Goodbye, Hunter

Hunter S. Thompson, the acerbic counterculture writer who popularized a new form of fictional journalism in books like "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," fatally shot himself Sunday night at his Aspen-area home, his son said. He was 67.

Dude. Okay, so I'm a fanboy who only came across Hunter's stuff after reading Transmetropolitan, but. He had style, and insight. And guts. You can tell a lot about a man by his enemies, and Hunter had some good ones. The world is a little bit less insane and truthful now.

(Via Websnark and Warren Ellis)

Tags: Links, Mindscribbles

A geek koan

A Geek Koan

Tags: Links

Music, Diamonds, and Empires of Sand

There's a neat post about diamonds, music, the Internet, and the stardom over here. And on the lasting impact (or lack thereof) of robber baron empires. I should probably write something on this at some point, but I'm tired.

And now, bed.

Tags: Links

More on Hunter

I never met the man, of course. And I still haven't even read all his books, I didn't read any until a couple years ago, after reading Transmetropolitan. But, whatever. He did things most of us barely even do in RPGs. He faced down Richard Nixon, the bugaboo of generations. (I suspect Bush and co will go down as worse than Nixon, but I dunno. Reagan and Bush I got away with Iran Contra. And a bunch of them are back for the sequel) And the man could WRITE. And not just back in the 60s and 70s, but later, too. He used words like they were firebombs, gleefully throwing them with impeccable aim. And he was connected, and cared, and loved America. He hated the bullshit, and the liars, and the thieves, and the murderers, and the scum, and he called them on it. He cared about people, and the American Dream.

I found this link over in a comment on demiurgent's LJ, by aberranteyes. (You should read demiurgent's In Nomine obituary, it's good) But back to bzarcher's post I found linked, I think he's onto something. Whatever else it was, I can't help but think that seeing the Bush crew, that Hunter had called "worse than Nixon", get re-elected probably had something to do it.

I don't know. Part of me still wants to be Hunter S. Thompson. Not the drugs and boozing parts, but the writing, and the conviction and the daring. He was a warrior. Warriors are a lot more than just people who fight. It's about the reasons to fight. And me, I don't even have the confidence to have the courage of my convictions except when I'm at the keyboard. And that's not much good if I never do anything with it.

So I admired him for the things he was and did, that I haven't. I think its long past time I started to, though. If Hunter S. Thompson's not around to do it, who's going to care? We have to. And I think he'd like that, since he spent most of his life trying to get people to give a fuck.

Tags: Mindscribbles, Writing, Links, Politics

(no subject)

He has poisoned our water forever. Nixon will be remembered as a classic case of a smart man shitting in his own nest. But he also shit in our nests, and that was the crime that history will burn on his memory like a brand. By disgracing and degrading the Presidency of the United States, by fleeing the White House like a diseased cur, Richard Nixon broke the heart of the American Dream. - Hunter S. Thompson, in his column after Nixon's death

Links, Quotes

You have GOT to be ki... Well, okay, no, they would

The insanity continues. Now that the AARP is fighting Bush's plan to "privatize" (read "destroy") Social Security, they've whipped out the same folks who did the Swift Boat Veteran ads against John Kerry for a new round of lies and... well, more lies. They're using a front company called "USANext" which is supposed to be a "conservative" senior citizen group.

Because... evidently, the AARP hates soldiers and wants guys to marry each other.

Ignoring, of course, the minor detail that neither of these are true and both are unrelated to Social Security.

Wow, how low are these people gonna sink?

Don't answer that, I'm depressed enough, thanks.

Tags: Politics