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| Five guys hit Los Angeles | |
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1.22.2010
11:36 AM | Link0 comments |
 For the past few days I've been in Los Angeles vacationing with my pals Jonathan, Matt, Dae and Ernesto! It's pretty rare for all of us to be together, but it worked out this time since I was taking Jonathan on his first Disneyland visit, and Matt received his plane ticket to come along as a Christmas gift! Even though there was some pretty awful rain during the trip, we still had plenty of nice weather, too, and nothing could stop us from having a fantastic time.We started off by browsing the Farmers Market and having a nice breakfast, then headed to Will Rogers State Historic Park to tour the ranch house and hike up to Inspiration Point (great view of the city). After stopping on PCH for a nice sunset, the drunken debauchery began with beer, martinis at Musso & Franks (where we had a great time talking with Manny the legendary bartender), whiskey, and eventually ended up with flaming margaritas and Mexican food. The next morning we were in hangover recovery mode, but we had enough energy for a cool tour of the Egyptian, a classic movie palace that Grauman built before the famous Chinese Theater. After the tour it started raining a little, so I talked the guys into seeing Dumbo at the El Capitan (we loved the organist and of course I cried during Baby Mine). That night we gorged on incredible sushi in Little Tokyo, and we got to drive through the iconic 2nd Street Tunnel used in Blade Runner! The next day we had lunch in Pasadena at the Pie'n Burger (Ernesto's all-time favorite) and tried to see some horse racing at Santa Anita, but it was rained out. Luckily, Ernesto's sister Eileen who works at the Los Angeles Cathedral offered to give us a tour, which was a perfect thing to do on a rainy day! The cathedral was amazing (she even took us inside the organ works), and when we finished the sun was out again. Finally, we had a quick dinner and then rented a rehearsal studio for three hours of jazz jamming, using Ernesto's beautiful horn arrangements that he had written for the occasion. The last day was reserved for Disneyland, and I had lots of fun spouting trivia to enhance Jonathan's first visit. The weather was great for the morning and evening, but in the middle of the day there was a downpour that flooded Frontierland and even overflowed the Jungle Cruise. We got to ride the Matterhorn twice in a row in the rain, which is a surreal experience, and for the rest of the day, the lines were totally non-existent. I had never seen absolutely zero wait for Space Mountain before! We had an amazing Disney day ending with Filet Mignon at Blue Bayou and then drinks by the Grand Californian fireplace. It took forever to decide which of my 400 photos to share, but I think I picked a good selection in three Flickr sets. In addition, Matt has started to post lots of great shots as well (including the timer shot on this post), so enjoy!  View photos: Los Angeles 2010 View photos: Los Angeles Cathedral View photos: Disneyland 2010 View photos: Matt's Los Angeles
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| Walt Disney World 2009 / Days 4-5 | |
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9.28.2009
11:59 AM | Link0 comments |
 I have two more days of my recent Walt Disney World vacation to cover, so here we go! I scheduled the fourth day as a full day at the Magic Kingdom, which I thought would give Melinda and me just enough time to fit in all of the attractions. However, since we had already been to the Magic Kingdom twice already (once for Wishes and again for the Halloween party), we had already checked off several busy attractions off our list, which left this full day wide-open to enjoy lots of entertainment! Of course, we rode several rides again, and I was really impressed with the slightly longer versions of the Fantasyland dark rides, and totally blown away by the new staircase room in the Haunted Mansion. I loved watching Dream Along With Mickey (the only stage show with new technology that allows Mickey and his pals to move their mouths and blink their eyes), and right after the show we were suddenly "trapped" in the hub by the new Move it! Shake it! Celebrate it! Street Party! It was really fun to dance along with the characters, and it was cool to be in the middle of a spontaneous party in the middle of our day. We even got to watch the Celebrate a Dream Come True parade, as well as SpectroMagic at night, and somehow we lucked out into riding Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at the exact moment that the Wishes fireworks were going off, which was a totally surreal experience!We spent the last day at Hollywood Studios, making the morning march along with everyone else in the park directly to Toy Story Midway Mania, definitely one of the best (and certainly the most popular) new attractions in quite a while! The new Pixar street area and attraction queue are fantastic, full of giant classic toys, and the ride itself is so much fun that I could ride it all day! After spending the morning gathering Fastpasses, we got to see all the shows, including Lights, Motors, Action, plus we went to the Animation building to meet Mickey, Russell and Dug from Up, and even the Incredibles (I got to request a special cool pose from Elastigirl)! After surviving the Tower of Terror and Rock N Roller Coaster (which was somehow less scary than usual - maybe after Mission: Space I can take anything!), we got great seats for Fantasmic, which was awesome as always, and then took a quick look at the One Man's Dream exhibit to end the day. I could go on and on about all of the other attractions, restaurants, snacks, and other things we saw, but I guess I've pretty much covered the trip. Every detail just magically worked out, making the whole five days simply a perfect Disney vacation for total Disney geeks like Melinda and me! View photos: WDW 2009 Days 4-5
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| Walt Disney World 2009 / Days 1-3 | |
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9.25.2009
12:28 PM | Link0 comments |
 Now that I've picked some good photos from the first three days of my Walt Disney World trip, it's time to hit some more highlights! After checking in at the resort (which was really smooth with both Disney's Magical Express as well as online resort check in!), we rode the bus to Downtown Disney, enjoyed riding the Characters in Flight balloon, and immediately got most of our essential shopping done. I had made a list of possible toys to buy myself, and I ended up getting them all at the Once Upon a Toy store (then had them conveniently delivered to the resort so I wouldn't have to carry them)! Next we rode the Monorail around and quickly visited the Contemporary, the Polynesian, and the Grand Floridian, then stopped at the Magic Kingdom for dinner at Crystal Palace. We had a great time with all the Winnie the Pooh characters, enjoyed a couple Fantasyland attractions, then had a great spot to watch the Wishes fireworks show!The next day was all Epcot, and the major event was being brave enough to join the Orange Team for Mission: Space! On the last trip, Melinda and I chickened out and joined the Green Team, but this time we were determined to feel those sustained G-forces, and it was totally incredible! The launch was awesome, and I could really feel the pressure on my cheeks and hands as I pressed buttons for the mission. I also enjoyed the changes on Spaceship Earth, including the new narration and the Apple garage scene! Moving on to World Showcase, the addition of the Three Caballeros to the Mexico pavilion was hilarious, and it was fun taking a nice stroll around the countries with a couple drinks. We had dinner at Restaurant Akershus with Belle, Jasmine, Cinderella, Ariel and Pocahontas, and the food was delicious! Of course, we ended the day with a great spot for Illuminations, close to the water, which was pretty exciting! On the next morning we headed to Animal Kingdom and rode almost every attraction before lunch! Expedition Everest was fantastic (but I think the Yeti lighting needed some adjustment), and as always I was overwhelmed by Festival of the Lion King. Our big meal for the day was at Tusker House, and I was so impressed with the variety of the buffet - I ate all kinds of interesting veggies and tofu, too! We had to leave Animal Kingdom after lunch in order to get to the Magic Kingdom for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, which I commented on previously. Since this was our second Magic Kingdom visit, we got to ride even more attractions, which set up the next day with lots of free time to enjoy the entertainment! By the way, if you have a chance to go to the Halloween party, don't pass it up - it's really an amazing event that had me wowed the whole time, and staying at the park until midnight was a blast! View photos: WDW 2009 Days 1-3
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| A perfect Walt Disney World adventure | |
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9.23.2009
12:43 PM | Link0 comments |
 Last week I took a fantastic vacation to Walt Disney World with my fellow Disney pro Melinda, and it was definitely a trip for the record books! Looking back over the five days, we literally experienced nearly every single attraction in all four theme parks, as well as tons of shows and entertainment! Of course, we had to get up early, stay out late, and walk our feet off (and we have the blisters to prove it), but it was worth it to have so much fun. Amazingly, even though the weather forecast said there was a 40% chance of precipitation every day, we never saw a drop of rain (maybe because of my "lucky umbrella" which makes the clouds go away!). There's a lot to mention, so I'll have to stretch this report over a few WEBmikey posts (which will give me time to select the best shots from over 1,000 photos!), but I'll get started with a few overview highlights.My resort this time was All-Star Movies, which is one of the value resorts, but it still has nice rooms and super-cool huge character displays all around the buildings. I was excited to get the Toy Story building, which was really close to the food court for breakfast, as well as the gift shop and bus stop for those early morning rides to the parks! We were lucky enough to book our trip during a great promotion that gave us the Disney Dining Plan for free, which meant we hardly spent a dime on food and still pigged out! It was always so amazing to look at a menu and realize I could get anything I wanted, and every meal came with dessert (I ate so much ice cream). Snacks were included each day as well, so I got to have all my favorites: Mickey Premium ice cream bar, Dole Whip, frozen banana, and a giant pretzel, too! Thanks to the amazing weather, we got to ride the fairly new Characters in Flight balloon ride at Downtown Disney. It was really cool to be lifted 400 feet up by a giant helium balloon, and the view was great (you could see the major icons of almost every park)! The landing was pretty exciting as the tether pulled the balloon back to the ground, too! The best entirely new experience of the trip was definitely Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party! It was so cool to be part of the "special" (which means, willing to pay extra!) guests that got to stay in the Magic Kingdom from 7:00 PM until midnight, with tons of exclusive things to see and do! We got to trick or treat and munch on candy, meet tons of Disney characters in special Halloween costumes (we also saw incredibly rare occurrences like Snow White with all seven dwarfs!), and of course, visit the Haunted Mansion, where all the cast members were decked out in scary make-up. There was a special Happy HalloWishes fireworks show with awesome spooky effects, plus an incredible Halloween parade featuring fantastic Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean characters as well as the Headless Horseman (galloping on a real horse)! Finally, we saw a cool show in front of the castle with all the classic Disney villains, which topped off this huge night of Halloween fun! View photos: WDW Pals 2009
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| Walt Disney World around the corner | |
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9.13.2009
8:58 AM | Link0 comments |
 Later this week I'll be heading to Walt Disney World with my pal Melinda, and I'm super excited! This will be my fourth trip to Orlando, and I've always had magical adventures with family and friends (for the record, the first was with Chris & Eliza, the second with Jonathan, the third with Mom & Dad, and the fourth with Melinda). As usual, I've been working out every detail of the itinerary for the past several weeks, using excellent sites like TourGuideMiKE and the fairly new Disney Mom's Panel. The biggest new experience for this trip will be Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at the Magic Kingdom, featuring a special parade (with the Headless Horseman!), Halloween fireworks, trick or treating, and of course, the opportunity to keep riding attractions until midnight! I'm also looking forward to some great Disney eating, since our vacation package included the Disney Dining Plan for free. It's going to be an amazing adventure, so get ready for lots of tweets from the parks!
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| More fun in Los Angeles | |
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7.10.2009
6:17 PM | Link0 comments |
 I have a few more memories to write about the Los Angeles trip, mostly not Anime Expo related, except for this first one! The Toshiyuki Morikawa panel (which I saw by "accident" while waiting for the Morning Musume panel) was thoroughly excellent, and Dae and I both enjoyed it. Morikawa is a tremendously famous Japanese voice actor, who has hundreds of credits to his name, not only in the anime field, but also live-action dubbing (he is even the voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi in the dubbed Star Wars films). He is best known as the voice of Sephiroth, the ultimate evil villain in the Final Fantasy series of video games, and he definitely has a huge fan base! The crowd was absolutely enamored with everything he had to say (one girl sitting next to me was so excited that she felt she needed to translate everything to me as he said it, even though there was a professional translator doing the same thing). The fan questions were great, since they were mostly requests to do voices. My favorite was a girl named Daphne who asked him to use the voice of Sephiroth and ask her to marry him. Morikawa loved the request, and did his evil laugh with a sinister "Daphne! Kekkon shite kuru!" It was pretty awesome!In addition to all the time with Dae in Anime Expo lines, we had a fun time in Little Tokyo after the concert. We got to shop around a bit (I bought a cheap Godzilla toy) and listen to a live sax/keyboard combo, then we had some great sushi (including some incredible hamachi sashimi with shiso leaf, plus plenty of sake!). Also during the trip we got to hang out with Ernesto two nights, and had a wonderful time drinking and catching up! On the 4th of July, Ernesto got us into a super-fancy party in a neighborhood near Hollywood, since his sister's friend is married to a rich (and generous) lawyer. The house was built in 1935, and the interior decorating looks like a magazine (I should have taken photos inside, but I didn't want to snoop!). The backyard has a beautiful pool, tons of Adventureland style plants, and the place was buzzing with caterers delivering hors d'ouvres, as well as serving a full dinner and dessert, and of course an open bar with expensive Balvenie scotch! I got to talk with Ernesto's dad and sister, and we all had a blast watching the fireworks (from a nearby country club). I always have so much fun with my LA friends - it's no wonder I'm always ready to make the trip! View photos: Los Angeles Pals 2009
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| Momusu at Anime Expo Part 4 | |
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7.09.2009
11:55 AM | Link2 comments |
 Welcome to the last part of my Morning Musume encounter at Anime Expo, my final chance for autographs (using my priority ticket from the Q&A panel)! The session was scheduled to start at 11:00 AM, so Dae and I decided he would drop me off around 8:00 AM. I actually woke up about 3:30 AM feeling anxious and excited, and drifted in and out of sleep, checking the web on my iPhone the whole time. After I got dressed, at 6:20 AM someone posted on Twitter that the line was starting and 50 people were already there! When Dae jumped out of the shower I told him the news, and he was nice enough to get me to the convention center in record time. The line started outside, and I was really worried that I was too late, but soon as it became more organized and we moved inside, things started looking better and better. Finally we got official line place numbers, and since I was hoping for something lower than 150, I was thrilled to get number 83! All that was left was two more hours of sitting on the floor, playing with my iPhone, talking with Dae (who wasn't waiting in line, but came to visit me), and getting nervous!Finally the magic hour arrived, and they started taking two people at a time from the line - it seemed to move at about two people every minute and a half, so I had lots of time to freak out before they got to 83! Everyone was getting nervous and taking deep breaths, but before I knew it I was entering the room and there was Morning Musume, sitting at a long table in their "official order", wearing a different set of outfits (just like the one Sayumi is wearing in this photo), and waving at me while I waited in line! It was so unreal that the tears started falling right away - totally happy, crazy tears (and believe me, I was not the only one who cried!). I tried to pull it together so I would be able to talk while I waited, getting my Platinum 9 Disc CD booklet ready to go. Before I go on, I have to say that the most amazing part of this experience was how incredibly warm and giving everyone was! I had expected them to be a little timid or overly polite, but they instantly reacted like best friends. The only way to describe it is that they made me feel like they had been waiting all day just to meet me (even though it was the other way around)! Although some of this is playing the part of perfect Jpop idols, I know their appreciation for their fans is genuine, and they were actually having fun meeting everyone! Suddenly it was my turn, and Ai-chan just lit up in front of me! I stepped forward and got a handshake right away. (I had read comments from previous autograph recipients about forgetting to shake hands, so I made a point of shaking everyone's hand twice - once before the signing, and again afterward! All of the girls did that nice two-handed clasp, too!) I was able to say something in Japanese to everyone (there was a translator, but she didn't have to help!), of course starting with a big hello and ending with thank you. I told Ai-chan that I cried when I watched her fantastic performance in Cinderella The Musical. She looked right up at me with the brightest face and said "Oh thank you!" It made me feel like I was the only one who had ever said that, although she has probably heard it a million times - that's how gracious everyone was! Next was Risa, and I told her that I'm a huge Disney fan, too, so she replied "I love Disney", which was cute. Eri was a little quiet but very warm, and she made a point of asking if she should sign over her photo or on top of the lyrics on the next page. Next was Sayumi, who was too cute for words, energetically shaking my hand and saying hello! I wished her a happy birthday, she said thank you and that she was turning 20 and becoming an adult. I replied "But Sayumi will eternally be the cutest!" She knew what I was going to say halfway through my sentence, since she starting giggling and twirling her fingers on her cheeks, looking up at me with those giant eyes! I thought I was going to die, but I had to move on to Reina, who was also full of energy and happily said hello, although while she was signing, she was pretty focused (since her signature is complex!). I told her that I always listen to Five Stars (her radio show) and she thanked me. Next in line was Koharu, who was beautiful and fun, but when she turned the page in my CD booklet and started signing, I somehow looked down and thought she was on the wrong page. I made a kind of gasp and Koharu stopped signing, then I realized I was nuts and said everything was OK! She was a little confused, but it was no big deal. Aika was very polite and has such tiny teeth when she smiles. Only a few minutes had gone by, and I was already up to Jun Jun, who is amazing looking in person, and she reacted like she just couldn't wait for me to get there! In case anyone doesn't know, Jun Jun and Lin Lin are both Chinese and had to learn Japanese when they became members of Morning Musume. Because of my own struggles learning Japanese, I mentioned her Japanese and English were both very good, and she seemed excited about the compliment. Lin Lin was sweet as she signed my booklet, and I had to make a joke and ask if she was bacchiri (back when she didn't know much Japanese she would always say she was bacchiri, or perfect), and that got a nice laugh. For the entire autograph session I was totally focused on the member in front of me - there were assistants and cameramen and once the translator asked me if I was crying, but I was almost oblivious to it all! I left the room feeling on top of the world, looking around at all the other stunned fans, and called Dae to let him know my dream had come true! We had a quick sandwich while I told Dae all of the details (probably over and over again). The rest of the day was spent at a wonderful 4th of July party with Ernesto, but I'll save those details for another post. Although I've been a Morning Musume fan for a long time, I never dreamed I would ever have this opportunity, and I still can't believe the whole thing happened - from the airport, to the concert, to the autographs! Now when I watch them on TV shows and concerts it feels completely new knowing that they actually talked to me and held my hand. I don't care how crazy that sounds, but it was definitely a memory I'll cherish forever, and I'll always be a Morning Musume fan! Labels: jpop, morning musume, trips |
| Momusu at Anime Expo Part 3 | |
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7.08.2009
12:15 PM | Link0 comments |
 At last it was Morning Musume concert day! Even though Dae and I already had our tickets to reserve our row, I still wanted to get there early to try for a good seat in the row (and also because I was so excited that I just wanted to be there waiting). So we showed up to the familiar line-up in the sun for about an hour, talked with several fans we had met on previous days, and watched all of the glowstick trading going on. (Glowsticks are a tradition at Morning Musume concerts, and the color of the glowstick signifies which member you're cheering for. I asked Dae to take me to Party City the night before to buy pink glowsticks for Sayumi!) We were all talking about the autograph situation yesterday, and Dae had decided not to suffer through a long line again (since he was only there to support me, after all), so he mentioned he had a priority ticket that he wasn't going to use. Immediately people started bidding (up to $40, even though the ticket was only a chance at an autograph), but Dae ended up giving it to a young guy who was in the Army, who used his two-week leave just to come see Morning Musume!Soon they let us in for seating, and we ended up only a couple seats from the end of the row (it really didn't matter at all, since the whole row was a great view). It was still two hours until concert time, but we had fun watching everyone get their glowsticks going and chatting with this guy from Seattle who knew all the dances to Morning Musume's songs (he played them on his phone, and both of us sang along while he performed the moves). The time passed really quickly! Finally the lights went out and the crowd went nuts (on their feet for the entire concert, naturally)! I was excited that they began with a special introduction video on the big screens (just like I've seen in all of their Japanese concerts), and then the girls took the stage. They started the show with Mikan, which has the lyric "Life is one time" and the message about living life to the fullest - that was all it took to start my eyes tearing up, since seeing this concert was something I never thought I'd be able to do, and I felt so happy that I was actually there making a dream come true! They did lots of recent songs, some cute introductions, one fast costume change, and an incredible medley of the past 12 years of Morning Musume hits. I sang along with every song, screamed my head off, and kept my arm in the air waving glowsticks the whole time! There's no way to know for sure, but I think one of Sayumi's waves was directed at me! After a solid hour of music, they had to announce the winners of the Morning Musume video contest (which had been going on for a few weeks), so as an added bonus I got to see former Momusu leader Hitomi Yoshizawa and Tsunku, the creator/producer of Morning Musume, on stage! Truthfully, the announcements went a little long and kind of brought down the energy of the concert, but it was still great to see more Jpop personalities. Thankfully, Momusu did a quick reprise at the end, but unfortunately there was no encore (definitely due to Anime Expo time constraints). Even though the concert didn't have the huge sets and lights like the arenas they play in Japan, it was still an incredible show! The girls' energy was at 150% the whole time, and I thought their singing was excellent (usually when I watch a concert DVD there is at least one moment when I realize someone has missed a note, but I didn't notice a single mistake this time)! After the show, Dae and I went for a beer, and a few fans that had been sitting behind us complimented me on knowing all the lyrics, which was cool. Then we headed to Little Tokyo for some great sushi, sashimi and plenty of sake, ending a totally fantastic day! I went to sleep anxious about the possible autographs the next day, which I'll write about tomorrow. Labels: jpop, morning musume, trips |
| Momusu at Anime Expo Part 2 | |
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7.07.2009
7:00 PM | Link0 comments |
 On with more Anime Expo details! The next day was the official start of the convention, so Dae and I arrived early for opening ceremonies, since we knew Morning Musume would be there. At first we thought there was no line at all, but we soon realized that almost all lines at Anime Expo were outside in the sun (because of fire code/traffic reasons inside), so we worked on our T-shirt tans a little. We got pretty good seats (around Row 15), and took a couple naps since it got started 45 minutes late. It was worth the wait, though, since this was my first glimpse of Morning Musume (un-masked) on stage, wearing their frilly outfits from Shouganai Yume Oibito! Non-flash photos were allowed (the only exception for the "no Momusu photos" policy at the convention), so I took a few grainy shots at max zoom. All of the honored guests were extremely impressive and interesting, but truthfully I spent the whole hour looking at Morning Musume and waving if they looked my way!Immediately after opening ceremonies, the next job was to try to get one of only 300 guaranteed autograph tickets from buying Momusu merchandise. We got there as fast as we could, but soon realized the line was already over 500 deep (we later found out it had started at 4:00 AM!). I was a little bummed about missing out, but decided to use the time to start waiting for the Momusu Q&A panel, even though it was three hours away. Of course, there were already lots of people in line! After lots of confusion, the staff eventually decided to move us into the panel room for the previous guest (who was the immensely entertaining Toshiyuki Morikawa - I'll write about him later!), and when he finished, Dae and I were able to jump up to third row for Morning Musume! When they first walked in I couldn't believe how close we were, since I could smile at them all and there was no doubt they were actually smiling back at me! The crowd went crazy, and listening to the girls (in both Japanese and adorable English) was fantastic. My selfish fanboy strategy was to try to get the attention of the members who weren't currently talking, so they could smile and wave back at me (I got the best reactions from Reina, Jun Jun and Lin Lin)! I was totally on the edge of my seat for the whole hour - it was such a great time. After the Q&A, they handed out 500 non-guaranteed "priority" autograph tickets, and since we were up so close, Dae and I got them! Then they announced the location for autographs, so we ran (along with everyone else) to the exhibit hall, only to find the information was incorrect. Fans were wandering around everywhere, asking staff questions, and finally we got the correct answer and made it to the actual location. By that time, other people that solved the mystery first were lined up, but we were still feeling hopeful. Unfortunately, after the hour and a half was up, they closed the door while we were about 100 back in line. That door closing was a depressing sound, but we were told our priority tickets would still be good on Saturday. (Even though I was bummed, I felt better when I met the guy who was only 7th in line when they closed the door!) After using up all of our adrenaline that day, all we could do was get some food (and ice cream!) and crash at Dae's condo. At least we had plenty of rest before the concert the next day! View photos: Anime Expo 2009 Watch video: Morning Musume at AX Opening CeremoniesLabels: jpop, morning musume, photos, trips, videos |
| Momusu at Anime Expo Part 1 | |
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7.06.2009
8:03 PM | Link0 comments |
 It's time to begin my Morning Musume at Anime Expo story! I'd rather write impressions instead of a journal, but I guess chronologically is the only way to tell everything. Right away I discovered that the key to this whole trip was staying up-to-date with my iPhone - without constantly checking Twitter and forums I would have missed so much! The first bombshell happened while I was still in the Austin airport, since someone found out Morning Musume's flight number from Japan, and fans started preparing to meet them at the airport. Although I was worried about being late to the convention center, I decided I had to take the chance, since the airport would be kind of a guaranteed way to see them from 10 feet away. Dae and I hung out in the terminal with about 100 or so other fans (who had a big welcome sign), and after waiting forever for them to get through customs, we finally saw them walking our way! Everyone was screaming, and the girls looked so cute (even though some wore face masks) and waved to us as they walked by. Dae shot a great video, and for some reason Reina appeared to point right at Dae's camera! (Soon my pal Ryan discovered someone else's airport video online and could hear my voice in it.)My first impression of seeing them was that they are much smaller and delicate than I imagined. Of course I was looking for Sayumi, and she seemed so much shorter than she looks on TV! It was fun to see their different reactions - some seemed pumped about being in Los Angeles, some seemed a little timid or scared, and I think some were surprised to see American fans waiting for them. But they were generally bubbly and all smiles, and it was cool to know they had seen us. There's something awesome about knowing that at some level my fandom was now known by the artists themselves - like a small personal connection! After calming down from the awesome airport sighting, we went to the convention center for the first of many huge lines (mostly outside in the sun). After extra waiting because of computer problems, we finally got our badges and immediately went to the concert ticket line, which was huge - I thought for sure we would have bad seats for the show. But when we finally got to the front, they gave us Section C, Row 7 - I couldn't believe it! So the first day was a huge success, and Dae and I celebrated by meeting Ernesto for mohitos, then Mexican food with flaming margaritas. It was a great start to my Jpop adventure! (I only have video posted today, but I'll work on getting photos up tomorrow.) Watch video: Morning Musume at LAXLabels: jpop, morning musume, trips, videos |
| Shinjirarenai daiseikou | |
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7.05.2009
9:19 PM | Link1 comments |
 I'm home from Los Angeles and Anime Expo, and the trip was better than I ever dreamed! I have so many details that I want to write about, but it's going to take me a few days of posts to get to it all. For now I'll just say that I got to be part of the screaming fans to greet Morning Musume when they arrived at LAX, I got to wave and smile at them from 3rd row seats at their Q&A panel, I had amazing 7th row seats to their first concert ever in America, and then I actually got their autographs (shaking each of their hands twice and saying something to each of them in Japanese)! It took about 20 hours of waiting in lines (over four days), but it was worth it and I would do it again! It was such an emotional, uplifting, dreamlike experience, and now I'm a bigger Morning Musume fan than ever! My pal Dae was the most incredible friend, since he drove me around and waited in all these lines just as a favor to me! It was awesome to see Ernesto again, too - the three of us shared fantastic dinner and drinks, as well as the ritziest July 4th party you can imagine. Enjoy my precious autographs and keep reading this week for more WEBmikey fanboy stories! View photos: Morning Musume autographsLabels: jpop, morning musume, photos, trips |
| Five days in OKC | |
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6.10.2009
12:20 PM | Link0 comments |
 I spent the past few days with my parents during my typical summer trip to Oklahoma City, and we had a great time together as usual! I got to enjoy Mom's cooking (which was like heaven after my recent dieting), and it was nice to see all the improvements Mom & Dad have been making around the house, including the nice new swing and furniture on the patio. Of course, we had to get our slot machine fix at Riverwind Casino, so we went three times (winning-wise, one day was terrible and one was fantastic!). We also saw a movie in the Warren Theater balcony, watched some old video tapes that I dubbed onto Mini DV, and I got to dig through three boxes of childhood books (I found some incredible Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica stuff!). On top of all of that, most of my time was spent getting Dad up to speed with all kinds of technology! We did lots of iPhone and iTunes stuff (he's really excited about burning CDs now), but the coolest thing was hooking up the new huge Samsung TV with wireless internet and Yahoo TV Widgets! It was really amazing to see my latest Twitter and Flickr updates right there on the TV. As always, it's kind of a bummer to get back to real life, but it sure was a nice way to spend a five-day weekend!
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| Grand Canyon adventure | |
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5.12.2009
9:10 PM | Link0 comments |
 Last weekend I took a four-day vacation to visit my pals Ryan & Jennifer in Phoenix, which included an incredible adventure to the one-and-only Grand Canyon! After I arrived, Ryan and I spent the first day enjoying the Phoenix Zoo, which was so unusual since I've never seen a zoo in the middle of the desert before. Even though most of the animals were hiding from the hot sun, they have a fantastic giraffe habitat and a cool enclosure were you can hang out with squirrel monkeys. The next morning we got up early to drive to the canyon, and on the way we found a crazy Flintstones RV park, plus an aviation museum with an old Constellation (Dad navigated on this plane in the Air Force, and I had never seen one in person)! After checking out our hotel, we entered Grand Canyon National Park and saw the canyon itself. It was the first time Ryan and I had been there, and the sight completely blew me away - it's just so huge and expansive that I could hardly believe it was real! At Grand Canyon Village we took a look at all the buildings there, then had lunch at the El Tovar (and got a window table!). After that, we started driving east along the South Rim and stopped at every observation point. Each one was different and beautiful, and we had a great time taking photos at each one! Speaking of photos, Ryan got a new digital SLR and really gave it a workout (with three cameras going, we actually took over 1,000 pictures!). The famous Watchtower was the feature of the last point, and it's a really interesting (if somewhat strange) structure. We ended the day by watching the sunset (incredible!), then went back to the hotel for drinks, which made it hard to get up the next morning to catch the sunrise, but we made it! Even the drive back to Phoenix was fun, and we stopped in Flagstaff to check out the downtown area. The trip was really amazing, and it was great to share such an incredible nature experience with my pals Ryan & Jennifer! View photos: Phoenix Zoo View photos: Drive to the Grand Canyon View photos: Grand Canyon View photos: Flagstaff
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| Las Vegas 2009 | |
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4.01.2009
4:37 PM | Link0 comments |
 This year's Las Vegas vacation with Mom & Dad was a complete blast, as usual! We decided to stay at the Venetian again since it was close to some of the shows we saw, and we had a nice view of the Mirage volcano (even though they made me pay a little more for the room). We saw three great shows (which I'll review later): Donny & Marie, Terry Fator, and Mystere by Cirque du Soleil, which became the experience of a lifetime! We also saw a few attractions for the first time that we had somehow skipped on previous trips. At the Secret Garden we saw baby dolphins and beautiful white tigers and lions, and we went to the top of the Stratosphere and saw the incredible view. And of course, we spent hours feeding the penny slot machines – I really enjoyed the new Star Trek machine, which has awesome images and sounds from the original series, plus great bonus games that pump sound into special chair speakers! We also loved the new Wizard of Oz machines, which use a really cool graphics overlay technique on top of physical reels, and Mom won her biggest jackpot (around $75) on these. The time really flew by (as it always does), but whenever we leave Vegas I know it won't be very long until we go back again! View photos: Las Vegas 2009
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| Mystere madness! | |
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3.30.2009
5:50 PM | Link5 comments |
 I'm back from my Las Vegas vacation with Mom & Dad, which was memorable in many ways, but the craziest time of all happened when we saw the Cirque du Soleil production of Mystere at Treasure Island! We had front row center seats for the show, but I had no idea there's a special "role" for each performance - which turned out to be me. Mystere's theme is birth, so one of the comedy aspects of the show is a big baby, who begins by bouncing a huge ball. He bounced the ball right at my parents and me, but it got stuck at the end of the stage, so when he started to cry, I got up and rolled the ball back to him (with the theater spotlights right on me). He seemed to like that, so he bounced it back to me, and I rolled it back again. Then suddenly he started laughing and called me "Papa", holding his arms out for a big hug! He gestured for me to come up on stage to hug him - I was totally nervous, but just decided to go with it, and as soon as I stepped on stage, he squirted me with his giant baby bottle! I thought that was the end of the joke, but it was just the beginning!Later on in the show, the big baby crawled out on a high platform with a big flashlight, and pretty soon, he was shining it right on me, calling me Papa and giggling. I just held my arms up and smiled, and now it was pretty much established that the guy in the front row (me!) was definitely Papa. Now I kind of expected something else would happen later, but I had no idea I was totally going to be in the show! A little later, the baby came out riding a golf cart in the aisle that separates the top and bottom seat sections - as soon as I saw that the cart had two seats, I thought to myself, "He's coming for me!" Sure enough, he stopped and started calling for Papa and the spotlight went on me, so I had to run up the stairs and get in the cart. He immediately took off at full speed, so I just held on with one hand and waved to the audience with the other! Suddenly, we went through a huge cloud of smoke and then we were backstage. It was so surreal to come out of that fog and be surrounded by performers in their bright costumes, stretching and getting ready for their next act - it was like a weird dream! Right away I was led to a spot with a huge diaper on the floor with two yellow feet for me to stand on, and in two-seconds I had been dressed like a baby, complete with bonnet and bottle. I got back in the cart and the big baby drove me around the stage in front of everyone. There were other performers everywhere, the music was pounding, there was smoke and lights, and through it all I could see Mom & Dad laughing and waving at me while I sucked on my nipple! Next we drove off-stage and the big baby (in his adult voice) called out "Part two!" I got out of the cart and they told me to pretend to push it (while it was being driven slowly) like we had been in a wreck. So I got behind the cart and exaggerated my leg movements as we went around the stage again, with smoke pouring out of the cart (to show we had "crashed") around me. Finally we were backstage again, and another person helped me out of my costume, and then an usher directed me back to my seat, where I could breathe again and enjoy the rest of the show! About 10 minutes later, the usher ran back and handed me a photo that had been secretly snapped from a camera on the golf cart! At about 1:16 in this video trailer, you can see the big baby in the cart, just to get an idea of what the show was like! The whole experience was totally amazing - everyone was really nice to me and made sure I knew what was going to happen, and it was a complete rush to actually be on stage at a sold-out Cirque du Soleil performance, even in a giant diaper! When we were leaving Treasure Island, a bunch of girls (who were in Vegas celebrating a birthday) recognized me and yelled, "There's Papa!" and even wanted their picture taken with me, so I guess I had a fan club for one night. If anyone would like their Pampers signed, just let me know! Labels: cirque du soleil, family, trips |
| Dae & Mikey's Disneyland Day | |
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3.15.2009
3:58 PM | Link0 comments |
 I took my Kodak Zi6 that I got for Christmas with me on my recent trip to Los Angeles, so I could experiment a little with shooting in HD at Disneyland! It was super convenient to have it in my pocket ready to go, and it was really fun to think about how to compose shots in a 16:9 frame. But mostly, my pal Dae and I used it to pass the time in line for rides (even though we had such short wait times) by interviewing each other. I used my Zi6, and Dae used the movie mode on his Canon camera, and by the end of the day we had about 20 minutes of the most lame and silly video ever shot. But it was still a blast to edit them together, add a little music, insert some effects and titles, and create my first HD work in iMovie (although the clips from Dae's camera are still SD). For some reason, YouTube messed up the first five seconds (it's gray when it should be black), but it takes forever to upload so I'm just living with it. I also decided to try Vimeo since they kind of specialize in HD. There's nothing particularly funny or interesting about this video (unless you know Dae or me, which will make it kind of hilarious), but it reminded me that editing is fun and I need to do more of it! Watch video: Disneyland Day on YouTube Watch video: Disneyland Day on Vimeo
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| Mondays rule at Disneyland | |
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2.27.2009
6:25 PM | Link2 comments |
 The third day of my recent Los Angeles trip was spent at Disneyland (what a surprise)! After the great experience I had going on a Monday last year, Dae and I decided to try it again, and it was amazing how light the crowds were. In fact, the only FastPass we used was for Space Mountain, and we even rode Splash Mountain using the regular line (the first time I had ever been through that queue!). Speaking of Splash Mountain, Dae did the impossible again by getting an awesome picture of us during the 50-foot drop! We ate at the Carnation Cafe on Main Street (for the first time), discovered an animatronic fish on Big Thunder Trail, and enjoyed the new Sleeping Beauty Castle walk-through (so nostalgic). It was also fun to beat Dae on the Buzz Lightyear ride - my second victory in a row! The changes to It's a Small World seemed OK to me, as long as you think of it as the original children playing "Disney dress-up". The only thing I didn't like was the new Ariel singing solo - it was just too jarring from the rest of the soundtrack. After riding almost everything in the park (including the major rides twice!), we left the park and hit Downtown Disney for coconut mohitos - a great end to a fantastic day! The next day I had to fly home, so that was really the end of the trip. As always, the best part of visiting Los Angeles is hanging out with Dae and Ernesto, but of course Disneyland is the second best thing! View photos: Los Angeles 2009 Day 3
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| Quick stops to Japan and China | |
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2.26.2009
6:11 PM | Link0 comments |
 I didn't really have any plans for the second day of my Los Angeles visit, so Dae suggested we check out the Huntington Library. This is actually a huge complex which is a combination historical document library, art museum, and series of massive botanical gardens! First we took a look at the library, where we saw an exhibit of original hand-written documents by Abraham Lincoln, as well as cool medieval manuscripts and even early Shakespeare folios. The art museum is primarily filled with portraits, including the original George Washington pose that everyone knows, as well as the famous Blue Boy and Pinkie. Next we walked around the gardens, focusing mainly on the Japanese and Chinese sections, both of which were huge, with tons of appropriate architecture. We stayed as long as we could, but we didn't even touch over half of the gardens available to see (we skipped the tropical stuff completely). After a glorious lunch at In-N-Out (so delicious), we stopped by a fancy grocery store to buy tons of snacks for our mini-Oscars party. Ernesto joined us at Dae's condo, and we watched the show, ate a ton, drank most of a bottle of scotch, and talked with Matt & Kumiko (who had their own party in Austin) on the speaker phone. After the awards, Ernesto and I fell asleep on Dae's couches pretty quick (while Dae was watching his favorite Korean TV shows). Stay tuned for the next day at Disneyland! View photos: Los Angeles 2009 Day 2
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| Gorn hunting in Los Angeles | |
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2.25.2009
8:40 PM | Link0 comments |
 I'm back from my fantastic Los Angeles trip, and I had an incredible time! Of course, I took several hundred photos (and so did my pal Dae), so I'm going to have to break down the adventures into individual days and Flickr sets. Dae, Ernesto and I started the first day with breakfast at a classic Bob's Big Boy (built in 1949), then hit the road to Vasquez Rocks! I was totally amazed by the rocks - not only were they beautiful and fun to climb around on, but it really had a Star Trek feeling, and it was cool thinking about the original episodes that were shot there (which I commemorated by photographing my Captain Kirk retro Mego action figure!). After that we went to Hollywood for martinis at Musso & Frank's, which was built in 1919, making it one of the oldest bars in Hollywood. The drinks were great, and it was amazing to walk around during all the bustle of the Academy Awards red carpet and bleachers at the Kodak Theater (we were there the day before the show). Finally, Dae and I enjoyed a huge dinner of Korean BBQ (with plenty of soju, which knocked me out quickly!). It was an awesome day, and that was only the beginning! Enjoy the photos, with thanks to Dae for all the really good ones! View photos: Los Angeles 2009 Day 1
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| Vacation video | |
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11.21.2008
6:53 AM | Link0 comments |
 Recently I've been doing a little video editing of footage that I shot over the past few years. I always meet my parents in Waco for "pre-Thanksgiving" each year, and I like to have a few videos ready to show my Mom's family there, so that got me going. I started with the past several years of Christmas gift opening videos, and then moved on to some family vacations. It's really fun to just cut things down to only the best shots, and setting things to music is usually much better than the original audio (which usually has too much of me talking and laughing!). So here are a couple more videos from my YouTube collection: our 2003 trip to New York City and our 2004 trip to Las Vegas! I really like the New York video, since it has lots of tourist-style shots, but the Vegas video is a little boring (oh well!). Editing these helps me to see when I've been a lousy cameraman, both in technique and coverage, so I'm planning to do a better job on vacations in the future! Watch video: New York City Vacation Watch video: Las Vegas Vacation
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| Together again in LA | |
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8.13.2008
8:19 PM | Link0 comments |
 I spent last weekend in Los Angeles to visit my pals Dae & Ernesto, but this time the trip was even better than usual since Matt & Kumiko went with me! Ernesto and Dae were both spectacular tour guides, taking us all over downtown LA, Santa Monica, and everywhere inbetween. I was thrilled to visit the Bradbury Building after seeing it so many times in Blade Runner, and it was a cool feeling to be in the same place where they shot part of the film. During the weekend, Ernesto took us on a nice drive and let us get our feet wet at the beach, we all enjoyed Griffith Observatory (and the planetarium show) together, and we made it to both Little Tokyo and Little Osaka for lots of shopping (I bought some great tokusatsu toys) and real ramen! We even had time to explore Venice Beach, where we saw a crazy band called Ninja Academy. I got to take over as tour guide on Monday, since we went to Disneyland together! I had a such a great time showing off my "hometown" to my friends, plus it was Kumiko's birthday, so we got her a button at City Hall and I'd say about 40 Cast Members all said "Happy Birthday" during the day. The crowds weren't bad at all (since it was a Monday), and we got to do everything we wanted, with several repeat rides! As always, Dae took some great photos, but he really did the impossible this time by snapping his own picture during the huge Splash Mountain drop (which completely soaked us, by the way)! There's no better combination than Disneyland and amazing friends! View photos: Los Angeles Fun 2008
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| Summer trip to Oklahoma City | |
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7.02.2008
8:10 PM | Link0 comments |
 Last weekend I made my usual summer visit to Oklahoma City to spend a fun long weekend with my parents. Of course, we made some trips to Riverwind Casino, and I always have fun playing the slots with Mom & Dad! On the first day I came out ahead, but lost a bunch on the second day, but I still came away losing much less than I planned. We had a great time playing the Star Wars and Indiana Jones machines - I love all the authentic graphics and sound effects! Our next activity was seeing a movie at the incredible Warren Theater, which is pretty spectacular. The interiors are amazing, from the cool artwork to the giant red curtain that lifts before the movie begins, and all the employees have bow ties and white gloves. We paid extra for the balcony treatment, which is like a deluxe version of the Alamo Drafthouse here in Austin, with full food service during the movie in giant plush seats! Next, we visited the Oklahoma City Zoo (which I hadn't been to in many, many years) and had a great time viewing all kinds of animals (my favorite was the red panda, which I had never seen before). The tram ride was especially good, since the narrator really knew his stuff and told us lots of fascinating facts. It was really a nice visit - it's always fun to spend time with Mom & Dad, eat Mom's delicious cooking, and help Dad hook up another HDTV (his third this time)! View photos: Oklahoma City 2008
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| Arizona adventure | |
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5.26.2008
12:38 PM | Link0 comments |
 When my pal Ryan moved to Arizona last year, I was sad to see him go, but I knew it would be fun to have another place to visit on vacation. I just spent the last few days with Ryan and his wife Jennifer in Phoenix and Sedona, and it was a total blast! Arizona seemed like a entirely new planet to me, with so many cacti covering the landscape in Phoenix, and all of the incredible red rock formations in Sedona (which looks just like Big Thunder Mountain at Disneyland!). On the first day we took a tour of the Diamondbacks baseball stadium (getting to sit in the actual dugout was a real treat), and then enjoyed the famous Heard Museum, filled with awesome Native American artwork. The next day we drove to Sedona and spent all day shopping around (and avoiding time-share salesmen), having some great evening drinks together, and then we spent the night at a cool hotel. The next day we took a nice drive, did more shopping, and went to see the incredible Church of the Holy Cross, which is built right into one of the rock formations and has an incredible view of the beauty of Sedona. Then it was back to Phoenix for a quick rest, followed by a fun sushi dinner and seeing the new Indiana Jones movie! The whole vacation was tons of fun, and Ryan and Jennifer were fantastic hosts! And believe it or not, it was chilly enough to wear my jacket the whole time, even though the temperature should be in the 100s this time of year. How's that for great timing? View photos: Arizona 2008
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