March 30, 2007 Bonus Maniac Offer
Samantha stuck her head in my door at 4:30 and said, "Could you plug a couple specials on your blog for us?"
Well, of course. And these are some pretty cool specials. Check this out:
The 5 Year Maniac Club is being offered at $99 through 3/31 and the first 50 people to sign up on this deal get a FREE copy of the True West Moments DVD (see box on previous post). It can be added to the end of an existing subscription or started as a new one. Sign up now!
The DVD that Jim Clark ("The Trainman") produced on The 125th Anniversary of The OK Corral is now available right here:
October 26, 1881. A day that lives in history, as four lawmen took on a group of cowboys in Tombstone, Arizona. Legends were made and blood was spilled in an empty lot behind the O.K. Corral.
Fast forward to October 2006. People from across the world came to Tombstone to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the shootout. Slick gun handling and expert rope tricks. Western movie stars of the past. Top authors in the Old West field. Tours of the Town Too Tough to Die. And gunfights galore.
Join the festivities, captured on the new dvd “The Official Celebration of the 125th Anniversary of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.” Available now—from True West. Hey, it's only $20. That's a great deal. Get your copy now!
Friday, March 30, 2007
March 30, 2007 Bonus BBB Hat Style Blog
When I got up at 6:30 I walked out to the end of the driveway, got The Arizona Republic, came back to the studio, turned on the computer and had breakfast. When I got back out to the studio, the first thing I read was this email:
"First, I always enjoy the magazine. I have a question though. I have at times seen Mr. Bell around Cave Creek and am curious as to what style hat I always see him in, What is it? Thanks."
—W.
Mr. W.,
For many years (1977-2005) I wore what is generally known as a Tom Mix crease (see my photo, above). Some have also referred to this style as the "grab and pinch" and "the Gus" after Robert Duvall's crease in Lonesome Dove. After Dove took off, the style became so ubiquitous I decided I wanted to graduate to a more mature style lid that would usher me into old age with hopefully some style, but also with a smidgen of dignity, or, at the very least, something that would pass for maturity.
In the summer of 2005 I drove to Bisbee, Arizona and consulted with master hatmaker Grant Sergot of Optimo Hat fame. I told him I wanted something not quite as wide, and not quite as dramatic on the crease (Grant calls it "a long crease"). Grant developed two hats for me, one a business model with a six inch brim and one with a seven inch brim which I call my "performance" hat.
I guess we need to name this sucker. I called Grant this afternoon and he had the following suggestions:
• El Cabrone (The Old Goat)
• El Viejo Bozo (The Old Clown, Ha. Funny but where's the dignity, much less, the maturity?)
* The Bozeman (clever, but the town will be blamed, or get the credit, and if it was in Arizona, maybe)
• The Old Hand (that's kind of perverse, hmmmmm)
• The Triple B Crease (the most accurate, but a mouthful)
None of these seemed to grab me, so I told Grant, "Never fear, my blog readers are more creative than the two of us put together." So? Let's get creative.
When I got up at 6:30 I walked out to the end of the driveway, got The Arizona Republic, came back to the studio, turned on the computer and had breakfast. When I got back out to the studio, the first thing I read was this email:
"First, I always enjoy the magazine. I have a question though. I have at times seen Mr. Bell around Cave Creek and am curious as to what style hat I always see him in, What is it? Thanks."
—W.
Mr. W.,
For many years (1977-2005) I wore what is generally known as a Tom Mix crease (see my photo, above). Some have also referred to this style as the "grab and pinch" and "the Gus" after Robert Duvall's crease in Lonesome Dove. After Dove took off, the style became so ubiquitous I decided I wanted to graduate to a more mature style lid that would usher me into old age with hopefully some style, but also with a smidgen of dignity, or, at the very least, something that would pass for maturity.
In the summer of 2005 I drove to Bisbee, Arizona and consulted with master hatmaker Grant Sergot of Optimo Hat fame. I told him I wanted something not quite as wide, and not quite as dramatic on the crease (Grant calls it "a long crease"). Grant developed two hats for me, one a business model with a six inch brim and one with a seven inch brim which I call my "performance" hat.
I guess we need to name this sucker. I called Grant this afternoon and he had the following suggestions:
• El Cabrone (The Old Goat)
• El Viejo Bozo (The Old Clown, Ha. Funny but where's the dignity, much less, the maturity?)
* The Bozeman (clever, but the town will be blamed, or get the credit, and if it was in Arizona, maybe)
• The Old Hand (that's kind of perverse, hmmmmm)
• The Triple B Crease (the most accurate, but a mouthful)
None of these seemed to grab me, so I told Grant, "Never fear, my blog readers are more creative than the two of us put together." So? Let's get creative.
March 30, 2007 Bonus Billy Blog
More news on Buckeye Blake's Billy In Death sculpture. Here's a message from his son, plus two pics:
"As you know dad is going 'Billy Stir Crazy' as of lately, it is has been pent up for 20 years now, and I dont think he can hold it together much longer, especially with the unveiling of the corpse coming up so soon.
" I walked in dads studio the other day and he had the corpse covered with an old navajo blanket, for two reasons I think, one to kind of respect the dead and the situation, and two... to hide it from mother as I am not sure he has even told her about it. It gives new meaning to hiding a body in the closet. Anyways, he is headed to get some good pictures of it tommorrow and to take it to the foundry, as I am sure you know."
—Teal Black (Buckeye’s son)
From Diva to Billy And Back Again
I asked our movie editor, Henry Beck, what the hell the movie Diva was about, since I didn't like it much. Here's his reply:
"Haven't seen it in a long time, Bob, but I suspect you had to be there in 1981, and be there with a crowd. It was the first or one of the first very very cool new wave movies from Europe and you had the soundtrack, the singer, the cool bad guys, the hot Asian chick and scooters or motorbikes, good chases, fast editing--but what came out of that stylistically was Luc Besson, who is a one man supershow and one of the producers of Three Burials [Tommy Lee Jones' classic West Texas film].
"If you want to see a movie that grew from the seed of Diva, try Leon The Professional with Natalie Portman (don't settle for the shorter version called The Professional)--if you can't find it and you're interested, you can borrow mine.
By the way, here's a trailer of a new film produced by the guy who made Diva. This will give you a kick
http://www.mk2.com/datamk2/sitesfilms/cinedecouverte/billyfa.mp4
These Boots Were Made For Washing
"This was NOT the image I was hoping for when you said you were washing the car. Where’s the halter top? Where’s the thong? Where, oh where are the big boots?"
—Alan Huffines
More news on Buckeye Blake's Billy In Death sculpture. Here's a message from his son, plus two pics:
"As you know dad is going 'Billy Stir Crazy' as of lately, it is has been pent up for 20 years now, and I dont think he can hold it together much longer, especially with the unveiling of the corpse coming up so soon.
" I walked in dads studio the other day and he had the corpse covered with an old navajo blanket, for two reasons I think, one to kind of respect the dead and the situation, and two... to hide it from mother as I am not sure he has even told her about it. It gives new meaning to hiding a body in the closet. Anyways, he is headed to get some good pictures of it tommorrow and to take it to the foundry, as I am sure you know."
—Teal Black (Buckeye’s son)
From Diva to Billy And Back Again
I asked our movie editor, Henry Beck, what the hell the movie Diva was about, since I didn't like it much. Here's his reply:
"Haven't seen it in a long time, Bob, but I suspect you had to be there in 1981, and be there with a crowd. It was the first or one of the first very very cool new wave movies from Europe and you had the soundtrack, the singer, the cool bad guys, the hot Asian chick and scooters or motorbikes, good chases, fast editing--but what came out of that stylistically was Luc Besson, who is a one man supershow and one of the producers of Three Burials [Tommy Lee Jones' classic West Texas film].
"If you want to see a movie that grew from the seed of Diva, try Leon The Professional with Natalie Portman (don't settle for the shorter version called The Professional)--if you can't find it and you're interested, you can borrow mine.
By the way, here's a trailer of a new film produced by the guy who made Diva. This will give you a kick
http://www.mk2.com/datamk2/sitesfilms/cinedecouverte/billyfa.mp4
These Boots Were Made For Washing
"This was NOT the image I was hoping for when you said you were washing the car. Where’s the halter top? Where’s the thong? Where, oh where are the big boots?"
—Alan Huffines
March 30, 2007 Bonus Bllog
Went home for lunch and got in a red and black color scheme mood again. Proof positive:
Better Red Than Dead (Brown)
I've also been working on Insurgent Faces for Paul Cool's Salt War project and after reading a half dozen chapters, here's a cross section of the fighters at San Elizario:
I want to portray them as more than the typical serape-wearing peon that we seem to gravitate towards in our renderings of our Southern neighbors. They were businessmen, ranchers and farmers, like in any typical American or Mexican community.
And speaking of Mexican communities, Drew Gomber and Scott Turner showed up here the other day and we had a good talk about Scott's tour biz in Mexico. Scott is from Fort Davis, Texas and he has a historian who accompanies the tours to Mexican Revolution sites including Columbus, New Mexico and Casas Grandes and Parral where Pancho Villa was assasinated. They are going on a discovery trip in late summer and he invited me to list all of the Frederick Remington and John Reed sites I want to visit and he'll take me along. Boy Howdy! Am I excited about that! Now if I could only get the Top Secret Writer to get over his Alamo phobia. Hmmmmmm.
"The world does not need tourists who ride by in a bus clucking their tongues. The world as it is needs those who will love it enough to change it, with what they have, where they are."
—Robert Fulghum
Went home for lunch and got in a red and black color scheme mood again. Proof positive:
Better Red Than Dead (Brown)
I've also been working on Insurgent Faces for Paul Cool's Salt War project and after reading a half dozen chapters, here's a cross section of the fighters at San Elizario:
I want to portray them as more than the typical serape-wearing peon that we seem to gravitate towards in our renderings of our Southern neighbors. They were businessmen, ranchers and farmers, like in any typical American or Mexican community.
And speaking of Mexican communities, Drew Gomber and Scott Turner showed up here the other day and we had a good talk about Scott's tour biz in Mexico. Scott is from Fort Davis, Texas and he has a historian who accompanies the tours to Mexican Revolution sites including Columbus, New Mexico and Casas Grandes and Parral where Pancho Villa was assasinated. They are going on a discovery trip in late summer and he invited me to list all of the Frederick Remington and John Reed sites I want to visit and he'll take me along. Boy Howdy! Am I excited about that! Now if I could only get the Top Secret Writer to get over his Alamo phobia. Hmmmmmm.
"The world does not need tourists who ride by in a bus clucking their tongues. The world as it is needs those who will love it enough to change it, with what they have, where they are."
—Robert Fulghum
March 30, 2007
Quiet in the office. Robert Ray and I are grinding it out on CGIII. Lots of little gaps to fill. He did a very nice job of fleshing out the Custer fight. We have so much great imagery to fall back on and Robert took full advantage of it.
A couple days ago Jim Clark ("The Trainman") dropped by the office and regaled me with his latest train adventures. He's got big plans in New Mexico. Imo Gene Hughes is the owner of the Bonanza Creek Ranch south of Santa Fe and she has jumped into the movie game in a big way. Recent films such as 3:10 to Yuma, Hogs, Commanche Moon and The Farmer Astronaut have all filmed on her ranch. She wants Jim to lay some permanent track and set up shop there with his trains. Jim is very excited about this.
One thing you can definitely say about Jim is that he knows how to have fun. He recently hired a Sean Connery lookalike to come down to Tombstone and cause some mischief. Dennis Keogh is the chap's name and just check out the cleavage, I mean attractive women who glommed onto him.
Jim picked up the tab for the entire weekend, and "The Best Bond Ever" was mobbed all over town. According to Jim, bikers even knocked on his motel room door at 3 in the morning, waking him up so they could pose for photos with him. Mr. Connery oblidged them all.
Dennis parks cars in Phoenix.
Onion Headline de Jour
U.S. Foreign Policy Hurting American Student's Chances Of Getting Laid Abroad
"It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning."
—Old Vaquero Saying
Quiet in the office. Robert Ray and I are grinding it out on CGIII. Lots of little gaps to fill. He did a very nice job of fleshing out the Custer fight. We have so much great imagery to fall back on and Robert took full advantage of it.
A couple days ago Jim Clark ("The Trainman") dropped by the office and regaled me with his latest train adventures. He's got big plans in New Mexico. Imo Gene Hughes is the owner of the Bonanza Creek Ranch south of Santa Fe and she has jumped into the movie game in a big way. Recent films such as 3:10 to Yuma, Hogs, Commanche Moon and The Farmer Astronaut have all filmed on her ranch. She wants Jim to lay some permanent track and set up shop there with his trains. Jim is very excited about this.
One thing you can definitely say about Jim is that he knows how to have fun. He recently hired a Sean Connery lookalike to come down to Tombstone and cause some mischief. Dennis Keogh is the chap's name and just check out the cleavage, I mean attractive women who glommed onto him.
Jim picked up the tab for the entire weekend, and "The Best Bond Ever" was mobbed all over town. According to Jim, bikers even knocked on his motel room door at 3 in the morning, waking him up so they could pose for photos with him. Mr. Connery oblidged them all.
Dennis parks cars in Phoenix.
Onion Headline de Jour
U.S. Foreign Policy Hurting American Student's Chances Of Getting Laid Abroad
"It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning."
—Old Vaquero Saying
Thursday, March 29, 2007
March 29, 2007
Surprisingly cool this morning. Perhaps it's one final cold spell before the brunt of summer squats on our collective faces. Almost started a fire in the studio stove this morning, but ran out of time.
Working hard on two Classic Gunfights at the same time. We're going to do a six-page El Paso Salt War gunfight for the August issue based on Paul Cool's forthcoming book, and that incident will round out the CGIII book, which goes to press in two weeks. I have a bunch of art to do to finish that, in addtion to the next gunfight, Black-faced Charley Bryant's shootout aboard a baggage car in Oklahoma. We are using Robert DeArment's excellent coverage of that fight.
Robert Chenal came in yesterday. The young marine, and close friend of my son T. Charles, is shipping out to Iraq in a couple weeks. He has had special training on IEDs (improvised explosive devices and the number one killer of our troops) and the latest ways to spot them. The insurgents use trash bags, kids and anything that suits them so it's not the easiest thing in the world to do, as the death count illustrates). He also told me he was up at the Hideaway (a local biker bar) and after his twentieth beer, Sonny Barger offered to pay for a U.S. Marine Corp tat. So now Robert has a big tattoo on the inside of his right arm of the Marine Corp symbol. Sonny is the legendary former president of the Oakland Hell's Angels, and also a marine I believe.
Onion Headline de Jour
Teens: Are They Laughing At You?
"Over the lips of evidence passes the truth of the dead."
—Steve Sederwall
Surprisingly cool this morning. Perhaps it's one final cold spell before the brunt of summer squats on our collective faces. Almost started a fire in the studio stove this morning, but ran out of time.
Working hard on two Classic Gunfights at the same time. We're going to do a six-page El Paso Salt War gunfight for the August issue based on Paul Cool's forthcoming book, and that incident will round out the CGIII book, which goes to press in two weeks. I have a bunch of art to do to finish that, in addtion to the next gunfight, Black-faced Charley Bryant's shootout aboard a baggage car in Oklahoma. We are using Robert DeArment's excellent coverage of that fight.
Robert Chenal came in yesterday. The young marine, and close friend of my son T. Charles, is shipping out to Iraq in a couple weeks. He has had special training on IEDs (improvised explosive devices and the number one killer of our troops) and the latest ways to spot them. The insurgents use trash bags, kids and anything that suits them so it's not the easiest thing in the world to do, as the death count illustrates). He also told me he was up at the Hideaway (a local biker bar) and after his twentieth beer, Sonny Barger offered to pay for a U.S. Marine Corp tat. So now Robert has a big tattoo on the inside of his right arm of the Marine Corp symbol. Sonny is the legendary former president of the Oakland Hell's Angels, and also a marine I believe.
Onion Headline de Jour
Teens: Are They Laughing At You?
"Over the lips of evidence passes the truth of the dead."
—Steve Sederwall
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
March 28, 2007
As you may have noticed, the two arms of my family are in many ways polar opposites. My mother's family is all cowboys from Arizona and New Mexico and my father's family is all Norsky farmers from Iowa and Minnesota. Sometimes I have to shift gears when I go from one to the other. My grandmother on my father's side, Minnie Bell, was a Hauan, and one of her neices got married at the Linden Church outside Thompson, Iowa and I was tapped to be the ring bearer. During rehearsal we got half way down the aisle and I put down the pillow with the ring on it, ran up the aisle and yelled out, "I gotta go pee pee!" This made everyone nervous during the actual ceremony the next day, but they tell me I was quite civil the entire time. Actually, I should have been, since I was eighteen at the time.
Just kidding. I think I was three, so that would make it 1949, or so.
Anyway, that couple, Lowell and Gladys Heldstedt, came by to visit me recently and they parked their RV in the True West parking lot for the night and I came into work and we had a very nice visit. Here is a photo of them:
And I received a nice note from them this morning:
"Thanks for the obituary and all the information of your mother. We received it a couple days ago just after we got home from our winter travels. Sorry we couldn't stay for her Graveside service.
"We had quite a trip--Lowell's Aunt died in Minot, ND and we had hoped to go there, but we had problems with our motorhome--it kept chugging and we thought it would die out, so we stopped at a shop and they worked on it all day'; then we went on further and it kept on chugging all the way home. We got home March 27 and can have it repaired near here.
"And THANK YOU for the visit with you at your shop--it is a very nice parking place for a motorhome, too!!! It was fun to see you and the area around where you work. Have a good SPRING--and Happy Easter coming up soon!!!"
—Lowell & Gladys
Onion Headline de Jour
County Fair Judges Blown Away By Heifer
"What is virtue but the Trade Unionism of the married?"
—George Bernard Shaw
As you may have noticed, the two arms of my family are in many ways polar opposites. My mother's family is all cowboys from Arizona and New Mexico and my father's family is all Norsky farmers from Iowa and Minnesota. Sometimes I have to shift gears when I go from one to the other. My grandmother on my father's side, Minnie Bell, was a Hauan, and one of her neices got married at the Linden Church outside Thompson, Iowa and I was tapped to be the ring bearer. During rehearsal we got half way down the aisle and I put down the pillow with the ring on it, ran up the aisle and yelled out, "I gotta go pee pee!" This made everyone nervous during the actual ceremony the next day, but they tell me I was quite civil the entire time. Actually, I should have been, since I was eighteen at the time.
Just kidding. I think I was three, so that would make it 1949, or so.
Anyway, that couple, Lowell and Gladys Heldstedt, came by to visit me recently and they parked their RV in the True West parking lot for the night and I came into work and we had a very nice visit. Here is a photo of them:
And I received a nice note from them this morning:
"Thanks for the obituary and all the information of your mother. We received it a couple days ago just after we got home from our winter travels. Sorry we couldn't stay for her Graveside service.
"We had quite a trip--Lowell's Aunt died in Minot, ND and we had hoped to go there, but we had problems with our motorhome--it kept chugging and we thought it would die out, so we stopped at a shop and they worked on it all day'; then we went on further and it kept on chugging all the way home. We got home March 27 and can have it repaired near here.
"And THANK YOU for the visit with you at your shop--it is a very nice parking place for a motorhome, too!!! It was fun to see you and the area around where you work. Have a good SPRING--and Happy Easter coming up soon!!!"
—Lowell & Gladys
Onion Headline de Jour
County Fair Judges Blown Away By Heifer
"What is virtue but the Trade Unionism of the married?"
—George Bernard Shaw
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
March 27, 2007 Bonus Blog
While in LA on assignment for the NY Post, our movie writer, Henry Cabot Beck managed to get back together with Kurt Russell for the first time since he spoke to Russell about Tombstone last year (see October, 2006 bombshell issue). The ever-congenial Russell, who was doing publicity for the Quentin Tarantino half of the movie Grindhouse, where he plays a homicidal muscle-car maniac named Stunt Man Mike, told Henry that he liked the article and enjoyed even more knowing it was our best selling issue. With luck, there may eventually be some opportunity to follow up and have Russell elaborate in greater depth on the curious history of the Tombstone production.
While in LA on assignment for the NY Post, our movie writer, Henry Cabot Beck managed to get back together with Kurt Russell for the first time since he spoke to Russell about Tombstone last year (see October, 2006 bombshell issue). The ever-congenial Russell, who was doing publicity for the Quentin Tarantino half of the movie Grindhouse, where he plays a homicidal muscle-car maniac named Stunt Man Mike, told Henry that he liked the article and enjoyed even more knowing it was our best selling issue. With luck, there may eventually be some opportunity to follow up and have Russell elaborate in greater depth on the curious history of the Tombstone production.
March 27, 2007
By now you should have received the Billy the Kid issue (May). In my editorial I talk about fellow Kid Krazy Artist Buckeye Blake, who has created a sculpture of Billy in death, which he intends to put atop the grave (or cage?) at Fort Sumner on July 14. Here is a sneek peak at that work and I must say it's quite strong:
Had a planning meeting at 8:30 and went over schedules, covers, CGIII, events and editorial calendar. Lots of exciting stuff coming, I must say. Office is buzzing with activity. Everyone on task.
Onion Headline de Jour
Kool-Aid, Hi-C Make Backroom Deal To Destroy Tang
"Who does not in some sort live to others, does not live much to himself."
—Michel Eyquem de Montaigne
By now you should have received the Billy the Kid issue (May). In my editorial I talk about fellow Kid Krazy Artist Buckeye Blake, who has created a sculpture of Billy in death, which he intends to put atop the grave (or cage?) at Fort Sumner on July 14. Here is a sneek peak at that work and I must say it's quite strong:
Had a planning meeting at 8:30 and went over schedules, covers, CGIII, events and editorial calendar. Lots of exciting stuff coming, I must say. Office is buzzing with activity. Everyone on task.
Onion Headline de Jour
Kool-Aid, Hi-C Make Backroom Deal To Destroy Tang
"Who does not in some sort live to others, does not live much to himself."
—Michel Eyquem de Montaigne
Monday, March 26, 2007
March 26, 2007
Lots of business today. Many decisions on a variety of issues. Had a good meeting with the sales staff on new departments and categories we are going to be instituting in the next several months. True West is finally in excellent position and is poised to break out of the pack this year. We finally have the team that I have always wanted, with the experience that we have always needed. I have always believed in our chances but now I have the confidence in our team to actually back it up.
Last night Kathy and I watched Diva, 1981, a French film directed by Jean-Jacques Beineix. I can't remember where I read that this is a must-see, but once again, I found myself saying over and over. "Oh, this is so French." And it was.
Onion Headline de Jour
Woman Begins To Regret Dating Someone Spontaneous
"What is now proved was once only imagined."
—William Blake
Lots of business today. Many decisions on a variety of issues. Had a good meeting with the sales staff on new departments and categories we are going to be instituting in the next several months. True West is finally in excellent position and is poised to break out of the pack this year. We finally have the team that I have always wanted, with the experience that we have always needed. I have always believed in our chances but now I have the confidence in our team to actually back it up.
Last night Kathy and I watched Diva, 1981, a French film directed by Jean-Jacques Beineix. I can't remember where I read that this is a must-see, but once again, I found myself saying over and over. "Oh, this is so French." And it was.
Onion Headline de Jour
Woman Begins To Regret Dating Someone Spontaneous
"What is now proved was once only imagined."
—William Blake
March 25, 2007
Nice day at home. Grabbed my camera and decided to give you a POV of my morning:
You See What I See
Went outside at about nine and found Kathy planting around the pump house. She had gone down to Home Depot and bought iceplants, I think they are called. Pretty sweet. Helped her dig some holes but she didn't like my digging style (one scoop then plop them in):
Went out back to feed the chickens. They all get to yackin' at once and crowd the gate like little wedding crashers:
Of course Peaches has to run around and bump the fence with her nose and try to scare them. Somtimes she does:
Went into the garage to start the '49 Ford. Check out the river boat steering wheel:
It started right up, pulled it out onto the Spanish Driveway and got the hose:
Washed the family car down, back to front:
Stepped back to take a look and admire my hose job:
Went into the studio to get started on art. Note the photo reference of the Apache medicine man (see yesterday's post):
Got stuck on a painting, so I went out to unload the Ranger. Had some paintings out at the Fountain Hills Museum, plus they gave me some photo blowups that Allen Fossenkemper had done for a show several years ago. May donate them to Richard Ignarski's Gunfighter Museum:
Left the True West dolly in the back and loaded the big photos into the garage:
Helped Kathy replant a rope catcus (I just made that up) that had fallen over from the heavy rains:
At about 10:30 we decided to take the dogs for a walk:
"Even if I knew the world would end tomorrow, I would plant a tree today."
—Martin Luther King, Jr.
Nice day at home. Grabbed my camera and decided to give you a POV of my morning:
You See What I See
Went outside at about nine and found Kathy planting around the pump house. She had gone down to Home Depot and bought iceplants, I think they are called. Pretty sweet. Helped her dig some holes but she didn't like my digging style (one scoop then plop them in):
Went out back to feed the chickens. They all get to yackin' at once and crowd the gate like little wedding crashers:
Of course Peaches has to run around and bump the fence with her nose and try to scare them. Somtimes she does:
Went into the garage to start the '49 Ford. Check out the river boat steering wheel:
It started right up, pulled it out onto the Spanish Driveway and got the hose:
Washed the family car down, back to front:
Stepped back to take a look and admire my hose job:
Went into the studio to get started on art. Note the photo reference of the Apache medicine man (see yesterday's post):
Got stuck on a painting, so I went out to unload the Ranger. Had some paintings out at the Fountain Hills Museum, plus they gave me some photo blowups that Allen Fossenkemper had done for a show several years ago. May donate them to Richard Ignarski's Gunfighter Museum:
Left the True West dolly in the back and loaded the big photos into the garage:
Helped Kathy replant a rope catcus (I just made that up) that had fallen over from the heavy rains:
At about 10:30 we decided to take the dogs for a walk:
"Even if I knew the world would end tomorrow, I would plant a tree today."
—Martin Luther King, Jr.
Friday, March 23, 2007
March 23, 2007
More rain. Soggy and sprinkling out (2:27 p.m.) Working on finishing up Classic Gunfights, Volume III. Robert Ray and I designed several pages this afternoon. I'm going to work this weekend on finishing artwork. Goes to the printer in three weeks.
My cousin, Dr. Michael Richards of Des Moines, Iowa came by for lunch today. We went down to El Encanto and sat inside. In spite of the rain they were packed. We both had a beer and the daily special, a salmon salad (I bought, $24.92 plus $5 tip, Sue account). Mike lost his mother (my father's oldest sister) several months ago so we had much to talk about in that regard. He no longer practices medicine, but in addition to several endeavers he is currently in the casino business—in Iowa! No Indian tribes, just corn-fed local control. Hard to believe that Iowa is more like Nevada, that is, if you take out the lurid sex and excitement.
We've got a new poll up: Are you a cowboy mounted shooter?
Two of Paul Hutton's lovely daugthers, Laura and Lorena, came by the offices for a visit this afternoon. We sat in my office and talked about life, history and movies (Laura saw 300 and enjoyed it, while Lorena is not going to go see something so base and violent. So I was left with no other choice but to question her genetic lineage to the Distinguished Professor. Lab tests are pending).
A big clap of thunder just rolled over Saguaro Hill, behind my office (2:40 p.m.). Rather gray and dismal out.
Onion Headline de Jour
Citing Slow Summer Box Office, Hollywood Calls It Quits
"We want to make money but we don't want to be perceived as commercial."
—an academic, who consulted with friends of mine about publishing an arts magazine
More rain. Soggy and sprinkling out (2:27 p.m.) Working on finishing up Classic Gunfights, Volume III. Robert Ray and I designed several pages this afternoon. I'm going to work this weekend on finishing artwork. Goes to the printer in three weeks.
My cousin, Dr. Michael Richards of Des Moines, Iowa came by for lunch today. We went down to El Encanto and sat inside. In spite of the rain they were packed. We both had a beer and the daily special, a salmon salad (I bought, $24.92 plus $5 tip, Sue account). Mike lost his mother (my father's oldest sister) several months ago so we had much to talk about in that regard. He no longer practices medicine, but in addition to several endeavers he is currently in the casino business—in Iowa! No Indian tribes, just corn-fed local control. Hard to believe that Iowa is more like Nevada, that is, if you take out the lurid sex and excitement.
We've got a new poll up: Are you a cowboy mounted shooter?
Two of Paul Hutton's lovely daugthers, Laura and Lorena, came by the offices for a visit this afternoon. We sat in my office and talked about life, history and movies (Laura saw 300 and enjoyed it, while Lorena is not going to go see something so base and violent. So I was left with no other choice but to question her genetic lineage to the Distinguished Professor. Lab tests are pending).
A big clap of thunder just rolled over Saguaro Hill, behind my office (2:40 p.m.). Rather gray and dismal out.
Onion Headline de Jour
Citing Slow Summer Box Office, Hollywood Calls It Quits
"We want to make money but we don't want to be perceived as commercial."
—an academic, who consulted with friends of mine about publishing an arts magazine
Thursday, March 22, 2007
March 22, 2007
Rained during the night and Buddy Boze Hatkiller broke in the front door, waltzed into our bedroom and went to sleep at the end of the bed. I distinctly heard his snoring. Or, was I dreaming? I mentioned my dream to Kathy when we woke up this morning (Buddy was outside by the door sleeping and we could see him through the glass door). She went out and sure enough, the front door had been doggied.
For some reason I keep coming back to red and black. This color scheme really speaks to me. Here's today's sketches, done at the breakfast table (3,435 sketches, six a day without missing):
The big question is, can I sustain this color scheme for the Top Secret Project and how would I incorporate that with full color stuff, or would I?
Once upon a time, long ago, the Mohave County Union High School Bulldogs baseball team returned from a weekend double-header in the Valley of the Sun, and in the wee hours of the morning The Traveler (as our bus was affectionately called) pulled up behind the New Building (as it was un-affectionately called). The players, including myself, stumbled out into the cold to our cars. Lo and behold there was a note in a feminine hand attatched to the driver's side windshield wiper of my midnite blue 1957 Austin Healey. The message was flirtateous and I might add, quite arousing, even in a brisk wind and at three in the morning.
Fast forward to the next weekend and the JV cheerleader who wrote the note and I are making out in the trunk of a car. Yes, it was the old sneak into the drive-in trick, as an excuse to, well, make out. Little did I know at the time that I was copping a feel. Or should that be feeling a cop?
Groundless Accusations Or The Ring of Truth? You be The Judge!
"I finally had time to catch up with your blog and was sorry to hear about your Mom's passing. I also found her obituary posted on the Kingman Daily Miner website. I didn't realize she had been struggling with Alzheimer's and had been 'gone' from you for some time. As an only child you were always such a 'Momma's Boy' (please know that I mean that endearingly), and I 'm sure it was difficult to have to deal with by yourself. You're so fortunate to have the great family you have, and I love to read the funny things you write about them.
"I think your Mom may have, at some time, lived with Dr. Paup's family while she attended high school. I think that's what my Dad told me long ago. He was about 8 years old when his family moved to Kingman from Needles (previously lived in Southern CA), and he has many stories to tell about growing up in Kingman. Dr. Paup died when Dad was 17, so I never knew my Grandfather (although he did deliver his first grandchild, my cousin Melanie Morris). We did grow up having all the old folks in town stop us to ask if we were Dr. Paup's twin granddaughters, though.
"As the family genealogist, I have attempted to gather as much information as I can. I am often regretful that I didn't think to ask more questions of my mother before she died in 1999, and her mother (Sylvia Lillian McComas, born 1907 in Silver City NM....yes, related to Charlie McComas whose family was murdered by renegade Indians on the Lordsburg Trail) before she died in 2001, or at least to journal or record EVERY STORY they ever told me....!!!"
—Sergeant Corinne "Coe" Mitchell, Department of Public Safety
Onion Headline de Jour
Inhibitions Found In Seedy Motel Room
"There is that in the glance of a flower which may at times control the greatest of creation's braggart lords."
—John Muir
Rained during the night and Buddy Boze Hatkiller broke in the front door, waltzed into our bedroom and went to sleep at the end of the bed. I distinctly heard his snoring. Or, was I dreaming? I mentioned my dream to Kathy when we woke up this morning (Buddy was outside by the door sleeping and we could see him through the glass door). She went out and sure enough, the front door had been doggied.
For some reason I keep coming back to red and black. This color scheme really speaks to me. Here's today's sketches, done at the breakfast table (3,435 sketches, six a day without missing):
The big question is, can I sustain this color scheme for the Top Secret Project and how would I incorporate that with full color stuff, or would I?
Once upon a time, long ago, the Mohave County Union High School Bulldogs baseball team returned from a weekend double-header in the Valley of the Sun, and in the wee hours of the morning The Traveler (as our bus was affectionately called) pulled up behind the New Building (as it was un-affectionately called). The players, including myself, stumbled out into the cold to our cars. Lo and behold there was a note in a feminine hand attatched to the driver's side windshield wiper of my midnite blue 1957 Austin Healey. The message was flirtateous and I might add, quite arousing, even in a brisk wind and at three in the morning.
Fast forward to the next weekend and the JV cheerleader who wrote the note and I are making out in the trunk of a car. Yes, it was the old sneak into the drive-in trick, as an excuse to, well, make out. Little did I know at the time that I was copping a feel. Or should that be feeling a cop?
Groundless Accusations Or The Ring of Truth? You be The Judge!
"I finally had time to catch up with your blog and was sorry to hear about your Mom's passing. I also found her obituary posted on the Kingman Daily Miner website. I didn't realize she had been struggling with Alzheimer's and had been 'gone' from you for some time. As an only child you were always such a 'Momma's Boy' (please know that I mean that endearingly), and I 'm sure it was difficult to have to deal with by yourself. You're so fortunate to have the great family you have, and I love to read the funny things you write about them.
"I think your Mom may have, at some time, lived with Dr. Paup's family while she attended high school. I think that's what my Dad told me long ago. He was about 8 years old when his family moved to Kingman from Needles (previously lived in Southern CA), and he has many stories to tell about growing up in Kingman. Dr. Paup died when Dad was 17, so I never knew my Grandfather (although he did deliver his first grandchild, my cousin Melanie Morris). We did grow up having all the old folks in town stop us to ask if we were Dr. Paup's twin granddaughters, though.
"As the family genealogist, I have attempted to gather as much information as I can. I am often regretful that I didn't think to ask more questions of my mother before she died in 1999, and her mother (Sylvia Lillian McComas, born 1907 in Silver City NM....yes, related to Charlie McComas whose family was murdered by renegade Indians on the Lordsburg Trail) before she died in 2001, or at least to journal or record EVERY STORY they ever told me....!!!"
—Sergeant Corinne "Coe" Mitchell, Department of Public Safety
Onion Headline de Jour
Inhibitions Found In Seedy Motel Room
"There is that in the glance of a flower which may at times control the greatest of creation's braggart lords."
—John Muir
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
March, 21, 2007 Bonus Blog
Working hard to catch up. Robert Ray and I are attacking the first ten pages of CGIII. Many excellent photos from Bob McCubbin. Very sweet.
Fellow artist and friend Roberta Hancock is representing the Arts & Business Council of Greater Phoenix and has asked me to provide artwork for "Masterpiece Doodle" that will be framed and auctioned next week at a fundraiser called "Martinis and Masterpieces. The event will be held at the Gold Spot Gallery at 1001 North Third Avenue deep within the Beast at 5:30 March 28th (next Wednesday).
I warmed up on a page of doodles last night utilizing black and red felt tip pens. Here they are:
Came into the office early and whipped out a dozen doodles, some on paper provided by A&B, including one on a drink napkin. That was fun.
Carole Glenn treated me to lunch at Pei Wei and we caught up on families, friends and movies
Like most of you who have made out with a cop in the trunk of a car, I've found myself more often than not on the right side of the law. Until yesterday. A certain highway patrolman from Kingman, (and who is a twin) sent me a scathing indictment regarding my relationship with my mother. That email tomorrow.
Working hard to catch up. Robert Ray and I are attacking the first ten pages of CGIII. Many excellent photos from Bob McCubbin. Very sweet.
Fellow artist and friend Roberta Hancock is representing the Arts & Business Council of Greater Phoenix and has asked me to provide artwork for "Masterpiece Doodle" that will be framed and auctioned next week at a fundraiser called "Martinis and Masterpieces. The event will be held at the Gold Spot Gallery at 1001 North Third Avenue deep within the Beast at 5:30 March 28th (next Wednesday).
I warmed up on a page of doodles last night utilizing black and red felt tip pens. Here they are:
Came into the office early and whipped out a dozen doodles, some on paper provided by A&B, including one on a drink napkin. That was fun.
Carole Glenn treated me to lunch at Pei Wei and we caught up on families, friends and movies
Like most of you who have made out with a cop in the trunk of a car, I've found myself more often than not on the right side of the law. Until yesterday. A certain highway patrolman from Kingman, (and who is a twin) sent me a scathing indictment regarding my relationship with my mother. That email tomorrow.
March 21, 2007
A big, fat plug for my Franklin Daytimer. We received three or four family photo albums about three years ago on the Wobblies deportation in Bisbee. Many of the photos have never been published and although we scanned them, no one in production bothered to input the photo credits, or contact information on the scans. There was a date though and that was June, 2004 and that was enough.
At lunch I went home, pulled down my 2004 daytimer files and brought it back into the office. After an hour and a half search (I know, this is not the best usage of my time) I found the entry on November 21st for Jason Ferrier and his phone number. I called the number, hoping it was still good and it was. Jason is coming in Thursday to nail down the history of the photos.
Of course, as I was looking for Jason's name and number I found a ton of things to earmark, such as my notes on the first WETA convention I went to a Keystone, Colorado, on June 4, 2004. "look for the second right answer," and "Hispanics buy the boots," and, "hire the twinkle," and "We cannot become what we need to be by being what we are now." Good stuff.
On June 11th is this bromide: "Too much Monday morning quarterbacking is bad for morale." Hmmmm.
On July 15th: "Art is a unification of contrasts."
On July 24th: "I lay under a creosote bush watching the vultures sail over us on quiet wing." John Reed, Insurgent Mexico
On July 26th: "An idle soldier is always thinking of war." Ditto, quoting Pancho Villa.
On August 8th: "I thought you said a smart man knows when he's whipped?" "Who says I'm smart?" Lines from Westerns from a book I bought at the Autry.
On August 19: "Many a man thinks he's famous when he merely happened to meet an editor who was hard-up for material." —Old Vaquero Saying
On September 16: "We are in a niche business. Our customers have something in common. They all have a desire for a particular lifestyle. We help enable that lifestyle. We enable that lifestyle through an eclectic collection of products. When I go out and talk about Tractor Supply, I say that you can find everything in our store someplace else, but you can't go anywhere else and find everything in our store." Blake Bohl, of Tractor Supply, who could be describing True West.
Onion Headline de Jour
Unwatched Netflix DVD Stares At Area Man With Single Unblinking Eye
"There is somebody smarter than any of us, and that is all of us."
—Michael Nolan
A big, fat plug for my Franklin Daytimer. We received three or four family photo albums about three years ago on the Wobblies deportation in Bisbee. Many of the photos have never been published and although we scanned them, no one in production bothered to input the photo credits, or contact information on the scans. There was a date though and that was June, 2004 and that was enough.
At lunch I went home, pulled down my 2004 daytimer files and brought it back into the office. After an hour and a half search (I know, this is not the best usage of my time) I found the entry on November 21st for Jason Ferrier and his phone number. I called the number, hoping it was still good and it was. Jason is coming in Thursday to nail down the history of the photos.
Of course, as I was looking for Jason's name and number I found a ton of things to earmark, such as my notes on the first WETA convention I went to a Keystone, Colorado, on June 4, 2004. "look for the second right answer," and "Hispanics buy the boots," and, "hire the twinkle," and "We cannot become what we need to be by being what we are now." Good stuff.
On June 11th is this bromide: "Too much Monday morning quarterbacking is bad for morale." Hmmmm.
On July 15th: "Art is a unification of contrasts."
On July 24th: "I lay under a creosote bush watching the vultures sail over us on quiet wing." John Reed, Insurgent Mexico
On July 26th: "An idle soldier is always thinking of war." Ditto, quoting Pancho Villa.
On August 8th: "I thought you said a smart man knows when he's whipped?" "Who says I'm smart?" Lines from Westerns from a book I bought at the Autry.
On August 19: "Many a man thinks he's famous when he merely happened to meet an editor who was hard-up for material." —Old Vaquero Saying
On September 16: "We are in a niche business. Our customers have something in common. They all have a desire for a particular lifestyle. We help enable that lifestyle. We enable that lifestyle through an eclectic collection of products. When I go out and talk about Tractor Supply, I say that you can find everything in our store someplace else, but you can't go anywhere else and find everything in our store." Blake Bohl, of Tractor Supply, who could be describing True West.
Onion Headline de Jour
Unwatched Netflix DVD Stares At Area Man With Single Unblinking Eye
"There is somebody smarter than any of us, and that is all of us."
—Michael Nolan
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
March 20, 2007 Bonus Blog
One of the benefits of being "Kid Crazy" is that everyone alerts you when anything Billy the Kid is in the air. Such was the case this morning when I got a call from my lovely wife at 9:30 saying, "Some guy is going to be talking about Billy the Kid on Diane Rehm at ten this morning."
Next came a phone call from Mad Coyote Joe alerting me to the same show. Then I got the following email:
"Just heard that Billy will be the subject on KJZZ at 10:00 a.m. today. You likely already know, but just in case."
—Larry Willis
So, having heard about the show three times (see marketing saw, or maxim, below), I went into production and Robert Ray turned on the Diane Rehm show and there was Michael Wallis talking about his new book on Billy the Kid. I must say Michael is very good. His ability to spin out the story in an enteraining way, yet keep the facts, is quite impressive. Michael's book is full of my artwork and even a photograph (I took a panorama of Cook's Canyon in 1993 when Paul Northrop took me out there and it is the opening spread of the book).
And our Billy the Kid issue is being shipped to subscribers this week. So it looks like the Boy Bandit is back in the saddle. Just wait until the Hutton exhibit at the Albuquerque Museum opens in May. It's going to be Billy's year all over again. Amazing.
And speaking of Paul Hutton, even Wallis poaches from the theme of the "Dreamscape Desperado," the title of the article Hutton wrote for New Mexico Magazine in 1990 (Wallis uses "Billy the Kid: The Endless Ride" as his version). In my editorial for the May issue I deem Hutton's paragraph (below) the most potent ever written about Billy:
"Billy the Kid just keeps riding across the dreamscape of our minds—silhouetted against a starlit Western sky, handsome, laughing, deadly. Shrewd as the coyote. Free as the hawk. The outlaw of our dreams—forever free, forever young, forever riding."
—Paul Hutton
One of the benefits of being "Kid Crazy" is that everyone alerts you when anything Billy the Kid is in the air. Such was the case this morning when I got a call from my lovely wife at 9:30 saying, "Some guy is going to be talking about Billy the Kid on Diane Rehm at ten this morning."
Next came a phone call from Mad Coyote Joe alerting me to the same show. Then I got the following email:
"Just heard that Billy will be the subject on KJZZ at 10:00 a.m. today. You likely already know, but just in case."
—Larry Willis
So, having heard about the show three times (see marketing saw, or maxim, below), I went into production and Robert Ray turned on the Diane Rehm show and there was Michael Wallis talking about his new book on Billy the Kid. I must say Michael is very good. His ability to spin out the story in an enteraining way, yet keep the facts, is quite impressive. Michael's book is full of my artwork and even a photograph (I took a panorama of Cook's Canyon in 1993 when Paul Northrop took me out there and it is the opening spread of the book).
And our Billy the Kid issue is being shipped to subscribers this week. So it looks like the Boy Bandit is back in the saddle. Just wait until the Hutton exhibit at the Albuquerque Museum opens in May. It's going to be Billy's year all over again. Amazing.
And speaking of Paul Hutton, even Wallis poaches from the theme of the "Dreamscape Desperado," the title of the article Hutton wrote for New Mexico Magazine in 1990 (Wallis uses "Billy the Kid: The Endless Ride" as his version). In my editorial for the May issue I deem Hutton's paragraph (below) the most potent ever written about Billy:
"Billy the Kid just keeps riding across the dreamscape of our minds—silhouetted against a starlit Western sky, handsome, laughing, deadly. Shrewd as the coyote. Free as the hawk. The outlaw of our dreams—forever free, forever young, forever riding."
—Paul Hutton
March 20, 2007
Still chilly in the mornings, but the long-sleeved days are over for this year.
Mark Boardman reports on Tombstone:
Tombstone's newly elected mayor, Tom Wright, died on March 16 of a stroke. Most of the folks who post on the boards seem to feel that he was headed in the correct direction in preserving and honoring the town's history and heritage. Seems to be a real loss.
Just two days later, the long-time editor of the Epitaph, Dean Prichard, passed away at the age of 80. He'd stepped down from the job last year after a nasty fall.
And speaking of Tombstone, it was on this date in 1882 that Tucson turned on its gas lights for the first time, spelling out "gas company" illuminated in jets of gas over the utility's office. Residents were so proud and excited that they shot guns off all over town, thus hiding Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday's 21 gun salute to a prone Frank Stilwell, lying on the railroad tracks not 200 yards from the celebrating. Here's my painting of that gassy event:
Onion Headline de Jour
Bush Vows To Eliminate U.S. Dependence On Oil By 4920
Deadlines Out My Patootie
With the trip to New York (a month ago today) and my mother's funeral I'm behind the eightball on a variety of deadlines, including Classic Gunfights, Volume III and The Top Secret Project. Not to mention my regular deadlines on each issue and several other projects, which I won't go into now, but trust me, they are legion. Somehow I hope the healthy aspect of career stress wards off Alzheimer's, but that's probably just another example of me being twelve emotionally.
"The great thing about being older is that you don't lose all the other ages you've been."
—Madeleine L'Engle
Still chilly in the mornings, but the long-sleeved days are over for this year.
Mark Boardman reports on Tombstone:
Tombstone's newly elected mayor, Tom Wright, died on March 16 of a stroke. Most of the folks who post on the boards seem to feel that he was headed in the correct direction in preserving and honoring the town's history and heritage. Seems to be a real loss.
Just two days later, the long-time editor of the Epitaph, Dean Prichard, passed away at the age of 80. He'd stepped down from the job last year after a nasty fall.
And speaking of Tombstone, it was on this date in 1882 that Tucson turned on its gas lights for the first time, spelling out "gas company" illuminated in jets of gas over the utility's office. Residents were so proud and excited that they shot guns off all over town, thus hiding Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday's 21 gun salute to a prone Frank Stilwell, lying on the railroad tracks not 200 yards from the celebrating. Here's my painting of that gassy event:
Onion Headline de Jour
Bush Vows To Eliminate U.S. Dependence On Oil By 4920
Deadlines Out My Patootie
With the trip to New York (a month ago today) and my mother's funeral I'm behind the eightball on a variety of deadlines, including Classic Gunfights, Volume III and The Top Secret Project. Not to mention my regular deadlines on each issue and several other projects, which I won't go into now, but trust me, they are legion. Somehow I hope the healthy aspect of career stress wards off Alzheimer's, but that's probably just another example of me being twelve emotionally.
"The great thing about being older is that you don't lose all the other ages you've been."
—Madeleine L'Engle
Monday, March 19, 2007
March 19, 2007
Bob Brink brought me in an obit from The New York Times this morning and said, "Isn't this one of the editors we had lunch with?" Yes, Jay Kennedy from King Features was one of the guys who we had lunch with and not only remembered Honkytonk Sue, but remembered I lived on MacKenzie Street. He interviewed me when he wrote "The Underground Comix Guide." in 1982. He drowned in a riptide while on vacation in Costa Rica last Thursday.
Jay is credited with reviving "Prince Valliant" and introducing "Mutts", and "Zits," written by my good friend Jerry Scott. Kennedy was also guest editor for the "European Humor" issue of the National Lampoon in 1985.
Robert Ray, Abby Pearson and I took a field trip to see 300 this afternoon. I wanted them to get excited about the graphics and they did. This state of the art CGI film is really making waves in the industry and we need to be up on those kinds of things. Robert hadn't been in a theatre in about eight years he said, so he was blown away by the sound and optical effects. Of course, this is my second viewing so I noticed a ton of things I missed the first time around. When I mentioned to Paul Hutton that there are some here who don't get it (the movie) he laughed and said, "The reason you and I get it is because when you and I die we will both still be twelve."
I have nothing to add to that succinct commentary.
Came back to the office and worked late getting some of our June issue together. Had a good talk with Trish Brink and Seth Hoyt about Fesitival of the West and some of the market trends we spotted. Trish and Samantha interviewed quite a few festival goers about their internet usage vs. the magazine and that was quite enlightening.
Onion Headline de Jour
Breathalyzer Big Hit At Cop Party
For the past several weeks I have not had a chance to work on the Top Secret Project, but it is there, not far from my thoughts. And, recalling my insecurities of late about the project is painful, but I made a vow to tell the truth about the entire project and that's how these things go. Need to get going again, and I will.
"Like an ox-cart driver in monsoon season or the skipper of a grounded ship, one must sometimes go forward by gong back."
—John Barth
Bob Brink brought me in an obit from The New York Times this morning and said, "Isn't this one of the editors we had lunch with?" Yes, Jay Kennedy from King Features was one of the guys who we had lunch with and not only remembered Honkytonk Sue, but remembered I lived on MacKenzie Street. He interviewed me when he wrote "The Underground Comix Guide." in 1982. He drowned in a riptide while on vacation in Costa Rica last Thursday.
Jay is credited with reviving "Prince Valliant" and introducing "Mutts", and "Zits," written by my good friend Jerry Scott. Kennedy was also guest editor for the "European Humor" issue of the National Lampoon in 1985.
Robert Ray, Abby Pearson and I took a field trip to see 300 this afternoon. I wanted them to get excited about the graphics and they did. This state of the art CGI film is really making waves in the industry and we need to be up on those kinds of things. Robert hadn't been in a theatre in about eight years he said, so he was blown away by the sound and optical effects. Of course, this is my second viewing so I noticed a ton of things I missed the first time around. When I mentioned to Paul Hutton that there are some here who don't get it (the movie) he laughed and said, "The reason you and I get it is because when you and I die we will both still be twelve."
I have nothing to add to that succinct commentary.
Came back to the office and worked late getting some of our June issue together. Had a good talk with Trish Brink and Seth Hoyt about Fesitival of the West and some of the market trends we spotted. Trish and Samantha interviewed quite a few festival goers about their internet usage vs. the magazine and that was quite enlightening.
Onion Headline de Jour
Breathalyzer Big Hit At Cop Party
For the past several weeks I have not had a chance to work on the Top Secret Project, but it is there, not far from my thoughts. And, recalling my insecurities of late about the project is painful, but I made a vow to tell the truth about the entire project and that's how these things go. Need to get going again, and I will.
"Like an ox-cart driver in monsoon season or the skipper of a grounded ship, one must sometimes go forward by gong back."
—John Barth
March 18, 2007
Cleaned out the chicken house, started the '49 Ford and pulled it out onto the Spanish driveway and washed it off. Went on two bike rides with the dogs. Sketched and painted on a variety of unfinished studies. Great to be back at it. I've spent some pretty hectic weeks and although I'm still doing my six sketches a day, I haven't had a chance to sit down in my studio and paint. Here's a half dozen that turned out rather nicely:
Watched some NCAA basketball action. I'm rooting for Oregon and UCLA, both PAC-10 teams.
Onion Headline de Jour
Nobody In Ukraine Notices Absence Of Government
"I paint life as I would like it to be."
—Norman Rockwell
Cleaned out the chicken house, started the '49 Ford and pulled it out onto the Spanish driveway and washed it off. Went on two bike rides with the dogs. Sketched and painted on a variety of unfinished studies. Great to be back at it. I've spent some pretty hectic weeks and although I'm still doing my six sketches a day, I haven't had a chance to sit down in my studio and paint. Here's a half dozen that turned out rather nicely:
Watched some NCAA basketball action. I'm rooting for Oregon and UCLA, both PAC-10 teams.
Onion Headline de Jour
Nobody In Ukraine Notices Absence Of Government
"I paint life as I would like it to be."
—Norman Rockwell
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