They Don't Know Jack.

Last Tuesday, I had a lesson with some adults and they just happened to all be ladies that evening. So, as promised, I brought along the pumpkin that I'd purchased during the Jazz Festival in early September and showed the gals how to carve a Pumpkin.

First of all, the pumpkin was not very large so they were surprised by how little it weighed compared to a similarly-sized Japanese kabocha. I invited each of them to take a stab at the scalp until we removed its top. Once again, they were surprised at how smoothly and effortlessly it was to slice into the rind. Though I'd remembered to bring knives, I did forget to bring any spoons, so we had to scoop out the guts and seeds by hand. Fortunately, I did bring a pair of rubber gloves. The lass at the Jazz Fest who sold me the gourd told me that the seeds wouldn't be edible. I dunno, they looked pretty good to me, even so, I heeded her advice. 1/7 of the ladies was considerably younger (only 17) and I asked her to design a face for Jack. It was fairly straightforward with triangular eyes and a smile with a few jutted out upper teeth. So we set out to deface face it. I did most of the cutting, one braver lady did an eye. Here's the result.

They were all suitably impressed. Since I had no* candles, I took the Jack Pumpkinhead home and finished off the scooping of the interior and tidied it up.

I lied a little just then, I do have a few candles but this is how they are shaped.

Why, you may ask, "Do you only have penis-shaped candles?" These are the result of a Fertility I went to over 13 years ago. (IF you click that link, be warned it is full of NSFW willies on parade.)

So I cut the balls off of one of the candles and melted it down a bit so it was more presentable to take to school. This is the face with the lit candle within.

The kids at school were all impressed with my Jack-o'-Lantern and NO ONE (neither teachers nor kids) had ever seen a real one before. In the grand scheme of things, it's a pretty lame-ass Jack, but I managed to impress the locals and that met my goal.

While I'm on the topic, one friend did a terrific job with his pumpkin. Can you guess who this is?

If you guessed Skeksis, you'd be correct.

ps. Here is the final postcard from my Eko Eko Azarak set. I actually found a copy of issue 8 of the manga yet haven't had time to photograph it yet!

Happy Halloween everyone!!
I'm off to a Halloween Party at Ha'penny Bridge if any of you want to tag along. Details tomorrow...

Around Town...

In between parties and school and sleeping off a head cold, I've managed to take in some of the sights of the city, specifically the more decorative areas.

The Aeon Mall in Natori has Halloween decor in various locations throughout.

 

 

 

I watched Gemini Man (pronounced as Gem-in-ee Man in Japanese). I liked older Will and hated younger Will. Now how did he pull that off?

At the Disney store, they're selling secret Clear Files. I'm glad I didn't get the Thor or Hulk-stinky artwork.

Hey, a Spidey Dr. Pepper!

Whoa, a Used-book sale at e-Beans and they had a ton of 200 yen comics. I bought a few, these two are relevant to Halloween.

 

A cool tale features Black Lighting and Katana vs. Kuchisake-Onna.

 

There's a Conan display at Loft.

And a pop-up store of whatever the heck this is.

 

Here are some of the goodies I purchased and plan to give out at tomorrow's Halloween Party.

  

I do like this bag from Kaldi.

I bought these for myself, they were quite tasty!

And this is for dinner tomorrow night!

Finally, I really like this Kappa that I won!

Love Sucks!

Squeezing in another entry before bedtime, here are some items I recently acquired thanks to Loot Crate. (Stupid Loot Crate, why'd ya have to go bankrupt?)

This t-shirt sums up my love-life of late.

A very cute blanket featuring a loving couple.

La Llorona! (Sing along with me substituting this for My Sharona!)

Kawaii Kult!

Finally, a bunch of Valentine cards. Sure, it's a tad early and the puns are awful, but the artwork is sweet.

Rest in Pieces, Loot Crate. You shall be missed.