Tag Archives: Edaurdo Jones

Animals, Whores & Dialogue Reviews

It would seem that Wayne Ewing has out-done himself with his latest trip down Hunter S. Thompson lane. Already I have received a couple of reviews of Animals, Whores & Dialogue, and the word is good.

First review is from renowned HST fan and scholar Peter W. Knox. Regular visitors here will know Peter from his contributions to our HST for Beginners series. As usual Peter in his usual genius has added a twist to his review with the introduction of a drinking game to accompany Animals, Whores & Dialogue. First his review and at the end is the drinking game. Here’s Peter’s Review.

It’s been more than five years since Hunter left this world and seven years since Ewing’s first HST documentary “Breakfast with Hunter” but his legacy lives on in the latest “Animals, Whores & Dialogue”, a wonderful behind-the-scenes glimpse into the life he lived his last decade alive.

Filled with such spectacle as the 25th Anniversary party of Fear and Loathing, his Kentucky homecoming, and the comings and goings of Aspen, Colorado, Ewing gives us a fly-on-the-wall opportunity to be there and share in the memories we missed.

A sure no-brainer fan collection such as this will no doubt delight the many gonzo-ites looking for the next hit, or as Hunter put it himself, “the next addiction” in the many options we have in which to revel in his brilliance, wisdom, wit, humor, and company. I watched, by myself, comforted by his intimate moments discussing his work, interviewing with press, interactions with his fans, and precious scenes with family and friends.

My favorite segment of this documentary comes about one-third in, where Hunter is shown an original Scanlon’s Monthly containing his infamous article of “The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved” where he puts into words how he felt about its publication and status of a writer, where he felt he was looking at the end of his journalist career but in fact had only stumbled onto its true beginning.

To anyone not familiar with “Breakfast with Hunter” or Ewing’s other works, this is as sure an entry point as those, more focused on Hunter himself and not the celebrity culture surrounding him. I have seen all of Wayne’s movies; Breakfast (weirdly wonderful), Till I Die (intensely personal posthumous, I was there for the blast-off!), Free Lisl (tragic & soberly lacking in Gonzo), and now this “Animals, Whores & Dialogue” picks up the Gonzo pulse and gives us exactly what we’re looking for, the b-side to those fantastic opinions, phrases, and character he pumped into each word he wrote.

Take part in this well edited and spliced homage to the man that changed journalism and brought us all together at the same time and buy this DVD now.

Next is Peter’s drinking game.

Fill your glass with Chivas or Heineken and follow along. I’d never recommend these rules for anyone, but they’ve worked for me.

Finish your drink

Hunter blows up at someone
Hunter gets ice for himself
Hunter holds a gun
Hunter says Gonzo

3 drinks

Hunter reads from his own words
HST smokes his pipe
HST shown actually typing
HST claps his hands
Hunter’s phone rings

2 drinks

Someone else reads from HST’s words
Someone plays music
HST talks sports
HST talks politics/mentions a politician
The Gonzo brand is shown (counts double if its on an undergarment)
HST lights a cigarette
HST drinks from his lobster mug

1 drink

Title of a HST book is mentioned by anyone
Someone addresses a crowd
Music is played
HST is wearing something on his head, once each scene
HST takes a sip from his glass
Someone compliments HST
Owl Farm peacocks are shown

Review and Drinking game. (©) Peter W. Knox 2010.

Next review is by Edaurdo The Voice of the Doomed Jones. Edaurdo has been mentioned numerous times on this site and interviewed here too. Edaurdo is a busy man these days. He’s currently working with a screenwriter to have one of his pieces been made into a short film. He’s also one of the subjects in Finding the Beat, a documentary in pre-production which will follow a bunch of writers and artists while on the road. His review is as follows…

So my good friend Martin Flynn sent me over a copy of Wayne Ewing’s new release Animals, Whores, & Dialogue. I think I was supposed to have this done for Hunter’s birthday yesterday, but I was busy drinking Chivas on the shores of Portland, Maine with three beautiful women. I find due to the subject of this piece it’s only fitting to be over my deadline. I believe Hunter would have been doing the same thing on his birthday.

Wayne Ewing has created a masterpiece. This is not your typical documentary. Imagine sitting in the kitchen with an old friend. Just the two of you, a bottle of Chivas, and a handful of friends and neighbors. What would you give to just watch the good doctor do his thing? How would it feel to be part of the Owl Farm club? Wayne Ewing has bought you the ticket, so you can take the ride. I now feel as if I was and am a good friend of the family after viewing this. The film is incredibly personal. It’s beyond just the Gonzo persona. It’s the good Doctor just being Hunter and telling you how it is. Hunter shares his secret to success in life and the method behind the madness or “the formula” as he calls it.

It’s incredible to watch the excitement in Hunter’s eyes as either a friend or he himself reads aloud past works. It’s as if he was hearing them for the first time. Hearing Hunter tell the story behind the stories is just, for the lack of a better term simply amazing. I don’t think there really are any words that could capture the true Just-us factor this film has. This film is a must watch for any fan of Hunter S. Thompson. Anybody who’s ever thought or said “I wish I could have hung out with Hunter S. Thompson one time.” Well now you can thanks to Wayne Ewing. It was a high honor just to watch this film. In closing all I can say is after watching this “ I now feel as if I’m a close friend of Hunter S. Thompson and spent an evening at Owl Farm and had a few drinks with the gang.”

Review (©) Edaurdo Jones. 2010.

Many thanks to Edaurdo and Peter for taking the time to make a contribution. As more reviews come in I’ll be adding them in more entries here…

Beatdom Issue 7 Out Now

Beatdom Issue 7 hit the shelves today. I have not read it yet so for now just a quick rundown of what is in it.

First another wonderful cover (left) by Andres Salaff. Issue 7 is music themed, with an essay by David Wills on Hunter S. Thompson. More from Edaurdo Jones (which is always good) in the form of an interview he did with an old football opponent of Jack Kerouac’s called Crushing Kerouac, a teaser of his upcoming book Voice of the Doomed, and an interview he did with the good folks at Flying Dog ales.

Also there are essays on Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs, Patti Smith, Bob Dylan and a lot more. When I’ve read it I’ll give you a full rundown. Meanwhile to buy or download click here.

OK its 1.30 in the blessed Am here and I’m going to sleep.

Beatdom: Beating a New Trail.

Beating the odds.

I remember reading Kerouac’s On The Road (again) on a plane to the US a few years ago. Some find it a depressing read, others are inspired by it. Over the years of reading it various emotions came to me for each different time. This time I got a feeling of optimism, not for how life is or the way things are in this world (no hope of that,) but for the future of what we know as the Beat Generation.

The are numerous schools of thought when it comes to defining this generation. They have been called agitators, malcontents, leftists, the list goes on. Where, to a point they were some of these things , they did bring a freedom and freshness to the world of writing and reading. As the decades passed they became less relevant to some because of the pressure on people to conform, or harmonize if you like. The material lifestyle gained strength, and as it did the Beat life lost some of it’s momentum. As a result the Beat Generation was, and to a lesser extent still is faced with the dilemma of the conservative rock and the literary hard place. But thanks to the likes of Beatdom the Beat is alive, well and on the up, encouraging the junior beats to grow and new Beat talent to unfold.

I believe quality of writer and not quantity is the key to keep clawing back the times of great prose and poetry, all be it with a modern twist. The biggest factor in maintaining the rise is the small but dedicated group of self-publishers constantly grafting, pounding the streets, and beating a path through the internet, doggedly getting their message across, reaching out in a quiet but successful effort to keep the Beat Generation energized. This is of huge importance in keeping this literary soil fertile, all for little or no profit.

One of those publishers would be Kevin Ring of Beat Scene Magazine. Kevin’s publication has being going for over 20 years and has played a huge part in keeping the Beats alive. You can see his site here.

The publisher I’m focusing on here is David S. Wills. DS as I call him is the founder and editor of Beatdom, a magazine dedicated to The Beat Generation and it’s ilk. The reason I’m going to focus on DS and Beatdom is to bolster my points made above.

DS is a twenty something, Scottish school teacher living in Korea. His passion for the Beat word is admirable. Apart from being an avid reader he is another self-publisher of a Beat Generation magazine. Since 2007 he has succeeded in gathering a group of  writers and poets of all ages, all talented in their field with varying histories. Some just starting out and some experienced. His methods are key to keeping the Beat momentum going. A mixture of youth, energy and experience are the key. The hiring and utilizing of youth and energy to bring a neoteric flavour to the scene and experience to give a foundation. To give you an idea of the Beatdom reach here are a few stats…

It has over 30 contributers, 5 different folks concerned with art and graphic design. It has interviewed such folks as….

Merry Pranksters Ken Babbs and Paul Krassner.

Carolyn Cassady.

Barry Gifford.

Zane Kesey.

Rob Epstein and Jeffery Friedman (Directors of Howl) and many more..

Beatdom is not profit driven, it’s mission is to drive Beat literature into the future with new and passionate talent while keeping the significance of Kerouac, Ginsberg and all the others. Not an easy task, but to the outsider looking in, DS and his cohorts do it with apparent ease and agility. My two cents? The only way the Beat ilk will keep a foothold in these times of information overload, and game console distraction is if folks like David S. Wills and Kevin Ring keep the interest going. I suppose modern times call for modern measures.

The Issue.

Issue 5 of Beatdom hit my hall carpet yesterday morning complements of Edaurdo Jones. I managed to unwrap the mangled package that was jammed through my letterbox, complements of a careless postman with anger problems.

Edaurdo (the voice of the doomed) is on the Beatdom staff as art director and regular contributer. He’s 34 but writes like a old-timer with a grudge. He has been through more crap in his 34 years than most people would care to think about. He is a caustic writer for the most part but he also has the ability for what I’d call straight writing. I told him the other day that he was a writer in the poetic sense where I am more of a commentator (straight writer) and limited within the scope of news, reviews, reporting etc, although with a twist of satire and mockery. Jones is lucky that he can do both (I believe.)

Anyway in issue 5 his piece is Deep Fried Duct Tape and Sushi Knives. It is a memoir of sorts detailing some quite unsettling experiences of a life led not so long ago in biographical terms. The piece is written with an honesty some folks would prefer to leave in the closet.

Another interesting article is Lady Beats by Hanna Withrow. An interesting, decent sized article about ladies of the Beat Generation. Covering Diane di Prima, Hettie Jones, Joyce Johnson and more.

Also some interesting news on the battle for Kerouac’s estate. And a great feature on Burroughs’ 50th anniversary of Naked Lunch.

The Poets.

There are some great poems in the magazine. Words from Josh Chase, J.S. Mitchell, Michael Shorb, and George Wielgus. Great reading in this section by talented poets.

In General.

All told with the fantastic artwork, great setup, great writing and glossy cover with brilliant artwork by Isaac Bonan of Allen Ginsberg, issue 5 is full of entertainment. I must stress though that Issue 6 is already out, when I get a copy I’ll shout.

The Links.

Here are some of the links connected with Beatdom, just click on the names.. Beatdom, Beatdom on Facebook, Twitter, The Beatdom Blog, Edaurdo Jones, Kyle Chase, City of Recovery Press the publisher of Beatdom.

Beatdom Issue #6 Out Now.

Beatdom issue 6 is out now sporting the best cover (by Andres Salaff) to date. The cover features Kerouac (on foot,) Burroughs driving with Ginsberg next to him. Good-Ole Bukowski in the back and Hunter S. Thompson in the crows nest. My copy has not arrived yet but as usual I’m sure it will be full of great reading. A bit of a twist in this issue, according to D.S.Wills

In the sixth issue of Beatdom, we bring you a host of travel-themed essays and short stories. We have a detailed guide to the personal journeys of the Beat Generation, as well as looking at their influence upon the world.

We also have a previously unpublished short story by Alene Lee, and an interview with Scroobius Pip.

It also has a feature by Edaurdo Jones. Also it has an essay about “HST and travel” by Steven O’Sullivan. You can get it here now. Get it now. Go!