In The Middle of Nowhere I Found Myself

 June 21, 2025

   It has been raining here non-stop for the past several hours. We are obviously not in Arizona. To a desert rat it is a very soothing sound, a luxury for a parched mind.

Striped Blanket On A Mexican Caballero

   Yes, we are at our daughter's family house in Issaquah. Love that In-din name. And, to the locals this is incessant moisture and a bit of a drag, but to us it's a joy and a respite from the blast furnace of home. And, sometimes you have to go away so you can replenish your love of your home. And, full disclosure, my daughter feels the same way when she comes to visit us.

   We came all this way to celebrate the birth of a true Westerner—a lad actually named Weston—who is a "Man of the West," as his mother puts it.

The Birthday Boy 12 years ago

when he was already a Jedi Master

"When it rains, it pours."

—Old Vaquero Saying

The Perfect Hike

 June 20, 2025

  We're in Issaquah, Washington for a couple days and a certain grandson's 12th birthday party. Yesterday we ended up in Des Moines outside of Seattle for a day on the beach and a non hike (see sign in back).

Non-hiking hikers.

"When in Rome do what the Romans do."

—Old Roman Saying

One Big Doc Just For You

 June 18, 2025

   Sharlot Hall Museum is mounting a big Doc Holliday Art Show in August and they asked me for several of my best Doc pieces, including this seriograph of the Doc which will be featured prominently in the show. It belongs to Theresa Broniarczyk who ran Tri Star Printing back in the day and she is downsizing and asked me if I knew anyone who might want it.

   So, here is an offer I am making just to you:

"The Doctor Will See You Now"

Seriograph, framed and numbered (1/150)

frame size is 37.5" X 48"

   It is offered here for $1,500 and you will be able to take it home after the show comes down at the end of September. Email me if you want it. First come, etc.

Daily Reworked Whip Out:

"Mestizo Girl 2"

And, here's another reworking. . .

Daily Revised Whip Out:

"The Kid Returns 4"

High praise to True West for having the courage to publish the "Behind Primeval Mountain Meadows" story. Kudos to Paul Hutton's masterful exposition of this sordid piece of history. As a teach of northwest history, I deeply appreciate True West's continuing commitment to presenting factual history, the good, the bad and the ugly.

—Herb Flick, Clackamas, Oregon

"If we don't support each other, who will."

—Old Editor Saying

True Confessions of A Trophy Husband

 June 17, 2025

   You can imagine my surprise when I opened the Amazon box 24 hours after the expiration of Father's Day to discover a T-shirt with an empowering two word message.

A Belated Father's Day Gift

   At that moment, all of the symptoms flooded back to me. It was so obvious, how did I not recognize the warning signs?

• She often introduces me as "arm candy."

• Not once in 47 years of marriage did she ever say, "I wish you were better looking."

• I heard her once brag that I sometimes take out the trash without her having to ask me to do it!

• She never made me wear a Brad Pitt mask during sex. Okay, maybe that one time.

   Believe me, there's other telltale signs, but I don't have time to make them up.

"Married people live longer because they can't afford to die."

—Old Vaquero Saying

Gator Sighting In Thailand and Amber Ridge Riders Reprise

 June 16, 2025

   My son just did the gator in Thailand proving for the umpteenth time, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, but, on the other hand, it can roll pretty far from home after it hits the ground.

Daily Whip Out: "Like Father, Like Son"

   Still noodling amber ridge riders. . .

Daily Whip Out:

"Amber Ridge Riders Work Up #43"

   And, all of this gives me inspiration to return to another story. . .

Daily Whip Out: "Olive's Regret"

   I still have high hopes for a certain story about miscegenation, which my history pard, Greg Scott, claims is the basis for many classic stories, including "The Searchers," "Last of The Mohicans," "The Illiad," and one that I still need to finish, which would involve this person. . .

"Of course, many truths lay quietly, like sleeping cats, waiting for the hour of their telling."

—Sharlot Hall

 

And One Bonus Quote for Your Eyes Only:

"When we bought True West magazine I have to tell you I slept like a baby. That is, I woke up every two hours and cried."

—BBB

Happy Father's Day to Allen P. Bell

 June 15, 2025

   I've been thinking a lot today about the guy who gave me my bullheadedness which has saved me and served me, many times. That would be this great Norsky farm boy.

Allen P. Bell with me and Blackie, the stray dog he took in at the Whiting Brothers Gas Station he ran at McConnico, below Perfume Pass in Mohave County.

   And yes, he is the guy I acknowledge as the real "66 Kid" in the memoir by the same name.

Al Bell goofing in front of his Mobiloil Station

at Peach Springs, Arizona, 1946

   I also dedicated my "Bad Men: Outlaws & Gunfighters of the Wild West," to him as well with this dedication: "Dedicated to my father, Allen P. Bell. A good man by any measure."

"The father washes onto the son. He lives inside you as an aspiration, a disappointment, or a fear. Afraid you will never be like him or afraid you will be; he is there in the bones of your emotions. In the voices in your head. In your expectations of yourself. In the shadows of your weakness and strength. No matter how good the relationship, there is a tension between father and son."

—Boyd Varty, The Lion Tracker's Guide to Life

Amber Waves of Grainy Images

 June 14, 2025

   Early on in our conservatorship of True West magazine it dawned on me that what I really am attracted to when it comes to Old West images is amber glow. There is a rich, rust patina around the best nineteenth century photos that gives off a classic butterfly under glass glow that is so damn attractive, at least to me. Here is a good example of Dan the Man and I leaning on amber glow for a cover.

   And here is an excellent example of it being applied to a BozeCard.

   So, it should be no surprise that the line from John Reed's "Insurgent Mexico," describing a unit of Rurales on the move, hits me so hard:

Daily Whip Out:

"Rurales On The Ridgeline Emerging"

   Still need to add three or four more riders, but they are coming at you tomorrow. . .

   "For most men the first fifty years of childhood are the hardest."

—Old Vaquero Saying

Amber Ambition Runs Amuck

 June 13, 2025

   If you know me, you know when I get on a kick I can work something to death. And sometimes beyond. Case in point:

Daily Whip Out: "Amber Riders #27'

There's something happening here. . .

Daily Whip Out: "Amber Riders #28"

What it is ain't exactly clear. . .

Daily Whip Out: "Amber Riders #29"

There's a man with a gun over there

Telling me I've got to beware. . .

Daily Whip Out: "Amber Riders #30"

I think it's time I stopped, children. . .

Daily Whip Out: "Amber Riders #31"

What's that sound?

Daily Whip Out: "Amber Riders #32"

Another artist going down an amber rabbit hole.

—Apologies to Buffalo Springfield

   And, what pray tell, is the inspiration for all of this amber ambition?

"The Rurales topped the ridgeline at sunset and crossed over, suspended in amber."

—John Reed, "Insurgent Mexico," 1914

The 66 Kids Rock Prescott And Take Over Whiskey Row!

 June 12, 2025

   We took no prisoners at Sharlot Hall on Tuesday. Didn't hurt that I had these cats backing me up.

The 66 Kids kick out the jams!

   The only regret in this photo is the lonely snare drum sitting there, unplayed. I had toyed with the idea of giving the boys some back beat from time to time, but the show was moving so fast, I never got the chance.

   After the gig we retired to the Palace Saloon on Whiskey Row and ate and drank to our heart's content. At the end of the night we posed in front of the giant Junior Bonner mural to commemorate a classic night well done.

L-R: Randall Woods, Jack Alves, Rooster Rob Mathiasch, BBB, Stuart Rosebrook and Danny Romero

   If you look close between Stuart and I you will see the name of my agent, Jeb Rosebrook on the poster. This is an inside joke between Stuart and I because his father—who wrote "Junior Bonner" called himself my agent because he got me a gig at the Westerns Channel inadvertantly. It never failed to get a laugh.

    Speaking of classic rock, Kathy and I watched "Becoming Led Zeppelin" the night before the Prescott show for me to get in the mood and I must say, it, ahem, totally rocks! Just made me laugh and laugh. Not in a that's funny kind of way, just in a holy guacamole how in the hell did they even do that?! My fave line is John Paul Jones, the bass player, quipping that he was in love with John Bonham's right foot because that is the limb their drummer used to play triplets on his bass drum with his FOOT! On Good Times Bad Times, which they open the doc with. Four stars for four-four time done by rock gods from Uranus.

https://www.netflix.com/title/82018943

The Road to Hell Is Paved With Ree-donk-u-lous Nicknames

 June 10, 2025

   I'm not exactly sure why, but we sure loved nicknames growing up on the Mother Road. 

   My faves, Boxlip Darrell, Moon Nish and Hanky Panky were just the tip of El Nombre de Ree-donk-u-lous-ville.

   We got our flattops from Chuy at Bond's Barbershop in downtown Kingman, we had it goin

 on. Here are the rest of my fave nicknames of Kingman kids growing up:

   Bugs, Salty, Punchy Hubby, Chapo, Spud, Buns, Booger, Chicken, Roaches, Clink, Buzzy, Tinker, Goose, Pistol and Hanky, which was not a nickname but her real name!

   Was it the road that inspired such Tom-foolery? Or was it something in the water? Either way our county was awash in nicknames, like this babe.

Daily Whip Out: "Bee Bop Alulue

   In the end, we all came by it honestly. Just ask our mothers.

That's my mama on the hood of a '56 ford

Tickets for Today's Road Show at Sharlot Hall

"Hey, mama, look at me, I'm on the way to the promised land. . ."

—AC/DC, Highway to Hell

The Most Iconic Shot In Western Movie History

 June 9, 2025

   What does the most commercial movie maker in history think of the most iconic shot in movie history?

   During the early days of filming Westerns with John Ford, Harry Carey developed his iconic arm pose where he grabbed his right arm with his left hand at the elbow. The gesture would permeate throughout Ford's films by other actors.

Harry Carey grabs his elbow

   After Carey died in 1947, Ford would continue to cast Carey family members. Both Harry Carey, Jr. and Carey's widow Olive appeared in "The Searchers" (1956). And, so, in the final scene The Duke honors Harry Carey by grabbing his right arm.

John Wayne pays homage in doorway

   Though the brief gesture might have been inspired by Carey's widow (she had just walked by him into the house), it was felt far beyond the Carey family. After Wayne, as Ethan, grabs his elbow he turns to walk back out into the wastelands. He has no home.

“John Wayne walking through the door in silhouette out onto the desert [is the best shot in cinema.] I think the film is still one of the best Westerns ever made.”

—Ridley Scott

Please Listen carefully Because Your Options Have Changed: Freedom Is Now the New Prison

 June 8, 2025

   Is it just me, or has tech complicated even the most simple tasks, all the while promising to make things much more "simple"?

   Kathy's birthday was yesterday so I called Manuel's to make a reservation and the 12-year-old who answered the phone told me, "We don't take reservations anymore, you need to go to Yelp." Really? So I go to Yelp.com and get some Prove You Are Not A Robot quiz that shows three dogs with birthday cone hats on and then it asks me what images below do NOT match the first three. Gee, I don't know, the eel, definitely not, the cat? Maybe? Long story short, I spent about ten minutes trying to prove I am not a robot and the punchline is, I failed the test and couldn't get on Yelp and did not make a reservation at Kathy's favorite restaurant. We went there anyway and when we approached the hostess station I noticed there were three young ladies chatting there and apparently not one of them could be bothered to take a reservation over the phone. 

   Full disclosure: we went at two which is usually a slow time and got right in and had a great time. I was tempted to talk to the manager, but I did not. Proving maturity is a thing could still happen for me.

Kathy Sue and her beautiful sis, Debra

enjoying a birthday dish of fried iced cream

without reservations!

And speaking of phones and phone messaging systems, does this sound familiar?

Please Listen Carefully Because Some of Our Options Have Changed

   No ship, Sherlock. What we thought was simple—call a restaurant, make a reservation—is now riddled with phone promps and ridiculous hurdles.

   A friend of mine who works in state government described a Zoom call with the various heads of Arizona State government, who collectively represent some 90,000 employees. The tech bros running the meeting were extolling their new system that is going to simplify everyone's life and my friend had to laugh. They always say that and it's always way more complicated, just to get in the system, much less use it.

Oh, And It's Not Just The Smart Cars

   "I can sympathize with you on the design and tech on new cars, but it's not just cars. I've been a Harley Davidson mechanic for the last 25 years and see the same stupid stuff with their products. They have never been great at easy intuitive design. It's only gone from bad to worse over the years. At least they don't shut off at intersections.......yet."

—Herb Martin, fellow Aging Boomer

P.S.  I call them a lot worse than Twits & Buttheads.

Welcome to the age of AI, where algorithms
grow bigger, and minds get smaller,
where freedom is the new prison,
character retreats as cave dweller.
Welcome to the age of AI,
where deceit is the new creativity,
where hate is a human right,
malinformation is a legal industry.

—Abhijit Naskar

Hats Gargantuan And A Big Hats Off to The Razz

 June 7, 2025

   Quite a few people (read that easterners) are not aware that the cowboy hat went through a Gargantuan Phase in the 1920s. Looking back it seems pretty obvious to me it was a direct reflection—or infection—of the Mexican Revolution where the ballooning sugarloaf style inspired by Indio vaqueros, hit its, ahem, peak around 1918-20. So, along the border, especially in Texas, the American cowboy hat started to expand and emulate the Mexican sugarloaf, until you get this look.

Texas Cowboy Hat Gargantuan Style

(1920s rodeo star)

   Speaking of Gargantuan Cowboys we know and love. . .

Big Hats Small Towns

We're setting up for next Tuesday's show at Sharlot Hall with the 66 Kids and here is a segment on small towns we did last year that I love:

"You know you’re in a small town when you dial a wrong telephone number and wind up talking to someone for 30 minutes anyway, or when you move across town and don’t have to leave a forwarding address. A small town is where everybody knows who the father of the pups is, and everybody whose checks are good and whose husbands aren’t."

—Marshall Trimble, riffing on his hometown of Ashfork

The Razz

So last year when the Razz Band was packing to go up the hill to Prescott for a big band gig. Jack Alves and Rob Mathiasch met me in our driveway to load up. Kathy came out just in time to hear me and Jack talking about how long we have done this and he said, "I don't know the year but our first gig was at the Westward Ho and Wonderful Russ got in a fist fight with David Knotter." To which I said, "Well, that would make it December 17, 1977." To which Jack said, "Wow! How did you remember the exact date?" And I said, "Because that was my first date with Kathy Radina." And Jack looked at Kathy and said something like how does it feel to be with a guy in a band after all these years and Kathy said, "I've moved on." Yes, that is a tad cold, but hilarious at the same time. She's moved on from going to hear old geezers play the same songs they played 45 years ago. Can you blame her? Anyway, fast forward to this week and I found an old photo I took of Kathy around that same time in Tucson and I thought it would make a cool birthday card, so I sent it to Dan The Man with the saying—"I've moved on," and, of course, he had to tweak that and here's where we ended up. . .

Kathy Sue as Sue, in Tucson, 1978

"There are 14 muscles activated when you pour a cup of coffee. Fitness is my passion!"

—Kathy Sue Radina, born on this day in 1950

Reworked to Death And Beyond—Nirvana?

 June 6 2025

     Sometimes I just can't help myself.

Daily Reworked Whip Out: "Campfire Liars"

(from August 29, 2009)

Besides, it's fun.

Daily Reworked Whip Out:

"Vaquero Glow"

(from February 5, 2019)

Some of the rework works, and some of it doesn't.

Daily Reworked Whip Out:

"Shady Character"

(Study for Jesse James, September 2023)

Daily Whip Out: "Bad Girl"

(August 29, 2009)

(totally unreworked)

"Sometimes I like to see if you are paying attention."

—Old Artist Saying

Smart Cars 5, Aging Boomer 0

 June 5, 2025

   I absolutely loath smart cars and especially the twits who design them. Your new car engine shuts off at intersections? I'd like catch that little butthead in a dark alley. 

Car tricks have always been devious, but. . .

   About a week ago, my neighbor, Tom A. called me and said an older woman in the neighborhood who we both know was at physical therapy down off Carefree Highway and when she came out her car battery was dead and someone had to give her a ride home. Would I join Tom, go down and jump her battery and then drive her car home? Well, of course I would. He had come to the right place. I am perhaps the best driver in Maricopa County!

Reference Point #1: I can drive a stick!

   I'll save you the hassle of how we had to jump her battery, but suffice to say a Triple AAA battery expert came and put in a new battery ($245) and some two hours after we arrived on the scene, I finally jumped in the driver's seat to drive her late model Buick to her house. There was an immediate problem: the car wouldn't start. I had the keys in my hand and I pushed the start button on the dash, but nothing. Finally, my neighbor came over and said to me, and I quote, "You have to have your foot on the brake." Oh, when did that little curve ball get inserted in the driver's manual? So, I put my foot on the brake and pushed the button and the car started right up. Great. So then I went to put the car in reverse but it wouldn't move. A light on the computerized dashboard said, "unlock emergency brake." After searching in vain for an actual brake lever, Tom came back over and reached in the window and deactivated the emergency brake button on the dash. To this day I don't even know how he did it. In a final humiliation, it was getting dark and I looked for the light toggle and it was all beyond me. Tom came back and programmed in some techie tweak and the lights came on.

   From there I drove the smartass car to her house without any further problems, but I have to admit I was nervous the entire way.

   I get a promotion in the mail almost every week from Sanderson Ford, begging me to come in and buy a new car. They keep offering more and more for my 2018 Ford Flex and I keep throwing away the offers because my Flex does not shut off at intersections. I heard a comedian say he is afraid to talk back to his car and I totally agree.

   End of story.

"Boomer who needs interns to attach files to emails outraged by 'unskilled' workers getting a pay raise."

—The Betoota Advocate

The Legendary Razz Band Is Set to Party Like It's 1978

 June 4, 2025

   Our goal from here on out is to kick out the jams at least once a year. And, believe it or not, it's getting close to that time of year.

The Razz Band Gets Ready to Party

Like It's 1978!

  Led by the legendary Jack Alves, with master hot licks from Rooster Rob Mathiasch and Danny Romero, the Razz Band is going to tear it up at Sharlot Hall in Prescott on June 10. Details at:

Twilight Tales: Bob Boze Bell and the 66 Kids
Date: June 10
Time: 4:00 PM
Location: Sharlot Hall Museum, Prescott, AZ
Tickets & Info: sharlothallmuseum.org

"My friends are gonna be there too. . ."

—ACDC, Highway to Hell

The 66 Kids Are Going to Rock Sharlot Hall

 June 4, 2025

   The Billy issue is out the door and on press even as you read this. Meanwhile, it's time to shift gears and peel out for another blacktop showdown.

The 66 Kids Roadshow is pulling into Prescott on June 10th at the Sharlot Hall Museum. We are going to be celebrating the Mother Road and what she taught us.

   Sharlot Hall Museum's Executive Director Stuart Rosebrook has a fast-action call with True West magazine's Bob Boze Bell and Country-Western musician Danny Romero about growing up along Route 66 and their show "Bob Boze Bell and the 66 Kids" at Sharlot Hall Museum at 4 pm on June 10, 2025. To get tickets go to SharlotHallMuseum.org

"There I was just minding my own business and now you tell me 1965 was sixty years ago!"

—A MCUHS classmate who looks like this guy

Dead Man's Dinner

 June 2, 2025

   At some point, as we age, our skills begin to decline. And although I still think I have it going on, sometimes I see something I did in the past—in my younger years!—and I think to myself, How in the hell did I pull that off? Case in point:

Daily Whip Out:

"Dead Man's Dinner"

   I had read with some interest that Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid ordered sardines and beer at San Vicente on the night they both died. And that inspired me, so I went out an purchased an old beer bottle at an antique store and then I procured an old school can of sardines and semi-opened it, and then placed them both right on the counter in our kitchen. And then I painted it. So this is totally plein air, Baby! The dripping juice, the metal tears, the hint of bones, the dark, opaque glass. All I can say is, I was in the zone. It's the transitions that make it especially good. The highlights on the rim of the tin, the solid table with just a hint of a crack. Yes, whoever did this was younger than I am now!

"Ah, I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now."

—Bob Dylan, My Back Pages

El Guero de Divisadero

 June 1, 2025

    A friend of mine recently bought one of my favorite daily whip outs and got it framed.

Daily Whip Out:

"Divisadero Guero"

(Barbara Zimet owns it now)

   It goes with a story I am developing.

   In the heart of the Sierra Madre at the very top of the uppermost ridgeline, lays the village of Divisadero and just beyond it, to the east, is a narrow pass to freedom.

   El Guero slows his tired pony to a trot to give him a breather, and as he rides through the all but deserted plaza he gets a chill. He sees nothing but empty windows and shattered door frames. He had heard the rumors of a village with 300 widows and he now wonders if this could be it? He suddenly senses something behind him and turns in the saddle to see a weird, old woman closing in on him on foot, wearing a red, tattered shawl. 

Daily Whip Out: "La Bruja de Divisadero"

   Her eyes are beady and intent and she speeds up her walk now that he has noticed her. Turning to spur his horse up the trail and out of town he spies four stout women walking towards him, shoulder to shoulder, armed to the teeth. He reins his tired pony sharply to the right and gallops down a narrow side street. Three empty buildings down he sees a young girl about his age hanging up wet clothes in the back of a crumbling adobe. As he rides by she shouts something to him but he rides on until he comes to a complete dead end. He turns to ride back out and now he sees the same girl in the road. She gestures for him to come quick and as they make eye contact, she mouths the word "Ven."

Daily Whip Out: "Ven"

"Whenever the poetry of myth is interpreted as biography, history, or science, it is killed."

—Joseph Campbell, "The Hero With A Thousand Faces"