Oi To the World!

Here's the tally for favoured Peanuts characters from CBC (Charlie Brown's Christmas) other than Snoopy. Pigpen wins with 4/8, 2 for CB and 2 for Linus. As expected, they oohed with Kawaii whenever Snoopy was on screen. And they all giggled with delight at the dancing. (I would be remiss if I didn't add a video on that very subject, proffered by a commenter yesterday.

After the special, I taught them how to properly read off a telephone number and gave a little listening quiz featuring the Peanuts gang. Can you guess why this is Snoopy's phone number? 111-1111-1111.

Tonight, I watched a new animated special called Merry Little Batman about the hijinks that Damien Wayne gets up to in Gotham City when criminals steal his Utility Belt.

I was taken aback by the artwork (Ronald Searle-esque) at first though soon got caught up in the story and it grew on me. Judge it for yourself.

I don't ever recall hearing this Punk tune before, now I'm going to play it every Christmas.

Here's the rest of the soundtrack.

And this is a Kinky tune that played over the opening credits.

If you can find this movie, give it a chance. It's quite fun...

Finally, my brother sent me a photo with a blast from the past. These Three Kings were made by my mom in the 70s/80s and she would sell them at the Perpetual Bazaar, a place for buying handicrafts made by Brampton locals.

They've held up quite well for fifty-year old crafts!

Happy Mosura Day!

Yeah, I've done the Mothra vs. Mother gag before, yet it never goes out of style in my mind. So here are a couple of pics of my stuffed Mothras.

This guy above is over 25 years old and was given to me by a neighbourhood Toy Store owner when I asked for some Kaiju goodies. He still does the roar and I uploaded a new YouTube Short which probably won't embed properly. So try this link. If not, here's a similar video from years gone by.

 

I'm not alone in this sentiment...

Here are some other Kaiju tidbits I've amassed of late.

My old Kong head has seen better days. It appears that the humidity has done a number on his leathery face and he almost made it to the trash. I'm going to keep him around a while longer though, we've been through too much together.

I recently bought a clear file of the latest SHIN team up. Feature Shin-Evangelion, Shin-Godzilla and Shin-Kamen Rider. It'd make quite the movie...

Well they have recently came out with some related snacks, a crispy senbei rice cracker with an accompanying glossy sticker. I've already received my first double.

Just for fun, here are a couple of Kaiju I scored around Christmas. I'd consider them infant versions so their moms are already in my collection.

The recently hatched eggshell diaper is a nice touch for Radon.

That's enough Kaiju-talk, here's an actual story of my mom. I'm afraid, I have to go with a rerun photo of her sitting astride Santa's lap in the early 90s. I was the Shoppers World Mall Santa way back then.

My mom was a pickler. She would buy cucumbers from the Farmer's Market in bulk and then bottle up about 50 jars-full. My younger brother and sometimes my sister and I would sneak down in the basement and steal a jar of pickles and consume them one after another while sitting upon our favourite hiding place, on top of the furnace. (It wasn't on.)  While other kids would steal from cookie jars, we stole from pickle jars. Guaranteed, my mom would ask us to go grab a jar for dinner that evening after we'd chowed down earlier that afternoon. I'm fairly certain she knew what we were up to but never let on.

Added nostalgia bonus. My High School Chess team. We came second in North America! Though I'm the one holding the trophy, I was always on the bench and the others in this photo were on the actual team.

Before writing this, I watched The Mother. Jennifer Lopez is great, the daughter typically disobeys and puts herself in danger throughout the movie. Worth it though, just for the mom!

Momorabilia.

Okay, I know I haven't blogged since November. I'll make excuses later. For now, since it's the 11th anniversary of my mother's departure from this mortal coil, here are some of the only items I had acquired since her departure.

First up, SPOON! No not the Tick's battle-cry, rather her collection of spoons that she had amassed throughout her life. Some bought by her on family outings, though most of them were gifts from friends eager to add to her obsession. Details can be found here at spoon. 

Next up are a batch of thimbles and other paraphernalia she used in her flower arranging days. She always came home with several ribbons of achievement.

In addition to that, I have a couple of copper plates of hers. 

Details can be found for the above here.

Finally, here is her name that I created using phonetic kanji to spell out her name. Edona Jyonzu.

I also have a ton of her jewelry and you can find details here. 

If poker hadn't been cancelled this evening, this post may never have occurred. As it is, I'm glad I wrote it.

Miss ya mom!

Thimbolism.

Today is what would have been my mother's 94th birthday. I unearthed a couple of items that were bequeathed to me, and I shall show them off now. (A year ago, I showed off her spoon collection.)

First up a few thimbles that she used for both sewing and for flower arranging.

From left to right, we have one from Taiwan, China, Japan in the centre, and two from Britain.

Speaking of flower arranging, she also used these to show off her prizewinning roses.

If I had just a portion of her artistic skill and a green thumb, I'd try my hand at 生け花 (ikebana), which is celebrating its 125th year at the Ikebana School of Wafu. 

Mom also enjoyed her sherry and I have a quartet of her cups.

Lastly, I have a couple of copper/silver-plated plates/trays of hers. I don't know how old the smaller one is yet it is certainly lovely.

Whoa, this oval one dates back to the 19th century! (Or is 1847 just its designation?)

If anyone knows of a product with which I can polish these, I'd appreciate it. (Preferably one that I can find in Japan.) I'd like to see if I can get it to shine like this similar one I found on ebay.

Happy Birthday Mom!

ps. Happy 40th Anniversary to Indiana Jones as well!

Happi Mothra's Day!

 It's been a little over 8 years since my mother passed, I'd like to think that she'd appreciate this as a gift.

This was a Gatcha from last week, I just had to get them all.

Chibi-Gojira.

Chibi-Radon.

Chibi-Ghidorah.

Chibi-Anguiras.

Chibi-MechaGodzilla.

Hey speaking of Godzilla, did you know there's a new movie where he battles Kong? Some of you may have seen it. It FINALLY gets released here cinematically next Friday. 

I've been saving up for some of the goods that will come with it. Such as the items in this Ichiban-Kuji. I want EVERY ONE of them yet at 900 yen per try, the price will add up quickly.

I debuted my Mothra mask a few weeks ago. 

I plan to show off a new mask for the GvsKK debut.

Happy Mothra's/ Mothers Day everyone! 
(I miss ya mom!)

Happy Mothra's Day!

Since today is both the anniversary of Mothra's release and Mother's Day, I give you some goodies about Mothra. I just finished watching a dubbed version of Mothra (not bad dubbing either and part of a marathon about Kaiju moms) and can now begin my entry...

The above is a cool poster that I received with the video below.

More posters.

The cast:

A collage of scenes:

Check out the Peanuts!

The weaponry:

Some behind-the-scenes work:

Love this little guy!

Just for fun, I brought out my pet Mothra for a little action.



I'd be remiss if I didn't include a photo of my actual Mothra Mother:

Happy Mother's Day and Mothra's Day to one and all!