Gonzo Today Publisher and Contributing Editor
I turn three quarters of a century this August, which seems worthy of commentary.
It’s been a good number of months since I’ve troubled to publish my thoughts. An interval during which I’ve been involved in musical pursuits and contemplation of the evolving state of my spirit, my interior being and the world around me.
My conclusions start with the fact that I find very few people who I consider wholly sane, both in my personal life and those I read about or watch in various types of computerized media like YouTube. Sanity is a tricky word to define, and extremely subjective, of course, but over the decades it seems to me that various forms of madness have grown in humanity.
As I have discussed in my previous writings, I have various methods of coping with that disturbing observation.
First off, aside from a bit of watching professional American football, I refuse to look at television or movies. This refusal comes from a thirty-year experience of working as a union crew member on film sets in California, where I labored on every major studio lot and hundreds of location sets. Those decades sit like a lump in my memory. The reader can choose to believe me, or not, when I say the filmed entertainment business and their productions are a profound evil. I will admit to enjoying the money I made, however.
My coping mechanism of not watching often troubles people who want to engage me in conversations about shows they’ve viewed that they want to discuss. For many, these viewing experiences are important. In my opinion, it makes them crazy, or crazier. Remember, I know how this stuff is made. And who makes it.
I could and probably should write a book about my Hollywood Years, but let’s move on. To drugs, both legal and illegal.
Almost everyone I know is on some type of drug. I myself eat chocolate, a substance that soothes me, but aside from that and the occasional hit of pot or drink of alcohol in vodka a couple times a month, I am drug free. That includes statins, the pernicious entry-level crap doctors have attempted to get me on, and anti-depressants.
Yes I’ve taken a lot of psychedelics, starting in the 60s, but not lately. Hard to find anything I trust.
I believe that the weird drugs people take, and the even weirder combinations of them, the effects of which are poorly researched and understood, make people crazy, or crazier.
The so-called vax? As I’ve previously commented at length, never took it. Never got COVID. People who got jabbed often got crazy, in my opinion. What a toxic scam.
All right, moving on again, to water. Almost all tap water is contaminated. I drink and cook with spring water in glass bottles. To consume anything else, in my view, is nuts.
So, then there’s AI, which I utterly refuse to engage with. I could write a lengthy blast, but will simply say I neither like it or trust it.
On a happier topic, I had my snow-white facial hair dyed dark, as a jest for a musical performance celebrating my Big Day. Dunno if I’ll keep it, but it’s been wacky fun. People react differently to me, I notice. It’s amusing.
The good stuff in my life, I treasure. Gardening, reading books, playing music, singing, walking, selling wonderful musical instruments at a unique music shop where I am privileged to work part time, discussing the state of the universe with my few remaining sane friends.
A diminishing group, I’m sorry to report. Some have Moved On, others gone over the edge to a point where I no longer engage with them or do so very gingerly.
I like talking on the phone with good pals or family. I’ll text as necessary. Email if I must. Social media I’ve cut way back on.
Politics? Sheesh. On the criminal Iran War alone Trump should have been removed by either impeachment or the 25th Amendment this year. Both parties are complicit. Sickening.
My health is good, I’m happy to say. Quite lucky, really. Thanks Higher Power. I’ll stay as long as you want me to.
I’d like to complete my mission, and then Go Home.
Kyle K. Mann
Portland, OR
Aug. 18, 2026
