REVIEW: DOKI DOKI CRATE

There are tons of different crate websites you can subscribe to, where you get certain products or snacks each month. Some that I’ve been interested in are Owl Crate, a monthly dose of young adult books and bookish goodies, and Japan Crate, a monthly box of Japanese candies and treats. However, the crate that I finally succumbed to subscribing to is JapanCrate.com’s Doki Doki Crate. Doki Doki Crates are filled with cute Japanese items, such as plushies, keychains, anime figures, etc.

I was originally holding off on subscribing to Doki Doki (in the effort to be frugal), but when I found out that February’s crate would feature Studio Ghibli gifts straight from Japan, I had to splurge (just this once 😉 ). So, I subscribed to the month-to-month package and awaited the arrival of my Doki Doki Crate. Note: Doki Doki Crates have various subscription options, such as monthly, three months, six months, and a year (which will give you extra savings and a bonus gift). Crates are shipped during the first week of each month, and I received mine right on time!

There was an assortment of kawaii collectibles in my box, including the following:

*Jiji (Kiki’s Delivery Service) coin purse

*Spirited Away plush

*Cardcaptor Sakura plush keychain

*Cardcaptor Sakura figurine

*Black cat bookmark

*Rabbit pen bookmark

*Bear whistle keychain

*Chi (from Chi’s Sweet Home) keychain from KFC Japan

*Gudetama keychain

*Sheep “feeling” stickers (for notes)

*Cute little comic book/booklet explaining what was in the Doki Doki Crate

I loved this “kawaii care package” so much! It was affordable, fun and one-of-a-kind. It added a little something extra to my month, especially since my sister and I were both looking forward to receiving it in the mail and divvying out the products inside amongst the two of us.

Doki Doki by Japancrate.com is great for birthdays, holidays, everyday gifts for friends or just an extra perk for yourself to brighten your day and make your month. When you subscribe for Doki Doki updates on their website, you will be given little previews of the next month’s crate as the current month is wrapping up. I look forward to seeing what the next crate will hold—it’s fun to see people post pictures of their crates online (you can see some on JapanCrate.com, as well as on some blogs and YouTube channels).

What’s good about these types of crates is that you could easily go “halfsies” on the crate with someone who’s also interested in receiving cute Japanese gifts (so you would only have to pay about $15 while a friend or sibling pays the other $15) and pay an even smaller price while sharing the joy with someone else, and then you’d both end up with four or five gifts! That’s a great price, especially if you go to Japanese markets around the U.S. to buy imported goods (it would cost around that much just to get one of those items). I think I especially appreciated my Doki Doki Crate because I’ve spent so much time finding Japanese/anime gifts around different stores across the United States. Now, if only I could justify getting these crates each month, haha. 😉

Now that I’ve experienced all things kawaii through Doki Doki, I am going to try out the taste of Japan through sweets and treats by Japan Crate. I ordered the premium box for March, so be on the lookout for my review on that at the beginning of next month. March can’t come soon enough!

WTF HAPPENED TO ALL THE GOOD BANDS!? XII

My legs are almost completely numb, except for the tingling feeling in my feet. There are red marks on my legs from boney elbows, digging in, supporting the weight of a fairly large book. The book, part history, part science fiction, is about a regiment of union soldiers transported to an alternate universe by way of the Bermuda Triangle. It’s not particularly exciting, but I will continue to read it until I either have a bowel movement or fall off of the toilet. I should have signed up for Life Alert, “ I’ve taken a shit, and I can’t get up.” Hold on Elvis, help is on the way.

The only thing worse than severe bowel blockage is equally severe brain blockage. Laying off the cheese and mashed potatoes will cure the former. Finding a laxative to loosen up all of the feces in my mind, causing it to flow from fingers to form, is another matter entirely.

With this in mind, I will turn you on to a band from the past that doesn’t  relate in any way, shape or form to my misspent youth. No tales of sex, debauchery or drug abuse to go with this one. None that I can remember anyway.

Captain Beyond formed in 1971 and released their self titled debut in 1972. The lineup consisted of singer Rod Evans, formerly of Deep Purple, drummer Bobby Caldwell from Johnny Winter, guitarist Larry “Rhino” Reinhardt and bassist Lee Dorman, both ex Iron Butterfly members.

Check out Raging River Of Fear.

The bands second release, and my favorite, Sufficiently Breathless, went public in 1973. The addition of two more members, percussionist Guille Garcia, Keyboardist Reese Wynans and a new drummer, Brian Glascock helped the band put out this phenomenal album.

Here’s the title track, Sufficiently Breathless.

And, Starglow Energy.

With a change in vocalists Captain Beyond released Dawn Explosion in 1977 with singer Willie Daffern. Willie doesn’t quite nail it the way Rod Evans did, but his voice is passable. This is evident in Breath Of Fire Pt 1.

Although Captain Beyond has disbanded and been resurrected several times, these are the records that matter. There were a few live efforts produced, but nothing that comes close to the original recordings.

Think I’ll throw on some WiFi headphones and listen to music the next time I find my self in dire straits whilst taking a dump. Save my legs from falling asleep and maybe entice my body to perform with sweet song.

WTF HAPPENED TO ALL THE GOOD BANDS!? XI

By: J. Minor

Women, can’t live with them, can’t throw them in the trunk and drive across the state line.

The unanswerable question, even more mysterious than the meaning of life, the origins of the universe and the existence of a greater, powerful being responsible for the creation of all that is, and all that will ever be. Why do women wield power over men, and where do they get these super powers?

Since the beginning of time women have had the upper hand over their male counter parts. The serpent tricked Eve into eating fruit from the tree of knowledge, but it was Eve who talked Adam into taking a bite, dumbass.

Achaean troops besieged the city of Troy for 10 years over Helen which led to the death of Brad Pitt. They say only Kryptonite can kill Superman. I say it’s Lois Lane. Look what happens to the poor bastard in issues of Injustice: Gods Among Us comics.

Sure, The Joker manipulated the lovesick super hero into killing the love of his life and in doing so, nuked Metropolis. If he wasn’t so pathetically whipped by Lois, the Man of Steel would never have been vulnerable. I imagine at sometime, he will spin the earth backwards to reverse time and make the same mistake all over again.

A lot of mans stupidity and misunderstanding of women is well documented in music.

Take for instance Joe, the main character in Frank Zappa’s 1979 release, Joe’s Garage. Joe’s love, Mary, takes off on a tour bus to perform unspeakable acts with rock musicians, so he hooks up with Lucille, who gives him a major dose of the clap. I’m talking about the type that doesn’t wash off with Tide. Does he learn his lesson? No, he falls in love with Lucille who in turn breaks his heart, his obvious confusion portrayed in the song Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up.

Harry Nilsson expresses his anger towards his woman in You’re Breakin My Heart, but caves at the end with the words, “I Love You”. Typical.

Even a hard rocking band like Nazareth can’t seem to figure out how to handle a woman. In the song, Whiskey Drinking Woman, the seventh tune on the Hair Of The Dog album, a woman with an obvious drinking problem is making some poor son of a bitch go broke. And guess what? He doesn’t know how to handle her. If the roles were reversed, a woman would have two words for a drunken man, Restraining Order.

Thank goodness there are a few musicians who can play a song that outlines a solution to the age old problem of amazonian domination.

Thank you Jimi Hendrix for this one:

Where do I stand on this issue?  Let’s put it this way. My wife is on the way home and I have to close out this segment of WTFHTATGB before she gets here. If I’m good, she may pull my balls out of her purse and let me play with them for a few hours.