Fear the Loathing

You can tell I went through a bit of a Steadman phase with the above version of Atomic Soda.

Dang if it ain't Hunter S. Thompson tomorrow night on Final 24. I was never enamoured with that man. Nor with his writing. There slumped hedonistic and self-centered, as well as not particularly wise in a chap if I've ever observed one.

Here's a little irony. I was chatting to a cartoonist friend of mine over in LA a couple of years back who attended the National Cartoonist Society's Reuben Awards, held every year in a different part of the States. Ralph Steadman was honoured that year with the coveted Lifetime Achievement Award for his illustration work, including the cover of the Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas book. Ralph Steadman, if you'll recall, did the artwork for Orwell's 'Animal Farm'. Not to mention a host of other amazing and uniquely notable artwork. Brilliantly talented. And what does he go and do on the night he's honoured? He gets so shickered that by the time he makes it up to the microphone, he totally behaves like a putz and rants off on a diatribe and generally p's off a number of well-known toonists in attendence. How much does that smack of Thompson's antics over the years?

Not purdy, I'll tell ya. Not purdy at aaawl, she drawls... reminds me of me back in the day. Or mostly night, as I recall.