The Kentucky Derby is decadent and depraved (1970) [pdf]
brianb.freeshell.org
brianb.freeshell.org
> Another problem was his habit of sketching people he met in the various social situations I dragged him into--then giving them the sketches. The results were always unfortunate. I warned him several times about letting the subjects see his foul renderings, but for some perverse reason he kept doing it. Consequently, he was regarded with fear and loathing by nearly everyone who'd seen or even heard about his work. He couldn't understand it. "It's sort of a joke," he kept saying. "Why, in England it's quite normal. People don't take offense. They understand that I'm just putting them on a bit."
"Fuck England," I said. "This is Middle America. These people regard what you're doing to them as a brutal, bilious insult. Look what happened last night. I thought my brother was going to tear your head off."
Steadman shook his head sadly. "But I liked him. He struck me as a very decent, straightforward sort."
"Look, Ralph," I said. "Let's not kid ourselves. That was a very horrible drawing you gave him. It was the face of a monster. It got on his nerves very badly." I shrugged. "Why in hell do you think we left the restaurant so fast?"
"I thought it was because of the Mace," he said.
"What Mace?"
He grinned. "When you shot it at the headwaiter, don't you remember?" "Hell, that was nothing," I said. "I missed him...and we were leaving, anyway."
"But it got all over us," he said. "The room was full of that damn gas. Your brother was sneezing was and his wife was crying. My eyes hurt for two hours. I couldn't see to draw when we got back to the motel."
"That's right," I said. "The stuff got on her leg, didn't it?"
"She was angry," he said.
---
Funny to consider that Steadman's visual aesthetic is even more identifiable than Hunter S. Thompson. The influence is everywhere!
He was a very prolific letter writer and kept carbon copies of almost everything he sent. This is the one he sent to Anthony Burgess when he was editor of Rolling Stone: https://www.openculture.com/2016/05/hunter-s-thompson-writes...
I wonder what changed about the world where the tradition of writers like Thompson, Hitchens, Vidal, Hemmingway, Menken, Bierce, and others with humour and moral courage just aren't a part of mainstream discourse.
Vice, for one, has basically commodified HST-style journalism. They have a whole show where a guy just tries different drugs [1]
And you can find all sorts of heterodox political and cultural takes in both mainstream news and the blogosphere, as well as the huge continuum of media between them.
The problem isn't that these writers don't exist anymore (or that they're being somehow silenced by congress). The problem is there's no mainstream culture anymore, and therefore there's no place for counterculture to consolidate. Instead we have a bunch of people shouting different things into voids of various sizes.
Kids taking journalism classes might get to hear about Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ‘72 (through The Boys on the Bus) and I think there’s a little bit more to that than just writing for young people and doing drugs.
0 - https://archive.thinkprogress.org/survey-daily-show-colbert-...
https://www.vice.com/en/article/43jp9d/we-found-evidence-of-...
The Psychopath Test So You've Been Publicly Shamed Them: Adventures with Extremists
All great books and even better audiobooks that you'll like I think.
See e.g. this on Gen. McChrystal and Afghanistan -- https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/the-runa...
Present literary journalistic techniques critique through insinuation and juxtaposition. HST just had to go places and let people talk.
That's a pretty shocking claim. I'd say it's quite the opposite.
I basically don't post too many opinions unless I'm on an alt account, and I'm considering tor for that going forward.
As far an anonymity, I think people pick a particular blend that works for them and their career and family. But most people I know are pretty forward about their stranger/kinkier/less legal interests, at least on an interpersonal level.
I'm not sure what point this is meant to make; you'll have to come up with your own.
Conversely, I am sure there are many substack writers with a small following who would be just as big as Thompson if they were born at a different time.
Not only has media changed but the entire relationship of society with media has changed.
I would compare it to Adele being the only artist in the last 15 years to be on the best-selling album chart and probably wouldn't be there at all if she was 10 years older.
[0] Described by HST as "I listened for a moment and recognized the Neal Cassady speed-booze-acid rap - a wild combination of menace, madness, genius, and fragmented coherence that wreaks havoc on the mind of any listener... so I knew we had no choice but to take this man along with us... he had that rare weird electricity about him - that extremely wild & heavy presence that you only see in a person who has abandoned all hope of ever behaving 'normally'."
For his book “A Brief History on Vice” he talks about the drugs that shaped our early culture, and then tried those drugs while trying to remain as authentic to the traditional uses as he possibly could.
Funny to see how things on the front page all fit together.
As do I. It's tradition at this point.
Classic, a very good read. I would never have thought the Kentucky Derby was such a crazy time. I thought it was people sipping Mint Julups watching the race. Seems the race is just a minor distraction to the real action.
Its sometimes kind of remarkable with a general admission ticket it can be hard to find a vantage point to watch the race.
It's a great drink.
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/mint-julep-r...
http://www.thebucknerhome.com/julep/recipe.html
(No peaches here either)
The "ice" as fine as snow is particularly difficult. You'll want a triple-stitched bag, one that can take heavy pounding. You will also want dry ice. First, because it makes the water ice more brittle, and the second because it keeps your snow crisp, rather than dissolving into a slush. I suspect that there is a machine better suited to the task but I've not gone that far.
The mint is more subtle than suspected. Many "muddle" the mint, which is to say crush it with a muddler. This does release the mint oils, but it also releases the more vegetable tastes, particularly the chlorophyll, which alters the flavor profile. No, what is better is to slap the mint across the palm of your hand. This, apparently opens the pores of the mint leaves and allows the oils out while keeping the rest in. I also "round" the mint flavor by adding both spearmint and wintergreen.
My other changes are perhaps a little archaic, personal, even radical, but the first two ought ought to improve any julep.
Liqueurs can also be fairly approximated as "sugar and a little water" with flavoring. So, not all that different.
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mint_julep - Mint julep is a mixed alcoholic drink, or cocktail, consisting primarily of bourbon, sugar, water, crushed or shaved ice, and fresh mint.
...
> No water
The crushed ice melts and dilutes the drink, as is the case in nearly all cocktails.
I've been to a bunch of events, including the Indy 500, Times Square for NYE, and Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and by far people were more sloppy drunk at the Kentucky Derby.
0: https://www.thehayeslawoffice.com/blog/2020/02/indianas-sund...
1: https://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com/events/indy500/pla...
[1] https://www.kentuckyderby.com/blog/style/the-kentucky-derby-...
It's an 8 hour day with about 10 minutes of racing. Lots of different experiences to be had. The big party is in the infield. The people in the stands might sit and drink mint julips, but theres still lots going on, the biggest is usually watching the horses get ready at the paddock.
It used to be getting in the gate would get you access to the entire grounds, except the private suites. So you could pay for the infield and go sit in seats in the stands no one was using, and people with paid seats could still join the fun in the infield (there's tunnels under the track). This was the first year they blocked access between the stands and the infield (access was limited to those with seats in a corporate tent). I didn't go this year, but I imagine it changed the atmosphere quite a bit. It's also getting more expensive, just for the infield, drawing a different crowd. Things really changed after 9/11 when Chirchill Downs experimented with how much they could limit people bringing in. That didn't really have an effect on what alcohol got past security, but made it a lot harder to bring in snacks, etc. So you had to buy their food, making it for a more expensive day and discuraging some people from coming. And they've been slowly making it more and more expensive every year. Today, you can't even bring a good camera in without a special permit. It's really changed the environment from a cheap, fun day to someplace you go to spend a lot of money.
They list "Live and historical wagering" as a line item-- comingling revenue to hide that parimutuel wagering continues to tank/shift towards their preferred/higher margin gaming business. Appendix of their 10-K shows $66MM revenue for all live/simulcast racing in 2022, vs $375MM for historical racing and $755MM for gaming.
If they don't get slot approval from the state legislatures, they just sell the property to be redeveloped, like Hollywood/Arlington/Calder.
Such "Oral History" articles were quite popular for a time* and the fist time I encountered this article it still had its original title. I'm sad that it was not retained since the url now gives away the punchline.
* https://www.vulture.com/article/an-oral-history-of-disney-th...
The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved (1970) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7691019 - May 2014 (60 comments)
I remember asking him to confirm 4-5 lines in the 8th edition kernel sources from his licensed copy and I had to pay him in the form of a bottle of bourbon.
He had a sad end.
My point is that: you can't bottle it, imitation is not the sincerest form of flattery it's ugly and stupid. That said, E. Jean Carroll's write up suggests HST was (at the end) a very sad, lonely man too.
Fear and Loathing is a great book.
A multimedia work about space probes becoming sentient in the distant future to watch immortal humans play football across the continental USA seems about as unimaginable as this piece, to me.
He even seems to exist independently, though.
[1] https://www.flyingdog.com/