23 posts tagged “チェスト”

New York. I don't think I'm really cut out to be here. I'm not tough enough. Anyway, here is my report. If any of you have seen my picture updates through my phone, you would know that my computer broke. (Yes, the cutie I got from Santa.) I'm writing this on one of the public computers, which means I can't go back and edit this entry when I feel like it. There might be some important details I've gotten. Sorry! Though I suppose a broken computer isn't as bad as what happened to Destini, who got her got her glasses broken AND lost her contact case. ;__;

Woke up at around 4:15 on Friday morning. Even though I was rushing, we were late and still didn't make it to the Javits Center until around 5:30. (We were supposed to meet at 5. I'm so sorry.) I wore a ton of layers, thinking we were going to stand outside until 7 when the doors open. But, the doors were unlocked at 5, even if there was no one there. 8D So I just let myself in. Nessatoshi, Jr, Wendy, and April were already there, but other than that, no one. Not only were we the first Arashi fans, we were the first group of people there all together! A stark contrast from a message board I went to that recommended lining up in January. xD So we played Mario Kart until around 6:30? 7?ish until a few other people got there and started forming a line. Unfortunately, a few people got in front of us. Including Miss Spiteheels/Arashi.vox herself (OH HI. Are you going to rant about us bad apples in your journal again?) looking as menecing as ever, although she didn't really cause much trouble this time, besides waving her extra large "Maximum Chikubi" sign and blocking some views. Anyway, at 7 they let the now 30 people strong line into a special queing room, which we stayed at until 1.

Honestly, this was the highlight of the whole trip. Sitting around plotting the murder of a certain person with our limited arsenal (an apple and a kendama), talking about Barney getting killed by his drug dealer and Baby Bop getting herpes, among other things. (April is so awesome and I love her.) Somehow, before we knew it, our group of six had about 5 more people we didn't know! Destini had a handmade Yatterman uchiwa, but she had to leave to go to the press conference, so it was lying on the ground. A few girls came up to us and asked us about it, and proceeded to sit with us the entire time. Haha, nice plan guys. In front of us, there were two nice Japanese fans, a small group of comic book nerds, and then of course Spiteheels and her minions in front. A little further in back of us, there was a larger group of obnoxious fans singing the chorus of Belive. Over and over again. Let's just call them the Annoying Brigade. Really guys, you were there since 8 or so, you had time to learn the rest of the lyrics! xP

Finally, it was getting closer to 1, and everyone started standing up. Then, a special guest arrived to greet the line! Ninja Turtles!! ...oh. um. okay. We started talking with everyone about how we're not going to push, we'll all be civilized, etc, and finally the doors opened. Beeline to the Yatterman Booth! Somehow made it to the front row. The table where Sho was going to be was about a yard from us. But clearly, there were a lot more people than the staff imagined. I heard someone say 600, but I estimated around 400. Which didn't make much of a difference when there was an average of 10 people at the other booths. The staff started getting worried looks on their faces. They had walkie talkies, but we couldn't hear what they were saying because the speakers were broadcasting Believe from the trailer so loud. (aughh not again! xD) After standing there for around an hour, they finally made the decision it was too dangerous for Sho to come here. He would be up on a balcony waving to us for the 15 minutes instead. We were heartbroken. We're not /those/ kind of fans! We're well behaved. We would never push or shove. I was sad the security looked down on us like that! ...it was a horrible mistake in thinking that. The security was right. As soon as they started passing out tickets, the shoving began. The people in front got trampled, and poor Jr. fell down and had to be carried away by the security guard to keep him safe. I kinda fell down too and was buried in the crowd. It was hard to breathe, I really thought I was going to die for a minute. The people in back of us? The very same ones we thought we were friends with, that said they wouldn't push. We later found out that some of the girls in back had already been guaranteed tickets, and one was even a press member. Then, the guy stopped handing out tickets and Destini was able to drag us out of the crowd. We were crying, it was so scary. I was so embarrassed to be an Arashi fan at that time. I know we all went into this with the "every man for himself" mentality, but that was ridiculous. A little boy got hurt. How do you justify that? Yeah, you. Some of you have got to be reading this. You know what? Fuck you guys.

Okay. now that the first rant is over. Yeah, we got tickets. Except poor April, who had to leave the crowd because she was getting sick. I feel so sad for her. Or was she lucky? I dunno. We all stood around recovering from shock and waiting to see Sho in the balcony above us. We would all gasp when the door opened, only to see another security guard come in and laugh at us. *dies* Finally, Sho came out, wearing a tailored suit and vest, very gentleman-ish, only without the tophat and monicle. He looked down on us and waved. Then we sang A-RA-SHI, and he did the furitsuke with us. Then he left. That went by in a flash! Definitely wasn't 15 minutes. More like 2. But I didn't care, we got to see him in one piece. Undoubtably he would have been in many more pieces if he had come down to greet us.

So, what now? April decided to stay at the convention, while the rest of us headed to the Director's Guild Theater. Oh shit, there was already a line of about 50 people! Not all of them had tickets, though. Actually, they gave out less than 20, not the previously stated 150~ so most people didn't get them. ;_; Now was the moment of truth. It was about 18F (-7C) outside and we had four hours of waiting to do. 18 isn't really that bad. But standing out in it for four hours, after we had been literally standing in line all day, was hard. Those two Japanese fans I mentioned earlier were nice enough to give mini heating packs to Jr, who was having the hardest time. One lady stopped us to ask "Is Hannah Montana here? I've never seen such a huge line in front of this theater." *DIES* After a while, we were split up into two lines. Ticket holders and non ticket holders. Then another line for press/people on the guest list. The list was huge. So many people were getting let in, we didn't think we had a chance. Then they asked for contest winners. It turns out that lady_gemma girl from the a_ra_shi LJ community advertised herself as the owner of an "Arashi fanclub" got 15 free tickets to give away for a 'contest.' If you saw her post, you would know she just saved 4 for herself and friends and gave away the rest on a first come, first serve basis. Yeaahh. And since when is owning a LJ community considered being press anyway?

More people got in before us. Except, these fans didn't go into the theater, they lined them up on the red carpet (which I couldn't even see) to greet Sho. Finally, he and the director arrived. In a car with tinted windows, but some people were able to see him and said he had he mouth open, while the director laughed. By this time, I'm sure there was about 600 fans in line, so I guess it was pretty surprising. xD He walked the red carpet, I assume, and went in together with the 'contest wining' fans. More and more guest listers started getting in as well.

Then, miraculously, they started letting the ticket holders line in! They stopped and closed off the gate at us. Another time when I couldn't breathe, I was so nervous. Finally, the guard OK'ed us and we were let in and given pamphlets. The theater actually wasn't all that full yet! I don't know what the problem was. We were getting ready to sit in the second row, when a staff member said we could sit in the first. Unlike USC, the front row wasn't reserved. So we sat in the very front row, in the left hand corner right next to the curtain to go on stage. Seriously the best seats in the house. Oh shi-- I was getting nervous.

Mr. Pink Suit who had been with us almost the entire four hour wait, told us to start doing the Yatterman call. Yatta! Yatta! Yatterman!!! Sho and Miike came out about one meter from us, walked into the stage, and gave little welcome speeches. Miike in Japanese, and Sho in English. I could tell it wasn't anything prepared like Jun's, he was just talking normally. Although honestly his accent wasn't that much better than Jun's. Although I'm biased and I'm sure Jun practiced for a gazillion years while Sho just talked off the top of his head. xP But there's no denying Sho is smart and definitely fluent. He used lots of big words, although I don't remember them at the moment because I was crying too hard, sorry. Mr. Pink Suit warns us that people from Japan flew all the way here to kill us if we took pictures or videos, which is a very accurate respresentation of JE, if I do say so myself. The lights dim, and they casually walk by us again to take their own seats in the back of the theater. Oh hey there Sho, why are you so close to me?

The movie starts! Woooo. Fukada Kyoko stole the show as Doronjo. I loved her and the rest of the gang. There were some funny parts, some parts that left you going "Wait what the hell?" and it was all around an enjoyable little film. <3 Definitely not Oscar material, but we already knew that. During the credits, I heard the full version of Believe for the first time that day. xDD Won't say any more, don't want to spoil anything.

Now for the Q&A. Sho comes back on stage after disappearing to do his hair. He answered a few questions in English, then got lazy and switched to Japanese. I don't think he ever used the translator to translate questions, though. After a while, Pink Suit started going out into the audience to ask questions. A girl raised her hand and asked if there were any plans for Arashi to do a concert in America, and a very pissed off Sho answered "Why don't you ask questions about Yatterman first?" Geez. I understand it would be frustrating if every single person asked about Arashi, but that was the first question. Really, who does he think he is? Did he really expect to get respect as an actor for a movie like this, and expected all of us to be there just for him? Well, he lost all respect in my book for that. He's so fake. I know it's comparing apples and oranges, but Jun, a normally angry guy, looked so humbled and grateful to all the fans, and answered that he would love to come back. Don't forget what brought you here in the first place, Sho. It definitely wasn't your superb acting skills that made you famous. Rant #2 (or was it #3?) over.

Unfortunately, some other fans were pretty KY and asked more questions unrelated to Yatterman. But hey, Pink Suit kept knowingly handing the mike to fans. A girl from Peru brought a present from Machu Pichu, which would originally have been nice, but the timing was really bad and probably made Sho even more pissed. But I must say how wonderful the South American fans were. They were some of the few that didn't push, and the girl from Peru (sorry I don't know her name ;;;) even came up to us to check on Jr to see if he was okay.

There were some questions to Miike, and then they left. The problem was, I had made a card and everyone had signed it, but I didn't get the chance to give it to him. (At that point I wanted to wad it up and throw it in his face, but it was a card from all of us, so I didn't have the right to do so.) We gave it to some other guy instead, and he said he'd pass it along to the manager. LOL, managers. It probably ended up in the trash can. My apologizes to everyone that went through the trouble to sign it.

After the theater started clearing out, we met with Destini who was clearly upset, which made me feel really depressed. I wish there was some way I could have cheered her up. Everyone was feeling pretty bad as Nessatoshi's group left in a taxi and my aunt and I walked back to the hotel.

It was an experience, I guess. I still feel a little embarrassed to be an American Arashi fan right now, so I think I'll lay low for a while. I had a lot of fun with my friends, and I'm really, really grateful for that. I love you guys~~

Sorry for the typos, etc etc.

I realized I haven't posted here since the whole autograph RAAAGE started. Geez guys (not anyone on vox), stop making American fans look bad. It seems like all some people care about is an autograph, and not meeting Sho. I'm just thankful to the NYCC staff for being kind and patient with us. Today, I got a reply from the guy in charge about an inquiry. He sent me this looong email with mostly stuff I already knew, but this sentence got me:

"We want Sakurai at the panel and signing, but his people let us know he might be unable to because of all the press. We're pushing, though, to get him to everything." ... "Both he and Miike will be in the building; it's just getting his manager to divide his time between the press and public."

OKAY. I'm sure of it now. To get a job as a Johnny's manager, you have to take a personality test. Only the most evil are hired. xDDD Time to practice killing kittens or something so I can get hired as well. *runs*

Guys.

GUYS.

I'm 99% positive. I'm going to New York. It's a lot closer for me than LA and Vegas, it'll be a cinch. I really wanted to see Yatterman. I never dreamed I would be able to see it before the DVD came out in a million years or so. So hearing this, I flipped. Then I saw Sho was going to be there and I aslakjhsldhgsd-ed. It'll be my first trip to New York. I'm thinking it'll be my revenge for missing the HYD2 filming because of the snowstorm. My aunt worked in New York so she knows all the ins and outs. Also, I'll get to hang out with (some of? ;_;) the ASA dudes, the most awesome group of people in the world, again! It's going to be perfect.

The only thing I'm worried about is how I'm going to make Yatterman cookies.

CHESUTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Out of nowhere, BAM, Jun is in Cambodia. I guess it's too late to worry about it, since it's already said and done, but. ;__; I guess his stupid hat protected him. Stop sending Arashi to such dangerous places, guys. There's already been a fatal stabbing in Beijing, involving relatives of the US volleyball coach. There was also the attacks on Japanese journalists by the police a few days ago. I can't even joke around about this anymore. Please come home, Shou.

On a lighter note, I love the Kaze no Mukou e PV! Very simple, but still a lot better than Truth. It cheers me up so much. <3

After watching VS, I have discovered my Japanese counterpart. Aa-chan from Perfume. 8D Sometimes I feel like I need a neon question mark above my head at all times, too. All of them are pretty cute, actually, and I like their music. (especially their newer stuff) I hope Jnet updates with new filming dates for VS soon, and the speculation of it ending isn't true. My heart will be broken otherwise. ;__;

For anyone planning on going to LA, make sure to read the edit on my previous entry. There's so much information they don't list on the page. I really don't think they expected a crowd for this. "Ho ho ho, we're going to hold a premiere for that new Kurosawa remake flick! Expect a few critics and press to arrive, perhaps a few Star Wars junkies as well. June Matt-sew-mow-toe? He's just some guy from Japan, no one would fly half way across the country just to see him here!" Ha.

I've been having problems with all of my downloads stopping at 99% on CB. I haven't been able to watch the second half of Odoroki yet, so I'm avoiding my neighborhood. I heard that Shou will be the main caster for the Olympics? I really hope it doesn't increase the ratings. ;_; My New Year's resolution, if you recall, was to try and be a better person (and update Vox more) so I'm trying to go through with the boycott. It's a lot more difficult than I thought. The China in general boycott, that is, I have no problem boycotting the Olympics, as I've never watched them in the first place. xP Regardless, I'm happy for our Shou-chan.

I am so sick that scabs are forming on the sides of my nose from blowing it too much. I hope it heals before the 27th. DDD= That sale post I was talking about? Forget about it. I'm too exhausted to do anything but snort Vicks all day. I will get to it eventually, though!  <3

I went to the doctor's office on Wednesday for a check up on my scoliosis and came back with the flu. Nooo. I get pretty delirious when I have a high fever, so just ignore me if some of my comments make no sense.

Los Angeles. I- I- I might be going, after all. Haven't booked a flight and hotel yet, but my RSVP to the premiere was confirmed. I'm still very confused about a lot of things. My vision of what this thing will be like seems different from other peoples'. We're just going to see him on stage from our seats, correct? There won't be any direct contact, so I can't figure out why people want to bring gifts. What about the dress code? Will there be assigned seating, or do we need to stand in line in front of the building for a few hours to guarantee we have a good seat? Can someone explain what the reception is all about? I really hate going there not knowing exactly what to expect. I get disoriented too easily.

The fans are planning to meet up, right? Obviously, we can't goof off in a movie theater, so where is this meet up going to take place? Everyone seems so spread out. It would be great to have just one internet meeting place, like the chat room that was set up for Vegas. I don't even know where to begin about rules. Any kind of sign or uchiwa probably won't be allowed, and definitely not photos (they'll probably confiscate any recording device at the door, right?) but I've never been to a premiere before, so who knows. The theater is 365 seats, so I hope we can get an estimate of how many fans are planning on being there.

I feel like I've been posting about the same things over and over again (and no doubt I'll be posting more about LA in the future) but I must plug this. The translation of Shou's article in Bubka, credit to Karupin and Satosaki. Hope you don't mind me linking to you! Despite the trashy headlines on the cover, it turned out to be a very sweet article about how he went from a rebellious teenager to the mature guy he is today. It also talks a bit about his friend that he helped plan the wedding reception for. It's still Bubka, so some parts might be exaggerated, but it's so touching. O Chesuto. ♥ and according to this, he's still rumored to be with his long time OL girlfriend. That made my day. ♥ Things like this just goes to show you should never judge an article from the headline. xP

Expect me to make a sale post later on, when I'm feeling better.

edit: Some things I've found out for sure! I got an email, plus my aunt called them and somehow got through. The people answering e-mails are very brief and not much help, but the guy on the phone was super nice and informative. No dress code, it will be very casual. The doors open at 4:30pm, but the guy recommended coming at 4:00, as it is first come, first serve seating. You must be on the RSVP list and show your photo ID to get in. Plus, the reception will be open to everyone and is free. S- so does this mean we get to mingle around with Jun? Probably not, he'll be hiding in a corner because he's afraid of speaking to foreigners. 8D Actually, I'm eager to meet Higuchi-drector too. A guy that states in an interview that his goal is to "ruin Matsujun's image" must be awesome.

akfasklghjslkghskdh

Why LA? What is there in LA? Surely it would make more sense to have the premiere in the great ol' St. Louis, Missouri? .....stop laughing.

Even if I had the money (uhhg taxes) it probably wouldn't be worth it to go, as you have to be from the press or USC related to even apply for a ticket. There would probably be, what, five seats reserved for students? xP It's most likely impossible for any fans to get tickets. But still! Does this mean it will show in American theaters? I could probably make a trip up to Seattle or Chicago for it if I sell enough things. ;0; Maybe, just maybe, it might show here? I don't want to get my hopes up.

Also, I would like to shout out a special thank you to the editors of Bubka. I haven't laughed this hard in a long time. Shou-chan, you sure are a sex fiend, sitting next to a girl! I've sat next to guys a few times in my life, so I guess that means I'm a whore?

Bah. I've had a horrible migraine and haven't been getting online much the last few days. Easter was great; I got my Step and Go box. ♥ Who would have guessed the Easter Bunny knew how to bid on YJ auctions? I took some pictures, but I'm too lazy to upload them and everyone already knows what the box looks like anyway. The family wasn't able to get together because of the flooding (we're lucky, but my other aunt and grandmother had to do some sandbagging) so I watched Bridge to Terabithia for the first time. I- I- I read that book a million times as a kid and it still leaves me depressed.

Then Shou-chan hits us with even more depressing news! Gee, thanks, and I was looking forward to that "big announcement" too. D< With Sho Beat gone, will the other members' radio shows remain on the air for much longer? Honestly, I would rather them keep their radio shows than get a new television show. It's really the only medium they can interact with fans with the most and I would hate to see them end more than anything.

Speaking of the lovely Chesuto, I saw on some Japanese blogs that he was featured in Bubka! He made the mistake of falling in love with his sex friend, or something like that? It sounds like the plot of a B-movie. 8D Man, Bubka is so lame. There were supposedly "nyan nyan pictures" of them, which I believe means self taken pictures of them in the act? Similar to the ones of Aiba-chan and Yamano Yuri. I guess I need to brush up on my trashy gossip magazine vocab. My, what a coincidence that this happened about the same time as all the Yatterman press releases! I've mentioned this before, but Johnny has basically 100% control of the Japanese media and he had to approve of these rumors being leaked. It's likely he even set the time for them to have been released, too. Any publicity is good publicity, as they say. The main question I have is, what happened to that OL in her early 30's that Shou-chan has been dating for seven years? ;_; I thought they would get married for sure. I should really mind my own business, but as I am Arashi's mother (self-appointed) these are things I just must know so I can keep track of their well being.  *runs*

I still haven't been able to pre-order Dream "A"live. Wrist slitting time? I think this will be my favorite CD cover of theirs by far. ♥ ♥ ♥ It reminds me a bit of Kinki's Natsumoyou, except prettier and Spring-y. Ooh, and I see my guesses for their solo songs were correct! What do I win? 8B

edit: zomg the songsssssssss. Even though I haven't heard the other solos, I'm sure Aiba-chan's will be my all time favorite. I thought Move Your Body was awesome during the chorus, and then it kind of loses me. What in the world is going on in the middle of the song? I think I'm going to have to listen to it over and over again to get used to it. ...but I can't stop listening to Hello Goodbye. ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Happy Birthday, Shou-chan! It's 11:56 in Japan, I barely made it on time. So I heard you're turning 25, and next year you'll be 24, right? Please stop aging backwards. You and I have had our differences in the past, but you're a decent guy now and I forgive you, because I just love chesutoooo and "swan~" and all your other lame gags. ♥ Don't let your guard down, however! If I ever catch you attacking people with umbrellas again imma beat you up good.

...I really need to kick my habit of speaking to Arashi members directly, as if they browse vox. Well, you never know. *shot*

On that topic, even though I complained so much at first, I think Shou's Hachikuro is still my favorite. Three episodes into the drama and I still don't dig it. Touma and Nari are both great actors, but Nari just isn't meshing with his character at all. Really, none of the actors have any chemistry, and that makes me sad. The set and camera work is just as beautiful as in the movie, though. I heard just now there's going to be a Taiwan version, too? omg they're all so scary looking, especially Hagu. I don't know, I could never get into Taiwan dramas. I watched the first episode of the Taiwanese Hana Yori Dango on fast forward. xD;