Bob Boze Bell's Blog – September 2011 Archive (31)

September 30, 2011

   Sometimes my Franklin Daytimer is full of hand-written notes and sometimes it's full of drawings. Today is a combination of both:

Yes, that's Mickey Free aboard his not-so-trusty mammoth jack, on the left. This led to the idea of the big mule…

September 30, 2011

   We get some intriguing questions here at the True West World Headquarters. Here's one from Alaska:

"My mom and I watch Encore Western channel everyday. We were just watching The Virginian and 2 horses got spooked by a snake and they took off running. The Virginian finally got them to stop. Is it just in the  movies and shows that horses actually keep on going when they get spooked? Do they actually have…

September 30, 2011

   Got this from Wonderful Russ yesterday. Pretty darn close:

Historical Twin: John Travolta? Unlike the Nic Cage photo, I don't think the owner of this one is claiming it's a vampire deal, alleging the star of…

September 30, 2011

   Check this out:

September 29, 2011

   Okay, my opinionated friends, we need your expert opinions on a variety of subjects. Please take this poll and help us reward the people and companies who really deserve to be called:

The Best of the West

September 29, 2011

   Got some great stuff done this morning. Yes, some screaming was involved, but we did achieve better results. Did our first Skype conference with our off-site art director Dan The Man Harshberger at about ten. When Dan's wife, Darlene, heard we were going to go to a picture phone conference she said, and I quote, "Oh, good, now you'll be able to see him roll his eyes in person."



   Ha. Unfortunately, on this first try, he could see us but we…

September 29, 2011

   Working on the last layouts for our November-December issue. Our Westerns Editor, Henry Cabot Beck scored an interview with the director of Blackthorn, Mateo Gil, who lives in Madrid, Spain. As mentioned, Mateo tells us they filmed a very clever final scene but pulled it at the last minute because they deemed it "too jokey."

 …

September 28, 2011

   Went home for lunch and whipped out a study I call "Loose Cannon." In this version of the infamous fight, Wyatt, Morgan and Virgil Earp all try to tackle Doc before he destroys all they have worked for in Tombstone.

I have a hunch they all had this…

September 28, 2011

   Typical day: inspired, frustrated and behind the eight ball. November-December issue goes to the printer tomorrow and we are hanging out big time. Need to finish my editorial, and a new feature—Artists We Love. Also need to whip out another True West Moment for the Arizona Republic. Due this afternoon. Tight because our Christmas Gift Guide is a challenge (a record 16 pages of great ideas, but in need of layout and…

September 27, 2011

   A good movie stays with you for days. It's telling that I'm still noodling and brooding the new Butch Cassidy Western Blackthorn. Before going any further, I must say, if you love Westerns, you have to see it.

The premise is that Butch Cassidy survived the shootout at San Vincente in 1908 and is quietly living out his years as James Blackthorn in a secluded Bolivian village. Tired of his long exile from the U.S. and…

September 26, 2011

   I spent the weekend thinking about Blackthorn, the new Western starring Sam Shepard as Butch Cassidy (which I watched on my office computer last Friday. A kid named Brandon emailed me and asked if I wanted to see a screener for the film and when I said I did, he sent me a link and the next thing you know, I'm watching the film on my desk.)

Concern Number One

I love the idea of Butch still alive in Bolivia…

September 26, 2011

   Great weekend. Attended the new season grand opening at Cave Creek Museum on Saturday afternoon. They are featuring a half dozen pieces of my artwork and it was fun to see all the old time Creekers including artisit Judi Darbyshire (she's the reason I live in Cave Creek) and Dee Dee Wood (legendary choreographer for Sound of Music, Mary Poppins) to name but just a few.

   At six, Kathy and I, Thomas Charles and Pattarapan…

September 23, 2011

Just saw a sneak preview of a new Butch Cassidy film called "Blackthorn." It's about Butch in Bolivia in 1927. Sam Shepard is dead on. Spectacular scenery and gunfights. It's three hats from perfect. Details to come.

"I've been my own man. There's nothing richer than that"

—Butch Cassidy (Sam Shepard), when asked if he's ever been rich

September 23, 2011

   After a shocking bail out last month, it looks like Disney is back in the saddle for the Lone Ranger:

Lone Ranger

   Working up a few new O.K. Corral images for my art opening in Santa Fe on October 14. Here is a page of cloud studies I'm using for the October 26, 1881 stormy…

September 22, 2011

   When I was attending the University of Arizona I played in different bands to make money. In the early seventies I answered a classified ad and started gigging with a Country-Western band called Roy Brown & Country Gold. Our bread and butter was playing VFWs. We also played often at a Moose Lodge just north of Speedway Blvd and west of Wilmont.

   We did all the classics, "For The Good Times" and "LeRoy Brown" and "Tie A…

September 21, 2011

   Here's something Allison forwarded to me. Great photo from 1870 that looks exactly like Nic Cage, but Abby thinks it's fake, too good to be true and that it was Photoshopped. Your thoughts?

Original c.1870 carte de visite showing a man who looks exactly like

Nick Cage. Personally, I believe it’s him and that he is some sort of

walking undead / vampire, et cetera, who quickens / reinvents

himself once…

September 21, 2011

   In September of 1975 I was standing in Jeff Bloom's hipster clothing store on Fourth Avenue in Tucson. The place was tucked in a walk-up (you had to kind of know it was there) on Hippie Row. Mucho platform shoes, bell bottom pants and, amazingly, classic snap button Western shirts with flowers on the yoke (I bought three different ones for some $50 each and still have them). At that time, Eclipse was THE most stylin' place in the state of…

September 20, 2011

   Last Friday afternoon was the official kickoff to the Arizona Centennial on the north steps of the Yavapai County Courthouse in Prescott, Arizona. To mark the occasion the Arizona secretary of state was on hand to introduce the artist who created the official postage stamp. As the mayor and others ran a blow-up of the stamp up the pillars, Ed Mell was introduced to say a few words. Here he is at the podium with the stamp looming over…

September 19, 2011

   Some years ago, I was in a Bisbee bookstore and saw a rather shocking title, at least to me, "Kill The Cowboy." I picked it up and thought it might be some clever take on the Wild West, but no, it seemed to be an indictment of cowboys and cattlemen being the bad guys in the environmental movement to save the planet. I glanced through it and seem to remember that the author grew up on a ranch and had a change of heart, going "to the dark side,"…

September 16, 2011

   Everything I've done, everything that's happened to me and everything I've learned has brought me to this moment. And by this moment, I mean yesterday and today. The right field little league experience, the gonzo morning drive radio blitz:

The…