Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid And Neither Do Artists Seeking History All Over The World

 October 8, 2024

   In 2015 Kathy Sue lined up a van Gogh tour for me and the Ds (Dan and Darlene Harshberger), starting in Amsterdam and down to Nunen, thru Brussels to Paris on the train and on to Arles and San Marie, San Remy, then back to Auver-sur-Oise where Vincent cashed out.

BBB at San Remy in the south of France

(note the plaid overshirt over my arm)

BBB in a bar in Auvers-sur-Oise

(same plaid overshirt)

   Fast forward to Saint Jo, Missouri in 2023 when Mark Lee Gardner took me into the courthouse to show me the actual bench where Robert and Charlie Ford were booked on April 3, 1882.

Another Plaid Suspect Arraigned

(photo by Mark Lee Gardner)

We Get Mail

   "Congratulations on the reward you will be receiving from the Will Rogers people next week. I will not be there, but I have harangued you on article ideas since you bought True West magazine and moved it from Stillwater."

—Mike Coppock

Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska

What's In A Name?

   Everything. I see him as a cross between a Mexican Uncle Sam and Son of Sam Clemens. 

Daily Whip Out: "Old Vaquero #41"

"Never give a sword to a man who can't dance."

—Old Vaquero Saying

Three Titles for the Price of One

 October 7, 2024

   When we bought True West magazine 25 years ago we also got two other titles with it: Frontier Times and Old West magazine.  We sold off Frontier Times, but still own the Old West magazine name.

Our classic spinoff title: Old West Journal

(summer 2000)

 "Seems like you still care" and then for the doubters, "Let's see how this goes." This is how Ellen DeGeneres opened her "farewell" stand-up special For Your Approval. Given her recent cancellation for being "mean" and running a toxic workspace, I have to say I was rooting for her. She did over an hour of good material, then at the end, she simply said this: "After a lifetime of caring, I just can't anymore. So, I don't. . ." Long pause, "But if I'm being honest. . ." longer pause, crowd starts to swell with apprehension and support. "And, I have a choice of people remembering me as someone who is mean, or someone who is beloved, be-loved? Beloved? Be-loved," she rides this maybe ten times, and then ends it with this: "I choose that." Several in the audience stand and start cheering. Then more and more until she gets the big Standing O. Not sure it's worthy of a standing O, but she got one and you can't argue with that.

"The truth is simple. If it was complicated everyone would understand it."

—Walt Whitman

Daily Scratchboard Whip Outs:

"Old West Types Galore"

   The moral: Do dumb things until you get it right. There is no other path to the place you want to go.

"Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm."

—Winston Churchill

“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail Better.”

—Samuel Beckett

“[In sports] there’s a winner, there’s a loser. What I love about art is, it’s not like that. It’s about self-perfection. I love trying to make the absolute best film you can. Get everyone together and just do your absolute best. If you can actualize that, that’s the magic.”

—Richard Linklater

What's in a name?

Everything.

Given name: Louis Bert Lindley, Jr.

Stage name: Slim Pickens.

Given name: Goyathla (He Who Yawns)

Nickname: "Geronimo"

“Life is beautiful if you are on the road to somewhere.”

—Orhan Pamuk

On The Border With Boze—Again!

 October 6, 2024

   I have friends on the border and they humor me. A compadre of one of them has accused me of cultural appropriation, for which I plead guilty. So, sue me. I dig all things vaquero, rurale, bandito, adelita and mole. Especially mole!

   My next show at Patinas in Cave Creek will feature a few of these new images.

Daily Whip Out: "Sunset Vaquero"

Daily Reworked Whip Out:

"Border Warrior"

Daily Whip Out: "Cabezas de Mexicano"

Daily Reworked Whip Out: "Hellstorm"

Daily Reworked Whip Out:

"Ojos Rides On 2"

Daily Reworked Whip Out: "The Sentry 2"

   "If drunkards could fly, the sky would be cloudy all day."

—Old Vaquero Saying

The Science of Awe Walking

 October 5, 2024

   Get ready for some serious Awe Walking, something me and Uno have become experts at.

Awe Walkers at The Crack of Dawn

   You may ask, what exactly is Awe Walking? Well, when we experience awe on a walk, “one region of the brain is deactivated— the default mode network. That is where all the self-representational processes take place: I’m thinking about myself, my time, my goals, my strivings, my checklist. That quiets down during awe. Awe also activates our vagus nerve. That’s 'the big bundle of nerves starting in the top of your spinal cord that helps you look at people and vocalize," and it also “slows our heart rate, helps with digestion and opens up our bodies to things bigger than us. Awe also cools down the inflammation process. It’s part of your immune system that attacks diseases, and we want it to be cooler and not always hot.”

—Dacher Keltner, professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley

   The easiest thing you can do then, is to go for an Awe Walk and train yourself to look at stuff like this.

"Wow. I think I see some delicous coyote feces

over there!"

   I am in awe of the sunrise and how the sun hits the high peaks of New River Mesa. Uno is in awe of feces from a variety of other desert dwellers. 

"One person's awe is another person's aw-ship."

—Old Doggone Saying, yes that is a OPT (on purpose typo)

BBBBadges, Part II & Samuel Walker Revisited

 October 4, 2024

   The late, great Phil Spangenberger always cut a fine figure when posing with authentic firearms. 

Phil Spangenberger

(1940-2024)

   In addition to that, he always wore great hats! Loved the guy. We're doing a commemorative feature on him in the next issue. And speaking of authentic firearms, here's a cover we did way back in the beginning.

Daily Whip Out:

"Sam Walker: The Original Ranger"

   It's been almost 25 years, but I think it's time to take another run at The Original Ranger.

Daily Whip Out:

"Samuel Walker from a photo"

   The Ballad of Buster Scruggs did not work as a movie, but one of the scenes from the movie on Youtube has 20 million views and 6,298 comments. Take a gander.

The Cantina Scene

    Of course, it's the Coen brothers, and it's Tim Blake Nelson, so you knew it had to be good in terms of flat out humor. But I wonder. . .

   My new Youtube video is up. . 

   If you have been wondering why in hell my name is on it, wonder no more.

Here's Why My Name Is On It

This just in:

"Were you aware that in the 1940 film Los de Abajo our stinking badges boy Alfonso Bedoya was featured as El Manteca (Manteca is lard for your daily Spanish lesson). Alfonso was a Yaqui, born in one of the traditional villages, Vicam, Sonora. He certainly knew and spoke Yaqui. His teenage years were spent in Texas so he also learned and spoke English. He appeared in more than 150 films in the US and Mexico. Badges indeed! He certainly played the quintessential Mexican bandito very well.

—Greg Scott

Inspired by

Alfonso Bedoya in

Treasure of The Sierra Madre

  And, by the way, if you are wearing an official BBBBadge you will receive 15% off of any piece of art you buy at Patinas in Cave Creek at the opening on November 9, 2024.

Random follow Up Question From A Fan

   "Will a 'Salt River Pete' water safety agent button suffice to meet the badge requirement?"

   Yes, but only because it made me laugh. Everyone else must have an official badge.

"If if bleeds, it leads and if it makes you laugh it stays in."

—Old TV Producer Saying

BBBBadges?

 October 3, 2024

   Here's a sneak peek at one of the paintings that will be in the Patinas art show next month:

Daily Reworked Whip Out:

"Rurale Comin' At Ya'" 

  Badges? Yes, you are going to need a BBBBadge to get the deep discounts you need at my big, fat, stinking art show at Patinas in Cave Creek next month.  How much will you save?

BBBBadges!

   To the typical art collector coming in off the street, the Rurale painting, at top, is priced at $1,750. If you are wearing your BBBadge, the price is going to be significantly lower. How much lower? Details tomorrow.

   As you may know, the Wild West had it's fair share of badge styles.

The Autry Museum's Wall of Badges

   You might be asking yourself, why do some lawman badges have five pointed stars and some have six points? Let's ask the Marsh.

Points of Interest
"Peace officers, then and now, can design their own badges. In frontier towns, they often made badges out of materials at hand that ranged from silver coins to lids off tin cans, hence “tin star.” Although the five-pointed star is the most common of these designs, some agencies had six-, seven-, eight- or nine-point stars for badges. Historically, a five-pointed star supposedly imparted magical powers that deflected evil. A soldier sometimes wore one around his neck, believing it would protect him from enemy arrows. Of course, that didn’t always work."
—Marshall Trimble, who will be retiring next issue.

   And, here's another piece in my Badges Art Show.

Daily Whip Out: "Badge In Smoke"

"Mama take this badge from me

I can't use it anymore

It's getting dark, too dark to see

Feels like I'm knockin' on heaven's door"

—Bob Dylan

Until The Cows Come Home: Seven Sisters Sunset, What's In A Name Part II, The Marlow Brothers Part III, Wyatt Earp And The Cowboy War Part IV

 October 2, 2024

   Had a dilly of a sunset last night.

Seven Sisters Sunset

   Someone asked me how long I intend to do what I am doing now and I replied: "Until the cows come home." Well, if this photo is any indication, that event is closer than it appears in the rearview mirror.

Cow riding, vaquero style

"Homeward bound"

Part II: What's In A Name?

   Everything.

Given name: Hugh Krampe

Stage Name: Hugh O'Brian

The Marlow Brothers In Three Parts

Marlow Brothers, first pass

Marlow Brothers, second pass

Marlow Brothers, third pass

An Immediate Marlow Brothers Correction

   "A comment on the painting, they were shackled by the ankles, not the wrists, but that wouldn't show in the painting - I know all about artistic license, just teasing. The Marlow story is a great one, and not well known by many today, except for us serious western history folks.  Looking forward to your coming blogs.
—Jim Pettengill
Ridgway, Colorado

'Appointment With Destiny' On The Exact Spot

   One of the cool things about the David Wolper documentary, "Showdown at O.K Corral" (1972) is they filmed on the exact spot, taking out the big wall that encloses and shields the property from Highway 80, i.e. Fremont Street in Tombstone, Arizona.

The dirt demarcation line just in front of the Earps is where the wall was, and is today.

   The only problem here is the actual space where the Earps & Clantons fought is only 18 feet wide because there is a missing house on the current property, which was next to the Harwood house on the corner. So, even though they went to all the trouble to film on the actual spot, the spacing is wrong and would have been much tighter. This is why today when you visit you will see an iron fence closing down the space to show how tight it was in the original fight. Sigh.

   And, so it goes.

"Nothing changes more than the past."

—Old Vaqueo Saying

Phil Spangenberger Has Passed

 October 1, 2024

   We have lost another of our True West pards.

Phil Spangenberger

(1940-2024)

Ride Cowboy, Ride!

   On September 26, 2024, True West’s 2022 True Westerner of the Year and beloved Firearms Editor Phil Spangenberger died suddenly during a heart procedure. Phil was considered one of the most noted experts on 19th- and early 20th - century American firearms. He was a contributor to True West for over 20 years, and for four decades the black powder firearms editor for Guns & Ammo. A highly regarded film and television firearms consultant and coach, Phil was the founder of Red River Western Wear and Old West Gun Holsters. Many likened him to a modern Buffalo Bill, who inspired generations of men and women to become reenactors, to collect and wear correct period Western clothing, and become participants in Cowboy Mounted Shooting Association and the Single Action Shooting Society. He was an inspiration to thousands around the world, a renowned horseman, reenactor and Western entertainer. Phil, a native of Florida, is survived by his beloved wife, Linda J. Spangenberger, of Chino Valley, Arizona. He was 84 years old.

   True West will publish Phil’s final column and review in the January-February 2025 issue with an extended memorial of his life and career.

—Stuart Rosebrook

What's In A Name?

 October 1, 2024

   Time to come clean.

What's In A Name?

   Everything.

Given name: Margarita Carmen Cansino

Stage name: Rita Hayworth

Given name: Robert Zimmerman

Stage name: Bob Dylan

Given Name: Marion Morrison

Stage Name: John Wayne

Given name: Henry McCarty

Outlaw name: Billy the Kid

Given name: Harry Longabaugh

Outlaw name: The Sundance Kid

Given name: Robert Allen Bell

Cartoonist name: Bob Boze Bell

"One of the great parts of show business is that you can't come back with the same show."

—Lorne Michaels, on the eve of SNL's 50th season