billy Crystal, "Still Foolin' 'Em"

"

How to Make Big Balls In Cowtown Salsa

August 30, 2014
  Had meetings all day yesterday, including a great confab with a well-known writer at True Foods in Scottsdale. We met to discuss creating a Western together and it was at least fun to talk about. I don't want to name drop, but that's his writing advice, down below.

   On the way home I stopped at iMemories to see about the transfer of a large batch of 8mm film to DVDs and was disappointed that one of the reels was missing. When I was in Kingman two weekends ago for the book rollout, a certain person there gifted me a box of old films taken in Mohave County in the 1950s and one of them was of a cock fight at, or near, the Fairgrounds. I want this footage to illustrate a section of the 66 Kid documentary where I talk about Kingman still being an outlaw haven in the 1950s.

  The DVD has two seconds of the film, showing a man standing with a fighting cock and in the background you can see Bull Head Mountain and the Cerbats. When I complained about the censored film, the manager said, "That footage is against the law. We cannot reproduce prostitution either." Well, damn! Looks like I won't be getting my film of working at KSLX transferred either.

   They took it off my bill, but now I've got to go buy an old 8mm projector to get this footage. I'm not going to show much of the actual cock fighting part, mostly the crowd and their reactions to see something seedy is going on. And, in reality, I guess I don't get what the big deal is about cock fighting. Yes, it should be illegal, but then so should cluster bombs. And besides, anyone who has had roosters know they are born fighting machines (my personal cock attacks me every, flippin' day when I go in to feed him!) and just because you take away their switchblades, doesn't mean they are going to stop killing other roosters AND hens.

   Stopped at Mad Coyote Joe's house and picked up a few packs of Mad Coyote Salsa mix so I could have a little one-man Mexican fiesta today. Mixed up a bowl of chunky stuff and brought out a beer to make it official.



Big Balls In Cowtown Salsa

   Made salmon tacos for lunch and had the Pacifico. Then proceeded to take a bite out of three different books: "How Fiction Works" by James Wood ("My grandfather's grave turned into the light, and the dew on his weedy little mortality patch was glorious." Wood praising Marilynne Robinson's "Mellvillean metaphor and analogy.") "Bulletproof Vest" by Maria Venegas ("If I could trade heads, I would give [her father's head] up to have my brother back.") and "Still Foolin' Em" by Billy Crystal ("Why does God make everything small that should be big and everything big that should be small? Like my nuts, why are they now HUGE? Everytime I sit on the toilet, I make tea with my balls. Thank you, God, put that and the Nazis on your greatest hits album.")

   Curator Cal and I are closing in on categories of art to be compiled in big envelopes. Cal asked me to do a chronological list of my career so she can get an idea of where stuff should go, so I sent her this:

A Short History of The Triple B Archives

1. Junior High school cartoons when I worked on The Desert Rat, then the cartoons I did while at MCUHS (Mohave County Union High School) 1961-1965

2. University of Ariona art and cartoons: my original (but not by much) cartoon character "Dick Matric" which ran in the Daily Wildcat, 1965-1970

3. My just out of college Freelance Period: cartoons for the Mohave Miner and The Prescott Courier (1968-72) i also spent several years creating a comic strip "Lippo & Pagoona" for national syndication but never could land a gig because it wasn't funny enough.

4. The Razz Revue humor magazine (1972-76) The Doper Roper appeared in every issue. This effort was funnier but it made zero money, which is probably due to it still not being funny enough.

5. Honkytonk Sue premiered in National Lampoon in June of 1977 (6 pages). Then I went to work for the Phoenix New Times, 1978-1987, then with an interlude, a second tour of duty 1991-1993. Honkytonk Sue, the weekly cartoon strip appeared from 1978-1980 (and I self-published four comic books repurposing the weekly strips). I also made another run at The Doper Roper in a full page color comic that ran in the New Times in the early nineties. During this period I sold a six page cartoon to Playboy magazine at $1,000 a page, my biggest cartooning payday ever.

6. KSLX radio morning show, Jone & Boze, later Jones, Boze & Jeanne Show, 1986-1994 where I made $112,000 a year just for talking too much and not drawing a damn thing. This will mess with your life goals. Big time.

7. Publishing Tri Star Boze books: "Illustrated Life & Times of Billy the Kid," 1992; "Illustrated Life & Times of Wyatt Earp," 1993; "Illustrated Life & Times of Doc Holliday," 1994; "Bad Men," 1999; "Classic Gunfights," Vol. I, II, III, 2002-2007

8. Young Buck Radio, morning show, 1997-98, followed by KXAM three different shows, 1998-2000.

9. True West magazine 1999-present

10. Published "The 66 Kid" September 1, 2014 (the formal rollout date)

The Writing Advice I Have On My Desk And Read Every Day
   "Bring the story to a boil. Find nine weeks solid to work six hours a day. Get the dream up over your head and pay attention (as if you are juggling). Eventually, the angry tension between the macro-story and the mini-stories will break and reveal themselves."
—Ron Carlson

Jumpin' Sring Bean Murphy & Honkytonk Sue Hang Out

August 28, 2014
   Curator Cal has been very busy creating files and categories for the BBB archives, for stuff like this:

 
Daily Whipout: "Mickey Free, Heads Will Roll"

   This was a complicated scene to plan and execute, showing Mickey Free dumping the head of an Apache renegade on the desk of Captain Pearce at San Carlos. In the early days of the reservation camp the buildings were quite rudimentary and makeshift, as shown here. As an added bonus that is Powhatan Clark at left, inspired by how Frederic Remington illustrated his favorite soldier. This scratchboard was then applied to a purported dime novel cover of the day. The resulting faux publication appears in the December, 2008 cover story in True West which featured the semi-graphic novel, Mickey Free.

   Meanwhile, finding and filing several large boards on the Queen of Country Swing:

 
Daily Whipout: "The Queen of Country Swing Deep In The Corral"

   And here's another view of the wildest woman I've ever known:

 
Daily Whipout: "Honkytonk Sue Under The Vato Neon Beer Sign"

   Yes, Kathy Sue Radina posed for this and it is clearly her. I'd recognized that perky breast anywhere. And to be clear, when I referred to the wildest woman I've ever know I was referring to Kathy Sue not Honkytonk Sue.

   We used to have cats out here on the high Sonoran Desert, but the coyotes got so bad we finally gave up after losing 22 different cats in short order. But one of the most legendary cats we had was a black one, who we named Jumpin' Stringbean Murphy because he had a vertical jump of almost six feet, straight up, which saved him on more than one occasion when coyotes would try and trap him.

 
Daily Whipout: "Jumpin' Stringbean Murphy And His Girlfriend Blanca"

   And who has to wrangle all of this mess into shape?
 
Curator Cal looking a little overwhelmed

"Sometimes love can be so wrong, like a fat man in a thong."
—John Hiatt, "Terms of My Surrender"

Meet Cal The Curator

August 27, 2014
   Today would have been my father's 91st birthday. He passed in 1998. August is cloud month in Arizona, or, it should be. With the monsoon conditions we get the big cloud build ups almost every day. Here's how Ratcliff Ridge looked this morning at six:

 
Sunrise over Ratcliff Ridge

   And here's how Ratcliff Ridge looked at noon today:

 
Summer Clouds Over Continental Moutain

   Went home for lunch to meet my curator. Going over what to save in my archives and how to best save it:

 
Curator Cal with her hands full

   We met with a state repository yesterday and they gave us some suggestions on how to best file everything. We currently have 15 categories of artwork going back to Mr. Wallace's Civics Class (1965):

 
Mister Wallace and Ms. Brownie Points Herself Trudy Peart, at left. Civics Class, Fourth Period, New Building, M.C.U.H.S., Kingman, Arizona

   Another category is semi-naked Latinas:

 
Las Tules

   And then we have a category for semi-clothed Latinas:

 
La Gata

   Yes, the model was Jeanne Sedello, yes this was done with photo reference from when they built the Stack where I-17 and I-10 meet, and yes, the guy in the Hasmat suit survived. Next up, failed projects:

 
The Last Baby Boomer, 2046

   And then we have a very large category I will feature tomorrow.

"[The Eagles] are the most unpopular super-popular entity ever created by California, not counting Ronald Reagan."
—Chuck Klosterman, "I Wear The Black Hat"

A Perfect Memory Kingman Style

August 26, 2014
   Last weekend I read Chuck Klosterman's "I Wear The Black Hat" about villains and who is really "evil." Chuck makes a case for tying a woman to the railroad tracks as being bonafied evil and sites the cartoon character Snidely Whiplash (from "Rocky and Bullwinkle") as a comedic example and then goes into the historical record, with this: "In 2008, this actually happened in Thailand—a 27-year-old woman named Niparat Tawonporn was tied to a railway path about five hundred miles south of Bangkok and cut in half by the oncoming locomotive."

   Last week when I was signing "The 66 Kid" at the Kingman Powerhouse, several old timers came by and regaled me with stories from a half century ago. Probably the most amazing, in terms of memory ability, came from this guy:

 
Coach Cunningham

   We got to talking about his very first varsity team, in 1961, that went all the way to state and lost to Casa Grande in the last minutes when Chicken fouled out. I was in eighth grade and listened to the game on the radio. I asked him about what happened and in the course of talking about it, Coach Cunningham proceeds to name his ten players and how tall they were: "Eric Bond, 6'0"; Chicken Esquibel, 5' 10"; Sonny Medina, 5' 11"; Carlos Lucero, 5' 4"; Dave Thode, 5' 4"; Bobbie Hendrix, 5' 6"; Dickie Grounds, 5' 6"; Billy Brakeman, 5' 11" and Dale Standerfer, 6' 0"." He went on to list the height of the Casa Grande players at 6' 3", 6' 6", etc. and his recall was uncanny. He coached for 20-some years and I wondered if he could do that with all his teams, or was it this first one indelible season etched in his memory?

   Here are the boys he's talking about (that's Cunningham in back):
 
That Championship Season for Kingman, 1961-62

   Now this is 52 years ago and he ran off the names and height as if it was yesterday. Amazing. This guy also had some memories down pat:

 
My eighth grade coach Les Byrum

   Les also had a dozen stories, most of them about me and my shenanigans. He'd say things like, "Boze drove Baca crazy, gave him no relief. . ." which was interesting since I had never heard the coach's side of things, only the grief Coach Baca gave me (for no reason! Ha!).

   Then there was this guy:



 
Gas station pioneer and longtime Kingman native Elmer Graves

   Elmer took a look at a photo of my dad's Flying A, leans down (it was at the bottom of my pop up banner), pointed at the Flying A sign and said:

 
The Flying A on Hilltop

   "I was sitting on the ledge of the sign replacing light bulbs in 1953 [three years before my father ran it] and I looked up to see a Studebaker go by and I thought to myself, 'That looks like my car.' Then I read the license plate [he sited the number, T-536, I believe] and realized it was my car. My wife had left the keys in the car and two kids stole it. They were finally apprehended at Peach Springs and I got my car back."

   One last story: I was giving my talk at the Mohave Museum and I mentioned a Billy Logas story and asked rhetorically, if anyone had ever heard about Billy driving a car off a cliff to see what it would feel like? A guy in the back, Tom Bowling, raises his hand and says, "I was in the car. Billy had a Scout and my girlfriend was in the back and I saw he was edging towards the edge of a cliff [this is the bluff east of the old Holiday Inn, now Ramada] and I jumped out, and Billy says, 'Oh, come on, Tom. Do you think I'm so crazy I'd drive off a cliff? Get in.' So I got in and he proceeded to drive off the ledge. . ."

   There's more to the story, but the point is, EVERYBODY in Kingman has a Billy Logas story.

"It's all storytelling."
—Deena C. Bortscheller, talking about sales in general

A Letter From Home

August 25, 2014

   Worked this morning on the elusive Doc Holliday that was headed for Chuck City, but didn't get it to a satisfactory place. Gave up and came into work.





Daily Whipout: "Doc Undone"

   Checked my mail and got this letter from my hometown.

Three Couples From Kingman Who Who I Have Offended
   It's not often I take the time to write and mail a hard copy letter to anyone, however we were so offended by your recent blog posts regarding your visit to Kingman, AZ that we were compelled to do so.

   The Kingman Daily Miner published a very complimentary article regarding your book and exhibit at the Powerhouse, however you were unhappy with the time of publication, so used your blog to slam the Miner for not using the opportunity to promote your book. The Miner is not responsible for providing free advertising for you and s you had already posted that the books had 'sold out' on Friday, we're not sure why it mattered at that point. The festival and your appearances were well covered by the Miner throughout the week prior and in festival schedules.

   The Mohave Museum provided a book signing venue for you and also 'sold out' of your books, however you were unhappy that they had not funded your "exhibit" so used a blog entry to slam and misquote the director of the museum for not also promoting your personal projects. You book and exhibit are not 'historic' and do not fit the mission of the museum.

   We applaud the Kingman Daily Miner and the Mohave Museum for their contributions to this community and this event. We have posted this in our businesses and encourage others to do the same.

Mr. and Mrs. James Wood

Mr. and Mrs. D Cavenaugh

Mr. and Mrs. Arnold Clark

________
   I will own being petty and petulant about the Miner coverage—or more specifically, the lack of timely coverage. And for the most part, everyone in Kingman treated me like a long lost son. The only bone I have to pick with the letter is that the book and the exhibit are about events that took place in Kingman a half century ago with historic photographs and maps of how Kingman was in the 1950s and 1960s. How is that not historic?

"Imagined history can be more persuasive than fact."
—Old Vaquero Saying

Triple A, This Is Triple B

August 24, 2014
   It's been a long, hot summer, but I have finally just filled the 12th garbage container with crap from my studio.



Garbage In, Garbage Out: Doc Holliday Gets A Reprieve

   At the last second I pulled out the Doc, at bottom, and decided it was a waste of art board to not at least give it a go. I also grabbed two Wild Bill boards:



Wild Bill Rejects

   I was distracted by The 66 Kid rollout in Kingman last week (and the week before) and it took me a while to get back up to speed at the office when I got back, but this weekend I really tore into the piles of bad art. And, I have more than a couple piles going:


Breezeway Mess

   This is the artwork piled in my breezeway OUTSIDE the studio, because there's not more room to stack piles inside the damn place. Here's the floor next to my art desk:



Rejects and True West Moment artwork (in black and white, at left)

   I finally got to the bottom of my wash stand which has been smothered for at least six months. Here is the residue, the last layer of, well stuff. Found two of my old cameras including my Hi8 camera and the owner's manual.



Odds and Ends In The Sink and On The Counter in my Morgue

   Do I save the owner's manual? I've had it for 20 years. Is it something someone collects? Or is it clutter in a cluttered space that needs to be ruthlessly chucked? I'm leaning towards Chuck City because i just don't have the space or the patience to store this stuff.
   Grabbed some new watercolor tubes I bought on Friday at Arizona Art and decided to paint with abandon. Hey, it's already ruined so who cares?



Daily Whipout: "Wild Bill Inexplicable"

   Repainted the entire piece in about 35 minutes, just letting the paint go where it wanted to go. I don't know if it works, but it is definitely inexplicable. Ha.

   The verdict on the Doc Holliday is still out but I'll finish that sucker in the morning and post it here for your dining pleasure.

"Triple A, this is Triple B and I need a battery."
—my daughter Deena mocking me as I ordered a battery from Triple A in Kingman last week

Regulators Around The Campfire

August 23, 2014
   Finally got some of my old Hi8 films transferred to DVDs and inventoried them today. Found a series of reference sequences shot out a Pioneer Living History Museum in the early nineties. This was for a campfire scene of the Regulators:


The Regulators around the campfire

   Yes, that's Doc Ingalls in the big, wide sombrero at left, center. The card sharp Lafitte, lower left and the late Handy, upper right, and in the blue shirt, lower right is Flint Carney. Great group of guys, all working for free, although I gifted them each a book when it came out.

   Still wrestling with these fine effects twenty-some years later.

“If you find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere.”'
—Frank A. Clark

Crowd Killers and The BaBrogie Law

August 21, 2014
   I had a speech last night at Cartwrights, next door. These are part of the bi-weekly History Dinner series. This is our fourth year. The first season I did all the talks. Now I share the load with Marshall Trimble and others and it's a beautiful thing.

   Sold out crowd. Talked about growing up on a historic highway and that led to my new book, "The 66 Kid" and that led to quite a few book sales.

Cartwrights with my new pop-up banners

   A great audience and a fun time was had by all, except for this one guy. He used to live in California ("I had to get out of Soviet California") and his friend brought him by selling him on the idea that I was going to talk about cars.

   Uh-oh.

   As I scanned the room during my talk everyone was engaged except for the Car Guy. He was looking down at his plate in disgust, even shaking his head. I tried to ignore him, but in a small room with 60 people that's hard to do. I finally just engaged him and told him not to go to sleep and he snotted off, "Who could blame me?" I just laughed and kept going.

   Got a warm applause at the end and sold a case of books with compliments all around and a pocket full of twenties as I waddled out the door. A very successful night, all around, but who did I think about on the ride home? And this morning when I got up? And on the drive into work? Crazy.

   The BaBrogie Law was, and is, in full effect (it's in the book). Wish I knew how to handle pricks like this, but somehow I think Jack has the right idea.

"I don't know, I don't care, and it doesn't make any difference."
—Jack Kerouac

This Storm Has Passed

August 20, 2014
   It was 50 years ago today I saw the Beatles in Las Vegas at the Convention Center. To say that it was life changing is not an exaggeration.

Beatles at The Convention Center

   Yesterday's storms created quite a sunset:

 
Stormy Sunset

   Of course when everything gets drenched nature comes out to play. Here is our night blossoming cactus in the back yard this morning:

 
Storm Nocturnal Blossoms

   The roads were torn up in quite a few places, especially in the washes, with buckled pavement and ripped out asphalt.

   Got a history talk tonight over at Cartwrights at six this evening. Going to be talking about this:

 
An early mock-up layout of "The 66 Kid."

"All his own geese are swans, as the swans of others are geese."
—Horace Walpole

From Dry Creek to Rippin' Creek

August 19, 2014
   Tried to go into work at about nine, but Grapevine was ripping pretty hard. Thought I'd go home and do a few things and try the crossing in an hour, but we got hit even harder by another storm. Check out Cave Creek, down below our house. Notice all the small trees in this video.

The Creek Begins to Run

Then it really started to rip.

Big Monsoon Morning

   I went over to check on my neighbors Tom and Lynn Augherton, whose house is right next to the creek. While we were talking another storm cell blew through.


The Hoss House up on the ridge as the second storm blew in.

   Instead of going down, the creek kept getting bigger and wider

Cave Creek Rips Out A Tree

I couldn't go home, so Lynn made Tom and and I lunch and I told them tall tales of my Kingman Route 66 Festival adventures.



A great little lunch from my neighbors was served just as the power went out.

   All through lunch we watched the creek as it got bigger and bigger. Within fifteen minutes we could see shocks of brown water ripping higher than the Augherton's retaining wall. The sound was like Niagra Falls, a constant roar.



Got back up to my house around noon and the front yard looked like Lake Cuomo:


Lake Bozo, at noon after the Monsoon Dump

So much for this day. The office is closed and I missed two meetings, but it was fun while it lasted. It was quite unexpected at the beginning, when the skies looked interesting, but not foreboding.


Forboding skies at 5:45 this morning. Little did we know. . .

"However certain our expectation, the moment foreseen may be unexpected, when it arrives."
—T.S. Eliot

Monsoon Morning

August 19, 2014
   Woke up to a Monsoon morning, with storm clouds rolling in off Continental Mountain.



The storm cell, at center, hit us at around seven and it's been raining steady ever since.

Freight Train Thunder

Just got a call from my production manager, Robert Ray, and he says he can't make it out from Phoenix, washes running, he's turning around to go home.

"A banker is a person who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining and wants it back the minute it rains."
—Mark Twain

Miner Digs Hole for Local Author

August 18, 2014
   Last Wednesday I was interviewed by a reporter from my hometown newspaper. Hubble Ray Smith returned on Thursday to interview me again. When the special section of the weekend edition of the Kingman Daily Miner came out on Friday I half-expected some decent coverage to help bring out the book buyers, but there was nothing in the paper either about the book or the premiere of the show at the Powerhouse.

   They ran the feature today after the festival was over.

Miner Digs Hole for Local Author

"You don't read small town newspapers to know what's going on because you already know what's going on. You read them to see who got caught."

—Harry Nipple

Building The 66 Kid Exhibition From The Ground Up

August 17, 2014
   Just got home from Kingman and I'm exhausted—but very happy. The book rollout for "The 66 Kid" was a complete success and I'm especially proud of the exhibit at the Powerhouse that is a companion to the book.

   I had the idea to do a show to go with the book last fall, and, in fact, drove to Kingman to pitch the concept to another museum in town. The director there turned it down flat saying they wouldn't spend a dime on it because the festival was going to be a bust. So I walked across the street to the Powerhouse and asked their director, Josh Noble, if they might want the show. Long story short, he cleared it with his board and we set out to redesign an upstairs gallery space that featured Mohave County photographer Carlos Elmer, a local hero and longtime Arizona Highways contributor. That display had been up for a decade, or more, and Josh felt the museum could use something new and exciting, so he took a chance on me.

   Here's how the first wall looked in May when I visited during the Fun Run when Ken Amorosano and I filmed all the video sequences in one long day on the road from Seligman to Kingman:


Mickey Campa and Josh Noble standing in front of the Carlos Elmer exhibit space back in May.

   When I drove up to Kingman last Tuesday, Josh had installed the LED screens but little else was on the walls. Dan Harshberger designed layouts to go around the screens for the six walls utilizing graphics and maps from the book. These were sent out to be blown up and when I arrived on Tuesday evening they hadn't been applied to the walls yet.

The 66 walls as they looked on Wednesday morning.

   Now the amazing part to me, is that Josh had never mounted a show before! But the kid (and he is just a kid) has nerve and he simply rolled up his sleeves and started hanging the show with a drill and a level. The paper hanging proved to be trickier to do and so Josh called a paper hanger from Lake Havasu, who drove up and literally hung the show on the walls. Here's the walls on Wednesday afternoon.

The 66 Kid walls as they looked on Wednesday afternoon.

   In the video you can hear me giving Dan Harshberger a hard time because he kept telling me I had to ask for the order and I kept saying, "No, it will look tacky to plug the book in the show." Frankly, I'm kind of glad he didn't listen to me.

The 66 Kid walls as they looked on Thursday at noon, in time for the opening.

   The people started climbing the stairs to see the show immediately and the exhibit definitely drove book sales as tourists would come down the stairs, walk right over to my table and buy a book, which, come to think of it, was the reason we did the show!


The view of the upstairs exhibition space from my signing table in the lobby.

"One of the greatest things a person can do is change his mind."
—Eugene Jarecki
 

The 66 Kid Sells Out!

August 16, 2014
   I brought 13 cases of books to Kingman and they are all gone! We sold out of "The 66 Kid" at 3:05 this afternoon at the Powerhouse. The Mohave Museum also sold out. Going to celebrate tonight with the D's.



Also, record crowds at the Powerhouse to see the 66 Kid exhibition.



The Upstairs exhibition of The 66 Kid

Congrats to Jim Hinckley who championed this event through some very strong headwinds of negativity.

"Jim Hinckley lost some sleep over this but he never lost faith."
—Jim Zimmer

We Go Way Back

August 17, 2014
   Another crazy, fun day in the land of my fathers. Saw a lot of faces from my past. Like this guy:


State Mining Inspector, radio station mogul, notorious hotrodder and master storyteller, Joe Hart

   Before I went on the air at KGMN, Joe's station, we talked for about a half hour and I was kicking myself because Joe added a dozen more Kingman nicknames, just in casual conversation. Guys like "Okie Joe" Foss and "Mule" (Dennis Poyner), "Hole Shot" Logas (Billy Logas' nickname on the drag trip), "Pecker" Chambers,  Rick "The Dick," "Fox" Garren, "Duck" Nelson, "Ranger Rick," and "Lola Thunderbuck AKA Lola "Thump-for-a-Buck"). Yes, not only did the names flow but by the time we got ready to go on the air, we needed hip boots to get to the studio door.

Later in the day, this guy wandered in to the Powerhouse:


Coach Cunningham, MCUHS basketball coach

   Now Mr. Cunningham was our varsity basketball coach and he and I had a checkered relationship. Once, before a big game he came into the locker room, saw my Beatlesque hairdo, walked over to me and messed up my hair with his hand and said, "We'll have none of this on my team." Frankly, my do was more JFK than John Lennon but he was having none of it. There were other dust ups between us, but yesterday, he told me he always knew I would amount to something because I challenged him. That was weird and somewhat amazing to hear from someone who gave me such a hard time. He also told a story about us being in Phoenix for a basketball tournament and I took several of his key players (I wasn't one of them) to a porno movie and then came back to the hotel and immediately told him (Lutheran guilt). He laughed, as if to say, What the hell was I supposed to do with THAT information? Now the funny part is, it was supposed to be a racy movie at a little downtown theater in Phoenix, I want to say it was the Kiva, and it was in a long shoe store building and they played European films. Although I thought we were going to see an "adult" film it was only a French deal and there weren't even any breast shots. It could play today on the Lifetime Channel and no one would raise an eyebrow. But in the legend, I took Heber Nelson and Delano Havatone to a "porno movie." That probably says more about accurate history than anything I've ever written.

I have more to say about Coach Cunningham, but I've got to go sell the last of my books.

"Grandma was slow, but she was old."
—Coach Les Byrum, who also came by to say hello

A Few Words On Maryjane's Rack

August 14, 2014
   A year ago today I got wind of the International Route 66 Festival being held in my hometown of Kingman, Arizona and I decided if I was ever going to write a book about growing up on Route 66, this would be my shot.

   I woke up this morning mildly shocked that not only had I produced a book, but a video and created a multi-media art exhibit as well. My day started early with a stop at KGMN radio in downtown Kingman as a guest on the Chicken Fried Morning Show. Here I am in a familiar spot talking it up with Dan-o the morning drive guy:



Dan-o from Detroit who gave me a wonderful forum to talk about growing up in Kingman and a ton of plugs for the Powerhouse Museum show and, of course, the book.

Got back down to the museum at 9 and the director Josh Noble and I finished putting up the show. Here I am placing the last cutline on the last painting, on the last wall:



The Night Man series, original painting in the Powerhouse exhibition for "The 66 Kid."

We opened the exhibit up at noon and here are the first people taking a gander at the first wall panel, featuring the 26-minute video:



The first wall of "The 66 Kid" exhibit at the Powerhouse Museum

Lots of Kingman kids (former kids!) showed up including Punchy, Hubby, Tommie, Harsh, Bugs, Wally Wallapai and this beautiful woman:


The formidable and legendary Mary Jane Rutherford

She is featured in the book, on page 148, as the older, high school girl I danced with when I was in sixth grade, attending a Rainbow Girls dance at the Elks. Sadly, as I related in the book, I only came up to her sternum and I was mortified to be staring at her impressive, crinoline rack. Her first comment to me today was, "Well, you've grown some." Ha. That was worth the trip right there.

"It's impossible to write ancient history because we lack source materials, and impossible to write modern history because we have far too many."
—Charles Peguy

Flowers From Froggy

August 13, 2014
   Worked hard from eight this morning until 6 tonight building the exhibition for "The 66 Kid" at the Powerhouse Museum in Kingman. Had plenty of help from Josh Noble and Rob Chilcoat and a young paper hanger named Roy Wilson from Havasu.

   Meanwhile, Steve Goldstein at KJZZ did an interview with me about the project which ran today. Check it out:

The 66 Kid In The Rearview

   While we were working to put up the walls, a florist came in and presented me with a bouquet of flowers. Who the hell sent these?



Flowers From Froggy Hauan wishing me luck with the show. That would be my cousin Norm Hauan whose nickname is Froggy. The Hauans are from the Thompson, Iowa area where my father is from and so it was nice to get support from that side of the family.

   And speaking of Norsky's, my wife, who is in Germany, reminded me of my stubborn Norwegian tendencies as it relates to this book and the video and the show and she is right. I can be very stubborn when people tell me no. So the flowers struck a deep chord with me. Sometimes I work too hard and try to do too much, but you know what? I have always adhered to the Mordal philosophy:

"Workaholism is such a tough addiction to get over. I had to divorce my wife because she was an enabler."
—Dave Mordal