Johnny backstage at Papio ice rink in Fukuoka
prior to the skating seminar he co-taught with Miki Ando
Wednesday evening as part of the public relations activities
Exclusive photo courtesy of Shannon Lenihan.
Aaaaand that's pretty much all I know about that, other than the photos we ran yesterday, but yay there's new picspam courtesy of the Fukuoka American Center's Facebook page! They also note that Miki served as interpreter, the students demonstrated their intensive training achievements, and Johnny and Miki co-starred with the students in a piece at the end of the seminar.
Please click any photo twice for larger view. All of the following courtesy of the Fukuoka American Center.
Shannon also helped with the seminar!
And one more, tweeted by Shannon:
"Had an awesome time in Fukuoka with
@JohnnyGWeir, @miki_m_ando & Tatchan!"
UPDATE!! Video from Shannon of the students
performing with Miki and Johnny. :D
So Johnny's now back in Fukui and getting ready for three performances of Fantasy on Ice this Saturday and Sunday. And since he appears a teensy bit tired in these photos and fans keep saying he looks tired and he even tweeted at 5:30 pm Japan time on Thursday that he was going to enjoy a walk with Marina Anissina, who is celebrating her birthday today, and then go to bed because he's "been awake too long," we're just going to leave him to a nice, long sleep with Ping-chan (when the birthday celebration is over) and tiptoe quietly back to Champs Camp last Friday to review the team-building exercise because yes, as they promised, US Figure Skating posted photos and video which OMG IS NOT TO BE MISSED:
I love this so much.
See all the team vids here.
They're all basically just awesome.
Johnny and Zach Donohue
await team-building instructions.
Team Amazeballs.
As noted on Twitter:
This photo is everything.
And while we're at it--because he's going to be out for a while (I hope)--let's travel all the way back to June like the ninjas we are and revisit the Beijing fan meeting in this video, in which Johnny reveals a very important piece of news to these lucky fans that the rest of us only learned last week...
Since some of the dialogue is a little hard to hear, below is a transcript generously provided in large part by Jenn Kittler. As always, Johnny is kind and gracious--and fascinating.
Chinese Angel: How are you?
Johnny: Fine.
Good day?
It was an OK day.
What is an “OK day”?
My knees are sore. But it's OK.
OK, first—
—Weibo—
—we have live chat for some other girls who could not be here—
—OK—
—so say hello to them? [gestures at the laptop]
"你好 [nǐ hǎo]!" [laughter]
OK, and now you can see your Weibo.
Oh, I have one!
Yes! Do you remember? Two years ago, I think, some girls set one up for you, and give you an account and password.
That’s right!
See, you last posted something in Japan.
Did I?
Yes! [laughter] "Do you love…” What’s that? “Lowbs?"
“Loubs.”
Oh yes.
Louboutins. That's weird. [laughter] Oh, that’s Tara.
[unclear]
Maybe Tara has… goes in my account.
And do you… Look. Already you have more than 5,000 followers.
What's my password? How do we find out?
Oh, so, we found your password. So you can log in with this email address [inaudible] and this is your password.
[inaudible]… and then the same password for Weibo.
Yes. [more discussion of the mechanics of Weibo]
OK. Thank you.
We have a special thing…
But first, I want to thank all you guys for waiting for me. I know I was long, but we were busy finding presents for people, and I have to admit I didn't find candy today because I didn't go shopping to the grocery store. But I can send candy. I'll send you through the post. I'll send you candy and you can share it.
[Johnny is shown the photo of Victor and himself that appeared in a Shanghai newspaper]
Meg: That’s your New Year’s picture. The Twitter picture. Around the world.
Yeah. We, um, it's funny. That picture, we took—we were out on New Year's Eve, and we took a picture. Actually Victor's cousin Jackie took that picture, and we posted it on Twitter, and that was in every magazine, every newspaper. It was everywhere.
[The newspaper clipping is placed in a red envelope and given to Johnny]
That’s your only real copy?
Yeah... Put it right into the bag.
Maybe you can guess what we have prepared for you. [gives him the chart with his measurements]
Oh! [laughter] Why am I naked? Again?
These are your measurements.
I think… something Chinese? A costume? Maybe? Pajamas. [he shows the chart to the laptop, then hands it to Meg]
Oh my God! [laughter]
[Johnny opens his gift]
Ohhhhh! Well, that's beautiful! I'm putting it on right now. Oh, this is beautiful.
This is called “Tang suit.” [pronounced “Tong”]
"Tang suit."
Yes. Traditional Chinese.
Oh, Johnny, that’s gorgeous.
[Johnny dons coat to a chorus of happy “ohhhhhhs!” and applause]
Thank you! A vampire? A sexy vampire. Well, I can wear it any way. Oh, it's so beautiful. Thank you.
The pattern is dragon and… peony?
Peony, yes. Peony is my favorite flower.
[several people talking at once]
It is a traditional gift for the wedding.
Well, we are family, aren’t we?
Yes, we are family.
Such a funny family.
[Johnny is handed something to autograph]
Oh, we're Pandas now? “Johnny’s Pandas.” This is what I sign?
Yes.
And this one is mine?
Yes.
[Johnny strokes the sleeve of the Tang suit] I'm so excited. And it's perfect!
We want to get some other, more fitted… some detailed measurements. If you would like to, we can… We have professional nurse who can measure.
We can do that.
So we can get some… some information. Just like this? [picks up chart] First is chest?
All right. [Johnny points to his nipples amid laughter, then stands up and gestures at the Weibo chat room on the laptop screen] I feel bad that the Internet's looking at my crotch all the time.
[measurements happen off-camera]
We have some questions for you… [inaudible] Some tough questions.
OK. I like tough questions. [reads first question] “What's going on with your competitive programs for the season? Are the costumes ready?” So, for the short program, Lady Gaga gave me music to skate to, which is very exciting. [inaudible discussion] So Lady Gaga gave me music. It's Poker Face. But I’m very—it's a very interesting mix of different tempos. It's very cool. The costume for that, I'm still trying to think of what I want to do, whether to work with some of Gaga's designers, or just do it myself, with Meg—we're still working on it. The free program is the idea of the phoenix. And it's the music of a group called Escala and also Edvin Marton, mixed together. And already both programs are finished, the choreography is almost done. I'll do some details with one of Lady Gaga's choreographers for the short program, and Nicholai Morozov is working on both programs as a consultant. And the costumes will come.
“Your wedding will be private or public?” Right now Victor is studying for an exam, for his bar exam, and we're very busy, so we didn't plan the wedding yet. So it might be some time. And I think when we have it, it will be public. Because it's still a new… a new thing for everybody, and it's important to me and Victor to show everybody that we're very normal and that we're no different than any other couple. So that's why it would be public.
[inaudible discussion about someone coming to the US (?) and bringing something for Johnny(?)]
“Do Ping and Tyoma get along well?” Tyoma tries to eat Ping. All the time. Because… because Tyoma gets jealous, and Ping stands there just like [gestures tauntingly] with him. I know he's a stuffed bear, but he still has personality. But Tyoma actually bit Ping's mouth off, and Victor sewed it together again.
“How much do you know about the Jewish culture?” I've been interested in Judaism since I was very young. And I've found that it's not so different than Catholic, which is what my parents brought me up as. And I was very interested in Jewish history and Jewish culture, and I love the different traditions in Jewish culture: all the holidays, and the day of rest every week, the special Sabbath dinner. I think it's very nice to bring your family together, even if it's about religion, but just to always have something to be together for. But I'm trying to learn more as I go, because it's very important to Victor that we share the same religion for when we have kids.
“How do you feel about your life after you got married? Any differences between before and after?” So… my marriage happened very quickly and unexpectedly. But it was the perfect—everything was perfect. It was the perfect amount of time, it was the perfect… it was the perfect amount of knowing Victor very well. Because when you're married, you still want to know somebody and learn about them. For me, I think that my generation grew up in this time of instant gratification. If you want something, you go on the Internet and you find it and take it. So having an engagement that lasts for five years—it's not natural for me or for Victor. So we did it very fast, but it's absolutely for the best, and I love it. I love being married, and it makes me happy. But the difference from before is just that—[pauses to admire the huge new banner being unfurled behind him]… The difference from my life before is just that there's somebody else living in my house. And that's, I think, good, because Victor hasn't asked me to change and isn't afraid of my life and all the craziness that goes into my life. He's been very supportive and accepting. So I haven't had to change anything. Just that there's somebody sleeping in the bed next to me. I'm very happy, and, you know, between Meg—my wife—and Victor, I couldn't be more happy.
[off-camera] Do you think it was meant to be?
Our marriage was meant to happen. It was very natural and… I wasn't expecting it and I didn't want it. But it happened anyway. It's fate. I think sometimes in relationships, you can make it happen, but I like to believe that there's some… something [gestures skyward] that makes it happen for us. I believe.
[The Angels explain that they would like Johnny to autograph the new banner]
This is my first autograph with my new name. [laughter and “ohhhhhs!”] I need to work on it still.
[off-camera] Can we take photo?
Yeah! Should we sit on the couch? Last year…
[The group poses, and there is some discussion of his Tang suit before the photos. They ask Meg to join them for pictures. Then one of the group asks him to open one more gift, for Tyoma.]
“Lovable [inaudible].” Amazing. Maybe next year Tyoma will come with me.
[Johnny waves goodbye and blows a kiss to the laptop] The computer scares me. [laughter] I didn’t close it up right.
Everyone, thank you. I'm sorry it was so short. I hope tomorrow, for the performance, everyone is excited. I'll try some really difficult jumps tomorrow, so if I fall—scream louder, OK? [laughter] OK.
Bonus pics!! Johnny in Japan earlier this week.
Photo courtesy of Machiko Oka.
Photo courtesy of Machiko Oka.
Fabulous fan art tweeted by @ayukovon,
who attended the Fukuoka seminar.
And, of course, one more gif
from this outrageously fun ShibSibs video
that I can't stop watching...
(If the gif freezes on you,
please refresh the page, or click the gif
to open it in a new tab.)
(If the gif freezes on you,
please refresh the page, or click the gif
to open it in a new tab.)
Please vote for Butch and Grämz!!
Their new documentary recently won "Project of the Week"
at IndieWire, and is now up for Project of the Month!
The winner will receive a consultation from the prestigious
Tribeca Film Institute. Voting is open until this Friday,
August 31, at 5 p.m. Go vote now!
A new post from Patti
on Johnny's Comeback Gift Fund website!
Please go read it now!
UPDATE!!! The return of Johnny to our TVs.
Previews!! Johnny with Australian Olympic
diving champion Matty Mitcham...
...and Johnny with the ever-fabulous RuPaul.
Please be sure to read Johnny's fabulous
London 2012 blog entries on People.com!
Fierce Competition (and Fashion!) at London Games
London 2012 blog entries on People.com!
Here's a listing of his blog posts (newest first):
My First Impressions of the London Olympic GamesFierce Competition (and Fashion!) at London Games
Yes, YOU can be a part of Johnny's comeback!
Please visit Johnny's Comeback Gift Fund today
and chip in as little as $1 via PayPal.
Our small gifts can help make his dream of competing
in his third Olympic Games come true!
And now you can leave a message
of support for Johnny, too!
in his third Olympic Games come true!
And now you can leave a message
of support for Johnny, too!
More from Johnny's website!!
He's heading back to Japan in early September
for Fantasy on Ice! Info here!
Landing quads and kicking ass
at a Grand Prix event near you!
Read his comeback statement
on his website!
Please click to vote for Johnny
once a day as "Best Sportsman"!
Because he retweeted Luisa Lotka to tell us
he wants us to! (Note: With his "58.132" rating,
he is currently in 1st place in both
Figure Skating AND across all sports!)
It's not too late! Subscribe now
and get the entire Johnny Weir perspective,
including his never-before-heard free skate commentary
available exclusively on icenetwork.com!
Q and A! Go read it now!
Johnny's Glitter and Ice collection
with MAC is pretty much sold out,
but I'm leaving this video on here
for a little while longer
because I love it so much.
At last: Pop Star On Ice is now available on DVD!
Order yours today from the Pop Star On Ice website!
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!"
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!
at the top of the blog!
Hey, Welcome to My World also is available
as an eBook! More info on Johnny's website!
copyright 2012 / Binky and the Misfit Mimes / Lynn V. Ingogly / all rights reserved
2 comments:
OMGGGGGGGGGG! Ping got attacked and needed surgery? oh noes!!! poor little Ping-chan needs a bodyguard!!
hee hee! LOVE the team building vid. the balls are BOOBS and BALLS!! *dying* and you just KNOW that everyone there wished they were on Johnny's team!
and oooooooooo! other skaters are doing Johnny's back slide. cool!!
more blog, please? more? i always hate when it ends.
MORE!!
xo
Robin
Great interview. It's great to know that there was such a natural match and comfortable ease between Johnny and Victor. The tabloids may be disappointed.
Tyoma might be going through a sore gum, teething discomfort stage and may be bent on gnawing. Plus, new teeth tend to be very sharp. At the same time, Ping needs to demonstrate some assertiveness and speak up to draw some boundaries.
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