Too strange to live, too rare to die

     That is a quote from the late Dr. Hunter S. Thompson aka "The great Gonzo."  Hunter Thompson was a writer who made himself known for writing his opinion regardless of prize or consequence.  He did a lot of work for "Rolling Stone."

     I am sure a lot of people saw Johnny Depp's reenactment  during the bizarre "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas."  That was a great movie and Depp did a real good job portraying the deranged journalist.  In fact during the movie Depp and Hunter formed a great friendship during and after the movie.

     I rented, Gonzo: The life and work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson; which is a documentary narrated by none other than Johnny Depp himself.  I really enjoyed this documentary, but beware the average person who knows nothing about thompson will probably find this documentary a waste of two hours.  The movie goes into great detail describing Thompson's interaction's withthe "Hells Angels" Motorcycle gang.  Hunter was writing a book about the lifestyle and was befriended by many, but after witnessing a member beat his dog and wife, Hunter grabbed his arm and said "Only a fool beats his wife."  That led to a beating from five members, and Hunter quickly fleeing from the group.

     Thompson's creativity scared a lot of people.  He was also very well known for his resentment of former president Nixon and president Bush; he actually believed the two individuals were very similar.   He also ran for County Sheriff in his local town of Woody Creek, CO.  He wanted to legalize every illegal drug, and publicly humiliate any foul drug dealer.  His election went down to the wire and he lost by about 60 votes.  

     On February 20th 2005 Hunter took his own life with one of his many firearms.  His family knew that he would kill himself they just didn't know when.  He died at age 67, and after drinking Wild Turkey like water for 30+ years, and the amount of psychedelic drugs that he used I would have to say he had a pretty good run.  Lifetime friend Johnny Depp paid for his whole funeral which entailed, a 153 foot cannon made to represent his logo of a two thumbed fist clinching onto a peyote button, and the bottom turning into a sword.  During Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" song being played his ashes and fireworks were shot into the sky lighting up the whole county.