(From now I won’t add graphics to every post to save on time for me, and prevent scroll-wheel syndrome for my fellow readers with paltry sub-1080p screen resolutions 😛 )

There have been some strange advertisement campaigns in the past, but this is the first time I have heard of one like this.  Usually this sort of thing is left to the commercials on TV, and there have been some really strange ones like this one, this one, this one, and even some of these.  This though is big, it’s live, and you can win a trip to Africa.  I will quote the blog post from Capcom:

Majini *coughZOMBIEScough* have gone through a small part of London, leaving behind a trail of remnant body parts from their victims. Find the bodies on the morning of Thursday March 12th and win a vacation to Africa.

Register at residentevil5@capcomeuro.com to be sure to receive the clues as to where the remains can be found.

Find as many of the bodies as you can, or what is left of them, and return them to Westminster Bridge by 11am.

The body parts will be hidden at locations near Trafalgar Square, within this area.

And this is where you should take them.

Alert us to your presence by standing on the bridge, holding the artificial body parts over your head and shouting “Kijuju!” We will be there, watching you, and will approach when you make yourselves known.

Points allocated for each body part – 2 points for arms, 2 points for legs, 3 points for torsos, 5 points for a head. The more body parts you find and bring to us, the more points you get. The player(s) with the most points by 11am win the trip to Africa.

The game begins at 9am. Good hunting – we will see you on the bridge. Take pictures, take video, have fun. And don’t wear your best clothes – it’s going to be messy.

A little strange this one.  All I have to say is, “Kijuju!” (whatever that means). 

It is a specials time for me this week.  Yes, I did mean to spell it that way.  Monday I subbed for art in an elementary school and today I did music in middle school.  This day was one of those times where I did the same lesson for all classes.  Yes, that means all grades from 1st to 4th did the exact same thing.  Why would they all do the same thing?  Well, apparently Metra is sponsoring a safety poster contest and have done so for the last couple of years.  Kids from kindergarten through high school make posters that have to deal with safety around trains.  Each grade competes in their own contest so a 1st grader, for example, doesn’t have to go up against a middle schooler.  Some of the posters from last year are really good.  Too good in some cases I think.  Check out this poster for example:

This looks like a fine 2nd or 3rd grade entry, but kindergarten?  Hmm…  The previous year’s kindergarten winner looks a bit more age-appropriate.  So the kids got the details and started working on ideas for their posters, due in a short four months.  Anyway, check out all the previous winners at:

2007-2008 Winners
2006-2007 Winners

Today as I wrote above I did music.  This was a most enjoyable experience for me because I got to show videos for movie musicals.  6th grade got to see one of my favorites, Oliver! Well, the start of it.  Having been in Oliver! I was really able to get into it with the kids and talk a little about it and my own experience.  8th grade was next and they continued watching Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.  That’s right, the old one which in my opinion has the better Willy Wonka, played by Gene Wilder.  No offense to Johnny Depp’s acting, but that interpretation of the character just didn’t work at all for me.  Not much to say about this.  They were engaged 8th graders, and that’s what was important. 😀  A couple in the second class asked if I could skip the songs.  Let’s see now, the class is music and he wanted me to skip the music.  I think you can guess what my answer was as we continued to listen to “I’ve Got a Golden Ticket.” 😈

Moving to 7th grade (last classes of the day and relevant to the topic title) we got to see the start of Singin’ in the Rain.  I’ve never seen this before believe it or not.  It is now on the reserve shelf at the library waiting for me to pick it so I can finish it since I saw only the first 35 minutes of it, twice.  If you’ve seen this movie then you know there are some kissing scenes in it, several of them.  I couldn’t believe it when one of the seventh grade classes had some boys going “ewww” during these scenes.  I heard “cooties” as well, but to be fair this was probably a joke reaction to the ewws.  I would expect this from 4th graders, but I would have supposed the sex education the kids get in public schools would have desensitized them to things like kissing.  I guess not.  I guess I learn something every day. 🙂

Check this Oliver Twist picture out (click image for larger version)- funny! 😀

Mike R. Baker