Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Well, I should have never opened that box in the basement. Nothing horror like as my earlier post suggests. Just weird. I’ll get to that in later. Right now, let me give you a little story about meeting people out of a movie – it’ll sort of tie in later.

I think that “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” is a great movie. What an amazing pilgrimage showing a weekend of going to Las Vegas and consuming LOTS of medications and other such. Regardless of what some might think of such movies, this movie does not glamorize pharmaceutical use or those who partake in such. What is glorious about any of those hotel rooms they consume in their madness? It doesn’t seem glorious to be paranoid frightening people everywhere you go? Too honest, no glamor there at all.

As Duke says of Dr. Gonzo:

There he goes -- one of God's own prototypes --
a high powered mutant of some kind
never even considered for mass production.
Too weird to live and too rare to die.

So yeah, they’re great in a movie. Hilarious in a movie. ‘What did he just do!! He didn’t!’ in a movie.

But then there was the day we were outside of the Target and we saw Duke and Dr. Gonzo – or at least modern interpretations of them. There’s a line of cars in the parking lot with the leading car waiting to turn left out of the lot. This is taking awhile. Perhaps a little too long.

A guy leans out of his car (Duke) and starts screaming – “Lets get going! What’s the holdup here!!! We’ve got to get GOING!” The other guy (Gonzo) throws his door open and stumbles out of the car. Gonzo’s got a wife beater on with full stomach showing just like his movie self. Can’t see what Duke is wearing.

Gonzo starts weaving his way up the line of cars muttering something. Car waiting to turn left misses a chance to go. “Goddamnit! We got to get going man!!! What’s wrong with those fuckers?” Duke screams. Gonzo’s still mumbling to himself and stumbling up the line of cars.

Duke dry-heaves out of car window and then screams something incomprehensible. Other cars leave the line to find another exit of the lot. The car causing the holdup is still waiting to turn left. They miss another chance to go. We’re thinking of not going into Target just right now. We’d have to pass them on the way in.

Duke screams.

Gonzo totters on.

Gonzo’s almost to the car and the situation seems ugly. Duke lays on horn as he screams to Gonzo to get them to move. He’s clearly got to get going.