Return of the Rat Fink.

Now I'm not saying that Andy is a Rat Fink, nor is Alex one, but there was a Rat Fink present during Friday night's wild rumpus.

I just happen to have purchased a couple of RF stickers a few weeks ago.

Andy is on the left, Alex on the right and K-2S0 on the far right.

We had pizza and beer (lots) and spent the second melee at Dragon Diner. There we managed to swing in Andy's return (One Night Only!) and celebrate Alex's FIFTIETH birthday! At the next party, we went to a little hole in the wall place that is almost NEVER open, only this time it was. Great music but only one gal to share amongst the patrons. Needless to say, she went home with the dj. I did manage to get a dance in, alas it was with a dumbstruck dude. At least he let me lead.

I forgot Alex's present* at home but did manage to give Andy a gift. A Nightmarish fanny pack. (Thanks to Loot Fright Crate.)

Not much else to report, except a snap of a pic of a special at a coffee shop.

Thanks to all those festivities, I didn't get around to posting anything about it on Saturday. I was a tad bleary-eyed. Just when I wanted to post something, I got distracted by a Mad Mad Mad Monster special I'd never seen.

Then a Flintstones' special! The reason I was impressed by this is that the art was done by Mushi Production who worked on Osama Tezuka's works such as Atomu and Princess Knight.

After that, I went to bed.

I'll end with a quick Ukiyoe fish pic (Tametomo?). Forgive me if I've shown this before.

When I get a chance, I'll tell you about today when I delivered Alex's present to him.

The Fool on the Hillside.

When kidnapped by my computer expert, I was briefly released to visit Hillside Mall in the suburb, Nishikigaoka. There was a little festival going on where I ate a banana otherwise not much else to see. Inside though...

First stop, a new shop called Candy Land. It's an offshoot of "From USA" and deals in lots of retro goods from disembowelled Snoopy books to Rat Fink rip offs. I bought a set of 10 Peanuts pages on the hope that I receive a Great Pumpkin page and two stickers depicting a zooming Creature from the Black Lagoon and a sexy Alien with a decapitated C-3PO. 

(Update, no Great Pumpkin. Alas.)

Next stop was Kamoriya Bunkadou Shoten, a fancy name for a 5 & Dime shop that sells old toys and sweets. Best variety and cheapest prices of any that I've seen.

I bought a couple of candies because they depicted monsters and because I get a stamp with them. 

It turns out that the candy IS the stamp!

Very crunchy!

I also bought 4 Conan eggs at half price. 

Oops, they're series 1 and I have the complete set. Oh well, the chocolate is still tasty.

Yay! A pair of Gegege stickers!

Boo! I only got humans, no Yokai!

I bought some puffy stickers because they're Halloween themed (duh) and because I need some to put on the back of my phone so it doesn't slide around.

 

I also picked up a Pez because why not?

In the past I have occasionally discovered some cool Menko here. Oooh, this one has a dragon...

Doh! It's a samurai with a Dragon helmet. Still cool nonetheless.

I have no idea what to do with the obverse of these discs.

Best score though is this Boar mask used by a character from a popular manga/anime whose name eludes me.

I think the frizzled hair and scruffy beard adds to the look. Unfortunately, this will have to be a gift for a child because the elastic is too taut for my fat head.

Then the most dangerous store in the mall, Toy Store Warehouse. Some DC Domez featuring the Batman family including a few doubles for presents. Alas, I didn't get the secret one though I did complete the basic set.

Hmm. I suspect there's an intruder in the Batcave.

Also some Moji that I don't already have a SW helmet.

How could I resist this guy? He's Smoaking!

A set of five mini-towels for under 3 bucks.

And on the first day of the Countdown, I vowed that if I were to find a Backbeard for sale, I'd grab one. Lo and behold!

Here are the first few pages of my Yokai book including the index entry for World Yokai.

My kidnap adventure did not end here but now it's bedtime...

Holy Crap...

I haven't been out on the town for ages, perhaps twice in the last half year!. Tonight I met Alex for a Rooftop Patio Beerfest! We went to Lion's Somethingorother near Ichibancho because it is cheaper than all the rest.

40 bucks, all you can drink and eat in two hours. We got our money's worth. About six beers a piece plus yakiniku meat and veggies. Added bonus...a cute waitress who took a shine to us and extended our last order!!

So we spent two and a half hours of chatting and drinking and eating and avoiding other patrons. It was well spaced out and everyone had to take a forehead temperature check before entry, so it seemed safe enough.

After that we, ventured over to 100 Shops Marketplace for a few more brew...

Alex knew of a joint with retro toys and so that was our next stop. So cool!

This elephant used to be out front of a Drugstore chain, but everyone kept stealing them. I'm not saying that this one was obtained illegally but...

Some menko... But it was so dark in the joint, I couldn't get a good look at them.

 Ooh, more goodies...

Best of all was this vintage Space Invaders desktop game. Whoa, that is the game upon which I was first weaned. I approached it and the old guy behind the bar yelled, "ダメだ!" Which is Japanese for "Get the F*ck away from there!" Okay, chill out man! We ordered our drinks and were quaffing our Lemon Sours when the guy went to the machine and played it the entire time that we were in the joint! Hey, way to rub our noses in it, dude!

Once we paid our tab and left, the guy was much friendlier. Still...what a douche!

We were looking for another place in which to imbibe and while Alex was peeing, I espied this joint with three patrons (including two staff). It seemed to have a bunch of vintage records so I thought Alex would enjoy it. The gal flagged us in and we were blown away by the decor. Andy Warhol posters, Che Guevera on the covers of mags, those vintage albums and then I saw this.

Holy crap! A half dozen copies of 70s Archies! I Nerdgasmed and exclaimed, "Holy Crap!" As I leafed through them, I espied a copy of Weird Worlds #1. Once again I bellowed "Holy Crap!" and then much to my surprise, she gave me the copy of the book!!

The condition was less than stellar, neither cover was attached and it sort of crumbled in my hands, but I was blown away by the find!

So we settled in and listened to several old albums (Sam Cooke, Stones, a copy of To Sir With Love, etc.) and enjoyed our Gin and Tonics. Every now and then, I'd look around the room and exclaim yet again, "Holy Crap!" as I saw some vintage items, such as this. Two Starsky and Hutch figures mint in box! Also an old school Barbie and a Charlie Brown!

Another drink and another Holy Crap later as I discovered a pristine Dukes of Hazard Colouring book with none of the puzzles or pictures touched.

I was running out of Holy Crap moments, and just settled for a photo of Bettie Page.

A few GandTs later and we wandered off to our next locale, Suu's bar, Dragon Diner. He as well as everyone else in Japan have been hard hit by the lack of customers, so he greeted us with open arms (but at a safe distance, natch.)

I knew he had a birthday coming (Saturday, sooner than I'd thought) and so I had prepared a present for him. Based on this huge figure looming in his lobby, I assumed he had an affinity for Rat Fink.

So I just happened to have a handful of RF stickers handy.

After that, I trudged to catch the last subway and am now enlightening you with this Drunken Blog.

Holy Crap! I noticed in the bag in which I carried my comic, towel and tea home that there were some fragments of paper. My copy of Weird Worlds continued to deteriorate...