I'm a little late to the ballgame, since having a dude's night out last night and having a lazy Saturday Morning. BUT here we go. The Countdown to Halloween 2021 has begun! First up, I scammed a badge from the head honchos at the previous link.
Now I just need to figure out how to add it to my blog. I'll do that later. (Widgets and Gadgets and Navbars, oh my!) In the interim, click on my 2019 badge to go directly to the other participating blogs. I'm using the crow because of the stupid Crow-na virus also known as Corvid 19.
Speaking of participating blogs, the first one I usually link to is the Wonderful Wonderblog, I have a THING for his first entry.
That's a copy of the poster for the Japanese version of the Thing from Another World. For a few more details and an old blog entry of mine about its John Carpenter remake, click A Thing or Two.
Now onto new business. I hope to link to a Ukiyoe painting daily IF I can find the set of postcards I bought when I went to an Art Museum showcasing the creepier paintings. (See disorganization mentioned above.)
That cute skeleton is (thanks to Wiki) is called相馬の古内裏 妖怪がしゃどくろと戦う大宅太郎光圀 or "Takiyashi the Witch and the Skeleton Spectre" by Kuniyoshi.
As you can see, the collection was way back in late spring at the Koriyama Museum of Art. So no wonder, I've buried my booty amongst a ton of other loot acquired since then.
I hope to watch a horror a day so the most recent one I watched was Royal Jelly. It's a real stinker, so only watch it if you have a high tolerance for bad Bee Movies.
Today's trick and/or treat, is a treat bought from Aeon Supermarket in Natori. These individual chocolates are darned expensive but incredibly tasty.
Ah heck, it's my first entry so I'll add a trick.
It's a pack of Gachapin/Mukku toilet paper!
Now I have to try and track down my set of postcards...
Oops, just remembered. I decided to add a Loot Fright Crate item daily as well. Here is yesterday's t-shirt.
I took the day off blogging to trek out to Koriyama and Fukushima because a friend wanted to do some shopping. Since we'd be heading to nerdy-type shops, such as Mansaido, this'll give me an opportunity to see if I can find copies of the Eko Eko Azarak manga. Alas, none of the shops we tried had any copies. So far I've scored vol. 8 and I'll showcase it at a later date. Meanwhile, here is postcard 4 (or is it 5?).
Those are some freaking floating heads that our protagonist needs to fend off.
En route to Koriyama, we popped into a Daishin near Watari to see if they had any new Funkos (they didn't) and I picked up two of these Hamuriku cards. I found several last year, and I wanted to open one up and film it but forgot to do so!
My friend Dan and I made a pit-stop along the way at an out-of-the-way Odin thrift shop. Outside the store is a giant Doraemon.
Some cool Simpsons goods that were way overpriced and a Pee Wee Herman figure that was also pricey. I sufficed with this Dastardly doll instead. (I have a Muttley/Precious around here somewhere.)
I picked up these cards, a dozen for a buck! Not a bad deal.
Until I discovered that two cards were doubles and one was a triple. I am SO glad that I didn't buy more.
Surprisingly, I didn't buy anything at Koriyama's Mansaido,though I did find some Kubricks at a nearby Book Market.
I'm very pleased to find Blight for these Bat-Kubricks from 2004 are hard to find. Besides, Blight is spooky enough to be Halloween-oriented.
He cost a bit more than I'd like but he'll make a fine companion to the two Bricks I already have.
Only 5 more to go...
(Though I may have Manbat and Batgirl loose without the backing card.
Also, I dunno who this guy is, but I like it and the price is right at 200 yen.
I think for the first time ever, Dan ended up buying more stuff than me! The entire trip was made worthwhile when upon entering Mansaido in Fukushima we encountered these dueling banjoists.
The entire entrance way was decorated with skeletons and spooks. I was so pleased!
Also for sale were these pair of life-size Gremlins. The one on the left is over 500$ and the other is three times that!
So sorry, no movie or pamphlet today. Here's a link to some Film Reviews to wet your whistle. See you tomorrow or more like later today.
Just a quickie today.
One of my schools has the most adorable Halloween display. Aren't these the cutest ghosts?
I am not sure here, but could this be an ethereal Wedding party?
Dig that cutesy witch.
A skull has got to be the most fitting huckster for Calcium Wafers.
Finally, when I bought my Ghostly Pepsis yesterday, I also snagged a Sweet Pumpkin Latte. It tasted pretty good but I didn't perceive much of a pumpkinny taste.
It was far superior to the Ghost Pepsi I drank. The Mystery Flavour might be grape, it was very difficult to tell. It definitely was NOT very yummy. I'll try another Pepsi tomorrow just to compare the flavours. If it's the same, I think I'll put my taste test on hiatus.
I had the joy of giving a Halloween lesson to a pair of Grade 3s today. I'm used to doing this on a small scale with wee ones but it worked well with a class of 25 too.
Start off with Head, shoulders, knees and toes.
Have a metre long plastic skeleton handy for reference.
Give each kid a picture of a skeleton (with several body parts mentioned at the bottom of the page.)
Instruct them to colour in the arms with their crayon of choice.
Change colours and switch to another body part and eventually you have a colourful Rainbow Skeleton!
Oh yeah, since there are no ears on a skull, have them draw their own.
These are from a relatively mellow class. Guess which ones were drawn by girls and which by boys.
On the obverse of the skeleton is a pumpkin upon which they can draw a Jack o'Lantern face. Once again, which do you think are guys or gals?
The next class were uber-genki! The kids were very rambunctious and when miming monsters, they'd attack the teacher. Fortunately for me, the Japanese teacher was this roly-poly jolly guy that the kids ambushed instead of me. Their pictures reflect their enthusiasm!
Believe it or not, that last one is by a young lassie. She has automatically become my favourite student.
Just a short Kaibutsu-Kun today, they go hiking.
Today's treat is a choco-pumpkin!
As a special treat, have a Happy Halloween courtesy of Simon's Cat!
