The Great Thomspon Hunt

In which I check my email...

2008-05-14T00:29:06Z

Slate (which I used to abhor) has a whole special on procrastination. My workplace, which has had several presentations on Getting Things Done, which seems to be built on the industry of lazy people, has only helped me somewhat. It's not that I'm lazy, I'm quite an industrious person, but email brings a special burden because I can't possibly hope to answer it all. And replies only beget more replies! I realized today it is simply that I enjoying putting more energy into other things than email. If I could afford a Blackberry, I could be more productive on my daily 2 hour bus ride, but ah well...

Enough rambling, here's what's new:

William McKeen, author of a previous book on HST, has a new book out called Outlaw Journalist which will be out June 24 according to Amazon.

Josh snapped a couple pics of a cool mural back in April. Wonder if it's still up...(thanks Josh!)

I was driving around town yesterday and spotted this...its pretty bad ass.

The building its on is under construction, and is some type of restraunt titled "Cherch". Its the only visable thing having to do with HST....and really makes very little since with its surroundings.

So heres some pics, it can be found in Downtown Fullerton, CA on the corner of Commonwealth and Harbor.

Gonz O'Lager submits a HST random insult generator for your amusement.

HST's childhood home for sale

2008-05-09T00:08:46Z

A piece of literary history can be yours for $435K US (thanks Dinz!).

Ralph Steadman at the Clio Awards

2008-05-07T01:37:19Z

Every now and then all the new media newsletters I subscribe to at work turns out to be a little gem...Ralph Steadman is
scheduled to appear May 17th at the Clio Awards as a "Saatchi & Saatchi Hero". It's not cheap to register for though, so
hopefully there'll be some gonzo fans among the advertising elite.

Schedule information

Ticket information

Gonz O'Lager notes that the Gonzo Store is currently offline...wonder what new stuff will show, hmm!

And I'm back!

2008-04-29T01:18:09Z

8 months of hammering, soldering, sawing and burning my fingertips are juster about over. We get a bonus class this week, and I'm going to do a little bit of soldering for my final project. And maybe next time I'll have a pic of all the projects we did. I so wanted to get another three credits with a May/June art history class, but I just don't have the energy!

Anyhow, here's the latest link round-up:

The Verve dedicated a song to HST recently.

Mark your calendars for May 8th if you live around San Francisco:

• Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney's arresting new look at the legendary writer: "Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson" screens on Closing Night, Thursday, May 8, at the historic Castro Theatre. Fresh off his Oscar win for "Taxi to the Dark Side" 2007, and building upon the success of "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room" 2005, Gibney brings us the most complete version to date of a man who at one time was the most popular writer in America.

And lastly, this weekend is Derby Weekend! One of my fave recipe sites has some traditional recipes.

Return of the Mint 400!

2008-03-30T14:38:48Z

Twenty years after demise, Mint 400 race will be reborn

Reader mail

2008-03-17T03:22:18Z

Anonymous writes:

Any idea what the origin and/or significance of the 'weird owl' on the hardcovers of Screwjack? I cannot for the life of me remember which HST book includes that drawing!

I believe you are thinking of F&L on the Campaign Trail, that's where it first appeared. I'm not sure who drew the owl, however as there isn't a credit.

Cuz put together a very colourful video of his trip to Woody Creek :-)

Gonzo news has been a little slow otherwise...but I found this neat article on biker poetry!

Quote of the Day...

2008-03-06T13:21:35Z

"A longtime Albertan once told me that Charles Manson could run as a Conservative and still win, while Jesus could run as a Liberal and still lose." From yesterday's Herald letters section. ~60% of Albertans couldn't be bothered to vote (voting is how you change your government, people!) and now some retired/outsted Tories are laughing and crying all the way to the bank, no doubt.

Fixing up the articles section...

2008-03-03T00:24:11Z

I'm getting around to fixing the Articles section, and these two older pieces are back - Doc Down Under by my good friend Stanley, and an essay by Aaron Sherman.

Converse Visuals

2008-02-28T05:53:03Z

One of the buggers about night classes is that I end up staying up all night despite being dog tired, but I guess that's a good thing for anyone reading this.

OK, here we go, a web mag called Radar posted a pic and some analysis of HST's appearance in the Converse ads. And there's some commentage on BoingBoing. I don't know how to feel about a branded sneaker, but it's better than, say, gonzo branded underwear. Gawker also chimes in.

Oh, and William F. Buckley passed away.

HST used to promote Converse sneakers

2008-02-25T23:51:59Z

I haven't found the visuals yet, but Converse plans to use HST, among celebrities, in their spring 2008 campaign. Full press release here here.

The odd passage of time

2008-02-21T05:28:43Z

It has only been in the past few years that I have become aware of how time passes. It's knowing how young 30 seems, when it seemed so old at 20. It's sighing at the mortgage statement which tells you how many years are left until the house is paid off. It's watching the clock every class night. It's also realizing what a void is left when a favourite author departs. Three years! It seems like yesterday.

And with that, I'll leave a couple links...this review of The Kitchen Readings feels it does a disservice to HST; the Louisvile Courier Journal publishes a childhood neighbour's memories of a youthful HST here and

New tattoos and more

2008-02-18T18:04:45Z

The most obvious answer is usually the simplest one, or maybe it's the other way around. Anyway, I'm just loving this little image gallery script that lets me pop the pictures in and takes care of everything :-)

Catching up on email again, I found a note from the webmaster of Ron Whitehead's website, who is a friend of HST. Ron is also a Kentucky native and HST once called him "crazy as nine loons".

And of course, reviews on Jann Wenner and Corey Seymour's book never seem to stop! I haven't read it yet because I'm too busy soldering 5 mm jump rings and hammering them into submission, among other things, but Honolulu writer Charles Memminger was not impressed.

Link round up!

2008-02-17T17:27:17Z

This is a long weekend here in Alberta, so I took the time to check and reply to some gonzo email. It's been a long time coming!

I'm probably going to post some fan pictures tomorrow, or at least noodle with some free ASP image gallery software because the current format isn't very growable.

Two British bloggers decided to tour the primaries and are blogging it here at My Fellow Americans. This election is just leaving me on pins and needles. Personally I think the process is a bit long. The last time Canada had a federal election, it was more or less 5 weeks from start to finish!

Michael Chevy Castranova writes about how people don't get angry anymore. "If Hunter S. Thompson were still around," he writes, "boy, he'd show us how to rant, at whom and for how long."

I came across a website called Helium, and I'm not sure if it's like the old ThemeStream website, and it seems a little like spec work, but you can write and rate articles, such as this one about FLLV.

And here's an excerpt from The Kitchen Readings on ESPN.

And yet another review of Jann S. Wenner and Corey Seymour's gonzo book.

Another gonzo book...and film

2008-02-03T01:23:00Z

The Aspen Times has a preview of The Kitchen Readings, Untold Stories of Hunter S. Thompson written by HST's friends Michael Cleverly and Pitkin County Sheriff Bob Braudis.

This wasn't quite on my radar, but writer and director Blue Kraning's film Blasted!!! is now available on DVD from his website. It's a look at some of the cannon owners who submitted essays as to why their cannon would be most suitable for launching HST's ashes. The YouTube links don't work on the site, but here's the link for them.

And more Gonzo film reviews:

Cinematical

The Hatchet

Variety

NY Sun

Alex Gibney news

2008-01-28T18:23:16Z

My friend Mr. B sent me a bunch of links for postification -

Ain't It Cool News - the Roman Polanski documentary sounds good too.

Hollywood Reporter

Studio Monthly

Then of course there's always the IMDb page.

I spent a few hours in the studio again this weekend and I'll probably be there again this upcoming one. April can't come fast enough :-)

Alex Gibney's Gonzo documentary

2008-01-16T02:58:19Z

I guess it's coming out sooner than I thought...or at least it's been screened sooner than I thought. Check out the film's page on The Sundance Festival's website for more info.

Link Round-Up

2008-01-02T16:38:09Z

Happy New Year gonzo fans! Here's what's new...

Flying Dog Ale has some new brews and packaging

Inside the Actor's Studio with Johnny Depp is out on DVD (Review here)

Here's a story about Alex Gibney, who is working on an HST documentary.

And lastly, the Philadelphia Inquirer reviews both Gonzo and The Gonzo Way here

More gonzo fans

2007-12-09T16:39:19Z

I thought I would get around to the tattoos this weekend, but polishing duties called. Check out the new happy gonzo fans.

It's been about four or five months now since I lost my ten years worth of Hotmail, so I was really pleased to hear from an old friend who found this really cool pic! For a minute I thought it was recent, but it's actually from 1983. Bill Watterson, of Calvin and Hobbes fame, illustrated the cover of a magazine called Target featuring a story about Ralph Steadman. This mag seems to have ceased publication in 1987 according to a little Googling. Anyhow, here's the cover. And in case you want to save your Hotmail, check out Hotmail Popper. I had dl'd it, but never got around to installing it :\

Gonzo event at NY Barnes & Noble

2007-12-08T00:00:23Z

Ah, this is probably just starting, I got it too late to post...anyone going? Gone?

Tonight (7pm // Barnes & Noble [33 E 17th St] // Free) some experts gather around to celebrate a great. Gonzo: The Life of Hunter S. Thompson will come alive with the folks who knew him best. While Johnny Depp wrote the intro to the book, the real experts will be on hand tonight: Jann Wenner of Rolling Stone (and Thompson’s editor for thirty-five years) and co-author of Gonzo, William Kennedy -- who was friends with Thompson since 1959 (when they met working at Puerto Rico’s San Juan Star), Porter Bibb -- former Newsweek White House correspondent and former publisher of Rolling Stone (he grew up with Thompson in Louisville, KY) and Corey Seymour -- Men’s Vogue Senior Editor, who worked with Thompson at Rolling Stone in the 1990 (he also co-author of Gonzo).

Do you live in Austin, Texas?

2007-12-05T03:42:42Z

Anita will be discussing and signing copies of 'The Gonzo Way' at Follett's Intellectual Property Bookstore, 2402 Guadalupe St., Austin, TX. Free event, 4pm, December 6th. Ph 478-0007.

Biography Review Round-Up

2007-11-20T02:57:08Z

Louisville Courier-Journal on The Gonzo Way

Reviews of Gonzo here, here, here and here.

Norman Mailer dies

2007-11-12T13:11:27Z

Norman Mailer passed away on Saturday of acute renal failure. Here is the NY Times obituary, a BBC one and an excellent overview of his life in the Telegraph.

gonzocanuck @ 2007-11-02T20:22:00

2007-11-03T02:30:05Z

The New York Daily News is reporting some unhappiness between Anita Thompson and Jann Wenner over the upcoming Gonzo: The Life of Hunter S. Thompson, An Oral Biography.

The funny thing with biographies is that people often say different things and it's understandable - memories get fuzzy or reconfabulated, people want to sound more important or what not. Some people completely remember things wrong too - ask four different people what happened at one event and you'll get four different stories. And there's always people with the "best" dirt and rumours too. I for one, would like to know what HST would think of all this post-mortem attention.

It would be quite interesting to sit down and compare the recollections in this new Gonzo article/book by the same people that appeared in E. Jean Carroll's Hunter, which was published about 15 years ago. If the article is any indication, it's probably in a similar format, but without the alternating ficticious chapters. Heh, I thought those were a hoot when I was 15 or 16 and still do :-)

Happy Halloween!

2007-11-01T04:00:28Z

After being sequestered all night on the fourth floor, it was startling to get off the elevator and find a Halloween party in full swing at the art college. I even passed an HST on my way out, but I was so pooped I didn't realize it until I got to the car.

Be sure to send any Halloween costume pix to fun@gonzo.org. I have a lot to post, which I hope to get around to on Sunday...or if you've posted them somewhere on the web, leave a link here!

The Gonzo Way

2007-10-13T03:15:54Z

A quasi-interview about Anita Thompson popped up on CNN, which also discusses
The Gonzo Way, which came out in August 2007.