HOW MYSELF AND DOC HOLLIDAY ARE ALIKE

Many film buffs, historians, and even critics regard the film "Tombstone" as a cartoonish, fairy-tale-esque take on the story of what happened in that Arizona town in the era of Wyatt Earp. That may be so, but it doesn't change the fact that it's still a damn fine, underrated movie with some slick dialogue and rich characterizations.

I'm fond of the dynamic between Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday in this movie. Midway through, when Earp's deputized crew are picking apart "The Cowboys" criminal syndicate one by one, things are looking dark for a while. People question why Holliday is putting his already tuberculosis ridden body through this, when he's clearly hardly up to it. During a break in the action near a river bed, an exchange takes place between Jack Johnson and Holliday.

Jack Johnson: Why do you do it?
Doc Holliday: Wyatt Earp is my friend.
Jack Johnson: Friend? Hell, I got lots of friends.
Doc Holliday: I don't.

I get that.

In my travels, I've made and lost many friends, due mostly to distance, and an inability for some to return phone calls or letters. That's neither here nor there. As it stands now, I have few. The ones I do have know what they got.

I'm loyal as a German Shepherd, If I got it, I'll give it to you, and if you need me, I'll try to be there.

If you hurt, I hurt.

And just like Doc Holliday, if Johnny Ringo is too fast for you, I'll put that bullet in his forehead for ya.