Nice Skies Finish Last.

I had the pleasure of driving in the rain to Yamagata (actually a small nearby town called Nagai) and in the fog on the way back. Still I managed to snap off a few nice pics en route.

 (The sky from this post's title.)

Is that a giant Kokeshi atop that mountain (Click the pic to check for yourself.)

 These top four were taken on the way home.

A clowder of cats, 9 in total, at the chapel. I couldn't get any closer else they'd disperse.

 Awesome little tree frog amidst the cedars.

I'd be remiss if I didn't make a trip to the Yamagata Mandai. Always some cool vintage embiggened posters, this one has King Kong and Le Magicien d'Oz.

Thanks to a quick Googling, it appears that the artwork was taken from this poster.

I found the store itself to be a little pricey and for some odd reason, all the best Godzilla goods were at the top of the display and I had to ascend a rickety footstool to access them. I still managed to find an Orga from Godzilla 2000.

 The second live movie really sucked but this t-shirt doesn't.

A Bearbrick X-man and Loki.

 Finally, Loki's half-brother and nemesis: Angry Baby Thor!

Ya gotta go to Yamagata someday.

Skatoberfest.

I had a good time yesterday drinking with friends, making new friends, and listening to some Japska (Japanese-ska) at Septemberfest Oktoberfest. As usual, the beer was dear yet the company made up for it.

The group above is called おひつじ座流星群 (Ohitsujiza-Ryuueigun loosely translated as The Constellation Aries) and the keyboard player on the left is a former student and current friend of mine, Kelly.

I just plunked my phone down on a railing and aimed it at Kelly's hands for their rendition of Nat King Cole's Smile.



If you're interested in purchasing a CD of theirs, try Hibinone. I have a copy of it, it's an enjoyable listen. They won't be at Oktoberfest this time around but the imported Oompapah band, ヴァイスビアムシー Veisspiamushi?, from Germany,  are pretty damn good. I even convinced a new friend, Manami, to do a polka with me.

She is also the proud recipient of a devilish mask and I even found the final two Masks that I wrote about the other day.

All in all, a pretty fine day.

Ari-gatou, Ari-Man!

FINALLY got to see Antman and hoo boy was it ever worth the wait! Several of my Japanese friends will not have seen it yet, so I won't go spoileriffic yet I must say that the casting was superlative, right down to the unexpected cameo by a previous Antman, a bartender, and ANTony. Since I can't see this in 3D in English, I'm going to have to go see it again in that format, albeit in Japanese. If you don't mind a few spoilers, here is a formidable formicidae review for you.

Here is some of the loot that I picked up tonight. I may gather some more crumbs to take back to my nest.

A pair of stickers that will inevitably end up in my car.

This is the front and back of a page inserter doodad. (You put it between the pages of your notebook to ease writing.

 The inevitable clear-files.

The above is more of a 3D pouch than file.

Awesome movie. Hope springs eternal for a sequel with Antman and the Wasp and hopefully some scenes with Michael Douglas in action.

ps. Ari=ant, ergo the title above.
Tomorrow is the second parter of the Attack on Titan live movie. Woohoo!

Zombears!

Just a quick post tonight, I have lots to catch up on and lots of new stuff to add but little motivation to do so. Resting up before the Countdown, I guess.

Today I was in Village Vanguard and came across a package of Zombie-Bear Ramen or Zomramen. I backed at the 500 yen price tag though I was hungry and felt in the mood for some brains.

 Much to my disappointment, the eyeball and other ingredients aren't included. This is all you get.

 You do get a little page of a story that is rather blurry, sorry. Here's a link to the whole series. Zombear

 The final result, quite filling though it could use some extra stuff.

 Cute isn't it??

I liked him on Facebook, click that and you can too.

Titanic Music.

Just a quick reminder to everyone out there that the sequel to Attack on Titan (live version) opens this weekend. (I wonder if they could convince Celine Dion to do a song for them?)

The last movie had a few tunes by Sekai no Owari.

One of the group has a clown fetish. I had one of these clowns but I gave it away to a worthy cause.

Here's a few samples of their music.
It's my Auntie Hero (x2).





 At the 45 sec. mark, SOS!



It's the End of the World (roughly translated as Sekai no Owari) as we know it. Here is their interpretation of their band's creation.



This is a playlist of the music by composer Shiro Sagasu for the sequel.

01. Le Soleil d’Or
02. War Song
03. Masterplan, Metalopera
04. God have Mercy
05. Rise up, Rhythmetal
06. The Original Sin
07. Boule de cristal, piano
08. For the dead
09. Die die die die!!
10. Temper the wind
11. Orchestre, lent
12. Deuxième ouverture
13. Rise up
14. War, politics and power
15. Attack of Titans
16. Orchestre, géant à l’est
17. ATM, Rhythmetal
18. Orchestre, apogée
19. Golden Sun
20. Boule de cristal, epilogue d'orchestre version complete
　 【Hi-Res Only】
21. Mercy, metal, mercy【Hi-Res Only】
22. L’Obscurité Profonde【Hi-Res Only】

Here is #10:



...and with lyrics:



I'm fairly certain that this will be a more powerful soundtrack than before. I'll let you know after I see the movie...

I'm an Ice Guy.

Over the weekend was the 25th Jozenji Street Jazz Fest, and had a ton of fun attending it. Every year I go, I lament the lack of Jazz music and this was no exception. One colleague I met who is a rookie to the city and a first time goer summed it up as, "Fun time but I haven't heard much Jazz." I'll go into some of the highlights and lowlights in a later post but first I want to explain a little contest I had going with my Facebook fiends friends.

I offered up a free Smirnoff Vodka ICE to anyone who bumps into me. Just utter the phrase, "I'm an Ice Guy." and I'd hand over a tasty beverage. I managed to give away 4 or 5 and drank about 12 of my own over the course of the weekend.

There is madness behind my method here for with each of these bottles, one received a spooky mask as well!

Here are some sexy selfies for your pleasure. These five I picked up on the Saturday.

The following day, I offered up the contest and readied myself with 10 bottles. Over the course of the day, I was given two more and bought two as well. Unfortunately, it's a little tough to discern which one you're getting (some are more obvious than others) and I didn't get a full set of a dozen. Hopefully, I'll rectify that.

The only down side of these masks is that they are quite tight, just barely stretching from ear to ear. Anyone with a fatter head than mine is out of luck. If you are really lucky, I may offer up the doubles I've received during the "Countdown to Halloween 2015" that will begin Oct. 1st and run throughout the entire Halloweeny month.

Which one is your favourite??

There's some kind of a bar-code doodad with each mask, I'll scan it and give details about them later, after I get someone to interpret the results for me.