Where’s Izzy?

Dat tsundere Axl, dat genki Steven, dat shy and gender ambiguous Izzy, dat Duff, dat Slash. Internet, what have you done? Someone shoot me now.

Lucid Dreams

12:30 AM:

I had been up for nearly 20 hours, running solely on caffeine at this point. Finally finished debugging a layer a code.

12:31 AM:

I recall a friend of mine who once marathoned both seasons of Rosario to Vampire at 3 AM in the morning on a weekday. He told me he was “rage-watching.” I finally realize what he meant by this.

12:33 AM:

While not as angry after long coding sessions, I still decide to stay up for a bit longer. The caffeine is still in effect anyways. I find an episode of some shitty anime, which happened to be the new season of korean zombie desk car. Now I’m watching Dyson fans and zombies break dancing. Before passing out, I take note of the time.

The Other Questions (Brought to You by the Neon Knight)

I’m the fucking Neon Knight. Bitches might remember me from the 2011 Yaoming Awards. I’m here to finish the other questions, because Buster-kun and Yaoming don’t wanna do it.

26. Most Embarrassing moment?

Fuck you, Jeff. Fuck you. I leave for one minute and this is what happens.

27a. Can you drive?

I’m the fucking Neon Knight. My apocalyptic steed of pestilence will tear through your body and whither it in every place.

27b. Do you own a car?

I own a fucking robot, and a steed, among other things. No big black and white gonna crush my groove tonight.

28. Are you mature?

I’m a Captain of a boat.

29. What year were you born?

1980.

Read My Response to Random Questions (No Other Self This Time)

It seems every time I run out of post ideas, I have to do one of these things. The only difference from last time is now someone else is making the questions. This time, I am unlike Serennia-sama who wrote his own questions then answered them.

1. Who is your favorite male anime character?

Spike

2. Who is your favorite female character?

Harlock

3. What is your favorite anime soundtrack?

The Black Heaven soundtrack I overdubbed with Whitesnake and Thin Lizzy because I was bored one day.

4. What is your favorite anime opening + animation?

Black Heaven OP, no overdubbing.

5. What is your favorite anime ending song + animation?

Well I can tell you what it’s not, the Black Heaven ED. Wankers trolling me with that ED.

Live at Nippon Budokan

This baby is hot. An Ace Frehley “Budokan” Les Paul Custom. A limited number of these beauties hit the market last month. No, I don’t have one.

Gibson’s website has a little blurb on this thing.

When KISS hit the stage at Nippon Budokan in Japan in 1977 with guitarist Ace Frehley behind a Cherry Sunburst, three-pickup Les Paul Custom, the entire package—band, guitarist, guitar—embodied the height of glam-rock excess and success for the ’70s. This was the ultimate marriage of pop and heavy rock, driven to meteoric heights by the record industry marketing machine, and ultimately attaining that otherworldly presence that great stadium rock should achieve: unbridled fantasy and party-hard reality rolled into one glorious explosion.

This got me thinking of all the different Budokan concerts I’ve seen over the years (sadly never live, only recorded).

Historically, many bands have viewed Japanese audiences as more appreciative than their American counterparts. Actually it was CLAPTON IS GOD who first described it in 1980. Whatever the reason, most bands find themselves playing, recording, and even taping entire shows whenever they tour Japan. More often than not, Budokan is at the center of it all. Something about the venue makes it particularly attractive. I don’t know what it is, I’ve never been there. But what I do know is some of music’s greatest performances period have taken place at Nippon Budokan.

Here are several legendary (and some not-so-legendary) performances

Competing with Free

Fans of Nine Inch Nails should instantly recognize the photo above. It is the set from their Lights in the Sky tour. The final show of the North American leg took place in Las Vegas. It was not their greatest show as that title is reserved for Woodstock ’94. But, it still kicked all sorts of ass. Talk about going out with a bang! While die-hard NIN fans will point out that the band continued touring into 2009 with NIN/JA and Wave Goodbye, I still consider Lights In The Sky their last major tour while they were still a five piece.

The set was designed by Roy Bennett and features state-of-the-art lighting, LED fixtures, and live rendering. Most noticeable in the photo above are three gigantic LED screens. Two of which are “stealth” screens that can be raised or lowered in front the band. The third screen is positioned behind the band. Combined with an array of special effects, the result is a sight to behold. See it in action in this video (the song is “Terrible Lie” and it’s one of my favorites).

But enough of my metalhead rambling. While Lights in the Sky was nothing short of amazing, perhaps more important were the events surrounding the tour.

2011 Yaoming Awards