My Two Yen Worth

2012-01-29T01:35:00.000+09:00

Hodgepodge.

I don't feel like snapping any photos nor taking the time to upload stuff, so here is a lazy post of stuff I've seen tonight.

I wonder if this will be in 3D when Lucas remakes all of his masterpieces for that medium?

I forgot to mention Robbie Burns Day on the 25th. Here is a haggis recipe that you may like to try.

I'm a King Bee:

The unembeddable Castration Walk! Click that, it's really worth it!

2012-01-28T00:47:00.001+09:00

Something Wicker This Way Comes.

About 2 1/2 years ago, I paid a visit to the Tagajo Historical Museum and snapped a few pics inside and out. I had some time to kill last week so I dropped by there again. On the way there though, I decided to visit the extemely fascinating* "Ruins of Tagajo Castle".

*Warning: may not actually be fascinating.

Very little difference from the last time I was at the museum, but this time, I was greeted by the Count and managed to take photos of a few more corpses & skulls.

So I'd seen all that before but I must have taken a new route for I discovered this display that I hadn't seen before. Within was a roomful of the coolest characters made of Wicker. I half expected to bump into Ingrid Pitt & Christopher Lee encasing Edward Woodward within one of the bigger ones. (Come to think of it, I wonder if "The Wicker Tree" will ever come to Japan?)

The big ones are called お人形様 (O-ningyou sama = Giant Dolls) and you can find more pictures of them here.

I wonder what treats will await me there when I revisit in another few years?

2012-01-27T02:01:00.000+09:00

Winer Whiner.

Everyone is familiar with Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, right? Sure she'd taken her shtick from Vampira, but definitely improved upon it in big ways.

This Minxy gal, who likes to teach Japanese to the masses by showcasing her two biggest talents, once took on Elvira. Not a bad impersonation, though not great either.

Elvira responded with her own video and royally pwned the Minx!

Even better is her spoof of ~~Michael~~ Sarah Palin!

A while back, I commissioned Alex's sister (Stacey whose husband is a winer) to see if she could procure me a bottle of Elvira's Macbrenet. Sure 'nuff, I was presented with a bottle of the red liquid last week!

I hope to pop it open soon and if I get a Red cork, I can send it to Elvira for some undisclosed treat!

Oh, yeah. Alex also gave me a pair of Ghostbuster Boxers in which he wrapped the bottle. Very considerate!

2012-01-26T10:58:00.001+09:00

Always Bet On Blackjack.

While in Akihabara, I discovered this cool little hole in the wall gallery that sells fan-based art of Anime characters, primarily the works of Osamu Tezuka. Unfortunately photos weren't permitted but they gave out a postcard of the project, entitled "osamu moet moso".

I did manage to pick up an item that I'd been tempted by in the past for 2/5s of the price! I'm a proud owner of some Blackjack Toilet Paper!

I keep my specialty TP in my Earthquake Emergency Bag, cuz that'd be the only time I'd be forced to use it, in an emergency.

2012-01-25T01:28:00.001+09:00

I'll Get You My Pretties!

When in Akihabara, the first thing I did is enter one of those massive shops where individual vendors rent a glass case and sell all kinds of goodies from within. I was looking for some obscure Godzilla stuff when I came across something I'd never seen before. Three figures from "The Wizard of Oz!" As soon as I espied them, I asked the Shopkeeper if he had any others...he didn't. So for the rest of the day I wandered the Otaku shops in vain, hoping for lightning to strike twice. I've since tried to track them down on Google but can't locate anything that quite matches them. I can only assume that there were at least a half-dozen characters but more likely a dozen. I won't tell you how much I spent in case someone out there wants to offer me a small fortune for them.

If anyone out in the blogosphere has any knowledge of this set, let me know!

In other Ozzy news, I also took a Wiz. I had a lot of time to kill one afternoon, so I labouriously leafed through the Movie Pamphlets and came across this little gem. Apart from some clips here and there, I've never seen this movie but I do like me some Nipsey Russell. I saw a DVD copy a while back but I'll wait until I see it a bit cheaper.

Meanwhile, check out some of the pics from the pamphlet:

Definitely going to track down that movie...

2012-01-24T00:48:00.000+09:00

Happy Lunar New Year!

萬事如意 Wànshìrúyì - "May all your wishes be fulfilled!"
吉慶有餘 Jíqìngyǒuyú - "May your happiness be without limit!"
There's several more of these, but these two are my faves.

Since it's now officially the Year of the Dragon, here are a couple of Dragons that I've acquired of late.

I've had this wall hanging for years but just recently discovered it in a box full of junk. It's now adorning my closet.

The little fellow is Crayon Shin-chan and I UFO caught him in Tokyo last week.

A friend regifted this incredible Dragon to me just the other day. His wife wouldn't allow it in the home, but I have no such compunctions.

I asked my brother if there's anything happening in Toronto's Chinatown and he is oblivious of any shindigs. The first link he got was an odd link to a North Korea story! This one is a tad more mainstream.

I'm not sure when this was taken, but I'm sure there's something similar happening this year in Yokohama. Probably not in Tokyo though, there's a blizzard happening!

2012-01-21T00:05:00.000+09:00

A Maid Man.

I was rather exhausted by the time my last day arrived in Tokyo so rather than trek all over the city trying to find out where the ~~Tubbo~~ Sumo match was, I just stored my bags at the station, bought my train ticket and spent several hours wondering through the Otaku shops at Akihabara.

I didn't enter either of these cafes, though I was intrigued by the Gundam one.

I did need to have lunch somewhere though so I succombed to the charms of a Maiden and embarked into the world of the Maid Cafe.

It is worth doing once but only if you have some extra cash and a tolerance for saccharine sweetness. The gals were cute enough, I suppose, but not at all in a naughty way. One is not allowed to take photos within so I snapped these two from the wall of the loo.

I'm not sure if the cafe is supposed to be Maid Dreaming or Maid Reaming; if it's the latter, I was not privy to an extra show. What I did get was a petite lass with a fair knowledge of English who convinced me to stick around rather than hightail it out of there. Another gal served me my Omelet/Rice and drew a rabbit out of ketchup upon it, insisting I join her in a chant of, "Moe, Moe, Oishii-yo!" while we held our fingers in the shape of a heart. What gets me is that this place has its regulars who seem to eat this tripe up and ask for seconds. I was ready to leave when it was suggested that I remain in order to view a floor show. So another maid sang along to an AKB48 tune and did a little dance step. Pretty nasty stuff. I honestly can't figure out the appeal of this or any other similar place. Unless you're into that kind of thing.

As part of my meal set, I was permitted to have a snapshot taken with the maid of my choice and I was given a pic of a random maid. Good for a conversation piece at least!

Since I never ~~maid~~ made any progress with these gals, here a few of the ladies whose company I enjoyed!

That last one is of a headless blow-up doll (you can buy the heads separately) sold near the Maid Bar for those who don't get lucky!

2012-01-20T01:35:00.000+09:00

Quest For The Grail!

It was nice to wake up without a hangover and we watched a bit of チェブラーシカ Cheburashka to get me up to date on this Russian-talking, orange-loving little furball.

I wandered over to Omote-Sando to meet my old-time pals, Jae & Noriko Hamatsuka. We had a lovely lunch and caught up for a couple of hours. I had what was called and looked like a taco but tasted nothing like any taco I'd ever eaten!

We'd checked on ticket availability for スパマロット Spamalot to no avail but I managed to find a big poster for the show. I'd love it if it made it to Sendai, but I have my doubts.

Let's see what Eric Idle had to say about it.

So instead I wandered over to Ikebukuro to see if I could snag a ticket (or at least a program) to Rocky Horror Picture Show. I DO wish that Metropolis magazine was a little more accurate in their listings. It's all well and good to inform me that the show ends February 12th but it would have benefited me further had they mentioned that the show doesn't begin for two more weeks!

I met up with buddy DJ Mixture (HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIG GUY!) at his pub and I dined on Roast Lamb! Later at another nearby Irish pub, I met up with Yuko & Archie and adorned them with a couple of Nyanpires.

Once again, it's taking ages to upload, so it's off to bed for me! Stay tuned tomorrow for some odds 'n ends and a visit to a Maid Bar!

2012-01-19T01:40:00.001+09:00

Marking His Territory.

The main reason I made the trip down to Tokyo was to attend a shindig sponsored by pal Mark to celebrate his nuptials to the Adorable Atsuko. After a breakfast of an Avocado Burger at Burger King (great Sandwiches but abominable fries & onion rings and NO kids' meal!) I wondered through a bookstore and eventually trekked to Kiba and his digs. There is an extremely surreal statue nearby and you can see the soon-to-be-completed "Sky Tree" from his apartment.

While Atsuko & I were shopping for some helium balloons & a cake made of roses, I had the opportunity to do a Gloomy impersonation!

Lots of Brewpub brews were consumed and though I wish I could say I enjoyed them, I was unimpressed with the few I sampled. The food was magnificent though!

These would be some pics of the other guests and the lovely couple in question.

After the initial party, a handful of us absconded to a tiny hole-in-the-ground pub whereupon I gave out some UFO-catch booty and amazed everyone (except Mark) an a cappella version of My Way sung My Way.

Treat her right Mark, she deserves it!

2012-01-18T02:07:00.000+09:00

Rocking The ~~Casbah~~ Capsule.

As you may be aware, I made a brief soujourn to Tokyo over the weekend. I left early Friday morning by Shinkansen and then wandered the streets of Shibuya for several hours until I could meet up with Andy, my neighbour from olden days.

One of my first stops was to my favourite nerd shop, Mandarake and picked up a few items which I'll show off later. I surreptitiously snapped a photo of a cool Star Trek Phaser Game that I considered buying. I also legitimately snapped photos of some of the display cases. Expensive stuff but very cool!

Also around town, I saw an ad for a Tezuka Osamu collection at Parco that unfortunately would be in town two weeks from now but in its stead, there was a cutesy art display with an awesome stuffed pink dragon that filled up the entire room!

Some of the banners and billboards around town were rather cool, so here are a few that I liked:

I had 3 pints of Hobgoblin homebrew (at Happy Hour prices) and a pizza at old pal Dave's (DJ Mixture) pub.

I finally met up with Andy and we cruised over to a nearby cinema to watch TinTin. I had extremely low expectations walking in and we both enjoyed it immensely. I especially liked the dog, the Williams score and the cameo by Spielberg. Wasn't too keen on the lengthy chase sequence or crane-battle.
(NOTE: Japanese pronunciation is タンタン・Tan-tan utilizing the original French pronunciation If they went by the English, it'd be チンチン・Chin-Chin for there is no Ti sound, only Chi. This is a no-no for Chin-chin in Japanese is a nickname for "Penis!")
After that, I retired to my "Capsule Hotel" up the street only to find that it is a haven for "Rockers"!

Apologies for this post was to have occured yesterday but Blogger was taking forever to upload photos. Tonight it seemed to go much more quickly.
ps. Here is my tribute to Ronald Searle who I had just learned had died at the end of last year. One of my favourite illustrators, his work on "Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas" was true genius.

2012-01-13T01:04:00.000+09:00

Slinking On The Shinkansen.

I may be incommunicado for the next few days as I'm trekking to Tokyo for a friend's wedding party as well as visiting various cohorts. Hopefully they won't read this particular post for I'm exposing the secret of what their presents will be. (A Monchichi and a One-Piece bag.) Another friend shall inherit this awesome Gloomy purse that folds out into a shoulder bag!

I'll be travelling by Shinkansen but I doubt if I'll get to go on the sleek new one! There's a mock up of the "Grand Class" seats and the train done in Lego displayed in the middle of Sendai Station. I'd love to travel on a Lego train!

See you soon, I'll send a postcard from a Maid Bar in Akihabara!

2012-01-12T00:45:00.001+09:00

Not So Blue.

I saw this in the bookstore yesterday and for five bucks, I figure I couldn't go wrong with a Miles Davis CD plus a booklet. (Of course the next one in the series is 13 bucks, so that's why I only get the first one.) I decided to hold off until I could go to Tsutaya because I have a discount card there. Much to my surprise, I had accumulated enough points to land this baby for free!

The six songs on the CD are:
Autumn Leaves

Dear Old Stockholm

Yesterdays

Tempus Fugit

It Never Entered My Mind

How Deep Is The Ocean

Not a bad haul...for free!!

ps. Why the heck does my picture viewer automatically upright the photos for easy viewing but then when I go to upload them, they remain in their original state, ie. upside-down or sideways?!?

2012-01-11T00:46:00.000+09:00

Parlez-vous?

There is one phrase that almost every single Salaryman can say with perfect fluency. After much consideration, the average gent can utter, "I'm sorry, but I cannot speak any English." Another phrase I hear on an almost daily basis from students is, "How can I improve my English?"
This video should help.

While I'm on the subject, there is one phrase that we foreigners hear very frequently. After muttering a single word in Japanese (ie. at the grocery store, in a cab), we hear, "日本語は上手、ですね！" (Your Japanese is excellent.)

This has been my rant of the day!

2012-01-09T01:26:00.000+09:00

Neat, Sweet & Petit.

I wanted to write a long diatribe about the centennial anniversary of Charles Addams' birth and have spent the night reading up on him and watching Youtubes about him. Alas, for some reason, Youtube isn't allowing me to embed anything, so here is a mashup of 3 animated tributes to his genius. Mr. & Mrs. J. Evil Scientist meet The Gruesomes meet The Creepleys.

Way back in 1994, BigBob & I were perusing the museums of NYC and happened upon an Addams display. I purchased a poster and somehow it ended up here in Japan, I must have brought it over at some time in the past. While tidying, I came across it and I think I'll post it upon my closet.

While I'm hawking birthdays, how about a headsup to Dr. Stephen Hawking who turns 70 today? (That's odd, I can embed this one?!?)

Finally, I shared my birthday with that dude JC and also with one of my coworkers. I gave him a Dragonball shotglass and he reciprocated today with this odd character. Is he an action figure from Deliverance?

Surprisingly enough, no. When one is making a CupNoodle, this little fellow is used to keep the lid down while the boiling water cooks the noodles. Pretty cool!

2012-01-08T01:16:00.001+09:00

It's Gomes vs. Gomez!

I popped over to Book-Off to see if I could pick up any DVD bargains (nada) and on my way out, I espied a sign beckoning "Manga Art Show". With naught else to do, I ventured up to the 8th floor of the Sakurano Building and sure enough there are several works of art on display. I know not whether these are fan-made or originals, but there are about 50 paintings/sketches of famous Manga-characters of which I was not allowed to photograph. I did take a picture of the entrance and there were a few other pieces that were okay to snap. (Note: only two more days before the display moves away.)

After that, I wandered down to the 6th floor and into the Otaku-corner and checked out a few of the high-ticket items were on sale. This Yoda and Ymir were slashed down to 300 bucks and this lifesize Terminator statue was down from 3000$ to a mere grand!

I did find a couple of Godzilla figures I don't recall owning so I didn't walk away empty handed.

I didn't recognize this character, he looks like the goofy Hillbilly cousin of Godzilla and for a buck, what the hey. When I got him home I discovered that it is ゴメス Gomesu, an Ultra-Q villain but I like him just the same. When I googled it, I got several pictures of the buck-fanged Kaiju and also some pics of someone named Selena Gomez. I think they make an attractive couple.

I prefer Gomes!

2012-01-06T02:31:00.002+09:00

Thingu!

It's Twelfth Night today so if scrounged through Facebook and elsewhere today to dig up a dozen tidbits: First up is the incredible claymationed version of John Carpenter's The Thing by the gang at Dangerous Minds

Too lazy to click that link? I've got you covered...

There's a meme going around where you choose the song that came out on your birthday. My initial reaction was "Mehme"! Then I discovered my song was one of the most irritating and strangely addictive tunes of all time, The Chipmunk Song!

You should recall that I was born on Christmas, if you want to know what year, Google Alannah Myles, she has the same birthdate as I.

Amusing* Knock Knock joke:
Knock Knock
Who's there?
To
To who?
(Condescendingly) Uh, uh, uh. To whom?

*Amusing to me anyway.

A zombified jazz trumpeter's bust in the Karaoke joint and an odd scuplture of a reindeer I went to on the 30th.

Aquaman and other Justice Leaguers get Manga-ized by the intriguing Cliff Chiang.

A mural in a cool Jazz bar I attended that same night. I drank some very smooth scotch (unfortunately I saw it again later that night.)

Batman characters get Seussified.

Hey, a new Octopus has been discovered near Antarctica. It's just a matter of time now before it ends up in a たこ焼き Tako-yaki shop.

I can't wait for the new Mars Attacks cards to come out! Can you?

Finally, for the first time ever, I avoided the New Years sales when I discovered I still have some unopened items from last year's bargains. I definitely wouldn't miss this sale though! (Slightly NSFW.)

2012-01-05T01:59:00.000+09:00

What Ho?

If you've wondered where I've been, I've had 4 days off and have not gone anywhere! Why haven't I been blogging with all that free time you might ask? Blame Jeeves & Wooster! I have just completed the 4th season (total episodes about 23) and in between, I have been tidying my room. Believe you me, I needed the 4 days due to extreme procrastination, laziness, *Triviador (Damn You, Facebook) and the aforementioned J&W. I'd seen most of these on PBS back when they first ran and had read all of Wodehouse's books prior to that but I just had to watch them again.

Here's a sample:

I'll be back in blogging action tomorrow with a box of goodies that I haven't seen in 6 years. Hopefully the New Year sales are still going on and I can get a new scanner, I'm sick of taking fuzzy photos of magazines.

You can start here if you'd like to jump on the J&W bandwagon:

ps. *Triviador has become a pain as well. Before December, I had worked my way into the top 1% all over the world! Then they reset everything and I had to inch my way to the top again and this time I only made it to the top 2% before they reset it. So I've lost a few of late and I was around 25% and climbing back. I just squeaked out another win so I'm now at a surprising 9%!

Thought I'd sneak in a bit from Fry & Laurie where they perform a magic trick. Very funny and very well done:

2011-12-31T23:50:00.000+09:00

Happy Nerd Year!

I went out on the piss last night, so I'm not quite up to a repeat performance tonight. Instead I've opted to stay home and watch a marathon of Star Trek TNG movies! I just finished Generations and I'll comment on it later.

First though, I'd like to show off some postcards from the January '82 Japanese issue of Starlog before midnight rolls in.

I will not be unhappy to see 2011 put behind us, even though I think I also said that about 2010, this time I really mean it. As Spock might say: Live Long and Prosper!

2011-12-29T00:44:00.000+09:00

Cheetah Of Death No Longer.

I'm sad to report that aged chimp, Cheetah, of Tarzan fame has passed away at the age of 80. For an always informative obit, check out the Wonderblog.

I'll always remember an appearance on Letterman by then 75-year old Maureen O'Sullivan who recounted an amusing anecdote of the simian. "Cheetah bit me whenever he could. The [Tarzan] apes were all homosexuals, eager to wrap their paws around Johnny Weismuller's thighs. They were jealous of me, and I loathed them."

This is just a tad racist, but funny.

Sweet, sweet WWII propaganda:

Let's all raise a glass and salute one of the greats!

2011-12-28T01:15:00.000+09:00

What a Dragon.

As Christmas continues winding down and New Year's starts creeping up, I unexpectedly received a lovely present today, that of a Handkerchief bearing a タツノオトシゴ pattern. That's the Japanese word for Sea Horse, 竜の落とし子 (Tatsu no Otoshigo, Child of Dragon.) Since 2012 will be the Year of the Dragon, this gift is quite apropos.

Hey, that reminds me of an old Mickey Rourke movie. Which trailer for 1985's Year of the Dragon do you like better?

So the hanky was nice, but do you want to know the best thing that I received all season is? I only got two Christmas Cards this year. One from my surrogate family in Tokyo (with the cool dog) and the other was a mostly-handmade one with a self portrait of the artist within. I haven't heard from Michiko in ages and out of the blue I get the most adorable drawing ever! Sigh!

Finally I'll leave you with a gag that I scammed from this very blog from 5 years ago:

2011-12-27T02:59:00.001+09:00

Happy Mirthday.

I spent Birthmas Eve at an Anglican Church service (the Minister is the father of a former student) whereupon I crooned a few Christmas tunes in Japanese. Last time I had forgotten my glasses which made reading the Japanese most strenuous, whereas this time I had remembered them and am rather proud of my renditions of "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear", "Adestes Fidelis" et al though reading the prayers and such were beyond my capability.

Birthmas Morn was spent opening my vast amount of presents received from Santa (a heater purchased the night before a Japanese Mikan orange) and a 3D poster of Batman 251.

During work, though I'd hinted around for the previous two weeks, I only received 2 gifts (and one guilt-trip prezzie). I got a lovely hat that is too big for my head from my class of 6 elder ladies and some cakes from Fukushima that are these sweets with beans in them that I don't really enjoy but ate tonight (I gave two away as well.)

I did though give out a few presents to my co-workers, Axel got a Daisy, some gals got these long-eared rabbit friends of Gloomy and the rest got Christmas Carol CDs that I'd burned that morning. (That led to the guilt-prezzie of 2 expensive chocos from my boss.)

After work, I hooked up with my gal-pal Hitomi who was also alone on Christmas night and we had a blast.

We went to dinner at Capricciosa and had a set of salad, pasta & pizza. One of the waitresses was a former student and upon entry, I mentioned it was my Birthmas and at the end of the meal, we were treated to a Strawberry cake!

I gave her a HTF Bag, some socks and a Willy Wonka Chocolate Bar (it wasn't a winner.)

She gave me a humidifier, a Bobble-Head Batman, a Spiderman book cover and a Thor Pez! BH-Batman enjoyed the meal and when he got home, he met up with his arch-nemesis, Bobble-Head Colonel Sanders! (I'm going to have to do a bit better on her birthday!)

Finally we watched Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and it was surprisingly good. You have to switch off the grey matter once or twice but then it's non-stop action. Well, not quite non-stop. Just at the most climactic moment (Spoiler alert: Tom is about to press a button and save the world), the movie screen goes blank and a little usher comes in and apologizes because the Subtitles had stopped working. It took a few minutes to repair but that gave us the opportunity for a much-needed pee break and we got to see a 10-minute segment over again where Tom gets pummelled by the bad guy.

Good movie and even better...Doraemon Popcorn Brains!

2011-12-26T02:38:00.000+09:00

Happy Birthmas.

Though I had to work today, I still managed to have a pretty darned good Birthday. More details on that later but before I retire, let's take a peek at my hastily-thrown together Birthmas Tree.

As usual, I didn't acquire all that many gifts and I'm too sleepy now to go into detail about them. I have free time tomorrow, so that'll leave ample time to showcase my loot.

Thanks to all the well-wishers for the pleasant thoughts about MY day-o-birth and I suppose, kudoes go to that other guy as well.

2011-12-25T02:23:00.001+09:00

You'd Better Not Pout!

Anyone else been somewhat busy this last week? (Rhetorical question alert.) I know I have. I'll start off with a diorama of origami that's is sitting on the sink in the Men's Room at Sendai Station. I am rather surprised that no one has swiped it. I know I was sorely tempted.

I'm a little behind on my postings so I missed talking about 天皇誕生日 (tenno tanjobi or the Emperor's Birthday) and Festivus on December 23rd. From now on though that day will be known as Happy Coelacanth Discovery Day! It even has a theme song!!

Alternatively, here's Turner Movie Classics tribute to those who are no longer with us. (An aside to BigBob, how many do you think DJ knew?)

On the Evening of the 23rd I was asked to once again play Kris Kringle only this time it was at Ernie's Bar. My plan was to go to a Lindy Hop dance and then swing over to Ern's about midnight. Unfortunately the bus I was on took an alternate route and once I noticed, the driver wouldn't let me disembark until I was halfway across town. So Plan B was to check out some lights at Nishi Koen and then kill time at Liga. I saw some of these last year but they're worth repeating.

This one is rather creepy. A witch standing outside her gingerbread house awaiting victims while two cupids hover over it keeping watch!?!

I finally made it to Liga and had a few gins, sang a few carols, gave presents to the gang there and changed to go to Ernie's. A bartendress from there is moving on to greener pastures and I got to sign her farewell card. Cool stuff:

As usual, Santa was rather popular with the gals at Ern's.

After each of the ladies received a present from St. Nick, a few of us head over to Shaft only to discover that it was closed. So as not to make it a complete waste of time. Santa posed with the gals at Bunny's Bar and then at BBs.

Before heading home to feed the reindeer, Santa made another brief stopover at Liga and sang "Santa Claus is Coming to Town."

2011-12-22T02:18:00.000+09:00

Bah, Humbug!

I'm too tired to do anything dramatic for my 2000th so here is a ~~top 10~~ list of my favourite "A Christmas Carol" adaptations. (Click that to actually read the book. People still read don't they?)

I just stumbled upon a Vincent Price rendition and that spurred me into making this list (in no discernible order) and though it has cheesy special effects, I'm putting it near the top.

I don't know where else to start, so I'll start with the earliest one I've seen.

Albert Finney as Scrooge a the musical version:

I'd be nearsighted if I neglected to add this one:

Oooh, George C. Scott as Scrooge:

With ever-so-appropriately named Scrooge McDuck:

Gumby's Pony-pal Pokey has walked into a classic:

Michael Caine is inspired as Scrooge and the Muppets ain't so bad either:

Bill Murray has rarely been better!

Blackadder as Scrooge is incredible!

This one Bugs me:

#1: Alistair Sim. Best...Scrooge...Ever! Nuff said.

Versions that I've never seen but would like to, "Make it so!"

The Stingiest Man in Town (live):

The Stingiest Man in Town (animated):

Daffy as Scrooge:

It looks like a Scooby-Doo episode but is true to the book, I don't ever recall seeing this:

Jetsons

Doctor Who:

Finally, A Klingon Christmas Carol!

ps. I'm in NO hurry to see this version. I wish Zemeckis would stop the Mo-cap!
I do wish though that I could find the WKRP episode! That was terrific.

2011-12-20T23:59:00.000+09:00

Number 2000!

According to the Stats, this is my 2000th post!! But actually it's #1999 because I have one started from a few weeks/months ago that I never published. I'll get around to it someday. If my computer weren't so incredibly sluggish today, I'd display something awesome. So instead...

Inspired by DJ Mokugohan's amazing Podcast*, here is A Cosmic Christmas. I haven't seen this since it first came out (and neither has virtually anyone else unless they can find the VHS copy) but as soon as I heard the opening few lines of the aforementioned Podcast, I had to hunt it down on YouTube. But watching it'll have to wait until another day, because of the aforementioned pc sluggishness. If it takes ages to download for you too, you can always check out this site.

I hope your Christmas is Cosmic and I do encourage you to check out this *Podcast...

2011-12-20T00:00:00.000+09:00

Santa Kuroosu

あわてんぼうのサンタクロース or "Awatenbou no Santakuroosu" means something like "Santa is in a hurry."

あわてんぼうのサンタクロース
クリスマスまえに　やってきた
いそいで　リンリンリン
いそいで　リンリンリン
鳴らしておくれよ　鐘を
リンリンリン　リンリンリン
リンリンリン
チャチャチャ　チャチャチャ
チャチャチャ

あわてんぼうのサンタクロース
もいちど来るよと　帰ってく
さよなら　シャラランラン
さよなら　シャラランラン
タンブリン鳴らして消えた
シャラランラン　シャラランラン
シャラランラン

あわてんぼうのサンタクロース
ゆかいなおひげの　おじいさん
リンリンリン　チャチャチャ
ドンドンドン　シャラランラン
わすれちゃだめだよ　おもちゃ
シャララン　リン　チャチャチャ
ドン　シャララン
チャチャチャ　チャチャチャ
チャチャチャ

あわてんぼうのサンタクロース
もいちど来るよと　帰ってく
さよなら　シャラランラン
さよなら　シャラランラン
タンブリン鳴らして消えた
シャラランラン　シャラランラン
シャラランラン

あわてんぼうのサンタクロース
ゆかいなおひげの　おじいさん
リンリンリン　チャチャチャ
ドンドンドン　シャラランラン
わすれちゃだめだよ　おもちゃ
シャララン　リン　チャチャチャ
ドン　シャララン

For those of you who can't read the above, try this and sing along!
Awatenbou no Santakuroosu
Kurisumasu mae ni yattekita
Isoide rin rin rin
Isoide rin rin rin
Narashite okure yo kane o
Rin rin rin rin rin rin
Rin rin rin

Awatenbou no Santakuroosu
Entotsu nozoite okkochita
Aitata don don don
Aitata don don don
Makkuro kuro ke no okao
Don don don don don don
Don don don

Awatenbou no Santakuroosu
Shikataganaikara odotta yo
Tanoshiku cha cha cha
Tanoshiku cha cha cha
Minna mo odoro yo boku to
Cha cha cha cha cha cha
Cha cha cha

Awatenbou no Santakuroosu
Mo ichido kuru yo to kaetteku
Sayonara shara ran ran
Sayonara shara ran ran
Tanburin narashite kieta
Shara ran ran Shara ran ran
Shara ran ran

Awatenbou no Santakuroosu
Yukaina ohige no ojiisan
Rin rin rin Cha cha cha
Don don don Shara ran ran
Wasurecha dame da yo omocha
Shara ran rin cha cha cha
Don shara ran

Now you may be able to read some of that, so let's all sing along:

or this version:

This one has dancing ~~Elvis~~ elves!

One of those nasty robotic sounding ones but with Japanese subtitles:

2011-12-19T03:02:00.002+09:00

Hark The Herald.

While searching for a News item for my Advanced News class, I espied this entry in Yahoo Canada. After last weeks odd debacle when one student defended the allocation of Disaster funds to finance Whaling, I decided to go with something a little more light-hearted. So what is more Christmassy than a Snow Angel? Or a Butterfly? Or a Mustache? Call it what you wish and chalk it up to Pareidolia but it sure is purty!

Well, my students got a kick out of it and you can always wander over to Bad Astronomy to learn a few more details about it if you wish.

I got so hung up on posting pics of Santa with kiddies & ladies yesterday, I neglected to include him in all his glory.

I would've posted something more substantial but I started watching Jeeves & Wooster starring the Doctors Wyatt & House.

2011-12-18T00:38:00.000+09:00

SantaClaustrophobia & SantaClaustrofilia.

If there's one thing that the image of Santa Claus does well, it's terrifying children. This morning Kris Kringle paid a visit to another Yochen/Day Care Centre and several of the wee waifs began bawling their little heads off upon espying Father Christmas. Most of them stifled their sobs long enough to snag their present, but some of them were unable to face the bearded guy in red at all.

The other thing Sinterklaas does well is to make the ladies happy. Women (and some men too) love to pose with St. Nick. For example...

When Santa's occasional alter ego sports his HoHoHo suspenders and tie, he gets to be a poser as well.

It was a long day so I retired from the festivities early but not before popping in to Ernies to finalize some details for next Friday's Xmas party. Expect St. Nicholas to make an appearance sometime after midnight on the 23rd whereupon he shall once again make a few ladies a little jollier!

2011-12-17T00:51:00.002+09:00

Around Town.

I spent a few hours gallivanting around downtown and snapped a few pics in the interim. Lots of Christmas trees such as the Docomo Tree with the ubiquitous Ken Watanabe in the background.

A bunch of Santas, Russian doll-style.

Outside S-Pal, there's a tall Christmas tree and within you can place your palm on a screen and get your fortune read. I snapped the hands of a couple of unsuspecting young gals. (The Fortune stated: You will be photographed by a creepy guy!)

Within Jusco, there is a sock monkey tree that has sprouted stuffed animals not monkeys. Also on the 4th floor, one can find a Craft sale but I preferred the Rody horses or the Santa mini-lego clones.

I ended off the evening with a nightcap and Jazz at Vilevans. I gave a bagful of trinkets of which Alex is sure to delight his siblings but I won't show them off until after his relatives receive them. I did though give a disembodied Care Bear head to the proprieter of Vilevans and when I went to take a picture of his display, I see that it has been ceremoniously placed in front of a warbling diva!

I have 2 Santa gigs tomorrow plus work and a year-end party tomorrow, so it's time for this Jimmy Olsen to hit the hay.

2011-12-15T23:49:00.000+09:00

We Wish You a Merry Cthulhu.

A little late for Creepmas, but I saw one of these and then got hooked. Scam them for yourselves, just as I have done...

Fear not:

Oh Tidings of Madness and Woe:

We all know there ain't no such thing as "Sanity Claus".

My mommy has been naughty:

Old Ones Return:

I can't get enough of that one.

2011-12-15T02:18:00.000+09:00

Furuta My Loins.

One thing that Japan does magnificently is make Kinderesque choco-eggs with awesome presents inside. Over the last while, I've acquired a few Disney eggs and the most recent series hasn't disappointed. Furuta makes great toys with yummy chocolate (which I usually give away to co-workers) though they aren't very good at spelling the word, Musium (click that for a tour of toys since 1999.)

From a previous series, I acquired Nemo's shark friend, Bruce.

Last weekend, the latest series was released and though I didn't acquire the secret one (damn...I gots ta know!), I got the best of the bunch and thus can stop buying anymore (unless they're on sale.) Apart from Beast, Tigger & Pluto, the awesomest one has to be Sleeping Beauty's マレフィセント Maleficent (blurry photo not withstanding.)

In other non-egg news but from a Capsule nontheless are these from the wonderful Epic-Mickey Motion Collection. I would have gotten all five but they're a little steep at 300 yen a pop. Fortunately, my Gatcha-dealer allowed me to pick & choose so I grabbed Oswald and a random Mickey. I see that they come in colour or B&W and I'm rather pleased with my selection. The greatest annoyance is that the little blue rabbit doesn't affix to the inkblot and I'm sure it'll go missing in the next big quake. I didn't even know it was a Wii game, I just thought it looked cool.

I finally got a chance to witness the revamped, refurbished, renovated Disney Store and I must say, "I'm unimpressed."

What did impress me is this Penguin/Pig combo done entirely with Pet Bottle Caps!

2011-12-14T00:56:00.000+09:00

He's Making a List.

We're all aware of Santa Claus' tendency to act as both judge and jury when it comes to doling out the Christmas presents. Just how good do you have to be to get on the NICE list? Frankly, NAUGHTY is just more fun.

So you may end up with a lump of coal instead of a toy, big deal. Over here in Japan, there's an 鬼 (oni or Demon) called 生剥 (なまはげNamahage) that scares the crap out of little kids by forcing them to obey their parents. Now that's a Big Brother worth worrying about!

From the Namahage Wiki page, here are some details. Dozens of young single men from various regions in Akita Prefecture, Japan dress like the Namahage demon. Each portrayer adorns an eerie demon mask (various colors depending on region), a straw raincoat and waistband and carries a scary tool made of wood depicting a knife/ stick/ weapon and a pail. They re-enact the folklore dressed as these demons and march around the village in hopes of scaring kids into total parental submission. Going door-to-door, they sweep the village threatening to drag away any spoiled disobedient children. As the story goes, a child's lazy spirit that is disobedient is dragged into the snow covered mountains away from their parents. Knowing the story very well, upon barging into each home, the young children are immediately frightened by loud roars as they are chased, kids typically scream with agony and fear. This prompts parents to sooth their kids worries of being taken away by the Namahage, letting them know that they’ve been behaving.

Nuthin' I love better than scaring the crap out of kids! Check these out:

Everybody Dance Now:

There's a Namahage Restaurant specializing in Akita dining. I haven't been there yet, though I'd like to check it out but only if the servers are Oni!

If the kids aren't frightened away by the Oni, these are even scarier!

This is the end of my Creepmas entries for this year and once again, I have disappointed myself. Today's post was about the Creepiest I could muster but Japan is just too darned cute around this time of year. It's tough to find the eerie.
ps. I realize that the Namahage festival occurs on December 31st, I just couldn't wait that long and I wanted to end Creepmas with a bang!

2011-12-13T00:24:00.000+09:00

Father Christmas Speaks.

Last Saturday, wearing oversized Santa garb and a beard, I visited some of the little waifs of Sendai and gave out a few presents. Since the host of the gig is British, I thought I'd intersperse some photos with some Christmas banter from some of my favourite comedians...(Be certain to click on any photo to make it Holier than thou.)

Hugh Laurie talks about Christmas:

QI Christmas Special:

QI Christmas Special continues:

Stephen Fry tells a Star Wars Christmas joke:

Put Fry & Laurie together and you get: (1 of 3)

Mock the Week 2009 Christmas Special:

Mock the Week 2010 Christmas Special:

Frankie Boyle makes love to Santa.

Finally, a Blackadder Christmas Carol:

2011-12-12T04:40:00.000+09:00

Gremlins

I just finished watching グレムリン Gremlins and thought I'd give you a sample.

Oops. Wrong Gremlins.
I picked up the DVD recently and I finally got around to watching it. This is my favourite scene!

I also have a copy of the Movie Pamphlet and within are several photographs, behind-the-scenes shots and storyboards.

The best photos are these sketches of Gizmo and Stripe the Gremlin and the centerfold is a pop-up of the box containing Gizmo.

I'm a little disappointed that my Gizmo doesn't sing.

Of course, I happen to have a couple of physical manifestations of Gremlins, including a Gizmo in a box wearing a Santa hat and Stripe on a tricycle. (I mean, who doesn't have these?)

There's no better way to end this episode of Creepmas than showing some of Ms. Cate's ads in Japan.
Phoebe did work in a bar in the movie so I guess that qualifies her to advertise Asahi Beer:

Just don't feed her after midnight:

2011-12-11T00:47:00.000+09:00

Total Eclipse of the ~~Fart~~ Heart.

After dinner tonight, I finally ventured over to check out the PikaPika Pageant and as lovely as it was, it was totally eclipsed by the total lunar eclipse that we experienced.

I have a few shots of the full moon through the trees at the Illumination.

I also saw a few other full moons, but at different angles.

I could show several other pageant pics but I've done that before. I'd noticed a smudge on the moon that I assumed was a cloud but when I was on my bus ride home, I got an email from Gal-Pal, Hitomi, that I was missing an eclipse!

I got home in time to catch a few shots of it before it completely clouded over and is now indiscernible.
Be sure to click on any of the pictures to Penumbrate them.

All in all, an awesome evening!

2011-12-10T01:57:00.001+09:00

Yuletide Yoda.

George Lucas has always sent out a Holiday message to his staff & colleagues and I snagged the latest issue of Starlog which includes a sample. Of course, the issue I snagged is February 1982, Japanese edition but it is the latest issue that I've procured.

As an added bonus, here is the climax to Raiders. Lots of red to make it just right for Creepmas!

I have to get up early tomorrow to perform a Santa gig. Hopefully I'll get a few HoHoHo photos.

2011-12-09T01:34:00.001+09:00

Santa Baby!

This is one of my favourite tunes, I only wish when I'm decked out in my Santa gear that someone would sing it to me.

I'd settle for one of these...

I hate the tune, but it has a lot of Boopy images:

Here Betty Boop shows off her linguistic ability with a language all her own:

Who knew that her Japanese would be so good? It's nice to see a pre-WWII cartoon where the Japanese aren't portrayed as devilish war mongers. It is easy to see how Osamu Tezuka got his inspiration for all his works from Betty though! The distinctive "large eyes" style of Japanese animation was invented by Tezuka, drawing inspirations on cartoons of the time such as Betty Boop and Walt Disney's Bambi and Mickey Mouse.

This guy is quite the wanker:

Though the above post wasn't up to Creepmas standards, I would say that this website is pretty creepy!

Okay, this is pretty spooky:

2011-12-08T01:20:00.000+09:00

Godzilla Merry Gentlemen.

Apart from stringing up a bit of tinsel on my door every year, I hardly ever do much decorating for the season. I don't even have a tree, though I do sometimes hang a few ornaments on my slowly dying aloe plant.

This year I may pick up a cheap tree and go all Martha Stewart on it. I'm considering going with the following motif...

In the spirit of the season, I'd be remiss if I didn't present a battle between the Big G and the Big S!

Some pretty good effects above there, but these FX are superior:

Another look at the same battle. Who'll win this time?

Stay tuned for more Creepmas goodies tomorrow...

2011-12-07T01:47:00.001+09:00

Merry Snoopymas.

It's about that time of year when "A Charlie Brown Christmas" is aired though unless I YouTube it, I won't be seeing it this year (no cable.) Surprisingly, I've seen very little スヌーピークリスマス Snoopy Christmas stuff this year, usually there's tons of crap to choose from.

I leafed through one of my Peanuts books and snapped a few choice panels, in particular a Sally sketch where she acquires a tree:

The best music on any TV show ever!!

2011-12-05T23:55:00.002+09:00

Krampus My Style.

As I'm certain every other Creepmas Blogger knows, December 5th is a famous day amongst Austria and other Alpine countries for that is the day that St. Nick's companion, Krampus, visits the homes of children and gives warnings or punishments to bad children.

"Krampus is a hairy devil with a long tongue, a tail, and is often in chains and carrying a switch. Krampus accompanies Santa Claus or Saint Nicholas. As Santa disperses justice on good children by rewarding them with gifts, so does Krampus reward the bad people by beating them with his switch of sharp sticks."
--Ephemera ;
by Pamela Apkarian-Russell

I wrote a little about ~~Kramden~~ Krampus two years ago, so I've plundered the writings of another blogger and came up with a bit of クランパス in Japanese.

このモンスターは、クランパスと呼ばれるヨーロッパのクリスマス悪魔です。 (This monster, Krampus, is a European Christmas Demon.) アルプスで、クランパスはクリスマスの前に来て、悪い子供にお仕置きをします。(In the Alps, Krampus comes before Christmas and punishes the naughty children.) 皆さんの家に、クランパスは来ませんでしたか？ (Everyone, are you looking forward to having Krampus come visit your house?

Yet another blogger has written even more but there's way too much Japanese for me to translate it so click that link yourself. I think he scammed a lot of his info from the net, as have I.

Looks like a lot of fun!

2011-12-05T01:47:00.000+09:00

Peekaboo Pikachu!

A new ポケモンセンター Pokemon Centre has opened in Sendai and I ~~pokemoned~~ poked my head in there tonight after work.

There was a Sandwich-Board type guy (do those still exist?) urging people to go to the fifth floor of AER but they really should have given the guy a watch for all the action there was over and they were closing up shop. They gave me a postcard upon which one could write a Pokemon message but there were no other freebies to snag.

So I snapped a few photos and then head to the third floor where the actual store is located.

It was extremely crowded with families and people who stuffed their baskets with over-priced Pokemon/Pikachu goods, most of which I have seen elsewhere cheaper (not that I shop for that stuff natch) but everyone seemed content.

Warning: extremely lame song alert!

I didn't buy anything but I did get a free hat!

2011-12-04T21:44:00.002+09:00

Dancing Santas...The Horror!

I managed to find a bunch of Santa related videos from the sexy to the odd. Enjoy!

Sexy Mini-skirted dancer:

Yeah, I know there's a heart in the middle and it's probably for Valentine's, but I couldn't find a Christmas Fits:

Aaaahhh!! Turn it off, turn it off!!

Much more tolerable is this dragon:

One gets tired of these awful quick!

When I'm dancing in my Santa attire, I look just like this!

Briggs' Snowman shills Potato Cream Soup. (You can find another "Snowman" spoof here.)

Whether it's cold or hot, I can never figure out the appeal of ~~Cow Piss~~, oops sorry, Calpis.

2011-12-04T01:05:00.001+09:00

Man With The Bag.

Santa's helpers need be wary of what they may end up carrying to all the good girls and boys. I certainly wouldn't want to have this happen to me.

I currently don't get Cartoon Network, but if I did, I'd check out these programs for their Christmassy content. The top one has a quiz!

Try as I may, I still can't find any creepy content for Creepmas. I'll keep trying!

You might have better luck at one of these other fine creeper-blogs!

2011-12-03T01:36:00.000+09:00

No Gloom At The Inn.

Sendai is looking more and more Christmassy as the days wear on which perks me up and I catch myself humming or whistling Carols more frequently. The Pika-Pika Pageant (or as it's formally called, "Sendai Pageant of Starlight" is in full swing with Jozenji Street's zelkova trees lit up, the skating rink and all kinds of other energy-wasting celebrations. (I really hope that all the power wasted on illumination doesn't kick us in the ass next month and we consequently suffer blackouts.)

In front of the station, Kirin Beer Christmas trees & Penguins (shouldn't they be at the South Pole?) are everywhere.

What appears to be a truly worthy cause is a ソックモンキープロジェクト (Sock Monkey Project) that is in the lobby of Parco, Sakurano and other Department stores. Handcrafted and presumably going to charity, these cute simians adorn a few Christmas trees around the city. I especially like the long legged squidlike ones.

Of course all kinds of Santa-clad characters can be find in the UFO-Catch cubicles from sexy Anime characters to Russian rabbits. I snapped pics of a few.

Yet amongst all this cheer and glee and brightness and joy, I still managed to find something a little bit eerie to fit the mood for Creepmas.

That's right, my favourite bear, Gloomy, with his blood-drenched claws and blood-smeared fangs is also getting into the Christmas spirit by wearing his Santa gear!

2011-12-01T22:12:00.000+09:00

Merry Creepmas!

My 2011 Countdown to Halloween was less than spectacular (way too cutesy) so I'll try and Horror it up by joining The 13 Days of Creepmas!

This is the creepiest I could find on short notice. I promise to make it spookier tomorrow...

2011-12-01T00:12:00.002+09:00

Bat Man or Bad Man?

Whichever it is, this tune by シュークリームシュ (Sue Cream Sue**) is magnificent!

Sing along...

白夜の街今夜も　サーチライトとび越え
非常階段かけのぼる
足音たてた　Black Motion
しのびこむのね　ba ba ba Bad Baby

獲物だけをすばやく　奪ってゆく早わざ
神出鬼没ミステリアスな
素顔見せて　Stop Motion
こしゃくなひとね　mid mid Midnight Lover

coming up
BAT MAN　暗闇に
BAT MAN　抱かれて
流星燃やせ　地の果てまで
もっと
BAT MAN　クールに
A-BOUT MAN　激しく
主体不明　BA BA BA BAT MAN

下弦の月ななめに　横顔照らす時は
ハートにつけた仮面とって
ぬぎすてたいの　フラストレーション
愛しあうのよ　ba ba ba Bad Baby

いつか見た気がする
デ・ジャ・ヴのようなロマンス
永遠不滅　朝になるころ
キスを残して　Catch Your Later
飛んでゆくのね　mid mid Midnight Lover

get it on
BAT MAN　あなたに
BAT MAN　抱かれて
燃えつきたいわ　つま先から
もっと
BAT MAN　スリルが
A-BOUT MAN　ほしいの
とどめをさして　shu shu shu Shooting Heart

作詞：只野菜摘　作曲：中崎英也　歌：SUE CREAM SUE

Just to prove that the above wasn't just some Bat-knockoff, here is the theme accompanying the opening & closing credits of the late 70s incarnation of Batman & Robin & Batgirl & Batmite:

I don't think I ever saw this, I was in my last year of High School and had other things on my mind. I don't really think I missed much. Hang on, are they playing Pong! And did he just call him Dicky-Boy? Okay, it looks like I did miss a lot...

The New Adventures of Batman was an animated series produced by Filmation in 1977 featuring the DC Comics superheroes Batman and Robin, Batgirl and Batmite.

Speaking of Batmite, here is the B&B episode featuring Batmite in an
unembeddable link.

**Sue Cream Sue consisted of Swing Sue・MARI（マリ）天ヶ谷真利　& Suzie Sue・MINAKO（ミナコ）金子美奈子 and were part of an ensemble of Funk known as 米米 CLUB (Kome Kome Club).　

Hey, Sue Cream Sue, shake it some more!

More wacky dubbed cartoons tomorrow...

2011-11-30T01:00:00.001+09:00

Kingu Kongu.

Anyone who knows me well, knows I love my giant Gorillas. King Kong is a personal favourite and I often cite it as my all time numero uno movie. I remember watching the cartoon as a kid and always giggling at the "10 times as big as a man" line in the theme. I don't know for sure if that makes it into the Japanese theme, but it sure is catchy!

Here's the pilot episode:

This version doesn't have the Japanese lyrics added but it does have an added bonus. Halfway through is a tv show I don't ever recall watching but I do remember hearing about it: 001/7親指トム (ゼロゼロななぶんのいちおやゆびトム = zero zero nana bun no ichi/aya-yubi Tom) = Tom of T.H.U.M.B.

Here's a full episode in English. I can see why I don't recall this. It's dreadful! What's with the WC Fields voice and the Asian sidekick? I do like his name though...Swinging Jack!

I'd always thought this was just another rank Rankin-Bass production and I just discovered that it was originally produced in Japan!. Way too much more information can be found here if you're truly interested. I do find it intriguing that this show was so popular in Japan that the characters got loaned out to Toho who proceeded to use them in the Godzilla vs King Kong series!

2011-11-29T01:34:00.000+09:00

Kuma Gorou!

クマ・ゴロー is better known to us as ヨギ・ベア (Yogi Bear) who was named after famous ヤンキースのスター(Yankee's Star) ヨギ・ベラ（Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra）and made his debut on the ハックルベリー・ハウンド・ショー(The Huckleberry Hound Show). As everyone knows, he steals picnic baskets from patrons of ジェリーストーン国立公園 (Jellystone National Park) and platonically chums around with his little buddy, ブーブー (Boo Boo) while evading スミスさん (Ranger Smith).

I'm rather impressed by the Japanese rendition of the theme song, Yogi does indeed sound smarter than the average bear.

I can't get the Huckleberry Hound theme to work on my pc, so I sent it over to Mark Evanier to see if he has better luck. I scammed the Yogi idea from him in the first place.

2011-11-28T00:41:00.000+09:00

Shazzan!

I've been saving these for a while now and I'll post a few of them. Here is 大魔王シャザーン (大 dai = large, 魔 ma = demon, evil spirit, 王 ou = king) or Shazzan in Japanese.

According to the Wiki Page, their flying camel, Kaboobie, is referred to only as ブービー which is pronounced Boobie!

2011-11-27T00:26:00.001+09:00

Bon Voyage.

'Twas 25 years ago that the fourth Star Trek movie, The Voyage Home, was first presented. I believe I saw it in the company of Alex and maybe BigBob or Edge and we giggled our way through it. Easily the most amusing of the ST movies it was crammed full of in-jokes and, thanks to the direction of Leonard Nimoy, none of them fell flat. I watched the first 6 movies a few weeks ago and still haven't gotten around to the Next Generation of flicks. I'd watch this movie once more but I'm a little weary from a Sayonara party and a busy weekend.

Instead, I'll showcase some photos from the Pamphlet that I managed to pick up. It's the only one of the first 6 that I've been able to locate and it's glorious!

Consider yourself notarized as a true Trekker if you get the following reference...

2011-11-26T01:50:00.000+09:00

Ball Four.

I'm back after a self-induced hiatus (laziness, coupled with a stupid camera problem, deleting a bunch of photos.) Hopefully I'll be back with a vengeance and play catch up this week.

Tonight I saw a bizarre movie, not the one I intended to see, but bizarre nonetheless. I wanted to see エイリアンvsニンジャ (AvN or Alien vs Ninja) and went to our local Repertory Cinema (Cine la Vita) to find out the times. Okay, a show at 6:30 and 20:20. I had stuff to do so I opted for the later, cheaper show. Little did I know that 6:30 was the LAST show for that movie and instead I saw another movie's premiere.

Here's a peek at what AvN looks like.

The above and following are part of upstart-film company Sushi Typhoon's releases which are 1/4 Tarantino, 1/4 Rodriguez, 1/4 Miike, 1/4 Iguchi & 1/4 Nishimura (I was never good with fractions.) They toured around the world in October and have now come to town.

I sufficed with tonight's presentation, デッドボール (Dead Ball--lots of pics here) and based on the poster, it looked pretty dumb...cute babes, lots of blood & baseball. I went in expecting little and was pleasantly surprised. My first surprise was that it had English Subtitles and they were really well done. Relatively few spelling errors and captured a lot of American humour, especially with the frequent use of the F-word. Directed with aplomb by Yudai Yumaguchi, I liked the lead dude, Tak Sakaguchi who could make a lit cigarette magically appear, pitch a killer ball and in a Tex Avery moment, punch out the Warden through a telephone! Check out the above link for more details. It's good silly fun!

Some of the other movies up for grabs are Yakuza Weapon and Helldriver which will premiere in a week.

I'm a little disappointed that we won't be getting Mutant Girl Squad. It looks like a bit of a giggle!

2011-11-19T23:05:00.003+09:00

eBeans, The Magical Fruit!

Wandering into the basement of eBeans, I came across several empty stores which won't be open for another two weeks. One of two stores that were open is Saad (expensive leather goods) complete with a cigar-store Indian.

There's also a few used clothing stores (Hanjira & Don Don Down) selling fairly cheap garb which is the best place to buy either Japlish or WTF slogons on clothes.

There's not much else of interest here so I ventured upstairs. The third floor is home to yet another Maruzen Books (yawn) and if you go up two more floors, you'll find the massive bookstore, Junkudo on the 5th to 7th. It's no different except that there is now a separate section for kids books with one with NO kids! There's also a mysterious looking massage parlour (Green Oasis) ensconced within.

On the eighth floor, my Otaku shop has returned and I picked up a mystery-bag. More on that in a separate post.

Coolest part of the entire renovation is the addition of a rooftop patio upon the 4th floor! This weekend, they offer complementary Miso soup with mussels and round the clock bands and/or clowns! It's adorned with more giraffes, a teepee and several gardens and gazebos. I heard a cool jug band (Hotch Potch) with washboard and kazoos and a pretty good jazz singer.

There's also a stage for fashion or singers on the first floor and on the 10 floor there is another patio. There was an old lady on stage singing but she wasn't supposed to be doing so. It was a little creepy. There's a nice view from the tenth, I must say.

I'll leave you now with a send off by Monchichi!

2011-11-19T01:20:00.000+09:00

Hill eBeans!

Today was the grand reopening of Sendai's most eclectic Department Store complex, eBeans. It was severely damaged in the quake and has undergone a ~~facelift~~ nip & tuck so that the frontmost part has lost 6 floors!

I wandered through the front four floors and the back ten floors today and though the back ten has barely changed, the front four have undergone a major revamp.

Let me show you a few pictures of the second floor, some of which are rather odd.

Gone are all the trendy fashion stores selling overpriced garb for young gals and in their place are trendy boutiques selling overpriced items from Ghibli, Monchichi & Miffy! The first floor and basement have been earmarked for fashion but all but two stores won't be open until December 3rd.

Mysteriously, a menagerie of metallic monsters has menaced the main mezzanine!

Apart from an Italian Tomato and a few cafes, there few places to dine so I had Takoyaki (Octopus balls) for lunch!

There were several walls featuring art from birds to cats to 3D Gorillas!

That's about it for the second floor. It's time for bed but hopefully I can return to showcase more of eBeans, the magical fruit!

2011-11-18T01:25:00.000+09:00

Let's Be Brave!

We won't see it in Japan for 2 months after its DVD release but the new Pixar flick, Brave, looks pretty sweet

Considering the last few Ghibli movies in America have barely scraped by in the Box Office, this poster for Arrietty looks like it was CGIed by American animators and not hand-painted like other Miyazaki efforts. To North American eyes, this may fare well though I personally find it distasteful.

Btw, huge SPOILER alert if you know nothing about this movie and want a few surprises, DON'T watch the following for everything is given away including the ending!

Getting back to Pixar, here is a walk-of-fame moment for John Lassiter as roasted by Mr. Potatohead himself, Don Rickles!

While we're on this Animated discussion, why are there NO Anime-ted nominees for the 2012 Oscars? What about "From Up on Poppy Hill"? Redline? Was there nuthin' of interest?

Anyway, now that Billy Crystal is hosting again, it may be worth watching (the best bits on YouTube that is.)

2011-11-17T01:52:00.001+09:00

Land of the Setting Sun.

At 4:00 I looked out the window and saw a huge sun (probably Sol) about to set on the horizon. Camera in hand, I zoomed out to the park in Izumi and upon arrival, there was no sun to behold. No sunset, just a distant glow. So my time wasn't completely wasted, I decided to take a few pictures of the changing leaves just so I can say I experienced Autumn. By 5:00, it was pitch black out. I DO wish we would Spring Forward & Fall Back over here so we could get an extra hour of daylight when it's useful. But DST was pooh-poohed back in the 50s and vetoed ever since.

I snapped a picture of a large bird, crane/stork/heron, I'm not sure which for he took off as soon as I approached within 50 metres. The second picture is of it in flight. Ghostly!

Now some actual trees. They're very Poplar this time of year. Oh, Stop Birching about it and Leaf it alone before you make an Ash of yourself!

Ducks and new KitKats too! What more could a man ask for?

It took me a few hours to download the above. Either my pc sux or Blogger does.

2011-11-16T00:56:00.000+09:00

Unimpressed.

I like my new Olympus camera for it takes pretty good pics but the uploading of photos is often a royal pain. I just took 9 pics and had uploaded them successfully and then without prompting, my camera deleted them without saving them. So I took the pictures again (minus the 9th one which was a KitKat bar that I'd consumed.) Ah well, successfully uploaded the second batch and here is a miscellaneous menagerie.

They both seem to be llamas (Alpacas), one with a cutesy ribbon, the other in lederhosen. If you squeeze the Germanic one, クラレチャン (Kurare-chan) it screams, "Yuroda kista" which is incomprehensible to me and I don't even know what language it is.

My old pals, Angry & Hangry are back. Don't ask me which is which or you'll make me Angry & Hungry (I assume that's what they intended.)

Here's a wtf video showcasing them:

Next up is some bizarre hybrid between vegetables and bears. I think this one is cabbage or lettuce. I gave a friend a carrot-bear once. Just odd. Equally odd is this green Pokemonish creature. Dunno what it is.

I rather like this CareBear head that has been decapitated. No body, just a head and a heart.

More cats, a couple of plastic ones and a trio of fat-cats.

Finally, what appears to be a seal and a fluffy tail and my favourites fo the bunch: a triple dose of Pandapillars!

I should really get a couple of cats to play with all these cat toys I've acquired. Allergies make this an unwise decision.

2011-11-15T01:09:00.000+09:00

A Mickey Mouse Post.

I've been largely incognito of late, not because I've been sick or busy but because I've been wasting all my free time watching Bill Maher's New Rules. I've watched 35 compilations so far and I'm only up to 2008. I've only openly guffawed a few times but I've been amused enough that I just can't stop watching them! For example, this one has some funny bits near the end:

While UFO-catching some Halloween crap, I inevitably acquired some other crap, most notably, Cubic-Mouth!

It all started with ハイジ (Haiji or Heidi) and then somehow Disney in their infinite wisdom allowed Studio Crocodile to license their characters. In a marijuana-less country where the only ones who would find these interesting are stoners, the mind boggles as to why these were sanctioned. (On the other hand, idiots like me wasted money on them, so they are rather cagey methinks.)

Here are a few representatives of what I'm talking about.
Cute? Not really. Freaky? Somewhat. A way to keep Sega in business? Oh, yeah!

Can Chip and especially Dale look any more stoned in that last one? These next two aren't Cubic, but they are Disney and therefore become stocking stuffers for Alex's family when he goes home at Christmas. His family loves this f***ed up stuff. My family shuns it like sane people should.

More crap tomorrow!

2011-11-11T11:53:00.000+09:00

Remembering Remembrance.

My tongue in cheek Pocky Day post in no way diminishes the sentiments felt by myself and others on Remembrance Day.

I taught "In Flander's Fields" to my students yesterday and I wish I had a Poppy to proudly wear today. An old university colleague expressed it best on FaceBook and I'm going to scam his post.

"For anyone out there playing "Call of Duty." My dad, Ted Harris, answered the real call of duty and served with distinction in WWII and for 30 years in the forces. He was proud to do so, but unlike a video game, war was never fun and never "awesome." He wanted the horror he experienced in the war to be remembered, but not romanticized or glorified. He left behind a request to be buried with the blue beret he wore as a U.N. Peace Keeper, one of his proudest moments in uniform. His wish was that some day the brave men and women of our armed forces would not have to make the sacrifices his generation did. This year, I wish to honour their service and also my father's desire for peace."
Thanks Paul.

Keep the peace everyone!!

2011-11-11T11:12:00.001+09:00

Happy Pocky Day!

I ~~posted~~ tried to post this on 11/11/11 at 11:11:11 according to my often-incorrect PC clock, times may vary internationally.
(PC froze at the last minute...Sigh!)

In order to get ready for today's event, I ran out to the local Conbini and bought a few boxes and I got a couple of Glico badges of Robin & friends. I forgot to photograph the badges, so you'll have to wait for a later update or I'll miss my 11:11 deadline. (Stupid blogger is taking forever to upload again so several pictures will have to be delayed...Sigh.)

Zombie Pocky:

Zombie Pocky extended ad:

The above are Halloweenish, the following-not so much. Here is a picture of Toppo who haven't jumped on the 11/11/11 band wagon.

Tex Avery Pocky:

Skinny Pocky:

Realistic Pocky:

Morning Musume Pocky:

Ubiquitous Pocky:

Pretz (For some reason, pronounced "Pritz" in Japan) did get in the act, I'm not sure what these characters are on the box, but they're kind of cool.

Best laid plans and all that, I missed my deadline thanks to a frozen computer and got it in at 11:12. I still had a few things to add, so it's even later. I'll update with the badges later.

2011-11-10T00:30:00.000+09:00

Holiday Inn.

I really need to have more than one day off in a row so I can spend overnight in an Inn. I may reconsider if I end up here though...

I still have several of these leftover from last month's Countdown and I'm feeling pretty burnt out to come up with anything original these days. So enjoy 'em while you can!

2011-11-09T00:45:00.000+09:00

Anyone Like Sukiyaki?

I debuted a music-appreciation lesson on Sunday and perfected it today by presenting Sukiyaki to my class. Since I don't have the cd, I had to do it アカペラ a cappella style more like 4 P.M. than A Taste of Honey.

Apart from being a great tune, the English lyrics also include an example of the Unreal Conditional so I can even sound like a real teacher. "If only you were here, you'd wash away my tears."

Thanks to the wonders of Romaji, I could also introduce the song by singing it in Japanese! 上を向いて歩こう...Ue o muite arukou originally sung by the great Kyu Sakamoto who topped the American charts back in '63.

Since the quake, Suntory brought back the tune and had celebrities sing it including Tommy Lee Jones! He's at the 0:55, 1:32, 4:24, 6:27 & 6:52 mark on the first of these compilations:

Here's the second compilation but sadly, no Tommy Lee Jones.

Tommy Lee Jones can also be found here though at the 30 second mark.

I'm getting a bid misty-eyed now, I need a whiskey!

2011-11-08T01:03:00.000+09:00

Kyaputen Amerika.

There's only a week until it leaves theatres so I headed out to see キャプテン・アメリカ (Click that link for the Japanese Home Page and be sure to click the second box that says イベントダイジェスト=Event Digest, it's a hoot) while I still had the chance. Little did I know that the version I saw just happened to be the dubbed one so everyone spoke Japanese but fortunately I know the story so well, that it was fairly easy to follow. I may have missed out on a few of the jokes (like "what did Stan Lee say at the medal ceremony?") and I think the little French guy and DumDum had a few yuks but otherwise I don't believe I missed much dialogue.

Good stuff:
Red Skull--awesome!
Sgt. Fury and the Howling Commandos in action!
Peggy Carter is smoking hot!
Excellent song!
Confusing stuff:
I couldn't figure out why the Nazis were doing a double fist pump and saying, "Heil Hitler" until I realized that they were saying, "Hail Hydra!" (In Japanese, the former is ハイル・ヒトラー!; the latter is ヘイル・ヒドラー!)
Why is Tony Stark's dad so short?
Disappointing stuff:
Costumeless Bucky Barnes ignominious death.
Why did I paid 4 extra bucks for 3D when there weren't any 3D effects of note! (I honestly thought that the 3D version was in English and the 2D in Japanese which is why I avoided the 2D version. Sigh...stupid Nagamachi Mall!)

There were NO goods for sale at Nagamachi either but fortunately I picked up the last of the Clear Files at Rifu 2 weeks ago. One side is the poster, the other has some iconic images upon it.

It came with a Marvel-file as well.

Now I wish I'd bought the Captain America's Shield-Frisbee.

I really wish the movie had ended like this:

ps. I also saw カウボーイ & エイリアン Cowboy & Alien (Japanese title has no plurals)...Loved it!
and I saw Mission 8 Minutes (otherwise known as Source Code)...Liked it a lot!

2011-11-07T01:25:00.000+09:00

Incredible Ogre.

I'm sorry I haven't had much to say this weekend but I've been ailing and decided to rest instead.

Tonight I just finished watching what I assumed would be a terrible movie and believe you me, it isn't very good. Walking into it, I had very low expectations and consequently got caught up in it and ended up enjoying it. It was filmed in Vancouver with about a 25$ budget, with laughable effects and the Ogre in question is not frightening at all, though the actors (John (Smallville) Schneider was the only name of note) did an admirable job of getting through the script without smirking. I actually found myself liking the obnoxious American "travellers" who saved the day and one of the townspeople appropriately referred to the smarmy one as a jester. It's hokey, but if you have 97 minutes to kill, you could do worse.

Here are a pair of trailers for it:

The Japanese title is インクレディブル (Incredible) probably because it came out around the same time as the Hulk remake and オーガー (O-gaa) just wasn't catchy enough. I can't find a Japanese trailer for it but based on the Hulkish cover (there isn't a single helicopter in the whole film), I believe my suspicions are justified.

I bought this movie for 2 bucks, I'd say I paid about twice what it's worth.

I'll be back tomorrow to catch up on all the stuff I missed out on over the weekend and all the non-Halloween stuff I'd acquired over the last month.

2011-11-04T00:56:00.000+09:00

Some Of It?

No, None of it, I tell ya, Nunavit! I did a lesson on the Narwhal today and my students recounted, "Only 80,000? Why does the article say 'Only'? 80,000 seems like quite a few." They were hunted almost to extinction for their Unicorn-~~horns~~ tusks (the horn is actually a tooth that grows through their upper lip.)

This topic also gave me a chance about the Nunavit people. The Northwest Territory was split into the new Nunavit Territory about a decade ago but I was in Japan at that time and didn't even know of the switch. Let's catch up on our Inuit history by watching some of their NFB movies! I still remember the Tuktu tales.

I like this one:

2011-11-03T01:42:00.001+09:00

Hardy Har Har.

I left work early today in order to nurse my headcold and took a three hour nap. Somewhat refreshed and in need of some cheering up, I took a gander at Mark Evanier's blog and ended up spending 2 hours watching an interview with the writers of Sid Caesar's shows. No outright chortling ensued but a few good lines and some wonderful insight. I sent that to my old writing partner, Blair from University ("Ha! Partner", he says. "I wrote 99% of our material, Michael wrote 1%!")

Then I watched a bit more of Sid such as the time when he, as the Professor, visited Big Bird.

I haven't been there in a while but I popped into see what Ken Levine had to say about Halloween. If you go to that link, he has a link to his favourite Cheers Halloween episode so I watched that too.

It brought back some fond memories so a quick peek at Letterman should suffice until I go back to bed. Alas, that wasn't nearly as funny as I'd like even though "vagina" was mentioned many times (I don't like that chick's laugh.)

So I need something amusing before I nod off. Looks like it'll have to be British or maybe Kids in the Hall. Going full-circle, did you know that they coined their name from the young comics who used to hang around outside Sid Caesar's shows hoping to sell a few of their jokes? (I've mentioned before of my childhood friendship with Scott Thompson...none of this ever occurred to me. I guess that's why he became successful and I didn't.)

There, that's better. Good night!

2011-11-02T00:26:00.000+09:00

Ya Can't Trust a Kappa!

I had a great time doing the Countdown this year but I wasn't very organized and it turned out to be incredibly cutesy. Well, oftentimes that's the hand you're dealt in Japan and just have to play it out. What didn't occur was viewing some of the stuff I'd picked up over the past several weeks. Slowly, I'll get around to it (maybe in time for next year's.)

I found several movies for under two bucks and I snapped up whatever looked kind of spooky, kooky or altogether ooky. Here's what I watched tonight. From 2000, it's さくや妖怪伝 Sakuya-Yokaiden starring Nozomi Ando as the Samurai's daughter Sakuya, Shuichi Yamauchi as this punk kid Kappa-boy and Keiko Matsuzaka as the Spider-Queen. Though obviously made for children and not very spooky, the effects are nicely done and the kid is only mildly irritating.

Here are some pics of the Yokai that I snapped from the screen as it played.

During the end credits, the friendly Yokai do a dance with Kappa-boy, Taro.

You can watch it for yourself sans subtitles but it's pretty easy to follow.

2011-11-01T00:15:00.000+09:00

Devil's Night Indeed.

I just finished "The Devil Rides Out" a movie that I've never seen before on the recommendation fellow Countdowner, John Rozum. Very creepy, extremely well done. I had to take a Spider Solitaire break half way through to keep my sanity.

I took a break from Hammer and watched something more gentile from the Japanese Horror Anthology series, 怪談新耳袋, Tales of Terror from Tokyo and All Over Japan. This is why I will never get a tattoo!

I think I need something more animated.

Cockroaches are creepy, flying roaches are downright terrifying!

Well, that's pretty much it for this Halloween. I'll comment on my Countdown participation tomorrow and maybe watch one more Terror Tale of Japan.

I have plenty of Kitty-Kreatures leftover from our Party since very few people came in costume so if you'd like one, drop me a line. I'll even throw in a Pumpkin Cheese Cake KitKat!