For Hunter S. Thompson fans...

darthrider · Post by **darthrider** » Fri Sep 09, 2005 4:20 pm

A friend sent this to me. Haven't been able to verify it but it looks right.
The wonderful old son of a bitch went out just like he lived his life.

"No More Games. No More Bombs. No More Walking. No More Fun. No More Swimming. 67. That is 17 years past 50. 17 more than I needed or wanted. Boring. I am always bitchy. No Fun -- for anybody. 67. You are getting Greedy. Act your old age. Relax -- This won't hurt."

Hunter S. Thompson's suicide note...

Post by **Pat** » Fri Sep 09, 2005 5:39 pm

-- what a sissy --

It would be like ME to think that it's only about "fun".
I hope I grow up enough to know better by the time I'm 67...... unlike Mr. Thompson.

(I still gotta read Fear & Loathing.......)

Post by **Gord** » Fri Sep 09, 2005 8:53 pm

Yell at me all you want, but I've never understood the fascination with Mr. Hunter.

darthrider · Post by **darthrider** » Fri Sep 09, 2005 11:17 pm

Pat -
I don't consider myself qualified to judge Mr. Thompson.

Gord -
I don't consider myself qualified to explain his fascination to some people either.

You either get him or you don't, you either like him or you don't.
He didn't care which, niether do I.

He was just an interesting man and a very good writer.
And a hell of a motorcyclist.

chibbert1 · Post by **chibbert1** » Fri Sep 09, 2005 11:20 pm

Before his death - I had NEVER EVER heard of him.

Seems he was a rather odd duck but there's nothing illegal about that.
Johnny Depp sure liked him - that's for sure

Post by **scottybooj** » Sat Sep 10, 2005 9:47 am

We just had a yearly music fest that dedicated itself to Hunter. He was definitely talented, disturbed, strange...the list goes on and on.

I actually think he was more selfish by killing himself. Confusing chap.

BobFV1 · Post by **BobFV1** » Sat Sep 10, 2005 10:03 am

Say what you will about him, he had excellent taste in motorcycles:

The Ducati 900 is a finely engineered machine. My neighbors called it beautiful and admired its racing lines. The nasty little bugger looked like it was going 90 miles an hour when it was standing still in my garage.

Taking it on the road, though, was a genuinely terrifying experience. I had no sense of speed until I was going 90 and coming up fast on a bunch of pickup trucks going into a wet curve along the river. I went for both brakes, but only the front one worked, and I almost went end over end. I was out of control staring at the tailpipe of a U.S. Mail truck, still stabbing frantically at my rear brake pedal, which I just couldn't find.... I am too tall for these New Age roadracers; they are not built for any rider taller than five-nine, and the rearset brake pedal was not where I thought it would be. Midsize Italian pimps who like to race from one cafe to another on the boulevards of Rome in a flat-line prone position might like this, but I do not.

I was hunched over the tank like a person diving into a pool that got emptied yesterday. Whacko! Bashed into the concrete bottom, flesh ripped off, a Sausage Creature with no teeth, f-cked-up for the rest of its life.

We all love Torque, and some of us have taken it straight over the high side from time to time -- and there is always Pain in that.... But there is also Fun, in the deadly element, and Fun is what you get when you screw this monster on. BOOM! Instant takeoff, no screeching or squawking around like a fool with your teeth clamping down on your tongue and your mind completely empty of everything but fear.

No. This bugger digs right in and shoots you straight down the pipe, for good or ill.

darthrider · Post by **darthrider** » Sat Sep 10, 2005 10:46 am

Guys, don't get me wrong...I'm not trying to make Thompson more, or less, or better, or worse, or different than he was. Or to explain him or justify him. Or sell him to anyone.
There is much to not like about him...the extreme drugs, the extreme alcohol, the suicide.
But to me there is much more to like...his unique writing, his absolute & total one-of-a-kind personality, his love of fast motorcycles and riding them fast & well, often past the point of his own well being.
I personally admire and appreciate his good points and can tolerate the bad ones as they were his business and certainly were part of the recipe that made him who and what he was.
I can relate to his attitude about motorcycles & riding. I am a writer (with severe limitations but I have my moments) and deeply appreciate him on that level.
He was funny, irreverant, rebellious and genuinely gave a damn...about some things, and not a flying f*ck about many others. All good qualities in my book.
And he was truly a brother to the strange type of motorcycle maniacs who value and require motorcycles to exist, equally with food, water and oxygen.
Here's another quote from that crazy bastard:

"Pure speed in sixth gear on a 5,000-foot straightaway is one thing, but pure speed in third gear on a gravel-strewn downhill S-turn is quite another." -Hunter S. Thompson

Post by **geechie** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 9:16 am

He was a man of many contradictions.

Aren't we all.

The man could write. Period.

I dug his sh%t, but not necessarily how he lived his life.

Maybe he wasn't so crazy about it either.

But then, I'm also a Frank Zappa fan.

I miss 'em both.

Go figure.

George

darthrider · Post by **darthrider** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 11:37 am

Hell George, I bet you even liked Shell Silverstein!

Post by **geechie** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 1:13 pm

I say it not just for effect,

But you, good sir, are quite correct.

I am so in awe of the truly talented.

They enrich my life.

Yours too, I suspect.

George

darthrider · Post by **darthrider** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 1:19 pm

You suspect correct.
What an intellect!
By heck.