Simpsonized

Some say life is like a book. I say it’s more like a cartoon: the stuff of everyday life offers plenty of chances to laugh with abandon, while the remainder of the time we spend provokes a smirk or a knowing grin.
Anyhow, I recently commissioned a Rising Family® avatar after I became infected by the internet midnight purchasing bug. I paid for it, might as well share it!

Speaking of cutesy cartoon characters, Japan loves ‘em. Almost all towns, cities, organizations, even the police and military have their own adorable animated mascots.

Another other national proclivity – creating accidentally hilarious English words – combined with the mascot mania here and resulted in “Fukuppy”: a merging of the Japanese word for “good luck” and “happy” in English that got very, very lost in translation.

‘I’m Fukuppy, nice to meet you.”
This resulted in much insider-humor online sharing amongst the foreign community here in Japan last fall.

These two characters from the Kanagawa Prefectural police are just too cute to issue me a parking or speeding ticket…right?

 

It seems recruitment of young women went up when the Japanese Self-Defense Forces drew up these chic new “idols” for the armed forces.

As for me, I’m old school—I’ll stick with the Simpsons = "my weekends"

Courtesy of 20th Century Fox