Shakesthegrounds Rumblings

[Meryl]

I'm back from our evening with Annie!   

We had a great time.  The Guggenheim brochure said she would be discussing the West as "regional and cultural space," as a complement to their new Jackson Pollock exhibit (Pollock often described himself as being from Wyoming).  What she actually ended up doing was presenting her ideas on how much she thought Pollock's art had been influenced by Native American art.  She made a pretty interesting case for it, and I hope somebody who's an expert in Native American art does some more research on it to back her up.

She was very articulate and poised, not at all like a folksy Wyoming lady (she was born on the East Coast) and wore a nice black pantsuit.  She looks younger than her 71 (?) years.  The program lasted about an hour and a half, and the audience asked some questions.  "Brokeback" didn't come up, unfortunately, since that wasn't the subject. 

Afterwards, we saw that people were lining up to speak to her, so Jenny and I decided to go for it.  Jenny got to mention her T-shirt line and received Annie's OK to use her words ("you do what you want").  She told her she's trying to distance herself from "Brokeback Mountain" and move on to other things.  I shook her hand and thanked her for the talk and also for writing "Brokeback Mountain."  She was kind enough to autograph my copy of "Story to Screenplay" (her signature is teensy!).

Jenny, John, Juan and I went looking for a place to eat after the lecture, and what did we find but a Jackson Hole hamburger joint!  So we ate huge burgers and contentedly talked "Brokeback" for an hour.

I hope you're able to see Annie and talk to her on Thursday, Truman.  Thanks again for the kick in the arse--without it I wouldn't be writing this report! 

[injest]

*sigh*

perfect...thank you!!

(except the part about distancing herself from BBM!!)

[Shakesthecoffecan]

I imagine she has tired of BBM, she has lived with it longer than anyone else, plus she is a creator, she needs to move on to other things. I think I will gague how it goes, if she lectures for an hour about the fiber content of shoe laces in outer mongolia, I feel somewhat obligated to ask her some kind of half way intelligent question about ilets.

[injest]

Truman = ever the gentleman!

 

[Meryl]

I imagine she has tired of BBM, she has lived with it longer than anyone else, plus she is a creator, she needs to move on to other things. I think I will gague how it goes, if she lectures for an hour about the fiber content of shoe laces in outer mongolia, I feel somewhat obligated to ask her some kind of half way intelligent question about ilets.

 

[Shakesthecoffecan]

My partner plays guitar, and plays it well.

His father scoffed at him and his brother when they first took it up, saying no one in their family had any musical talent. He didn't maintain that position long. They get together often with friends and play everthing from Lynyrd Skynyrd to Zappa, with heavy doses of the Beatles and CSNY and when the alcohol content reaches critical mass, Methodist hymms.

Last Thursday I was on my lap top and he asked me to play him the first song I ever bought from i-tunes:
"Cowboys are Frequetly Secretly (Fond of Each Other)" recorded by Willie Nelson and release last Valentine's day, 2006. He sat there with his guitar and learned that song in 30 minutes. I learned where to restart it to get that riff between verses, Willie's funky way of playing. He sounded damn good.

Friday night his son came for a visit, brought his bass, and his brother came over with his guitar and he said "I got a song I want us to learn" and he played it. I took pictures so he could see their reaction later. His brother, when concluded, said: "That's Willie Nelson".

The next day partner and son go to the music store to buy strings. They know eveyone there, and everyone they (thought) they knew them. A buddy who works there, who used to be in a band with him, told him to try out this guitar and he did, strumming and then softly singing:

"There's many a strange impulse out on the plains of west Texas,
There's many a young boy who feels things he can't comprehend."

His buddy of 30+ years said: "Ain't that that Brokback Willie song?" and he said it was, and started over, singing them a few more lines. He asked his son (who was standing behind him) what he thought about it and he said:

"Oh I moved closer to you."

[moremojo]

I would ask about the old cowboy that inspired the story...she had said she had seen him around....wonder about him..

My question would pertain to this general subject as well. More specifically, I am curious to know more detail about the bar and the specific time that Annie encountered this older gentleman who inspired the story. As a time-saving measure, let me direct you to a post made by Natali where she shared the story in Annie's own words:

http://bettermost.net/forum/index.php?topic=4510.msg87117#msg87117

In the same thread in which that post appears, I made the following response, which contains the question about which I am curious:

It was 1995 and Proulx, who lives in Wyoming, visited a crowded bar near the Montana border.

It just occurred to me that this nameless Wyoming bar has become sacred ground of no little significance. It was the scene of the first flash of divine inspiration, and saw the shades of Ennis and Jack gain refuge within Annie's mind and heart. If others knew the location, it would become a locus of pilgrimage as charged and meaningful as any other in Wyoming, or any of the Alberta sites associated with the film.

Our fellow member shakestheground plans on hearing Annie speak in North Carolina in the near future. He asked others to post or PM him if they had any particular questions they would like addressed to the author, assuming that he is able to meet and speak with her. I think I will submit this one, however trivial it might appear to some: What was the name and more precise location of that bar, and if possible, what was the exact date of that fateful 1995 visit?

[moremojo]

In regard to the post I made above this one, I just read a contribution by Mel to the thread I cited there, where she asserts that the bar was located in Sheridan, Wyoming. That narrows it down by quite a bit.

Edit:Mel directed me to the following post made by Adrian, where he states that the bar is called the "Mint", and is located in Sheridan:

http://bettermost.net/forum/index.php?topic=4224.msg84557#msg84557

[Fran]

Perhaps this will help you.  It's a post made by Toast in the "ABCz of BBM" game, reply #3405.


The Mint Bar
151 North Main Street
Sheridan, Wyoming 82801

Annie Proulx discusses where the character Ennis was created:

"But the incident that actually made me start writing it was one night when I was in a bar in Sheridan, Wyoming—the Mint bar. There was a ranch hand I used to see. This guy was back leaning against the wall by the pool tables. The bar was packed with good-looking women, and he wasn’t looking at them—he was watching the guys….He was about sixty, and he watched them with a kind of subdued hunger that made me wonder if he was country gay."
She counted back from his age and decided to set the story in the ‘60s, when he would have been a young man.

NewWest

[moremojo]

That is WAY COOL, Fran! Thank you so much!

Dreaming of Wyoming,
Scott