February « 2005 « Black Marks on Wood Pulp / by Corey Vilhauer

Another Dead Legend

February 21st, 2005

Hunter and Sports, love at last.

I truly hope nobody reads this here first.

Hunter S. Thompson, the author of widely popular counter-culture books and incredibly taltented sports-gambling advocate, is dead at the age of 67 from a self inflicted gun shot wound to the head.

What a shock that is. I had imagined that suicide was one of the things that Thompson saw as totally against the “fuck you” culture he had built, a weak way to leave the world. Suicide is for brooding rock stars and “the world is against me” poets, not for the king of Gonzo literature. Somehow it all seems incongruent to the life Thompson had lived and the opinions he had held.

Then again, maybe that’s just what we all are supposed to think. This is all new — no one knows exactly what happened yet, and it will be months before it surfaces in any semblance of order. Given his affinity to guns and shock, perhaps this is something he had planned for years. One last blast to leave the public with.

Thompson took some great risks in life, regardless of what the general populace thought, and came up with some great stories. This is the guy who went on the road with the Hells Angels during thier violent heyday. This is the guy who took to the 1972 campaign trail and revolutionized the thought of misfit journalism, unleashing his wit and anger on those who were running to be our commander in chief. This is the guy who took a suitcase of drugs and headed off to an anti-drug convention. He was a genius in his field.

I’m sure he wasn’t too worried about this sort of thing, but Thompson has certainly left behind a legacy. Like the “beat” writers before him, Thompson has carved a niche in modern literature that will struggle to be filled now that he’s gone.

It’s sad. Of all the ways for Hunter to go, this would be the most difficult for his fans.

Ultimately, though, he left life as he lived it — in control of everything around him, no matter how chaotic things looked.

Hunter S. Thompson
1937-2005

CNN News Report
ESPN News Report
and most importantly… the books.

Comments: 1

Issues Considered: Literature, Writers

Later that night…

February 21st, 2005

Ha! I love my new space in scyber-history. Hee! You are reading me! Ha!

Officially, it’s 12:26 on Monday morning, very late in my night. And, officially, I’m declaring the topics on this site to be of the upmost importance. To those who debate these claims, to hell with you!

Of course, I can’t just ramble on and on and on, regardless of what some of you may already think, so consider this my NBA All-Star 2005 section. It belongs in the Sports category, but for this limited time only, you get it right here on the front page.

Basketball is my number one sport. There! I’ve said it! Football is fine, baseball is growing on me, but basketball is it for me — the number one all time sport on my list of all time favorite sports. I’m intrenched in it’s lore, it’s legend, but still, I feel strangly disappointed with it, like a loved pet that’s just peed on the new couch.

The All-Star game is, for the most part, everything I hate about basketball. It embodies the selfishness and flashiness that I have never quite enjoyed in what has always been considered to me as a team sport. Team. Sport.

But the mid-season “classic” has developed into what I see as a ridiculous display of show-up-manship and sloppy play.

Okay.. okay.. what do I expect? “Corey, they’ve rarely, if ever, played together, and if they have, never with the same coach.” “Corey, you’re dumb. An All-Star game is there to take the best players from each team and plant them on a pedestal in the attempt to better market the sport.” Yes, yes, valid points — all of them. But why is it then that these out-for-ourselves teams are a new occurance? Why is it that when I watched the 1988 NBA All-Star game on ESPN Classic, the announcers were praising Isiah Thomas for his selflessness, and talking about how Larry Bird was setting Michael Jordan up for shots because the game was in Chicago, and Jordan deserved to win the MVP? Or how the players — and take a breath before you read this — were TRYING TO WIN FOR THIER TEAM!!

I’m not saying that today’s players aren’t trying. You know damn well that when KG steps on the court, he’s trying to win the game, regardless of who his teammates are. Maybe I’m just a little too “old school,” maybe I was just spoiled when I learned the sport watching Thomas, Bird, Jordan, Magic, etc.

My point is, today’s players are too selfish. And the All-Star game highlights that selfishness. How else could a player like Stephon Marbury be an All-Star? Not because he makes his team better…thats for sure.

Or, maybe I’m just to tired to make a valid point.

So instead, a picture of Reggie Miller. Eric will love that.

Reggie is great.

The first post.

February 20th, 2005

Let the shitstorm begin.

Yes, I’m Corey. Why a blog? Because I get bored. Because I love bandwagons. Because, at heart, I’m a self-centered ego-driven monster, who loves to see his name in public, and, additionally, loves to have people comment on said name.

Seriously, though, I just like writing to myself.

You can learn about me more in the future, but for now, I’m simply “Corey” to you. And, since I’m at work, you can also consider me full of “slack.” Bob Dobbs taught me well.

Word.