1. RRcherrypie’s Advent calendar

    RRcherrypie is a Japanese person who uploads videos to YouTube that show off various food related toys and such. She’s put a variety of shokugan, or toy prizes that come in food packages, in her advent calendar box. Some are from Re-ment, such as the little box of chocolates. Adorable!

    I used to be a big Re-ment fan, before the company changed its lineup to emphasize licensed character items over realistic miniatures. You can see some of my Re-ment related postings on JustHungry and JustBento here.

  2. Jazz piano Silent Night →

    Jazz Piano Small Pieces is the musical podcast (RSS link) of a Japanese guy (changee) who is a ‘fan of Bill Evans’. His latest upload is Silent Night. I like his style - he is very good, but not totally polished like a seasoned pro, so you get the feeling you’re sitting near a piano while it’s being played by a good friend on a quiet evening. Enjoy.

  3. The Advent calendar got rudely interrupted because on the day I posted my last Christmassy link, I got thrown back in hospital due to my surgery wound getting badly infected. Boo. So, no more advent calendar this year. ;_; But I’ll post some Xmassy stuff anyway. Here’s my real advent calendar, that I made a couple of years ago.

    The Advent calendar got rudely interrupted because on the day I posted my last Christmassy link, I got thrown back in hospital due to my surgery wound getting badly infected. Boo. So, no more advent calendar this year. ;_; But I’ll post some Xmassy stuff anyway. Here’s my real advent calendar, that I made a couple of years ago.

  4. Maki’s Advent Calendar Day 2:

    Take 6 is a gospel a cappella group. They’ve been around since 1980, and despite some member changes their sound has remained consistent - rich, layered yet quite laid back. I love good a cappella, but no group is as soul-satisfying to listen to as Take 6. Here they are singing I’ll Be Home For Christmas. Keep in mind that rich sound comes just from six voices, no instruments. Amazing.

    You can find a lot of their other Christmas and other songs on YouTube, Spotify, etc.

  5. Maki’s Advent Calendar Day 1:

    This is a short film called Tanghi Argentini. It was nominated for an Oscar in 2008. The payoff is wonderful. Enjoy.

  6. A bit of Christmas cheer every day.

    What with the operation and my father dying and all, I know I’ve been depressed and making people around me depressed too these days. So, to compensate a bit I’m going to be bringing a bit of Christmas cheer every day until the big day. Sort of like an advent calendar.

    Merry Christmas, everyone.