Our HDOI Story Continues in a Particular Order...

Which I Believe Is Best Described as "Random."

As the really excellent lighting team prepares

 to work the spotlights in the darkened arena, 

Johnny waits to take the ice for warm-up 

at the Holiday Dreams on Ice dress rehearsal, 

Friday, December 23.

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OK, so in the Never-Ending Story That Was Two Days of Holiday Dreams on Ice Which Went By Way Way Way Too Fast Although the Telling of It Seems to Be Taking Me Forever, let's fast-forward (even though we still have 1,912 photos leftover from Day 1 gaaaaaaah) to take a look behind the scenes of Day 2: Dead Santa Rising (A Christmas Miracle).

(Title inspired by Keith Klein of MSA Advertising, who spent the two days completely cracking me up every time I saw him, which, fortunately for me, seemed to happen at frequent intervals...)

BTW the photos don't even really begin to show what an incredible amount of work it is to produce an event like this. Congratulations again to everyone--from Fireworks, volunteers, and arena staff to headliners, kids, and everyone in between--who worked so hard to make Holiday Dreams on Ice a dazzling success!

(As always, please click any photo twice for full-size view.)

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Upon returning to UPenn on Day 2, 

we see that the rink has been transformed 

since we last saw it around 11 pm the night before! 

Davey sets to work photographing, 

while I head across to the other side of the ice to take care of 

roping off the seating section for the Future Stars. 

Meanwhile, Josh is manning a cherry picker 

(is there nothing this man can't do?) 

in order to put lights on a tree appropriately sized 

for Paul Bunyan and family. 

The contingent of Japanese fans has been invited 

to watch the dress rehearsal, 

and the first few have already arrived 

and are awaiting Johnny's appearance at the rink.

Seriously, where does one learn how to do this? 

And with such aplomb? 

I can barely handle stringing lights 

on a Charlie-Brown-style tree.

He's here!

And he's all smiles as he greets his Japanese fans 

and enjoys a few minutes with them.

Then he takes a moment to hug Santa...

...and have an animated conversation 

with choreographer Shannon Leigh Lenihan...

...before he begins warming up.

Meanwhile, I'm now tackling the issue of: 

Where does one hang banners that match 

the Paul Bunyan tree in size and scope....? 

Fortunately, I'm interrupted by the arrival 

of more Japanese fans, who just happened to come knocking 

at the door near where I was standing. 

I'm so thrilled to meet them 

and put Twitter and Facebook names with beautiful faces!! 

I help them figure out which way to go 

so they can join the rest of their group...

...to watch Johnny on the ice. 

He's also got an audience of Future Stars, 

plus cameramen, plus pretty much everyone else 

in the building...

And then: Disaster! 

The inflatable Santa kept repeatedly deflating 

throughout the afternoon, sending the Future Stars 

into horrified shrieks each time. 

Here comes Josh to fix... everything.

And I have my own Mr. Fix-It, 

a really wonderful guy named Richard 

whose daughter, Paige, was one of the Future Stars. 

He volunteered to grab untold amounts of duct tape 

from his truck and help me hang 

the three enormous Chinese banners. 

Thank you so much, Richard!! You were a lifesaver!

Dress rehearsal is now in full swing, 

as the headliners practice the opening number 

bathed in blue spotlights.

(Yes, that's me in the background clomping down the stairs 

for the zillionth time to grab yet more tape...)

Success!! 

All three banners are up, thanks to Richard...

...who also helped hang this beautiful banner 

brought by Gary Podschun!

Hey! It's Tara! Briskly handling a million details 

without completely losing her mind! 

Not sure how she did that, actually.... 

Here she and her two Future Star helpers 

have just finished bringing more presents out 

to put under the tree while Ashley Wagner 

prepares to rehearse one of her solos...

...and next up is Johnny to run through Bad Romance--

which will likely be our next set of picspam...

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Random Unexpected Stuff
That I Loved This Week

Dear Yumico Hirai sent me this photo last night--

Johnny's HDOI manicure! 

Photographed by Yumico and other Japanese fans 

at the VIP party. Because we all love his beautiful hands. 

Especially the "V" on the nail of his little finger. 

In continuing to mine our vast collection of HDOI pics 

for all the diamonds I can find, 

I came across this shot of Johnny and Victor, 

also from the VIP party. ♥ 

And here's an article from the Japanese publication Asahi 

announcing Johnny and Victor's marriage.

Please click for larger view.  

Gotta love Google Translate.

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All HDOI photos © David Ingogly
(except for Yumico's photo, of course).

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Hey, Johnny's been nominated for a Shorty Award!! You can join in on the nominating process by clicking here and tweeting your vote for Johnny. Most fans are voting for him in the "Athlete" category. 

Note: The Shorty Awards have very specific rules, which essentially boil down to this:

(1) You can only nominate him ONCE from each Twitter account that you have. Additional votes from the same account will NOT be counted. So it's one of those deals where we need a LOT of different people to vote, rather than a few people voting a lot.

(2) Your nominating tweet MUST include a reason (for example: "I nominate @JohnnyGWeir for a Shorty Award in #athlete because he inspires his fans to believe in themselves"--thanks @PatinaGlace!).

(3) You must NOT copy someone else's reason in your vote. 

All righty then.

The nominating period ends February 17--please vote vote vote!! For more info, click here.

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Improv-Ice is THIS SUNDAY, 
January 15, at 4 pm EST / 3 pm CST on NBC!! 

Johnny performs to LMFAO's "Sexy and I Know It," 

and Styx' "Grand Illusion"--and viewers at home 

get to vote to determine which skater 

did the best job improvising a program 

to the songs chosen for them!! 

PLEASE VOTE for Johnny!
Thanks to Wendy Stevenz
for uploading this commercial!

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New Q and A! Go read it now!

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Johnny's Glitter and Ice collection 
with MAC is selling out fast! 

Don't miss your chance to sparkle--
visit a MAC retailer or order online ASAP! 

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Yes! Johnny's dresses are now available
for purchase only on eDressMe.com!

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At last: Pop Star On Ice is now available on DVD!

Order yours today from the Pop Star On Ice website!

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Johnny tweeted:

"Buy my single,'Dirty Love' via iTunes.

Tell all your friends to as well. The more copies sold

takes me one step closer to making a video! №1!"

THE WORLD NEEDS THIS VIDEO
IN THE SAME WAY THAT IT NEEDS AIR.

You know what to do.

Please buy the song from Johnny's website,

or just click the "Buy" button on the player
at the top of the blog!

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Hey, Welcome to My World also is available

as an eBook! More info on Johnny's website!

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copyright 2012 / Binky and the Misfit Mimes / Lynn V. Ingogly / all rights reserved

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