Pom Poko

[El Dingo]

I finally rented this from Netfllix.

The fact that Disney ditributed this movie blew my mind.

If you remember, Pom Poko was the animated feature about shapeshifting raccoons, some of which have testiccles that swell to the size of SUVs.

They use these testicles (or 'raccoon pouches' as Disney euphemises them) as weapons and lawn furniture.

The movie itself is about the raccoons fighting developers that are tearing downtheir forest. Yawn.

It is very slow, full of cutesy story segments that do little to advance the plot.

There is a 'Monster Parade' scene near the end that made my brain hurt and would probably kill anyone on drugs. Skulls morphing into dragons morphing into Buddha morphing into devils and on and on and on for several minutes.

It really is a kids movie with a nice message about not cutting down trees and stuff, and if you don't mind your rugrats seeing cartoon cojones then it may be fun for the whole family.

[Drunk Monk]

So Sunday morning, before dawn, Mrs. Dm wakes me up saying "There's something big in the living room". I stagger out and the house immediately erupts into chaos. A raccoon is in the house. It dashes into S's bathroom. I run into my room to grab something. Yes, I have a "pillow sword" - isn't that a DOOM requirement? I have a trusty bokken, but I was in the hall before I realized the raccoon was between me and it. So I run to my weapons rack and almost grab my dadao, a sharp tempered steel hand & and half scimitar-like piece, but realize that it's difficult to unsheath so I pull my good ol' dragon head cane. The pom confronts the raccoon with some barking and posturing, but both break before any blows are exchanged (thank goodness because pom versus raccoon just isn't a winning equation). The raccoon runs into the bedroom and wakes up T, who was sleeping with us because this day was her first gymnastics tournament and she was nervous (way to start the day, eh?). I give chase and it scurries out the glass door.

After a few laughs, we go back to sleep.

After dawn, S tells me there's another on, trapped behind the sofa. The pom has been barking at either side of the pom hole (crafted by the glynch, but made functional by dm). The pom knows the raccoon is nearby but can't reason out where exactly (the sofa is next to the pom hole). The cat has left. It's not stupid. It's so outta here. I open the door and move the sofa. The raccoon looks pitiful. It's crapped and peed all over itself. It leaves quickly, as embarrassed as a raccoon can be. I clean up the mess.

Last night, we think they might have come in again. The pom was barking, keeping me up all night.

Tonight, it's war.

P.S. T placed 4th on beam at her 1st meet. I'm so proud.