The Eclipse Also Rises

Kei Fischer’s American father met her mother in Japan as an English language teacher. They married and sired her shortly thereafter. Years later, they immigrated to the United States. “I know it sounds clichéd,” Fischer said as she related her story. It may sound like every other story where an American visits Japan and returns with a wife. There’s just one thing. Kei Fischer’s mother isn’t Japanese. She’s Korean.

She didn’t discover this until after death of her grandfather. It was then that her mother finally came clean. She deliberately passed herself as Japanese to avoid the negative stigma associated with Koreans in Post-War Japan.

Kei Fischer constitutes a marginalized minority in Japan called Zainichi. The Zainichi consist of multigenerational Koreans who immigrated to Japan after the annexation of their homeland in 1910. Some of these minorities sought economic opportunities and scholarships abroad, while several others worked as slave laborers under Japanese Imperial Rule.

Koreans eventually lost their Japanese citizenship after the dissolution of Japan’s colonial reign. Many returned to their broken homeland while others decided to stay and resume their lives in Japan. Since then, they’ve faced fiscal and prejudicial hardships resulting from institutionally discriminatory practices in Japan.

Fischer learned about this as she set out to explore this forgotten part of her life. Her journey eventually led her to the Bay Area, where she met Miho Kim. Like Fischer, Kim was a Zainichi from Japan and together they formed an organization called Eclipse Rising with other Zainichi Korean Americans. As founders, Kim and Fischer have been a driving force behind the organization, which doubles as an activist group rather than merely a club of solidarity. “[We want to] develop a Zainichi community that’s physical and recognize a unique perspective that our experiences offer that really can’t be understood beneath a lens of nation states and internationalism since we’re essentially stateless,” Kim said.

Other parts of their mission statement include cultivating stronger relationships with other oppressed groups like the LGBT community, Burakumin (‘untouchables’ in Japan), Okinawans, and Ainu among others. In addition to this, they campaign for the peaceful reunification between North and South Korea. As wide reaching as this objective is, it maintains the consistent focus of supporting, empowering, and granting further rights to Japanese minority groups like them. “We’re really fighting the root cause of structural racism within Japan because that’s the only way we can really bring resolution to what has perpetrated this subjucation of Zainichi,” Kim said. She further related her experiences as a Zainichi to those of the Japanese Americans interned during World War II. “Being immortalized, criminalized, and banished, your entitlement taken from under your feet overnight.”

Some of their past activities included a recap of their 2010 U.S.-Japan Solidarity Tour. They hosted this as a joint holiday party at the School of Unity and Liberation Office in Oakland, California on December 16^th, 2010. The participants of this tour reported the findings of their 9-day long trip where they met the political prisoner Kazuo Ishikawa, The Burakumin Liberation League, Women’s Active Museum On War and Peace for Korea’s “comfort women,” The Funreai House community center for minorities living in Japan, and the Iju-ren solidarity network for migrant workers. In addition to this, Fischer and Kim had the opportunity to visit Pyong Yang, North Korea, in 2008. They rallied to stop the Korea US-Free Trade Agreement with other on January 14^th, 2011 in front of Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s office in San Francisco under the pretense that it would sacrifice jobs and further erode workers’ rights.

These combined activities have brought the members of Eclipse Rising a long way from where they once stood. The days of passing and living in shame are as foregone as their history in Japan. This isn’t to say that their historical and emotional scars are effaced, but no longer are they hiding in the shadows and as a result moved beyond their previous state of victimhood to taking a stand for others.

T-Shirts + Me

T-SHIRTS + ME

T-shirts with Logos.

T-shirts with sayings.

T-shirts with designs on them.

How do we each choose what we put on?

I admit, I can be a t-shirt snob. It has nothing to do with sticker price or brand. It’s more about an originality factor. And I’m not gonna lie, I kinda like a person 5% more if the t-shirt they are wearing is an interesting one; a good t-shirt and good socks (but the socks are for another story.)

Actually, my first introduction to Giant Robot was from a t-shirt. Around 8 years ago, I saw a guy walking around 3^rd Street promenade in Santa Monica with a Giant Robot shirt on. I went up to him and asked,

“Who is this Giant Robot?”

That led me to search out the magazine.

Even now when I wander into the store on Sawtelle, I usually rifle through the t-shirts. I am guaranteed to find a fun selection of unique art designs I know I won’t see anywhere else.

So—it’s been a long time since I bought a t-shirt at a concert but Battles were just in town. In my life, inspiration often comes from a jolt of the unfamiliar. Hearing Battles for the first time did this to me.  For anyone who isn’t familiar with their music –I would describe them as an energetic type of meditation—heavy instrumental perhaps. Their unique sound has creatively stirred me when some of my favorite tunes distract with heavy lyrics. That being said, I was pretty excited to finally see them live.

I asked my friend Zuleikha Robinson to come down with to The Mayan theatre downtown to see the show. When I got there, my excitement was heightened even more by the glowing t-shirt stand to the right of the stage.

“I have to get a Battles T-shirt!”

Well—I had 13 bucks in my pocket. Darn! Of course not having the full $25 on me turned getting that shirt into a mission.  Z lent me $11 and as I was about to start bargaining for that last buck, a kind stranger saved the day.

Thanks guy wearing the black flannel.

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Giant Robot Podcast: Tamlyn Tomita

In 1986, a wire thin Ralph Macchio was cast again as karate champ “Danny” in Karate Kid 2. This time, he leaves the San Fernando Valley and travels to Japan with his Karate sensei, “Miyagi” played by Pat Morita. Miyagi needs to visit his dying father. Meanwhile there’s drama between he and his old rival friend, but stealing scenes is Danny’s hot female love interest, Kumiko portrayed by Tamlyn Tomita in her acting debut.

At the time, young Asian American female leads were scarce and Tamlyn Tomita became the woman by which many Asian American females were gauged. She was the crush of kids everywhere and 25 years later is quietly celebrating her debuts 25th anniversary. Only the Hawaii International Film Festival screened Karate Kid 2 and invited Tomita to the islands, and that’s where I caught up with her. In her Halekulani hotel suite, I got to sit down with Tomita to ask her every question I had boiling for the last two and half decades.

There’s a joke in my family that when Tamlyn Tomita’s name ever gets brought up, I’m quickly hovering the conversation. Crushes can run for decades.

Here’s a few memorable quotes:

On Karate Kid 2, “Changed by Freakin Life.”

“25 years ago I was known as the Karate Kid Girl, and now I’m known as the Glee mom. If you want any more evidence that 25 years have passed, there you go.”

“I look at a person, ok this one probably in his 40s I’ll refer to Karate Kid, if it’s a woman 25-40 I’ll say Joy Luck Club. If it’s a young teenager, it’s Glee.”

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The Set of Hawaii 5-0: Daniel Dae Kim, Grace Park, and Lauren German

The set of a popular TV Show Hawaii 5-0 is like the sets of all TV and film productions. At Universal Studios the 70s Jaws shark moves and looks like giant plastic toy. The buildings have believable facades but no interior. The magic is in the final product that’ll get magically projected onto your 60 inch HD LCD 3D television. It’ll look perfect. I’m prepared to see the charisma of the special police force: McGarrett, Danno, Chin-Ho, and Kono and not their human counterpart, Alex O’Loughlin, Scott Caan, Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park. It all changes in an instant.

I wait at a parking lot of the old Honolulu Advertiser Newspaper that now has rows of Star Waggons, white box trucks, tons of gear, cars, and a security gate that has a small sign telling folks who to contact if you want to be an extra. I wait for some time and then a few minutes later, Daniel Dae Kim walks up. The pleasant security gate keeper jokingly says, “maybe he’s here to pick you up.” She was right and also surprised. I was labelled as a social networking journalist. We walked straight to the Daniel’s Star Waggon where he sat and worked on his lines to portray Detective Chin-Ho. The next shots are going to be difficult. Unlike the normal, shoot a scene then ready up for the next, he was prepping for a five scenes in a one set up segment – something that hasn’t been done before. It’s a time saving effort and a perfect moment for me to witness.

In the Star Waggon, Daniel mutters some lines, first reading, then staring into space while moving his lips. Mostly inaudible. He apologizing for his needing to do this. The interior is standard, there’s some Hawaii 5-0 mini posters, a back room with costume changes hanging, food that’s not his, and nothing much else to show that it’s his particular trailer.

While practicing, a knock happens and we’re walking to the set which depicts the middle of their squad room. The scene is Daniel talking to Office Lori Westen played by blond, Lauren German about a suspects ID and they talk to each other while staring at the screens. I sit in the Daniel Dae Kim “directors chair” behind the actual director and script supervisor and am given a headset to hear their lines. The set runs like a machine. The script supervisor watches every word and makes sure the dialogue are recited correctly. She’ll also cue the actors with the first few words to get them going. She signals with a karate chop like move to the director that the lines were done correctly at the end of a scene. Shots are done with multiple angles, some close ups of the principals in the scene. The reverse site shots are the easiest since there’s no dialogue being recorded.

Daniel Dae Kim like oranges, and Grace Park likes the smell of orange peel. Fans, now  you know what to get them.

Tad Suzuki is The Working Man

I’ve had the privilege of meeting and interviewing a lot of top-shelf skaters for the pages of Giant Robot: Don Nguyen, Daewon Song, Kenny Anderson, Eric Koston, Shogo Kubo, Steve Caballero, Willy Santos, Peggy Oki, Richard Mulder, Kien Lieu, Chad Tim Tim, Jamie Reyes, Daniel Castillo, Pat Channita, Jimmy Cao, Lincoln Ueda… (I know there are more and if I forgot you, I’m sorry.) Truthfully, the topic was probably lost on many readers but hopefully the culture wasn’t. Streetwear, street art, and even punk rock–so much of that stems from skateboarding and no one should forget that. (more…)

Montreal, Chapter 2: Mutant Raccoons of Mount Royal.

Cray Cray Raccoon Whisperer AKA "RAY BZ"

Homeboy is Cray Cray.

“What the hell is goin’ on?” you might ask…  I’m not quite sure- but he and his family were feeding the raccoons.

After a long first day of getting into Montreal, my hosts Li Li and Jeff took me up to Mount Royal to check out the view.  We drove up, saw the beautiful lights of the city- but it was upstaged by the most random scene…  a family- two parents and a little girl, about 7 or 8? feeding a horde of Freakishly Large  Raccoons.  I was fearing that something really bad was about to happen, but fortunately it- never escalated… even when the mom was kicking some of the bigger raccoons out of the way so the babies could eat.

If you watch the video- you’ll see there’s like 30+ of ‘em swarming/begging for food like dogs.  Strangely, they were really gentle and seemed almost domesticated…very at ease around humans.  Maybe because they’re Canadian?  All the American Raccoons I’ve encountered are mean and aggressive.

Scared Artless

“People at Art openings are pretentious and weird.” I hear variations of this comment all the time.

Either of these scenarios sound familiar? Standing next to a person by the bathroom for 10 minutes and not even saying a polite hello—much less making an introduction? Or even more awkward; standing next to someone whom you know is your Facebook friend, but neither of you are acknowledging this fact or each other? I rarely have this interaction with the same person when we meet in a restaurant, nightclub or even at Trader Joe’s—so what gives? Uncomfortable moments like these have got me thinking. Is it the other person? Is it me? Or could it possibly be something to do with the art venue?

The weird thing is, I go to museums often and I really do love art. I have become somewhat obsessed with artists such as, Brancusi, Dali, Hokusai, Freud, and Murakami to name a few. Yes, these are Masters, I know, I know, and yes, their works are mainstream and accessible, so it is not a surprise really that I like them.

Yet nothing has been more nerve wracking at times for me, than going to an art show. You know, one of those great gatherings, with great up and coming artists, like the ones that you get invited to on Facebook?  Something like those. So I’ll get an invite to one of these shows; and having the predisposition of a hermit crab–but knowing that I could use a little of that stuff called “culture”—I’ll throw my Repettos on and venture out from under my rock.

Here’s a dirty little secret…

Sometimes, I don’t even know who the artist is, or even the art medium that I am about to show up for. Quelle Horreur!! I know, I know, but off I’ll go. Then, it will happen that I get there and I have the awkward experience of either showing up way too early; or, being stood up by certain friends of mine (who will remain nameless ahem, but know who they are.)

As soon as those neon, dark-under-eye-circle-magnifying lights hit me—so do the butterflies. This calls for activities such as; typing a faux text on my blackberry; pretending to have to use the bathroom–and then often—just walking out. It’s kind of involuntary. Halfway down the street, after pulling out of my ‘karma good’ parking spot, I will have a little “what is my problem?” moment. If I do end up staying, I am tense, awkward and hyper-aware of every movement of my body. I’m not really enjoying the art because my brain is slowly melting as I try to adjust to being in the space correctly.

New people. Art. Florescent lights. People. Noises. Music. Nowhere to sit. Nowhere to hide. Nowhere to sit. How am I standing? Ahh.

Then, after settling into the place, I will often find myself taking on another behavior, even more bizarre. I will float around, avoiding eye contact, ignoring certain individuals and having light, safe conversations, mostly avoiding the topic of the event that I showed up for in the first place; the Art.

“I saw you but didn’t get a chance to talk to you.”

Huh? We are in a space about the size of a matchbox and are having a hard time connecting?

What a peculiar condition.

Well, having the propensity towards a hypochondriacal nature, I do sometimes self-diagnose. After much self-examination, I have come up with a little theory. What clinically might be known as a form of social anxiety might possibly have a more accurate diagnosis. I have taken the liberty of naming this condition:

Art Show Syndrome—or—with all due respect, A.S.S. I see A.S.S as a benign condition that affects a person’s attitude, posture, and vernacular in various degrees while participating in the Art Scene. A couple of weeks ago, I started an unqualified behavioral study of myself and other art goers surrounding me. Though I have not done enough research to argue what the causes or cures are for everyone, I think I have found a few simple facts that are at the root of my own A.S.S behavior. I will share.

Maybe some of you can relate…

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Giant Robot Podcast – Beau Sia

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It’s been over a decade since the documentary film, SlamNation expanded the Slam Poetry movement. Growing up during the same expansive period was an Asian American, born in Oklahoma and schooled in New York City. In the late 90s, Beau Sia was a Black Cat brick of firecrackers with a mic in his hand. His energy sucked up everyone’s oxygen and his words and cadence both expanded minds and dropped jaws. The sheer power he projects in the many Def Poetry Jam videos on Youtube is monumental.

A few years later, Sia’s Rosie O’Donnell video in response to her “Ching Chong” comment went large and she apologized. It was a big deal. He appears occasionally in films like Jonathan Demme’s Rachel Getting Married. He does performances based on special events of occurrences like the Alexandra Wallace video, Asian in the Library, or a special for Fred Korematsu day. His explosiveness now appear in new ways, it’s via intellect, dialogue and understanding. As he says in his sincere and sometimes comical voice, “I’m still dangerous.”

Currently, he’s working on various projects from music to writing and spends plenty of time thinking.

In our talk, Beau Sia explains his past work and where it comes from, hip hop, current projects, insecurities, and his future. His words are thoughtful and his explanations are detailed.

music on podcast by Goh Nakamura

Giant Robot Podcast – Actor Leonardo Nam

In casual conversation, Leonardo Nam’s Australian accent is obvious. In movies, he plays anything and anyone. Currently in his early 30s, Nam lives in West Hollywood and is currently one of the “go to” young Asian American actors. In the past decade or so, he’s played an array of roles from a supreme pothead in The Perfect Score, an evil rice rocket gangster in Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift, to the heart of gold boyfriend in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. The Aussie raised Asian American, also enjoys his travels, he’s been around the globe and always has plans to keep on going.

The plan for this podcast was to hear about the gap between time from his interview in Giant Robot Magazine to now. Naturally, we conversed about work, how the economy affects a young actor and his new directions, and relationships. It turns out, Nam is also a “go to” relationship guy for his friends and even folks in the Twitterverse. Perhaps it’s from his nice guy role in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, especially part 2 that’s led to some random solicitations for advice and he’s been giving it in 140 characters.

Heroes Remain: Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami Aftermath

Manga Road begins right outside of the train station and spans across the city. Various life-sized iron anime figurines are bolted to the ground. Ranging from superheroes to beloved characters, these structures stand out in the aftermath, still brightly colored. The road ends at the Mangattan museum, or Ishinomori Manga Museum, which was built in 2001. The edifice, comically shaped like a bubble and UFO saucer, boasts of Ishinomori’s original artwork, unique exhibits, and displays of Cyborg 009, characters from Android Kikaider, Robocon, and many more.

Ishinomaki is a quiet town whose main attraction is Manga Road and Mangattan (石ノ森萬画館), an oblong-shaped museum dedicated to Ishinomori. The city celebrates Shotaro Ishinomori (石ノ森 章太郎), a mangaka, or manga writer, renown for his creation of 1970’s popular anime Kamen Rider, among other long-running series. Ishinomori is often compared to American Marvel comic book writer, Stan Lee, an equally prolific creator of Spiderman and other heroes.

I trundled into the Ishinomaki JR station dripping sweat and smelling like karaage (から揚げ)—fried chicken.  Even three months after the earthquake and tsunami, trains still couldn’t run directly into the city due to reconstruction.  Relief workers and I transferred several times and then took a tightly packed bus whose exhaust fumes smelled crispy and tantalizing. Shooting footage of tsunami relief for a documentary—we were naïve to think we could come away unaffected.

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SD Comic Con The GR Booth and Stan Lee

The Comic Con has started and I’d like to think it’s a great way to open when Marvel Comics King, Stan Lee is right near your booth with just a tiny mob. He’s talking to Neal Adams in this shot. I can’t tell you who the photo bombers are. On fans, Neal Adams said, “at least they’re nice to us” and Stan Lee said, “they’re not to me”. It wasn’t too long ago when Stan Lee was relatively forgotten by the world, and now with the good remakes of the films (not the weird Fantastic Four, Spiderman TV show, Ang Lee’s Hulk, Punisher, etc) which are now worth billions, he’s back to being known by the masses as Stan the Man – a serious god.

The GR booth features the red lanterns. It’s a beacon. I love hearing, “I’m at the Giant Robot booth.” Yes of course! Look up at the signage, you can’t miss us. I think this is my 18th year in a row attending this convention. The first was in 1993, I’m pretty sure. It’s changed of course especially in size and in scope. The actual comic book dealers seem more and more scarce, and the Hollywood quotient is larger than ever. But this year, what’s the hot promotion? Last year, it seemed like Scott Pilgrim was everywhere, but this year? I’m not quite sure. Maybe it’s just an amalgam of a lot of features and television. We’ll see. Keep updated. We have a lot coming up. This was only preview night.

There’s plenty more photos below!

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Interview: Filmmakers Megumi Nishikura and Lara Perez Takagi – The Hafu Documentary

From left to right: Megumi Nishikura, Marcia Yumi Lise, and Lara Perez Takagi. Photo credit: Ryu Kodama.

Megumi Nishikura and Lara Perez Takagi are two filmmakers living in Tokyo, Japan. Their next project, The Hafu Documentary, focuses on a lesser-known part of Japan’s demographic: biracial individuals. Hafu is the Japanese loan word for half-Japanese. The documentary features a Mexican-Japanese family (the Oi’s), a Ghanian-Japanese model named David, a Venezualan-Japanese community organizer named Ed, an Australian-Japanese expatriot named Sophia, and lastly, an unannounced Hafu of mixed Japanese and Asian descent. Both Nishikura and Takagi are half-Japanese themselves and I last interviewed them before the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake. Once again, they take time out from their busy schedules to discuss their documentary and its progress since then.

Lara and Megumi in action. Photo credit: Michael Connolly.

Giant Robot: How has production progressed so far?

Megumi Nishikura: “Sophia” is the fourth person. We put up a new image for her on the website. [When we first met her] it all came naturally. She wanted to show that she was part of this movie. She has her own blog and started writing about her participation in the film, and she tweets about us now and then. Her story is on the website and she grew up in Sydney, [Australia]. She spent a few summers in Japan here and there visiting her relatives, but doesn’t have too much experience in Japan. Last year, she decided that this was her last chance. If she didn’t take it now then she would never come and live here. She moved here and is tried to find a job, take Japanese lessons, and figure her way out while abroad.

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Interview: David Gelb Director of Jiro Dreams of Sushi

Most of us have eaten sushi in one form or another. I’d like to think that I’m fairly adept, my mother owning a sushi restaurant for decades in Santa Monica. I’ve seen the rise of the American sushi movement from the early 80s. Sushi is now available everywhere, from your local supermarkets to the secret sushi locations that feature high end everything at unpublished, market rate prices. People talk about them, as if they’re holding onto a secret. Yet one place stands alone at the top of the rugged mountain of sushi establishments, and it’s Sukiyabashi Jiro – a restaurant that’s garnered back to back Michelin three star ratings in 2008 and 2009. It’s the food lovers holy grail. Filmmaker David Gelb captured the head master chef and octogenarian, Jiro at his finest moments in Jiro Dreams of Sushi. The documentary isn’t overly cinematic, or overly dramatic, it’s actually shot clean and classic, and at the same time, takes you into the world of the business of sushi – from in the shop, the fish market, to Jiro’s personal life which further explains how he is known to be the best.

GR: Can you back track and talk about sushi and how you felt compelled to make this documentary?
DG: I’ve loved sushi ever since my dad took me to Japan on business trips starting when I was 2 years old. I was fed a diet of cold soba and cucumber rolls. I’ve loved sushi and Japanese culture ever since. After I got out of film school, I thought to myself, ‘why not make it my job to travel to Japan and eat the best sushi in the world?’

GR: Jiro seems like a stoic and strict person. How is he off camera?
DG: Nobody takes his work more seriously than Jiro. He’s been making sushi for over half a century and he still considers everyday an opportunity to improve his skills. He’s strict because he’s applying his full concentration to the present task. However, once the last customer leaves and he has a moment to relax, you’ll find that he is incredibly kind and personable. He has a great sense of humor.

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Visiting Obon 2011 – Nishihongwanji – Little Tokyo

In Japan, Obon is a day to remember the dead.

As a youth, the Obon festival or “carnival” was something I looked forward to every year. It took place at my local Buddhist Temple in West Los Angeles every summer in July. The side street gets blocked off and lined with lit chochin (paper lanterns) that would sway in the western breeze at magic hour. There were no carnival rides, but the festiveness made you feel like there was a lot going on. This was a local event and the attendees were mostly Japanese Americans. I’d go and see my world – J.A. kids from both of my schools, the daily American, and my saturday Japanese school. There was nothing like eating chicken teriyaki, then holding a snow cone, and playing the vendor games like throwing a softball into tic tac toe, “dough ball”, or tossing metal rings to win coins. Then doing it all over again. Life was great on that day.

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Giant Robot Podcast: Director Dave Boyle

Director Dave Boyle with his next film budget.

Dave Boyle has made three feature films including Big Dreams, Little Tokyo, White on Rice, and Surrogate Valentine which is currently touring film festivals. Surrogate Valentine stars musician Goh Nakamura and debuted at the South By Southwest Film Festival in Austin and has shown at film festivals including Cleveland International, Seattle International, Dallas International, Bamfest, and San Francisco International Asian American. In this podcast, Boyle explains how he’s fluent in Japanese, why his films feature Asian Americans, how he’s come up with his movie ideas, filmmaking, and what projects he’s working on next.

Giant Robot Podcast: Director Dave Boyle by realgiantrobot

Anime Expo Photos by Dean Gojobori

There’s even more photos ahead.

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Have Will, Guitar Travels: 10 Tips For The Modern Flying Guitarist.

I’ve lost track of how many times that I’ve flown with a guitar, but I’ve been doing it with various degrees of success since I was a teenager. It’s always a source of anxiety for me, but here are some tips that have helped me navigate the not-always-so-friendly-(to-musician)-skies.

1) Travel with a smaller guitar.

If you’re gigging regularly, you can invest in a smaller guitar. Martin and Taylor both make “mini” models that are travel friendly and play pretty well. There is even a company that makes a guitar that folds in half!

My “travelling” guitar is a Parlor guitar, which is smaller bodied than your standard folk/steel string guitar that you see most people play. A lot of folk and blues musicians back in the day liked these because they were more affordable and mass produced.

You can see the size difference, and how that would matter when you’re trying to store it above you.

Guitar Ready Bins!

After much research, I kept my eyes peeled for a used “Larivee” brand guitar. Luckily, one showed up in a local guitar shop, so I checked it out. It played and sounded great. There’s a famous Frank Zappa quote “If you pick up a guitar and it says, ‘Take me, I’m yours,’ then that’s the one for you.” I took it home.

Though it doesn’t sound as full or warm as my concert sized Martin or Taylor, it sounds fantastic when I plug it in to a P.A. or amp. I had bay area luthier/guitar repair whiz Mike Gold equip it with a pickup (Seymour Duncan Mag Mic)

If you travel with an electric guitar, you can probably get away with having a softcase or “gig bag” which you can sling over your shoulder, and store it in the overhead bin. I see this alot for acoustic guitars too. Never, under any circumstances, check a softcase as luggage though. Once it touches the conveyor belt, you can pretty much kiss your axe goodbye.

2) A Case for a Good Hard Case.

If you insist on bringing your $110,000 Les Paul from 1957, then by all means order yourself a professional case, or an “ATA” flight case

These are almost indestructible. They also cost about $700-1k. You’ll have to check it as luggage too, but at least it will be safe… (unless someone steals it, since these cases usually store really nice guitars)

3) Choose a Guitar friendly airline:

Southwest: Make sure you are an early boarder, i.e. the “A” group. You get on first and have first pick of overhead storage space.

Virgin, Jet Blue, American: When you pick your seat, get seated near the back of the plane (seats 19-23) Last Seats (24, 25) usually don’t have overhead space because that’s where they stash their water/beverages. (note: I’m typing this on an American flight, and in seat 25F where there is overhead space.)

4) Rent a guitar.

Some local used music stores will rent you a used guitar for the night. On a recent gig, I felt like playing an electric guitar, (I was playing with a band) so went and rented one for a night. Set me back $40, but I think people bought me about $40 in drinks, so maybe it was worth it. I definitely had more fun playing the electric that night, so it was a win for me.

5) Borrow a guitar.

If you don’t mind playing someone else’s gear, the best thing is to find a friend who has a guitar that you can borrow at your destination. Eliminates the need to babysit it everywhere you go too. I find that I end up playing the guitar for about 3-4 hours tops when I travel to and from gig.

How I Roll

6) The Force is With You, but Don’t Force it.

Dealing with the Airline Gate Attendants always reminds me of the scene in Star Wars, in which Obi Wan uses the force on the stormtroopers. The gate attendant is the stormtrooper. He/she is a robot who is programmed to not allow items of a certain size onboard. They are often kind of pissy and angry because they have to deal with mean people every day. Once in awhile, you will get a sympathetic guitar pickin’ human who will help you, but that is rare. Most of the time they are robots reading from a script to get everyone through as efficiently as possible. They will see you with your guitar, and say “this is a full flight, you’re going to have to gate check that”

Don’t panic. Definitely don’t be a wise ass or put up a stink. “Gate check” means your item is too big to fit above the overhead. They will attach a pink or red tag to your guitar and give you a claim tag, then instruct you to leave your guitar at the end of the boarding ramp where everyone puts their strollers and stuff. From there, they will put it below the plane, which is not optimal (due to cold temperatures) but it’s a hell of a lot better than checking it as luggage. (never do that)

What I do is say “thanks” and then walk right on the plane with the guitar. If the flight attendant tries to stop me, I gently and politely ask “Well- is it ok if I try and find a place for it in an overhead bin?” Usually there will be a cool flight attendant on board who will try their best to find a space for your guitar.

Some tactics that have worked before, but I haven’t used recently:

7) Try “PreBoarding”

When they announce “we are now boarding people with small children, or people who need a little more time on the ramp.” walk up with your guitar. If they question you, just say “I need a litte time to assure that I can stow this, which is like a child to me” I did this successfully on the suggestion of a gate attendant in 2006, but I think it was because she had a soft spot for guitar players.

8 ) The Price of Rock n’ Roll

Try to stash it in any open overhead bin you can while you’re going to your seat. People might get mad, but that is the price of rock and roll.

9) Call for Back Up

If you’re traveling with friends, lovers, or band mates, they might have some extra space. It will increase your chances to get your axe on board.

10) Give up.

There’s too many guitar players. Take up the shakuhachi or skin flute. Be an iPhone DJ! Bring “Mime” back! Start a portable musical revolution! …or take the train.

So to sum up…

Never:

Check your guitar in a gig bag.

Argue with the staff, you will lose.

It’s OK to Gate Check, but try and store it above.

One last tip: Allow yourself plenty of extra time, especially if your acoustic guitar has a pickup with a battery in it. Remove the battery if you can. It looks like a bomb when it goes through the x-ray with all the wires and electronics. Most of the people who are doing the screening have no idea what an acoustic guitar pickup is.

Happy Travels!

If any of you have any instrument travel stories/tips, I’d love to hear them in the comments below.

Anime Expo Cosplay Photos by Oscar Rios

One Hundred More Photos Below

(even more added July 5)

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Meet the Street Eaters

Megan March + Johnny Geek = Street Eaters

After being impressed by the Street Eaters’ opening set for forgetters at the Echo earlier this year, I began corresponding with the guitarist and scored some of the duo’s vinyl output. I found the records to be honest, touching, and punk as hell–worth hearing in a non-blown-out, moderately engineered setting. The powerful give-and-take between Megan March and Johnny Geek’s ruthless drums, catchy guitars, and vocals serve as a potent reminder that all you need is two people to form a gang, start a fight, or make rad music, and the new album, Rusty Eyes and Hydrocarbons, cranks it up yet another notch. The band is touring in support of it, so I had to hit them up on the road.

The LP and CD come in different colors!

MW: Coming off 7″ singles, split singles, and an EP, what was your approach to recording your first full-length album?
JG: We liked the idea of building into a debut full-length gradually, and we really tightened up our whole ship to make the album as great as possible. We had the split with White Night first, and then the We See Monsters EP. Around a year later, we put out the split with Severance Package and the “Ashby and Shattuck” 7″ picture disc. The whole time, we were writing, recording, and editing the stuff that would eventually end up on the album. It was all a very deliberate process of building up to a killer full-length.

MM: We recorded the record in several chunks so we could step back, view it, and envision what songs should be written and recorded to make it more complete.

MW: Is “Two Heads” about the movie The Thing with Two Heads, your band, or something else altogether?
MM: You’d probably have to ask Grace Slick. “Two Heads” is a Jefferson Airplane cover. But we interpret it to be a pro-feminist, anti-religious fundamentalist song. We also like it because it is weird.

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NASA – ART: 50 Years of Exploration – also Air and Space Museum pics

Smithsonian Air and Space Museum is hosting an art exhibition in their main flagship space in Washington D.C. I’ve been to this museum a few times now, and each time it gets larger and larger. But the last thing I saw which was sort of tucked away in the last gallery on the second floor in the space section was the art exhibit. I’m guessing art among the space ships would be the most boring for the kids, but it might have been the most memorable. The US Space program is unrivaled except maybe a now splintered USSR program which in the end, probably got the best start and does continue onward. Asia? Not as much, although the space art on postage stamps from Mongolia might be the best.

This Norman Rockwell painting is amazing. Did this happen? Probably not, but the romantic Americana is amazing. Are the helpers really wearing sailor outfits?

More photos in the form of a photo album follow:

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