"...Build up! Ban ban ban ban bara bara ban ban baaaan! Ban ban ban ban ban ban ban ban bara ban!" by Rob
Tuesday, April 7, 2009 at 11:11 AM

Sheesh...what weekend. Where to begin is the question....guess the start is a good place....

I awoke early (after only getting about 5 hours of sleep due to getting ready and nervs) to get on the road since the drive to the concert hall would take about an hour and a half. Up at about the same time I normaly am to be at work on time, I sleepily had my cerial and got my things together. Heading out in Tikkis car *cause she didn't want mine to break down on the way...even though I'd washed it and prettied it all up* I hauled up there and arrived on time. We stood around waiting for others to get there to open the bulding for us. After waiting and shuffling some equipment around, we had to get over to the hotel and pick up the guests so we chould head into DC for the Sakura festival and do our appearance at the Japanese pop stage. We rode over and had the pleasure of meeting up with my co-host Aya, whom I must say is drop dead gorgeous. No, realy. If you didn't get the chance to see her, you have no idea. I had met her only a few nights before at the crash meeting, and thankfully we hit it off real well. She's a bit intimidating in the fact that she made me look like a total shlub in how I was dressed though. Methinks I need to go get some new clothes for just such occasions in the future....

After grabbing her stuff, we headed to the lobby, where as I approached Yoffy of Psychic lover spotted me , grinned, and yelled out 'JACK!'. Pleased that he remebered me...I met the other guests, some of which I knew , but most I did not. Then the always beautiful Salia came in with Shingo on her heels....we exchanged hugs and handshakes while exclaiming how long it had been since we last saw each other. God it's nice to see down to earth stars.

We all boarded the bus and headed for DC ...and DC traffic. While waiting in the traffic we chatted back and forth *Shino intoduced us MCs to the rest of the crew who didn't know who we were. She made a point of saying in my description 'the suspicious looking man in the sunglasses with the long hair...' to which I spoke up, thinking she didn't know how much Japanese I knew. Everyone got a good chuckle out of that one* as we headed into downtown DC. The bus dropped us off in the already busy and crowded festival right behind the stage. We waited for our turn while the set up was done and then it was go time. With chilly wind whipping at us, we had to get up in front of thousands of perfect strangers and tell them who we were and why we were there. Talk about nervous. Sister Mayo was especialy cute while nervous, so we took some cool 'Sadako' style pictures of her wearing my leather jacket backwards and her hat turned around. You'd have to see it. All went well though and we came off okay in my book, then we brought the guests up one at a time to do a song each. Poor Salias skirt was too poofy for the windy conditions and it kept trying to go over her head! Aside from some minor audio snafus, we got everything done we needed too...then went to the signing section of the festival where we distributed free tickets for the show that night. Aya seemed to think I was hogging all the pretty girls to myself, but I saw it as business as usual for a con style event. Gotta turn on the charm to get the people there right?

After loading back up and snoozing on the bus a bit on the way back *hey I was real tired, I even warned Aya that I might be 'that guy' and lean on her while sleeping, and she didn't seem to mind ^_^* we got back to the hotel to grab some quick food, before changing and heading to the concert hall on the college campus. We arrived and hustled the guests into the awesome backstage room that included a bar, though it wasn't open or stocked. We set things up for the show that was to come. Kara's already said what the lineup was, so I won't go into it again here, just check her last conscrew post. After the first few times onstage I felt a little more relaxed, and started to loosen up a bit. Aya was a great co-host and I'd love the opportunity to work with her again. The guests all put on amazing shows, I got to share my Girl Scout cookies with them backstage (Sister Mayo seemed to realy like the Samoas, they had everything she loved according to her) and the crowd was amazing. After the concert (in which anyone who could see when I was off stage, I was dancing like a fool and singing along) we did some hurried conversations , held more drawings for prizes in the line for autographs, and got some cool pictures for OTHER people....sadly I don't have much video/pictures of the evening being as busy as I was. I did manage to grab a couple good ones though despite that. I left with some strange girl...oh I mean the artist, to give her a ride back (Apparently Aya thought she was some girl I had picked up at the show O.o. Comon...I'm not THAT bad ...am I?) and we headed out , reluctantly, as I had wanted to stay and hang with the guests afterwards, but I made Kara make me do the responsible thing. As it was we made it to Leahs party at about 2am. After heading home an hour or two later...I passed out till about noon the next day. I'm sure there's more little anecdotes and stories I could tell that I'm missing, but you'll just have to be around to hear those, as I've already typed enough.

I was exhausted *sill am pretty much* and worn out after that long day, but it was worth every second. I can't wait to see the guests again, some of which have realy become friends. I can't wait to work with the beautiful Aya again, she realy was an awsome co-host. And I'm not just saying that because she's an amazing knockout asian girl who's smart and witty too. I can't wait for another Akiba fest...if it's anything like this one....

....It'll be amazing.

Resistance is FUTILE!!!

Neo-Vader III

'Poor, poor Yui. She's not even in the club and already she's about to get raped.' by Kara
Tuesday, April 7, 2009 at 9:53 AM

Well, I was gonna wait 'til I had the picture, but I didn't get to go buy a card reader last night and my cable doesn't work. Going through the camera is a bitch, for some reason.

Well, Co-Writer had actual work to do, which he will talk about on his own. I had fun overall, but there was one event in particular that was pretty much just epic.

All right, bear in mind first that I was going to buy new shoes Saturday morning before I left -- but didn't get a chance. I'm not a shoe-freak, really, hate clothing/shoe shopping. But I wanted to because the ones I had, and the ones I ended up wearing, were ridiculously old. They still looked nice, but weren't exactly structurally sound anymore. Sadly, I did not know this at the time.

Anyway, one of the acts in the first half of the show was a gent named Takayoshi Tanimoto. You may know him for doing the opening to Gekiranger. Well, during one of his songs, he encouraged the audience to dance, jump, etc. Not one to ignore a request from a hot Japanese rock star*, I did so.

When Super Art Fight came up for the halftime show, I noticed something was up with my right shoe. So I stepped off to the side and took the shoe off. Holy shit, the heel was split right in half, and I could poke my finger through to the inside. What to do? A friend suggested speaking to the tech crew about duct tape**.

So I did. They looked at me a bit funny 'til I held up my shoe, which shocked the hell out of them. As said shoe was being passed around, Co-Writer came up to see what sort of trouble I'd caused now. And it shocked the hell out of him. Tanimoto was nearby, and I pointed out that it was his fault ... and naturally he had to see the shoe, too. It shocked the hell out of him as well.

He then asked me something, and Co-Writer said, '... he wants to know how much for the shoe.' Emboldened for my ability to once again attract Japanese celebrity attention with my shoes***, I said I would forgive him for breaking my shoe if he'd give me a kiss. Co-Writer translated, and Tanimoto was more than willing. I think that pretty much used up all my Fangirl Minutes for April. He asked if he really could take the shoe back with him, apparently to show it off, and I said no, honestly, please do.

Well, I sorta forgot that common courtesy would be to give me something in return. So he ran off and came back with one of his little towels (essentially it equates to a handkerchief) and signed it for me. Well ... I mean ... you know ... is there anything else I need to say about that?

Later I got to meet and shake hands with the performers. Sister MAYO (also in Project.R with him) wondered why Tanimoto seemed happy to talk with me. I held up my bare foot, and she went, 'OHHHHH!!!!' Well, then.

The reason I wanted to wait was because I have a picture of us with my shoe. But I really wanted to tell the story now-like, because I think this constitutes winning the game.

Also, Japanese rockers seem to think I'm hot. I am not at all upset about this.

Don't worry, I made it home safe. If you have been, MURDER!!!

* Take that any way you like, because quite honestly, you'd be right.

** To quote maternal unit, 'Don't put duct tape on your shoes! That's what your redneck momma would do!'

*** This also happened with Yunmao Ayakawa, though it wasn't a broken shoe so much as admiring a pair of too-small pink heels that went with my Fujiko costume.

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