Momo Better Blues.

My Grade Sixers are learning the tale of Momotaro in English right now. The story in the text is INCREDIBLY lame but I've split them into groups and they're in the process of performing it in front of their classmates. Unfortunately due to an influenza outbreak, several performances have been postponed because few of the groups have a full cast.

I recommend you watch Samurai Jack talk about the tale in order to get yourselves into the mood. (Apologies for the dopey game Tales Runner's beginning. FF about 30 seconds.)



The kids all drew masks of the leads, Momotaro, Grandma, Grandpa, a dog, a monkey, a pheasant and a pair of Oni. Here is one class's interpretation of the characters.

First up, some Momotaros. The first few are more standard, then there's a less traditional version and a Momotarette.

The grandparents:

That last one is quite the GILF. (Grandmother I'd Like To F...)

The troops. Note, I gave them free rein here and allowed them to choose their own animals. Most chose the traditional allies, some went off-model.

And their nemeses, the Oni!

I love the Zippy-look of the last one.

Out of 30 potential performances, so far I've only seen two! It'll be a long two weeks (or six weeks depending on how many absentees we have.)

Mo' Momo Tomorrow!

Massive Hero...Masahiro!

When the Rakuten Golden Eagles won the pennant this year, it was primarily due to the pitching skills of Masahiro Tanaka. He had an incredible winning streak from April 2nd to Oct. 8th with 24 wins. Consequently, Japan Post has provided an Official Stamp Collection honouring his achievement. Alas, we've lost him to the Yankees so who knows what'll become of him...or of the Eagles!

I ordered one of these collections not really knowing what I'd be receiving and it came yesterday. What follows is a breakdown of the goodies within.

I got lucky number 030486!

Here are the stamps, 10 X 50￥ which I don't think is sufficient postage to send one of the giant postcards included.

A copy of his signature plus his signed hand-print. As you can see, I adapted a copy of his hand-print into a lesson on the names of the fingers.

And the aforementioned giant postcards.

If you flip those postcards, the obverse make up a 24-page jigsaw puzzle! Thus I don't really want to break up the set. Therefore, I plan to give the cards to my galfriend and keep the stamps for myself. I'll make a few copies first if anyone is interested.

I also received another awesome package in the mail yesterday, a terrific t-shirt from Fright Rags! It looks pretty damn sweet!

I'll be sure to wear it to the first Eagles game I attend...

Superb Owl

I have never seen a Superbowl game and I have no desire to see one in the future. Once again the match-up is lopsided though this time the Seattle Seahawks came out triumphant. I don't disapprove. I have never seen the Puppy Bowl nor the Kitten Bowl either. The only thing that the Superbowel is good for is the inundation of multi-million $ ads.

For example, the new ad for Captain America, The Winter Soldier that is due in April premiered.



Pretty good stuff and it shows off a lot more than the mini-preview I got when I saw マイティ・ソー/ダーク・ワールド = Thor last Saturday. Awesome movie, great effects and it didn't skimp on referencing Asgard and Norse Mythology's tongue-twisting Nine Worlds. More importantly, it maintains a sense of humour throughout, mostly provided by Darcy but everyone has a few giggles.

I also picked up a 3D Poster and clear file. Sweet.

Speaking of giggles, this has a few including lots of Spoilers so caveat emptor. And the pub in which they hang out totally stole the name of my bar (once I get around to owning one.)



Back to the ads, there is a HUGE amount of nerdy goodness in these ads. Spider-Man 2, Transformers, Noah, Muppets, Lego, British Villains, Matrix, and Goldiblox (whatever the heck that is.)

I'm rather impressed by the nerdiness in this Radio Shack ad as well.



If anyone knows of any other cool commercials from the SouperBowl, please let me know.  

This rather poignant ad would never be shown during a football match due to the message given. Check out
change the mascot to see a touching video.

Enough of the ToiletSuperbowl, here is an ad that you may not have seen outside of Japan. It's for Subaru and features my new found friends, the Titans.



I'm looking forward to next year's SuperAds.