Hunter S. Thompson, he dead...

See, I fail see how he was "a tremendous influence on American journalism culture" either. I guess that he just doesn't appeal to me as much as he seems to appeal to others. What exactly is a "gonzo journalist" anyway?

Oh, he was a tremendous influence...hence the movies, the portrayal of "Duke" in Doonesbury. The man was famous for his writing as well as his antics.

The term "Gonzo" was coined by Boston Globe reporter Bill Cardoso to describe Thompson's works. It is used both admiringly and as a pejorative. As Cardoso meant it, it was in the vein of the Boston slang version of the original meaning of the word, which described the last man standing after a drinking marathon.

For others "Gonzo" was a form of journalism where the writer can't remove himself from the subject of which he's writing. Thompson himself felt that objectivism in journalism was a myth. Even then, some thought he was too objective, oddly enough.

The Gonzo journalist will give a subjective slant to a story to get at the larger truth of the event. It blends the elements of novelistic writing in so as to capture moods. I'm not sure, but I think historian Barbara Tuchman was somewhat criticized for similar license.

The term now is generally used to describe a "tell it like it is" form of writing. it is considered an extension of "The New Journalism" championed by Tom Wolfe and George Plimpton. Some think P.J. O'Rourke is a Gonzo journalist.

The term also filtered into the porn industry, where the director of a movie would get from behind the camera and participate in the events on screen.

My source for all this was Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gonzo_journalism


Regards,


Steve
 

The term now is generally used to describe a "tell it like it is" form of writing

I guess I have always thought that is what all good journalism should be, and I hardly thing that HT was the first to come up with it.

Regardless though, your points have been heard, and it is probably best that I just leave it at the fact that some people admire him and some don't, I just happen to fall into the latter catagory.

I'll shut up now.
 
ginshun said:
Another dead junkie.

Boo-fricken-hoo.

ginshun, I was watching 'Imus in the Morning' before I went to work and Don Imus was lamenting Thompson's death and I think it was Bernard came across with the same thing you said! Along with you other statement of something like no great loss to the world. Not to sound heartless but it was a funny exchange going back and forth between the Imus and his crew and Bernard. It was similiar to the exchange you're having here, lol.
 
i guess i kind of feel the same way ginshun does.......he wrote the stuff that pretentious, self indulgent, pseudo-intellectuals talked about at their cool parties while they sat around and smoked pot. he was about a gritty as geraldo rivera on the neo nazi episode.
 
Never actually read any, did you?

You might want to start with the old "Hell's Angels," book. Written in the early 1960s, it ends with Thompson getting badly stomped in Barstow.

Or if you'd like to understand what your real beef is, try this:

http://www.buzzflash.com/farrell/04/06/far04020.html

You used to be encouraged to think, to be individual, to live life your own way in this country. What the hell happened?
 
I was wondering if you'd read any of his books?
 
BlackCatBonz said:
i guess up here in the cold cold north of canada our brains dont wurk 2 gud
Speak for yourself. Myne's wurkin phyne.
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Karazenpo said:
ginshun, I was watching 'Imus in the Morning' before I went to work and Don Imus was lamenting Thompson's death and I think it was Bernard came across with the same thing you said! Along with you other statement of something like no great loss to the world. Not to sound heartless but it was a funny exchange going back and forth between the Imus and his crew and Bernard. It was similiar to the exchange you're having here, lol.
nope, I have never seen that show before.

and I too am in the forzen north, not Canada, but Wisconsin. Maybe my brain too, is just to frozen to be able to fully comprehend this guys greatness.
 
One of the frightening things about Thompson's writing is how it directly reflected my thoughts (in many cases). I almost felt like he was reading my mind...

From the article that Robert posted...

"
There was one exact moment, in fact, when I knew for sure that Al Gore would Never be President of the United States, no matter what the experts were saying -- and that was when the whole Bush family suddenly appeared on TV and openly scoffed at the idea of Gore winning Florida. It was Nonsense, said the Candidate, Utter nonsense. . .Anybody who believed Bush had lost Florida was a Fool. The Media, all of them, were Liars & Dunces or treacherous whores trying to sabotage his victory. . . Here was the whole bloody Family laughing & hooting & sneering at the dumbness of the whole world on National TV. The old man was the real tip-off. The leer on his face was almost frightening. It was like looking into the eyes of a tall hyena with a living sheep in its mouth. The sheep's fate was sealed, and so was Al Gore's."

I remember seeing that and feeling the bottom drop out of my stomach. From that moment on, the last shards of good ole American nostalgia were cast away. I knew that we were living in a new age.

"The towers are gone now, reduced to bloody rubble, along with all hopes for Peace in Our Time, in the United States or any other country. Make no mistake about it: We are At War now -- with somebody -- and we will stay At War with that mysterious Enemy for the rest of our lives."

Moments after the second plane hit, this exact thought went through my mind...

"Three journalists have died in Baghdad. . . American troops are killing journalists in a profoundly foreign country, under cover of a war being fought for savage, greed-crazed reasons that most of them couldn't explain or even understand."

I am surprised that the Abu-Ghraib photos ever made it outta there...

"If we get chased out of Iraq with our tail between our legs, that will be the fifth consecutive Third-world country with no hint of a Navy or an Air Force to have whipped us in the past 40 years."

WTF!!! :asian:

Good Bye, Mr. Thompson.

upnorthkyosa
 
ginshun said:
nope, I have never seen that show before.

and I too am in the forzen north, not Canada, but Wisconsin. Maybe my brain too, is just to frozen to be able to fully comprehend this guys greatness.

ginshun, I had Imus on again before I headed off to work. This time Bernard comes on and states he now has a new found respect for Hunter Thompson. He's sorry for what he said the other day and here's why. The following is essentially what Bernard said on the show this morning, I tried to get it as close as possible to his own words. Bernard stated that he learned that Hunter had shot himself while he was on the phone engaged in a conversation with his wife. He put the phone down, she heard a click (the hammer, I presume) and then the muffled shot. Bernard goes on to say now how many men out there have often thought about putting a gun to their head and shooting themselves while talking on the phone with their wives? This guy did it! He acted on it! I have a new found respect for him! I'm sorry for anything I said before. God bless him! (End of his comments) ginshun, too bad you don't get the show out there, these guys are something else! Too funny.
 
ginshun, too bad you don't get the show out there, these guys are something else! Too funny.
Who knows, maybe I do. I don't watch TV though. I don't have cable or an antenna for my TV. The only thing I ever watch on it is movies. Seems that my veiwing pleasure lately consists of nothing but martial arts movies and Elmo. (depending on whether or not the kiddo is around)
 
ginshun said:
Who knows, maybe I do. I don't watch TV though. I don't have cable or an antenna for my TV. The only thing I ever watch on it is movies. Seems that my veiwing pleasure lately consists of nothing but martial arts movies and Elmo. (depending on whether or not the kiddo is around)
I hate Elmo ...
 
shesulsa said:
I hate Elmo ...

"La la la la. La la la la. Elmo's World..."

There, now the songs in your head.

I've got two young kids and its pretty much constantly in my head...

Welcome to my world...

muhahahahahahaha
 
Don't even ... he's on in four minutes. I have a Kindergartener, and he loves that hyperactive, yelling-at-the-top-of-his-lungs-about-nothing little red monster.
 
hey, at least Elmo uses words, my daughter is 2 1\2, I still get stuck watching Teletubbies all the time.
 
ginshun said:
hey, at least Elmo uses words, my daughter is 2 1\2, I still get stuck watching Teletubbies all the time.

Compared to "Boobah" I'd rather watch the Teletubbies...

Check this out...

http://www.boohbah.com/zone.html

1. First off, they look like little penises.
2. Secondly, this isn't even to far off topic since Mr. Thompson reportedly enjoyed hallucinogenic substances...

That's pretty much what its like boys and girls...
 
... and they make that stupid farting noise ... what's up with that?

I guess the show was designed to get children interested in physical activity - but do they have to fart?

The whole show looks like a Thompson trip.
 
ginshun said:
give him a break, he's better than Barney.

But anyone's better than Barney, even Ward Churchill, lol. In all serious though, did you know at the beginning of the Afganistan Taliban overthrow that our government 'tortured', yes, tortured, Al Queda operatives. First they played them continuous heavy metal music but that had minimal affect. Then they played the theme song from Barney over and over and over again, hour upon hour, all day, all night until finally they broke down and talked! True story, lol.
 
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