Deck the Halls!

I'll get this out of the way. Merry Christmas those that celebrate and Happy Holidays to everyone else. Now, it's all about ME!

 

The above pic is from a calendar I own. The following were scammed from someone, sorry I can't make out who.

My buddy Hinnie, who makes frequent trips to Japan from Hong Kong, sent me a birthday care package of items that she picked up at a HK 7-11. First up, a deck of cards. And not just any deck, they're sparkly.

The Jokers:

 

The Clubs:

The Diamonds:

 The Spades:

And the Hearts:

 

I think I like the diamonds best. (Who doesn't?)

She also gave me a huge Tote bag (450X400) of Godzilla in battle with King Ghiddorah!

And the pièce de résistance, is this plate. I was going to have my Christmas dinner upon it, but it looks so great, I may keep it pristine for a while longer.

Hmm, it is microwaveable, I may use it tomorrow for leftovers.

Speaking of Christmas dinner, I had a supermarket bought leg and some veggies. Not very elaborate, but tasty enough.

 Other than that, the only other prezzies I received was from my fellow Santa. A barely visible girl...

 and a Graphic Novel.

A little Christmas/birthday mirth.

In case any of you are wondering what age I have just reached, here's a hint. (link to a South Park short, not spam.)

I might as well show off some of the Christmas pics I've taken over the last few days at Royal Park Hotel.

 

The aforementioned Kris Kringle who gave me the X-Men and FF goods. Does this look like an AI photo gone horribly wrong?

Schmoozing with some of the staff.

 

Hey, speaking of Hotel staff, a former student of mine from my Tokiwagi days was tickling the ivories in the lounge, and I managed to show up in time to hear her play an encore.

This is me sipping a tea listening to her. 

 Earl Grey, Hot!

An incredibly boring but pleasant birthday for me. If I get ambitious, I'll post some pics of earlier Santa endeavours going back as far as NOVEMBER FOURTH!

Merry Christmas everyone, and Deck the Halls! 

 

Gorgon But Not Forgotten.

Happy Day of the Dead everyone! (Is it okay to use Happy in this regard?)

 

Remember Me? This photo is from four years ago.

When I looked up Day of the Dead, there was a link to page in Sendai. Sure enough, there's a tattoo parlor/clothing shop named Day of the Dead.

I don't know much about Heidi Klum except that she is a master of dressing up for Halloween. Hopefully this link will take you to a quick presentation of her as Medusa. A longer video here will take you to the makeup process. 

Get stoned with your favourite Gorgon, Medusa!

 

Other tidbits that I've seen while scrolling today, includes a Jack o' Labubu.

This popcorn bucket would be appropriate for Halloween, Day of the Dead or while watching Frankenstein.

I didn't have a chance to check it out today (too lazy) yet there was a DragonQuest Walk in downtown Sendai today. A photo op with a really good Great-Sabre Tiger would have been nice.

Tomorrow is Culture Day in Japan and it happens to coincide with their ambassador, Godzilla, he too has a Godzilla Day. I'll hopefully be posting some Godzilla content for Govember (GodzillaNovember) but first a few leftovers from Halloween.

I must reiterate the sigh uttered across Canada when the Toronto Blue Jays succumbed to the Dodgers. From this... 

to this...

From Japan's Tourism Canada:

"An exciting MLB postseason that feels like it's been magic

We've been blown over and over again by the amazing play by the Blue Jays players 

And the unity of Canadian people cheering on the Blue Jays, not just in their hometown Toronto, but Canada-wide. Our pride

Congratulations to the Dodgers, Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Roki Sasaki on winning the championship.

I applaud you all. Thank you for dreaming and inspiring!"

 

 

Ya know how I'm always complaining about how the Christmas season encroaches on Halloween. It shouldn't be promoted until after Black Friday. I'm about to contribute to the problem for tomorrow I have my first Santa gig of the year and need to drive to a mall in Yamagata! Details after it's done... 

No Red One!

Good news, I earned a few extra bucks teaching at a friend's school tonight. Bad news, 2 new Gatcha machines!

There goes all that earned dough...

Ooh, a new Godzilla Gatcha featuring some rarely reproduced figures. Colour coded capsules, I got 3 green, 3 black and 3 orange, BUT NO RED ONE!

Ooh, a new Rocket Raccoon series! (I never did complete the first series!) I don't know how long this machine has been in operation, I ended up getting the last three, a black, purple and green, BUT NO RED ONE!

Ah well, it's getting late, I'll go through my goodies tomorrow. 

I finished at 9:00 and there was a late show of RED ONE starting at 9:35. With ads and previews, it ended around 11:50, I had to skip out early in order to catch the last subway so NO RED ONE end credits for me. I have no idea whether or not there was an after-credits gag.

Fortunately, the Warners website has a whole heard of trailers and you can watch them all here. Here's a taste:

 It seems that EVERY main actor in this movie has had a comic book movie connection.

Dwayne was Black Adam, Chris of course was Captain America AND the Human Torch, Lucy Liu was Kalisto in Shazam 2, Kiernan was in Riverdale (TV, that counts), J.K. Simmons has been a newspaper guy in both Spider-Man and Superman, Bonnie was in Jumanji (does that count?), the kid Wesley was in WandaVision, even Krampus himself, Kristofer, was in Game of Thrones (does that count?)!

All in all, I really like the movie. I don't think you can portray Santa for a couple of decades and not feel sentimental towards the RED ONE!

Just so I have a little Godzilla content, here are 15/20 stickers that I have wrangled and surprisingly have received no doubles.

I only wish they were numbered in some way so I can find out which ones I'm missing.

FYI, there's a Moomin Pop-up at Sendai Station if you're in the area.

And there's a honking-big Christmas tree up with some unusual ornaments.

I'll show off my Gatcha loot tomorrow.

HoHoHoed!

I was so exhausted from yesterday's Santafication at the Hotel that I went straight to bed. Early wake-up, long hours and a head cold will do that to ya. Today, just as exhausted, though I did manage to snap a few pics from in and around the Royal Park Hotel.

Last duty of the night was a pic with the kitchen staff who served my gift recipients. They were overjoyed to receive a KitKat.

One of the dad's recognized me from earlier, so I couldn't walk around maskless lest the kiddies discover my secret identity. I took it off for a quick sELFie. 

I arrived home a little earlier and opted to have a Christmassy meal before zzzzs. 

Ah, 7-11, you came through yet again.

Santa also helped me out with a little message for my grand-nephew. This should take you there.

I'm going to watch the first episode of What If and then go to bed. Meanwhile, here are some various memes that I've acquired over the last few days.

The above is from a calendar I own. Below was sent by a friend.

Since I've been sneezing a little, I'll end with "God Bless You, Everyone!"