Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Get Your Sign On, and Grind

Yes, it's the long-awaited sequel: Signapalooza II! Son of Signapalooza! Signapalooza: The Second Coming! Signapalooza: 2 Sign or Not 2 Sign! ... We've got a million of 'em! (But we'll stop there. For which I'm sure we're all 2 grateful.)

Johnny, Patti, and Tara are flying to LA today, and All That Skate is just THREE DAYS AWAY! But maybe you're still trying to make up your mind as to which poster (or fifty) you want to bring with you? Let the amazing Jenn Kittler come to your rescue and help further reduce you to a quivering pile of indecisive mush with these five exciting new designs:

Click here for downloadable print-ready PDF file.



Click here for downloadable print-ready PDF file.



Click here for downloadable print-ready PDF file.



Click here for downloadable print-ready PDF file.



Click here for downloadable print-ready PDF file.


In addition, the previous series of suggested signs are all still available here, and of course, please free to use any of them as a template to make your own.

Also: There's a rumor that the ban on banners MIGHT be lifted late this week. Watch this space for more details!

And: Can't make it to All That Skate? Johnny will be performing again the following Sunday, October 10, in Skate for the Heart at the Covelli Centre in dynamic Youngstown, Ohio! (Motto: "Literally the middle of nowhere! Because it's exactly halfway between New York and Chicago.") Show details are available here (yes! Sasha and Johnny together again!), and ticket info is here. Please note that the show time has been moved up from 7 p.m. to 5 p.m., and doors will open at 4 p.m. And yes! Please bring posters to this show also! Although we're still working on ironing out the details with the Covelli Centre, whose event policies include this frosty tidbit:

Banners and signs may only be brought into building after authorization from Security, or Marketing Director. Banners and signs may not be hung up, and must be removed after conclusion of event.

All righty then. We'll let you know how that goes.

I'm also fascinated to learn what the rehearsal schedule might be for Skate for the Heart, since the Covelli Centre is hosting this event, for which tickets are still available, the night before at 7 p.m. on Saturday (so hey, if' you're getting into town early ... ):

Click here for downloadable print-ready PDF file. Oh wait ...


Anyway, there's much to look forward to the next two weekends! So please go get your sign on, and grind. Thank you.



Yes! You can own a fine art print of Johnny
perfect for any/every room in the house!
Prints of artist Peter Jurik's "Showtime!"
are available for purchase from his website.
More info here!

Very special thanks to Jenn Kittler
for all her time, effort, and creativity
in producing these great posters!

Johnny Is skating in Yu-Na Kim's fabulous show,
All That Skate, in Los Angeles on Saturday, October 2!
Everything you need to know about tickets
and special gatherings of The Cabal
is right here!
PLEASE REMEMBER YOUR POSTERS!
This show is expected to be televised
on Sunday, October 10, on NBC--
check your local listings!

Also on Sunday, October 10, Johnny will be performing
in Skate for the Heart in Youngstown, Ohio!
Tickets are available here,
and there's a discussion page for fans here!
YES! WE'RE DOING POSTERS FOR THIS ONE TOO!
This show also will be televised on NBC
on Sunday, January 16, 2011, at 4 p.m. EST!

Please remember to register to receive
the JW Art Project's email newsletter!
They have great tidbits to offer,
and you get a special sneak peek at an exclusive photo
from the book when you sign up!
The Artbook is expected to be published
by the end of October--can't wait!

Coming up: A special holiday offer!
And more in the series
of translated interviews from the Mook Book
courtesy of the fabulous Akiko Nakata!

copyright 2010 / Binky and the Misfit Mimes / Lynn V. Ingogly / all rights reserved

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

How to Write a Blog Post


It helps to start with a topic
about which you are passionate. Here's mine.
Thank you so much to the wonderful people at HRC,
who, in response to fans' requests,
kindly uploaded to YouTube yesterday
this video montage of Johnny that was shown
before his speech at HRC Seattle on Saturday.



(1) The satirical approach.

Kayso the other day I was observing someone I've never actually met but who happened to be on TV and also who I've seen a lot in photos but with whom I really have no connection at all in real life and who is in fact a nuclear physicist, and it just occurred to me, as I was watching her do a whole lot of things about which I know nothing and which are completely outside my realm of experience, that I should really offer my opinion as loudly as possible about everything she was doing and mostly about how she was doing it ALL WRONG--based, of course, on my vast expertise in dealing with exactly none of the same things she deals with, and blissfully unencumbered by any awareness that I was probably only seeing maybe 5% of what she actually does in her job. Because I'm sure that would be, you know, helpful. And also, because my right to put my shrill and baseless opinions out there camouflaged as "constructive criticism"--which is half right, because while it's definitely critical, I have no credentials or background or proven track record of any kind in this field upon which to construct anything--certainly trumps absolutely everything else in the universe, including kindness and courtesy and lessons in grace from my grandmothers, my mother, and my kindergarten teacher, all of whom were known to murmur upon occasion, "If you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all."

But we live in the era of FREE SPEECH, BABY, which apparently we didn't before, hampered as we were by putting others first and steadfastly ignoring our basic human need to blurt out every cruel thought that comes to mind, and now just any anonymous clown with an Internet connection and the typing ability of a monkey can click "Tweet" or "Comment" and spew all kinds of poison over lots of people they'll never ever meet--which makes it all just that much easier, since it'd be a lot more uncomfortable to say these things to someone's face--and in whose shoes they'll never walk, and yet about whom they are absolute experts.

Isn't that amazing?


(2) The Chinese parable approach.

"The Lost Horse"

A man who lived on the northern frontier of China was skilled in interpreting events. One day, for no reason, his horse ran away to the nomads across the border. Everyone tried to console him, but his father said, "What makes you so sure this isn't a blessing?"

Some months later his horse returned, bringing a splendid nomad stallion. Everyone congratulated him, but his father said, "What makes you so sure this isn't a disaster?"

Their household was richer by a fine horse, which his son loved to ride. One day he fell and broke his hip. Everyone tried to console him, but his father said, "What makes you so sure this isn't a blessing?"

A year later the nomads came in force across the border, and every able-bodied man took his bow and went into battle. The Chinese frontiersmen lost nine of every ten men. Only because the son was lame did the father and son survive to take care of each other.

Truly, blessing turns to disaster, and disaster to blessing: The changes have no end, nor can the mystery be fathomed.


(3) The poetic approach.

        not blind
        just trusting
        that he knows
        what he's doing
        because he's done it all
        up to this point
        without any input
        whatsoever
        from me

        not stupid
        just don't presume
        to know more
        than the person who is
        actually living the life
        that is being so mercilessly
        parsed

        not delusional
        just unconditionally loving
        fully grounded in reality
        eyes wide open
        heart free to focus on
        my own path
        while enjoying from afar
        as he embraces his
        with those
        whom he loves
        by his side



Yes! You can own a fine art print of Johnny
perfect for any/every room in the house!
Prints of artist Peter Jurik's "Showtime!"
are available for purchase from his website.
More info here!

Coming up: MORE POSTER OPTIONS,
courtesy of the very talented
Jenn Kittler!
Thank you, Jenn!

Johnny Is skating in Yu-Na Kim's fabulous show,
All That Skate, in Los Angeles on Saturday, October 2!
Everything you need to know about tickets
and special gatherings of The Cabal
is right here!
PLEASE REMEMBER YOUR POSTERS!
This show is expected to be televised
on Sunday, October 10, on NBC--
check your local listings!

Also on Sunday, October 10, Johnny will be performing
in Skate for the Heart in Youngstown, Ohio!
Tickets are available here,
and there's a discussion page for fans here!
YES! WE'RE DOING POSTERS FOR THIS ONE TOO!
This show also will be televised on NBC
on Sunday, January 16, 2011, at 4 p.m. EST!

Please remember to register to receive
the JW Art Project's email newsletter!
They have great tidbits to offer,
and you get a special sneak peek at an exclusive photo
from the book when you sign up!
The Artbook is expected to be published
by the end of October--can't wait!

Coming soon: More in the series
of translated interviews from the Mook Book
courtesy of the fabulous Akiko Nakata!

copyright 2010 / Binky and the Misfit Mimes / Lynn V. Ingogly / all rights reserved

Monday, September 27, 2010

Leaving 'Em Speechless in Seattle

Johnny addresses the guests
at HRC Seattle’s annual “asOne” Gala Dinner
as the evening’s Visibility Award winner
and featured speaker.
Yes, he’s rocking finger condoms,
vintage Versace, and meggings!


Dr. Marty Lieberman presents
Johnny with the Visibility
Award from HRC Seattle.
So Johnny blew into town late Friday night, and within 24 hours he had the wonderfully endearing Dr. Marty Lieberman, Human Rights Campaign Foundation Board Member, calling him a “force of nature” in awe-stricken tones while barely containing his shyly unbridled joy at handing Johnny the Visibility Award on behalf of the Seattle Steering Committee of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC Seattle).

And that’s before Johnny even opened his mouth to offer a classically compelling Johnny speech that really is just one long Weirism, which is going to keep the fabulous Nancy Knisley busy for days breaking it down into quotable quote upon quotable quote (and bless you for that, Nancy! We can hardly wait to read it all on your blog!).

Who else could deliver a speech containing the terms
“dominatrix,” “p*nis,” “f*ck,” and “b*tch” in such an impossibly charming, intelligent, and truly thoughtful way that he keeps getting interrupted with shouts of “We love you, Johnny!” and 
even “We love you! Keep speaking!” (to which he responded,
“OK, I’ll werk it”)?

#OhJohnny.

Left to right: Johnny; Chris Speron, National HRC
Development Director; and Joe Solmonese,
National HRC President. I love the Mad Men
As Directed By Tim Burton And
Presented As An SNL Short Film vibe
going on here ...


But let’s backtrack for a moment to Dr. Lieberman’s introduction of Johnny, in which he explained the meaning of the Visibility Award and why Johnny exemplifies that meaning so well. Here’s some of what he said:

The HRC Visibility Award recognizes LGBT individuals who are living open and honest lives. Well, Johnny is doing much more than that. He is a force of nature, with all of his fabulousness swirling around him like the eye of a storm.

As one, Johnny has given courage to all the little boys and girls out there who want to pursue those dreams, regardless of what society says is right.

It took me forty years to get the courage to get a pair of skates and take skating lessons. No one should have to wait that long to realize their dreams.

I really want to thank you, Johnny Weir, for making the world a more welcoming place, and for your brave determination to be who you are.

Please take a moment and join me in watching ... Johnny Weir.

Following Dr. Lieberman’s intro, HRC Seattle presented a 3:30 video montage/tribute to Johnny that was so perfectly put together it left me in tears. Cut into clips of Johnny’s many media appearances this year—including Larry King, Joy Behar, Access Hollywood, and his Oly press conference—was his Poker Face routine from 2010 Nationals, with the entire montage set to “Poker Face” as the soundtrack.

Left to right: Tara; Camille Rodriguez, National HRC
Associate Director of Events; Johnny; and Chris Speron,
National HRC Development Director.
“Camille needs a raise and a bonus for dealing with
the two of us!” says Tara. “Camille was in charge
of us being here, and Chris was seated next to me
at the dinner. We love them!”


Fortunately for all of us, the incredible Nicole Davis (to whom we owe our undying gratitude because lots! of! Johnny! in! HIGH DEF!) recorded Dr. Lieberman’s intro, the lump-in-your-throat montage, and almost all of Johnny’s speech in three parts, now available on YouTube and in which we can spend the rest of the day rolling around (for starters, his hair is EPIC and, as Nicole noted, really beyond ready for its own reality show at this point. Also, said Nicole, “how is it that he can walk into a room full of the most beautiful people ever assembled, and be absolutely the most luminous and otherworldly person there? Also the most adorable.” Honey, I don’t know. We all just go with it. And bask.).

See the videos here, here, and here.

(Aaaaaaand Nicole’s YouTube channel crashes in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... )

Here’s the plate
we’re betting Johnny
didn’t touch ...
Nicole has been kicking herself all weekend because her memory card got overfull and threatened to vomit, so Part 2 is like one minute long, and then Part 3 is recorded in standard def because she had to switch to older technology. And she should stop that kicking right now because all three vids are fanTAStic and make you feel like you’re THERE (she had INCREDIBLE seats), and plus Part 3 offers FULL BODY SHOTS so WTF who cares about high def when those meggings just go on forever ...

Anyway, with Poker Face playing, Dr. Lieberman welcomed the featured speaker to the stage, that being Johnny, who of course arrived carrying a large glow stick (these were used during the event’s silent auction, so okaaaaaayyyy ... ), and a single notecard to which to refer during his speech.

 Johnny autographs the fine art print
of the Peter Jurik painting
for the lucky attendee who won it
during the evening’s auction.


And let the quotability begin (here are just a few choice moments from Johnny’s speech—I leave the rest for you to enjoy on the videos and for Nancy to compile wonderfully on her blog) ...

[Holds up notecard.] This ... is something I’m trying that’s very new for me. I usually try to freeball it when I give a speech like this.

I live my life the way that I want it to be lived. I live the way that I think is appropriate and a way that makes me happy. And that’s the most important thing to me: To be happy in life.

Having the freedom and the ability to be myself is something that every child, every person, deserves. And it’s something that I never take for granted ... I am so honored and so lucky to have grown up in a family like I did, that is very supportive of me no matter what I choose. If it’s to sleep with a man, marry a woman, dye my hair purple, they support everything. And I’m so lucky for that.

Be a freak. Be weird. Do things that you find interesting and find fun, and love it, and live it, and don’t answer ... to anybody.

More mingling, more
smiles, more talking
with his hands ...
It’s all about the after-party, and the after-after-party.

I was born and raised in Amish country. ... And I got into this crazy world of figure skating because I had one dream: To be an Olympian, and to represent my country, and to be fabulous.

So when I got on the ice in Vancouver, and every nation’s camera was pointed in my face, and there were all these ... cameras around the border of the ice rink, my music started to play, and I just said, “Go, b*tch.”

In that moment, I knew that I wouldn’t have a medal. ... When I finished skating, I was literally bent over backwards in the middle of the ice, and I got up and I crossed myself, and I looked around. People with every flag of the world were waving their flag for me. People were standing. People were crying and clapping. And I got, in that way, my medal.

So, in every realm, in business, in sports, you have to do it your way. You have to do it yourself. You have to be as empowered as you can be by the power that everyone has inside them. Even if you aren’t going to get the same things as everyone else, do it your way, and it will be completely the most fulfilling moment that you can have, when you finally reach what you consider success.

This award is truly incredible, and all of you please go get your drink on, and grind. Thank you.

 As the evening comes to a close,
Johnny continues to greet guests
and charm everyone within a 100-mile radius
of the greater metropolitan Seattle area ...


Epilogue: The work carried out by the nonprofit Human Rights Campaign is absolutely vital, and cannot be done without your support. Please consider volunteering for your local HRC steering committee, joining HRC as a member, or making a donation--whatever you can afford—to help them continue to fight for the rights of people everywhere. HRC is awesome—and they need you, me, Johnny, all of us, to maintain that level of awesomeness.



Yes! You can own a fine art print of Johnny
perfect for any/every room in the house!
Prints of artist Peter Jurik’sShowtime!”
are available for purchase from his website.
More info here!

Johnny Is skating in Yu-Na Kim’s fabulous show,
All That Skate, in Los Angeles on Saturday, October 2!
Everything you need to know about tickets
and special gatherings of The Cabal
is right here!
PLEASE REMEMBER YOUR POSTERS!
This show is expected to be televised
on Sunday, October 10, on NBC--
check your local listings!

Also on Sunday, October 10, Johnny will be performing
in Skate for the Heart in Youngstown, Ohio!
Tickets are available here,
and there’s a discussion page for fans here!
YES! WE’RE DOING POSTERS FOR THIS ONE TOO!
This show also will be televised on NBC
on Sunday, January 16, 2011, at 4 p.m. EST!

Please remember to register to receive
the JW Art Project’s email newsletter!
They have great tidbits to offer,
and you get a special sneak peek at an exclusive photo
from the book when you sign up!
The Artbook is expected to be published
by the end of October--can’t wait!

All photos courtesy of Nicole Davis
and Agentress Extraordinaire Tara Modlin.
Thank you both so very much!

Coming soon: More in the series
of translated interviews from the Mook Book
courtesy of the fabulous Akiko Nakata!

copyright 2010 / Binky and the Misfit Mimes / Lynn V. Ingogly / all rights reserved

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Sunday Funday

Just for fun today, for all the faithful readers who stop by on the weekends just to see if there might be a new post ... here is your reward:

Johnny stretches before the men's High Heel-A-Thon race
last Wednesday in NYC.
Special thanks to Agentress Extraordinaire
Tara Modlin for the photo!
There's also a tiny bit of Johnny in this video,
from about marker 4:34 to 5:14.
Thanks to @prijony on Twitter for the link!


And to prepare you for tomorrow's blitz of fabulousness (yes! on a Monday! Because we're going to try on Drew Meekin's gloriously blithe attitude about Mondays and see how it fits) that was Johnny last night at the HRC Seattle "asOne" Gala Dinner, where he was honored with the Visibility Award and also was the featured speaker for the evening, please review these tweets and then go follow Brandon and Amber on Twitter ASAP. Because they rock.



See you back here tomorrow for exclusive photopalooza!



Yes! You can own a fine art print of Johnny
perfect for any/every room in the house!
Prints of artist Peter Jurik's "Showtime!"
are available for purchase from his website.
More info here!

Johnny Is skating in Yu-Na Kim's fabulous show,
All That Skate, in Los Angeles on Saturday, October 2!
Everything you need to know about tickets
and special gatherings of The Cabal
is right here!
PLEASE REMEMBER YOUR POSTERS!
This show is expected to be televised
on Sunday, October 10, on NBC--
check your local listings!

Also on Sunday, October 10, Johnny will be performing
in Skate for the Heart in Youngstown, Ohio!
Tickets are available here,
and there's a discussion page for fans here!
YES! WE'RE DOING POSTERS FOR THIS ONE TOO!
This show also will be televised on NBC
on Sunday, January 16, 2011, at 4 p.m. EST!

Please remember to register to receive
the JW Art Project's email newsletter!
They have great tidbits to offer,
and you get a special sneak peek at an exclusive photo
from the book when you sign up!
The Artbook is expected to be published
by the end of October--can't wait!

Coming soon: More in the series
of translated interviews from the Mook Book
courtesy of the fabulous Akiko Nakata!

copyright 2010 / Binky and the Misfit Mimes / Lynn V. Ingogly / all rights reserved

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Akiko Goes to Fukui, Or: Unspeakable Practices and Unnatural Acts, Which Is to Say, Here's What Happens During and After a Japanese Ice Show …



Special guest blog today!  The fabulous Akiko Nakata, who has so generously given of her time and talents to translate the Mook Book interviews for all of us, went to see Johnny perform at Fantasy on Ice in Fukui, Japan, ten days ago. This is her wonderfully charming report. Thank you so much, Akiko! :)



On September 12, I went to Fukui. There I was transported to another planet. Half of me hasn't returned yet. I can't describe what the trip was like, though I really wish I could for you. That is totally beyond me, even in Japanese. Instead, I'm going to write about a few things I know about the show.

Johnny’s Costumes

Opening: Johnny appeared to be dressed in the blue costume from the BGJW promo, although all the dry ice fog swirling around the arena made it difficult to see the detail. But he was amazing!

Collaboration with Dima Bilan: Johnny wore a V-necked, long-sleeved black shirt with a gold patch on his shoulder, and the gray, leather-like tight pants that have made all of us swoon. A fan had written in her blog on the 11th (the first day of the shows) that the pants were too tight to look at calmly… She was seated very close to the rink and was embarrassed and didn't know where to look. Having read this, I followed him through opera glasses; but from my seat, I couldn’t see well what she wouldn't see. So don't hate me. Too hot, anyway! Dima Bilan was also awesome! Miraculous collaboration.

Heartbroken: I can't believe it, but this was the first time he had performed this program in Japan. The costume and make-up were the regular ones for this program. Too beautiful and too heartrending to watch without tears.

Finale: Black pants and a black sleeveless shirt (like a vest) with silver mirror-like pieces on the whole front—as if he had taken the mirror pieces from the original PF costume and pasted them on the shirt front. All the skaters were in black. Johnny was the most graceful of all.

At the end of the finale, an official picture of all the skaters together was taken. Johnny wore a red-rose crown on his head and sat on a black chair with the female skaters in the front row. He looked really pretty and graceful. He was the only male skater sitting there, but he looked perfectly natural there. "Johnny, Kawaii [Cute]!!" "Kawaii!!" the audience cried.

Long Lines and Precision Timing

Akiko's program
from the show.
I arrived at the dome twenty minutes before the show. I took some pictures of the flowers at the entrance hall, bought a program of the show, put a gift for Johnny in the gift box for him, and took a few pictures of the shop in the hall. The quality of the pictures is no good partially due to the fog in the rink. As Deborah Johnson commented on the picture of the dome posted on Johnny’s Facebook fan page, the dome looks from the outside "like a hallowed shrine for the king of Weirlandia to skate in." And it felt even more like that inside because of the fog.

All cameras and recorders were banned from the rink, but not from the hallway, as we understood. However, we were continuously asked by the attendants not to stop to take pictures, but to keep moving. Partially thanks to their efforts and partially thanks to the audience's obsession with efficiency and punctuality, around 5,000 people got seated in time, and the show began almost exactly on time--maybe one or two minutes late? Such law-abiding and well-controlled people help create the neatness that Johnny loves about Japan.

The boxes set up to receive
gifts for the skaters.
During the intermission of 15 or 20 minutes, I went to the restroom, as did many others. When I went out to the corridor, I found 10 or 12 women dashing ahead. I wondered if they were going to see some skater--who? Johnny?!--but a minute later, I realized that they were running toward the restroom. Out of some 5,000 fans, about 90% were women. I was lucky that I didn’t have to wait too long. When I came out of the restroom, I saw a line of hundreds of women. The women who had dashed by knew how tough it would be based on their experience the previous day. We saw an even longer line of people waiting for taxis after the show (naively, I didn’t expect that, and had planned to take one back to the station).

Except for the unbelievably long lines for the restroom and taxis, the show was amazingly well-organized. I imagine that they also took good care of the skaters. I hope Johnny and the other skaters felt good about the experience. Sometimes they may have felt overly controlled, but they must already know Japan well. It seemed to me the beginning of the second part of the show might be delayed for 30 minutes or so, but somehow the delay was only 10 minutes or less. I don’t know how.

Fascinating Trivia from a Taxi Driver

I learned some things from a taxi driver who took me to the dome from the nearest railway station. He was not a figure-skating fan, but he had learned many things from his customers:

1) The ice rink was temporarily made especially for the shows, and the quality of the ice was not as good as regular rinks.

Johnny was in his best condition and he skated all the programs perfectly (he may have had slight trouble with a jump in the collaboration program, or maybe it was OK as it was--I couldn't tell). He was exceptional. Several skaters glaringly fell, perhaps due to the quality of ice. The other skaters' falls didn’t spoil their amazing performances, but impressed us that they could perform such challenging moves even in a show; but still, Johnny's perfect skating was really outstanding.

2) That evening after the show, there would be a fans' meeting. Only the lucky fans chosen by lottery were allowed to attend it.
 
A close-up
from the
show program.
I had known that there would be a fans' meeting, but hadn't known when it would take place, nor about the lottery. I had heard that the meeting was to be held by Ice Crystal, a huge fan club that supports ice skating in Japan, for its long-time members. I wanted to be a member, but they had too many members--more than 10,000--and they would not accept new members for the time being. I had thought all the long-time members would be invited to the meeting, but I was wrong. You not only have to be an "A-rank" member, you also have to win the fan lottery.

As I knew from an internet forum, even if you are lucky enough to win the lottery, you still are not able to talk with the skaters personally. The skaters remain on the stage, and if you are especially lucky enough to be chosen by a second lottery, you can come up to the stage and are allowed to do one of these things:

      1) to shake hands with a skater,
      2) to hug a skater,
      3) to be photographed together with a skater, or
      4) I forget.

You can't choose from these four, and you can't choose the skater either. You are not considered a "real" figure-skating fan if you love a certain skater more than the others. (And what if you end up being the one chosen to hug Evan??) [Note: LOL! I love you, Akiko!] For the rest of the fans who are lucky enough to attend the meeting but not so lucky as to win the second lottery, taking pictures of the skaters from the floor is the only "gift." Maybe too well-organized again? Judging from the video shared by some generous fans who went to the fans' meeting at Niigata, no one seemed to check which skater the fans were photographing from the floor.

As for the impartial love required of figure-skating fans, the audience showered it on all the skaters. Almost all the performances received a standing ovation. But for Johnny, more than 90% stood and the applause was loudest of all.

3) The majority of the audience came to see multiple shows. Many saw all three; many others, at least two shows. The programs are the same, but they are crazy-devoted fans who wouldn’t be satisfied with seeing only one.

FYI, the seat fees were 22,000 yen (about $250), 18,000 yen ($210), 14,000 yen ($165), 9,000 yen ($105). I was impressed that so many figure-skating fans were rich, but actually many of them were not, as I found out later.

Our lovely Akiko
among the night cherries
in Kyoto, Japan.
A young woman sitting next to me said that she had seen the second show the previous evening, and she had been to Niigata as well. A couple of young women sitting on the other side of me had seen the second show, too. Really, in seeing only one show, I was in a minority.

Some were obviously rich, but the others--and they were the majority--were not especially rich. After the show I heard, "Gee. From tomorrow on, I have to work hard again. I’ll save money for the next show," from some girls around me. This warmed my heart. If Johnny and the other skaters--all were fabulous, incredibly fabulous--brought us to another planet this way, it's priceless. I felt that my life had meaning and it was full of pleasure, and I was blessed, even if I often overlook or forget that. That is true. And to experience that three times, 54,000 yen ($630) wouldn’t be too expensive.

But--how could I ever return from that other planet after I had made such a wonderful trip three times??



Bonus news! Johnny is the "lead man" in Kelly Ripa's "High Heel-A-Thon" today on Live! With Regis and Kelly! The women's race will be broadcast live this morning, while the men's race will likely be taped and broadcast on tomorrow's show! But I'm TiVo'ing both just in case! Proceeds from the 2010 High Heel-A-Thon will go toward the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health in support of The Heart Truth® campaign for women's heart-health education and research.



Yes! You can own a fine art print of Johnny
perfect for any/every room in the house!
Prints of artist Peter Jurik's "Showtime!"
are available for purchase from his website.
More info here!

Johnny has been honored with
a Human Rights Campaign's Visibility Award
by HRC's Seattle Steering Committee!
He'll be receiving the award and will be
the featured speaker at HRC Seattle's annual
"asOne" Gala Dinner this Saturday, September 25,
at the Westin Seattle. Yes, the public is invited!
For more info or to purchase tickets,
please visit HRC Seattle's website here.

Johnny Is skating in Yu-Na Kim's fabulous show,
All That Skate, in Los Angeles on Saturday, October 2!
Everything you need to know about tickets
and special gatherings of The Cabal
is right here!
PLEASE REMEMBER YOUR POSTERS!
This show is expected to be televised
on Sunday, October 10, on NBC--
check your local listings!

Also on Sunday, October 10, Johnny will be performing
in Skate for the Heart in Youngstown, Ohio!
Tickets are available here,
and there's a discussion page for fans here!
This show also will be televised on NBC
on Sunday, January 16, 2011, at 4 p.m. EST!

Please remember to register to receive
the JW Art Project's email newsletter!
They have great tidbits to offer,
and you get a special sneak peek at an exclusive photo
from the book when you sign up!
The Artbook is expected to be published
by the end of October--can't wait!

Coming up: More in the series
of translated interviews from the Mook Book
courtesy of the fabulous Akiko Nakata!

copyright 2010 / Binky and the Misfit Mimes / Lynn V. Ingogly / all rights reserved