Digital Cowboy

“Fight’s not with you, Holliday.”

“I beg to differ, sir. We started a fight we never got to finish. Play for blood. Remember?”

“I was just foolin’ about.”

“I wasn’t. Say when.”

Take from that what you will. I’m just foolin’ about. But, I’m pretty quick on the draw, too. Say when.

I ain’t kiddin’ about “Tombstone.”

If ya got somethin’, bring it. I’ve seen the damn thing so many times, I can simply think about it and start seeing it in my head. First thing I hear is Curly Bill Brocius saying, “Y’all killed two Cowboys.”

Shocked ya with a “Tombstone” post, didn’t I?

“Next time we come, ya better step aside. I ain’t kiddin,’ neither.”

Maybe I should stop, but.. just for you know… I’m goin’ to watch it again.

Just ’cause I can!

I wanted to do a couple more tonight about Ignoramus Abe but it didn’t happen. No flow.

But I’ve got a lot more. I promise. Maybe tomorrow.

For those that didn’t pick up on the title of this post (I know PK did!), it’s a quote from Tombstone. For those that did pick it up (Pay attention, Cartman!), did you know that in the time that movie was set, it was an expletive?

In the mid and late 1800’s, the word “kidding” or “kiddin’” was used the way “f***king” is used today. It makes sense if you think a bit about it.

Curly Bill said, “Next time we come, you better step aside. And I ain’t kiddin’, neither.”

Replace “kiddin’” there with “f***king around” and you’ll get my point. In fact, if you drop the “around,” you’ll see the evolution more clearly.

Just a little Tombstone trivia to hold y’all over until I get back to the proper crucifixion of Lincoln.

(And with that, I probably just made Elena’s NSFW list. Sorry, dear. It’s history.)

What I should’ve included in that last Tombstone post is this…

Just prior to where I began quoting previously, Wyatt says, “How are we feeling today, Doc?”

Doc: “I’m dying. How are you?”

Wyatt: “Pretty much the same.”

Doc: “So now we can add ’self-pity’ to your list of frailties.”

There’s a lot of wisdom in that last line I quoted of Doc’s. Self-pity is not a “frailty,” as he put it. It’s a very dangerous flaw that will kill you if you indulge it. It’s a weapon in a spiritual war. It opens all kinds of doors to your enemy that are hard to close. Don’t EVER feel sorry for yourself. Not for a second. Not ever. Not for any reason. It’s a trap.

A trap that seems to lay in wait for me, freshly baited, every day.

Once again, I’m preaching to me. I hope y’all get something helpful from listening in on my thoughts.

I owe an apology to Pink Kitty. I recently chastised her for misquoting Doc Holliday and Tombstone. It turns out I mangled it as bad as she did. I knew her quote wasn’t correct and as I was typing my comment to her, I had the feeling that I wasn’t either. So I checked and I was right with the sinking feeling and not the quote. Here then is the scene quoted correctly:

(Doc is dying and has just told Wyatt that he was in love once. It happened to be his first cousin and “she joined a convent over the affair.”)

Doc: “She was all I ever wanted. What’d you want Wyatt?”

Wyatt: “Just to live a normal life.”

Doc: “There’s no normal life, Wyatt. There’s just life. Now get on with it.”

Wyatt: “I don’t know how.”

Doc: “Sure ya do. Say goodbye to me. Go get that spirited actress and make her your own. Take that beauty and run. Don’t look back. Live every second. Live right up to the hilt. Live, Wyatt. Live for me.

“Wyatt, if you were ever my friend, if you ever had the slightest feeling for me, leave now… Please.”

There are so many lessons about life in that one little excerpt that I wouldn’t know where to begin. There’s stuff in there about love and friendship and pride and temptations and desire.

I watch that movie and see so much of myself (good and bad) in both Wyatt and Doc that I can’t decide which one I more relate to.

Kevin Jarre and George Cosmatos are just geniuses. In my not so humble opinion, there’s never been a better written screenplay and it was perfectly directed, too. The cast and their acting is superb, but that’s just icing. Actors are waiters in a cheap restaurant without writing and directing.

Here’s a Biblically sound life motto that you can take away from this: Take the beauty and run. Don’t ever look back. Live every second. Live to the hilt. Live for Me.

I’m not saying that Doc is God or even symbolically represents Him. I’m just sayin’ there’s a message there that is something God would say.

I’ve now connected both poker and Tombstone to the Bible. Any challenges for the next unlikely pairing with theology?

cZja says:

(Psssst. We rented Tombstone and loved it. I love anything about Cowboys and the wild West. Have you read “Lonesome Dove” by Larry McMurtry. It’s the definitive western epic. You’d love it. You’ll be a changed man by the end of the book.
Sometime I’ll tell you about the time I met Val Kilmer if your up for it. I’m all for discussing the movie, but I don’t want to hi-jack your post)

I’m glad you liked the movie, cZja.

You’ll like it even more if you take time to do some research and watch it again. It was impeccably well written and directed. The subtle detail is fascinating. Of course, I’m always far too willing to discuss it. (Maybe I need to create a Tombstone category here.)

I’ve not read “Lonesome Dove.” I’m a voracious reader, but I don’t read much fiction. I’ve never been able to find the time; if I’m reading I want to be learning something overtly. I know, I know - I could have read lots of fiction during the time I was watching Tombstone a hundred plus times.

I think nothing of thread-jacking around here. Don’t ever sweat that. Maybe one of these days I’ll post an email address here. I’ve been meaning to actually do a site design ever since the night I threw this blog up, literally in about 15 minutes. It never seems to make it to the top of the priority list. In the meantime, you can send email to digitalcowboy at mac.com if you want to communicate with me outside of this venue.

Just because I’m in the mood. In fact, I may go watch it again later.

In Wyatt Earp’s personal diary he writes that Doc Holliday drank five quarts of whiskey a day. He put a quart of whiskey on his night stand each night before going to sleep because he drank a quart of whiskey each morning before stepping out of bed, “just to get going.”

And Wyatt also records, “but in all the time I knew him, I never saw him visibly drunk.” Now that’s holdin’ your liquor.

I guess I kind of gave it all away by posting that link. But here’s the standoff speech with translation:

It starts with Doc saying, “Yep. I’m sure of it. I hate him.”

Wyatt, trying to prevent a fight, then says, “He’s drunk.”

To which Doc replies, “In vino veritas.” (”In wine is truth.”)

Johnny says, “Age quod agis.” (”Do what you do.” A clear challenge to throw down.)

Doc replies, “Credat Judaeus Apella, non ego.” (”Let Apella believe the Jew, not me.”) He was quoting from Horace’s Satires and he was using the quote to assert that he was not intimidated by Ringo’s reputation and while everyone else may believe that Johnny was the fastest gun in the west - god of the gunslingers - Doc wasn’t buyin’ it. (“Look, darlin’, it’s Johnny Ringo. Deadliest pistoleer since Wild Bill, they say.”)

Johnny then says, “Inventus stultorum magister.” (”Youth is the teacher of fools.” He was saying that Doc was too old and sick to play the game with him and he was about to teach him a lesson. You might note that the conversation began with Johnny asking Doc, “You retired, too?” Doc replied, “Not me. I’m in my prime.” and Johnny replied, “Yeah. You look it.”)

Doc then says, “In pace recquiescat.” (”May he rest in peace.” He was literally saying, if you think you got somethin’ for me, bring it. One of us will be dead when it’s over and I don’t care whom. Do you?)

Doc and Johnny were both miserable people that longed for death. That’s a common trait of any good gunfighter in history - they wanted to die so nothing ever made them nervous. It’s the purest irony that a desire to die makes it difficult to get beat in a gunfight.

It’s also why, towards the end of the movie, just before Doc dies, he looks down at his toes and says, “Now that’s funny.” He always expected to “die with his boots on.”

Now you have bonus information and a free answer to one of the questions on the Tombstone Purity Test.

Back to the movie… Doc then says to Kate, “That’s latin, darlin’. Evidently, Ringo’s an educated man. Now I really hate him.”

The really scary part is that I typed all of this from memory. Sick, ain’t it?

You get bonus points if you know what Virgil meant when he said, “Her maiden name is Sullivan.” Waterboy? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

Tombstone, is, in my not so humble opinion, the finest movie ever made. The Patriot is a close second.

I’ve been contemplating putting up a Tombstone site. Many years ago, when I first discovered the web, there was a Tombstone fan site. The curator of that site was a college student that has since graduated (a number of years ago). When he left college he posted on the site that he would no longer be updating it and invited anyone interested to take it all and continue it.

I think I’m about to.

If anyone’s interested, I know what Johnny Ringo and Doc Holliday were talking about in the standoff. Beg me and I might tell ya.

(Shut up, Vox and Alex.)

UPDATE: I just discovered that Dylan’s moved and revived his site. Guess I won’t be putting up a Tombstone site after all. Check out his here.