LA Story VII: AX and the Deathly Hallows

With little exception, I'm sure that nearly every Morning Musume fan at AX went there for the purpose of seeing Morning Musume; be it their performance, or the Q&A session, or to see them up close and get an autograph. Obviously, those were my reasons as well -- not to finally get a chance to eat at the acclaimed California Pizza Kitchen, or to ride the elevator used in the movie "Forget Paris", though I did both.

So to say the least, I was excited about nothing more than seeing Morning Musume in Los Angeles this summer. But as I boarded that first airplane I couldn't have felt farther away from idol culture. All the formalities of security checks, all the power of jet fuel and airline corporations, all the mayhem which goes on at airports like LAX and DFW... there just didn't seem to be any connection to 9 very pretty girls who I've watched grow up from my living room.

And yet, all the research and planning that I'd done before the trip, to make sure that I got where I needed to be to witness the Expo, paid off. As we drove into downtown L.A. I saw more than a handful of sites which were unmistakeably linked with my adoptive neighborhood, and I knew I was getting close, but just how close?


There are very, very few people in my hometown who are of Japanese descent -- a sizeable amount of Asians, but very few Japanese -- so if and when I see them, they stick out like a sore thumb. In turn, even though the first glimpse I got of Morning Musume was at the Opening Ceremonies in poor lighting, they were unmistakeable. To me, they appeared *unapologetically* Japanese (with, of course, the exception of JunJun and LinLin, the Chinese members, but they know how to play ball). There was something intangibly noble and elegant (and, to be honest, from my perspective, downright freaky) about their appearance, the way they carried themselves, and how they interacted with each other. They were clearly visitors from a strange land, and although their faces had been burned into my memory for years, by showing up in person they lost that normalness and became exotic to me, again.


I try not to play favorites with any idols because when I listen to an album like Platinum9, just surfing the aural waves from start to finish, there's little room to complain. If I've got the time, I'm spinning the whole disc, skipping nothing, and every performer has her place.

But when they showed up in front of me without introduction I recognized some more than others. Koha, I picked her out right away. Sayu, with noticeable white pom-poms on each pigtail, was easy to keep an eye on. Takahashi, I could just tell, because that body haunts my dreams. And Eri; back in the day, she was the last one whose name I could keep straight, but now I could spot her from a mile away. ("Hatachi," good God...)


For some reason, I just got confused at first when I saw JunJun, thinking, 'they've got *2* Reina's now?" "Is that Nacchi?" "I thought Kaori graduated..." But in my defense, your average American would have trouble distinguishing any 9 Asian girls, let alone the 25 infamous members throughout history, so I just kept staring until I figured out who she was. I ain't got nothing against her, she just got lost in a sea of pretty Asian girls within my memory bank.


I've never owned a photobook. I have a few Morning Musume singles but bought them all used. The *one* H!P concert DVD I own is "Matsuura Aya/W/Melon Kinenbi", and I've watched it maybe once, and even then watched only a few songs. Most of the Morning Musume songs I have on my iPod were bought from the Apple Store. These are all things I realized while I stared starstruck at the girls while they were a short distance from me and hundreds of other fans at AX.

I've written about them a number of times, starting with Koha oh-so-long-ago. And as I've said, it's hard to find anyone around here who might give damn-number-one about them or anything Japanese. So before I went to AX I rightly considered myself a pretty big fan. After all, I'd listened to practically every song they ever made (and it's a huge catalog, still growing), tried to take in as many Utaban apppearances as they'd ever done, and even watched Haromoni more than a couple of times. And, oh yeah, I've seen *every* Ayaka's "Totsugeki Eikaiwa!!!" segment, as well.


But without Kayo Aiko, I'd know nothing of Japan. For me, there'd be no Perfume, Capsule, SPEED, Pink Lady, The Peanuts, Yumin, Dream, Nanase Hoshii and Seventh Tarz Armstrong, Nagasawa Nao, Saito Michi, SMAP, W, Minimoni, Tanpopo, Biyuden, Berryz Kobo, C-ute, GAM, Matsuura Aya, Hangry & Angry, Kirarin, Buono!, Hiro, Coco d'Or, or Sharam Q... and without Ms. Kayo Aiko, I'd certainly know nothing of Morning Musume.

And if it was Ms. Kayo Aiko who drew me into the world of Jpop and taught me most of the Japanese words I know, it was those Morning Musume television appearances that really got me over the headache of listening to spoken Japanese, clueless, until I began to break it down into words and really understand what was being said.

Obviously, there's been no official tally, but around my hometown it seems that there is no bigger Morning Musume fan than me. But at AX it was all-too-obvious. At the Q&A, listening to all the on-mic fans gushing and asking for things like the 'Atto Pose' (still, no clue on that), it finally hit me... I really *am* more of a casual Morning Musume fan.


Still, seeing them in person was a whole different experience. My mind tried to form words to explain what was happening. "They are *right* there," I kept telling myself, "*Right* there." At the Opening Ceremonies, the Q&A, the concert, I stared in disbelief. And though they put in their time, and I had plenty of opportunities to relish their presence, I felt that even *if* the moment lasted another fifty years, it still wouldn't be enough. I would always want more.

In those moments my thoughts strayed to all facets of fandom, be it for Aiko or Mi-chan, Perfume, or Urbangarde.

What really struck me is that it's completely impossible to 'get inside' an idol. And I mean that in every sense of the word, not just the obvious (male) sense. There's just no getting inside there. As a 'normal' person, you'll never know the joy (or torture) that these idols face in their lives. You'll never be able to think like them, and in your lifetime you will never come close to knowing what being an idol truly means. You can try to stare a hole through Koha (and believe me, I fuckin' tried...) but in the end, it doesn't change her, it won't magically alter your lifestyle, and it doesn't bring you any closer to divinity. I mean, damn the fact that it doesn't, but it just doesn't. All you can hope to do is stare in admiration (as I and many others did) and hold on to that memory.


This is not to say that idols do not have a profound impact on our lives as fans. But after travelling 2,000-some miles just to see them, I was surprised to find out that the true soul-maintenance was not idol-spotting, but bonding with fellow fans. It seemed that no matter what side of the world we grew up on, how many years we've been alive, and despite the fact that we all had never spoken (at least not in real-life) prior to meeting up at AX, there were so many striking similarities between us all.

Until I saw the Momusu concert, it was only in legend that everyone got together, waved glowsticks, and screamed their heads off (to the beat) at a concert. Further on in the weekend, watching the "Miru, Aina Kase, and Yozuca*" mini-concert, it was the fan-bonding that really impressed me. And even at that small performance, it was touching how much everyone got into it. The idols -- all they do is dance around, look cute, and sing for a while, and yet our collective passion endures. We just can't wait for the next time we can all go nuts and jump around to a funky J-Beat.


The whole system parallels a Big Rock Concert where everyone hangs out in the parking lot until admission and cranks up the "rock-band-du-jour" on the the car stereo, getting pumped for the show. Sayu and Koha can hang out in Los Angeles for the rest of their lives and they'll never match the excitement that a group of fans (in Momusu's case, some 8,000 of them) can bring to a show.

What is also fantastic to know is that the girls probably had just as good of a time travelling to L.A. as we did. See this video, for example.


So after AX, we have all returned to our respective corners and have made our memories our own. But apparently it's become fashionable to bash fans who aren't in the same community, or on the same board as "the rest of us". This is an attitude we *do not need*, because it does not advance our cause. To simultaneously want to recruit other domestic fans, yet shun those who don't share our view exactly, is a contradiction.

Fans, there was never a better time to be inclusive.

Anyone who likes Morning Musume is a friend; even if my mortal enemy was in the crowd at the AX concert, it wouldn't have stopped me from enjoying the show. As an admitted casual fan, would you show me disrespect for enjoying the group in general?

I get the feeling from some facets that, yes, I neither know what I'm talking about, and that I should just shut up.

It almost makes me want to quit the blogging game altogether so that only "true fans" can evangelize H!P to the blind. Because clearly, I am not a "true fan" like they are.

But the idea that I'm less of a fan than someone who's known them for ten-years-plus, this is clearly a bigoted assumption. If you want Morning Musume to come back to the USA, frequently, you'll just have to admit that fans come in all shapes and sizes.

So, the last thing I may ever write about H!P (with the exception of the "Koha Kontest", stay tuned...) is that, no matter how the haters try and show off the ugly side of Risako, she still just looks like a normal (pretty) girl, no matter how ugly you'd like to think she might be.

L.A. Story, Part 6: "The Best Part of AX"

Well, I'm quite relieved to have finished Parts 1 - 5, but the unfortunate truth is that, 1.) I ain't done yet; and 2.) these last two posts are supposed to be the most important posts of the whole series. So no bullets have been dodged just yet.

Of course on Saturday, we all partied after the Tsunku session and the Momusu autograph session. So next came (logically) Sunday, and that meant the last day of Anime Expo. By this point, I had accomplished my goal of seeing a Morning Musume concert (from a great vantage point) and failed wonderfully in getting a shot at singing to Tsunku. So what else was there to do?

In my opinion at the time, it wouldn't be much. So I decided not to charge my camera battery, and in doing so, missed out on some of the more memorable moments of the whole convention. I don't recall the main reason we headed down to the LACC on Sunday, other than that we were awake, and the convention was still going on. If I remember correctly we just headed down there to see if something interesting woud happen.

At the MangaGamer booth there was a 'mini concert' of three idols; Miru, Aina Kase, and Yozuca* (there is no footnote below, that's how she spells her name, apparently). And all the while a crowd assembled, waving battery-powered glowsticks and pumping their fists to the beat. Miru even taught us all a small call-and-response chant that was fun to yell at the appropriate moment. Seeing all those fans being so excited about this extremely small-time show was another very surreal moment for me, and I realized it would be just a short time before I was back amongst people who don't *do* that at concerts -- even large ones. So again, I'm not sure if I can attend another concert that doesn't involve audience participation.

The stars of the show played Jyan-ken (aka rock, paper, scissors) with the crowd and the winners were given special CD-R's with I-don't-know-what on them. But they were labeled by hand, apparently by the idols themselves. For a few pics of this event (including a picture of the 'special' CD), see Lampshade's post (lucky bastard!).

As that event was winding down I took a brisk walk to a place only a few booths away, where C-Zone was giving their 2nd (and last) concert. Yeah, finally, C-ZONE!!! Here they are, aren't they wunnerful?

We first heard about this new group from our new friend from New Orleans, Mage, right before the Momusu concert. As he was telling us about Sunday's C-Zone show, I'm thinking, yeah, sure, whatever. Of course, once the short Momusu show was over we had a taste for blood which could not be contained. So once we actually got to see C-Zone, I was all about it. They're all cute-as-buttons, and just by looking at them, you can tell that they're experts in Gregorian chant-style-music.

Well, you'd be surprised to find out that they actually sound a little more like a Jpop group, so of course I liked the music. But let's back up a bit. Before we saw the 3-idol concert, we gawked at C-Zone for awhile as they graciously took pictures with the normal folk... Moze was in line to get his picture taken, so I loaned him my camera, turned it on, and showed him how to shoot it. But before he could get to the front, my battery died. Worst. Camera moment. Ever. Totally my fault, btw.

But C-Zone had just started with their second concert as I returned to their booth, and I fittingly ran into Mage. He gave me a truncated history of the group between songs, and we watched as they did their (what was it, 3?) songs. They did some choreography, nothing *too* strenuous, as it was a very small stage, and a crowd gathered as the event went on. Because they weren't as popular as Morning Musume (a bit of an understatement), one could take pictures at will. Which I would have, if my camera was still working at that time.

But Mage and I clapped to the off-beat during every song, and everyone else stood and stared, or took pictures. It felt very awkward to be one of *two* people clapping along with the song, but it was called for, so dammit, I kept going.

Especially after the other idol show, just minutes before, where people were going nuts... why did none of the other people watching put any enthusiasm into it? They just stood there. I'm wondering if C-Zone was perturbed by this as well. (Hint to other audience members... at Jpop shows you're supposed to *participate*.)

The group gave a short introduction of themselves when the music was over, then invited a Q&A session, which didn't reveal very much about, well, anything really. "How do you like America so far?" Ummm, nobody claps during our songs? No, the *real* answer was more along the lines of, "It's great, I want to come back as soon as possible, I'm going to eat mountains of ice cream." (This is quite similar to what Koha said earlier in the week, so I might have gotten the two confused).

As they said their goodbyes, one by one, the girls choked up a bit, and the lovely Miu (the girl in the middle) decided that she wanted to cry about it, so their manager gave her a towel emblazoned with the C-Zone logo, and she dried her tears. I wondered aloud if I could somehow obtain that very towel, but it didn't happen. They said goodbye and snuck behind the curtain.

But... the exit was actually *behind* where the audience was standing, so they came out from the *side* of the curtain and ran behind us, waving and saying 'bai bai'. They were very cute. For more about them, including some video of their performance at AX, visit their MySpace page.

Last event of the day was the charity auction, where *everything* was up for sale, including the bowler hat that the auctioneer was wearing. It wasn't originally on the block, but after some coercing, the auctioneer decided that the charity was more important than his hat, so he let it go to the tune of $70.

Some of our group were there to be serious bidders, but found that there wasn't much *really good* stuff to be had. Most of the anime items were signed by the English voice actors, and like myself, they probably don't appreciate 'dubs' all that much, especially when the voices sync much better in Japanese, plus a little reading never hurt anyone. I won't get too far into why the English actors are thought of as lesser celebrities, but any true anime enthusiast can tell you why dubs are stupid.

Really, about the only things worth bidding on from a wota standpoint were two cardboard posters: one of Hangry and Angry, which I believe was signed by both members; and one of the full lineup of Morning Musume as they were July 3, 2009, for their first show on mainland USA. I'm told that the MM poster netted a good $2,700. All in all, an obscene amount of money was thrown around for a handful of rare items, and the California Children's Hospital-That-Treats-Cancer-In-Some-Capacity (the one whose video I *so* enjoyed at the opening ceremonies) gained some beaucoup bucks to help more kids. And that's noble.

So what *was* the best part of AX? Was it the camaraderie that was felt instantly by a group of wota from all around the world as we dined that first night at the Suehiro Cafe? Was it when we found the achilles heel of the Big Guy from Vegas who might ordinarily beat us into a pile of mush, were it not for such cute girls as the Morning Musume to sate his desire to kill? Was it when that kindly Japanese family invited us -- nay, inconvenienced themselves to treat us -- to a viewing of an H!P DVD? Or was it many of the other moments that I've mentioned on this blog up to this point?

Well, you really can't have one without the other. *All* of these moments are inexplicably tied together, and not one of us would have flown all the way to L.A. for the promise of just *one* of these events. It was everything we dreamed it might be, and somehow, life-as-usual.

So, instead of a cop-out... what really *was* the best moment of the whole trip? Well, you weren't there; I spent Sunday night by myself after leaving the auction early. I had a few overpriced Fat Tire in the lobby bar of the Westin, until I decided to go back to the rotating restaurant on the top floor to snap some photos that very last night.

The entire trip, whenever I'd ordered a bottle of beer, it came with a glass. But without fail, even if I ordered a 22 oz. bottle of Sapporo, they gave me a juice glass or a little brandy goblet, enough for a few sips, then a refill, and repeat the process a number of times. So when I ordered a small bottle of Chimay in the revolving restaurant (a beer normally served with a small glass like I'd already been given too-many-times), you can imagine my surprise when it came with a fishbowl:

So Monday morning came, I presented Tom with my "aircraft-destroying" geode, and hopped the shuttle to LAX. Really, my worst chance of getting killed was on the L.A. freeway, but I had a couple of flights ahead of me to be worried about. My last memory of L.A. is one of triumph and fear, all rolled into one.

I've seen the Atlantic Ocean from the Florida shore, in 2001. I was disappointed in the fact that I had flown all the way to California but did not get a chance to see the Pacific Ocean in person. And then the plane took off. My window-seat allowed me to watch the ground as it became smaller and smaller, then it turned blue. Even though I was in an airplane, it still counts... there below me was the Pacific Ocean, reknowned for containing a large volume of water, and we flew over it for some time. I actually saw Santa Catalina Island, which was the setting for Catalina Caper, not my favorite but-a-somehow-compelling early episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Now, I'm no expert at navigation but Iowa is *not* across the Pacific Ocean from California, so I just had to trust the Captain to eventually point the plane towards Dallas, Texas -- which is also not across the Pacific Ocean. Good thing I wasn't piloting the plane, because we may have ended up *in* the ocean instead of gaining altitude above it. So, as luck would have it, I made it home in one piece.

And now (unlike many of the people around here, who thought I was crazy to go in the first place), I have friends-for-life who live as far away as the other side of the world.

L.A. Story, Part 4: "The Concert"

I had made a reservation at Takami Sushi the night before the concert. It's a swank little place on the 21st floor (there's even a patio area) in the middle of downtown. Since I had made the reservation before the trip started, it was only for Tom and me. But we brought along our new friends Lamp and Matt, and Takami had no trouble accomodating. It was a good place, although to be honest I've had sushi that was just as good here in Iowa; since the prices are similar, I enjoyed it. We were the only ones there who weren't wearing collared shirts... but the restaurant itself told me via email (it took them only 8 minutes to reply to my question) that jeans and sneakers were acceptable attire.

The other side of the 21st floor is an even-more-classy nightclub called Elevate, and it actually advertises itself as a filming location, if you have any movies that need to be shot there. Among other music videos filmed there, Britney Spears' "Womanizer" chose it as a location... I know, that's your favorite song, how cool is that? Upscale attire is mandatory for that side of the building, but anyone who doesn't consider a Tanaka Reina t-shirt to be formal wear is waay too uptight for my tastes.

Afterwards, Matt and Lamp dragged me to the AX After Dark dance in the Westin. We were ID'd 3 times within a few steps, then given a wristband to show that we were over 21. Hold on to that thought. We were told that if we took off our shoes, we'd be booted from the party. Okay. Every wild party I've ever been to starts when someone says, "I'm taking off my shoes!" I paid 80 bucks for my new Nike's just a week before I left, so they were staying on my feet.

Why the wristband, I don't know. They weren't serving alcohol (although maybe the pretzels were laced or something), and on top of that the whole venue smelled like a big armpit. So we made one pass through the place, found only a few people lounging about, and headed directly for the Bonaventure Brewing Company. I mean, we'd just spent our day in the presence of Morning-friggin'-Musume, and we had to celebrate.

We had ourselves many a drink that evening before we joined forces with another Musume fangroup. The leader of that group was a big bald guy with a moustache, and if his name isn't Vinny, he should change it to that, 'cause I can totally see it.

In contrast to our group's collective misfortune of being shut out from the autograph session, this dude was *there*. So he was excited, and at that point had a lot to drink. So he was practically (by which I mean he pretty much was) yelling about his love of the group, in an hilarious monologue that could not be aired on television. We just doubled over in laughter, he was so excited. I felt a little embarrassed about his choice of language but believe me, I couldn't have done anything about it. And we all just enjoyed the moment. I repeatedly told him, "that's so cool, I'm happy for ya." Well anyway, we shut down the bar with those guys and we knew that if anyone wanted to give us any trouble, we'd just send in the big drunk guy.

With our evening capped off from all that weight-training and zen meditation (by way of listening to the big guy tell us all the explicit things he would do to our beloved Musume), we were in perfect shape for the concert the next day.

The queue formed at 12:30, and the concert began at 2:30. We'd gotten there early and hung outside the venue listening to Morning Musume do a soundcheck. If you could jump high enough, you could see the VTR screens, and in addition, the speakers were loud enough to confirm that they were in there practicing away. Moze and I grabbed a quick $85 lunch at the AX cafeteria and got in line. Since our seats were already confirmed on the ticket, there was really no reason to show up at 12:30, but what else did we have to do?

AX decided that the best place to queue was in the sun outside the venue. They went around with bullhorns and threatened to kick us out of the concert if we tried to take pictures. Okay, we got it. Nope, tell us again...

Not much happened in line, although we talked to a guy from, what-was-it, North Carolina(?) who was in his late 50's and like us, had come all the way to AX to see the Musume concert. When we finally got to our seats, we met up again with Mage, who told us about C-Zone, another Jpop girl group who'd be doing a couple of smaller shows in the merchant hall on Sunday.

A guy just a couple of seats over noticed that Moze and I didn't have glowsticks so he offered one to each of us. Giving me what was presumed to be a pink glowstick, he asked, 'do you like Sayu?' I replied that I did, in fact, think myself a fan of Sayu and graciously accepted the gift. It turned out to be orange, which I'm told is Kamei Eri's color, but that's not the point. I had a glowstick and whoever's color I happened to get was the one I would claim. I had made a declaration on this site some months ago that I was planning to kidnap Eri if I ever saw her in person, and although she's safe for now, there's always next time.

They blared AC/DC music from one of their newer albums for most of the pre-show time. Huh. Eventually they started playing those terrible AX promo videos on the VTR, and one of those was the 'Tour of Little Tokyo' video, where they hung out by the 'red thing' like we did, and the music was '3, 2, 1, Breaking Out!' so whenever it started all the fans would mime along with glowsticks, until the music stopped abruptly and everyone went, 'Awwww...' until the video was over. This happened several times.

As for the show, well, it was all new to me, but not to the seasoned Japanese veterans in front of us who had two glowsticks of every color in the waiting. I've seen a few concert DVD's in my life and I knew what was to come. The group took the stage, everyone stood up, and the short girl behind me got upset about it. Okay, fine; for your sake, we will all sit quietly and watch the Musume perform. Not a chance. To that girl, I'm sorry a thousand times if you couldn't see over me, but clearly AX does not care about you, and it was not in the plans when they decided to hold such an event with a flat viewing area. I'd have sat down if it meant you could have seen the stage better, but the reality was that neither of us would have been able to see the show at that point.

Hopefully I have a few fresh things to say about the concert which everyone's already been talking about, because my knowledge of performance (from both an audience and a performer's perspective) is one of my strong points. You all may watch Haromoni like it's going out of style, but I know what a good concert should be.

From my perspective, it was great. I was in the seventh row, center, and I could see everything and hear everything. Anywhere else in the hall, further back or more to the side, I don't know. I don't think the hall was ideal, just a square room with a concrete floor and some 8,000 yay-hoo's (myself included) going nuts as the show went on as planned. I don't know what the view was from the back of the hall, and frankly, I don't care, because I had a great seat.

The girls sang and danced wonderfully. It was guaranteed to be epic just based on circumstance. But overall, it seemed kinda shoddy. The sound system was pushed beyond a comfortable limit, even sounding 'broken' in certain parts of the show. The girls deserve some sort of medal for being able to put on a decent performance with all that sound just beating 'em in the head. Sayu was particularly off-key in a few places, but again, with the sound system, it's hard to blame her, and if you were there to hear recorded-quality music, ya should have stayed home and listened to the CD. I, on the other hand, pretty much stared a hole through Koharu, but I managed to get a glimpse of all the other girls; enough time that I could pick them out in a police lineup after they mugged me on the street.

Next issue was the space for the audience. At one point (I think it was) Reina advised us, 'everybody JUMP!' and my reply was, 'this is not advisable, Reina!' as we would either rack ourselves on the chair-back in front of us, or the chair-seat behind us. My legs touched the chair behind me the whole time, and likewise, my waist touched the chair in front of me. I could not jump, although I wanted to.

Then there was the strange choice of the setlist. The girls came out and performed all their songs but one, and then Tsunku came out to announce the winners of the AMV (amateur music video) contest. We heard '3, 2, 1, Breaking Out! (Short Version)' three times while the winnning videos were played, and the girls danced to themselves every time the song played. Yossie, under the alias 'HANGRY' (which fooled no one) came out to explain that Rika (a.k.a. ANGRY) could not make it to Los Angeles because she was 'angry'. Lame, lame, lame joke. No one really needed an explanation for her absence, but having offered that, clearly they could have come up with a better excuse.

The audience's energy was sapped by the end of the presentation, and the girls wrapped up the show by doing '3, 2, 1, Breaking Out!' for a second time. It was a blink-or-you'll-miss-it kind of thing. By the time our energy had picked up again, the song was nearly over. They said their goodbyes and left the stage. 8,000 people chanted "EN-CO-RU!" for what I'm told was 12 full minutes but no encore was given. Instead, several of the AX crowd-controllers came out looking frustrated and waved their arms like a football referee does when a field goal kick is called 'not good'. Someone got on the microphone and said, 'the show has ended, please exit to your right' and AX staffers along the way ordered us to keep moving, like it was some sort of weird death march. I am a fast walker, and I was going as fast as the crowd would allow me, and they kept yelling at us to keep moving. We were moving, dammit.

It was clear -- and I love you guys and thank you all for the hard work putting the show together and all the time you spent that week -- but it was *clear* that no one on staff knew who they were dealing with. No one even bothered to come up with a hypothetical for the outcome of the show. A sane group would have thought, "you know, this group is known for having some real fanatics; what do we do if they refuse to leave the venue?" Did they think that we would file out quietly and just accept that the show was over? The decision which the AX staff decided to go with is this: act confused, tell everyone to leave immediately, and be staunch about it. Tell everyone to keep moving.

Mr. Tsunku, was an appropriate encore for your first actual American show just a repeat of *one* song? Did you hear the frenzy that was 8,000 people calling for an encore? Just wondering.

Oh well, I've seen Morning Musume in concert. And not just any concert, but the first (and until they get so popular over here that we can't get rid of them, the *only*) concert on the US mainland. I was sweating like crazy while it was going on, I've never pumped my arm so many times in my life. I lost my voice for about a week yelling along with the songs and as well, in responding to the MC parts, where they asked us questions like, 'Minna-san genki desu ka?' (Reina got that honor) As I and others have mentioned, the appropriate American response to that question is "I'M FUCKIN' GENKI!'

They did the song I had expected them to do, "Ame no Furanai, etc...." with the Chinese solo lines, and when those occured, even in the seventh row, you could not hear them singing. I know at least one other fellow blogger was perturbed by that; I decided the opposite, and every time I hear that song, I'm reminded of how much support we gave to JunJun and LinLin. Sure, I may crack a few jokes about how I won't accept Chinese Musume, I mean, I really think it goes against the whole point of the group, but whatever... the American crowd clearly has their backs. And all that disrupting of the song was intended to be support on their behalf. Yeah, we ruined the best part of the song, but it's seriously one of the best moments in audio-recording history, and we just had to say something to show our love.

In conclusion, I don't think I can ever go to an American concert again that doesn't include choreographed yelling, glowstick waving, and fist pumping. Aside from seeing Slayer in a tiny little Iowa venue, for me it was Best. Concert. Ever. Minus the glowstick waving, the Slayer show was pretty similar, although I was further back in the crowd for that.

Well then, next episode (maybe there'll be pretty pictures for that)... Part 5, including Hello!Party and the Tsunku Q & A session, et al. Bai bai!

L.A. Story, Part 3: "A Long Day 1 Goes by Quickly"

Having scored a seventh-row ticket to the concert (my main reason for going to Los Angeles in the first place), my mind was at ease for the time being. Since Tom got separated from us during the registration process, I had a little alone time at the Bonaventure Brewing Company. The bartender there seemed to know an awful lot about movies, had his opinions on them, and apparently was bartending until his big break as an actor. For a moment I had forgotten about the long history of filmmaking in Los Angeles, and once I realized where I was (all over again), it seemed like this gentleman was one of many, many hopeful souls slugging it out in LA, day after day, hoping for a break. Not that he wasn't a nice guy and a damned decent bartender, but keep on dreaming, dude, and maybe someday you'll catch that break. He was also working on a script... lots of Angelenos are doing that as well.

Earlier in the evening, I had been pulled aside by an attractive but older-than-me Australian woman who asked why so many geeks were around. I told her about the Expo and my goal to see the concert, and she gave me a quick run-down of the city's history over the last six years that she had been travelling there ("you couldn't walk around downtown back then, it was so bad"). She mentioned that she was spending her last night in LA and would be moving on, but that she loved LA and wished she could stay. Now, maybe she was trying to tell me something... but either way I missed my chance.

I hung out at the bar for quite a while (that's what I'm good at), and eventually another Australian woman showed up, and I had thought it was the same gal as before. Thinking I might not have actually missed my chance, I asked her if she was the girl who asked me about the Expo just a little while ago. She mistook it for a clever line, even though at that point I was thoroughly confused (*two* Australian women in one night? Impossible!) and was just glad to have some conversation, and well, maybe she'd give me the key to her room. Didn't happen, in any case, but I let the alcohol fool me into thinking I was charming, and I ended up taking last call and going back to the room to sleep.

Morning arrived, and Tom and I headed down to the LACC to check out the opening ceremonies. The ceremony itself was not very eventful, but just beforehand, while the lights were low, out of the stage curtains came nine well-dressed Asian girls. Since the rest of the AX-goers were either dressed-down or in costume, my brain put the puzzle together and it was at this point that I first saw the current incarnation of Morning Musume in the flesh. As they sat down in the front row I stayed on my feet and stared a hole right through them. Tom and I were a little off to the side, but we were mere *feet* away from the group as they just sort of hung out, waiting for the show to start. I remember waving as Takahashi turned her head my way, and if I'm not mistaken she waved back. She could have been waving at anyone in my general direction, it didn't matter. What I saw was that mix of confidence and self-awareness that makes Takahashi who she is. Sort of a "hi, I don't know you, but yep, it's me, back at ya..."

The opening ceremonies, for me, were gruelling. The girls sat in the audience for the majority of it, waiting their turn as the less-otherworldly guests were introduced. There was a segment where the hostess explained that the charity auction proceeds would go to a California childrens' hospital, so they showed a video clip of themselves, many cancer-ridden children told their stories on the video, and it made me feel bad for being healthy. I don't enjoy seeing children suffer, I'm glad that the hospital was doing its work, and if they'd just ask I'd give 'em some money. But as the video went on I was saying to Tom, "The girls are up there crying right now, you know this..." Finally the girls were introduced to a not-very-excited crowd, I don't know whether it was because all the energy had been drained by the time they were introduced, or whether the crowd was really more about the anime people. I cheered anyway, and in a few minutes the ceremony was over. We would catch up with them later.

I said hi to Moze for a brief minute, and he informed me that the AX Idol audition signup was happening about, oh, ten minutes ago. So we parted ways and I went straight to the audition hall to get signed in.

If there was ever a reason for separating my huge story into parts, it was the AX Idol audition. As far as I know, none of the people I hung out with were there for any of it, so amongst our group of friends, this is the story they don't know, until now.

You'd think that people who audition for an "Idol" contest would be able to form a sentence and communicate reasonably well, but I asked a few people, "is the the registration line for 'Idol'?" And unlike most people in California, these people were not social *at all*. It was just a couple of random guys in line, but still, SAY SOMETHING, I asked you a damn question! Oh, okay, let's just keep to ourselves at the friggin' anime convention with 50,000 attendees...

I managed to get in the correct line and got my name checked off, and my number was 57 (of 70-some contestants). I had envisioned that the audition might be private, just go into the room when your time comes, and find out later who won. Nope, like everything else at AX, it was a test of endurance. I got in the room at 10AM and spent the next four hours listening to every last contestant, put in my minute, and in the end it seemed like I didn't get a damn thing out of it. But there were some upsides to this arrangement.

Before the show started, the guy I sat next to pulled out a custom-built RC car and drove it around the stage area, to the host's amusement. "Oh no, it's got a mind of its own" and the like was heard several times over the next 20 minutes. Funny for the first ten, but not-so-funny for the next. Finally the contest began and he put the car away. So as not to spend more than a minute without being somewhat annoying, he pulled his phone out of his shorts pocket every thirty seconds for the next couple of hours. This gave him a chance to both elbow me and wave some armpit air at me at the same time. Many times. Eventually I moved a few seats down when the crowd thinned.

The hosts never once had a a bad word about the contestants, even when they completely deserved it. They never said, 'what the hell was that?' or 'you're terrible', so where's Simon Cowell when you need him? After a few people auditioned, it was clear that I probably wasn't going to make the cut, but that they also couldn't tell me anything *too* bad about my performance.

I waited and waited, until finally my chance came. Someone complimented my Perfume shirt, which was made my a guy from Los Angeles (and you can find other designs by the same artist at www.thatskeen.com). I gave a shout out to Iowa, and people responded well to that, I'm not sure if they were being nice or if there were a couple others in the audience. Then I mentioned that the song was by Aiko and it was used for the Emil Chronicle Online game. Hence, I sang 'Hold on to love' as planned, and the segment I chose was 1:10, the rules called for 1:00 exactly, but they gave a little leeway, and I got cut off just before the end of my last phrase, so I sang it anyway. The reason I probably shouldn't have used that song was that it was too low to show off any of my high-range and put some real power into my voice, but I sang it well. Not my best but certainly a good representation of how I sing that song. There was a TV station covering the event by this point, so I may have made it on TV, but don't have the slightest what channel or time it would have been. Slow news day, I guess.

The judges mentioned that they liked my full baritone voice and that I had represented Iowa very well. I thanked them but knew I was outclassed. In the end, as someone there had said, "they only pick the loud ones". Although I have to give credit to all five finalists who certainly did better than me, there were a few others who I felt hadn't been recognized when they should have been. Like the girl who sang a beautiful aria-like solo completely in Russian (It was perfect. I teared up, it was so good.) Or the guy who was dressed fully in drag, and sounded a bit too much like Gackt. The voice was fantastic, but it was the combination of the outfit and that huge husky voice that had everyone laughing, but in a good "oh my God, this is great" kinda way.

What struck me as I lived the AX Idol event was that, okay, I've been listening to Japanese music for over three years. It sounds normal to me now, but of course hardly any one else around here knows about it or cares. And there I was, in a room with perhaps a couple hundred people, watching people sing mostly in Japanese, and it just felt like "this is normal... we sing in Japanese all the time." It was great. My "strange" habit of singing in Japanese didn't seem quirky or out of place. I felt as if, for once, I was normal.

One girl who auditioned was dressed like the Blue Chick from Shugo Chara (with the sock garters and everything... nosebleed!). And I really wanted to get her picture, along with her friend who was dressed like a member of High-King. But as the ceremony wound down there was no time to talk amongst ourselves without being rude, and when the competition finally ended they ran out of the room. So I didn't get their picture. I knew where they were going, though; it was where all the H!P fans were at that exact moment, the Morning Musume Q & A session.

It had already started by the time I arrived, so I didn't get very good seats, although I got to stand in the back, which wasn't extremely far away, and I had an unobstructed view. I managed to snap a couple of quick pics of the *real* H!P members before I was confronted by a staffer. Like I told him, the sign said "no flash photography or video", and my flash was off. Another sign said, "no photography" so I don't know why the other one made that distinction. But I apologized and told him, I didn't really get a good picture anyway. The response (via body language) was, "I don't care, I'm too busy being a dick". Laugh or something, it's okay... I cooperated and didn't get all indignant, so lighten up.

What I did manage to get is a blur shaped just like each of your favorite members...

Which is a little better than I did at the opening ceremonies, where they were seated in rows...

Well, the Q & A has been covered and translated by many others, so I'll leave you to find that (ahem). And as I watched the Q & A, a few things went through my mind about the group and Jpop in general. I'll get to the others in subsequent posts, but for now I'll just say I realized how much of a casual fan I am. When it comes time for a question like, "Could you do the Atto pose for us?" I admit that I have *no idea* what the hell that is. Why did I not spend every waking hour prior to this event watching Haromoni so I could get *every* in-joke? Oh, that's right, I'm an Aiko fan. Admittedly, you couldn't call someone who flew 2,000 miles to see a group a "casual fan" but a lot of the audience went a lot more ga-ga over them than I did. I just thought it was cool to see them in person.

Anyway, put me on the list of people who says that they were very charming and that a good time was had by all. But towards the end of the session, I realized that: 1.) I didn't want to spend a half-hour getting out of there to wait for an autograph ticket, 2.) I didn't want to spend another god-knows-how-long waiting in queue for an autograph immediately after that, and 3.) between the opening ceremonies and AX Idol, I'd had no time to purchase anything for them to sign. So I left just before the conclusion and eventually found where the signing would be held. And I went to go find the other guys on their way out of the session.

Woo, frustration occurs here. I stood safely beyond the checkpoint and asked a staffer where the fans might exit after getting an autograph. Here's a paraphrase...

"Well, you need a ticket; or you could get in the standby line if they have time left..."

No, *where* will the fans be exiting when they are done?

"Do you have a ticket?"

Um, I don't want an autograph, I want to find my friends when it's over. This is a question about the building... where is the exit from the signing?

"I don't know."

You don't know where the exit is on this end of the building?

"You need a ticket for an autograph."

And on and on until a sane staffer came and told me where I'd find the people after they got autographs. That was hard.

Never did see any fellow H!P fans until later on when they got back to the hotel, where I was taking in a marathon of "Lockdown" on MSNBC, a reality show about prisons, which was info-taining. What I found out was that only a few people had gotten autographs, and they had mostly wasted their time and gotten very confused. I didn't feel so bad about having skipped out earlier. Oh well, it was off to the bar, and we had a time. I'll give the 'family-friendly' version of that story in my next installment. Oh yeah, and the concert will be included in that post as well. So until then...

L.A. Story, Part 1: "Getting There"

I still have trouble believing that I was there. Not just the historic Morning Musume concert, but Los Angeles in general. It was even bigger than I expected it to be, and I expected it to be HUGE. One thing's for sure, H!P picked a helluva place to send a notorious homebody like myself on a weeklong soul-searching excursion.

I was kinda disappointed that I wasn't able to attend Sakura-Con and meet Hangry&Angry in Seattle. I had a lot going on back then and also figured that Seattle was quite a ways away. But in my several years of watching Morning Musume in videos and TV appearances (especially Utaban), I made a vow that if they ever came to the U.S., wherever it was, I would go.

So in a conversation with Tom on MSN right before Good Friday service I said, not thinking too seriously about it, "I'm going to look into the LA gig, what's it called?" Next morning I had bought a plane ticket, registered for Anime Expo, and put in for a hotel reservation. Once I saw plane tickets for $300 it took about 20 minutes and I was officially bound for the Expo.

I made a list the weekend prior, of all the things I wanted to get done before I left for the Expo. Some of them were necessities for the trip, others were intended to ease my return, like cleaning my house so I didn't return to a complete junkpit. And some of my chores bordered on the macabre, just in case I didn't make it back. A few things in my house still have the labels I put on them: "Please return this to (name here), it's not mine, I borrowed it." The weekend came and went, and finally the big day had arrived.

I live about two minutes from the airport in Des Moines. Dad picked me up and took me there so I wouldn't have to pay for a week of parking, practically in my own neighborhood. He didn't even park, just pulled up to the entryway to let me out. No long goodbyes, no words of wisdom, just a quick "see ya in a week" exchange and I was off to wait for the plane to board. Not that we're a sentimental bunch, but I thought he might want to see me off in a more conventional way. It's not like he had anything else to do that day, but in retrospect it was nice to be on my own for the start of this landmark journey. I reflected on my life so far and felt my stomach do flips as I listened to Hiro songs in the terminal. It was *much* better than the music being piped-in.

I didn't make it through the Xray process very quickly because I went a little over-the-top on my present for Tom. I thought it would be appropriate to bring him something unmistakeably Iowa, since he probably won't be coming here anytime soon. A quick brainstorm with a friend led us to this, literally a piece of Iowa...


It's a geode, if you haven't already guessed, a little bigger than a softball, and cracked in half to display the pretty crystals inside. I took half of it with me to give to Tom, and you should have seen the looks on the NSA people's faces when they saw that through the Xray machine. They didn't say anything to me, I thought they might go all "Code Red" and shut the airport down until they realized that it wasn't a threat. I waited patiently (while they called for a supervisor) to explain to them that it would in fact make a really crappy bomb, then told them, "I know what you're questioning, and you're welcome to search the bag."

They never did open the box, just wiped it with an Oxy pad and told me I was free to go. But they weren't real nice about it.

I warned Tom about this as I gave it to him on my last day in L.A., but apparently he slipped it back to England unnoticed. Good for him, fight the power!

My good friend/next-door-neighbor/coworker/frequent dining companion (all the same person) was generous enough to give Tom a signed copy of one of her books, "Grasp the Stars" (hint: you can buy it on Amazon):

Luckily for him, Tom actually reads sci-fi, so I think he liked it. Jennifer knows I'm not a sci-fi reader, but gave me the copy that you're looking at above. I might read it someday...

So, two hours after boarding the plane, I'm in Dallas. No need to tell me we're over Texas, looking at all the brown grass and muddy ponds from overhead. It made me trip out a bit because it takes 11 hours to get there in a car, and I know that for a fact. My brother spent four years at UNT in Denton, so I made the trip probably a dozen times by car, and had already flown to and from DFW twice. So it was a strangely familiar place despite being so far away. I hit the airport McDonalds for some en-route comfort food, and an hour later, we were in the air again and headed to LA.

There's something about flying that makes me feel like we're all just pieces of dust floating around at random. You probably aren't the type that does this, but whenever I'm on a plane I make up stories about all the random people who I'm travelling with; you know, imagining the human-interest newswires about us some ten years from now, on the anniversary of the gruesome crash we'd all be in... 'Timmy had just reconciled with his father and hadn't seen him for twenty years... and he never got the chance.'

Well, I'm not that worried about plane crashes but there have been few happier moments in my life than when they tell me I can get off the plane. Otherwise I'm just stuck in there, breathing the same air as everyone, at the mercy of the crew. After a couple of hours of staring down into the nothingness that is West Texas/New Mexico/Arizona, the pilot comes on and announces, "we are beginning our descent into Los Angeles International..." and I'm freaking out by that point, for several reasons.

1.) The reality of Anime Expo is about to come. 2.) Midwesterner about to arrive in Los Angeles for the first time (sure, you can have my wallet!) 3.) No more air travel for a week, and the pilot was nice enough not to crash the plane!

Suffice to say we landed at LAX after I saw from overhead several of the famous 52-lane freeways I'd seen on TV so often. There's 'urban sprawl' and then there's the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Jeepers, it's huge.

As I boarded the shuttle to the hotel, an Asian-American guy a little older than me spied my MiniMoni t-shirt and says, "I know what you're here for..." and proceeds to talk my ear off about fansubs and how he's moving to LA from New York, and we wished each other well when we parted ways at the Sheraton. As we were driving in I looked out the window and could say nothing but "damn!" to myself as the shuttle driver drove like a madman past the Convention Center, the Staples Center, the Denny's Restaurant, Library Tower, all of which I had only seen in pictures. If I was still questioning whether these places really existed, here was proof-positive.

I figured that the driver knew how to get to the Westin Bonaventure, but knowing my luck I'd get the guy who says, "biggest hotel in town, you say? I've been driving shuttles for 20 years and I've *never* heard of it..." But he gets to the curb, and one of the uniformed bellhops opens the van door and says, "Welcome to the Westin Bonaventure!" I'm thinking 'holy crap, how did I get here?' Nothing at all had gone wrong!

I decided to get checked in and contact Tom from the room, although on my way to the elevator I thought I recognized him from afar in the huge lobby. Since we'd never met in person before, I didn't feel like going up to a random person and asking, "Tom?" as they gave me a blank stare in return. Turns out it *was* him, but how was I to know for sure until he came up to the room?

Before he arrived I took a moment to get a shot of the view from our hotel room. The second picture is a view of the crosswalk, right before AX pandemonium took over the town...



Next: Part 2: "Day -1, Day 0, and the Wonderful Registration Process. Til then...

I'm Back From L.A.

It's been a bit, but I'm preparing for a couple of ultra-long posts. Everyone so far has done a post of their experiences while in Los Angeles, and I've seen a lot of them; you should believe what they're saying. I haven't seen any inaccuracies.

I was lucky enough to get tickets in seventh row, center. Could see each of them perfectly. And as I found out, I'm more of a casual fan.

As far as the great seats at the show, I'd like to thank Matt_D for sharing his experience with my n00b-ness, Lampshade for being so GD organized for the ordeal, and Mozenator for being there in line behind the "guy who knew everybody", and for just generally being a cool guy, passing the time.

*Never* would have been so close to the stage without you guys. An experience I'll never forget. You're always welcome, if you decide that Iowa is a good place to go, which it's not.

Yeah, I'm fuckin' genki...

-jyoru

I'm off to L.A.

Our good brother Tom informs us that he is alive and well in Los Angeles. So, it's my turn to make my way out there and see this US Morning Musume concert with my own two eyes.


Expect updates here and when I get back, you'll have updates coming out your ears. Anime Expo 2009 (with guests of honor Morning Musume), here I come... look out!

If I make it to the AX Idol finals I'll get to sing to Tsunku. If I don't, I'll be able to lose my voice at the Morning Musume concert/karaoke at Hello!Party; and perhaps miss the last signing of the Expo. I'm so torn...

"We respecto you, James Burown-do." -Kago Ai.

Til then, stay frosty.

-Jyoru, 6/29/2009

Less Than 30 Days 'Til...

(Long and Winding Post...)



I'm not nearly ready to head out to AX but it's coming right up, and fast. I've got so many things to do before then; let me check my list... oh, no, I still haven't started my list yet! First thing on my list is to make a list.

The purpose of this post (if I have one) is to remind myself that it's almost go-time, and to make sure I start getting a few things done before I go to Los Angeles. Which reminds me: if you're reading this, and you're gonna be there too, let me know with a comment below, or exchange email addresses with me at jyoru1211@gmail.com. I will definitely be down for meeting other Morning Musume fans and having a good time... Who knows what will happen?

My mind is reeling with questions at this point. How will I survive this? What's the concert going to be like? How far away am I going to be from the stage? Will I get to see them up close at some point? Will I, even though I'm quite certain I've taken every possible step so far to do so, actually see the concert at all? So many things could happen between now and then, I'm just trying to stay calm and to get prepared.

With each passing day the tension rises, both good and bad. Good, in that: I'm beyond excited to go support this group and see them in person; bad, in that: I'm not all too keen on flying and travelling to places unfamiliar to me. Just have to keep a good mindset of, 'this is going to happen and it's going to be one of the most surreal moments of my life, and I'll love every minute of it.' I've been a bit of a local killjoy lately and I'm hoping that this opportunity to be far, far away from home (yet strangely, closer to things I hold dear) will give me a chance to lighten up a bit and, hopefully, I'll even bring some of that change back home with me. We'll see.

One of the most dangerous things about being a fan of Japanese pop music is that eventually you'll like so many artists that it seems impossible to keep up with them all!

Before I headed over to JapanFiles to (legally) download the B-side to 'Naichau Kamo' (the one MM song I didn't have), I read a little of Matt_D's praise for Urbangarde. I had previewed some of their songs at Japanfiles a while back and thought they were fairly interesting (an understatement), but after seeing the video below, I simply had to buy that record. Gave the entirety of "Girls Only Live Twice" a few spins today and it's like falling in love, all over again.



With an adequate supply of creativity and artistry, what we have here is music made *by* crazy people *for* crazy people, so I'm enjoying it a lot. Sorry if I seem like a copycat, Matt, but I love this video, too... it should be posted on every website, ever. There are so many things I want to know about this band, like, would they be willing to play at my birthday party next year, and every year after that?

Any capsule fan should be able to appreciate this stuff. Switch back to capsule after hearing this, and it's still awesome, but feels a lot more straightforward. There are a couple of really cool slower songs on the Urbangarde record, but to me, right now, it's all about the unhindered ballistic insanity that's going on. Quite the welcome find before my journey to a different world.

I usually don't have problems with stage fright, but whilst I'm in L.A., if I can make it to the AX Idol microphone (in front of Tsunku) without losing my lunch, I'll be doing well. Listened to quite a few Sharam Q songs today and, yes, now it's starting to freak me out. Can't say he's the best singer that ever lived, but he's got me beat, for sure. I still just want to be able to say that it really happened, that he actually heard me sing a Kayo Aiko song. Can't beat that. With that as the goal, I'll be fine.

Ever intent on keeping my mind as open as it possibly can be, I did a bit more research on Los Angeles. Let's not forget that Los Angeles had to steal its own water supply because it's in an unlikely place for a city so large.

Let's not forget that, among other iconic stars, Rudolph Valentino made a living in the area and was laid to rest in nearby Hollywood. Saw a Valentino performance (and not clips of the hubbub surrounding his funeral) for the first time in my life, last night.

I even got a chance to see some clips of James Dean and watch a part of "Rebel Without a Cause" for the first time (before you jump on me about this, remember that the list of movies I haven't seen is endless). I've seen plenty of 'JD' imagery in my life, and the guy is an icon, regardless of what your own opinion may be. So far, "Rebel" seems like a good movie, and it doesn't have to be the Best Film Ever to merit a viewing; but I have good reason to believe that had he not died in his prime, he might possibly have been worshipped a little less. There, I said it.

The old Hollywood scene is so fascinating to me, because so many celebrities' lives were so intertwined (and some of those relationships continue today). So if I get the chance on an off-day, I may attempt to journey to Hollywood, see a few sights and say that I've been there.

Inevitably with me, the focus comes back to music, and the epitome of Southern California music was arguably done by the Beach Boys (you thought I was going to say Snoop Dogg, didn't ya? Well, I like his music, too.)

I discovered Pet Sounds years ago and join the chorus of praise for that record. Until the day you can come up with a better one, I don't want to hear any contrary opinions. Even Paul McCartney (okay, fire away...) once said of the album, "I figure no one is educated musically 'til they've heard that album." Strong words, good album, good group. Might be trendy to think the Beach Boys are cliché but when you strip away all the furor over the group, shut your mouth, and open your ears, they achieved their end-goal of creating beautiful music, forever to be associated with this part of the world, ugly as it can be at times.

It's not as if there aren't some very fascinating stories to be found in the Midwest. And it's also not as if people who've spent the majority of, or even just a small part of, their lives in Southern California don't have reason to hate the area. Still, as a music and film geek, there's more to be found out there than there ever will be here. Find a list of recordings done in Los Angeles, and chances are that you'll see at least one you couldn't live without. Les Paul comes to mind at this point.

So what could be more of a milestone in the life of a full-fledged wota and music/film geek, than to travel to this legendary place, not far from where once-obscure personalities like John Wayne and Johnny Carson, and even Ronald Reagan (look it up) had a common starting point, just to see Morning Musume perform for the first time on the US mainland?

I have arrived. No, wait, I haven't yet. But soon, I will arrive!

Going to California, Sans Heartache

No one should ever go so far as to call me a spontaneous person. I mainly just mind my own business and stick it out day after day, year after year, feeling as-stuck-in-the-midwest as anyone can feel. But my mood took a dramatic upswing in the last few days for very obvious reasons. Suddenly I have an urge to listen to every song ever written about California or Los Angeles, knowing that soon, real soon, I'll be seeing it with my own eyes.

Years ago, as a young rock-star-wannabe, I would stare at maps of Los Angeles for hours, trying to get a feel for how the town spreads out.  I would imagine where my future home would be, possibly tucked somewhere in the Hollywood Hills with plenty of parking available to models, other rock stars, millionaires, and party-crashers.  Also, I often dreamed of up-and-driving-there without notice to start a new life, because as pathetic as it may have turned out, I would have at least *tried* to bring change upon myself.  Those plans were at best unrealistic, and at worst really stupid.

I've been told many stories about Los Angeles;  most of them are unflattering, I hate to say.  I'm not sure if one of the best stories I've been told is true, but it's probably very likely, and a good story nonetheless.  

When a group of guys were trying to 'make it' as a big rock band in the 80's, their car (the only car any of the musicians had) was stolen.  Some days later, they found the car in a driveway not more than a couple of blocks away.  Whoever had stolen the car had not changed the locks or the ignition key;  so, having the key, the rightful owner got in and drove it home, only to find that a *wonderful* stereo system had been installed in the days it'd been gone.  There was really no recourse for the thief in a situation like that, so the hero of our story was blessed with a great new stereo and the car wasn't any worse for the wear.  If it didn't really happen to them, I'm quite sure this has been done in LA several times at some point.

People have asked me why I would want to live in Los Angeles, and in truth, I haven't wanted to in quite a while.   But there's just so much happening there, I'm sure that when I get back I'll be a little more comfortable on the city bus, laughing at the one horse we own, and feeling a bit more well-travelled than if I just stayed home and persisted in the mundane.  Los Angeles is, after all, the second-largest city in the US;  California is the most-populated and easily-most-eccentric place we've got, and I've never been there.  I may never go back, who knows, but I will unlikely be unable to forget what it's like.

Still, I'd like to think of myself as well-travelled, regionally, anyway.  I've been to Chicago several times and had the *privilege* of driving through it to a destination near Wrigley Field twice.  I'd taken the 'L' a few times with a friend who lives there, but on my last visit, took it alone for the first time, downtown, where it becomes a subway.  On the outside I tried to pretend that I'd done it so many times before, tried to give off the impression that if I could somehow get away from the daily grind of Chicago and get off this god-forsaken train that I had apparently known since birth, I would.  On the inside, though, I felt like a real farm-boy, though I haven't spent very much time in the rural areas, but nonetheless really nervous about taking the train by myself for the first time.  I lived to tell the tale.

So what happened to me?  Suddenly, without a lot of warning, I have agreed to spend a week in downtown Los Angeles, and it'll be worth it.

I still want to go to Japan, and still plan to do so, but this was too good of an opportunity to pass up.  Now, the reason I got into Japan and the culture wasn't the culture itself, but the people.  And to be more specific, it was certain people;  idols, to be exact.

If I were to go to Japan, attending a concert would probably be very unlikely, almost an afterthought.  So much time would be spent planning hotels and destinations, vacation time, money, and being able to read the signs, etc.  It would be very obvious that I was not from around there, and if I managed to find a good record store, I'd be doing good.  What are the odds that if I *did* go to Japan I'd manage to see any of the people who are responsible for my current obsession?

That all changed with the possibility of seeing Morning Musume perform at Anime Expo in Los Angeles this summer.  See details here, and go mad with jealousy at my comparative good luck.  Let me wallow in this for a while, because I don't get out often.  And on the other hand, I'm still not believing that this is actually going to happen.

I harbor a little bit of dissapointment that I won't be seeing °C-ute or Berryz Kobo, though if I'd seen them a little over a year ago, wouldn't have been star-struck anyway.  Morning Musume may have already reached its peak some time ago, and some of the most popular girls won't be there, but still, let's stop and think about who I'll be in the same room with.

For starters, no, it's not Aiko;  but at least two of them have definitely spoken to her, and shared some time backstage (or possibly the same bunk bed) with her during the Musume audition.

Let's see who I'll be seeing with my own two eyes.  A member of MiniMoni, albeit a latecomer, Ms. Takahashi Ai, and fellow 5th gen-er Niigaki Risa.  Both of these girls are hilariously gorgeous, have talked to Aiko at some point, were around back when 'Mr. Moonlight' came out, and by my calculations, hold the title for being in Morning Musume longer than anyone else in history.

Next, the 6th gen of Kamei Eri, Michishige Sayumi, and Tanaka Reina, all swimsuit models in a former life, apparently:

'Nuff said.

And, if that weren't enough, the almighty Ms. Kusumi Koharu will be there;  so Rainbow Pink, (my favorite super-group) will be reunited, so to speak, with a surrounding ensemble.  Plus, have I ever mentioned that I really like Koha-chan?

Mitsui Aika, the sole Japanese rep of the 8th gen, will be there.  As much as I tried to ignore her, seriously, tenacity is one of her better qualities, and if she encountered me alone on the street, proclaiming that she was a Musume, I'd stop her in the middle of her spiel.  "You're friggin' Mitsui!" I would exclaim, and then we would go back to my castle and live happily ever after.

Here's the hard part.  The other two 8th gen-ers Junjun and Linlin will also be there, but for the life of me, I can't tell them apart.  Blame it on me being racist and having a bit of trouble accepting Chinese girls into my favorite Japanese group.  Or, blame it on me looking the other way when they joined, and just generally not keeping up with Morning Musume in recent days.  Either way, a *lot* of good things have been said about these two, and I usually listen to my online peers when it comes to talent.  I just haven't seen much of them, and unlike, say, Yuko and Rika, there's not a big age/personality difference for me to latch on to.  I can't tell any other two Asian girls apart, so don't get too offended, I'm just an idiot about these things.

So, my goal in life is to see me some idols, and this is quite the collection.  No need to get a passport and the flight itself is about 1/6th the amount I'd be paying to get to Japan, no idol-seeing included.  Add to that the fact that I'll be amongst friends unknown, Japanophiles all.  I'm not a huge anime fan, but there'll be plenty of cool (and cutting edge) things to see there.

Consider this to be another notch scratched on my belt.  Been to California, been to LA, and if things hold out, I'd have stayed but a block away from Library Tower.  It's still partially up in the air, but in all actuality, I have a plane ticket to Los Angeles and admission to the Expo gate.  So it's as if I've already been there, short of telling Kusumi (to her face) that I love her.  Did I mention that I really like Kusumi Koharu?