I haven't decided which of these things is stranger. After all, politics has become a zero-sum game, and you use whatever you can to win--even semi-closeted gay man with serious personal issues. It's been documented that the administration paid somewhere around a million bucks last year to supposed "objective" journalists. Why should we be surprised that they're salting their press conferences with fake reporters? For that matter, anyone who is truly surprised that the Prez has smoked pot just isn't paying attention. It's not important, but that hasn't stopped the insane and inane press corps from going, well, gonzo over the story.

And just about everyone knew that the NHL wouldn't play a game this year. I saw the second-to-last Carolina Hurricanes game of last season, and I fully expect that I actually saw the second-to-last Carolina Hurricanes game, period. I almost always side with the players in these disputes (rabid capitalists demanding wage and price controls makes for great theater, but the smell of hypocrisy this rank makes me ill), but I can't say I supported their negotiating tactics. The blame lies with everyone, which is why it's only fair to say all parties contributed to NHL RIP.

As for Hunter, well, shoving a gun in his mouth and pulling the trigger is probably the most poetic way he could go. I first learned the news while watching the ESPN ticker this morning (columns are late this week because I was out of town last night), and I have to say it was somewhat surreal (but strangely appropriate) that I learned of his death right after getting the results for the NBA All-Star game.

I had a college prof (well, an instructor at the journalism school, which isn't exactly a prof) who once lived down the road from HST. He said the occasional discharge of firearms didn't bother him so much as the damage that Hunter's ostriches inflicted on the local cars--pecking, defecating, stomping, you name it. I can see where that would be annoying.

So what to make of a week like that? I don't know. If "Jeff Gannon" had actually appeared in a porno, well, that would really be something. If the NHL had canceled and uncanceled its season within three days, well, that would be completely bizarre. And if Hunter S. Thompson had died of cancer or gout or a bee sting, well, that would simply be sad.

Sometimes, things happen the way they should happen. Sometimes, the strangest truth has a way of making the world seem just a wee bit saner. In any case, I haven't read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas in a couple years. My account is way overdue.

Jon Worley would like to observe that HST inspired not only Doonesbury's Raoul "Uncle" Duke (as reported faithfully in every obit), but also "Gonzo," the chicken-loving Muppet.