Dead wood.

My father is quite the sci-fi geek, but like any red-blooded American he appreciates a good ole' western flick. Imagine my surprise when he told me that he strongly disliked HBO's original series, Deadwood. In my opinion it had all the makings of a good show - for one, it was on HBO, plus, the cast was solid, and it was based on historical events. I assumed the man would have pre-ordered the box set before the season was over. Why no love? I was told, quite matter-of-factly, "that the characters cussed way too much". This, coming from a man who has never been shy to drop an F-bomb (or three).

Well, Frank would've loved the real Deadwood, not even a sign with the word poop. I, on the other hand, thought the town was, well, shitty. I don't know what I expected but I'm sure I wanted, no, needed more. En route there, daydreaming in my recently “milestoned” Protege 5, I envisioned tattered wood facades, steeds tied to posts, and crusty men in slick hats spitting huge loogies. Oh, and mud, tons and tons of mud. Instead, I witnessed a town grasping for income and its faded glory. Crappy casinos spotted the otherwise souvenir ridden streets. I queried a local passerby for any interesting spots to check out in Deadwood other than the small museum (that did house some pretty cool turn-of-the-century artifacts). He paused for a moment and exclaimed, “ Have y'all been by our new YMCA pool, it's a real beaut. You and your lady friend should have yerself a swim”.

We did not swim. Rather, we marched directly to the car, threw it in drive and did not look back, remiss that we lost our opportunity to strike it rich at Calamity Jane's Gold Panning & Factory Outlet.

Sigh.

OMG, we're here!



Oh, wow, geez, I wonder if it was panned locally.