Following The Hunter

What does a cult book cum film about a hedonistic weekend trip to Vegas and a road adventure taking in all competing nations due to take part in the World Cup this summer have in common? Well quite a lot actually. Firstly, the original adventure was penned by American Gonzo Journalist – Hunter S. Thompson, featuring his famous style of guerrilla offbeat writing and this purposely self copied style of writing also appears in the South African version by upcoming US based hack – Sam H. Rosenthal.


The two titles are mirrored to give the feel of this new world cup blog away. Thompson`s classic novella was of course Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, whilst the 2010 musings carry on the tradition entitled Fear and Loathing en route to South Africa. If you know the score with the original, then you`ll appreciate the follow up isn`t for the faint hearted. In fact the introduction offers… Shootings, drag queens, gun running, match fixing, tattoos, money laundering, riots, dogging, magic mushrooms, hookers, lesbians, heart attacks, muggings, witch doctors, snakes, helicopter crashes, temazepam, trains, gimp masks, booze, organised chaos, ecstasy, Sepp Blatter, robbery, gambling, a la carte, massage parlours, five star, one star, saunas, terrorists, threesomes, death threats, hooligans, hostels, stomach ulcers, deportation, pickled brains, diarrhoea, tyrants, all inclusive, painkillers, communism, shrapnel wounds, local mafia, strap ons, ketamine, rats, djing, heroin, blackmail, c.i.a. ,bleeding gums, torture, bingo, sex shows, planes, buggery, prison cells, banter, uppers, downers, LSD, warlords, fancy dress, paranoia, interrogation, porn stars and more…all on the road to the 2010 football world cup…sounds like the Geordie`s end of season DVD then.

As stated the whole thing is the brainchild of Rosenthal, who was originally covering this escapade for an unnamed US lifestyle magazine, which has since gone under, he has though vowed to complete the assignment and see it out to the bitter end, hence the sporadic entries on the web.

In what could be the best alternative piece of writings in the saturated build up to the world cup, Rosenthal does not hold back, producing explosive material on the page. This project is sure to spiral into a book sometime in the future, I wonder if Johnny Depp will feature in the film version?

The set of blogs can be found at:

Fear and Loathing

I only hope I enjoy watching the tournament as much as I have skirting through Rosenthal`s mind.