On the cover of Rolling Stone, they profess Colonel Depp to be a "Gonzo Pirate".  I don't know if putting the word Gonzo in front of the word "pirate" is redundant or not, but after reading what I read about him today, I'd say Depp's certainly okay in my book.

In the article, he talks about going with Hunter on his book tour for "The Proud Highway".  Hunter put Johnny in charge of security and began calling him "Ray".  So when people would walk up to Depp, they'd say, "That's Johnny Depp!" and then Hunter would say, "His name is Ray."  He talked about spending time with Hunter as a friend and called him "one of the best friends you could ever have".  Johnny commented that he still thinks of Hunter at least once or twice a day.  That's how I am and I don't even know the guy.  Still, I think that the best thing Johnny commented on was that he never did drugs with Hunter.  People would come up to Hunter, Johnny explained, simply wanting to do drugs with him, and Hunter would discourage them.  Not that it would stop them.  HST told people not to do drugs just because he did them, drugs were capable of screwing their lives up and probably would.  Mostly, Johnny just talked about how much fun he had with HST and how much he misses him.  Colonel Depp did put in a word about the way Hunter died, saying "...he wasn't the sort of person who was just going to fall over into his soup one day...That was part of Hunter's legacy."

I'm always thinking to myself something that belongs on a trendy bracelt: WWHD?

"What would Horatio Alger have done in this situation?" Hunter asks himself in Fear and Loathing.

What would Hunter do?  I ask myself that all the time.  How would I act if I had nothing to lose?  What if I were to live moment to moment?  What if I became sure of my own destiny, to the point that it didn't matter what anyone else thought?

I'll leave the long entry about Hunter until his birthday on the 18th, but what an inspiring article to read. 

         Yesterday, I went to Half Price and purchased myself a shiny new blank book.  You might ask yourself why I'd need a diary since I am starting a weblog as we speak.  If you're asking yourself that, you have a problem with sharing too much information.

         NOW, let me say that I'm no saint with this one.  Type my name into google, or any of the various handles I've used over the years, and I'm sure you'll find more information about me than you or anyone else ever wanted to know.  Livejournals, abandoned geocites pages, countless posts on usenet, videos and pictures...  Doesn't it sicken you?  Like anyone ever asked to hear about my life.  But from now on, my life is no longer an open book.  And if it ever becomes one, I WILL be getting fat cash for it.

        Who started this concept that you should share your deepest secrets with anyone but yourself and whoever it is that watches us up there (if anything/one)?  Was it Livejournal.com?  Was it My Space?  And what is the benefit of doing so?  Is it making friends?  Getting feedback?

        Blogging should be about good writers getting published of their own accord, and in part it is.  But in another, less pleasant part, there are people, both young and old, establishing blogs, and who think they can tell the word everything about them without the slightest concept.  No matter how much technology we have, however, people have to understand that some secrets were meant to be kept.

      Daniel Blanchard was able to post a picture of himself smoking pot out of a water pipe ("bong") on his My Space profile.  It just so happened that the sheriff of his county found that picture.  Daniel, who was far too naive to be posting something like a picture of himself toking up on a website and certainly unaware of his rights, found himself being questioned by the police about the photo, although I'm not sure how politely, and caved under the pressure.  Daniel admitted to smoking pot, giving the cops a verbal confession, reason enough to be able to search Daniel's backpack and car.  Daniel had a little more than "a little pot" in his backpack, and a search of his car revealed that he did more than smoke pot.  Young Mr. Blanchard had digital scales in his car, along with gunpowder and potassium nitrate, knives and even a number of syringes.  The smoking gun was the anarchist cookbook, which they also found in his car.  The anarchist cookbook is always enough to put an 18 year old in hot water, and sometimes in jail for most of their natural lives.  Daniel was an okay student, B's and C's.  His life was on track and intact.  He made the mistake of giving away too much info on the internet, and now he may be in jail.  His arraignment hearing was in May.  I attempted to search Google for some update on Daniel, but instead I found something quite frightening: There are far more MySpace arrests to be read about than just that of Daniel Blanchard.

            Brian Hall was arrested in April after posting a phony MySpace profile about him blowing up his school. The police "obtained consent" (I wonder how...) to search his person and found brass knuckles and a knife.  Most likely frightened out of his tiny mind, Hall also consented to a search of his car, which had not only two more knives but also a pipe with residue in it.  He was charged with posession of a weapon of school property and paraphenalia.  His equally stupid (or incredibly vengeful) parents let the police seize Brian's computer as well, and upon investigation of all his personal files they'll surely be able find something else to pin on him.  Brian was 18.  I say that he WAS 18, because his life is now over.

         Ranjeel Kumar (who may or may not be from that White Castle movie) was arrested in June for several narcotic related felonies including posession of over a pound of marijuana and two ounces of methamphetamine with obvious intent to sell.  A federal investigation was started after some asshole on My Space told authorities about Kumar's profile having pictures of weed plants on it.  After the local narcs obtained comment's he had made about having to take "green medicine" for his "illness", and observed many people coming in and out of his home, they had enough evidence to obtain a search warrant and force entry into his home.  Kumar is 25, and rightfully in jail.

        Now let's see how cops are treated when they are caught misbehavin'.  In March, it was discovered that six police officers in Lexington, KY were active on MySpace.  On their MySpace profiles, these officers commented on arrests they had made recently, and several of them used derogatory terms to bash gays and put down the mentally disabled.  They might've been able to get away with the gay bashing and making fun of those less fortunate than themselves(In that they must be catagorized as mentally disabled, and these officers, who have less brain cells than them, are allowed to walk the street and carry guns), but then a few of them described themselves as working for the "snobby people of Lexington" or the "Lexington Fayette Urban Communist Government".  That was the last straw.  The officers have been suspended... with pay.

              In the saddest story of all, a student in Philadelphia was charged with posession of marijuana after authorities saw pictures of him on MySpace holding a gun and a bag of marijuana, along with pictures of other drugs, and bragging that he made over 250,000 dollars a year selling drugs.  The kid was 16 years old.

             So what the hell does this prove?  Number one, don't ever consent to a search.  If the police have a warrant, they won't be asking you permission to search you and if they don't have a warrant, then what's in your locked car or home is your own business.  Number two, the internet is viewable by everyone.  Your parents, the cops, the DEA, people you might want to date in the future, people who might want your adress so that they can harm you or steal from you...Everyone.  So think about that.  The next time you just have to tell the world about it...Don't.  Big Brother isn't just a TV show.