First up a bit of bitching! Ages ago, Blogger insisted that I upgrade to Google Chrome and after much hemming and hawing, I finally succumbed. It took a few tries to figure out the New Improved Blogger but once I did, it has improved. The problem is that 9 times out of 10, Chrome improperly downloads or it takes ages to do so. This is the main reason that my blogging has been sporadic of late. After a frustrating hour of trying to get going, I"m too tired and it's time to retire.
This time only took me about 40 minutes to get going, so here goes...
Once again, CC Lemon comes through with an intriguing give-away, this time Ultraman via PansonWorks. I almost completed the set and then they started another promo (Pikachu.) Here is the completed version an almost completed set, I accidently got two Ultraman Zeroes and didn't get Ultraman Seven. I DO wish that the heroes didn't all look alike!
Another bitch. I took the picture right-side up, why does it upload upside-down? Ah well, the heroes aren't the important thing in the Ultra-universe, it's the bad guys!
When I get the 8th one, I'll revise the post but until then here are 5/8ths of the Pikachus!
Now Pepsi has come out with Dragonquest characters. When will it all end? I can't keep up!
Speaking of Pepsi, they've come out with a new summer flavour, Salty Watermelon! I tried one today (HINT: get them at the Supermarket, they're about 50 yen cheaper than the Combini!) and it was surprisingly tasty. Kind of like a Salty Watermelon without the seeds.
Now if they packaged the DragonQuests with this, I'd get the series post haste!
I won't bother talking about the ジェリー・サインフェルド (Jerry Seinfeld) extravaganza, Bee Movie, rather I'm going to talk about 昆虫物語みつばちハッチ ～勇気のメロディ～ Mitsu-Bachi Hachi which is a new movie about a Honeybee named Hutch.
Of course, what I didn't realize is that Hutch has been around since 1970 in The Adventures of Hutch the Honeybee.
The new movie looks about the same but they have improved upon the animation. Check it out.
I picked up a few CC Lemons that came with Bee-magnets that are a little too cute for my taste but one can always use magnets.
My friend Alex in the Burbs of Sendai says that he gets some nasty hymenopterans around his place called 雀蜂 (Suzume-bachi or Sparrow-Hornets, presumably so named due to their comparable size.)
These guys are huge, nasty & vicious little buggers. (Not to be confused with Suzumebachi from Bleach).
They can go into a hive of honeybees and a single one can wipe out thousands. The only defense is for the bees to surround him and flap their wings so fast that the temperature increases and the Hornet passes out!
I'm impressed that this guy stuck around as long as he did. But I'm glad he did; he's fairly informative.
These pictures are from my Pocket Guide to Japanese Insects. On the left is a クロスズメバチ (Black Sparrow-Hornet), on the right is a オオスズメバチ (Giant Sparrow-Hornet)
This cute little fellow is a キイロスズメバチ (Yellow Sparrow-Hornet.)
If you want to catch a few, here's a simple video to show you how. He uses ume vinegar, grape vinegar and apple vinegar in the video, but even Fanta grape gets the job done. Once you've captured enough, you can make an alcoholic drink out of them. I've seen it for sale in the mountains but it costs about 50 bucks for a small bottle of wine.
In case you were thinking I was exaggerating about one Suzume-Bachi conquering a hive, here is a sampling.
If you are prone to nightmares, I suggest you stop reading this post about halfway down. (I guess I should have mentioned that sooner.)
I know I'm a little early for the Rock love-in, but I just completed my set of Woodstock fridge magnets and thought I'd share them with you. As you can see, he's taking an Active Holiday thanks to the fine folks at CC Lemon (click that for 2 very lame commercials!)
Anywho, please enjoy this little tribute to our fine feathered friend:
The other night I popped into 305 to see some pals and they were watching The World of Golden Eggs. I've seen this show in the video shop and pooh-poohed the crapanimation, but that is not to say that crapimation doesn't have its place (South Park, Homestar Running, Happy Tree Friends, Home Movies, etc.) The humour is pretty low-brow and I certainly don't get it, yet I think this is due to a cross-cultural lost in the translation syndrome. The gang in the bar were in stitches watching the inane antics of the protagonists. I could read the subtitles and presumably it translated fairly well, but I just didn't find it funny. Akari said it's because they talk like young people do today. I'm still not convinced.
Here's a clip for you, please listen and judge for yourself. I'd appreciate some feedback. Is it funny? Am I losing my sense of humour? Am I that old?
Good old CC LEMON has managed to capture 6 of their characters in tiny phone straps. Much to my chagrin, I missed the Turkey somehow. Now I'll have to go get it tomorrow. (I'm such a completist!)
