By Dane Degenhardt
Long, long ago, in old Britain,
the Celtic people celebrated New Years Day
on what is now November 1,
so their New Year’s Eve was October 31.
In those days,
evil spirits and powerful monsters
lived just below the island’s crusty surface.
These horrible creatures from hell
rose up out of the ground
on the night of every full moon.
They would pull their slimy bodies
up through the many caves
that were found around the country.
These creatures took many different forms,
each horrendous and horrifying
in its very own way.
Some were vampire bats
that let out bloody screeches
as they flew in the dark night air.
Some were huge, hairy tarantula spiders
that would creep silently
across the cold, damp ground.
Some were fiendish zombies –
decaying bodies of long lost souls–
that crawled out of their graves
to find and steal a human spirit
Still others were ghastly ghosts –
gaseous visions of bodyless souls
who would hunt the living for their bodies.
At the start of each year,
these grotesque inhabitants of hell
had only enough power
to climb to the earth’s surface,
but no power to do any harm.
Even the weakest young boy
could easily push them away
with a casual thrust of his small arm.
But, with the coming of each full moon,
the army of underground mutants
gained more, and more strength.
By the time of the last full moon of the year,
on the very night of New Years Eve,
Satan’s hordes of murderous soldiers
were as strong as they would ever be.
The poor, helpless people of Britain
were in the greatest danger.
The now strong spirits of the dead
were desperate to catch a living soul
before their power was again exhausted
with the coming of the New Year.
To save themselves from a horrible death,
the Brits built huge bonfires in every village.
To hide themselves from the evil ones,
they dressed in odd costumes
and hid their faces in hideous masks.
Throughout this night of terror,
the people danced, sang,
and screamed with fear
until the New Years sun was near.
The usual clear blue Kanto winter sky was lacking its usual bitter breeze this year when we arrived at Saitama Super Arena to celebrate Oshogatsu as guests of RIZIN MMA ring announcer Lenne Hardt – a.k.a. my little sister.
After a 45-minute drive on an unusually clear expressway, we had a nice walk with Louis and Maggie in the people park next to the car park. They would be enjoying a nice long nap in their favorite sleeping nook – Kayoko’s Suzuki micro-mini van.
The arena is part of an ultra-modern complex arising like a grove of steel and concrete bamboo shoots in the middle of the Saitama suburbs.
Lenne’s ayatollah Malcolm met us with our complimentary tickets in front of Royal Host. 
Anrei came with us and Naoto Sasaki and friends were the first to rendezvous with us.
The Eternal Times — July 8, 2016