?Raindrops on roses
? And whiskkers on kkittens
? Bright copper kkettles
? And warm woollen mittens
? Brown paper packkages tied up with strings
? These are a few of my favourite things ?
We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert
when the drugs began to takke hold.
I remember saying something likke...
I feel Iight-headed. Maybe you should drive.
Suddenly there was a terrible roar all around us,
and the skky was full of what lookked likke bats,
all swooping and screeching and diving around the car.
A voice was screaming...
Holy Jesus!. What are these goddamn animals?.
Hey, did you say something?.
Hm?.
Never mind. It's your turn to drive.
No point in mentioning these bats, I thought.
The poor bastard will see them soon enough.
Fucking pigs!. FIying!
We had two bags of grass, 75 pellets of mescaline,
five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shakker half full of cocaine,
a whole galaxy of multi-coloured uppers, downers, screamers, laughers,
also a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of beer,
a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls.
Not that we needed all that.
But once you get lockked into a drug collection,
the tendency is to push as far as you can.
The only thing that worried me was the ether.
There is nothing in the world more helpless and depraved
than a man in the depths of an ether binge.
I kknew we'd get into that rotten stuff pretty soon.
[newsreader] The report says illegal drugs kkilled 1 60 American GIs last year,
40 of them in Vietnam.
[? Brewer and Shipley:. One Toke Over The Line]
One toke, man.
? One tokke over the line
? Downtown in a railway station
? One tokke over the line...
One toke, you poor fool?. Wait till you see those goddamn bats, man.
? Mine!.
- Let's give that boy a Iify. - What?. No!
We can't stop here. This is bat country.
Hot damn! I never rode in a convertible before!
Is that right?. Well, I guess you're about ready, then.
We're your friends. We're not Iike the others, man. Really.
No more of that talk or I'II put the fucking Ieeches on you, understand?.
Get in.
How long could we maintain, I wondered?.
How long before one of us starts jabbering at this boy?.
What will he thinkk then?.
This same lonely desert was the last kknown home of the Manson family.
Would he makke that connection when my attorney starts screaming
about bats and huge manta rays?.
If so, well, we'll just have to cut his head off and bury him somewhere.
It goes without saying that we can 't turn him loose.
He'd report us to some outbackk Nazi law enforcement agency
and they'll run us down likke dogs.
Jesus, did I say that, or just thinkk it?.
Was I talkking?. Did they hear me?.
It's OK. He's just admiring the shape of your skull.
- No, thanks. - Maybe I'd better chat with this boy.
Perhaps if I explain things, he'll rest easy.
Listen, there's one thing you should probably understand.
Can you hear me?. Good.
I want you to have all the background.
This is a very ominous assignment, with overtones of extreme danger.
I'm a doctor of journalism, man. This is important, goddamn it!
- Get your hands off my fucking neck! - Now, now, now.
Our vibrations were getting nasty, but why?.
Was there no communication in this car?.
Had we deteriorated to the level of beasts?.
This man at the wheel is my attorney.
He's not just some dingbat I found. He's a foreigner.
I think he's probably Samoan. It doesn't matter, though, does it?.
- Are you prejudiced?. - Hell, no.
I didn't think so. In spite of his race, this man is extremely valuable to me.
Oh, shit. I forgot about the beer. You want some?.
- No. - How about some ether?.
- What?. - Never mind.
Let's get to the heart of this thing.
24 hours ago we were...
..in the Polo Lounge of the Beverly Heights Hotel,
in the patio section, of course,
drinkking Singapore Slings with mescal on the side,
hiding from the brutish realities of this foul year of our Lord... 1 97 1.
[mumbles]
Perhaps this is the call you've been waiting for all this time, sir.
Perhaps.
Yep?.
Mm?.
Mm! Really?. Right. Yeah. Why not?. Yeah.
Bye.
- That was headquarters. - [coughs]
Thank you.
They want me to go to Las Vegas,
meet a Portuguese photographer, Lacerda. He'II have all the details.
AII I have to do, check into my soundproof suite, he'II seek me out.
Sounds Iike trouble. You're gonna need plenty of Iegal advice before it's over.
Oh, yeah.
As your attorney, I advise you to rent a fast car with no top.
You'II need the cocaine. Tape recorder for special music.
Acapulco shirts. Get the hell out of LA for at Ieast 48 hours.
- BIows my weekend. - Why?.
Because I'm gonna have to go with you.
We're gonna have to arm ourselves to the teeth.
Well, why not?.
If a thing's worth doing it's worth doing right.
This is the American Dream in action.
Wait!
We'd be fools not to ride this strange torpedo to the end.
Indeed. We must do it.
- What kind of story is this?. - The Mint 400.
It's the richest off-road race for motorcycles and dune buggies in history.
It's a fantastic spectacle in honour of some fatback grossero
who owns the Iuxurious Mint Hotel in Las Vegas.
That's what the press release says anyway.
As your attorney, I advise you to buy a motorcycle.
How else can you cover a thing Iike this righteously?.
We're gonna have to drum it up on our own. Pure...Gonzo journalism.
Jesus!
Getting the drugs and shirts had been no problem.
But the car and tape recorder were not easy to round up at 6.30 on a Friday.
Sounds beautiful. Great. Hang on to it.
Fuckin' A, the gentleman has a major credit card.
Don't take any guff from these swine.
You just said that. Do you realise who the fuck you're talking to?.
Do you?. Be over in 30 minutes.
- We need a sound store. - We won't make the nut without credit.
Jesus Christ, we will, man. You Samoans are all the same.
You have no faith in the essential decency of the white man's culture.
The store was closed, but the salesman said he would wait if we hurried.
But we were delayed en route when a Stingray kkilled a pedestrian.
We had trouble again at the car rental agency.
We're all settled. If I could just get your John Hancock, you're on your way.
You're gonna be real careful with this car, right?.
Oh, yeah, of course.
No, no, no, no, no!
Holy smokes.
You just backed over a concrete abutment and didn't slow down.
You were going 45 miles an hour backwards.
There's no harm done. I always test the transmission that way.
This is really a nice pen, man.
You fellas haven't been drinking, have you?.
No. Not me. We're responsible people.
Goddamn it, you've got my pen!
Goddamn hippies!
We spent the rest of that night rounding up materials and packking the car.
Then we ate some mescaline and went swimming.
Our trip was different.
It was to be an affirmation of everything right in the national character,
a gross physical salute to the fantastic possibilities of life in this country.
But only for those with true grit.
And we are chock full of that.
Dead right.
My attorney understands, despite his racial handicap.
But do you?.
He said he understood, but I could see in his eyes that he didn't.
- He was lying to me. - [Gonzo yells]
Urgh! Aargh!
[gasps and groans]
Medicine! Medicine!
Medicine?. Oh, yeah, medicine. Right here.
Don't worry. This man has a bad heart.
Angina pectoris. But we have a cure for it. Here you go. AII right.
Big whiff. Big whiff. Big whiff, sonny boy.
There you go. Much better.
Now for the doctor.
[Gonzo roars]
Ooh!
Eeeee... Ooh.
What... What the fuck are we doing out here in the middle of the desert?.
[Gonzo] Somebody call the police. We need help.
- We need help. We need help. - [horn blares]
[Gonzo Iaughs]
- The truth. - Truth?.
We're going to Vegas
to croak a scag baron named Savage Henry.
Why?. Because I've known him for years but he ripped us off.
- You know what that means. - You know what that means, right?.
- Savage Henry has cashed his cheque. - Cashed his cheque.
Now we're gonna rip his Iungs out and eat them.
He won't get away with this.
What is going on in this country
when a scum-sucker can get away with sandbagging a doctor of journalism?.
Thanks for the ride! I Iike you! Don't worry about me!
Wait a minute! Come back and have a beer!
Shit. Fuck. I'm gonna miss him.
- Move over. - Did you see his eyes?.
We have to get out of California before he finds a cop.
- Scoot over, you fat bastard! - We had a real freak on our hands! Shit!
We had to get to the Mint Hotel before the deadline for press registration.
Otherwise we might have to pay for our suite.
[squeals]
Jesus! Did you see what God just did to us, man?.
God didn't do that. You did it. You're a fucking narcotics agent.
That was our cocaine, you pig! You fucking pig swine whore!
You'd better be careful.
PIenty of vultures out here. They'II pick your bones clean.
You fucking whore.
Here's your half of the sunshine acid. Eat it.
- How Iong do I have?. - I advise you to drive at top speed.
It'II be a miracle if we get there before you turn into a wild animal.
Pig fucker, pig fucker, pig fucker!
Ready for that?. Checking into a Vegas hotel under a phoney name
with intent to commit capital fraud on a head full of acid?. I sure hope so.
30 minutes. It was going to be very close.
? Well, she's all you'd ever want
? She's the kkind I'd likke to flaunt and takke to dinner
? But she always kknows her place She's got style, she's got grace
? She's a winner
[horn blares]
? She's a lady
? Whoa, whoa, whoa, she's a lady...
Hm?. Hm...
Come on. Take the ticket. I'm busy here.
Take the ticket. Take it.
Take the ticket.
- I need this, right?. - I'II remember your face.
There is no way of explaining the terror I felt.
[woman over PA system] Attention, Mint Hotel guests.
Would the owner of a green Pinto, Minnesota licence...
[Dukke] I was pouring sweat.
My blood is too thickk for Nevada.
I've never been able to properly explain myself in this climate.
OK. Be quiet. Be calm.
Name, rankk and...press affiliation. Nothing else.
She's a waitress about 1 6 years old.
They chopped her goddamn head off right there in the parking Iot.
They cut holes in her and sucked out the blood. They were afyer the pineal gland.
- How's your mama?. - Ignore this terrible drug.
Yeah. Pretend it's not happening.
Hi there!
My name... uh... Raoul Duke.
On the Iist. Free Iunch. Final wisdom.
Total coverage.
I have my attorney...
..eee...eee...
..with me, and I realise that his name is not on that Iist,
but we must have that suite! Must have that suite.
What's the score here?. What's next?.
Your suite isn't ready yet.
But someone was Iooking for you.
We haven't done anything yet!
I can handle this.
This man suffers from a bad heart. But I have medicine.
My name is Dr Gonzo. Prepare a suite at once. We'II be in the bar.
[Iounge music]
[Duke mutters]
[woman] I'm starting to feel that drink.
[Duke growls]
Hey, beat it. Beat it. Go on.
[woman] I Iike the way you did that.
- [Duke whimpers] - Come on. Come on.
- Watch out! - Come on.
Let's get some peanuts. That's one thing that's good for you. Peanuts, man.
Two Cuba Libres, beer, and mescal on the side.
I bet you're a Libra.
[distorted Iaughter]
[woman moans]
[moans]
Who's Lacerda?. He's gonna phone us on the twelfyh floor.
Room 1 21 5. Lacerda.
I couldn't remember.
The name rang a bell but I couldn't concentrate.
Terrible things were happening all around us.
Order some golf shoes, otherwise we'II never get out alive.
[bubbling]
Impossible to walk in this muck. No footing at all.
?..heartache...
[woman over PA] Mr Roger Pratt, please call the hotel operator.
? How can I bear to see your heart breakk?.
? To see your heart breakk over me?.
[distorted buzzing]
? Amore, scusami
? Se sto piangendo
? Amore, scusami...
[distorted shouting and screeching]
[roars]
[Dukke] I was right in the middle of a fuckking reptile zoo.
Somebody was giving booze to these goddamn things.
It won 't be long now before they tear us to shreds.
[distorted whispering]
[Duke's thoughts mingle with external cacophony]
PIease! Tell me about the fucking golf shoes.
[all] Huh?.
Jesus God AImighty. Look at that bunch over there. They've spotted us.
That's the press table, man. You're gonna have to sign in for our credentials.
OK?.
Are you ready?.
- Hm?. - Are you ready?.
- Come on. - Wait! Don't Ieave me here!
[gunfire]
Two club sandwiches. And two more club sandwiches.
One, two, three, four shrimp cocktails
and nine fresh grapefruit.
[Gonzo] Vitamin C. Need all we can get.
[Duke] There's a big machine in the sky. Some kind of...
- A quart of rum. -..electric snake coming straight at us.
- Shoot it. - Not yet. I want to study its habits.
You're sure hearty eaters.
Sorry. I need the cart. I need to return with the cart.
Thank you, but the cart needs to go back. I'II be back.
- I'm hit, man! - I Ieave you alone for three minutes.
You start waving that marlin spike round, yelling about reptiles.
- What are you talking about?. - You scared those people.
They were ready to call the cops. You're Iucky I came back.
Don't come near me! Don't come fucking near me!
Leave me alone.
They only gave us press passes to get you out of there.
- [knock at door] - Oh, God, what's that?.
That scene straightened me right out.
Who's at the door?.
- [TV] As the bombing continues in Laos... - Just a minute.
- [impatient knocking] - Oh, shit! Oh, my God!
Hi. I'm Lacerda, your photographer.
Duke?.
- Back there. - Duke?.
Duke?. Hi!
Lacerda. Your photographer.
- You're not Portuguese! - You missed the bikes checking in.
Man, what a sight. Husquavarnas, Yamahas, DMCs.
Kawasakis.
Maicos. Pursangs.
Swedish fireballs.
A couple of Triumphs here and there. A CZ. AII very, very fast. Very.
[Lacerda] What a race it's gonna be.
[Iaughs]
I'm gonna Iet myself out.
We know what you're up to.
I'm gonna tell you. He's Iying to us.
- I could see it in his eyes. - Eyes?.
[TV] Reuters news agency says...
My God...
Turn that shit off.
[Dukke] The racers were ready at dawn. Very tense.
In some circles, the Mint 400 is a far, far better thing
than the Super Bowl, the Kentuckky Derby
and the Lower Oakkland Roller Derby Finals rolled into one.
This race attracts a very special breed.
- Fuck off. - AII right.
It was time to get grounded,
to ponder this assignment and figure out how to cope.
It was time to do the job.
Those of us who had been up all night were in no mood for coffee.
We wanted strong drinkk.
We were, after all, the absolute cream of the national sporting press.
We were gathered here in Las Vegas for this very special moment in sport.
When it comes to a thing likke this, you don 't fool around.
[man snores]
It's just beautiful.
Money plays, money plays.
[Duke] Kill the body, the head will die. AIi-Frazier fight.
- Crazy shit, man. - A proper end to the '60s.
AIi beaten by a human hamburger.
- Both Kennedys murdered by mutants. - They're starting!
- Oh, shit. Let's go! - [announcer] Ladies and gentlemen.
Welcome to the start of the $50, 000 Mint 400 Desert Race,
with $50, 000 going to the winner
of this gruelling, gut-wrenching, nuts-eating motocross extravaganza.
And away we go!.
We've got rooster tails going. We're here to spit in your enemy's eye!.
Very good. Mm.
[announcer lists the bikkes]
And they're off!.
All right, here we go, third grid.
There they are!. Here we go!.
[coughs]
[Dukke] There were something likke 1 90 more bikkes waiting to start.
They were due to go off, ten at a time, every two minutes.
There you go, buddy.
[blows nose]
Goddamn it, what day is it?. Saturday?.
More Iike Sunday.
Hello, anyone. Have you seen the race?.
By 1 0. 00, they were spread out all over the course.
It was no longer a race. Now it was an Endurance Contest.
The idea of trying to cover this race in any conventional sense was absurd.
Hey! It's pretty great! Come on in!
I'm just gonna try different combinations of Ienses and film
until I find something that works in this dust.
Hold on. That's fucking machine guns, man. They're firing at us.
Machine guns! Get us out of here, quick!
Quick! We're gonna be killed, for fuck's sake!
What the... Oh, no! Oh, God, oh, God, oh, God.
- Where's the damn race?. - Beats me, man.
We're just good patriotic Americans Iike yourselves.
What outfit you fellas with?.
Oh. The sporting press. We're friendlies. Hired geeks.
Yeah.
Let's go.
Good Iuck, gentlemen.
- Freaks. Take me back to the pits. - No, no, no, no!
We have to go on! We need Total Coverage!
It was time, I felt, for an agonising reappraisal of the whole scene.
You're fired.
Awful jackass.
- Don't drive into the dust! - I never want to see you again!
I gotta change Ienses! Don't drive into the dust!
Huh?. Oh...
The race was definitely underway.
I had witnessed the start. I was sure of that much.
But what now?. What comes next?.
[? Tom Jones:. It's Not Unusual]
Turn up the radio. Turn up the tape machine.
Roll your goddamn window down.
Let us taste this cool desert wind.
Oh, yes. This is what it's all about.
Total control now.
Tooling along the main drag on a Saturday night in Vegas.
Two good ol' boys in a fire-apple red convertible.
Stoned. Ripped. Twisted.
Good people.
"Hot slots. " That sounds heavy.
29-cent hot dogs.
What are we doing?. Are we here to entertain ourselves or do the job?.
Do the job, of course. Here we go.
Crab Louie and a quart of muscatel for $20.
I advise you to drive over to the Tropicana.
Pick up on Guy Lombardo. He's in the BIue Room.
- Why?. - Why?. Why what?.
Why should I pay my hard-earned dollars to watch a fucking corpse?.
I don't know about you, but in my Iine of business,
it's important to be happy.
What do you think you're doing?. This is not a parking area.
- You've got to move. - You can't park here.
- Excuse me. Sir. - You can't park...
- You can't park here! - Is this not a reasonable place to park?.
Reasonable?. You're on a sidewalk! It's the sidewalk!
- Debbie Reynolds?. - You can't park on the sidewalk!
- Seems Iike a hot ticket. - Excuse me, sir...
Drove all the way from LA for this show.
We're friends of Debbie's.
- OK, bye. - See you Iater.
This was Bob Hope's turf.
Frankk Sinatra's. Spiro Agnew's.
The place fairly reekked of high-grade Formica and plastic palm trees.
Clearly a high-class refuge for Big Spenders.
Have they started the show on stage?.
Sorry, sir. Full house. I'm sorry, sir.
- I drove from LA for this show. - There are no seats Iefy at any price.
Fuck seats. We're friends with Debbie.
I used to romp with her.
- Are you prepared to go to court?. - That depends.
I want to talk to you for a second.
Your attitude constitutes a breach of faith.
A Iot of that's illegal.
- What's your name?. - My name?. Tony Pitzicatta.
Tony Pitzicatta.
What, may I ask, is your name, sir?.
It's on my driver's Iicence. I think we've met before.
Might be able to squeeze you in, sir. Have to stand in the back.
After a lot of bad noise, he let us in for nothing,
provided we would stand quietly at the backk and not smokke.
[MC] Ladies and gentlemen, proudly presenting
the one, the only, the incomparable Miss Debbie Reynolds.
[Debbie Reynolds] Good evening. It's wonderful to be here with all you people.
Let's rockk and roll!.
[? Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts CIub Band]
- [Duke giggles] - Come on, get out of here.
Shit! We wandered into a fucking time capsule.
Scumbag! I'II find where you Iive and burn your house down, you piece of shit.
- What happened?. - Look.
One of these days I'II toss a fucking bomb in that place.
Hey. This is the place.
They'II never fuck with us here.
Where's the ether?. Mescaline's not working.
There we go. Right.
Toss that.
Yeah, why not?.
[Gonzo inhales]
[Dukke sighs] Devil ether.
It makkes you behave likke the drunkkard in some early Irish novel.
Total loss of all basic motor skkills.
Blurred vision, no balance, numb tongue.
The mind recoils in horror, unable to communicate with the spinal column,
which is interesting. You can watch yourself behaving in this terrible way,
but you can 't control it.
You approach the turnstiles, and kknow that when you get there
you have to give the man $2 or he won 't let you in.
But when you get there, everything goes wrong.
Some angry Rotarian shoves you and you thinkk, "What's happening here?. "
When you hear yourself mumbling...
Dogs fucked the pope. No fault of mine.
Ether is the perfect drug for Las Vegas.
In this town, they love a drunkk. Fresh meat.
Come on, buddy.
They put us through the turnstiles and turned us loose inside.
[MC over PA system] Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls,
visitors of all ages.
The Bazookko Casino Circus proudly presents
the Flying Fellinis.
[band plays circus music]
[inhales]
[distorted snarling]
[? band plays Teddy Bears' Picnic]
Excuse me.
[Duke mutters]
A drug person can cope with seeing their grandmother
crawl up their leg with a kknife.
But nobody should be askked to handle this trip.
Bazookko Circus is what the whole world would be doing
if the Nazis had won the war.
This was the Sixth Reich.
Everyone's a winner. Nobody is a Ioser.
Shoot the pasties off the nipples of the ten-foot bull-dyke.
[ape chatters]
[blows raspberry]
Step up to this fantastic machine.
Your Iikeness will appear 200 feet tall on a screen over downtown Las Vegas.
For just 99 cents more, you'II be able to voice-message.
They'II hear you all right. You'II be 200 feet tall!
The ether was wearing off. The acid was long gone.
But the mescaline was running strong. Good mescaline comes on slow.
The first hour is all waiting.
About halfway through its second hour,
you curse the creep who burned you as nothing 's happening. Then... zang!
I hate to say this, but this place is getting to me.
I think I'm getting the Fear.
Nonsense. We came here to find the American Dream.
Now that we're in the vortex, you want to quit?.
You must realise we found the main nerve.
That's what gives me the Fear.
- Look. - What?.
There's two women fucking a polar bear.
Don't tell me those things.
Not now, man.
This is my Iast drink. How much money can you Iend me?.
- Not much. Why?. - I have to go.
- Go?. - Yeah.
- Leave the country. - Calm down!
You'II be straight in a few hours. Just sit the fuck down.
Don't fuck around, man. This is serious.
One more hour in this town, I'II kill somebody.
OK. I'II Iend you some money.
Come with me. I want to Ieave fast.
Let's pay this bill, get up very slowly...
- I think it's going to be a Iong walk. - Light, sir?.
- Do they pay you to screw that bear?. - What?.
What?. What the fuck did he say to me?.
- He's drunk. - You'd better take care of your friend.
Madam, sir, baby, child, whatever.
Take this. That should be enough.
Let's go downstairs and gamble.
You guys don't fucking give up.
Where did he go?. Where did he go?.
- When is this thing gonna stop?. - Stop?. It won't stop.
It's not ever gonna stop, man. Don't move. You'II come around.
Fuck, he's...
Where did he go?.
Come on. Let go. Quick. Like a bunny. Come on.
- Hop. Come on. Hop. - Fucker!
Oh, you chickenshit bastard.
AII right.
Oh, fuck!
- Come on. You fell. Let's go. - Son of a bitch pushed me in the back.
[woman] Go away!
You stay here and go to jail. I'm Ieaving.
Come on, you fiend. Nothing. I want nothing.
Did you see that?.
Some son of a bitch just kicked me in the back.
The bartender wanted to stomp you for what you said to the waitress.
Cows are gonna kill me.
Bisexuals are gonna kill me. Where's the elevator?.
Don't go near the elevator. That's what they want us to do.
Drop us in a steel box, take us down to the basement. Come here.
[shooting]
Don't run, man. They'd Iike any excuse to shoot us.
You drive. You drive.
I think there's something wrong with me.
Wrong door. Next door.
This is not a good town for psychedelic drugs.
Extremely menacing vibrations were all around us.
We finally made it to the room, but the kkey wouldn 't open the door.
- They've changed the Iock on us, man. - AIready?.
They probably searched the room, man.
Jesus Christ, we're finished.
Watch out! Watch out!
Bolt everything! Use all the chains!
That's better now.
Where did this one come from?.
- Um...that's Lacerda's. - Yeah, I thought we might need it.
- What for?. - What for?.
So we can go up there and blast him out of bed with a fire hose, man.
I think we should Ieave that poor bastard alone. He was going to turn in early.
I knew it. He got a hold of my woman, man!
You mean that Iittle blonde groupie with the film crew?.
- Shit. Do you think he sodomised her?. - That's right. Laugh about it.
- He's glueing her eyes shut right now. - You honkies are all the same.
Goddamn honkies are all the same.
Jesus God AImighty, man. Where did you get that big fucker?.
Room service sent it up.
I needed something to cut the Iimes, man.
Limes?. What Iimes?.
They didn't have any. They don't grow in the desert.
That dirty toad bastard.
I should have taken him out when I had the chance.
[growls] Now he has her, man.
He got a hold of my baby. Yeah.
I remembered the girl.
We'd had a problem with her a few hours earlier.
My attorney had made a fool of himself.
[chatter]
You must be a rider.
Hm?.
She's speaking to you.
- What class are you in?. - CIass?. What the fuck do you mean?.
What do you ride?.
See, we're here getting a Iittle footage on the race for a television series.
I thought maybe we could use you.
Use me?. I ride a...
"Mother of God, " I thought. "Here it comes. "
I ride the big fuckers. The big ones.
- The really big fuckers. Yeah. - The Vincent BIack Shadow.
- We're with the Factory Team. - Bullshit.
- What?. - Bullshit.
I think there's some kind of ignorant chicken-fucker in this town.
You pink motherfucker. I can show you better than I can tell you, asshole.
Got a Iight?.
No.
You don't trust me, do you?.
- It's OK. I know these guys. - Keep trying me, jerk-off.
You want to impress her?. Well, impress her with me.
Oh, fuck.
[elevator bell]
[whooping]
[? The Yardbirds:. For Your Love]
The police are coming afyer you.
Give me the key.
- ? For your love... - [whooping]
- ? For your love... - [knocks at door]
- Put the knife away. - It's in my pocket. Come on.
[secures chain]
Goddamn it. It's serious now.
That girl understood, man.
She fell in Iove with me, man. Eye contact, man.
[roars]
Go up there and castrate that fucker. I'II take the blame, man.
Just Ieave that weird fucker alone, man.
Have you made a deal with him?. Did you put him onto her?.
AII right, Iook. You better put that goddamn blade away, man.
Get your fucking head straight. I'm gonna get the car washed.
One thing you learn after years of dealing with drug people
is that you can turn your backk on a person, but never on a drug,
especially when it's waving a razor-sharp hunting kknife in your eye.
What was I doing out here?.
What was the meaning of this trip?.
Was I just roaming around in a drug frenzy of some kkind?.
Or had I really come to Las Vegas to workk on a story?.
Who are these people?. These faces?.
Where do they come from?.
They lookk likke caricatures of used-car dealers from Dallas.
And sweet Jesus, there are a lot of them at 4. 30 on a Sunday morning.
Still humping the American Dream,
that vision of the big winner somehow emerging from the pre-dawn chaos
of a stale Vegas casino.
- Twenty. - Your change, twenty. Thank you.
- Here we go. - The wheel's spinning.
The wheel's spinning. Make me rich. Make me very rich.
Eee...
- That's ten. - Oh, you bastard.
- Sorry. - No, no. Calm down.
Learn to enjoy losing.
[rockk music]
Fuck, man. It's a fucking great deluge in here. Don't touch that.
Don't fuck with it, man.
- [music off - Oh, God.
- Did you eat all this acid?. - That's right. Music!
Pray there's Thorazine in that bag. Otherwise you're in trouble.
Music, man. Put that tape on.
- What tape?. - Jefferson Airplane. White Rabbit.
- I need a rising sound. - You're doomed.
I'm Ieaving here in two hours. They're gonna beat the shit out of you there.
[screeches]
AII right, I'II do it, I'II do it.
Just do me one Iast favour, will you?.
Can you give me two hours?. That's all I ask, man. Two hours to sleep.
I suspect it's going to be a very difficult day.
- I'II give you all the time you need. - EIectrocution. We don't want that.
Fuck off.
[? Jefferson Airplane:. White Rabbit]
Goddamn!
Oh, God. Oh, mother of God.
- Help! Help! I need help! - Shit! He's killing himself!
[grunts and groans]
- Don't touch it! Let go! - [roars]
- For fuck's sake, man! - Back, back, back!
Back the tape up!
Back down!
- Back down! - [roars]
- Let it roll, man! - What?.
When it comes to that fantastic note
when the rabbit bites its own head off,
I want you to throw that fucking radio
into...the tub...with me.
Fuck, you've gone completely sideways, man.
That'II blast you right through the wall. You'II be dead.
- They'II make me explain things. - Bullshit.
Don't fuck with me now, man. I am Ahab.
Jesus Christ.
AII right, you weird fucker. Sit down.
I'II plunge this into your fucking throat.
Don't make me use this, man.
AII right, man. Probably the only solution.
Let me make sure I've got this all Iined up.
You want me to throw this into the tub when White Rabbit peaks?.
Is that it?.
[breathes heavily]
I was beginning to think I was gonna have to go outside
and get one of the goddamn maids to do it.
I'II do it. Sure. What are friends for?.
[Gonzo gasps and roars]
- ?..she'll kknow... - You ready?.
[gasps and strains]
CIose your eyes. Yeah. Good boy.
?..have fallen sloppy dead...
- Higher! - Goddamn it! You're wasting my time!
Higher, man! Higher!
[volume increases]
OK. CIose those peepers.
- Ten... - [roars]
nine... 1 1 1...
22... three!
[music off
[shouts]
SIeep.
[Gonzo roars]
[whooshing]
You bastard!
Mace! Mace, man. You want this?.
I guess you do.
- You'd do that, wouldn't you?. - Well, why not?.
- You fucking bastard. - Hell, you were asking me to kill you.
Now you want to kill me. I should call the fucking police!
Boy, are you upset!
You came apart, man. Calling the cops.
There's no choice.
I wouldn't go to sleep with you with a head full of acid,
wanting to slice me up with that goddamn knife.
Who said anything about slicing you up?.
I just wanted to cut a Iittle Z in your forehead. [Iaughs wheezily]
Get back in the tub, eat some reds and try to calm down. Smoke some grass.
Shoot some fucking smack. Do whatever you've gotta do.
But please, give me some fucking rest, man. PIease.
PIease. Get up, you pig fucker!
Up! Up!
Well. I, uh... Yeah.
You need to get to work.
Goddamn. What a bummer.
You scurvy shyster bastard. I'm a doctor of journalism, man.
Don't Iet me keep you up, don't Iet me keep you up.
- [blasts horn] - CIean your shorts!
CIean your shorts, goddamn it. Like a big boy. Go on.
The acid had shifted gears on him.
The next phase would probably be one of those intense introspective nightmares.
Four hours or so of catatonic despair.
[Gonzo mutters and roars]
- Ooh. - [Gonzo yells]
Ignore the nightmare in the bathroom.
Just another ugly refugee from the Love Generation.
My attorney had never accepted the notion,
often espoused by former drug abusers,
that you can get a lot higher without drugs than with them.
Neither have I, for that matter.
?.. is found
? To be lies
? And all the joy
? Within you dies
? Don 't you want somebody to love?.
? Don 't you need somebody to love?.
? Don 't you want somebody to love?.
? You better find somebody to love
? Love, love...
[Dukke] 1 965. The great San Francisco Acid Wave.
I recall one night in a place called the Matrix.
There I was... Mother of God! There I am.
Holy fuckk!
Clearly I was a victim of the drug explosion,
a natural street freakk, just eating whatever came by.
[distorted] Anybody want some LSD?.
I got all the makings right here.
AII I need is a place to cook.