October 2020 | Otaku No Culture

Sara Pascoe Out of Her Mind, or Out of her Head?

Unlike The Office or Malcolm in the Middle, this offbeat work is not just about Sara providing commentary on her life. We are literally looking into her mind. She’s chiding her conscious self for those gaffes and explains why her actions are a result of misfiring thought processes and chemical imbalance. No, she’s not going through menopause.

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

New episodes every Tuesday

For more information on Optik, Pik, and TELUS Presents, please visit telus.com/teluspresents.

When powerhouses Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are executive producing Out of Her Mind, starring stand-up comedian Sara Pascoe, you know there’s something to like about this show. This genre defying fourth wall breaking British program made its debut on BBC2 and residents of Western Canada are lucky to get an early exclusive. It’s broadcasting on Telus Presents, and this streaming service is available to OPTIK and PIK TV subscribers.

Unlike The Office or Malcolm in the Middle, this offbeat work is not just about Sara providing commentary on her life. We are literally looking into her mind. She’s chiding her conscious self for those gaffes and explains why her actions are a result of misfiring thought processes and chemical imbalance. No, she’s not going through menopause.

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Get Animated 2020 with The NFB! and Beyond…

Today is International Animation Day, and The NFB is releasing their 12 best pieces online!

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

The National Film Board of Canada has been very busy lately. Not only did they have works featured at the Vancouver Film Festival but also they’re following up with Animez-vous (Get Animated 2020)!

Today is International Animation Day, and this company is releasing their 12 best pieces online! Some old favourites–The Cannonball Woman, The Physics of Sorrow and Blind Vaysha–are in this collection, and afterwards, they will have one work, Old Dog, shown during Spark Animation Festival.

Pages: 123

Opening the Doors to The Barn with We Want to Believe

As for when The Barn will be revisited, nobody is telling. The team is out looking to showcase beautiful Super, Natural British Columbia, as I had hoped for and am glad to see happening

null By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

The latest instalment of We Want to Believe on JoBlo.com shows what happens when authorities are called in when the team is mistaken for miscreants and we get a lesson on how to best deal. Fortunately, the cops are understanding and this episode serves as a reminder of the upcoming Halloween day. The authorities won’t be chasing after anyone who looks shady. Even though the team had the owner’s consent to wander about, the neighbours won’t necessarily know about the ghosts said to hide in “The Barn.”

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Vicke Blanka vs Taiiku Okazaki over Bakashi Hour Night!

Bakashi Hour Night

Twitter and TikTok

Also available to stream:

Vicke Blanka and Taiiku Okazaki have teamed up for Bakashi Hour Night! This highly danceable track has a lot to like. It speaks of friendship, music and retro gaming. The collaboration should be of no surprise when these two J-pop stars are in fact buddies in real life and their love is recorded to all to see. The music video is now available to watch online and stream.

The Japanese word ‘bakashi’ means ‘bewitching’ or ‘enchanting’, ‘BAKASHI HOUR NIGHT’ is a song about friends hanging out together and wistfully longing to “mess around together for decades”. The music was composed and arranged by Vicke Blanka, and the lyrics were co-written by both Vicke Blanka and Okazaki.

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All Hail the Popcorn King, A Review

For anyone who only knows some of Joe R. Lansdale’s stories, All Hail the Popcorn King is a must see to learn about what else he’s dabbled in.

If you look hard enough, playing at select film festivals is the documentary All Hail the Popcorn King. This biography about celebrated author Joe R. Lansdale is just as much of a celebration of his career, and sadly, the home video release was limited edition. It sold out faster than you can shoot a gun at a zombie! He’s known for penning the hilarious cult classic Bubba Ho-tep–a personal favourite of mine. Amongst animation fans, he penned a handful of notable episodes of Batman: The Animated Series.

Although no stone is turned in this work, the emphasis on his literary material stands out because a unique Texan style atmosphere permeates much of his work and really has to be analyzed.

The interviews with Joe Hill, Bruce Campbell and Amber Benson (to name a few) nicely add to learning why Lansdale is loved. He’s a special talent. The fact he was chosen to finish an Edgar Rice Burroughs story speaks about his mastery with the pulps. Apparently, his imagination was sparked when he listened to those old time radio programs. He especially loves those programs, like Flash Gordon, Green Hornet and The Shadow. Some of which became television programs and others, celebrated movies–but the love for the pulps has not been the same since the new century.

The crazy dreams he had after chowing down on his wife’s greasy (lard-coated) popcorn apparently led to many of the stories he wrote. If that’s the case, I shouldn’t be too worried about those LSD trips. They may even be wonkier than John Carter’s adventures. Who knows tho’. But for anyone who only knows some of this author’s materials, All Hail the Popcorn King. is a must see to learn about what else he’s dabbled in. Hopefully a new pressing of the disc can be made, as this work is considered essential viewing.

With luck, if all fans scream loud enough, perhaps Hansi Oppenheimer of Squee Projects LLC will listen.

4 Stars out of 5

Trailer

Oomomo Victoria, BC Please!

I prefer this Oomomo over Walmart for daily essentials. My hope and all I can ask is if they can set up shop in Victoria.

Company Name Change Announcement - Yokoyaya to Oomomo (Downtown Vancouver) — Oomomo | Japanese Household Essentials By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Daiso Canada rebranded as OOMOMO a year ago, and this company sells Japanese daily living necessities. This place is my go to place whenever I’m on the mainland, and with this year being what it is, I haven’t headed there until recently. I often go there to buying media storage products in bulk and affordable replacement screen protectors. Now, they have a few other items on my list that I’m glad to stock up on.

There are eight locations across Canada. I’m amused three are in Vancouver. Aberdeen Centre is their biggest store, and it’s almost fully operational. Their e-shop is running, and shoppers can stop by to pick up their orders. I’m glad they’re taking the pandemic seriously. But when they allow regular shopping and wandering the aisles, the search for Sanrio products begins!

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