Potty Time!

I'm feeling much better today and so I spent the day doing pretty much nothing. I discovered that my missing pouch of Point Cards had turned up, so I head down to the local cop shop to retrieve it. That was about all I did. After dinner, I started rummaging through boxes looking for various goods to showcase for my daily Venom blast. (Such as this wallet which I won at UFO Catcher.)

I think I'll replace my Scar pouch with this to keep my Parking coins within. 

After much rummaging, my brother emailed me with the request that I do some Comic Cataloguing so I can advise him. He has graciously offered to catalogue the comics I have sitting in a friend's basement and get them ready for resale. Since I'm not going home anytime in the foreseeable future, this seems as good a time as any to sell them off. (Besides, I need the money!)

Therefore, all of these distractions means that I don't have anything to post today! I looked at my Yokai book and selected this little gal.

I first chose Zashiki-Warashi because I mistook her for Hanako of toilet time fame. (Click either of those to learn about loo-Yokai! Alas, Zashiki-Warashi is merely a friendly little spirit that pulls pranks on homeowners.

Since I was talking about the loo, I managed to find some Gachapin/Mukku TP. I'd just run out of my Christmas supply!

I can't end the day on such a pleasant note, so here's some info about Akaname. This Yokai likes to lick the filth and scum that accumulates in bathtubs and bathroom stalls. Charmin! Charming!

If that hasn't grossed you out too much, go visit fellow countdown blogger, Dispatches from the Macabre Republic.

Hopefully, I'll have a more extensive entry tomorrow. Stay clean everyone!

TP.

 Just in case we have another shortage, I decided to buy an extra dozen rolls of Gachapin & Mukku TP.

As the roll progresses, there are little cartoon versions of the pair...

I don't know if the pics change from roll to roll, I'm not that ambitious to discover.

I've spent the last two nights watching a documentary called Compendium of Horror. I scammed this from the site.

Blumhouse's Compendium of Horror revisits the shocks and scares from our favorite iconic cinematic horror moments from the 1930s until today featuring insights from some of the best and most influential filmmakers, producers, and actors working in the genre, as well as experts and historians. The series, narrated by Robert Englund, reflects how quintessential horror films have revealed and reflected the real-life scares of the world to the audience, uniting us with shared understanding, catharsis, and entertainment.

 

Robert Englund makes a surprisingly eloquent narrator. I liked the first episode the best on Universal Monsters. Give it a peek, it may pique your interest.

The next episode promises to introduce this guy...

This is a little coin pouch that I got in a Gacha-capsule. I didn't bother to get any of the other masks, I don't need that many pouches.

I've forgotten to feature some of my t-shirts lately. This particular movie is also featured in the doc.

Much of the documentary features John Carpenter and he can also be found in this little blog: Me and You and a Blog named Boo. Check it out.

Ciao for now.

Hats Off to Hatsuuri!

January First is a day of reflection, praying at a temple or shrine in the hopes that the following year will be prosperous. Then the next day, all that is forgotten and the masses go forth and shop till they drop. 初売り (hatsu-uri) is the first shopping day of the year and it's a lot like Boxing Day or Black Friday with far fewer riots. Everyone's goal is to find that special 福袋 (fukubukuro), a "Lucky Bag" that includes sale items. 

Almost every year I fight the crowds downtown in order to buy a Bag from the Totoro Flower Shop which always has an awesome bag stuffed full of Ghibli goodies. I arrived at 12:30 and they were sold out; usually they sell out between 2-3 o'clock. Ah well, not to be dissuaded, I popped into the Disney Store and they had over two dozen bags stuffed to the hilt with a Mickey Mouse menagerie for 3000 yen. I popped upstairs for a moment and when I came back down, the last one was being sold. I did purchase some Marvel figures at half price though, so my efforts weren't wholly in vein.

These were the only two left. Too bad, for I'd love to get a Thanos.

I couldn't resist some KitKats with original Disney packaging.

Speaking of Disney, I won a nice Sorcerer's Apprentice Mickey at UFO Catcher. 

I popped into BookOff cuz I knew they had a sale. I found a few Movie Pamphlets and this awesome Funasshi (Fun Pear? Mascot) cosplaying as Godzilla.

I didn't buy much else for the crowds were getting too crowded. I grabbed three Lucky Bags from the 3 Coins Shop (a high-end Dollar Store) on spec, just to see what I'd acquire.

Bag one: some cleaning supplies and a mini throw rug. Always useful.

Bag 2: a couple of mini-bags for hauling around your iPhone, a tissue box holder and a "make your own box". Not quite as useful, yet I know someone who'll appreciate the Hedgehog bag.

Bag 3: ten bottles of fingernail polish and some press-on designs. Not very useful for me but I know some gals who'd like to receive them.

Not bad for under ten bucks.

I saw this outside a Drugstore and I had a chance to win a roll with a purchase of 10,000 yen. I didn't want it that bad.

Ultimately an unsatisfying haul, though the sale should continue on tomorrow and the next day...

Monsters Among Us!

Yay, I finally got a chance to see Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters today and enjoyed it. Even better, I was given a free present upon entry!

I asked the guy sitting near me to show me his present and sure enough it was a different colour than mine.

I wish I had read the contents of that link beforehand and then I would not have been quite so lost. The dialogue was rapid and constant and in high-level Japanese so it was VERY difficult to follow. Thus I just sat back and relished in the lush visuals.

As with most Kaiju movies, the darned humans get too much airtime and this was no exception.
A diversified cast yet, since everyone speaks in Japanese, they are not exactly distinguishable.

Since it'll be released internationally on Netflix in the future, I think I'll wait for a dubbed or subbed version and hopefully it'll be more comprehensible.

Whenever the Kaiju are on screen, the movie is wonderful, otherwise it is just talk, talk, talk. I liked the rhamporhyncus-like pterosaurs a lot. I tried to snag a few at UFO Catcher but this claw machine was of the "Pick up and drop" variety and it was impossible to snare any. Here are the three guys I tried to grab, but even the lighter pterosaur was uncatchable.

I did purchase a couple of items to sate my thirst for goods. Here are a pair of masking tapes and a bottle cap that I scored.

I also purchased an advanced ticket for the sequel next May. For my troubles, they threw in a free Clear File!

I'm looking forward to it!

ps. A cool real-life Kaiju alert in my bathroom! A benjo korogi showed up in my loo.

I May Never Pee Again!

A few weeks ago in this post, I alluded to the story of Hanako, Terror of the Toilet!

While rifling through the pamphlet, I came to the center and was unable to open it. The middle of the pages were sealed in such a way that I had to pry the staples apart to view the interior. I can see why! That's pretty horrifying!

Toilet Stories stickers and trading cards.

The previous owner of the pamphlet left a flyer within for a 3D ride in Fuji-Q.

Looks creepy...

If you want to learn more about the story, the late, lamented Pink Tentacle has an article on it. This YouTube has a bit of info on the tale, please ignore the spelling mistakes.



A couple of scenes from some of the versions of the legend.





Spooky!!

I scammed a bunch of photos of students drawings of "Halloween!" and how they perceive it. This is my favourite drawn by a rather mousy Grade 5 girl.

Here's a bunch more...

More tomorrow.

I stuck a sticker on each drawing (while supplies last).

After the kids indulged in a Costume parade (utilizing my massive collection of masks), they were each given a little pumpkin as their Trick or Treat reward. I have well over 1000 kids and am not allowed to give candies, so this is the next best thing. They were a big hit.

I couple of the girls decided to doll me up in this guise. I like the look.