Fear and Loathing in Seoul

There are advantages and disadvantages to a Hunter S. Thompson/Raoul Duke Halloween costume. First, the disadvantages:

- As you might guess, not everybody gets it. This occasionally led to hilarity. As I was standing in line for the john a British bloke approached me and asked if I was an American tourist. I responded that no, I was Hunter S. Thompson. "No," he said. "You're either an American tourist or Johnny Depp from Fear and Loathing."

- It's not very warm. It's well suited to Vegas, but not to Seoul on a cold fall evening. Chuck Taylors soak through very quickly.

- Some people are a little too enthusiastic about it, such as the chap who screamed "THIS IS BAT COUNTRY!!!!!!" in my ear.

- I didn't have any ether.

But there are many advantages:

- It's cheap. I owned the Converse, shorts, and the shirt (Acapulco shirt shipped courtesy of Mom). The aviator glasses were left over from the Walter Sobchak costume. The hat was 2,000 won at the 1,000 won store (what a rip-off!). The cigarette holder was assembled from materials worth about 12 cents.

- It's comfortable.

- When people liked it, they REALLY liked it. I got appreciative shouts all night. One member of the U.S. military was so enthralled with it that he bought my party a round of Agwa/Red Bull shots, which were fantastic.

- I have a sneaking suspicion I may have won a costume contest at a bar, but I couldn't confirm this.

- I got to run around randomly calling people "swine" and accusing them of ibogaine addiction.


More on our Halloween exploits to follow.