I saw Digger today. (Click that to go to the homepage.)
This movie will either sweep the Oscars or sweep the Razzies. It could go either way. Personally, I enjoyed it. Tom Cruised his way through the role and John was a GoodMan in his. The rest of the cast was fairly forgettable except for ニラブ・ガネシュ博士：リズ・アーメッドRiz Ahmed.
That trailer above does not sell the movie well. And it worked, the movie did not sell well. (For an afternoon show with a Japanese crowd watching it in English, it did pretty good. About two dozen people.) I went, mainly because I scored three postcards when I bought an advanced ticket. (That was before I saw the trailer.)
I don't think these will ever become collectors items, unless I can get Tom to sign them.
I do have enough girth that I could probably cosplay Digger for Halloween.
Did you know that there are several Digger frogs? Here's a few:
Freiberg's Forest Foam Frog.
The Boreal Frog from Korea.
And an Australian Burrowing Frog.
Furthermore, Honey Smacks has Dig 'em.
You may dig this creature I picked up the other day. Still not sure what it is but I'm sure it can dig.
ps. It's Pot Mitty from Abyss: The Golden City of the Scorching Sun anime.
As for a monster, I don't really have one that relates to digging per se, though this gal does have to do with the sea and so does the movie Digger.
I popped into Costco today and almost bought a pumpkin pie, but it looked like it'd be too much for me to dig into.
All I know, it's a good thing I already have plenty of Halloween Decorations, because this is all they have left.
Sigh.
You may enjoy fellow blogger, Highbury Cemetery, they'll be sure dig your plot.
Today's Yokai can be found in lakes and deep ponds all over Japan but especially in Miyagi. She isUnagi Hime or the Eel Princess. There aren't that many pictures of her, here's one.
And some dude drew this one himself.
You can draw one yourself if you just follow this video's instructions.
Unagi hime live at the bottom of lakes and ponds. Very little is known about them, and stories about them are short and lacking in detail. Sometimes they are said to weave clothing on looms at the bottom of their ponds. The clacking sound of a loom can be heard near the banks of a pond where an unagi hime lives.
Here is the origin and a legend...
Origin: In Miyagi Prefecture, eels were believed to be guardians of the ponds they inhabit. A number of local legends tell of eels which battle with other guardian animals such as crabs and spiders. The eels usually take the form of beautiful women and try to recruit the help of humans in their fights. Sometimes the human is a famous warrior or priest, other times he is unnamed, but in most stories the eel loses the battle.
Legends: There is a pond nearby which a warrior named Genbē lived. One rainy summer night, Genbē took a walk around the pond. The eel who owned the pond appeared before Genbē in the form of a beautiful woman. She told the warrior that on the following night, the spider who owned a nearby pond would come and fight her. She begged the warrior to stay by the pond and protect her, for with his help she would surely win the battle. Genbē promised to help. However, on the following evening, he grew cowardly and stayed at home, shaking. The next morning, he returned to the pond and found the severed head of a giant eel. Its unblinking eyes stared at him with such hatred that he lost his mind. He threw himself into the pond and drowned.
I don't have any eels to speak of, though I did buy a Gatcha capsule of Ahab's nemesis today.
I didn't buy any, but here are some Frog gatcha that would have gone well with a previous post.
As a follow-up to yesterday's post about Junji Ito's story, The Dissolving Classroom I snapped a few pics from its interior. Pretty bizarre stuff.
As usual, when I transfer from my pc, the pages are out of order. Not that it makes much of a difference.
Going back to a nautical theme, I suppose Aquaman should make a reappearance here.
I'll save a few more for a later naughty-cal post.
Since I was in the mall today and there just happened to be a Curious George Pop-up store, I popped in to have my picture taken.
I didn't want to leave empty-handed.
No new entries on the Countdown to Halloween from our old pals at i-mockery though there's always something there to enlighten and entertain if you click around.
Okay, still playing catch-up, this is yesterday's post.
There is a Giant Toad Yokai called an Oogama which is just an ordinary Japanese toad (Bufo Japonicus) that has lived for over 1000 years and thus gains its Yokai status. They can grow incredibly large and they become more dangerous the larger they get. Their long tongues are agile and sticky, and they can catch and drag just about anything into their mouths to eat. Their breath appears rainbow colored when they exhale. They sometimes carry spears which they use to assault humans. Like many animal yōkai, ōgama have the ability to change their forms and disguise themselves as humans.
When they rest, they might resemble a large stone and foolish people may sit upon them. If you do, they may garnish spears and the 3-meter large ones may even eat you.
The following is the legend of an Oogama that lives in Miyagi:
Legends: Long ago in Miyagi Prefecture, a famous marksman heard about an old, dilapidated house by a bridge where every night a strange old woman appeared and spun thread. Her neighbors feared her and thought she was a demon of some kind. The marksman went to investigate the old woman. Her smile and cackle were so disturbing to him that he immediately aimed his gun at her heart and fired. As he did, the light from her lantern went out and the night became pitch black. The marksman stumbled home in the dark. The following morning the woman was gone, and there was no sign of any injury. He must have missed somehow. A few nights later the old woman appeared again. The marksman went to see, and this time he aimed his gun not at the woman, but at her lantern. He fired, and once again everything went black. This time he heard a terrible shriek and a clattering sound. At first light he returned to the house, and lying where the woman had been was the corpse of an enormous, ugly toad.
It should come as no surprise, that I have a few frogs in my possession. Here are a few.
I'm very fond of this amphibian!
I really wanted that squeaky toy toad but these were expensive so I didn't want to risk getting duplicates.
Several weeks ago during a trip to Morioka, these two creatures were gobbling up tiny photophilic flies and moths that were attracted to the Pizza Hut sign. (Don't tell the guy in photo below but while I was trying to take a cool pic of the above, I accidentally stepped on his friend.)
My favourite Kaiju-Toad is the character of Jiraiya when he turns into his Toad-form in The Magic Serpent.
A few years ago, I picked up this Wacky Walky because it looked so freaky. (Sure, it isn't a toad, but it is green.) His nickname is Chicken George.
When discussing Junji Ito with a friend, she pointed out that one of her favourite stories is "14" by manga-writer/artist Kazuo Umezu. This guy wrote the manga/anime upon which The Drifting Classroom was based. (Click the author for a link to my previous blog entry on the guy. Click The Drifting Classroom to watch the movie!) Fourteen is a spiritual sequel to The Drifting Classroom.
IF you check out this article you'll see some examples of Kazuo's work. Such as:
Further scroll down that article, and there will be a link to another article about Junji Ito. He idolized Kazuo Umezu and as you can see, homaged his style as well.
Apart from the Spider-Man friend/foe, Frog Man and the villainous Evil Mutant, Toad, I can't think of any amphibious comic characters. I have Swamp Thing. Is that close enough?
I haven't visited The Man Cave, check him out for some spooky comics and movies.
I'm pooped. This entry took way longer than I thought it would. Toadally!
_02.png)
