True Old West Love Stories Are Due for A Reinvention

 July 8, 2025

   In my humble opinion, one thing that never gets enough attention in my Old West crowd is love stories. Yes, plenty of bullet holes and the whores who caused them, but rarely do we debate the mysteries of long lasting love. Perhaps there's a moral here (bullets not betrothal!) or, maybe it's just pure, unadulterated immaturity.

   As my mother might say, "Ya think?!"

Daily Whip Out: "Sexy Sadie"

   So, instead of this. . .

The Real Mrs. Wyatt Earp

      We get this.

Daily Whip Out: "Lady In Red"

   A long disproved image of Sadie Marcus foisted on the public by Glenn Boyer who sold a ton of books because he used it on the cover of his "I Married Wyatt Earp" book. I would contend that cleavage sold a boatload more books than the word "Married."

   On the other hand, Old West romances have received plenty of coverage in another time, in another land, far, far away. . .

      Prickly, prickly, prickly. Just not for my crowd. And to be more specific, not for my gender! Too much kissing, not enough bullet holes.

       Plus, they are not very historically accurate, although, this one comes close. . .

Curly Bill & Doc Holliday find love!

   So, is there room for a feature on True Old West Love in True West? When I was younger, I would have said, "Not on my watch!" But I am too old and too savvy to dismiss this as pandering, or worse, grabbing at straws. Who, even in my crowd, could resist this headline?

Classic Bedroom Gunfights: Deadly Ricochets Between The Sheets!

"If you live long enough, everything old becomes new again."

—Old Vaquero Saying

Proceed With Caution When Digging Under The. . .

 July 7, 2025

   Back in the saddle after a long and very quiet weekend.

Daily Whip Out: "Proceed With Caution"

      Sketched out four projects I want to do.

Daily Whip Outs: "Four Assignments"

   Here's one of them. . .

Daily Whip Out: "Geezer Bulldog"

   Wait until you see what Dan The Man did with it. Ha. After the reunion (August 16).

Daily Whip Out: "O.K. Bros"

Daily Whip Out: "Divisadero #78"

Not a bad start. Now to get serious.

"Don't dig for water under the outhouse."

—Old Vaquero Saying

Mad Coyote Joe Day

 July 6, 2025

   On the last day of the Fourth weekend we decided to have a Mad Coyote Joe Day. That's the day we pull down Mad Coyote Joe's fabulous Gringo's Guide to Mexican Food cookbook and make a batch of homemade green chile.

Mad Joe Day Recipe

homemade green chile, Pacifico beer,

a flour tortilla and my current sketchbook.

   Doesn't get much better than this. Joe's recipe for homemade green chile is just the best.

My Current State of Mind

   Sorry, I'm late, I got caught up at home being happy.

   Crappy Diem is what happens when you sieze the wrong day.

   My ability to make life more difficult is unmatchable!

   I dreamed big, but I fell short, over and over. When in actuality I want to be extraordinarily bold and risky. Sometimes I think I achieved both!

   Great art is balancing and breaking symmetry at the same time. The same is true of drumming.

"His simplicity was complicated."

—Shiela E. referring to Ringo Starr's drumming which I believe was genius

Jesse Incommunicado, Bushwhacker's Hogleg & Revisiting BBB Hat Rules

 July 5, 2025

   It's fun to find old unfinished, rough sketches and give them a little wash, or two:

Daily Whip Out: "Jesse Incommunicado"

   And, in a related theme. . .

Daily Whip Out: "Bushwhacker's Hogleg"

   The following is a public service for greenhorns and touristas new to the Southwest.

BBB Cowboy Hat Etiquette

"Don't touch my hat!"

"A work of art that did not begin in emotion is not art."

—Paul Cezanne

 July 4, 2025

   Some say they are the toughest and roughest gang to ever stand still for a photo.

The dreaded Ha Ha Gang

"We make people laugh whether they want to,

or not."

   They rode hard, but only if their parents were going to the same destination. They talked back, but soft enough so they weren't actually heard. And, most importantly, they fed the dog under the table when no one was looking!

   Led by an ancient geezer who brags: "I may not be very smart, or well-educated, but I will tell you this: I'm not very fast on my feet either."

When Weston got his name

"Ride Hard, Ride Free And May The Fourth Be With You!"

—G-Paw Ha Ha

I'm Approaching My Prime, Baby!

 July 3, 2025

   Just a friendly reminder that most athletes peak in their twenties, rock stars in their thirties, divorcees in their forties, truck drivers in their fifties, pickleball players in the sixties and politicians in their seventies. But outperforming them all in terms of age—as in the longevity zone—historians peak in their eighties! 

"I'm in my prime!"

—Carl Sandburg, 85  

   Walk it off Peckerwood. Speaking of wood. . .

A Classic BBB Blog on Deadwood

   I grew up with them and they were definitely a thing.

Daily Whip Out: "A Bad Boy Mormon"

   I also have a better view of what it means to always be on the cutting edge, something I aspired to in my thirties and forties, especially.

“Nothing dulls faster than the cutting edge.”
—Andrew Weed

   On the other end of the spectrum. . .

“The owl is the wisest of all birds because the more it sees, the less it talks.”

—Old Vaquero Saying

Erroneous Skedaddle And Uno With Nose In Book

 July 2, 2025

     Still having fun with a bunch of drawings in the works.

Daily Whip Out: "Pouting Bushwhacker" 

 Also, I keep finding old covers that Dan The Man has designed that I think are classic.

Come on, America, lighten up!

   And, still having fun with canyon lighting.

Daily Whip Out: "Canyon Walls"

On a completely different subject, I found Uno this morning with his nose in a book.

And who says dogs aren't into Billy the Kid? 

Goodbye Paulita

   And speaking of Billy, everyone thought the Kid had skedaddled to Old Mexico. This was after he killed his two guards and escaped hanging in Lincoln, New Mexico in April of 1881. But instead of going south, he rode north to meet his fate. He hid out in sheep camps in the hills to the east and west of Fort Sumner and for a couple months Billy was successful in staying out of sight and off the grid. But then, like any other red-blooded American male graduating from his second decade of life, the Kid let his hormones get the better of him and he ventured into town to visit his querida for one little kiss.

Daily Reworked Whip Out:

"The Kid Returns for One Little Kiss"

"From out of nowhere Paulita has found me
Kissing my cheek as she kneels by my side
Cradled by two loving arms that I'll die for
One little kiss and Paulita, goodbye."

—Marty Robbins "El Paso" (with a BBB tweak)

Remembering Edmundo, And I Am Hopeful About When Historians Peak

 July 1, 2025

   I sure miss this guy.

The late, great Edmundo Segundo (Ed Mell) at home in front of his painting "Morning Light"

   And speaking of lost treasures here is a shot of the twin saguaros on our property that were lost in the 2020 fire. Yes, that is the cave that Cave Creek is named for to the right of the saguaros.

Twin Saguaros In Memory

   The search for the lighting effects in steep canyons for my Divisadero story has led to some interesting effects, if I don't say so myself.

Daily Whip Out: "Eye of The Canyon"

   I finished the book my daughter gifted me while we were in Issaquah and it has been life changing.

The Takeaways

   Most athletes peak in their twenties and are out of the game by their forties. Anna Wintour just stepped down as editor of Vogue at age 75. But, of all the professions on the planet, it was great to read in the book that historians usually don't peak until they're 80! You could not make up something that bizarre and hopeful and wonderful.

   Stop chasing the admiration of strangers.

   Start mentoring and sharing your wisdom, starting with your grandkids.

   Eulogy goal: "He was kind and deeply spiritual" vs. "He sure had a lot of frequent flyer miles."

   "Solitude expresses the glory of being alone, whereas loneliness expresses the pain of feeling alone."

   "The secret to happiness isn't falling in love; it's staying in love, which depends on. . .stable affection, mutual understanding and commitment."

—Arthur C. Brooks, "Strength to Strength"

"When modern, urban folks find something very unusual in culture history, there is an AmerIndian

parallel, or precedent that may have been the genesis of the myth or tall tale that was garbled over time, then enshrined as pseudo-historical 'fact.'” 

—Brian Dervin Dillon, Ph.D.

Do You Have A Sense of Yuma?

 July 30, 2025

   So damn hot. Culling images to be in the big Billy show in October. This is one of them.

Daily Whip Out: "Billy Basking In Limelight"

   Meanwhile, here's a giggler I had forgotten about.

Emilio Mash Up With The Kid

(by Dan The Man)

   Timely, since our friend John Fusco and Emilio are primed to start making Young Guns III: Wanted Dead of Alive!

Seriously?

   Abbreviation is twelve letters? Thesaurus doesn't have a synonym? Monosyllabic has five syllables? Phonetic is not? Say what you will about English, but it certainly has a sense of Yuma.

   I've said it before and I'll say it again, you need a sense of humor to live in Yuma. In short, you need a sense of Yuma!

"History sighs. Repeats itself."

—The Onion

The Neighbors Look, The Nightman Listens & Uno Sits Wherever He Damn Well Pleases

 June 29, 2025

   We got sidetracked in the last year by the chaos on the newsstand and in the marketplace, but I still have plans on finishing this bushwhacking opus:

Daily Whip Outs: "Jesse James On the Brain"

I also have plans for more of these south of the border witty ditties:

   Meanwhile, out on old Route 66:

 He stood in the driveway and listened. Something was in the night air and he didn't like the smell of it either.

Daily Whip Out: "The Nightman"

   I also have a limited canine series I am shopping at Netflix.

"Uno Is The One"

(and only)

   It's about a silver lab who had no idea he was not allowed on chairs.

"The amateur believes he must first overcome his fear; then he can do his work. The professional knows that fear can never be overcome. He knows there is no such thing as a fearless warrior or a dread-free artist."

—Steven Pressfield, "The War of Art"

Flags of Our Mothers & Daughters

 July 28, 2025

   I got Kathy a flagpole for her birthday this year and we finally got it up and there was only one problem:

The flagpole is right side up,

while the Arizona flag is, well, not.

 

   Took me a week, but I finally got it turned around.

Seriously?

   When two vegans get in an argument, is it still called a beef?"

Deena Bean up on Castle Rock

 long before turning to a plant based lifestyle

  A couple years ago I was gifted several boxes of tintypes from a collector back east who didn't want them anymore and he told me if I would pay for the shipping, they were mine.

   Many were labeled as famous people like Wyatt Earp and Jesse James, etc. and while I'm skeptical of those, many were anonymous people captured on film a long time ago and it's those folks that mesmerize me to this day. In fact, I have scanned several of them and then painted my interpretation of who they might have been.

Buster Bancroft,  a known scalawag

 from Saskachewan

Booger Vanderstein 

used wagon salesman

Miss Templeton "Hourglass" McGee

   It is both amusing and horrifying to think someone in the future will probably do the same with our visages, yes?

Bill Booze Bell from the side

"Only by acceptance of the past will you alter its meaning."

—T.S. Eliot

Just What The World Needs: Another Half-Dozen Sugarloafs By BBB

 June 27, 2025

   Working with Dan The Man on a new logo idea which I've posted before, but today I am getting serious. The goal is a tidy logo to run as the coda on my border stories. You know, like this:

Another Sugarloaf Western

By BBB

   In case you haven't noticed, I have a thing for sugarloafs, the hat style and the butte. 

Daily Whip Out: "Sugarloaf Butte #32"

Daily Scratchboard Whip Out:

"Sugarloaf Butte #33"

Daily Whip Out:

"Sugarloaf Sideview #34"

Daily Whip Out:

"Too Many Elements Sugarloaf"

   Here's what Dan The Man had to say about the above: "Think Ed Mell simplicity if it is to be an all purpose logo"

   Okay, is this Ed Mell enough?

Daily Whip Out:

"Bell Rips Off Mell Sugarloaf"

Last Flight Of The Bozester?

  I think I may have experienced my second to last long distance flight (got one more to see our son next month). I just have had my fill of the stress of fighting all the traffic getting to the airport pre-flight shuttle service which is an hour away, finding a parking spot close to the actual shuttle, successfully getting on the shuttle before it leaves, finding an empty seat, sitting on the hump between two seats, tipping the driver $5 for handing me my bag, actually getting over the curb and inside the airport terminal and determining the right gate at the correct end of terminal 4, getting through TSA without proper ID, and with my hat setting off the alarm because it has a wire in the hatband, making small talk with crammed line goobers, getting on the cramped plane, getting the right overhead bin in front of our seats and cramming a too large travel bag in, wheels out, cramming into the narrow aisle seat, putting the other bag under the seat in front of me, having to pee at least twice during the flight and timing the run to the forward bathroom so as not to scare the crew, eating two bags of crappy pretzels that taste like the most no-actual-food-was-used-preparing-this-artificial crap, surviving a bumpy landing, then waiting in the aisle, dragging too much carry-on through the plane, then the narrow corridor, finding the "Ground Transportation" sign, reading it correctly, letting youngsters go ahead of me in the bathroom, pretending to wash my hands, traipsing out to the outside pickup curb, getting the call that we're on the wrong side of the airport, calling an Uber. . .they don't take cash. . .I could go on, but you know where this is going.

"What a long strange trip it's been."

—The Grateful Dead

Seriously? Part II

 June 26, 2025

   Here we go. Lots of friends out on the road this summer. Pam and Toni stayed at La Posada in Winslow last night and here's what they found in their room.

La Posada cares about their guests!

   Meanwhile it's my goal to produce something funny for my four grandkids every day this week.

Seriously?

   I'll never forget my grandfather's last words to me. "Are you still holding the ladder?"

Daily Whip Out:

"Old Coot Before The Fall"

Gone But Not Forgotten

   One of the giants in our field was a great guy from El Paso and he uttered one of the best quotes about the crazy people in our field, i.e. History, with a capital H.

   Historian Leon Metz at Blazer's Mill explaining what happened there during the Lincoln County War

"What people choose to believe is a fact in itself."

—Leon Metz (November 6, 1930-November 15, 2020)