Who woulda thunk it...

[tsukikage]

Domo Hired as Halloween Mascot for Target Stores O.o
I've decided it's about time to switch back to hot tea during the day, even if it is more difficult to drink (because of the thermos).
So, I've been wanting to read the Qu'ran for a while now, and about two weeks back I found a free podcast of the complete Qu'ran with each "chunk" of Arabic followed by an English translation. "Great!" I thought. Only problem is, when I don't know a single word of Arabic and I'm not a Muslim so I don't find any particular need to listen to the entire Qu'ran recited in its original language... Well, let's just say the Arabic gets tiresome. The recitations are pretty, and give me a bit of cultural insight, but in the end right now I just want to learn what the Qu'ran says. *sighs* Ah well, it's still nice to have it in podcast format, even if it does take twice as long. (FYI, not including the first two... surah, they're called?... the entire length of this series of podcasts is 2 days, 35 minutes, and 18 hours long. So you can see why I'd prefer it to be cut to 1 day long by taking out the Arabic.)

[EDIT: I swear Ootsuka Ai has split personalities, roughtly her "ballad personality" and her "weirdo personality". Compare "Planetarium" and "CHU-LIP". (For a second I was going to bring out "Fugainaiya" as an example, but then I remembered that that's YUKI. But frankly, I think weirdo!Ootsuka and YUKI have a lot in common.
Unrelatedly, I just skipped through the Code Blue soundtrack (as well as some other albums/singles I downloaded, including the new RSP album) and it's definitely a nice one. Looking forward to cleaning it up and getting it into my iTunes library. I think I may have also discovered a new band, AAA, because of that World of Destruction CM killercherrypie linked me to. I'll have to DL some more of their stuff before the jury comes in, though.]

Comments

[hitokiridirk.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure you can find versions of the Qu'ran that are translated into english, in book form. It's probably be easier to soak up, that way.

[tsukikage85.livejournal.com]

I have it in book form, actually. It's just hard to get through in a way that it isn't when I'm being paced by a reader.

[akibare.livejournal.com]

I got some little stuffed Domo-kun things as well as several Domo-kun pins at the NHK Studiopark in Shibuya back in 2005, to give to some friends as he had somehow been a joke on Fark for a while.

The woman at the store was interested I was buying them and I said it was really popular on the American internet, and she just found that really odd. (Of course, if we want to get even, I should note that some of the FANCIEST shops in Shibuya full of cool kids that I passed on my way up the hill were selling JOHN DEERE hats, I kid you not!)

Locally a "Urban Outfitters" opened in my town and when I window-shopped it last weekend I saw they had various Domo-kun merchandise now too, although it's not the same stuff sold in Japan but rather things for the US market.

I do have a Domo-kun pin on my bag, and yeah, my Japanese friends find it strange. But, they know I actually do listen to the NHK news daily, so they thought it was from that...

I'm kinda pondering if I can make a big costume out of a refrigerator box, somehow...

[tsukikage85.livejournal.com]

I mean, I knew Domo-kun had a small cult following in the US, but I thought it was only with a subset of the otaku type, and a smaller subset of non-otaku type. But Target? Could they be trying to lure in the already-present fans? I wonder if Target will prosecute people for wearing Domo-kun Halloween costumes. ^_^;
As for the JOHN DEERE... I have nothing to say to that. ^^;