White Day In Japan? What's That? 0_0

How's it going lurkers? Right now, you're staring at a picture of a White Day cake. Are any of you familiar with White Day?

No, White Day is NOT  a holiday meant for white supremacists here in America. If you have been paying attention to my blogs, White Day is mostly the Japanese equivalent of Valentine's Day for women.

White Day originated on March 14, 1978 in Japan. This tender holiday coincidentally shares the same day as International Marriage Day. International Marriage Day began during the 6th year of the Meiji Era.

International Marriage Day was launched on March 14, 1873. This specific Japanese constitutional holiday became a law, which acknowledged interracial marriages in Japan.

Over time, China, South Korea, and Taiwan innovated the holiday by celebrating with their own traditions.

As I have stated in the past, Asia celebrates Valentine's Day differently than us Americans. Women typically give chocolate candy to men and their friends on Valentine's Day. They also use the holiday as a way to confess their feelings of love, affection, and asking men to be their significant others.

Then on March 14th, which is WHITE DAY, men are supposed to let women know if they want to be their boyfriends, fiances, or husbands. This is in addition to treating women to something special on White Day.

Traditionally, the holiday includes white-themed presents. Getting marshmallows, white chocolate, cookies, white lingerie, and jewelry are only naming a few examples. 

If I ever choose to date a Japanese, Taiwanese, South Korean, or Chinese man, I would have to warn him in advance about white chocolate candy and marshmallows nauseating me.

Getting white chocolate and Peeps every Easter were 2 types of candy I ALWAYS dreaded, growing up. Therefore, I refuse to eat any white chocolate candy or marshmallows. Just... NO!

Last year, the 2 YouTube vloggers Rachel and Jun uploaded their own vlog celebrating White Day. In case you didn't already know, Rachel and Jun are an intermarried couple in Japan.

In this vlog, Jun made Rachel a chocolate cupcake and a cheesecake, while she was gone.

Rachel & Jun Celebrate White Day (2015)

Hopefully you found today's blog to be enlightening about White Day in Japan and other countries in Asia!

Cartoon Sunday: Jeremiah Warren's The History Of Saint Patrick's Day

How's it going lurkers? We have only 4 more days until Saint Patrick's Day! Since last month, I have been searching around the Internet trying to order special desserts for Saint Patrick's Day.

Originally, I planned to order something reasonable from Galaxy Desserts for my family. 

After seeing how expensive their cupcakes, macaroons, and other desserts are, I changed my mind. 

Winning free Chocolate Mousse Satisfaction Cupcakes from Galaxy Desserts, 3 Valentine's Days ago was fantastic. 

However, spending $60-$130 or MORE on macaroons, cupcakes, or any other dessert individually is outrageous.

As much as I LOVE desserts, that is WAY too expensive. I can buy something just as delectable for a more reasonable price at a local grocery store or Sam's Club.

Even if I happened to be rich and famous, I still would NOT waste all my money on overpriced desserts. It's not like I'm ordering a wedding cake or holding a banquet.

Wednesday night, I made a 2-hour shopping errand with my mother at the stores. While shopping, I didn't see as many Saint Patrick's Day pastries or other types of desserts on display. The stores are probably waiting, until the next 3 days to sell them.

In some areas, a few Saint Patrick's Day events have been held over this weekend, since the holiday falls on a Thursday this year. Milwaukee held their Saint Patrick's Day Parade, yesterday. On Friday, there was a Corn Beef Hash Sandwich Eating Contest.

Chances are highly great, that I will be unable to celebrate Saint Patrick's Day for the most part. My mother has a doctor's appointment on that same day. 

Maybe before the holiday, I can buy some treats at the grocery store for my family.

With all this talk about Saint Patrick's Day, I decided to share another educational video. This is another educational vlog regarding Saint Patrick for today's Cartoon Sunday.

YouTube vlogger, Jeremiah Warren explains the history of Saint Patrick's Day in this animated vlog.

Jeremiah Warren's The History Of Saint Patrick's Day (2011)

What Are Anna H's Thoughts About The Real O'Neals?

How's it going lurkers? Last night, I watched The Real O'Neals.  

Throughout the last month or so, ABC constantly advertised, that this Irish American Catholic sitcom was supposed to be premiering March 8, 2016.

The Real O'Neals Promo (2016)

It was NOT  until signing back online, that I discovered that ABC already premiered its first 2 episodes LAST WEDNESDAY, on March 2nd. I never saw any TV promo about The Real O'Neals premiering, last Wednesday. So, I missed the pilot AND episode 2.

You may be thinking, "Well, you can always watch it online." 

That's not always the case anymore with certain primetime shows. Normally, I watched missed episodes of other shows on Hulu or ABC.com.

Over the last few months, certain online streaming sites have changed their layouts and are now restricting outside viewers from watching their shows, UNLESS we're paying subscribers. That in itself is really annoying.

Otherwise, those companies want us to sign in using a social media account. Then, they can track and expose whatever we choose to watch with EVERYONE. It's not that we necessarily have any shows to hide. However, this somewhat feels like an invasion of our privacy.

Aside from those issues, I really like watching The Real O'Neals. It gives me another primetime show to watch, during the week. This is especially on ABC.

Shortly after Desperate Housewives ended 4 years ago, I stopped watching the network. It was NOT  until Fresh Off The Boat premiered last year, that I started watching ABC again.

Now, that The Real O'Neals airs right after Fresh Off The Boat, ABC gave me a full hour of their programming. ABC is NOT  a regular channel, that I watch unless I am watching the local news. 

I barely stay awake to watch Dr. Oz anymore because his show airs, during what I like to call, "My Vampire Sleeping Hours."

As I was saying earlier, I really like watching The Real O'Neals for the humor about Irish American Catholics.

Speaking of Catholics, some are butt-hurt viewers ranting about the show. Their media watchdog groups tried getting The Real O'Neals canceled, before it could premiere on TV.

In fact, I stumbled upon this YouTube vlog condemning and demonizing The Real O'Neals because the vlogger CANNOT  handle any jokes about Irish Catholic Americans.

The Real O'Neals EXPOSED MOCKING CHRISTIANS! (2016)

In a way, I can somewhat understand why certain people would be EXTREMELY offended. ABC mostly has political propaganda on it, which panders to a certain political party. Also, Eileen O'Neal on The Real O'Neals is THE stereotypical and extremely judgmental Catholic Christian Mother with a dysfunctional family. Despite all of those issues, The Real O'Neals is a funny show. 

For a while, I have been waiting to see it. After listening to the preceding vlogger, it only shows that he lives up to all those negative stereotypes about Christian zealots. THAT  YouTube vlogger makes other Christians, who ARE decent people, look ridiculous and brainwashed.

Yesterday, I saw the cast of The Real O'Neals defending their show.

The Real O'Neals Cast Stands By The Show After Criticism From Some Catholics (2016)

Honestly, I agree with the cast. Something that I found to be really interesting and convenient was that The Real O'Neals premiered in March because of Saint Patrick's Day being in March. 

Last night, ABC pre-aired the show's Saint Patrick's Day episode. 

Staring at The O'Neals' Saint Patrick's Day float was the hilarious scene, in last night's episode. At least it was for me, personally. 

They dressed Satan like a leprechaun and put clovers around his eyes. If I had access to a clip or a photograph of Satan dressed for Saint Patrick's Day, I would gladly share it with you all.

As you already know, I enjoyed watching The Real O'Neals, last night after Fresh Off The Boat. 

I can understand why some people would be offended. At the same time, the zealots should put on their big boy and girl pants and stop getting offended about EVERYTHING by learning how to take a joke.

Hopefully, ABC will NOT  cancel The Real O'Neals only to pander to tantrum throwing extremist groups.

Song Saturday: Primordial's Hosting Of The Sidhe

How's it going lurkers? Did you enjoy yesterday's blog about the Irish Horror Folktales?

As stated in the last blog, these next few blogs will be Irish and Saint Patrick's Day themed. This includes the next 2 Cartoon Sunday blogs as well. 

Hopefully, you will enjoy them all and possibly learn something new about each blog I publish, in the following days. Today we have an Irish themed Song Saturday. 

Some of you may be familiar with the Irish Black/Celtic Metal band, Primordial. It would NOT surprise me, if a Metal friend/subscriber of mine from Blogster already knew about Primordial. I have heard of the band over the years.

However, I never had the opportunity to listen to any of their music, until recently. Primordial comes from Skerries, County Dublin, Ireland and has existed for nearly 3 decades. To be more specific, the band's roots go all the way back to 1987.

Iron Maiden, Venom, Metallica, Slayer, Celtic Frost, Black Sabbath, and Megadeth are some of Primordial's influences.

The band also incorporated Traditional Irish Music into their songs. Earlier this week, I noticed that they have a song on their Storm Before The Calm album titled, "Hosting Of The Sidhe."

After conducting research about folktales from Ireland and reading the song's title earlier this week, I automatically noticed the reference to The Evil Irish Fairy Muse, Leanan Sidhe. If you read the previous blog from yesterday, I explained about Leanan Sidhe. 

It is quite interesting that Primordial wrote a song about the muse, which had the ability to seduce poets and musicians. Then, they would die after she left them and would only return to collect their blood in a giant red cauldron.

Those with very little to zero knowledge about Leanan Sidhe would NOT  have understood Primordial's reference to her. Luckily for you, I did my homework this past week. 

Anyway, here is Primordial's "Hosting Of The Sidhe" for today's Song Saturday.

Primordial "Hosting Of The Sidhe" Storm Before The Calm (2002)

Do Irish Horror Folktales Really Exist In Ireland?!

How's it going lurkers? Yesterday morning, I pre-planned the next 4 blogs. They are all Irish and Saint Patrick's Day themed, including today's blog.

As you already know, every country has its own folktales, including Ireland. It is only fitting to share a couple of Irish Horror Folktales, since I am a Horror fan with some Irish ancestry.

On Wednesday, I researched and learned about a few Irish Horror Folktales through IrishCentral.com. The folktales about Dearg Due, Leanan Sidhe, and Caorthannach stood out the most to me, which is why I am sharing them with you all today.

1) Dearg Due- In Gaelic, Dearg Due means "Red Blood Sucker." In the Irish folktales, she was an Irish vampiress, that seduced men and drained them of their blood.

Originally, Dearg Due was a young, beautiful woman, who had fallen in love with a local peasant. Her controlling father found it to be highly unacceptable.

This led to Dearg Due's opportunistic father forcing her into an arranged marriage and being sold off to an abusive, rich husband. Because Dearg Due was unable to escape from her abusive marriage, she committed suicide. She was buried near Strongbow's Tree in Waterford, Ireland.

After committing suicide and dying, Dearg Due rose from the grave as an Irish vampiress. Then, she sought revenge by sucking her father and abusive husband's blood, until they dropped dead.

It is said that Dearg Due rises from the grave once every year and people must build piles of stones over her grave. This is in order to ward her off, until the next year.

2) Leanan Sidhe- Somewhat similar to the vampiress, Dearg Due, Leanan Sidhe was considered The Evil Irish Fairy Muse. Leanan Sidhe was a beautiful, opportunistic, Irish woman, who gave musicians and poets their inspiration. 

The Evil Fairy Muse seduced poets and musicians with her intelligence, creativity, and magic. Whenever Leanan Sidhe left them, they became depressed and died. 

Rather than sucking their blood, she would then take them back to her lair and collected their blood in a giant red cauldron.

Collecting poets and musicians' blood was Leanan Sidhe's source of beauty and inspiration.

Much like Dearg Due, people in Ireland must build stones over her grave.

3) Caorthannach- This Irish Fire Spitter was notorious for being Satan's mother and was defeated by Saint Patrick himself.

Supposedly, Saint Patrick stood on Croagh Patrick expelling demons and serpents out of Emerald Isle to drown in the sea. However, Caorthannach was more of a challenge.

Saint Patrick saw her sliding down a mountain away from him and chased her, while riding on a horse in Ireland.

Caorthannach purposely spat fire in the water and poisened every well she passed because she knew Patrick would eventually need water to drink.

Regardless of how thirsty he was, Saint Patrick prayed for guidance, while refusing to quench his thirst with water. After reaching Hawk's Rock, the saint waited for Satan's mother.

He finally banished Satan's mother from Ireland by jumping out from his hiding place where he waited for her. Then, Caorthannach drowned in the ocean and left a swell behind. It later became Hawk's Well.

Have any of you noticed that these Irish folktales are all about women? I know I have. Out of all 3 of them, I like folktale about Dearg Due the best. It is probably because I am automatically biased, when it comes to being woman scorned.

After researching and learning about these folktales, I am amazed the writers for the TV series, Grimm have NOT  created an episode about either of them, especially about Dearg Due. Maybe I should send the writers a few suggestions.

BTW: THANK GRIMM IT'S FRIDAY!

So, what are your thoughts about the evil women in these 3 Irish Horror Folktales?