Belated Bela!

I missed the birthday of Bela Lugosi by one day. I was rather busy yesterday. Much less busy today, so I watched the first of 10 Bela movies from this YouTube. Beware, if you know how to disable the subtitles, do so. They "translate" idiomatic English into every day English and do it very badly. Also the pronouns are out of whack. The movie itself was okay, noteworthy for being the only Colour movie for Bela as a lead. If I tell you the title of the movie, I'll spoil the ending. (Dumb move producers!)

 

If I get a chance, I'll watch "The Corpse Vanishes" next. A few "good" Ed Wood selections in this marathon.

I spent the rest of the day, fidgeting with laundry. I cleaned all of the costume sheets I have (Mickey, Mike Wazowski, Star Wars, etc.) and I'm currently trying to purge a lot of clothing that I haven't worn in years. It's not easy choosing what to throw away donate. 

Here is the last of my BPRD comics. I may have a few more in Canada.

 

 

Today's Oni may look like a sheet, Ittan-Momen style, but it's actually a board that gets nasty, 板の鬼 Ita no Oni. Fortunately, they tend to prey on sleeping Samurai, but it wouldn't hurt to stay alert.

 

Here's a cool Beetlejuice figure a friend gave me.

I don't think I've linked to i-mockery lately. Go there and click around, you're sure to find something of interest. OR just go to the main Countdown to Halloween site and see if there are any others that suit your fancy.

I'm calling it an early night tonight, see ya on the flipside!

Got my Dojo Working.

清姫 きよひめ Princess Kiyo is a true demon, one of the three most powerful types of demons, who can turn into a serpent and breathe fire.

Kiyo hime is one of the most famous antagonists in Japanese literature, and an example of a honnari hannya—a demon woman who has attained the maximum level of power. She appears in The Legend of Anchin and Kiyo hime, or Princess Kiyo, an ancient tale from Wakayama prefecture. Versions of the story appear in a number of ancient books. Her tale is retold in the famous noh play Dōjō-ji.

 Kind of spooky looking!

 

Sing along!

ントンお寺の道成寺
釣鐘下（お）ろいて 身を隠し
安珍清姫 蛇（じゃ）に化けて
七重（ななよ）に巻かれて 一廻（まわ）り 一廻り

Knock, knock, knock, under the bell of the Dojoji temple, Anchin and Kiyohime
hide themselves,
disguised as a snake, coiled
seven times, round and round

That song is but a taste of the story. Be sure to click the link far above for the lengthy tale that I shan't copy here.

When you have a problem with Demons, who do you call? Hint: you may need to say his name three times.

If you guessed this guy, you'd be right.

The movie was okay, way too many subplots to carry out properly, but it kept me amused and that's good enough for me.

Here are a couple of Post Cards and a Clear File.

I am disappointed in the complete lack of Gatcha Goods related to Betelgeuse. Here's another snake instead.

I wasted much of the day today watching some classic anime that I'd never seen before, such as:

Vampire Hunter D (1985), 

 Night Warriors: The Curse of Kazuo Umezu (Junji's mentor)

A Dirty Pair Halloween episode. 

and Wicked City (1987) which is rather naughty in parts.

For an actual Junji Ito tale involving a snake, you should check out Souichi's Beloved Pet. I haven't had a chance to watch this video yet, though since it features the author critiquing his story, it probably does spoil at times.

 

Here Brother Voodoo battles a serpent:

And I like this issue of Chamber of Chills.

I caught up on some tv shows today and I finished this blog early, so I'm going to treat myself to a few beers and a movie. (Details about what I watched tomorrow...)

Speaking of movies, this fellow blogger shows off a few cinematic masterpieces, Cinema Crazed.

Jaws...The Crater!

Yesterday, my friend and I drove along the Bandai-Azuma Skyline, the road that runs across the sky, in hopes of witnessing some lovely leaves. I'd say, Mission Accomplished.

Before we go any further, be forewarned that what follows are several photos of beautiful scenery. If that isn't your cup of brew, scroll down to the end and you'll view some Halloween content. I wasn't sure we'd see anything Halloweeny, but fortunately we did near the end of the day. 

This bridge is truly a marvel of engineering.

Two deliberate shots with glare from the sun.

All in all, very picturesque though the foliage was not as colourful as I'd hoped it'd be.

Next on the agenda was a volcanic crater, Azuma-Kofuji, a sub-alpine hiking adventure. It was early afternoon and overcast when we started at the bottom of the trek. It had started sprinkling and the wind was furious as we made it about 3/4s to the top. My lungs were holding up yet my ears were chilled so we opted not to climb any further.

We climbed all that way just to see a big pit.

(I scammed the pic above and below from my pal.)

This photo is scammed from my friend showing the braver souls than ourselves who continued the journey along the peak.

Here are 8 seconds showing a panorama of the landscape...VERY windy! 

SH*T, I can't figure out how to embed it, unlike every other video from YouTube. Hopefully you can access it here. here?

(Hang on, the damn link isn't working.)

So we go to the Visitor's Center (Jododaira Rest House) and there is this large picture of wtf is that?!? With a freaking shark in the sky.

I'd bought a smoked egg and a set of postcards* and decided to ask about the shark. 

(*I'll showcase the postcards at the end of this entry.) The guy tells me that the Jo in Jododaira (ジョーズ Jaws ジョドJodo...) is for Jaws. "It's a joke!", he proclaimed in his broken English. Not a particularly good joke but it made me chuckle at the time.

From there, we moved along to Lake Inawashiro, hoping to catch the tail-end of a sunset. 

Ducks!

A Turtle cruise!

A Swan cruise!

Swan paddle boats.

From there we wandered towards Koriyama and I caught the sun setting and a big Buddha (Not actually Buddha.)

Now what you've all been waiting for...Halloween content! The Mansaido (otaku-shop) in Koriyama had a Halloween display, and they went all out.

From a giant 7-foot tall skeletal spectre to 

several swinging spectres dangling from the ceiling.

 

Throw in a spider looming on passersby and you've got a pretty good spooky display.

At the entrance lobby there's a ghoul greeter. 

I decided to take a load off.

Apart from a few Spidey goods, I didn't buy much, though the Halloween display made the trip worthwhile. I did pick up another Aka-beko, this one sporting a deer on its back.

Here's a far superior Halloween blog to whet your whistle, Zombie Crossings!

As promised, here are the postcards featuring the top Nature sites of Fukushima.

Finally, just to finish this off, here are the undergarments I wore that day. Say it three times...