Like many Gen X nerds, I collect curios. Quaint little bits of ephemera from America’s past, incomprehensible consumer products from foreign countries, folk/outsider art… all that sort of nonsense.

My tastes are pretty narrow, however. The superficial bric-a-brac pedaled at raunchy mall gift stores, objects designed to be “weird for weird’s sake”, usually don’t appeal to me. I like things that seem to speak to something sincere. As though they’re just the tip of the iceberg, offering the barest glimpse of a heretofore unknown world.

One of my prized possessions is a pair of keychains given to me by a friend when he lived in Japan. Granted, finding weird knickknacks in Japan is like hitting the broad side of a barn, but these keychains are on a whole other level. They have that divine spark that I look for in the things that I use to bring clutter into my life.

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It was my understanding that the legal driving age in Japan was eighteen, but seeing as how the following car is clearly owned by a nine year old girl, now I don’t know what to think.

Car spotted in parking lot at Shikoku University, Japan.

This mascot makes no sense, unless it’s for a company that either:

• Makes toilet paper for rabbits, or
• Makes toilet paper from rabbits

In any event, good call on the pink bowtie, anonymous Japanese character designer!

Source: A random cardboard box, seen at school

I usually update on Fridays, but figured this week I’d move it up a day for a special Christmas entry.

Above is a hand-drawn, Muppet-themed fried chicken nugget advertisment I spotted at a convenience store near my school a couple weeks ago.

Elmo looks like a pervert

But of course the piece de resistance is the Christmas Tree/Grover Crucifix motif. Nothing says Christmas like a bloody, beaten muppet!
 

Is he wearing underwear? And what’s that thing on his side? Hm…

Merry Christmas, Everybody!