Tsum of All Fears.

I spent all day yesterday tidying and watching movies and then when it came time to blog, I was too tired. So I'll make this quick, I have to go to work soon and throw a party for my students. I'm also going to show off some Tsum Tsum Marvel characters between movies. (Why will become apparent later.) Starting with

Large:

First up was Exte (Extensions), a hairy movie from 2007. I saw this in the theatre back then and didn't know what was going on. Now that I have English subs, I'm still not sure.

This is from where I'm choosing my movies.

Medium

Before I nodded off to sleep on Sunday, I watched The Snake Girl and the Silver-Haired Witch. Weird but fun and great makeup on the Snake Girl.

Small:

I awoke to the tail end of Audition (1999) and it wasn't pleasant.

I mixed up the order a bit, here's Medium-Large:

Ju-on, the Grudge was the first Japanese movie to give me a nightmare after a viewing in the wee hours years ago. I've since seen it a few times with subtitles, that makes it no less creepy.

Some individual Tsum Tsum with a prop. I'll leave it up to you to guess who is whom.

I missed Hiruko the Goblin in last year's marathon; some good effects, some less than so. Overall pretty good.

I didn't pay much attention to Gakidama, the Demon Within, it wasn't very good so I didn't pay much attention to it. Cronenberg would like it though. Check this out for details. Apparently there's an American remake which is why I can't find a trailer with a cursory search.

High School Ghostbusters (1995) is also a Cronenberg tribute/parody and it was a lot of fun. You can find the whole thing online if you search hard enough.

Evil Dead Trap (1988) was okay if you like the slasher genre (I don't overall).

I caught a few minutes of Lizard Baby, but I saw it recently so I didn't watch it all. I did re-watch As the Gods Will, I enjoyed it in the cinema. It makes a little bit more sense with subtitles.

And then I went to bed. And now to Tsum up why I showed these pictures:

Taadaa!

I have to get going, before I do, here's a quick Yokai.

Not a great translation for Kawa-otoko, Cute man. More apt is River Dude.

I gotta go! Happy Halloween y'all!

Son of a Pitch!

This morning, we had a Halloween party for 70 kids. Our fearless leader, dressed up in some sports gear and asked, "Do you know who I am?" I responded, "A pitchman." then I further elaborated with Son of a Pitch." I guess I'm close enough, he's some famous rugby player playing for Japan, Michael Leech. What a sucker! Kudos to the man, he's having a THIRTIETH Anniversary party on Thursday for his string of Day Cares and Cram Schools!

The backbone of the organization, I suppose you could call her the school's Mummy, showed her true colours with her gauzed guise.

Mario also keeps things running smoothly.

Keeping the wheels turning as well is none other than WALL-E. 

The brawn of the organization is supported by two Creatures of the night. One is a Wolfman (Full Moon tonight!!) who created the games and craft in which the kids participated. 

The other a Billionaire philanthropist with a penchant for Chiroptera. 

 

(Here he is as a lad.)

Not sure what I'm doing with such a prestigious bunch, I suppose they keep me around for comic relief.

I didn't bother taking any photos of the kiddies. Picture 6 or 7 Elsas and only ONE Anna, several pumpkins, witches, two pairs of black cats and white cats, a half dozen different Pokémon characters, a few unicorns, a handful of characters that I'd never heard of, and one fairly impressive ninja gal. Only a couple of parents bothered to wear a costume, this bedraggled Dale was a highlight.

I was impressed by their rotting pumpkins.

After the party, I hooked up with a friend in Rifu and spent whatever cash I'd earned that day. (Not good at saving, natch.) I did score a Blu-Ray of An American Werewolf in London. Surprisingly, apart from this, I've never reviewed this movie. I'll watch it tomorrow, it's a full moon tonight, I don't want to take any chances.

When at Rifu, I convinced an Information clerk to snap my photo at the nearby stand. What a poser.

This monster crane is huge and though it had a few giant dinosaurs and sharks that I wouldn't mind owning, I didn't take the 500 yen risk at trying for one.

I had a couple of Misdo Halloween concoctions. Not bad.

Today's Yokai is the Hidaru-Gami, the Hunger Gods!

Here's a pretty good explanation about them. If you're going for a walk in the forest and are suddenly overcome with severe hunger pangs, these Gods may be the cause of it.

As for a Venom today, I am once again running out of choice entries from my collection. This is about the best I can do for now. If you look closely at this backpack, you can find a few Carnages and a Venom. I really need to up my game for tomorrow.

I have a day off tomorrow, which I'll probably spend watching a dozen Japanese horror movies. They're on right now, I'll probably watch Exte (Hair Extensions) before I go to bed, then get up early and watch several more.

Only two days (SOB!) left to check out the other entries at the Countdown to Halloween. Enjoy!

Ghostly Gyoza!

I tried my gyoza and it was quite yummy. Unfortunately, my computer is being temperamental and not uploading any pics. If they show up, I'll insert them later...

I also carved an Orange Pepper into a Jack o' lantern and it is very cute and bright. No photo, so you'll have to check out this short to witness it. Because it was an expensive veggie, it was dissected and consumed in a salad.

Here's a Yokai for ya 

My translation didn't copy well. So here's a brief explanation. Gagoze is a reiki or Demon Ghost, one of the oldest in recorded history. He tends to kill kids at night and eventually a kid yanked out his hair. (It's a weird story. Check the link.)

Or watch this:

I have an early morning tomorrow, a Halloween party for about 70 kiddies so I'm heading off to slumberland. I wonder how many Wednesdays there'll be?

Oops, almost forgot a Venom treat. How about some Carnage keychains?

Pink Ninja has some treats and puzzles and games that'd be perfect for tomorrow's party. Oh well. Off to bed.

Sleepy Go Lucky.

Yesterday, I showed my Flight Students "Sleepy Hollow" (in English with Japanese subtitles). The squealed with delight and screamed with terror at all the right times. One such moment is this with them harmoniously shouting "Yabai, Yabai, Yabai!!" especially when one is about to be beheaded. (I just checked, I've never reviewed Sleepy Hollow in my blog. I need to rectify that someday.)

I brought my two new Potato and Onion Lanterns to add to their collection of deteriorating veggies.

That eggplant has seen nasu nicer days.

Next Tuesday, I hope to have a Halloween Party and costume parade with them. We'll see how that goes.

Speaking of parties, I attended an event at "Happy Go Lucky", a friend's school downtown Sendai. I wore a succession of masks, not very inventive on my part yet well received by the masses. Here are the highlights of the costumes.

This pair of Wednesday's won first prize, including some jelly beans from me. Most impressive is their "Thing" prop.

I never did learn who was behind the mask in the above pic. Below is that aforementioned friend and main teacher at the school, Apple.

A late addition to the gig, another Wednesday.

I'll be popping into the school later this afternoon, hopefully there'll be a few more costumers.

What is it about just putting a Halloween sticker on a product that forces me to buy it. Hopefully these gyoza will be worth it.

A student once told me the story of an apparition at Himeji Castle who haunted her killer by counting and smashing dishes, driving him loony.

According to this Wiki entry, I may have my Yokai mixed up.

A bit of research and I was thinking of a Yurei, named Okiku as the dish-smasher. The first of these tales tells that story.

Here's an eerie retelling of that tale.

Only a few days left until All Hallow's Eve! Check out Me and You Too, a blog with a ton of cool pics.