My favourite website

Usually it's www.etymonline.com - good for wasting several hours any day. But currently it is Bad-ass Of The Week.

A mixture of 'facts' gleaned from Wikipedia and the more sensational websites, the author admits that 'history' has little to do with it:

I have of course in true Badass of the Week fashion chosen the most interesting/awesome versions of his stories and assembled them into one hopefully-cohesive narrative, but as is the case any time you're talking about an obscure lunatic on the run from the law over two hundred years ago, you should take most of this shit with a grain of salt from an historical perspective.

And that gets extra points from me. I wish more academics were that honest. Kudos to Ben Thompson for telling it like it is, in language usually heard from lads discussing computer games. Here's the intro to his entry for Cherokee Bill:

The most recent series of badasses I've featured on this website have been from many different backgrounds and historical periods, but they've all basically had one thing in common - they've all been these grand, altruistic, noble do-gooders, heroically battling for the righteous principles they believe in, performing incredible deeds of bravery, and putting their lives on the line without hesitation to help their friends, save lives, and preserve freedom at all costs. This tale is a little different. This is the story of Cherokee Bill; and he was a complete motherfucker. A down-and-dirty, shoot-first plague on humanity without a single redeeming quality besides his unstoppable desire to murder, pillage, rob, and destroy everything he could get his hands on. A blood-chugging, sucker-punching outlaw from a gnarly tradition of ass-reaming wanton destruction so over-the-top maniacal in his diabolicalness that he would have made even the saltiest pirates, the most garlicy Mafia enforcers, and most mutton-soaked conquerors from history weep a single tear of joy into their extra-virgin Bloody Marys (which back in pirate days were called "extra virgin" simply because they were made with virgin's blood and vodka and maybe a stick of celery or a splash of V-8 juice).

So many potential plot bunnies on that website!!

And now - I go and do some flaming work!