Monday, July 28, 2025

The Leaner Has Fallen

 July 28, 2025

   Saguaros can often live for several centuries and I sometimes imagine Al Sieber and Wyatt Earp riding by these sentinels on their Arizona treks.

The Leaner, July 4, 2024

Yes, we all loved the Leaner.

Our grandkids On Christmas Day, 2024

   I have been walking by this sagging big guy daily for several years now and I must admit to speeding up slightly when I pass under him both going up and coming down the hill. On the other hand, given their tenacity for survival, I sometimes wondered if perhaps he would outlive me, teetering at a 45 degree angle for another century, or more. Here he is last week.

The Leaner, July 22, 2025

      Defiant to the end. Well, that was not to be.

The Leaner Has Fallen, July 28, 2026

   I knew if he did fall, he would block the entire road and apparently someone who lives up the hill came down with a chain saw and cut him up into pieces to clear the road.

On a related note, Kathy and I have been married for 46 years, today.

Kathy Sue & BBB at Pioneer, Arizona
July 28, 1979

(and we're still standing!)


"Long may we lean."

—Old Vaquero Saying

Sunday, July 27, 2025

Chasing First Light

 July 27, 2025

   Still chasing early morning light. 

Daily Whip Out: "First Light On The Creek"

   I am obsessed with this scene because every morning when I go out for my walk with Uno at 5:45 I see this.

Actual First Light On Elephant Butte

   As you can clearly see, from my phone shot, those canyon walls on Elephant Butte are pretty spectacular and, so far, they have resisted my attempts at capturing them accurately. True,  I have some serious sketches but it's a math problem I haven't quite figured out yet.

First Light Sketches #37, #38

First Light at Top, #39

Daily Whip Out:
"Superstitions First Light Study"

"Everything is angles and geometry."

—Jerry Seinfeld

Saturday, July 26, 2025

An Old True West Doorstop Finds A New Home

 July 26, 2025

I had a great lunch yesterday at Tonto Bar & Grill with the first ladies of True West magazine and that would be Sheri Riley Jensen, Rebecca Edwards and our longtime business manager, Carole Compton Glenn (1999-2023).

Sheri, BBB, Rebecca and Carole at Tonto

Carole brought me a gift of a doorstop from the True West offices in Stillwater, Oklahoma. It is basically a heavy rock with a kachina on it. She saved it when she went to Stillwater to work with the former owners of the magazine on cleaning up the financials and to learn their methods. She told me they were cleaning out the offices when she was there and she "just took it." Ha. So funny if you know Carole. This was back when we first bought the magazine in the fall of 1999 and the former owner's offices were in Stillwater.

The Rock That Stopped The Doors

I brought the treasured doorstop home and laid it on this broken wall tribute so it looks like Carole threw it through our front window and broke the glass. All in good humor, of course. Carole would never do that, but you have to agree that makes for a better story!

Yes, in the fall of 1999, Bob McCubbin and I flew to Guthrie, rented a car and drove to Stillwater to do this:

 "Oh, my Lord! What have we done?!" 

—Bob McCubbin after we signed the check, took this photo and started to drive away

Friday, July 25, 2025

The Razz Years Begets My True Calling

 July 25, 2025

   Still jammin' on the Cave Creek Canyons concept. Experimented with a lone cloud. Closer, but still not where I want to be. 

Daily Whip Out:

"Lone Cloud Over Elephant Butte"

Okay, let's get back to the uncomfortable stuff

Back To My Delusional Past

  After my syndicated cartoon strip debacle (1970-72) I turned my scattered attention towards doing an Arizona humor magazine.

Razz Re-donkulousness

with "Wonderful Russ"


   That adventure lasted four years and made zero money, but my partner and I—Dan "The Man" Harshberger—learned a couple more things, the hard way. First off, we thought Arizona needed a monthly humor magazine, not realizing the state already had a humor publication that came out every day—The Arizona Republic. Dang!

   I remember thinking, "I have always thought of myself as a diamond in the rough—I just wasn't expecting this much rough!" Also, intuitively, and by studying my heroes, I knew I had to go through a "delusional" phase where nobody believed in me, where I looked foolish and where I questioned myself daily, but I knew if I kept going I would eventually arrive at where I wanted to be. Imagine my shock and surprise when my delusional phase lasted thru the 60s, the 70s and half of the 80s. So much for the "overnight success" label.

   But enough wallowing in self-criticism and hatred. In a van Gogh kind of way, what am I doing today that builds on all of that failure?

   This morning I put this guy down on paper.

Daily Whip Out: "Bisti Badman"

Their first mistake was sending him to boarding school. Their second mistake was thinking he was slow.


"Atmosphere."

—Max Brand's one word take on my artwork.

Thursday, July 24, 2025

The Long Road to A Dream House On The Desert

 July 24, 2025

   My father gave me a vivid dream. Like most father-son dreams, it was his dream and he passed it on down to me. Here it is in it's most primitive form.

Daily Whip Out:
"An Adobe Ranchito On The Desert"

   And, if you look close, you'll see a horseback vaquero on the trail home. You can just make him out in the twilight on the trail to that funky adobe on the ridgeline. This dream ironically dovetails with a project one of my neighbors is spearheading.

Daily Whip Out: "First Light On Cave Creek"

   Even back in the beginning of my career, I had this dream house on the desert as my goal. But I had a couple false starts on the downpayment of that dream.

BBB In '72

   I had this goal to have a syndicated comic strip so I could live anywhere I wanted and then I would find the perfect desert dwelling surrounded by elegant saguaros. The name of my comic strip was "Lippo & Paguna," which was a nostalgic look at my grandparent's farm in Iowa and Lippo was my grandmother's brother-in-law and I thought the name was perfect. I spent over 600 hours developing the strip while moonlighting as a draftsman at Tel Engineering and playing in a rock band (Smokey and eventually the Razz Band). Here is a closeup of the cartoons I am holding in the photo.

A page of "Lippo & Paguna" daily strips

   I sent it everywhere and I received over 240 rejection slips—which I tacked on my wall as a badge of honor—and when I finally visited The Des Moines Register Syndicate not long after the above picture was taken I asked them point blank why they didn't buy it and the guy shrugged and said, "Farm strips don't sell." Okay. So, the lesson was finally clear: I should have called them before I started and asked them whether they even wanted a farm strip. Damn.

   From that failure I gravitated to the idea that Arizona really needed a humor magazine. How could that fail? I wondered aloud if there was anybody crazy enough to help me produce that? And my roommate—from Kingman—said, "I'm that guy!"


"I don't think Bob Boze Bell is funny, period."

—Chiquita Rollins, Women Take Back The Night

Wednesday, July 23, 2025

Dust Devil Wannabes & Hub Whitt Originals

 July 23, 2025

   I know this Wyoming cowboy and he wanted to buy one of my Whip Outs and he couldn't decide between a vaquero on horseback, or a landscape and so after some back and forth he finally picked a landscape and so, just for grins I added a horseback vaquero at the bottom. Look close. He's there.

Daily Whip Out:

"Hub Whitt's Personal Whip Out"

   Meanwhile, found this old board in the studio from 2019 and thought I could make it better.

Daily Revised Whip Out:

"Dust Devil Wannabe"

   It's the birthday of my best friend's little brother. He sat in with us at the Kingman Fairgrounds back in 2009 when we tried to make up for the debacle of March 22, 2008.

The Exits Final Exit

   That's Johnny Waters, second from right. Happy Birthday Kingman boy! We go wayyy back.

"Anything is much more believable, if it happens in the past."

—Richard Lester

Tuesday, July 22, 2025

Doc Before The Storm, Doc During the Storm and Doc Storms Out

 July 22, 2025

   We're mounting a nice size Doc Holliday Art Show in Prescott next month. This is the brainchild of Stuart Rosebrook and he has corraled myself and Thom Ross to come up and make some serious Doc hay on the Sharlot Hall campus.

Daily Whip Out: "Doc Before The Storm"

   I had to go through my extensive files to find the very best Doc images. Just to give you an idea how tough this was, none of these made the cut.


Daily Whip Outs: "Doc On The Brain"


   The show is tentatively scheduled to premiere on August 15, but stay tuned for details.


Doc Prints: Times Two


   And, if you need even more Doc Holliday in your life, please join me on August 16 in the Mile High City. This is solid.


Doc Forum With BBB In Prescott

   And, you get free breakfast!


"I'm your Huckleberry!"

Doc Holliday