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Father Kit "Cool Gun" Garth SASS Alias


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Also found in the April 2020 Cowboy Chronicle, pages 98 & 99 (as an edited version)

 

HOW I DEVELOPED MY ALIAS FOR SASS

 

Once I had considered joining Cowboy Action Shooting and applying for membership with the Single Action Shooting Society, I wanted to create an alias that was unique and yet as mysterious as the “Old West” itself. My alias had to tell a...no, it had to be a story unto itself. And so the journey began.

I have always loved anagrams, words whose letters can be re-arranged to create other words. For example, taking the letters of “Clint Eastwood”, you can use those same letters to spell “Old West Action”.

With this as my compass, I began working on my own anagram, putting together the name I would be known by in the SASS Community. This name would not only represent my bio, but could transform itself into a story of the most famous gunfight in the Old West.

That name became: Father Kit “Cool Gun” Garth.

My BIO was then developed as a preacher who, after graduating from the Seminary in West Virginia, and later joining the Union Army to fight for independence, married and settled down in Fairbank, Arizona to open his first church. After his wife was killed by a group of Cow-Boys, he left the church in search of those who must face his revenge. This led him to the nearby town of Tombstone, Arizona.

But the real story lies in a Deck of Cards I created to tell the tale of the Earps and their confrontation with the Clantons and McClaurys in Tombstone.

 

image.png.ade3cd0310659759d27654b99b8a8eff.png

 

THE KEY PLAYERS

 

 

In preparing my deck of cards, I assigned the face cards to the Earps and Doc Holliday, choosing Aces for Wyatt, Kings for Virgil and Queens for Morgan. The Jack was chosen for Doc Holiday representing his “Jack of all Trades” characteristics of dentist, gambler and gunfighter.

 

image.png.72f12fda6c340e54e71925567783660c.png            image.png.a8a3877b191e96458a180db7be90c38b.png

Wyatt Earp                                                    Virgil Earp

image.png.98d818a653172cdb4e8b787ba4065dee.png             image.png.7696cc589f56459158226e53ff8019d4.png

Morgan Earp                                                 Doc Holliday

 

The remaining players were given numeric card values.

 

image.png.e56f1d3a753e2b19d37b221298d375f9.png       image.png.7e8aa450a30da00307fead34c6daa353.png

           Ike Clanton                            Billy Clanton

 

 

image.png.2c48992fb5a64652cc7b2f47c396647e.png        image.png.fa65d7974275970c0d6bde01e418118d.png

         Frank McLaury                                 Tom McClaury

 

 

                                            image.png.1218a26dfee63c7dc5a66d4d90408461.png

                                       Billy Claiborne

 

Only Sheriff Began was given the honor of being assigned the Joker, primarily based on his role leading up to the ensuing gunfight.

 

                                    image.png.556754bd9e2aa57848a7bdd1d44387ca.png

 

THE CARD LAYOUT

 

 

This special deck of cards consists of only twenty-one (21) cards, with the back of each card having a letter assigned to it.

 

image.png.eaa6154604840a9770a9dfc58b7b12e9.png     image.png.3541ba80ebb9a78269ba83395570d741.png     image.png.fbb09965e834c9559da3984b2009feb9.png

 

When the full Deck of Cards is laid out it spells out my Alias:

Father Kit “Cool Gun” Garth

 

                                                                                       image.png.692dfe5011951bd0f4b7d0e4be3149ba.png

 

These same cards can be broken out into four (4) separate common playing hands along with the Joker.

They are the…

 

 

image.png.b3677eef3b92e5d28dfc5529f382fd8f.png

                             Straight

image.png.12a4cbb0ffe690d761ae37d150225fca.png

 

                        Full House

 

image.png.092d21f18f05f574b373e8aa13ac4698.png

 

                        Royal Flush   

 

image.png.aa2c2d7983a2400164efb5047f3dad04.png

 

                      Aces & Eights

 

THE STORYLINE

 

image.png.445c021d117c327e90a5897af15dccdc.png

 

October 26, 1881

Tombstone, Arizona

 

 

There was trouble brewing between the Clanton Gang and the Earps.

The Cowboys were calling out the Earps in a showdown.

Virgil, Wyatt & Morgan Earp along with Doc Holliday headed STRAIGHT to the corner of Fremont and Third Street to disarm the Cow-Boys.

When they arrived at the lot next to C.S. Fly’s Photographic Studio, they saw a FULL HOUSE – Ike and Billy Clanton, Tom and Frank McLaury along with young Billy Claiborne.

The JOKER of a Sheriff, Johnny Behan had said the Cow-Boys were unarmed.

Likewise, the Cowboys saw the Earp brothers and Doc Holliday and not expecting a foursome they became FLUSH.

A gunfight ensued where some 30 shots were fired in less than 30 seconds and when the dust settled, three (3) Cowboys revealed their DEAD MAN’s HAND.

 

image.png.86486951e33b6b6e0f0ed17eb0ce8aa8.png

When the same Deck of Cards is now laid out it spells out:

Gunfight at the OK Corral

 

                                                                        image.png.96d22fb32c2c907b0e13be9a06451d64.png

 

THE ANAGRAM DESIGN

 

This is the process I used to come up with the final version of cards.

 

 

                           image.png.f70535b78e1efb6b64a422943690e0f6.png

 

 

 

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49 minutes ago, Alpo said:

I bet them things are a bitch to shuffle, being inside those little plastic sleeves.

Alpo,

     Actually they are laminated, as a lot of work went into creating them and I did not want to have them damaged with all the handling.

 

     600536618_FatherKitCoolGunGarth-AnimationGIFwithCAPS.gif.86967d8f424b373c771038b37266b59f.gif

 

 

 

 

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That makes my head hurt.

 

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25 minutes ago, Yul Lose said:

That makes my head hurt.

 

Yul,

     Wasn't meant to cause any undo headaches.

      In the realm of technical and analytical processes, this is a major accomplishment.

      Many months filled with hours of trial and error were put into the development of my Alias.

      To have all of these pieces come together is remarkable, and something I am personally proud of.

       The cards were one way of revealing that the same letters in my Alias also appear in the "Gunfight at the OK Corral". To have the characters appear on their respective suits and form the playing hands that fit the storyline just became icing on the cake.

         That's why I also created the visual anagram presentation you see below.

 

                 600536618_FatherKitCoolGunGarth-AnimationGIFwithCAPS.gif.86967d8f424b373c771038b37266b59f.gif

 

 

 

 

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1 minute ago, Father Kit Cool Gun Garth said:

Yul,

     Wasn't meant to cause any undo headaches.

      In the realm of technical and analytical processes, this is a major accomplishment.

      Many months filled with hours of trial and error were put into the development of my Alias.

      To have all of these pieces come together is remarkable, and something I am personally proud of.

       The cards were one way of revealing that the same letters in my Alias also appear in the "Gunfight at the OK Corral". To have the characters appear on their respective suits and form the playing hands that fit the storyline just became icing on the cake.

         That's why I also created the visual anagram presentation you see below.

 

                 600536618_FatherKitCoolGunGarth-AnimationGIFwithCAPS.gif.86967d8f424b373c771038b37266b59f.gif

 

 

 

 

No offense intended. I should have included one of these:o.

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9 minutes ago, The Original Lumpy Gritz said:

Well played ^_^

OLG 

OLG,

     I saw what you did there. :P

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FKCGG,

 

That  is  really  neat  and  fun.

 

I   must  say that  if it took that  much  effort  to  figger  out  my  alias  I   would  still  be  the  man  with  no  name . 

 

Thankyou  for  sharing . 

 

CS  

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That is truly amazing, really. But now I will always regret not having “ Dusty Bobos” as my alias.

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This is next level impressive. 

 

10 hours ago, Alpo said:

I bet them things are a bitch to shuffle, being inside those little plastic sleeves.

 

Why would you wanna shuffle them?  You wanna take a stab at pronouncing OFOALTGHUENRGKAIRTTCH?  Or if you shuffle them a lot FREATH TCH GURK GNAT OILO? 

 

 

 

 

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I went to Utah once and thought it was pretty nice. My name is Bob.

Took me about 10 minutes to think it up. That includes going to the fridge for a beer. :lol:

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I wasn't quite as fast as Utah Bob on coming up with my alias but it didn't take too much longer.

My paternal grandfather was a GP in a small town in north central Missouri just after the turn of the 20th century.  He was known as Dr. O. R.  ( I don't think anyone knew of his first and middle names.  I have a copy of his marriage license hanging on the wall and he only had "O. R." on that document)

 And it was not unusual in the old West for doctors to treat animals as well as humans.  Therefore  Dr. O. R. Vet

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When I saw how long it was I immediately lost interest in reading it.:P My attention span is short these days!

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Mine's not as exciting but it is a heckuva lot shorter!:lol:

 

It was in the Chronicle though!

image.png

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At a time long, long, ago, in a land far, far, away; I used to hear the phrase "Captain, are you kidding me?" occasionally.

 

I replaced a word with an initial, changed a word to a proper name, slanged up another word, and dropped the question mark. Bingo! Simply enough.

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On 4/19/2020 at 8:38 AM, Rye Miles #13621 said:

Mine's not as exciting but it is a heckuva lot shorter!:lol:

 

It was in the Chronicle though!

image.png

Rye,

      I read your Profile in the Cowboy Chronicle. It's one of my favorite sections of the magazine. 

       I worked with Skinny at the Chronicle to get mine in as well, although it was an edited version. **

      I created the video and the ".GIF" file as easier presentations, yet neither reveal the detail that went into its origins.

      Sometimes something so complex cannot be simple to divulge.

       Most everyone on the WIRE has seen my attention to detail and its revealed in the creation of my SASS Alias as well.

        Stay safe my friend.

**

2020_04_19_09_37_28.thumb.jpg.225c48b993c84165669c32b828161533.jpg

2020_04_19_09_38_00.thumb.jpg.a90a72290cb4f8cc5a2b5ddecb88493d.jpg

 

 

 

 

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On 4/18/2020 at 10:26 AM, Father Kit Cool Gun Garth said:

HOW I DEVELOPED MY ALIAS FOR SASS

 

There's something I gotta ask.  I thought a while back you told us that your name was originally Father kit and your kids insisted on adding the cool gun garth.  Or maybe it was the other way around.  Am I remembering someone else who's alias was added to at the behest of their children?  Or did you tell a simplified story in the early days to keep us from knowing about your love of anagrams?  Or did you come up with the anagram backstory after the name?  Don't mean to ruin your story if it's the 3rd one, but that's been digging at the back of my mind since I read it yesterday. 

 

 

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17 hours ago, Ramblin Gambler said:

 

There's something I gotta ask.  I thought a while back you told us that your name was originally Father kit and your kids insisted on adding the cool gun garth.  Or maybe it was the other way around.  Am I remembering someone else who's alias was added to at the behest of their children?  Or did you tell a simplified story in the early days to keep us from knowing about your love of anagrams?  Or did you come up with the anagram backstory after the name?  Don't mean to ruin your story if it's the 3rd one, but that's been digging at the back of my mind since I read it yesterday. 

 

RB,

     No problem.

     My Alias has always been Father Kit "Cool Gun" Garth, from the time I registered to become a SASS member. Someone else must have changed theirs at the behest of there children.

      I purposely never revealed that my Alias was an anagram, that I recall, and kept it secret until I was able to develop the deck of cards to use in a video, create the video, create the animated .gif showing that the letters were identical in both names, and finally getting my story published in the Cowboy Chronicle.

       As to which came first, the anagram or the backstory, there was no "set in stone" guideline; however, I had always intended for the Alias to be an anagram as well as the back story was always going to be there regardless of the name. 

        The anagram of my SASS name was always going to be something related to the Old West, as it should be, after all this is the Single Action Shooting Society we are talking about. As a new member I wanted to go above and beyond to pay homage to our cowboy heritage. 

        Digging into history, I spent months searching for an historical moment or person that I could create an "alter-ego" in the form of an anagram. Nothing aligned, but along the way I created a back story using those bits and pieces of historical moments. 

        Finally that one defining moment came when after watching Tombstone on DVD, it came to me.

        The Gunfight At The OK Corral.

         Even then, the ability to find my Alias within those same letters turned out to be a one in a million, and I felt like I had won the lottery.

         Like a mad scientist sitting in his lab trying to create new life, I needed a format to display the interaction between my Alias and this historical moment. And what better way then to use a deck of cards.

          If I thought the creation of an Alias in the form of an anagram was next to impossible, creating a deck of cards that in and of itself would tell the story (simply), turned out to be a greater challenge. But time and patience and a desire to make it happen, came to fruition.

          It's something I am very proud of accomplishing and finally being able to share it with everyone, and it has always been my hope that those reading about it will ultimately share my excitement in it's creation.

          Thank you for the inquiry RB, and my apologies for the lengthy response.

 

     

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Most people don't realize it, but name is an anagram for Rambling Ambler (does it count if the space is in a different place?).  I only know because there were a couple of times where I got email for some girl with a travel blog who goes by that name.  She had to leave off the 'G' in the email address because I got mine first. 

 

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17 minutes ago, DocWard said:

How long have you been quarantined, anyway?!?

 

Hey DocWard,

       Been in quarantine since March 18th, working from home. ;)

       Although quarantine did give me some time to put together the Post here on the SALOON,  I was actually waiting for the April Cowboy Chronicle to publish online before I did so.

       I obviously had to start working on my Alias before I could join SASS which was on October 6, 2015.

        Below is only a partial list of the work files and thought process that began the process of coming up with my Alias.

 

        image.png.101c6334ae20d2c7944f1c01664ba385.png

 

 

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16 minutes ago, Father Kit Cool Gun Garth said:

 

Hey DocWard,

       Been in quarantine since March 18th, working from home. ;)

       Although quarantine did give me some time to put together the Post here on the SALOON,  I was actually waiting for the April Cowboy Chronicle to publish online before I did so.

       I obviously had to start working on my Alias before I could join SASS which was on October 6, 2015.

        Below is only a partial list of the work files and thought process that began the process of coming up with my Alias.

 

        image.png.101c6334ae20d2c7944f1c01664ba385.png

 

 

 

 

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My alias didn't take long, Buffalo Creek is the eastern border of our property and I'm a retired Law Dog.

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18 minutes ago, Rube Burrows said:

Well I have to say...….you sure spent a lot of time on your alias. Pretty Neat what you came up with also. 

 

Rube,

Thank you for your support.

The making of an Alias is a personal issue which can and will vary based on the individual. That’s what makes them interesting and unique.

How long someone spends or what methods they use to come up with their Alias is not the point. Creativity comes in many different forms and we clearly see that in the literally thousands of Aliases that exist in SASS.

There are no guidelines as to how you determine your Alias.

It should be remembered that no one Alias should ever be considered better than another, just as no one SASS Member should be as well.

Take pride in your Alias creation, as it is a reflection of who you are and the effort you put into creating it.

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2 hours ago, Father Kit Cool Gun Garth said:

 

Rube,

Thank you for your support.

The making of an Alias is a personal issue which can and will vary based on the individual. That’s what makes them interesting and unique.

 

How long someone spends or what methods they use to come up with their Alias is not the point. Creativity comes in many different forms and we clearly see that in the literally thousands of Aliases that exist in SASS.

 

There are no guidelines as to how you determine your Alias.

 

It should be remembered that no one Alias should ever be considered better than another, just as no one SASS Member should be as well.

 

Take pride in your Alias creation, as it is a reflection of who you are and the effort you put into creating it.

 

I think its great that you were able to come up with all of that. It is part of what makes this sport so much fun. Seeing all of the different approaches to everything right down to the alias someone may choose and then the story to go along with it. Great stuff.

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