(Autographed) Honeysweeper Tour Merchandise In Hand!

The package has arrived. One official Honeysweeper tour t-shirt, one amiyumidas - HIT FUN t-shirt (autographed), and one honeycreeper CD (with autographed card).

Let's break it down. Details follow the jump!


Yes, that's the shirt I've mentioned in previous posts, now in the flesh. I was happy to see that it's "autographed in pen"... though I did not have a bad day, so I won't be selling Puffy's soul on Ebay. Either click through to the larger image or visit the link above for a better view of the autograph.

Incidentally, I was surprised they were selling this shirt on this tour - it's an album old. Maybe they were just clearing out old stock. Supposedly they had it in large size in Vancouver, but only M and S by the time they made it to Anaheim. Doesn't seem like a new run was printed.

Here's the honeycreeper CD with autographed card (a little worse for wear from the trip to the east coast):

I gotta admit, while I would have preferred an actual signed CD insert (like they did with Splurge last year), it's pretty neat how big this card thing is. And it's like it was made for autograph signing; it's just a white card with the record label's name on top. I've never seen a Puffy autograph this big before.

That's a second printing CD with a different front and back cover than the first, and most likely a different insert. I'm debating whether to do a post comparing the two print runs; I probably will, but I haven't been able to bring myself to open this one yet.

The official Honeysweeper tour t-shirt:

Kinda "eh", really. I was hoping to get one of the Ami-designed "Puffy the Monster" shirts, but goddammit, they didn't bring any to North America. I do like minimalist t-shirt designs that don't scream out the name of the band, so I like this shirt in that regard. But it's just a little too much plain grey. I liked their 2005 tour shirts the best - they were obtuse enough to make someone wonder "what's that for?" and of course, a big-ass kanji on the back makes any shirt look cool in the US. The 2005 shirts were also customized for each leg of the tour.

Here's the back of the Honeysweeper shirt:

I like the back better than the front. It's a pretty cool lyric out of context. I do wish it was a little easier to read. They had plenty more room to use here. I guess it was a design choice.

I'm a little disappointed in the shirt's quality:

Brand-spankin' new and already the lettering's cracking. Well, looks like I'll be wearing this thing once and then putting it away for safe keeping.

A few details on the rest of the shirt... the city list on the back bottom (click the image for a larger view):

The honeycreeper bird on the front:

That kinda makes me laugh.

The little badge on the bottom right (the shirt-wearer's right):

Yes, if you're a member of the puffyamiyumiworld.com forums, you know I think Puffy are not an "issues" band. But one thing I will cop to them being at least indirectly involved in is the "green" movement. I don't know if they actually do anything other than produce merchandise (which is hardly carbon-neutral), but this is not the first thing they've put out there to try to raise awareness and promote the issue.

And lastly, the only other bit of Puffy branding anywhere on the shirt (besides the tiny little city list) - the right sleeve badge:

Clearly, this is a band secure in their position in the world. Nobody's even gonna see that unless you specifically show it to them.

I do wonder what the symbol is supposed to mean.

Well, that's about it! Thanks one more time to Alkulp for picking all this up. I think I made out pretty good considering Puffy didn't have a concert within 2,500 miles of me!

Butch Walker's Malibu House has Burned Down

One of my Blogger friends Misty Beethoven sent me this, thinking Puffy fans would be interested:

Malibu Fires Hit Home of Butch Walker

Butch Walker and his family have fallen victim to the wildfires spread by the Santa Ana winds across Malibu, CA. On November 24th a family friend was forced to evacuate the singer, songwriter and producer's Malibu home, which was being rented from Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Flea, due to the rapidly spreading fire. Walker was in New York City at the time on tour.

Says Walker "I had just consolidated my entire recording studio and house from Atlanta into the one house In Malibu. I lost everything I've ever owned. Every master of every song I've ever recorded, every piece of recording equipment, guitars, drums and things I've collected over the years, cars, motorcycles, every family memorial, heirloom, picture, and document we ever had.... Gone. I feel like I finally know the difference between 'going back' and 'going home'."

Walker and his family request privacy during this painful time.

You should, of course, know Butch Walker as the writer and producer of PUFFY's songs "Closet Full of Love", "Ain't Gonna Cut It", "Call Me What You Like (if you like rock 'n' roll)" and "Radio Tokyo". Definitely a sad day, although thankfully neither Walker nor his family were hurt.

Most news reports are calling this a "house owned by Flea" or just "Flea's house", and before today, the impression I was under was that Flea lived there. It's sad whoever actually occupied the house, of course, but now knowing that it's Walker just adds some relevance for PUFFY fans. Here's hoping Butch and family can get through this and rebuild.

PUFFY no otoriyose chan

Does everybody out there know about this? I keep forgetting to mention it here. It's been going on for a while now, but it's still being updated, with a new video of Ami and Yumi going up just today.

I honestly have no idea what the heck it is. I believe they are tasting food and then rating it for some reason. They look quite bored. But hey! New PUFFY video.

You may ask how I come across these things that I have no idea what they are, from a land that's far, far away and written in a language I don't fully understand. And the answer is, they find me!

Closet Full of Love PV!

The "Closet Full of Love" promotional video that we've all been waiting for:


Were you in it?

Happy (late) Thanksgiving!

My American visitors probably understand why it's been a few days since my last update, and might still be a day or two before my next. For my visitors from Japan and elsewhere, it's Thanksgiving weekend here in the United States. That means a whole lot of cooking, a whole lot of eating, and a whole lot of family fun (and stress!) followed by a mad dash to the start of the Christmas shopping season.

In the spirit of the holiday, here's Puffy at the 2005 Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, though I imagine most of you have seen it. Maybe I'll just post it this time every year :)


I'll be back with some updates within the next day or two. We'll see what kind of PUFFY news accumulates in the meantime...