The Edge… There is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over. The others — the living — are those who pushed their luck as far as they felt they could handle it, and then pulled back, or slowed down, or did whatever they had to when it came time to choose between Now and Later
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The quote above is taken from Hunter S. Thompson’s 1966 book , Hell’s Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs. I read that book and most of his other work , including that from his longtime union with Rolling Stone magazine,many years ago with great glee but never really got caught up in the whole gonzo mania that sprung up in later years as he became an almost mythic figure. No, I just loved the
way his journalism, if indeed it was that or purely fictional, took on sometime serious subjects with a skewed and jaded eye. And it was just laugh out loud funny at times with imagery that is as vivid in my mind as when I first read it oh so many years ago. Plus, it usually was accompanied by the ink-splattered artwork of Ralph Steadman, including this drawing shown here taken from a memorable incident in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. I think Steadman’s manic drawings of Thompson’s adventures were a major force in the building of the Thompson legacy and legend.
And for some, Thompson is a legend, an icon, a caricature that still lives on. There have been numerous books and films on his life including a graphic novel last year, Gonzo: A Graphic Biography of Hunter S. Thompson , illustrated by Anthony Hope-Smith. I don’t know if I’m still buying in but some of the imagery is wonderful and the early stories are still great reads.
Here’s a video from artist Piotr Kabat that is his graphic interpretation of the quote at the top of this post. Well done.


There was a now little known band called The Treniers that began performing in the 1940’s. Led by twin brothers, Cliff and Claude, they were known for their raucous live shows that featured their considerable talents as musicians, dancers and comedians. They were simply entertainers.
I was flipping around the channels last night, the final Christmas specials winding down as the holiday came to an end. I ended up on an old Christmas episode of The Monkees from around 1967. It was a show that I had loved as a kid of 8 or 9 and it had Butch Patrick, the kid who played Eddie Munster on the also adored The Munsters TV show, as a guest. How bad could it be?
I don’t think I’ve ever featured any music from NRBQ on this blog which is surprising because they are always rock solid. Consistency is a trait I really appreciate and NRBQ has been just that for over 46 years now, which seems like a crazy amount of time for a group that has went kind of under the radar of the pop charts for most of that time but has built a cult following that counts some of the biggest names in music as fans. They were even on TV as the house band on The Simpsons for a couple of seasons ( see Matt Groening’s drawing of the band above.) They are known as musician’s musicians with a real sense of humor and a huge playlist that enables them to pretty much play anything. I don’t know if they still do this but they used to have a milk crate with question marks painted on it that leader Terry Adams would stand on to take requests from the audience.
Those darn Mayans may have marked it off on their calendar but I’ve been so busy over the last several months that I completely forgot that the world is coming to an end in a week. I didn’t get my doomsday bunker built. Didn’t hone my survivalist skills in any way. Didn’t stockpile a thousand cases of Campbell’s Soup or nearly enough weapons to fight off the packs of post-apocalyptic cannibals or zombies that will surely be wandering the countryside. However, I did buy a larger bottle of aspirin a few weeks back but that was totally unrelated to the end of the world. Just a good buy.
I am slowly trying to get back into some sort of rhythm in the studio after getting back from what for me was an extended absence while traveling out to California for my show there. It was only a week or so but it was enough to disrupt that fragile balance and set me a bit off kilter. I can sense it in getting back into my painting rhythm as well as writing this blog. Just a bit more of a struggle at the moment. I don’t fret over this as I once might have because I’ve been through this more than a few times. If I put my head down and forge forward, it returns after a bit.
