Pablo Stories
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The Pablo Stories
The Book
  The Pablo Stories provide a light-hearted, narrative non-fiction history of the Country Western Dance Era that swept the country during 1980's and 1990's.

The Pablo Stories describe the time when city dwellers and suburbanites embraced the once rural art forms - the music, the dance, and the apparel. The book includes:

  • Short stories, mostly about dancers at the Rusty Horn Saloon
  • Articles that focus on the world of dance festivals and competitions
  • Artifacts including photos, business cards, dance festival program, and a roster of 150 Southern California Honky Tonks
  • Glossary of dance hall terms
 
 

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The Opinions
  [The] vast primary source material in this book contributes to scholarly discourse ... The book is comprehensive in its coverage of the dance era.
Gordon M. Bakken, Ph.D.
California State University, Fullerton
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The glossary excels in definition and usage of words and elevates the book so that future behaviorists and sociologists will have a fundamental document to better understand [the Country Western Dance Era].
Gary D. Turner, Ph.D.
Los Angeles Corral of Westerners
www.westerners-international.org
 
The Contents
  Part I: Stories
Getting Started
  1. Converting the Opposition
  2. Soft Landings
  3. Making the Right Impression
  4. Slicked Up at the Rusty Horn
  5. Flirting at the Rusty Horn
  6. Quiz: Competition Partners
Dancers and Sideliners
  1. Rusty Horn Reunion
  2. Return of the Calico Queen
  3. Field Guide to Country Western Dancers
  4. Quivering Lip
  5. Puppy Legs: The Line Dance
  6. Quiz: Is She Country or Is She Swing?
Suburban Cowboys
  1. Perfect Dance Wheels
  2. Trucks with Hairy Legs
  3. Paper Roses
  4. Cowboy Courtesy
  5. Prices, Porsches, and Priorities
  6. Quiz: Country or Western
Ladies of the Rusty Horn
  1. No Compromises
  2. Coming of Age at the Rusty Horn
  3. No Thanks
  4. Yo Linda! There is a Mrs. Claus
  5. Keep the Light Burning, Eileen
  6. Quiz: On the Way to San Jose
Bringing Down the Curtain
  1. Spaghetti for Thanksgiving
  2. What Goes Around, Comes Around
  3. Read My Mind, Please
  4. Milk: Tall, Straight Up
  5. Letting Go
  6. Avoiding Confrontations and Doing the Right Thing
Part II: Articles
Setting the Stage
  1. Timing Is Everything
  2. Hitting the Breaks
  3. Dressed to Thrill
Taking the Floor
  1. The Power of Babel
  2. Why, Why, Why?
  3. Swing Joins Country
Dancing the Festivals
  1. Cajun Dancing Los Angeles Style
  2. Down Home in the Fog
  3. Utah Western Two-Steppers Dance Festival
Pursuing the Business
  1. Headin' for Mecca
  2. The Challenge for Bartholonomics
  3. New Faces in the Family Album
Enjoying the Memories
  1. Conclusion
Part III: Artifacts
  1. Photographs
  2. Business Cards
  3. Mission Country Dance Festival Program
  4. Honky Tonk Roster
Part IV: Addenda
  1. Glossary
  2. Contributors
  3. Discography/Bibliography
 
The Glossary (Samples)
 
Code of the West (kod ov the west) noun, preposition, article, and noun, p. 177
  Minding your own business, not asking personal questions, and treating everyone with equal respect regardless of background or circumstances.

Historically, many cowboys and ladies left everything behind and moved out West to escape the reach of hometown law enforcement. Etiquette demanded that nobody ask where they came from, what they did before they left, or what they were called before adopting their new nicknames.

These days, AFIS and CODIS have made such new starts more difficult.
    Use: Today the Code of the West mostly protects yuppies posing as good ol' boys. This legacy protocol enables sandbagging dance hall denizens to escape their identity in the outside world and enjoy the uncritical sociability of friends.

Dance Pants (dans pants) adjective and noun, p. 241
  Underpants worn by women dancers that are coordinated with their outfits. Dance pants may look like regular underwear, but the knowledge that they are part of a dance uniform allows ladies to spin and, if their dance pants show, still maintain a sense of propriety -- much as ladies who would never wear their underwear at the beach have no problem with bikinis. Cowboys do not understand this logic, but they support any activity involving underwear or bikinis.
    Use: Pam admitted, "I only wear black or white dance pants. That way, I don't have to color coordinate them with my skirts."

Cowboy Logic (kou'boi' loj'ik) adjective and noun, p. 152
  Application of simple, common sense approaches to avoiding or solving problems, as was aptly described by Michael Martin Murphey in the song "Cowboy Logic."
    Use: Cowboy logic dictates that the cowboys around the Claw Machine join in all birthday celebrations at the Rusty Horn, even if they brought no gift and don't know the people involved.

The cowboys' contribution is their presence: the birthday person appears to be more popular, ladies who need somebody to hug in order to work off their celebratory enthusiasm are readily accommodated, and the cowboys get free cake.

Hat trick (hat trik), adjective and noun, p. 305
  A two-part cowboy courtship legend: while dancing 1) if a lady knocks off a cowboy's hat, then she must take him home, and 2) if a cowboy knocks off a lady's hat, then he must marry her. The post-decapitation sales pitch good-naturedly diverts attention away from any inept dancing that may have led to the hat trick.
    Use: When Charlotte performed a hat trick on Abel during the Denver Cha Cha lesson, Abel danced after the hat, put it back on his head with a flourish, looked straight at Charlotte, wiggled his eyebrows up and down a couple times, and never broke rhythm.

Polyphasic (pol'e-faz-ik) adjective, p. 243
  The ability to engage in several tasks or thought processes at the same time.
    Use: A polyphasic lady can simultaneously sort the mail, talk on the phone, hold the neighbor's baby, scratch the dog's tummy with her toe, boil eggs to decorate after lunch, watch the kids play in the back yard, listen to her favorite George Strait album on the stereo, and snuggle with her cowboy who is unaware that she is doing anything else.

 
The Author
  Paul McClure, a three-time Grand Champion Country Western dancer, won the 1992 USADA United States Country Western Dance Championship as well as first place in Pony Swing at the 1993 UCWDC World Championship.

McClure has written Country Dance Etiquette as well as more than 50 articles on Country Western culture and dance. He currently teaches Two-Step at Montana's in San Dimas, California, and at the Brandin' Iron in San Bernardino, California. In real life, he teaches sociology and writing at the University of Phoenix.

McClure holds a Ph.D. in Public Administration from the University of Southern California and is a former RAND Fellow. He has been Physics Department Administrator at the RAND Corporation, City Manager of Adelanto, California, owner of American Art Glass Company, Vice President of E.F. Hutton, and a teacher and administrator at the Pomona Unified School District. He has compressed a remarkable number of careers into one lifetime.

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The Illustrator
  Artist Craig George was raised on a farm in Marwayne, Alberta, Canada, attended art school in Calgary, and went on to become one of the most beloved illustrators on both sides on the border.

In Canada, Craig developed the Rural Rootz comic strip, published a compilation of those cartoons in Udder Nonesense, dished up political cartoons for over a dozen Canadian newspapers, and made award-winning animated features.

Craig and his wife, news anchor Julie Nolin, are the proud parents of two rambunctious sons.
 
The Publisher
  BearManor Media specializes in movie, radio, and television histories -- or as publisher Ben Ohmart calls it: classic cinema, retro radio, and timeless television. Fortunately, with the Pablo Stories, BearManor chose to venture into the history of Country Western dance as well.

For the complete BearManor catalogue, go to http://bearmanormedia.bizland.com
BearManor Media
PO Box 71426
Albany, GA 31708
Telephone 760-709-9696
Fax 814-690-1559
Email books@benohmart.com

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Copyright 2012, Pablo Stories