MAD DOG AND LANDMAN

I and my family have a deep connection to the oil fields and the supporting industries. That's why all the hoopla around the LANDMAN series with Billy Bob Thornton stirred my memories.  After the birth of Rebecca, while I was waiting for a position to open up in the Church of the Nazarene, I felt a surge of ambition and decided to go to work for a centerless grinding outfit in Compton. Yes, that Compton, where the SLA was burned alive rather than surrender.  The centerless grinding ties in because what we worked on were huge stainless steel? Pipes which must have been used in the oil industry. See how that ties in?  The story revolves around Larry, the homeless guy who lived in a box behind the plant. I was hired to be the supervisor of a two-man crew on second shift which included the boss's son who was pretty young. Part of this assignment included supervising Larry the homeless guy who swept the floors and did miscellaneous chores so that he could use the b...

I was 26 years old and loaded with ambition when I went to my first church in Mohall North Dakota. Grant May was the youngest board member at the age of 50 and the rest were in their 60s and seventies. As I drove around the beautiful countryside only 15 miles from the Canadian border I couldn't help but notice the oil wells. This was in the day when 99% of all oil wells drilled straight down. Grant was the leading and youngest board member and had a very productive well on his land. When I decided from time to time to invite special speakers to the little church 55 miles from Minot, probably because of my very charming wife they decided to support some of the wild ideas I had. I also decided to try to promote them on the local television stations and radio station so Lynne and I would drive to Minot after I made phone calls and I made arrangements to visit each of the television stations. In the little town of North Dakota all the farmers came in...

  I've started a new series on Paramount called Landman starring Billy Bob Thornton. The series deals with Texas oil wells and my family since the 30s and I are intimately connected with oil wells. So I've decided to start a new blog where I share both my experiences and a little bit of pictures from the TV series. I'll start here on X with the rough draft, then copy and paste into my new blog which I will share a link at either the conclusion or I will tie it in. Coincidentally, our new president is promoting American energy so I may conclude with a new sign off. Drill, baby, drill!