A.X. trip days 1-5: can be summed up as T.M.A. => Too Much Awesome!
Bus ride is hellalong... But I survived.
Took almost 4 days to get to California.
Bus from Montréal was meant to leave at 7h45, but we ended up being split in 2 different buses and I was "lucky" enough to be on the 2nd one, our driver hadn't come in yet, they called another one and she wasn't really happy about the situation to ay the least...
We ended up leaving at 8h30. Then we went to the Duty Free Shop and U.S. customs and everything was fine, except for 1 guy who had to come get his lugguage and have it searched by the customs agents. We got delayed almost 2 hours, but managed to arrive in New York just 5 minutes too late for my transfert to St-Louis, so they had me go through Philadelphia, PA and guess what? I got that same mad driver woman again! I barely had time to meet up with Tito and he was kinda angry I couldn't stay longer, but I mean, I'm not the one who made my schedule, if you have to be angry, be anry at Latoya in NYC who remade my schedule even if I asked her for a longer layover, I just got barely 20 minutes between buses and the NYC terminal is HUMONGOUS!
Then in Philly, I had to wait about 6 hours in the middle of the night, before they put me on a bus to Pittsburg. I guess it was worth it, but had I know I'd be wainting that long, I would have rented a locker and wandered around in the stores behind the station!
Ride to Pittsburg seemed to last an eternity, but I managed to sleep some and we didn't have to wait too long there, so it was fine... They I went to Dayton, OH and I meet folks on the bus, one was "Sable Twilight" a 35 years old transgender from Denver, CO, who knew about ♡♥♡Goth Lolis and Animes and liked my BPN riding coat♡♥♡ and went on to talk to me about etheral things and "khepurians" or something like that, who believe in reincarnation and are trying to gather all their experience gathered from their previous lives so they don' have to try and remember everything that occured to them before they died and we reborn each time. It was interesting and I told myself I'll have to talk to JF about that because it's kinda time-binding, but with one's self insted ofwith the previous and next generations... And I also meet a 47 years old guy by the name of Lee James, who lives in Victorville, CA, but who USED TO LIVE IN LONG BEACH for about 20-30 years so we exchanged our phone numbers so he could help me out if I got lost or something. And we ended up hanging together for 2 nights while I was in Long Beach. I'll tell you about that later on. so then we went through St-Louis and all of Kansas (nice place!) and Colorado (called that way because of all the different colors and shades of rocks in the mountains) and by the time we got to Nevada, I must have asked Lee (he's been sitting with me on at least the last 3 buses) "When's the desert coming already? I'm fed up of seeing them mountains!". We went through Las Vegas,but we were so late on schedule that we were supposed to go through at night time, but dawn had long came when we finally got there, so it was not as breath taking as in the movies... But for the rest of the scenary before we reached California, I felt like I was in a western movie or going through a National Geographics magazine.
After Lee got off (he was so glad his truck was still there intact in the parking lot after 2 months visiting family in Detroit, MI), I went on to Los Angeles and then from there, to Long Beach by myself. In long Beach, I took 2 buses and got to my hotel and boy, was I glad to shower. There were 2 guys at the reception desk and the otaku-looking one was all "Yeah, Marcil made it!" because it was like 9pm PACIFIC TIME (which means midnight at Montréal time). The other guy tried to argue that I ABOLUTELY needed a credit card to check in, even if I paid cash and the otaku-looking guy told him : "look at her, I don't think she'll be throwing a party up there or something, *looks at me* will you?"
So the other guy managed to fit my payment as a credit in their computer system and off I went to my room. I had called in from Vegas to ask if they had room to take me in a day earlier and they'd been fine with it. The only thing wrong with that hotel is that the nearest beach to it is Los Alamitos Bay and for those of you who ignore it, well, they're pumping oil there, so it's smelly like when you live near a refinery :( but they had some climbing flowers around the hotel so it covered the smell and looked really nice.
Next day, I went to the Convention Center to wait for Ro~ren Kaoru_Ai... From 4 to 8h30pm, I waited for her and when she and her friends finally made it, registration had been closed for over half an hour. But you should have seen the SEA of people (I ain't kidding, the nearby streets, staircases, grassy patches were litterally FLOODED with people) waiting all afternoon. The next 2 days were as razy and then the last 2 were pretty much quieter because by then, the most interesting events had been through and people who'd been there from day 0 had learned their way around...
Day 1 => I wore my custom jsk (the one I bought from Melinda Mindarothlast year and I still love it as much. I love the reactions it gets! LOL) with my Double Deckers Rocking Horse shoes and my Alice bow I made from the remains of Yuffie's skirt I made last winter. When the otaku guy who took my picture everyday sends me the pictures, I'll make sure to post them here!)
Lauren got my badge and stuff, so I had to pass as Kaoru_Ai all weekend and manage to not get carded! But Lauren was nice enough to have her friend Deedledlu wait in the FREE tickets line (if I had premier tickets, I would get carded) for me until one other of their friends came to find me to lead me to the right line (day 1 was sooooo hectic waiting-lines-wise) and hen Lauren brought me some other lolis to keep me company, isn't she ♡♥♡ nice ♡♥♡ ?!? Too bad I didn't get more time to hang with her before she left for Japan, because she had press passes, so she had to attend lame boring press-only meetings, but she also got to do neet things and have good places for all the concerts!
They were supposed to hand us in the free tickets by noon, but they started handing them at 1h30pm only, and then, seating was supposed to start at 2pm and it started at 4h30pm, which is the time the show was meant to start. In between, me and Lauran and the other lolis attended the Anna Tsushiya panel. She is so funny! I just wish my Japanese level was better so I could have heard better!
Here's a re-edition of my concert review I posted on the North American Dears' forum right after the show
I just got back from the concert and it was awesome, only... Gackt needs to make his mouth rounder when he speaks English because at some point, he asked the crowd to do something and we were all looking at each other wondering what he'd just said... I don't get how come everything is clearer when he sings than when he just speaks...
But ♡♥♡HE♡♥♡ looked great, more rocker-ish than usual. Ju-ken was also in the band tonite. Yoshiki looked manlier than he usually looks. I was amazed, he looks so much better "un-glammed". Miyavi was his usual totally show-devoted self and Sugizo was impressive... I honnestly didn't know him all that much before. And Ju-Ken was added to the line-up. He was also in town to play for Anna Tsushiya's concert the next day. I think they played 4 songs. They had a lot of visual backgrounds things going on on the screens behind them.
At one point, Miyavi played Shamisen, Sugizo played violin and Gackt and Yoshiki did a piano duet, Gackt doing the softer melody and Yoshiki was playing like "I'm so upset I'm going nuts" kinda part... And can I add that Yoshiki is a mind-blowing drummer?!
In the middle of the set, Gackt introduced the band and afterwards, he made us repeat that they are SKIN about 30 times before he actually joined in and stopped it... LOL
One song that they stopped in the middle for the band members intro and solos, he had us repeat GET BACK and it would appear on the screen when we had to say it... The crowd went wild everytime Gackt would end a presentation by saying "he is ..." and the band member name would appear on screen and the crowd yelled it back, jumping and shaking their hands and clapping but he made us repeat GACKT! about 10 times before they resumed with the concert...
He introduced Sugizo : "Two years ago, I used to hate this guy, but now he's my bestfriend". And it sounded a bit like when Psycho le Cému did their skits in the Live in USA dvds... Gackt's voice and speaking style, I mean...
He introduced Ju-Ken as a brother (because they've been together in GacktJob so long), I don't remember what he said about MIV, but it was elogious and I think he didn't say much about Yoshiki aside from his being multi-talented and an ex-X-Japan.
At the end he said "Thank you for having us! We'll be back soon!"
At one point, they light the ceiling so it looked like a night sky with the moon and stars, the screens showed scenery of Japan.
I ADORED the concert, even if my place was not all that good (in the pit, about 30th row), I still got to see ♡♥♡ GACKT ♡♥♡ and Miyavi and all the others... One of Gackt's fans even got to meet Ju-Ken on Day 0! I'm jealous,
Click to viewDownside that has nothing to do with the band, but everything to do with A.X. organisation: they were over 2 hours late on shcedule for handing us tickets and letting us in... someone told me it was because they had some issues with speakers... So poor guys didn't get to see the best of us, they got to see whiny people who had stood up in line beneath the hot California sun for like 5 to 6 hours if not more!!!!
S.K.I.N.
Yoshiki looking hot behind his drumkit
Gackt and his vampire rocker character
Why does Myv look like Britney Spears on there?!???
half of fanservice
Sugizo kinda looks like Iggy Pop on there, only, not as self-mutilated
If Gackt wasn't so damn tall, this might have been a band picture...
This is
what Miyavi looks like when he's impersonating.. And Ju-ken seems to try to look like that ad Meta had in the GLBs 2 summers
ago.. Kasumi_ichigo
Yoshiki
looked manly and sexy that night... He totally managed to get me into him, now! LOL
He kind
looks like a blond makeupless angelic version of Alice Cooper on there... But probably it'S just my imagination working over
again...
Is it
me or does Miyavi seems to beg to be kissed by Gackt?!?
Gackt
looking like he's trying to be Vampire Lestat from Anne Rice's novels
Ju-ken
and MYV doing weird faces
The three girls who made my experience possible:
Lauran Kaoru_ai
(whom I had to pretend I was all weekend..., Debby Deedlelu < and their friendS Shey
Lauran's pictures, much better and much more diverse than mines, because she's not a total n00b like me! LOL
---
SEEK cosplay!
And here'S Lida!
DAISHI
Winners and judges of the Cosplay contest
Mana in ealry Malice Mizer days cosplay
Sailor Moons
Most awesome cosplay I've ever seen... Dunno what it's about, though, but the wings looked real, I took a better picture, I'll post it on MY Flickr later on
This reminds me of the band BLOOD's outfits...
Link and ? cosplay
Wii-mote cosplay?!
Dunno what it's about, but it's nice!
For you, Mike GuardianMike , here's a Pikachu girl! (There have been so many and many kinds too)
Gotta catch 'Em all???
Nice group of FF cosplays... I should have asked for Squall's coordinates...
My all time favorite FF outfit : Lulu!!!
I think that's Tidus
That is some stiff petticoat right there!
These two ladies were just GORGEOUS!
It wouldn't be a con without Catgirls!
I want her hair!!!
Sailor Moon
Visual kei
Modern goth couple à la Nippone...
Some new loli
the Classic BTSSB Jumperskirt
EGA/EGL couple
I love their hair accessories!
J-rock girl
Visual kei lolita
For some reason, this girl reminds me of Shiroi_Yuffie
Anna Tsuchiya
Cosplay loli
Bright and cheerful girls. I think they had a "free hugs" sign up too!
I didn't know they made a Rapunzel manga/anime?!?
Cute couple
Visual kei couple
AYA!!!!
DDR pad cosplay, wtf?!?
Pokémon
Sgt.Frog, as seen on Densha Otoko, was
very popular as a tshirt and plushies sales that week, and they had a booth dedicated to him in the merchants area too
Pikachu girl
Pikaprincess
Oshare Kei guy looks cool and
funny
Funny guy, actually got tired of replying to
the age-old question of "what's your cosplay??" and he was wandering around with a sign in his neck that said "Jesus, LOL!"..
and that seemed like a very Eggy-like thing to do...
Toadstool, Princess Daisy and Princess
Peach from the Nintendo Mario Bros fame...
in a maid cafe near you
Gangsta MArio
Samurai Guro Loli
Emo-Robin
That girl from Scooby-Doo
one of many SnowWhites
Bisho!
I dig Lulu with that weird animal from Popeye the Sailorman
Welcome to the wonderful world of
Disney! LOL
One of his friends was Luigi, but I couldn't
find his picture, they looked so much like the real deal! LOL
Pirate for Sojiro_chan
Johnny Depp X Johnny Depp Yaoi?!"?
Pirate R2D2
Some guitarist in a band that took part in
the AX Idol contest
room consumming cosplay
He looked much better without his
makeup on!
Would look much more like the real thing if
cosplayed by Maki getoutofmyband
nice outfit
I love the details in this one
Alice, the Mad Hatter and the Cheshire cat
yeah, some other loli had an heart shaped
headress!
bjd love
The Crow is my alltime favorite goth
influence movie!
Carebear cute
Naruto for logvm
Bodyline for the ¬ - win
Shiny =/= loli
nice haircut!
Jedi loli???
front view
back view, that's gotta hurt!
Would make a good vilain, no?
No, I'm not obsessed by Squall, I swear... ok, maybe I am , a wee tiny little bit...
When I saw that guy, I thought of the Korean drama Princess Lulu
from MEtamorphose'S winter collection
of 2 years ago
Now isn't that a nice punk haircut??
I like her skirt
cute costumes, is that Versailles no
Bara???
nice headress
unno what he'S cosplaying, but that
"peanut" seemed really heavy!!!
I liked the visual effect of this one, it appeals to my goth side...
Mini cosplayers
Guy loli
in the random cosplay category : Star Wars
LEgo!
I had another "buzz" aside from the S.K.I.N.
show: Buzz Lightyear! LOL
baby version of Harley Quinn from Batman
This Darth Maul looks more evil than the real one! LOL
Mario Bros
I love the hair of the girl on the left
How cheap lace can ruin a good design
Does this spell WAPANESE to you too?
For the love of layering
For Del's greatest pleasure, here's that crazy Hard Gay cosplayer... because it wouldn't be a con without Hard Gay! LOL
Sex pot revenge
I vote him best dressed bisho of the year! LOL
Jrock is a mantra!
HEre'S what we all looked like, waiting in line and growing weary of waiting
Dedication...
California, moé!!!!
Attack of the cheap lace, part II
When Visual Kei runs in the family! LOL
Design contest
Katamari
Mononoke Hime
Sleeping Beauty
Posted for Chibi_Hoshi
----
Miss Deep's AX 2007 gallery
IGN COMIC'S cosplay and outfits gallery, day 1
IGN COMIC'S cosplay and outfits gallery, day 3 (I'm there!!!)>
IGN COMIC'S cosplay and outfits gallery, day 4
The Anime Blog's Flickr
Broken image's Flickr
MHuang's Flickr
flickr
flickr
flickr
here, you can see cosplays and the sea of people on friday
sklathill's flickr