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BACK TO TOKYO… & WISCONSIN? STRANGERS IN DANGER, FUEL TV & NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVEL ADVENTURE SHOW, JAPAN.


strangers in danger, fuel tv, national geographic, discovery,  friends and pro BMX’ers, Mike

I’m going back to TOKYO! La Carmina & The Pirates have locked down a big new TV job (research, translation, arranging, hosting), from late July to August. But first, I’m tackling a travel hosting project… in Wisconsin? Details below, keep scrolling.

(I’m wearing t-shirts from our HOPE collection, with funds going to the Japan earthquake and tsunami victims. You can learn more and nab one here, thanks for your support.)

strangers in danger, fuel tv, national geographic, discovery,  friends and pro BMX’ers, Mike

Naomi and I are the Tokyo fixers for Strangers in Danger, a ridiculous travel adventure show — starring BMX riders Zach “Catfish” Yankush, and Mike “Rooftop” Escamilla (perhaps you know him as Kat Von D’s roommate on LA Ink). The guys take on ridiculous and risky challenges in each country they visit, from deactivating Vietnamese landmines to biking Bolivia’s road of death.

We can’t reveal what we have planned for the Japan episode, but with Pirates involved… bring on the crazy! Strangers in Danger premieres September 6th on Fuel TV, and will be distributed internationally by National Geographic and Discovery Channel. I’ll be sure to keep you posted on my appearance. (You can see my previous TV clips on my YouTube.)

strangers in danger, fuel tv, national geographic, discovery,  friends and pro BMX’ers, Mike

This is my first return to Tokyo since the earthquake; I’m curious to see if/how things have changed. I’ll be sure to take plenty of photos for you, like these Sweet Lolita ones from the 2009 Gackt concert. (More pics and show review here).

strangers in danger, fuel tv, national geographic, discovery,  friends and pro BMX’ers, Mike

But first, I’m headed to a place I’ve never been… Wisconsin, USA! Why? How? I can’t tell you yet, but it’s for a project involving travel, culture, and on-camera hosting. (Basil Farrow will miss me, as always…)

All in all, the TV work’s been coming along nicely. You can find out more about The Pirates on our site. In addition to film arranging and hosting, we also offer coolhunting, subculture consulting, and Japan brand connecting.

strangers in danger, fuel tv, national geographic, discovery,  friends and pro BMX’ers, Mike

Coming up, more pop culture and fashion reports from Italy and Hong Kong… and the travels aren’t about to end. Seba and I are lining up several more sponsored trips this year. We’ll keep you posted on our whereabouts.

What type of Tokyo coverage would you like to see on my blog? Stores, concerts, people, events? To start, I have a zillion Tokyo Gothic Lolita Punk store photos from 2008-11.

PS: Would you kindly add my Facebook Page and give my site a thumbs up (click below)? Thanks you, Pirates! We couldn’t do any of this without you.


Song of the Day: Jack Off Jill – My Cat (“is amazing… he can play the guitar…”)

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WAVE GOTIK TREFFEN 2011: GOTHIC MUSIC FESTIVAL FASHION, DARKWAVE BANDS. GOTHIKA, DAS ICH, DIAMANDA GALAS LIVE.


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How I longed to attend this year’s Wave Gotik Treffen (largest Goth music gathering in the world)! In early June, DJ SiSEN, G-suS and other spooky friends flew to Leipzig, Germany for the festivities. Sadly, I couldn’t make it due to travel and scheduling conflicts.

Thankfully, talented photographers Seventh Sin (Jen Hoffert and Holger Karas) were front and center at WGT, and wrote this report on the bands and fashion. Is Lolita on the decline? How is steampunk changing? Keep reading to find out. (All images by Seventh Sin.)

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Wave Gotik Treffen 2011 was a special one, as it was the 20th anniversary of a gathering of dark people from all over the world. The percentage of foreigners increases every year; this time, we met people from Japan, China, US, Australia and many European countries. The performing artists also come from all over the globe including a metal band from China. With approximately 50 venues spread throughout Leipzig, people gathered at various far-off places, and so the famous WGT catwalk at the Agra Messepark was sometimes rather deserted.

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In addition over 250 bands playing over five days, there were many other things to see and do — including free entrance for WGT visitors to museums, the opera and the symphony. One of the largest cinemas hosted a “Twilight” marathon, and smaller ones played indie films like Goths on the Move. At least two independently-organised art exhibitions took place: SEELENFRESSER Titten + Ärsche + Über-Ich at the Werk II venue and S.C.L.S.: State – Society – Landscapes – Society featuring the work of Laibach and Neue Slovenische Kunst.

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Fashion-wise there was no obvious new trends this year, but definitely shifts in the most prevalent outfits. While the whole Lolita theme seems to be decreasing, there is a certain increase in both historical and Victorian dresses as well as Steampunk. The Cyber Goth style seemed to decline at the Agra venue, but this might be due to the fragmentation of the festival into three or more hot spots.

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The historical-recreation fraction of the Treffen still is mostly a DIY trend, although there are a few specialty brands available that serve this community. The dresses seem to get more elaborate as over the time the sewing skills increase.

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In addition to the labels vending at the market, there were some new, smaller labels handing out advertisements: Dark Fusion Boutique, USA, Royal Black, Austria, and Steampunk II, Elfenrausch, Germany.

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The increasing number of Steampunks could be sorted into two categories. There were many people using brands like Lip Service to create their basic Steampunk outfit and then “spicing it up” with custom accessories. Others relied mostly on self made items, sometimes overdoing with props and add ons, although the level of ingenuity in the Steampunk community continues to amaze.

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Music was widespread through all genres and there were some extraordinary acts on stage this time. Due to our responsibilities as photographers we couldn’t see them all, but at least we were able to sneak in visits to some of our favorites. (Above: Das Ich, who have played at Midnight Mess in Tokyo.)

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In the infamous Moritzbastei I was able to stand at the very front row of a Gothika show.

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Andro San gave an amazing performance in his pretty red kimono, while Yoshi was more sexy than ever.

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The incomparable Diamanda Galas. (Yukiro reviewed her Swedish performance.)

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Another inspiring show was Monica Richards project Infrawarrior, with new musicians and an amazing audio-visual concept with ritualistic influences. The presence of Monica and her main dancer Lucretia was amazing and mind shaking, and fortunately, we were able to capture a visual impression.

WAVE GOTIK TREFFEN 2011: GOTHIC MUSIC FESTIVAL FASHION, DARKWAVE BANDS. GOTHIKA, DAS ICH, DIAMANDA GALAS. leipzig goth festival,  Wave-Gotik-Treffen, Leipzig Germany, concert lineup, live music festivals europe, european concerts, jeweils aktuellen Leipziger Festival. wgt, wave gothic treffen, anniversary, wgt photos, photo sharing, hot goth girls, sexy goth photos

Even with a reported 23,000 visitors, Wave Gothic Treffen is still “THE” place to gather and find all of our friends, sometimes without even trying. We literally bumped into many people, including SiSen and G-suS from Tokyo on the opera house steps moments before the doors opened to Diamanda Galas. We saw J-Goth Amiyu a few times, including while crawling home at the end of a wonderful but exhausting five days of dark music, culture and friends.

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Thank you to Holger and Jen for the scoop! I recommend that you check out the book Black Celebration – 20 years WGT, edited by Jennifer Hoffert and Alexander Nym, which was presented at several readings. “Black Celebration” is a bilingual (German/English) volume with anecdotes, memories and images from two decades of dark underground culture in Leipzig. Contributing authors include musicians such as Bruno Kramm of Das Ich; the images vary from black and white analog in the nineties to full-color digital photography. Hand numbered copies (limited to 300) are still available, but only directly from the publisher, Ploettner Verlag.

WAVE GOTIK TREFFEN 2011: GOTHIC MUSIC FESTIVAL FASHION, DARKWAVE BANDS. GOTHIKA, DAS ICH, DIAMANDA GALAS. leipzig goth festival,  Wave-Gotik-Treffen, Leipzig Germany, concert lineup, live music festivals europe, european concerts, jeweils aktuellen Leipziger Festival. wgt, wave gothic treffen, anniversary, wgt photos, photo sharing, hot goth girls, sexy goth photos

Hungry for more visual inspiration? You can go back in time to my 2009 report about WGT. I also featured Seventh Sin photography in this post about Japan Goth fashion and nightlife.

Which were your favorite looks from the photos below? Do you agree with the writers that Lolita is now less popular in Europe? I hear the fashion is thriving in Australia…

Song of the Day: Gothika – Fata Morgana Android

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