Spaghetti Weston

October 31, 2016
   When one pursues creativity on a daily basis, there is a strong desire to pass on those genes to your offspring. Based on my grandson's Halloween costume this year, I don't think I need to worry.

   Last year, Kathy and I were in Pasadena with Weston and we bought him a "cowboy" Halloween outfit at a big box store and we had high hopes for him wanting to be like grandpa, but he was having none of it and would not even allow us to place the hat on his head like he did when he was younger.

Weston tolerates the cowboy hat I bought him when he was two.

Fast forward to last Halloween and he wouldn't even pretend to be interested. He got really upset if his mama put the hat on his hand. This year his parents asked him what he wanted to be for Halloween and he said "Spaghetti." When his mother tried to tell him this wasn't a realistic costume option he refused to budge and insisted he wanted to be spaghetti. So his father, came up with the idea of "Spaghetti Weston."

"Spaghetti Weston"

   Utilizing the one and same costume we bought him last year, Mike ingeniously added noodles and meatballs to the cowboy outfit and attached the fake mustache and there he is. He apparently loves the outfit and has been bagging plenty of candy, although the meatballs bit the dust almost immediately.

"The historical novelist is always prey to the enjoyment of hindsight."

—Thomas Mallon

The First Annual John J. O'Connor Humor Forum

October 28, 2016
   I had the honor today of addressing the John J. O'Connor Humor Forum at the Rotary 100 luncheon at the Phoenix Country Club. I was somewhat intimidated because Sandra Day O'Connor, and two of her sons—Scott and Brian–were sitting right in front of me, so I had to be good.

Retired Justice Sandra Day, in red, with two of her sons, Brian, 

to her left and Scott to her right.

Here are a few of my remarks:

   We are gathered here today to honor and celebrate the humor of John J. O'Connor III. He loved humor. He was a successful lawyer who often used humor to help litigants get past their objections. At the same time he loved lawyer jokes: How do you get a lawyer out of a tree? Cut the rope.

   Now, I must warn you, this is a forum, not a speech, or a stand-up routine by me. We are here to discuss humor, to study it and to celebrate it. If you feel the urge, please raise your hand and I will gladly yield the floor and you may regale us with a joke that John often told, or, that he might like.

    John raised three sons to appreciate good humor: Scott, Brian and Jay. And with the possible exception of Scott, the oldest, he did a good job.

     Perhaps this is a good time to discuss what humor is. Sid Caesar claimed that "tragedy is when I cut my finger, comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die."

   And it was Sid who also noted, "The guy who invented the first wheel was an idiot—the guy who invented the other three, HE was the genius!"

   Steve Martin describes it this way: "Comedy is the art of making people laugh without making them puke."

   William James put it this way: "Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humor is just common sense, dancing."

Some humor is quite subtle: "A gentleman is someone who can play the accordion, but doesn't."
—Tom Waites

I believe John would maintain that America is strong because Americans like to laugh. And, as Americans, we find humor in almost anything. When I was a kid, no one thought newspaper headlines could be funny. Thanks to the Onion, sarcastic headlines sometimes have more truth in them than real headlines:

MOST SELF-ABUSE GOES UNREPORTED

HISTORIANS DISCOVER CHILDREN'S MENU ON BACK OF U.S. CONSTITUTION

CONCERT RUINED BY GUY ENJOYING HIMSELF

CELL PHONE LOST, FOUND, ALL IN THRILLING FOUR-MINUTE PERIOD

Rotarian program for today's talk

On The Road Humor
   No forum on humor would be complete without talking about legendary Zonies who did very funny things. One of the funniest in my estimation is "Rimmy" Jim Giddings, who owned a gas station on Route 66 back in the day. Giddings was, as they used to say, "a handful," and, being a member in good standing of The National Order of Boneheads (I'm not making this up) he was known far and wide for doing mean things to tourists. Up and down the legendary two-lane blacktop, running from Flagstaff to Winslow, Rimmy abused tourists. For one thing he didn't have a sign that said, "Clean Restrooms." This is because his gas station, at the entrance to Meteor Crater, by the way, only had a two-holer outhouse perched on a hill, far away from the gas pumps. When he would get grief from woman about this inconvenience, he would just smile and wait until they had completed their trek to the outhouse and then give them a minute, or two, before going into the luberoom where he had a microphone set up, with a wire that ran to the outhouse, connecting to a speaker underneath both seats. After enough time had lapsed for them to start doing their business, Rimmy would say loudly into the microphone "Hey, lady, I'm trying to paint down here!" Invariably the door would burst open and a very flustered woman would scramble back to the car, fumbling with her undergarments on the way.

   For some reason, this makes me proud to be from Arizona.

   I think we have proven here today that the best audience is intelligent, well-educated and a little drunk.

   Yes, John O'Connor was a Humor Master. He excelled at the art of humor and it made him a happy man, a happy husband and a happy father. We should all strive to be more like John. And long may the jokes flow from this hallowed ground.

 "Remember, you don't stop laughing because you grow old, you grow old because you stop laughing."
—John O'Connor

The Nobel Outlaw

October 26, 2016
   Little Robert Allen Zimmerman of Hibbing, Minnesota grew up and stole from everyone, yet he somehow made the stolen loot his own. Now he has robbed from a gang of "writers," and everyone's panties are in a wad. 

Daily Whip Out: "The Nobel Outlaw."

   We are considering a cover story on Robert Allen Zimmerman, since he is receiving a Nobel prize for literature. Bob, as he's called in the biz, is famous in our corner of the history world because of his soundtrack for "Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid." As the years have gone by, the movie has faded a bit, but the soundtrack, which the director, Sam Peckinpah, did not like and took out of his cut of the movie, has only increased in stature. At least to my ears. The music gets better every time I hear it but the movie looks more and more like the product of the times it was made in.

   Not everyone agrees with me. Half my staff thinks I'm crazy to even put him in the magazine, much less on the cover. We shall see where that Kid Krazy idea goes.

   In the movie, Dylan plays "Alias" which is, I believe a character in the Walter Noble Burns book, "The Saga of Billy the Kid." He's not particularly good in the part and as far as I know, he never acted again. He was also ripped pretty hard for the music. Here's a few selected comments from a scathing record review in Rolling Stone (1973):

"The original soundtrack of Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid is an extension of its myth-destroying predecessor Self-Portrait, a record which further eliminates the possibility of anyone placing Bob Dylan on a pedestal. It is every bit as inept, amateurish and embarrassing as the earlier album. And it has all the earmarks of a deliberate courting of commercial disaster, a flirtation that is apparently part of an attempt to free himself from previously imposed obligations derived from his audience."

   This take down, is written by Jon Landau (later Bruce Springsteen's manager) who also accuses Dylan of "playing with sometimes manifestly inferior artists," and the result is that Dylan is "redefining himself as limited and not terribly relevant." Landau also rips into the various song versions on the album, "Billy No. 1,' 'Billy No. 4' and 'Billy No.7" (thank God he spared us all the Billys in between). . ." before attacking Dylan's "rambling rhythms and undisciplined and flat vocal style."

   Really? This is news? In a magazine that touts on the cover, "All the news that fits"?

   Landau ends with this classic gem: "Bob Dylan has once again broken the mold, only this time, with the least acceptable method available to him, an album neither exceptional, nor truly different, but merely awful."

    The irony, to me, is that while it's all basically true, I still love this album and play it often on road trips, because it takes me to a place I want to go, which, when you think about it, is the true measure of art. As for little Bobby Zimmerman, long may he rob.

"To live outside the law you must be honest."
—Bob Dylan

If You Think Today's Politics Are Bad, Check This Out

October 25, 2016
   Our current political climate is nothing new. As a matter of fact, you might be relieved to know, it was even more ridiculous in the Old West. 

Blazing Pols
   During the 1871 election season in Mesilla, N.M. Republicans and Democrats squared off on the town square and after insults were traded, both sides produced guns and started shooting. About 500 shots were fired, with 15 known dead and upwards of 50 wounded.

Daily Whip Out: "Gunfight at The Contentious Corral"

The Seal of Approval, Arizona Style

   Like most Arizona prospectors in the 1870s, George Warren wanted to get rich quick. He had some luck (the Warren Mining District and town of Warren is named for him). But he suffered from bad judgement: he bet a friend he could outrun a horse and ended up losing his stake in Bisbee's Copper Queen Mine. And, he had a drinking problem. Oh, and late in life, he was judged insane. So it's perhaps fitting that an insane drunk is the perfect specimen to be on the seal of the great state of Arizona.

Daily Whip Out: "I'm George Warren and I approve of this message."

We Picked A Ninny

   After narrowly being elected in 1987, Arizona Governor Evan Mecham rescinded the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday which set off a national firestorm. An equal opportunity offender, he claimed working women caused divorce, Jews should face up to the fact that the U.S. is a Christian nation and the leaders of a recall petition were "a band of homosexuals and a few dissident Democrats." He said a group of visiting Japanese businessmen's "eyes got round" when they hear about our many golf courses. A year and a half into his term Mecham faced a recall, six felony indictments and impeachment proceedings. Oh, and he said there was nothing wrong with calling black children "pickaninnies", which prompted a popular bumper sticker, "Pickaninny: What we did for Governor."

Daily Whip Out: "Evan Mecham Steps In It"

The Arizona Rangers vs. Criminals

   Arizona has had three different Arizona Ranger law enforcement groups. The first Ranger group was created in 1860, the second in 1882 and the third in 1901. All three did their best to combat lawlessness, but they were all defeated by the Arizona Legislature, which wouldn't pay them (1882) and finally voted them out of existence (1909), proving for the umpteenth time that it's hard to beat crime when you fight city hall.

Daily Whip Out: "The Arizona Rangers Draw Fire"

"Remember this: no matter how bad it gets in your world, it's probably even more ridiculous in Arizona."

—Old Vaquero Saying

True West Moments at The Spirit of The West Museum

October 24, 2016
   Here's a chance to see 50 of my True West Moments in a museum, for free. You know, this stuff:

Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West is celebrating the donation of “The A.P. Hays Spirit of the West Collection” to the museum with free admission to the entire museum from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., and a special informational presentation by the collection donor Abe Hays.

The Paradise Valley resident and retired owner of Arizona West Galleries will speak on the topic of Western spurs beginning at 6:30 p.m. A dessert reception will follow at 7:30 p.m.

The one-of-a-kind collection includes more than 1,400 authentic Western artifacts including leather saddles, rare badges, spurs, firearms, Wild West Show objects, and a “wanted” poster for the arrest of legendary outlaws Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker.

This Thursday night from 6 to 9 at the Scottsdale Museum of The West, it is free to get in, plus you get to hear my amigo and True Westerner of the Year, Abe Hays, talk about his amazing collection in the museum. Check it out:

Abe Hays Speaks 

Over Treacherous Trails

October 24, 2016
   I finally broke down and bought the Aaron Sorkin "Master Class" on screenwriting ($90). It's a treasure trove of pertinent information for anyone who has ever attempted to tell a story. The Cliff Notes version: it's all about "intention" and "obstacles" and the competing ideas need to be equal.

   Bonus Random Tidbit: "If it's the place you are attracted to, it's a series, and if the characters die at the end it's a feature."

Mickey Free rode deeper into the burned-out canyons, finally topping out on the narrow trail to Divisidero (the Divide). 

Daily Whip Out: "Over Treacherous Trails."

  The problem was he was no closer to finding the Kid than he was when he crossed the border. Still, he pressed on.

"A horse was just a ride to him, and he went through half a hundred in the next few years."
—"The Kid" by Ron Hansen (page 24)

The History of A Scene: "Commanche Station" (1960)

October 19, 2016
   I'm developing a new feature for True West in 2017. Since so many classic Westerns were filmed over a half century ago, it seems like a good time to go behind the scenes and document how they were made.

   When I was recently in Lone Pine, California for the Lone Pine Film Festival, I got a tour of the Alabama Hills with stunt rider and horsewoman, Sylvia Durando, who doubled for the female lead in the Randolph Scott classic Western "Commanche Station" (1960).

The History of A Scene: "Commanche Station" (1960)

   The movie opens with an 11-minute-montage-setup with very little dialogue. A loner, Jefferson Cody (Randolph Scott) is moving through the desert landscape with a pack mule. He is soon surrounded by Commanches who he hopes will want the bounty he is packing on the back of his mule. They actually don't and take him to their chief, and after Scott throws in his Winchester, the Commanches trade the goods for a captive white woman, Nancy Lowe (Nancy Gates), they have been holding. He puts her on the pack mule and the two ride quickly out of the stronghold and make their way towards Lordsburg, and safety. Their flight makes up the heart of the story. Sylvia Durando doubled for the female lead, Nancy Gates, and here we see Sylvia, doubling for Gates, riding through the Alabama Hills in August of 1959 when the movie was filmed.

   When I mentioned that the rider looks younger than Randolph Scott in this sequence, Sylvia replied, "Yes, that is Hal Needham, he was the double for Randolph Scott in the long shots. He also doubled Richard Boon in Have Gun Will Travel, and I worked with him for nine months on that series.  Look close at his horse, above, and you will notice he is also a stunt double as well. He he."

   Sylvia also had this to say about the riding gear, "The mule did not have a bit in her mouth, just a halter with a frayed rope so I asked for a wire or light reins be attached to the halter just in case the rope were to break or if the rope should get dropped. The wrangler fixed it up for me. I was sitting upon a packed pack saddle, no stirrups for my feet and only the wooden forks of the pack saddle to hang on to."

   Here is a still from the movie that shows Sylvia full face to the camera. Evidently the PR department thought she looked enough like the star that no one would notice:

Sylvia Durando and Randolph Scott in a still from "Commanche Station"

And here's another shot of Sylvia on location taken just before the water trough sequence:

Sylvia Durando in the Alabama Hills, 1959

And here is the female lead, Nancy Gates, when she is thrown down on top of the trinkets Randolph Scott brought to trade with the Commanches.

Nancy Gates as the Commanche captive.

A mohawked Commancche extra, Nancy Gates and Randolph Scott

   Sylvia also doubled Gates in the water trough scene when Scott throws her in the trough to save her from the rain of bullets pouring into Commanche Station. The script was written by Burt Kennedy and was his last script before becoming a director himself.

Scott and Gates in the water trough scene.

  

 Sylvia describes the setup: "I was tossed into the water several times by Hal Needham (Randolph Scott's double) for the long shots and once by Randolph for the close shot. He picked me up facing the water and tossed me, I didn't go all the way in and my legs were on the end of the trough so for the sake of avoiding a cut in the scene, Randolph Scott grabbed my feet and shoved, scraping my chins on the wood edge of the trough. They got the close up in one shot!"

"Commanche Station" Lobby Card

   Sylvia added, "The lobby card is me in the water, had it been Nancy Gates the face would not of been hidden. I don't recall her ever being tossed into the water, they just cut and she got into the trough. I was in it the whole time they were filming the battle. I would duck and then come up for air than duck again. The crew let me do that about five more time after the cameras stopped rolling and they were all laughing at me ducking and diving. I was paid an extra seventy five dollars overtime for all the times I got tossed that day!"

 It was a thrill to see these sites with Sylvia who knew all the behind-the-scenes stories on the last Western Randolph Scott made in the Lone Pine area.

Sylvia Durando at the scene of the filming of Commanche Station this October 7, 2016. Today she is 82-years-young and is still riding horses and mules. Quite a Western gal, she is.

When I asked Sylvia how we can tell if it's her riding the mule in the film, she said, "If she isn't bouncing, that's me."

POV studies

October 19, 2016
   After two weeks of traveling, I buckled down this morning to try and find my way back to the groove Did a page of POV studies for our upcoming graphic novel, "The Trickster With The Sidewinder Gaze."

Daily Whip Outs: "POV Studies"

   Rather rusty, but that's what I get for being out on the road. As a famous pianist once said, "If I don't practice for a day, I notice it. If I don't practice for two days, the critics notice it and if I don't practice for three days the fans notice it."

   It's only been two weeks, but even my art teacher notices it, and he has been dead for a decade or so. Anyway, the "Trickster" will pay off our cover stories on this stray cat:

The December 2008 issue of True West (at left), and the August, 2016 issue.

"If you want a long career you have to drive people away now and again, so they realize they miss you."

—Elvis Costello

Adventures of An Old Man In The Air And On The Sea

October 17, 2016
   It's our last day on the island. Got to see most of Kauai—the garden island—including the rugged, northwestern quadrant where there are no roads and very little rain.

The Hawaiian Grand Canyon

  According to our sea faring guide—Captain Aaron—Mount Waialeale is the second wettest spot on earth receiving more than 460 inches of rain per year and the westside of the island gets a meager 14 inches of rain, which is darn close to Arizona (we usually get about 12 inches a year). That's why the western part of the island resembles Arizona, above, and the eastern part looks like, well, Hawaii:

Waterfalls galore on the northeastern mountains

Many movies have been made here: South Pacific King Kong, Pagan Love Song, Raiders of The Lost Arc, Diamond Head, The Hawaiians, Six Days And Seven Nights, The Perfect Getaway, the list goes on.

The waterfall used in the first Jurassic Park

That's our condo, the white spot at far left as we glide over Hanalei Bay.

Yes, the Hanalei Bay made famous in the Peter, Paul and Mary song. And here's the view looking back the other way:

The view off our deck.

   On Friday we took a helicopter tour of the island and I got to witness this spectacular view out of the front window of our Bell (no relation) Helicopter.

Na Pali Coast, the rugged northwest corner of Kauai where there are no roads.

   First we flew over the "Barking Sands" and then, on Sunday, Kathy booked us on a swift boat, which zipped along the above coast bouncing over the waves like a Navy Seals extraction boat. And, according to our crew, that is what our boat is—a Navy Seal Extraction Boat. 

   Our trip took off from Waimea Bay, which is, of course, famous for its 50 foot waves and for being in the lyrics to "Surfin' USA" by the Beach Boys. It took us an hour-and-a-half to get to the boat dock from our Princeville address, but the drive was delightful as we motored through the mid-land farms and villages to get to the arid west side of the island.

   The swift boat tour took off at ten and for most of the ride, I sat in the back in one of the three Princess Chairs (the crew has a rougher name for the chairs, that being the anatomical area Donald Trump allegedly grabbed with abandon back in the 80s). But the position did give me the opportunity to use my camera:

My fellow swift boaters hanging on for dear life.

   Being the oldest pussy, I mean, GUY, on the boat did have its advantages. Less spray, less kidney punishment and more relaxation. After an hour of salt spray and wave jumping we arrived at the first of several sea caves and much to our amazement, Captain Aaron turned the boat around and BACKED into the caves, even as waves crashed into the surrounding walls which lifted the boat up near the ceiling in the smaller ones.

The view from inside one of the larger sea caves.

   The water along the shore is a crazy blue. A kind of hot turquoise that looks fake. And, speaking of fake, the locals have little nice to say about the hippies, who first infested this region in the early seventies. According to our native guide, the national guard had to come in and round them up and deport them. He said they found 1,000 hippies living off the land and 20,000 cubic feet of garbage. He also added that the wilder bands are still out there in the canyons. Shades of the Apaches in the Sierra Madre!

Another ho-hum sunset in the land of spectacular sunsets

So that's the report. I didn't talk about the kayaking but that's another story. It's expensive in this paradise. Gas is $3.50, a burrito is $9, the helicopter ride was $650 and the Captain Andy Boat Tour is $280. I'm not complaining, just reporting the facts. And as for the overall expense, I have to say this:

"Thanks Mike Lacey!"

—BBB

A beautiful wedding at a beautiful spot

October 15, 2016
   It was windy and the sand was lumping up in my sockless, boat-deck shoes. There was no place to sit. I felt a little cranky. And then the bride showed up, walking along the beach with her stepfather Charlie. And, yes, that is a flute player out front playing hippie music like they insist on playing in movies about Apaches.

  She was radiant.

Here comes the bride

She was evidently meeting up with this guy.

The man of the hour

The groom's friends built this little shelter for the ceremony. A woman came out of the bushes and complained about us being here. Everyone laughed her off.

The ceremony

The location is on the north shore of Kauai. Sweet kids. I wished them well.

Yes, it was ridiculously wonderful. A storybook wedding and it was an honor to be there.

"Get off my beach!"

—An old woman (my age) who was full of it because all the beaches in Hawaii are public

If The Suit Fits, Wear It

October 11, 2016
   In 1984 I was in Kansas on a road trip with my family when we stopped in an antique store where I found an 1890s three-piece-suit that fit me like a glove. I came home, grabbed a hat, a pistol and a Winchester and had photographer Ralph Rippe take a photo for posterity.

BBB Channeling Blackjack Ketchum

Found this when I was looking for the New Times photo. I still have the suit, but it doesn't fit anymore.

"If the suit fits, wear it."
—Old Vaquero Saying

Every Blind Dog Finds an Acorn From Time to Time

October 12, 2016
   Somewhere I have a great photo of the New Times staff taken in about 1979 and I can't find it. However, I did find a couple other gems:

BBB and Apache, my blind Australian Shepherd.

   The high-backed saddle is from my Great-uncle John Guess of Steins Pass, New Mexico and the clock on the mantle is also from his humble home. This photo was taken by Barbara Buros in 1985. During this photo session, she also took another photo on our back porch.

Thomas Charles, at left, Apache, BBB and Deena C. on the back porch.

   This was at our old home at 707 W. MacKenzie in Phoenix. The A-1 sign is off the old Nogales Cafe and the sandblasted window was done by an artist I can't remember. The dog's name is Apache.

"What did you do to deserve those good looking kids?"

—my production manager, Robert Ray, on looking at this photo in the scanner

Why Did Mike Lacey Give Me $5,000?

October 11, 2016
  Why did Mike Lacey give me $5,000? The short answer is, I earned it. 

New Times crew, 1978, that's Larkin and Lacey,  fourth and fifth from left. And Jana Bommersbach,  far right.

BBB in the shadow of the Alabama Hills

   Here's what happened:

 Several weeks ago I got a request from my former boss, Mike Lacey, through a law firm: Becker & House, and in the request they asked for my contact info, so I emailed them my mailing address. A week or so later, I got a check for $5,000 made out to me with this message:

Dear Bob:

It is my pleasure to inform you that you have been named as a
beneficiary of a gift from Michael Lacey. Mr. Lacey has asked us to
convey that this gift is a small token of his appreciation.

In order to fulfill the statutory requirements for gift tax purposes,
please fill out the attached form to confirm your date of birth and
current address information. You will not be liable for any tax (in
bold) as a result of this gift. However, Mr. Lacey is required to
report the gifts he is making.

For security purposes, please mail the attached form via the enclosed
self-addressed postage paid envelope. If you have any questions or
concerns, please contact my office (myself or Nicole Casaus) for
assistance.

Yours very truly,

John R. Becker

   End of letter. I signed the attached piece of paper and sent it back with a note of thanks. And, of course, cashed the check and gave half of it to Kathy because, as I told her, "this is a community property state." I also sent Mike a copy of my book "The 66 Kid" with another note of thanks.

   Did my opinion of Mike go up after the gift? Absolutely. Has the gift "conflicted" me about talking of the sordid charges against him and Jim Larkin, my former bosses at the Phoenix New Times? 

   No. 

   First of all, I would never even mention any of this if certain online bloggers hadn't made the claim that Lacey is using these gifts to silence journalists from doing their job on reporting the Back Page controversy (Google it). So I'm talking about it to show I have not been silenced, and, just for the record, Lacey and I had a contentious relationship, to say the least. But he's a smart guy and, from my viewpoint, he has absolutely nothing to gain by giving me this money. I accept it just as his lawyer presented it: "this gift is a small token of his appreciation."

  Frankly, I deserve the money. I started at New Times Weekly for $110 a week in 1978 and my take home was around $85, and, I held down three jobs there: art director, weekly column writer (Scoops) and comic strip generator (Honkytonk Sue and, later, The Doper Roper). Full disclosure: I got an extra $25 for the comic strip. I worked very hard to make New Times a successful newspaper. In my view, Lacey is merely acknowledging my hard work all those years ago when we were both young bucks trying to make our mark in the media world. We were all poor. When I first met Mike Lacey he had just had his car repossessed. Our first office in the Westward Ho had bums lying outside the door and we had to step over them to get in the office. I used to joke that the only way to tell the difference between the homeless and the New Times employees (all five of us) was that the bums had better taste in pants.

   I accept the gift with a clear conscience: it is fair payment for work done and I do appreciate the gesture and the gift.

"He was an unpredictable, capricious boss."
—Dick Reavis, former writer for The Dallas Observer, on working for Lacey

Last Call for Lone Pine

October 9, 2016
   We drove out into the Alabama Hills one more time today and took a look around. Paige Williams took this photo of me standing under a leaning boulder, with Mount Whitney looming over my shoulder:

BBB In The Alabama Hills

Needs a little dodging in Photoshop, but it's a cool shot. She also took one with me kneeling:

Better composition but not quite as dynamic.

After our class photos were taken we retired to a sprawling home on the edge of the Hills and had a delightful brunch.

One of our hosts, Packy Smith, at left, and Larry Floyd,

 of the Williamsburg Film Festival, at right.

After the brunch we went back to Main Street to ride in the Lone Pine Film Festival Parade. I was thrilled to ride in a cherry Lincoln Continental:

My Lone Pine Ride

   Before the parade I was asked if I wanted to do a guest spot on a radio broadcast and we walked across the street to a typical radio tent, with open sides, the kind of setup I have done numerous "remotes" from, back in the day. I looked around for the equipment and there wasn't any, I looked around for the satellite truck and there wasn't one. The radio guy did the entire interview on HIS PHONE! The DJ told me the quality of the mic is so good, they don't need all that old school equipment any more. Yikes. There goes 25 jobs and a slew of equipment that is no longer needed. Actually, it's probably closer to 100 jobs if you factor in all the manufacturing, etc.

   Tonight is the closing ceremonies with a dinner down at Boulder Creek, one of the sponsors. I learned a lot about the history of the area and also about filmmaking. It's been a ton of fun and I definitely plan on coming back.

"Education is hanging around until you've caught on."

—Robert Frost