Capitalizing on Kappa.

I spent the morning yesterday at a fun Summer Festival at Carl School in Shiogama and as an added bonus to seeing happy kiddies, I managed to dispense a couple of boxes of my spare toys.

Buuuut, I couldn't wait for the event to end so I could skedaddle to Shikama Town for a Kappa Festival!

I missed out on one of the highlights, a cheerleading session by the 89ers gals. Fortunately I arrived in time to meet a few and score a Clear File.

I spent the next several hours, just wandering around and mingling with the locals. I came prepared and in my spiky knapsack, I included a Kappa poking out the back.

Here's the lineup of entertainment and the first act I caught were some punks playing heavyish metal/ Japanese HipHop.

Naruse DEF*LE*SPIRAL

Fine background noise though nothing special. I grabbed a drink of ume, mainly because I wanted to take a picture of this container.

I met my first Yokai!

A very cool statue.

The town mascot, Kawaryo Kappei.

Woohoo, the cheerleaders are back!

The next band on stage were a quartet of J-poppers. Not great, not terrible.

I met my first Kappa (Kappette?), a rather risqué rendition.

 

Then I met a pair of Kappa, Kapperi and Mako.

I played darts and won a puzzle and then played ring toss and won a flag.

Time for a dinner break and discovered amongst the food carts, an American dude selling burritos.

I ordered some quesadillas and a burrito. I couldn't finish it all and had it for lunch today.

 

He threw in a the last of his Chile con Carne for free!

He lives and works in Sendai, so perhaps I'll seek him out again.

Almost time for the big parade, so I adorned my Kappa-feet and added a Kappa-cap.

This parade was fully organized with groups gathered together, joined one of the groups as a straggler.

We then marched up and down the street, while dancing to Kappa Boogie Woogie. Here is a lively rendition of that tune by Hibari Misora.

 

I discovered the lyrics if you'd like to sing along.

Kappa Odori wa boogie woogie (The Kappa’s dance is boogie woogie)
Youki ni Tanoshiku (very fun in the sunlight)
Mizutama Tobashite Odore yo (kick up water drops and dance!)
DON to Tobikome Ukiagare (jump in (the water) with a (sound of) DON! and float up)
Shibuki wa Pacha pacha pacha pacha kyah! (the spray goes splish splash splish splash, eek!) (pacha is the Japanese onomatopoeia for water splashes)
Kappa boogie woogie kyah! (The Kappa’s Boogie Woogie, eek!)

Youki ni Tanoshiku (very fun in the sunlight)
Mizutama Tobashite Odore yo (kick up water drops and dance!)
DON to Tobikome Ukiagare (jump in (the water) with a (sound of) DON! and float up)
Shibuki wa Pacha pacha pacha pacha kyah! (the spray goes splish splash splish splash, eek!) (pacha is the Japanese onomatopoeia for water splashes)
Kappa boogie woogie kyah! (The Kappa’s Boogie Woogie, eek!)

I filmed a minute of the less lively version, so check out the groovy dance.

Here are a few of the participants.

This guy carried a very realistic looking Kappa-Miira puppet.

It's that Kappa gal from earlier who changed outfits for the parade. 

The guy on the right is a friend of a friend! Here he is promoting the town...

 

After the parade, a crowd of over 1000 waited around for a Lucky Draw. Alas, I didn't win a thing.

By the way, this was not my first visit to Shikama. I went to an onsen last September and met a curious looking Kappa. (Check that link for a few more pics.)

I forgot to mention that one of the paraders I traveled with gave me a fan and long towel!

I'll be sure to go back there next year!

Meet MY Beatles!

I literally stumbled over my albums the other day and thought I'd revisit them once again and figure out what to do with them. A few years ago, I scanned some records and just left it at that. Let's take a closer look at my Beatles and see what I have. I shan't include my White Album with the cool white vinyl because Alex borrowed it decades ago and I haven't seen it since. White Privilege, I guess. I'll start with Magical Mystery Tour because it's the coolest and has all kinds of extras. 

The front above and the back cover below.

An interior shot.

Within is a cool booklet with lots of pictures and various silly shenanigans.

There's a several page illustrated story as well. Some Beatlemaniac has kindly copied the entire thing and if you wish to browse it, click here.

The vinyl is in impeccable shape, it didn't get as much airplay back in Uni. The cover itself is a little ratty, maybe a 6/10.

Hey, there's a cool documentary on the making of the movie if you have an hour and a bit to kill.

The next album in my miniscule collection has an iconic cover featuring a plethora of celebrities, Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. 

The back cover has all the lyrics to all the tunes. Handy for those without a Karaoke machine.

Open it up and you get a nice head-spread of the fab four.

Do you want to hear Lennon and McCartney talk about each track? I've got you covered.

Let It Be said that Let It Be is a pretty good song and album. But compared to the other two, it's a fairly boring layout.

That's it! No bonus pics or booklets. Not even a screaming Yoko.

There is a movie and a documentary though, if you want to track them down.

 

The only other Beatles album I have here (I may have a few in Toronto at my friend's place) is The Beatles Live at the Hollywood Bowl. (Not as good as Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl, but a good runner-up.)

The centerfold:

A trailer...

That's it for my Beatles. Not as dramatic as I thought it'd be and there's a good chance I may let them go to a good home, if I get a reasonable offer.

When I get around to it, I'll show off my other albums which I shall be selling.