When I read this journal entry I had a feeling of "huh?" that I couldn't quite put into words. Pasadena kinda put it in words for me..... I admire you Ryan for what you've done for the hobby, but this story doesn't quite compute. I'm not saying this to be a ****, but what if I showed up to the HAMB drags in a 70 Chevelle, then sold "I Love Rat Rods" tee shirts out of the trunk? Would this be applauded as a healthy sign of rebellion that we all embrace? Or? Just wondering.
I think maybe I counted on folks being able to read more into it... The whole article is a rip off of Hunter Thompson. Meaning, hypocrisy knows no bounds other than your own. It's supposed to be smart. In any case, the point is not literal. I'm not saying that we should all go to a show and break some rules... or that rules are made to be broken. I'm saying that this hot rod and custom world that we are all in is better served when it's not all packaged up with a pretty ribbon on top... when it's not watered down... In other words, the "scene" is what you make it... not what others tell you it is. Gonzo. I was really young when I got into all of this stuff. And when you are young, you have a different perspective. Danger is fun... No mom pants in hot rodding... No ****ing poodle skirts... Or t-shirts with all kinds of neon colors shouting, "SUNDAY! SUNDAY! SUNDAY!" Then you get older, have kids, start a family, etc... You can feel yourself becoming more mature, safe, politically correct... You don't want to rock the boat as much, etc... In a lot of ways, rebellion is a way of fighting that, keeping an edge, staying dark and dangerous. Seriously, I don't expect everyone to get it. No. Rebellion would be kicking that guy in the teeth.
Ya know, it's kinda sad that I graduated with a degree in literature and I read it literally... I spent all of college reading between the lines...chalk it up to a long, hot day at work. Thanks for the clarification, this is more of a wake-up call that maybe I'm getting a little too 'grown-up' sometimes. This also reminds me that I've been wanting to read the Hells Angels book for years... maybe this summer. Any other recommended favs by Thompson? And maybe, to get my edge back, I'll kick that guy in the teeth..
Hells Angels is great... Vintage Thompson... Also, read the Rum Diaries... I read and love his political books, I just don't agree with them. All that said, my favorite Thompson piece is actually an article he wrote for a magazine called Scanlan's Monthly - The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved. It's incredible. You can read the whole article here.
Is this the smoky burnout I remember you writing about several years ago that resulted in a "permanent ban" from NSRA events? I had to explain to someone again today that in my opinion the term "crazy ****er" is the highest compliment that one can receive.
Great entry. ****en A in fact. All I remember (OK the grain liquor is cutting in) is the cops actually reading the riot act at a bunch of hot rodders at the Mildura Nationals (burn outs on the main street) some years back (198?) and then going to the official sanctioned dinner and seeing a bunch of ***** whipped guys with baby seats in thier street rods. I actually saw a guy wearing a blazer. I'm not a rodder, just an old car guy - I haven't been to an event since. Aint missing it - making my own rules and I dig HST with the best of em.
Man, Between the NSRA and that Thompson dude, kinda makes it hard being a Kentucky boy.........Although we have recently agreed to buy shoes for our women...(actually trade a hog for them, the shoes not the women)
That Thompson fella sure has a way with words. I love the way he goes on with a yarn and just leaves people wondering if he's for real.
should read: That Thompson fella sure HAD a way with words. He ate a bullit a couple of years ago. Also he was on a Ford Truck Forum - when dealing with people he was a **** oops I just realized it's like this thread - I'm a rebel be one too just like me or I'll kick your ***.
OT, but Depp did a good job in the movie, but Bill Murray was funnier in where the buffalo roam. Apparently Murray and Thompson were out every night and the disjointedness of the movie reflects that. Back OT, thompson's vivid decription of cars is one of his trademarks...the shark in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, the 55 chevy...worth the look. He was stone nuts and paranoid but the most talented nonfiction writer of his generation--maybe because he blurred the lines between fiction and non and pushed the boundaries of pulling back the curtain on hypocracy. When the going get weird the weird turn pro. Gonzo.
I read the post at first and thought cool what's this, Ryan doing a stream of consciousness rant about a roadtrip. Then when I got to the "a lot of weirdness between here and Reno" and then the smoking jacket...it took me a minute but that was a too good a clue to miss. Nice job on this Ryan. Fun stuff.
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]I like HST, but this guy is good too:[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]'As once anything was excusable in the name of patriotism, now anything is excusable in the name of safety. We will kiss some low place on every dish-towel head in the Levant rather than have a single breeder reactor on our shores. We will make every lube artist in America learn Japanese rather than produce an enjoyable automobile. And we will all be eating communist bananas rather than risk a Kent State over Nicaragua. (Unless, of course, bananas are found to cause cancer, too.) This is treason. [/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]America was founded on danger. How many lifeboat drills were held on the Mayflower? Where were the smoke detectors in the Lincoln family cabin? Who checked to see whether Indian war paint was made with Red Dye No. 2? It was the thrilling, vast, wonderful danger of America which drew people here from all over the world - spacious skies filled with blizzards and tornadoes, purple mountain majesties to fall off, and fruited plains full of snarling animals and armed aborigines. America is a dangerous country. Safety has no place here. [/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]In fact, safety has no place anywhere. Everything that is fun is dangerous. Horse races, for instance, are very dangerous. But attempt to design a safe horse and the result is a cow [/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Therefore, it is the duty of every patriotic, moral, and humanistic person a**** us to smoke, drink, drive like hell, shoot guns, own Corvairs, take saccharin, leave unmarked medicine bottles all over the house, get in to fist-fights, start barbecue fires with gasoline, put dry-cleaner bags over our heads, and run around barefoot without getting a tet**** shot.'[/FONT] P.J. O'Rourke
Touche'. when I read the initial post, I said out loud to myself (alone, in the dark, as usual) "this will be lost to most of the m***es." I was right. Good Job, Ryan. Gotta keep the flock thinking. otherwise, the wolves will be picked off by the sheep.
Question authority, don't be limited by the status-quo. IMO rebellion looks like the PPE and sounds like the original cut of Sonny Burgess' "We Wanna Boogie". Both make you want to do bad things and both are wild even within their own "unconventional" genres.
The Jalopy Journal
