My Side of The Story (Spoiler Alert: The Odyssey Is A Dog Movie!)

 July 21, 2026

   One of the early morning treats for me is that my son wakes up at five and takes his coffee outside to watch the sun come up. Since I am an early riser myself, I have joined him and it has been a blast solving life and laughing about movies we love.

Thomas Charles Yawning

(yes, it rained during the night)

The Odyssey Is A Dog Movie!

   Let the record show I had to be dragged to AMC Theaters at Desert Ridge yesterday to see "The Odyssey" on an IMAX screen. Yes, my son and his family wanted to go and as a grandfather in good standing, I couldn't say no. Don't get me wrong, I used to love going to the movies and when I was maybe fifteen minutes younger, Kathy and I would go to the movies at least once a week, sometimes twice and on special occasions three times in one week! To a movie! In a theater!! I know you think I'm joking around here, but I am not. If you see Kathy at Jazzercize, you have my permission to ask her!

   First the good news: the theater was almost full (for some reason those seats down below the mezzanine, in front of the screen rarely fill up.) I haven't seen that many people in a movie theater since the premiere of Nut Job 2. 

   And, we weren't alone. The Hollywood Reporter reported today The Odyssey took in 17.5 million on Monday alone and that AMC had it's best week in the 106 year history of the company. Wow. Maybe this country does have a future.

   In an interview also in the Hollywood Reporter, Christopher Nolan admits The Odyssey is, well, here's the quote:

"It’s funny when you look at the films you’ve made and how they parallel your life. You get married, and then you make a film in which that relationship is important. You have kids, and then you find yourself making films about trying to get home for your kids. I had never had a dog, and a few years ago, we got our first dog as the kids were leaving for college. They were kind of bitter about it. They’d always wanted a dog, and we’d never been able to have one because we were traveling too much. And coming to The Odyssey, it’s the ultimate dog movie. So I was definitely better prepared to take on the ultimate dog movie having become a dog owner."

—Chris Nolan

   Full disclosure: I missed the subtitles we have on our TV at home.

Uno Loves to Have Cowgirls Around

Cactusland Cowgirl: Harper with Uno

   And speaking of dog relatives Uno admires. . .

Daily Whip Out:

"A Lone Wolf Laughs at Wolf Haters"

"Better to be a wolf everyone hates, than a donkey everyone rides."

—Old Vaquero Saying

Cave Creek Crazy Arms And Deadwood Swearing Revisited

 July 20, 2026

   My son Thomas asked me about a cache of saguaro prints in my studio and why the saguaro has such twisted arms. So, I told him.

The History of Crazy Arms

   When we first moved to Cave Creek in the mid-eighties, I would sometimes go down into the creek bed below our house and sketch the saguaros up and down the trickling stream. Unlike the tall and stately saguaros up on the ridges, the ones that were closest to the water invariably had contorted and twisted arms. My neighbor, Tom Augherton, told me this is because in the winter time, the frigid air off of the creek affects the growth of new saguaro limbs, twisting them in odd directions, almost like a tortured soul trying to escape a freezing situation.

   Thanks to my good friend at Cattletrack Arts Compound, Brent Bond, for taking one of those sketches and producing this special art print:

"Cave Creek Crazy Arms"

photopolymer relief and linocut, edition of 38

12" x 11.5" image on 15.5" x 14.25" paper

$200

   You can get your artprint right here:

Cave Creek Crazy Arms Artprint

   This is a repeat from a blogpost in 2017 on the accuracy of the swearing in Deadwood:

Youthful Depravity
The fact must come home to every observer that Deadwood's rising generation is very depraved. Go where we will our ears are greeted with profanity and obscenity from almost baby lips, while our vision is assailed by sights of the most lamentable character. These urchins are not all of that peculiar class known as "hoodlums" for whom ignorance is some excuse, as many of them receive the kindest and best instruction at home, but from too lenient parents who allow their children to wander through the city, visiting haunts of iniquity where are exerted those pernicious influences which sooner or later deaden the most acute sensibility, destroy all sense of right and morality and inspire to an emulation of the worst characters of the town.

--Black Hills Daily Pioneer-January 26, 1881

   Every generation thinks it's smarter than the last and wiser than the next. And, by extension, I think every generation thinks they more or less invented swearing. Why is this? Because nobody can remember their grandparents swearing. My grandkids have never heard me swear and if I do my job right, they never will. So these babies get to grade school and hear the inevitable swear words and they are excited and appalled ("My grandparents don't talk like this!") So they assume it's new. I think it's safe to say, this has been going on for about three to ten thousand years, and as long as there are grandparents, kids will grow up believing that swearing is a flippin' new thing.

"I am not young enough to know everything."

—Olscar Wilde

Faded Secrets come Into Focus

 July 19, 2026

  For quite some time now, I have had this burning desire to emulate old, faded photographs and to somehow put them into a graphic narrative that would pay off at the end of the story.

Daily Whip Out: "Faded Rider"

   And by "pay off" I mean that sometimes what you cannot see is more powerful than the perfect clarity of good images. What if, as the story develops, a faded, detail challenged image, like the one above, somehow, comes slightly more into focus and we eventually see who the killer actually was? 

   Seems like a zany, obvious extension of "The Rest of The Story" or "Fractured Fairy Tales."

   On a related note, I am still obsessed with the theme of the lone kitchen light and have these two passes to prove it.

Daily Whip Out: "The Lone Kitchen Light #79"

Daily Whip Out: "The Lone Kitchen Light #80"

   Meanwhile, sometimes we know the fix is in. .  .

Daily Whip Out: "Everybody Knows"

"Everybody knows that the dice are loaded

Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed

Everybody knows the war is over

Everybody knows the good guys lost

Everybody knows the fight was fixed

The poor stay poor, the rich get rich

That’s how it goes

Everybody knows"

—Leonard Cohen

The Blessings of Billy the kid From The Son of The Son of The 66 Kid

 July 18, 2026

   Today is the Grand Unveiling of Buckeye Blake's Traveling Wake of Billy the Kid in the Old Fort Sumner Museum. Be there, or be square.

   Meanwhile, in other Billy the Kid news. . .

Fenton hard at it with the correct hat on

with the right crease

 My grandson, Fenton, asked me how Billy the Kid got that dent in the crown of his hat? So, I showed him and then he put the exact dent in the hat he is wearing in this photo of him executing his first illustration of William H. Bonney in my studio today. Note to self: ask for no other blessing.

My first attempt at Billy the Kid, 1958

Fenton's first attempt, 2026

   Okay, I was 12 when I drew mine, Fenton is only seven. I've got a hunch he is going to put grandpa in the shade in five years.

Fenton with the right hat crease

and the right Kid attitude

"Grandparents and grandchildren get along so famously because they have a common enemy."

—Old Vaquero Saying

When Faded Secrets Hold The Key to Doc Holliday

 July 17, 2026

   What can I say about Doc Holliday that hasn't been said a thousand times? Yet he remains in shadow, which actually enhances his legend when you think about it.

Daily Whip Out: "Doc In Shadows"

   What makes a good mystery? In the case of Doc Holliday, he's not quite knowable, which makes him even sexier. Which leads me to. . .

The Faded Secrets Series

   I can get on a jag, and this is certainly one of them.

Daily Whip Out: "Faded Secret #1"

Can you see the faint outlines of something important?

The Visual Clues Hiding In Plain Sight

   The secrets are in there to be seen. You just need to look at the images in the right way and the truth will reveal itself.

Daily Whip Out: "Faded Secret #2"

Daily Whip Out: "Faded Secret #3"

   Okay, now do you see it?

Daily Whip Out:

"In The Window of Obscure Desire"

   Okay, tomorrow we'll deal with all this

 unfinished business.

"Nothing in this world is more dangerous than a desperate man."

—Old Vaquero Saying

What Is The True History of The Flag Pants?

 July 16, 2026

   In my Divisadero, one woman rules the roost.

Daily Whip Out: "La Poderosa" 

     But it must be said, she had her detracters.

Daily Whip Out: "Bloody Chata"

  When you study history you quickly realize just what a thorny thicket it is. Case in point:

   "I have questions about the Classic Gunfights section, 'Death by Shakespeare' in the July/August 2026 issue. In one caption (page 40), it states Martin,'..led a large outlaw gang..' and that he and Curly Bill were 'partners in crime'. But then oin Aftermath:Odds & Ends, it states Martin is a rustler. So he's bad guy. However, in the article text, Martin and Turner drove 4 head of stock 40 miles to return them to Mr. Fitzgerald. Odd behavior for a rustler leader, giving away income. A caption on page 41 states the 100 miles ride is the San Simon to Cloverdale to Shakespeare leg. But from the map, it's actually Cloverdale to SS to Shakespeare. The caption also states Martin/Turner ride 'in combat for most of the journey'. But in the text, the only combat on this leg was the ambush. And that occurred AFTER the 100 mile journey."

 —David Fuller, Lisbon, CT

BBB responds: Yes, there are conflicting accounts of who the bad guys are, and there are conflicting accounts on where they actually went and what they actually did when they arrived. Welcome to my world.

What Is The True History of The Flag Pants?

   Thirty years ago I got it in my head to create Arizona Flag Pants to pay off a zany sight gag we were planning to launch on The Jones, Boze & Jeanne Radio Show on KSLX. So, I had my seamstress friend, Jennie Smith, create loud pants with the state flag and a quasi-looking belt buckle of the bronze star at the waistline. There was only one problem: Wonderful Russ wouldn't wear the pants. So, the bit died and sometime later, Jennie, who was also doing curator work for me in my studio, stored them in a box and put them in a plastic storage bin in our garage.

   Fast forward to last week, when we were in Flagstaff, I saw my grandson's Arizona flag pants.

Fenton and his Arizona Shorts in a bandit pose

His mother told me he wanted them for their trip from Thailand to Arizona and so she ordered them off Amazon. Of course when I saw him wearing them I remembered that certain box in the garage. . .

My "Flag Pants" Stored In Garage

(special thanks to Jennie Smith for creating the Arizona Flag Pants and for creating a storage box with the title right on the side)

   What are the odds of finding these 30 years later? Crazy amazing to say the least. So, that is why I thought we needed a photo session to contrast and compare our flag pants.

The Flag Pants Trio Getting Jiggy

   And, yes, those pants are so loud, Uno couldn't stop barking at them.

Uno barking at my loud pants

   One thing is clear. It's time to make up some new stories. But before I do that, what is the difference between fibbing and lying?

The Truth About Fibbing 

Daily Whip Out:

"Vaqueros Laughing at The Below Saying"

"He who has a good wife wears heaven in his hat."

—Old Vaquero Saying

Vaquero Pantalones Fabuloso Vs. Gringo Cowboy Pomposity

 July 15, 2026

   What can I say? There is a southern border between our countries and it's not just a physical wall separation. The divide is deeper than that. And it began a long time ago.

Daily Whip Out:

"Vaquero With Bitchin' Pantalones"

(after Frederic Remington)

   Yes, the Sonoran border vaquero of old had a very stylish, flamboyant look. While, on the north side of the border, the American cowboy adopted a much tamer style.

A Typical Texas Cowboy in Arizona

   Meanwhile, south of the border a group of federal lawmen adopted a flashy and unique uniform based in large part on the vaquero outfit.

Daily Whip Out:

"Rurales Crossing The Rio Grande"

And, one of them stood out above all the rest.

Daily Whip Out: "El Rurale Supremo"

   Lo and behold, a big, border incident arose and El Rurale Supremo was tasked with joining forces with an Arizona cowboy who looked down on his southern horseman cousin for being, for lack of a better word, a "dumb Mexican."

Two Rode Together. 

Barely.

"Your problem is you have no style."

—El Rurale Supremo

   Welcome to the world of Divisadero:

"Your problem is you are all style."

—Dally Duncan, American Cowboy

    Oh, boy. Hang on, here we go.

Three Generations of Bandit Behavior

 July 14, 2026

   Of all the days on the calendar, it was today—July 14—that an infamous American outlaw was ambushed and killed in Fort Sumner, New Mexico.

Daily Whip Out: "Billy at Midnight"

   It took me quite a while to make it to the site of that killing but in 1984 I finally made the trip.

   And, of course, there is a new show on the Traveling Wake of Billy the Kid which opens this weekend (July 18) with the unveiling of Buckeye Blake's sculpture of the Kid in death

The Traveling Wake of Billy the Kid Tour Begins

   Today, I realized that perhaps my lifelong obsession with outlaws and bandits runs in the family. A couple examples follow.

Me and Dan Harshberger at White Hills, AZ

circa 1958

Tommy Bell, Cave Creek, AZ circa 1987

Tommy, at right, as The Kid

(that's my late friend Doc Ingalls on left)

Tommy Bell's son, Fenton, yesterday.

"Quien es?"

—Billy the Kid's last words ("Who is it?")

Zapata's Hermano Steals The Show

 July13, 2026

   Checked out of our cool—and I mean that figuratively and literally!—Flagstaff abode this morning and made the trek back down into the furnace known this time of year as the Valley on the Sun. It was 78 when we left Flag and 106 when we landed back in Cave Creek. Still, it was good to be home because we have excellent AC and a swimming pool, and if you go from one to the other, life is tolerable.

Eufemio Zapata Steals The Show

   One of the best things about rewatching a classic movie is seeing new things I missed in the previous 27 viewings. For example, the character, Eufemio Zapata—the brother of Emiliano—is portrayed as a loud and bragadaccio warrior, who covers a pathos that is breathtaking and ultimately heartbreaking.

Anthony Quinn, at left, portrays

Eufemio Zapata the brother of the

title character.

  Anthony Quinn, born in Chihuahua, Mexico in 1915 (during the Mexican Revolution) and raised in El Paso and East LA, became the first Mexican born actor to win an Oscar. In addition to being a boxer, Quinn also wanted to be an artist and an architect and studied under Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Arizona. I kid you not.

   His given name was Manuel Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca, but he starred in movies under the Irish sounding name Quinn and he later admitted, because of it, he was not accepted in his home country. His father Frank allegedly rode with Pancho Villa although Quinn later said that was Hollywood BS put out by the studios.

   The timeless theme of the movie is "integrity in the face of corruption" and John Steinbeck's brilliant script captures that magnificently with moral turns that come back to haunt Emiliano Zapata.

Anthony Quinn and Marlon Brando

as the Zapata brothers

   Although the film is now criticized in some circles because of Brando and the female lead, Jean Peters, being anglos in "brown face," there is no doubt that Anthony Quinn is the beating Mexican heart of the film. But don't take my gringo word for it.

"The clothing, the drama, the expressions and all in black and white. The way they murdered Madero and many other tidbits make this movie a classic. I have always loved it and I am so glad you and your family shared that together."

—Lynda Sanchez, Lincoln, New Mexico

The Art of Relaxing By John Steinbeck

 July 12, 2026

   My son, Tomas, asked me last night what classic movie I wanted to watch after the kids went to bed and without hesitation, I said, "Viva Zapata" from 1952. Turns out my wayward offspring had never seen it and as we watched the epic black and white on the Mexican Revolution unfold, he kept sniping in, "Wow! How come you never shared this with me?" The truth is, I don't think I discovered it until he was a teenager, when all is lost from the father to the son for a brief period of about twenty years (if you are lucky).

Marlon Brando as Emiliano Zapata at the fiesta

      This morning, we decided to have a family photo taken to commemorate our quality time in Flagstaff, so we all put on our Dude commemorative shirts, went out in the yard and Amy jerryrigged a lawn chair with a pillow on it to work as a camera stand and then hit the timer on my phone and ran into the picture and got this.

The Bell-Pothongs out standing

in their VRBO yard.

"The art of relaxing is part of the art of working."

—John Steinbeck

Long Live Nippy Mornings In Arizona In July!

 June 11, 2026

   Do you know how great it is to wear a long sleeved shirt outdoors in Arizona—in July?! Well, I am wearing one on a nippy morning (low 60s!) in this northern Arizona town.

Uno In Front of His Favorite Mural

(near South Beaver, of course!)

   Earlier in the day we had a picnic at a horse ranch south of town.

Picnic in the shade 

   Later, we dropped into downtown Flag for more coffee.

When all signs point to the Monty V

(Amy and T. return with coffees)

   We also had breakfast at Martann's on old Route 66. One of our faves.

Amy and T. Bell with muchos huevos rancheros.

"Water is the most essential element of life, because without water, you can't make coffee."

—Old Vaquero Saying

In The Land of Cooler Climes

 July 10, 2026

   Here we are in the land of cooler climes. And when it's 112 degrees in your hometown, anything that is within driving distance is a vacation.

    And where do you go for cooler climes in Cactusland? We prefer Flagstaff, Arizona at 7,000 feet above sea level. And how do you know you are actually in Flagstaff?

Hippie Brad at Your Typical Flag Hippie Cafe

   We came up to Flag with our son, Thomas, who is visiting with his family from Thailand.

T. Bell at Cholla Bay, 1985

  Tomas attended NAU some twenty years ago. This was about six decades after this photo was taken.

Harry Truman wearing an Open Road, early 50s

   T. Bell and his old man south of Tucson. . .

T. and BBB at Amado, Arizona

Meanwhile, since we are lounging in 75 degree comfort (I have a parka on) I have been revisiting some earlier paintings stored deep in my laptop.

Daily Whip Out: "Billy's Querida"

"The only thing new in this world is the history you don't know."

—Harry Truman