The Night Man Revisited And The Greatest Line of Dialogue In American Cinema History

 July 31, 2026

   I'm still very entranced by random images lined up that begin to tell a story. You know, like this.

Grid Narrative #11

(When the dust cleared I could see exactly

what they were all up to.)

   But the biggest excitement round here is a story idea about a character from my old home stomping grounds. . .

   Working the graveyard shift at the Truxton Texaco was always a crapshoot, but on this night a murderer showed up.

The Night Man

   Perhaps the greatest line of dialogue in an American movie in my lifetime.

"Nice beaver."

   And, these are perhaps the greatest covers ever created in the current century.

A B-B-B-Bitchin' Batch of Covers

(Dan The Man at his very best)

   Creativity doesn't come from thinking harder. It comes from thinking less—because creativity happens in the gaps, like when you are walking. Case in point: I was walking up a hill this morning, huffing and puffing. It was this hill.

Bird Perched On A Saguaro

Bird Perched On A Saguaro Up Close

   Anyway, the random sighting of the bird in the saguaro, inspired me and I came up with this:

A-1 Sign Lit Up In Back Yard as a cool backdrop for another story I'm working on.

"Thank you. I just had it stuffed."

—Priscilla Presley, as Jane, responding to Lt. Frank Drebin's (Leslie Nielson) compliment in Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)

More Westerns I'd Sure Like to See!

 July 30, 2026

   With all the glut of streaming movies I still feel like there's a hole in the market for films that would get me out of the house. Here's a couple for Netflix to chew on. . .

They thought he was indentured,

but they thought wrong.

Cool Hand Coolie

   We now know that "Coolie" is probably derived from the Turkic word "Kuli" which means "slave" and it was possibly borrowed by the Portuguese in South India where it became the Tamil "kuli." In the Americas it is styled as Coolie and has been considered offensive and a racist slur, but in modern day India Coolies are often portrayed as working-class heroes in Indian films and there have been mutliple movies celebrating Coolies including Deewaar (1975), Coolie (1983), Coolie (1995) and Coolie (2025), not to mention three other films with the title Coolie No. 1.  Dare I say it's time to liberate the word in Westerns made in the U.S.

Boys going thru puberty can be one-note insufferable. So can old men who haven't grown up.

Mas Cleavage por Favor!

I'm telling you, dust storm riders

never get old to me!

Guacamuggy Buggy!

   Better shred than dead! When cowboys get down.

"Cowboy Communication Breakdown"

Indeed!

(yes, that is a sketch by Maynard Dixon!)

   She came into the clearing with purpose

and charm. . .

Apache Temptress

   And, let's not forget these hardworking A-holes.

Pendejos United!

   Is there anyone else I haven't offended? We'll get to those tomorrow. I am loving this exercise and remember, it just takes one! Right?

"Every year the Screenwriter's Guild registers some 50,000 scripts and only 150 of them get into production and of those 99% end up in 'Development Hell.'"

—Old Hollywood Saying

Teasers And Trailers I'd Like to See

 July 29, 2026

   Many of the trailers (Previews of Coming Attractions) in theaters today are kind of lame to me. Here are a few concepts I'd like to see if you want to get me out of the house.

She passed as a man on the lamb.

Flora Quick Is So Sick!

They said he didn't belong there. . .

El Bastardo In Sun City

  She told everyone

she had the biggest leg in Mexico.

That was just the half of it!

The Great Western Returns

The Real El Lobo de Wall Street

He ate Wall Street brokers and

hedge fund managers for lunch!

   His wife's family was murdered by greedy Bisbee border bandits. How could he ever get even?

The Rurale

 Coming for Justice

They ventured out on the Staked Plains

without an invite.

A Comanche Welcome Party

He was close to eighty

so they thought he was harmless.

The Cranky Octogenarian

The Stage Ride From Hell!

She got off more than once.

There once was a time when walking around like a fruitcake was against the law. That's when two brave policemen took on a dangerous role.

Undercover Fruitcakes

They said he couldn't draw.

That was their first mistake.

Vincent Van Tommy Gun 

   What happens when land surveyors discover beer is nearby?

The Beer Border

    The problem with movies today is. . .

"There's only one thing that can kill the movies and that's education."

—Will Rogers

When Frank James Tried to Shut Down A Dad-binged James Gang Play!

 July 28, 2026

   While listening to a punk band tune my son sent to me (Twisted Teens, a Kurt Vile recommend), it dawned on me we need a punk Western and why in God's name hasn't there been one? Or has there?

Daily Whip Out:

"The Legend of Banjo McFaddin'"

He never fit in Out West, but his girlfriend "Too Loose" Latrek did.

   Funny how our sphincters tighten as we age.

Daily Whip Out:

"Frank James As A Young Brigand"

   In 1902, a nearly 60-year-old Frank James sought a court order to prevent the play, The James Boys in Missouri, from being shown on stage in Kansas City, Missouri. Here is how he voiced his concern:

“The dad-binged play glorifies these outlaws and makes heroes of them. . . I am told the Gilliss Theatre was packed to the doors last night, and that most of those there were boys and men. What will be the effect on these young men to see the acts of a train robber and outlaw glorified?”

—Frank James

   As my grandmother liked to say, "Well, don't that just beat all." Or, as the undisputed father of contemporary art put it:

"It's all contradiction."

—Marcel Duchamp

Jesse James Finally Gets Absolved of One of His Alleged Killings

 July 27, 2026

   Hard to believe it was three years ago when I had the distinct privilege and honor of having Mark Lee Gardner as my history guide on a whirlwind tour of Missouri and man did we cover some territory and see some great stuff. Starting at the James Farm House we hit all the bushwacker's notable battlegrounds as far east as Centralia, and as far west as Saint Joseph, Missouri where Jesse cashed out.

BBB at The House Where Jesse Cashed In

(photo by Mark Lee Gardner)

   So, hang onto your hat because, in the next issue of True West we will find out who actually shot the bank teller in Northfield, Minnesota during the ill-fated bank robbery in September of 1876.

   And, not so coincidently, here is my portrait of Frank James, which Mark has successfully appropriated as part of his payment for work on this issue.

Frank James Skated

(on his most notorious killing)

   So, one thing is clear to me: obviously Mr. Gardner has great taste in art.

   Also, Mark took me to see the grave of the guy who was known as the James boys' press agent:

Mark Lee Gardner at the grave

of John Newman Edwards on the outskirts of Dover, Missouri

And here is Edward's obit:

THE LAST SLEEP

[Special to the Kansas City Times.]

HIGGINSVILLE, Mo., May 6th.—In the old cemetery, just at the outskirts of the little town of Dover, ten miles from here, the body of John N. Edwards was buried this morning. It is a quiet, secluded spot, where the rumble of wagon wheels in the road near by are the only sounds, save the singing of birds, heard from one year's end to the other—just the place where one with Major Edwards' love of nature and the beautiful would desire to lie in his last long sleep. And it was his wish, frequently expressed, that he should be buried there. It is within easy view from the old Plattenburg homestead, where his wife spent her girlhood and he wooed and won her, and from which his body was carried to its last resting place this morning. From the windows the tombstones which mark the graves of the former residents of Dover are plainly visible. The whole scene is a pretty rural one, the scattering houses of Dover giving it just enough of an urban aspect to soften its outlines without destroying its primitive beauty. It was no wonder that one with the poetic temperament and chivalrous ideals of Major Edwards should choose the old Dover cemetery as his burial place, even if his early days had not endeared it to him.

"Storytelling is the most valuable skill, a superpower you'd grant your children, if possible."

—Deena Bell

The Truthful Lies Behind The Hassayampa Curse

 July 26, 2026

   I survived and I have returned from a glorious, quasi-heatstroke trip to the Mile High City, or, as it's known by the editors of Arizona Highways, "Everybody's Hometown." When I left on Friday for the drive up the hill, it was 117 degrees on Carefree Highway, and my Flex thermometer registered 118 degrees at Anthem, 106 at Cordes Junction, 101 at Dewey and 99 as I made the turn onto Gurley Street, into downtown Prescott, Arizona. I landed at my headquarters which is a historic hotel with a very zany name.

The Hassayampa Inn's neon sign

outside my room window

   In case you didn't know, Hassayampa is a corruption of a Yavapai word that translates as "River that runs upside down." And, thanks to the mountain man Pauline Weaver, we get this added little caveat, "He who drinks above the trail is ever truthful, while he who drinks below is lost to the truth." While this seems a bit like a variation on "Don't drink downstream from the herd," the Weaver quote eventually gravitated to this timeless edict: "If you drink from the Hassayampa you will never tell the truth again."

   And, speaking of which, I was in town to give a talk at the Phippen Art Museum on The History of Art In Print. The last time I was at the Phippen it was for this little event.

The Premier of Hellraisers in 2024

   We had some fun at the Westerners Corral event and I followed Paul Fees and Bill Anton and here are the four takeaways from my talk:

• We are having a Jackson Pollack moment with AI (how do we artists misuse this new medium to conjure meaning out of miles of BS?)

• Courage never goes out of style (everything you want is on the other side of fear).

• The biggest risk of all is to play it safe (sometimes we need to jump off a cliff and figure it out on the way down).

• We need to tell better stories (especially if we want to make an impact on the future).

The Hassayampa Grandpa's "Truth"

   In the attention economy we need to unleash art we can't yet imagine, like Marcel Duchamp—for him the whiff of the "precious" in art disgusted him.

   The three people in Prescott who changed my life are Gail Gardner, Cynthia Rigden and Budge Rufner.

The Tracing Is Shameful School of Art

   In the old days, tracing from photographs was the ultimate sin if you wanted to be a bonified Cowboy Artist. And it was a dirty secret among most artists in that time. I did a parody of all this in New Times Weekly in the mid-eighties and this was my take on this taboo practice.

"Tracings Tell Tales That Paintings Make Secret"(And, yes, the model for this was Ed Mell!)

   And, also, you might notice, the artist of this piece has signed the painting as Russ L. Remington. Get it?

   But then again, as you might have expected, I confess to drinking heavily from the deep waters of the Hassayampa. Proving for the umpteenth time. . .

“Nobody is more full of it than those who think they can speak the truth about the past.”

—Old Vaquero Saying

A Narrative Grid Meets The AI Future

 July 24, 2026

   Headin' up the hill this afternoon. Going to be giving a talk on The Importance of Art in Print at the Phippen Art Museum tomorrow. When I go there—in my mind—I invariably hit on a certain crossroads in my past.

E.J. Montini's Arizona Republic column

   This was in 1994 after an eight year run as a Morning Drive Personality on KSLX in Scottsdale. I came in on a fluke (as a guest on the show) and went out on a fluke (tepid ratings). But god bless E.J. because he was correct, the firing forced me to get serious about my art and it led indirectly to here.

Daily Whip Outs: "A Narrative Grid"

     Not to mention this little fledgling publication:

Just one of the 260 covers I helped create

   One important aspect of my professional life was never far from the surface and it has haunted and taunted me ever since.

Daily Whip Out: "A Drummer In Darkness"

Yes, I was a drummer in many an Old Pueblo honkytonk (1966-1977) and I certainly got an eyeful—and an earful—of sordid scenes.You can expect to see a story or two about this infamous chapter in my life on a narrative grid. Well, beyond what I have already done.

Donna Jean and Honkytonk Sue

make a toast to our AI future

My Checkered Past Meets The AI Future

   I am not afraid of AI and, in fact I am excited about taking this new machinery and conjuring meaning out of predictable nonsense and unleashing stories we can't quite yet imagine. 

   I am simply fulfilling my earlier edict to my staff: tell better stories.

"Why worry about history being erased when we're all so busy repeating it?"

—Old Vaquero Saying

The Importance of Art In Print

 July 23, 2026

   This weekend I will be at the Phippen Art Museum in Prescott talking about a subject that is near and dear to my heart: "The importance of Art in Print" at 11:30 and I will lead another discussion on "The art of Bronze & Patina" at 1:30. 

   Of course, if you are going to get all technical there is one cover theme I am kind of partial to:

Mega-Earp O.K. Coverage

(20 covers out of 260)

The main objective of art in my world is to inspire people to buy magazines. It's hard to define but it's pretty easy to spot when you see it in action. I got my first lesson in art appreciation in this little Arizona community.

Desert Drugs in downtown Kingman, Arizona
 

When to Use Art When to Use Photos?
   Someone on our staff asked, “Why wouldn’t you just run a photo of Bass Reeves on the cover?” Well, it’s what we call “The Banker Shot Problem.” A formal, bust portrait sometimes works, but, it’s ultimately just, nyeh. Looks like a boring banker. As a wing-ding long-shot, I told Dan about my idea to cut the Lone Ranger down the middle, with Clayton Moore on the left and Bass Reeves on the right. Of course, Dan did a full on version of this, but his version ultimately knocks it out of the park. Great job! A classic cover.

The Bass Reeves Lone Ranger Cover

   But, on the other hand, here is a "banker shot" of Reeves that we used later that falls somewhere in between and works just fine.

   Some of the old True West issues—before my time—tried to go to the net (see analogy below) but I'm not sure it worked.

   We often use the tennis analogy: go to the net, stay behind the baseline, don't get caught in the middle. Here's a cover that didn't get caught in the middle.

   And, here's another one. . .

      My original partner, Bob McCubbin hated, no he loathed this cover. And, here's another go to the net cover. . .

   At the end of the day, I agree with this guy:

"The biggest risk of all is to play it safe."

—Chris Nolan, the director of "The Odyssey"

The Life Solvers Come Full Circle

 July 22, 2026

   Woke up to this ridiculous scene.

Morning Cloud Show Over

Continental Mountain

 

  Yes, and when I see something like that, there's one thing I absolutely love to do and it's the opportunity to solve some life.

The Life Solvers This Morning

   A cup of good joe and a couple friends who have opinions about what it takes to live a full and happy life and I am a very happy camper. As a side note, it's interesting that one of the above "life solvers" has a one-note obsession about more kinds of dog food served more often as being the absolute elixir of life. Or, so his barking seemed to convey.

A Loving Tribute to A Member of Our Tribe

   Chris Enss has written a touching tribute to our wonderful history comrade, Sherry Monahan, who passed recently. Her eulogy will appear in the next issue of True West magazine.

Chris Enss and Sherry Monahan

"If there is no knowledge, there is no understanding; if there is no understanding, there is no knowledge."

—Old Vaquero Saying