Hunter S. Thompson is Dead

Depressing, but you know I never thought he'd just past away peacefully

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/20050221/ap_on_re_us/obit_thompson

Can't believe he made it this long...sad news.

Oh-my-god. Why?

He killed himself? Surprised but not surprised. Oh man...this sucks. I saw him on Tim Russert about a year ago and he was travelling with bottle of Crown Royal. I knew that couldn't be good. He had it on the table during the interview I thought it was bad, but in the world of HST it's normal, so I glossed over it. I have never mentioned it here...but I am a photographer. Around that same time I saw him on Russert I did some press for him for Rolling Stone when he came to NYC for a book signing. PS, long story short....the pictures ended up running in High Times a few months later. All I can say is, I am glad I got to see him in person, take some photos, and have them documented in a place like High Times, a magazine he belonged in.

In the early 80s I tore a page out of Rolling Stone dated August 30, 1984 with a picture of HST and Oscar Zeta Acosta circa the 'Fear & Lothing in Las Vegas" period. It was the last page of the magazine they used to call 'Miscellany'. I saved the page, and for the last several years it has been posted on the side of
my refrigerator...right next to my photo of Johnny Carson.

I read 'Fear & Lothing in Las Vegas' years ago. I think I burned through it in a day or two. Coincidentally...when I visited a friend in LA around 1998, we went to Vegas..lo & behold we, totally unplanned, saw the Johnny Depp film version of 'F&LLV' in one of the theaters there.

As I write this Dylan's 'Knockin on Heaven's Door' is on the radio...

"It's gettin' dark, too dark to see..."

Farewell Dr. Thompson, and goodnight.

[ Edited by: donhonyc on 2005-02-21 10:29 ]

The Dr.'s gone,but Duke lives on...farewell.

"There he goes. One of God's own prototypes. Some kind of high powered mutant never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die."

"When the going gets wierd, the wierd go pro"

Bummer.
think I'll have a drink.

On 2005-02-20 23:59, donhonyc wrote:
Oh-my-god. Why?

He killed himself? Surprised but not surprised. Oh man...this sucks. I saw him on Tim Russert about a year ago and he was travelling with bottle of Crown Royal. I knew that couldn't be good. He had it on the table during the interview I thought it was bad, but in the world of HST it's normal, so I glossed over it. I have never mentioned it here...but I am a photographer. Around that same time I saw him on Russert I did some press for him for Rolling Stone when he came to NYC for a book signing. PS, long story short....the pictures ended up running in High Times a few months later. All I can say is, I am glad I got to see him in person, take some photos, and have them documented in a place like High Times, a magazine he belonged in.

In the early 80s I tore a page out of Rolling Stone dated August 30, 1984 with a picture of HST and Oscar Zeta Acosta circa the 'Fear & Lothing in Las Vegas" period. It was the last page of the magazine they used to call 'Miscellany'. I saved the page, and for the last several years it has been posted on the side of
my refrigerator...right next to my photo of Johnny Carson.

I read 'Fear & Lothing in Las Vegas' years ago. I think I burned through it in a day or two. Coincidentally...when I visited a friend in LA around 1998, we went to Vegas..lo & behold we, totally unplanned, saw the Johnny Depp film version of 'F&LLV' in one of the theaters there.

As I write this Dylan's 'Knockin on Heaven's Door' is on the radio...

"It's gettin' dark, too dark to see..."

Farewell Dr. Thompson, and goodnight.

[ Edited by: donhonyc on 2005-02-21 10:29 ]

DH, you got anyone else's picture on the side of that fridge? You might want to take them off before the Curse of Don Ho's Fridge gets them, too...

Jeez...never thought about it like that. Maybe I should put a picture of Britney Spears next to Ashlee Simpson on my fridge.

[ Edited by: donhonyc on 2005-02-21 19:23 ]

On 2005-02-21 16:27, donhonyc wrote:
Jeez...never thought about it like that. Maybe I should put a picture of Britney Spears next to Ashlee Simpson on my fridge.

off topic, but...

funny you should say that. After seeing Buddy Rich months before he died... Roy Orbison WEEKS before he died... Stevie Ray Vaughan just before as well... I was almost tempted to buy a ticket to see New Kids on the Block just for that same reason.

-Z

Hey Zombified...

maybe you could get yourself some tickets to be in the studio audience for 'American Idol' and just stare at Ryan Seacrest the whole time.

Beware the curse!!!

Feeling Zombified-make sure to use your powers only for good.

I have to add this-when asked about how he broke his leg in Hawaii,HST answered "I was making a hairpin turn around the minibar."Classic.

HST,

I met him back @ 1986 and was surprised by how bright he was. He spoke well, was appropriately vulgar, and made everyone laugh mostly...it was in conversation, after his speaking gig that his wit was most apparent.

Reading so many the obits from people in their tributes, and words in memorial, it's funny how similar they are to each other.

I wonder if he didn't suffer the same fate as Bernard Kliban, who was indirectly killed by the (because of the) 1980s cat he drew, later becoming so associated with it, that none of his other artwork could be taken seriously.

I think he (Thompson) had more than he showed. He was a splendid bad example.

Friends gather for Thompson's fireworks farewell

... keith richards is still alive...

On 2005-08-20 20:55, alohabros wrote:
... keith richards is still alive...

... and deserves to be! All the other junkies O Deed!

On 2005-08-20 20:55, alohabros wrote:
... keith richards is still alive...

And so am I --Big Deal!!!!

But Really Hunter S. Thompson was a truly amazing writer R.I.P.

EEEEeeeeeeAAAAaaaaaaOOOOooooooWWWWWwwwwWWWw

[ Edited by: The Sperm Whale 2005-08-20 23:01 ]

And by a total coincidence, tonight Rebecca and I shared a bottle of the rare and quite wonderful Gonzo Ale from Lagunitas Brewing Co.

The label features his image and the famous quote, "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."

The news has been buzzing lately with stories about the BTK killer's 10 life sentences and recounts of his horrible atrocities but I haven't heard one word about HST's send off until today on TC! I think I need another drink.

Check out the article at http://tinyurl.com/c784b

Here's a "photo":

Also an article in the LA Sunday Times:
http://tinyurl.com/8t3fj

On 2005-08-20 22:41, The Sperm Whale wrote:

On 2005-08-20 20:55, alohabros wrote:
... keith richards is still alive...

And so am I --Big Deal!!!!

But Really Hunter S. Thompson was a truly amazing writer R.I.P.

---

... glad you are alive...

... thompson was an occassional writer... definitely not "truly amazing"... had a few nuggets every now and again, though...

... would have been much, much better if folks would have been allowed to bid on the chance to shoot a tank or other armored vehicle filled with hst ashes or body parts or what not, with a bazooka, rpg or other trendy field weapon... the money collected would be used for area cleanup immediately thereafter...

On 2005-08-20 20:55, alohabros wrote:
... keith richards is still alive...

Funny you should say that - "Looking around, Thompson's friend and neighbor, Don Dixson, said it was a fantastic crowd. Half of the people here look like Keith Richards."

Trader Woody

Here's a DVD that has video of the final cannon blast.

http://www.gonzomonument.com/

I was recently quite sick with fever, etc., and got my hands on "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" in audiobook form (CD). It really got me through two rough days (I'd been about ready to shoot the TV). Besides entertaining me and taking my mind off my discomfort, I think in a strange way I found it reassuring to listen to all the dangerous and unhealthy exploits -- it made me feel wholesome by comparison, and I think I needed that at the time. Anyway, I noted two things with some relevance to the tiki mindset. At one point, they are in a "Polynesian" bar/restaurant. Unfortunately that's about all that's said about it. They make a phone call from there, and there is a kind of menacing situation (as usual), and that's about all I remember. Secondly, he frequently refers to his "Acapulco shirt." I found this interesting, as I'd never heard this phrase. I assume it refers more or less to what we today call aloha shirts, Hawaiian shirts, tropical shirts, etc. I think I'll start calling my florid Salvation Army specials "Acapulco shirts" from now on, just to be different (and in honor of HST). I think he goes into a brief digression on the "meaning" of such attire, kind of "linking" it to the sort of colorful hippy-wear that was popular just a few years earlier. Like the tropical shirts expressed some of the same sense of rebellion and freedom, albeit in a post-hippy era. Though these might have been my thoughts, and aren't really in the text. My mind was foggy at that time.

On 2006-04-09 14:01, Thomas wrote:
... At one point, they are in a "Polynesian" bar/restaurant. Unfortunately that's about all that's said about it.

In the movie this scene was filmed at the Bahooka in Rosemead.

"The music binis is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs. There is also a negative side." H.S. THOMPSON

On 2010-09-30 22:06, Jungle Trader wrote:
"The music binis is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs. There is also a negative side." H.S. THOMPSON

Talk about a thread rising from the dead ...

To set the record straight, Dr. Thompson's diatribe was directed at the TV industry (and it didn't include that last sentence):

http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/dubiousquotes/a/hunter_thompson.htm

Yeah I read that. Still a great quote................from somebody.