I learned a new word today courtesy of the Simpsons: substitute sucks with sudge*.
*Possible reference to A Christmas Story where the F word is substituted with fudge.
Anyway, today I watched a handful of Hammer Vampire movies while carving fruit & veggies.
Last night you may recall that I turned a turnip beet into a Jack o' Lantern.
Today at lunch, I transformed a pear into one.
Before and After:
Here I placed in under a blanket so it would glow better. Check it out here.
It took all afternoon for my next project, a Butternut Squash is difficult to squish.
The end result was pretty good.
I tried to capture the essence of Escher and when I videotaped it here, it coincided with Dracula's demise at the end of Scars of Dracula. Scream and Scream again!
I had a can of Campbell's Pumpkin soup, so I added the butternut guts to with a bit of honey and some spices. Pretty good result.
The vampire in my monster book looks pretty cool hanging upside down.
It's Vlad!
I wish I had some of this garlic for my soup.
Found this little creature the other day, I may have scored a special one, this guy doesn't match those on the box. Hey, it's a magnet!
If you liked the Hammer above, you may enjoy visiting Monster Movie Kid, there are plenty of old movies to browse.
Tomorrow, I'll be taking my vast amount of decorations to school so they can adorn their classrooms. Pictures forthcoming.
Suffice to say that she's a blood sucking Yokai who hangs around the shore waiting for good Samaritans to hold on to her screaming baby. The baby than turns into a boulder, weighing them down and then she proceeds to suck them dry. Nasty.
One of her colleagues is the 牛鬼 (うしおに) orUshi Oniwho hangs around the same beaches and similarly preys on fishermen or surfer dudes. " The name literally means “ox demon,” and it refers to a number of
different monsters with bovine traits. Most Ushi oni resemble an ox from
the head up and a demonic horror below. Many variations are known to
exist; the body of an ox with a head like an oni; the head of an ox on
a body like a spider’s or a cat’s; or even an ox’s head on the body of a
kimono-clad human (a Japanese version of the Minotaur)."
Here is an Ushi Oni in action!
Ushi oni are exceedingly cruel and savage. They breath toxic poison,
and eat humans. Some ushi oni are lurkers, attacking people who draw
too close to their lairs; others are hunters, roaming the coasts seeking
prey. The cruelest ushi oni ravage the same towns over and over,
inflicting terrible curses or bringing diseases.
These two Yokai often work alongside another seafarer, 磯女 (いそおんな) or Iso Onna, a far prettier Yokai who often shares her meals with the above.
"In most cases, they appear as beautiful women who have just come out of
the water, dripping wet. Their hair is long and matted, reaching almost
all the way down to the sand. Their eyes are heavy with sultry, sexual
energy, and their nearly transparent wet clothes stick to their skin.
From the waist up, they appear like ordinary human women. But from the
waist down, they are blurry and slightly transparent, betraying their
otherworldly nature."
On rocky coasts without sandy beaches, iso onna appear sitting on the
cliffs and calling out to passersby in an eerie voice. Their victims
are mesmerized, and walk straight towards them, ignoring the dangers
posed by the rocky cliffs. They walk off the cliffs and fall to their
deaths, leaving the iso onna free to feed on their bodies. Iso onna are most commonly encountered during the holiday seasons of
Obon and New Year’s Eve, when the border between the realm of the living
and the spirit world can be more easily crossed.
I'm definitely going to more wary when I go to the beach!
You may have noticed that I neglected to blog yesterday. Well, I went to a party for a friend's school and had a few brew (only a few, I had a wedding today!) and partook in festivities. Disappointingly, there were very few costumes of note, mostly just cat or bunny ears. (Admittedly, I too was extremely lazy in my costume, just wearing my Gachapin sweats. I'll be wearing the same gear tomorrow for another Halloween party.) One guy went all out. He actually went and got an eye infection for the cause!
Impressive! He even wore a contact lens to shrink his pupil! This school has the best pupils! Here are a few more who attended an after party.
I was given a huge Asian pear last week, and I carved it Friday morning to bring to the gig. It turned out all right.
I asked the students to provide some eerie sounds for the video version.
On the way back from my wedding today, I popped into my friend's college who had an Open House.
I was coaxed into buying an overly sweet marshmallow concoction.
I was lamenting my lack of an operable computer when I thought, let’s see if I can use my phone.
So here we go!
Well, look at that. It worked! I brought a half dozen sweet potatoes in and encouraged my students to go nuts. They all* did a great job if I do say so.
*Except one. Not only did he hog all the carving from his partners, he also drained all the gas on my candle lighter trying to heat up some yam. Sigh.
In the other class of 18, I gave them a choice of six DVDs and they wanted to see the American version of Ring. Unfortunately it took too long trying to get it set up that we couldn’t watch a 115 minute flick. So we watched “Lost Boys” instead. About only six were interested, the rest snoozed or played on their phones. Sigh.
Last Friday when I played volleyball (my knees are still aching), I wore this mask and a couple of different kids said, “Spider-man!” I couldn’t figure out why. I took a few selfies and noticed that I need to adjust the eyeholes properly or it loses its appeal. Take a look.
It’s a generic Jack o’lantern mask though I suppose since it covers my entire face it could be construed as Spidey. Or maybe they’re mixing it up with Green Goblin. A mystery.
Speaking of Jack, I carved up a Colin Key Melon to a pretty good result.
