Happy Halloween, everyone, from where it's happening now, Japan. This is my third Halloween in Japan and now I'm working at a junior high school that, I was surprised to find, really embraces the holiday. When I started there a couple weeks ago, I found a massive Halloween display at the entrance presumably created by the handmaking club or art club. There are crocheted jack o'lanterns everywhere--orange ones, despite the fact that I can't get orange pumpkins in Japan. I've heard it's possible to get them in some shops in Osaka or Tokyo but I haven't had opportunity to search. No-one I've talked to has ever seen them and some people don't believe me when I say they taste different from the green Japanese pumpkin, or kabocha.
This school also has an English club, which is a nice extra outlet for me since, at this school, it seems many of the Japanese English teachers are exceptionally afraid of having a native English speaker in the classroom (it's really not hard to see why Japanese English is a joke around the world). I showed the club the Sleepy Hollow segment of The Adventures of Ichabod and Mister Toad, just as I showed a class at a different school last year. Once again, I found they were able to understand it well enough despite not understanding most of what Bing Crosby says.
I wasn't able to stream a movie last night because my internet was running very slow. So I had to rely on what I have on tap and watched Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula yet again. But it's such a sumptuous film, it always makes for a satisfying meal. And it's hard to think of a sharper contrast, as far as production design, to Malignant. The effort Malignant couldn't manage for entire rooms is poured into the tiniest nooks and crannies of Coppola's Dracula. Just look at all the details in Lucy's bedroom:
There are details of character, like the hatboxes on the bookcase, and details of idiosyncrasy, like that glorious headboard and the cupid lamp. It's a feast.
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