十一、十二、十三：さよなら東京．．． Pt. 1

Ok, so continuing where I left of in my last entry:

Later that day, we went to the live that Elec was playing at. Shuu, being the usual self he is, slept in... again. He woke up almost an hour till the live started. :/ After getting ready, we made a quick escape and headed towards the live. We considered the advice that Elec had given us about taking another train to get to the live, but after a while, we figured it would be better to take a more well known path.

We moved quickly to the live house as soon as we departed 浦和駅, which was not that far actually. We got our tickets and fliers and moved in. Lucky for us, they had just started as the intro music for them had just ended...

LAVERITE: This is the band that Elec is in. They were pretty awesome. It was hard to imagine them playing without a bassist *Elec* in the past. However, they didn't have a drummer, so it kind of took away from the performance. Elec was doing pretty awesome, acknowledging the audience, smiling. It was pretty awesome. RYOTA, at first, didn't seem too into it at first, but towards the end of the performance, he started to open up. It would have been nice to see some of the energy he had at the end of the act at the beginning as well. 結絵, at first to me, seemed to be pulling a MANA/ KISAKI, where he looked serious most of the time, but, like RYOTA, towards the end of the performance, the energy seemed to show. It would be nice to see more energy from them. Be excited! You have an audience! :) and work on getting that drummer. hahaha ★★★★½

DIZ: This was a VK band. They seemed kind of generic and the singer was just plain creepy to me. The guitarist seemed to be the most unique. He was definitely kind of big. Which stood out, but that didn't detract from how he played. However, the band as whole seemed really generic and THAT is not a good thing. ½☆☆☆☆

OZxBONE: Wow.... just, wow. They were a "Metal/ VK" band. They were kind of poppy, but wow.... were they unique. The vocalist also played guitar so it was definitely a rare sight. The seemed kind of sloppy as far as stage performance *they seemed to kind to run into each other when they switched sides on the stage*, but they weren't that bad. It was definitely an interesting sight. ★★★☆☆

ATOMIC TORNADO: Another "Metal/ VK" band, however, I think they were definitely leaning on the Metal side, look and sound wise. When I first saw the vocalist, I was wondering why he was wearing a poncho. XD Anyways, the first song was ehh.... but the 2nd and 3rd song were actually really good. They did have one downside though; if the vocalist didn't talk in between songs and I was blind, I could have sworn it was an angry chick singing. XDDD ★★★☆☆

DENIAL: They weren't that bad. They looked really young and I wondered why there was the absence of a bassist, while there was a bass on the stage... Anyways, they said it was their last live, so I just stood there and tried to figure out why the bass was so important. It turns out, that the band did have a bassist, but he wasn't there. :/ Still trying to figure it out. Oh well, they did a good set for their last live. Good luck to them wherever they go/ do. ★★★☆☆

uNruSt: A lot of people seemed to be there for them, but they seemed kind of generic/ annoying to me. I really can't remember any of their songs, but I do remember the fact that the vocalist kept looking at me; trying to get me to participate, but I didn't want to. However, he just kept persisting and that was seriously annoying. I couldn't wait till they got off stage. ☆☆☆☆☆

Pack's Hidetora STARGAZER: They were a session band *people from different bands playing together* made up of people I really didn't know about. They did pretty well, which explains why they were last and had the biggest crowd. The did a cover of HYBRID RAINBOW by the pillows and it was really good. If they became an actual band, I might actually give them a listen. ★★★★☆

After the live, we said goodbye to the other foreigners that were there and Elec. It was a pretty good live. Probably one of the better lives I've been to here...

Afterward, we headed for DENNYS, which by the way, is really not that appealing. I had been there on my last trip for breakfast. However, this time, we were there for dinner and it was just not that good. They should just stick to breakfast only. :/ We ended up going back to 椎名町 and just getting something else to eat.

七、八、九、十日：特別スペシャル！

I've been slacking on my updates, so I really need to try and keep up with Shuu. XD So, let's start!

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Day 7:

Today was『裏★海賊盤。』005発売記念イベント Day! We had sort of planned in advance to attend this show, but not really. I think on the 4th day we had reserved some tickets to see this concert. We were originally planning on going to this アングラ系 live in 名古屋, but that fell through after we found out how much it would cost to go there for the day and come back. *I'll give you a hint: It's very, very expensive from where we are :/* So, we hopped on the train and headed over to 高田馬場 to find AREA where the concert was being held. It wasn't that hard to find, nor was it too far from the station. There was a sort of medium sized theater sign that said the name of the live house, so that made it really easy. As we approached the place, we noticed that the entrance was just stairs leading down into the basement and that there was already a line of ladies waiting to get in. We stalled for a few minutes to save ourselves from awkwardness, but eventually gave in and stood in line. When everyone started to whip out there tickets, I knew we were in trouble. We had never really done a reservation before and we had no idea where the tickets came from. So, we ended up letting all the people behind us go in and stay behind to ask some other attendees where to pick up tickets. Apparently, there was a table just down the stairs out of sight where you pick up the tickets. :/ After we got that straightened out, we purchased yet ANOTHER drink fee that we didn't use *I really hate those ><* and headed inside. The live didn't start for another half hour so we stalled. When the time came, the lights dimmed to off and the curtains opened...

DELUHI: I had previously downloaded one of there albums and it was pretty good, so I had sort of an idea of what they sounded like. However, when that were on stage they impressed me quite a bit. Heavy, dark, and I think the guitarist was pretty awesome acting all crazy insane XD. The songs were solid and it was great seeing them live. ★★★★½

カル・ヴァリ: There was just something about them that wasn't right. Everyone seemed to be doing their own thing *look wise*. The bassist was pretty cool, but that was about it. I'd try to explain what they were like, but I just can't seem to remember :/ ★☆☆☆☆

Like Absolute Myself: Uhmmm.... I had a really hard time just remember who the hell this band was XD That should give you a hint as to what I think of them. ½☆☆☆☆

Zip.er: I had heard from Shuu that his friend Yama had told him in advance that there was nothing good that would come from this band. Naturally, I only half listened and decided to give them a shot. Wow.... I was very wrong. As soon as the singer came out on stage I thought "What the hell is Miku from An Cafe doing here?!" Upon a closer look, I noticed it wasn't him. But damn, was it close. One of the guitarist also looked like カノン from the same band. I tuned them out after seeing that. The one thing about them that creeped me out the most was the fact that the bassist kept looking at me. It was really uncomfortable and I was seriously hoping they would finish soon. >< ☆☆☆☆☆

vistlip: Hmmmm.... The guitarist looked pretty cool and they all matched look wise, but there was something about them that didn't sit well with me. Maybe it was the singer's need for everyone to cheer almost every moment he wasn't singing or that their songs seemed to be, for the same of a better word, "generic". I'm not sure what it is, but it's not a good thing... ★☆☆☆☆

愛狂います。: The final band to go on and the highlight of the show. I had been listening to their music for a while, so I was really looking forward to seeing them. They were nothing like the pictures, but that made them no less awesome. The singer was crazy, but that made them interesting to watch. I tried keeping up with all the hand movements, but I fell a little short. Definitely would like to see them again someday. :) ★★★★★

After the concert, we headed over to a CD store and bought the new アジカン mini album. Needless to say, the album was awesome. I think everyone should buy it.... Yes.... BUY IT NOW!!! XD

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Day 8

Such a boring day... I woke up around 12 and was just using the internet *trying to catch up on my マンガ/ アニメ* Shuu finally got around to getting ready, but by then, it was late afternoon. :/ So, we went out to eat and being the person that I am, I wanted to try something new. We went to this place called わたみん家. I thought it was a grill place where you cook your own food, but once we went in, we found that it was not like that at all... It was a place that specialized in やきとり, one of my favorite Japanese foods, but it was terribly expensive. So, we got something small, paid the bill, which was kind of high considering what we bought and went down to the AM/PM and Family Mart to buy something else to eat. Afterward, we walked down to 目白 to find a LAWSONS to we could buy some アジカン tickets.............. That didn't happen because they were 完成 with the tickets sales for the venue we wanted to go to.............................................................. I'm still a little mad, but I've chilled out a bit. I bought some マンガ to ease the rage. XD Then, I bought a few bottles and alcohol and headed back. マンガ and 酒. What an awesome combo! XD

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Day 9

"Seriously, this lounging around has to stop!" I thought. So, I got up early, got ready, and left a note for Shuu stating that I had gone to the JUMP Shop in 水道橋, which was in 東京ドームシティ *one of my favorite cities here in Tokyo* The way to get there was awful however. I hadn't been there in years and now I had to find a way to get there again. I had Google mapped it the night before, but I had no idea how to buy a ticket for the 丸ノ内線 *which I learned later, that I could have bought a ticket for that stop right at the station I departed from XD* So, instead, I paid the extra fee and ride the 中央線. Once at the station, I made my way into the Tokyo Dome shopping area in the attempt to find the store. There was something going on that day *I think it was a fashion show* but I didn't pay too much attention to it. I made my way to where the store was but.... it wasn't there anymore. O_O There was a map/ note on the door that said they had moved to the other side of the area, but I misread the map and ended up walking around the building. X## After a while of walking, I found out that they had just moved down the street. *Only about 2 mins away actually XD* I don't need to explain how awesome the store was. *If you're a Shounen Jump fan, you will love this store* I had to restrain myself from letting the store rape my wallet again. XDD Once I finished with that, I headed back to 椎名町 and got back to the room. Shuu was awake by then and was online. He saw the bags and immediately asked, "So.... buy any manga?" My response was "Uhhhmmmmmmm........ no" XDDDD Good Day. Later, that evening, we headed out to grab something to eat. I made the mistake of suggesting we try something new. So, we went to McDonalds and bought...... メガタマゴ！I died a little bit on the inside after eating that. It was the first time in years I had eaten at McDonalds, let alone a hamburger. It was..... just awful. We'll never speak of it again.

*The Set [which cost about 600 yen]*

*The sandwich [enough to make even Satan want to vomit]*

*Shuu attempting to stomach the damn thing*

Day 10

We were supposed to meet Elec in 池袋 at 3 that day, so we got ready and headed out around 3pm. *It was one station away XD* We kind of got lost when we got there, but once we remembered where to meet, we found it quickly and in no time we met up. We headed over to Tokyu Hands *this dept. store with A LOT of interesting items* and just chatted as we browsed around. We then headed to Brand X, which was really not that interesting actually. :/ It was like 自主盤 + Flower Records combined. Though they had some rare stuff, it was all still full price. So, we headed to Closet Child 池袋 again. We browsed, talked about bands, and bought some things *my smallest bill at Closet child to date: ￥1,700 * Afterward, we headed to Shakey's Pizza and.... bought Pizza, duh.

*The famous pizza from Elec's page*

XD We must have talked for a good 2 hours while we were there, but it was great. A lot of stories, experiences, etc. It was a really good night. Afterward, we headed back to the station where we went our separate ways. We'll be seeing him again though tomorrow for his concert in 埼玉. It will be fun.... but now comes the problem.... this is our last night in the hotel. We need to find a place to go....

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Day 11 (Today)

I woke up this morning to my alarm going off *which I ignored* followed by the phone ringing. I got up and answered the phone and found out that it was the front desk asking when we were heading down to check out. To my surprise, it was 2 minutes till check out. O_O I asked if there was any way we could extend our stay 2 more nights and I was put on hold. Half asleep, confused, and using choppy Japanese, I was really hoping that the guy would be able to extend our stay. Luckily, he did and we didn't have to pay too much *3150 per person for each night* I said thanks and he asked when I would be down to pay. I said I'd be ready in about half an hour and that was that. I sat on the side of the bed half asleep, when Shuu woke up and asked what had happened. I explained the situation and it was pretty awesome. Awesome enough for him to go back to sleep. XD

So, today, we're going to 埼玉 to see Elec play and just hang out there for a little bit. I'll be sure to report on that tonight or tomorrow morning. Until then.... Later!

三と四 + Bonus [五]

*Yummy peach drink with Peach chunks!*

So, I figured it's about time for another over view of what happened on Day 3 and 4

Day 3

The day started usual enough. We woke up around 1pm and were trying to think of things to do. Shuu was looking on a music site to see what concerts we could attend in the future and saw that there was one concert the same day. Being me, I asked "Well, who is it?" Turns out, it was a band called 遺伝子組換こども会 *an アングラ系 band that was really cool to listen to* and ゴールデンボンバー *Not sure what the hell they were XD*. I hadn't heard of either of the bands prior to that day, so I was a little anxious, but not completely ready to go. The live was at 6, so we decided to head out around 3:30 to ensure ourselves that we got to the area just in case we got lost.... again. Sure enough, we did get sort of lost. *We ended up bailing on the train and just walking to the next station* However, we made it there and with one hour left to spare. When we got there, it was very apparent that:

1.) We were the only guys there.

2.) We were the only foreigners.

It was very awkward; especially the wait. That was probably the worst part. However, 6pm came around and it was ready to go inside. We paid for our tickets *2800 yen a piece* got our 配布 *concert CDs* and useless drink tickets, then went inside. The place was very, very small. I think there was only about 50 people there.

Thoughts:

こども会 was really cool to listen to. That day was the first time I had ever heard of them and they were pretty good. The skits that they did were pretty funny as well. The final skit at the end was also really funny. Awkward. But funny. They're one of my top favorite bands now XD ★★★★★

ゴールデンボンバー was..... uhmmm..... yeah. They were something. They had a few good songs, but the thing about them was that only the vocalist and the guitarist did anything. There was a bassist and drummer but they didn't actually do anything but pretend to play the instruments. :/ The bassist, however, had a really cool outfit, so he's forgivable. XD The gag with this band was how the vocalist would kept saying "無料配布" *Free CD* every time the guitarist would finish his "solo" *which was basically handing out mini x-rays of the vocalists broken shoulder, drinking a blended McDonald's meal, having "sex" w/ a blow up doll, drinking pudding/ lemon juice concoction, and drinking a giant pudding thing XD* They were seriously weird. But, they were amusing. So, props to them. ★★★★☆

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Day 4

We were supposed to go to the Euphoria concert, but we had found out the day before that I wouldn't have enough money to cover the whole thing. *Shuu had run out of money and I was spotting him till we could find an ATM that would accept international cards* Turns out that same day, I had done some research and found that not only did the inner city Post Offices have ATMs that operated in the weekends, but the 7-11's also had international ATMs. What killed us was the fact that there was one only 5 mins away XD. So, after getting our money, we grabbed something quick to eat and did our Oki thing where we ate in front of the store.

*Normal bottle of orange juice... or is it....?*

*YAY!*

The experience was pretty cool, until a cat decided to invade our space and watch us as we ate. Seriously, it just sat there and watched us. It was very creepy/ annoying. We hurried up and left. Since we finally had money again, and had missed the Euphoria concert, we decided to just go カラオケ in 池袋 Instead, we ended up CD shopping again for another 3+ hours XD

*What I got on the second + first day of CD shopping*

After FINALLY finishing that, we decided to カラオケ. We went to Big Echo, which is the popular カラオケ chain in Japan. We had initially decided to just go for 2 hours, but it ended up being a 4 hour deal XD Short version of the event. *Lots of screaming and lots of water XD*

Some bands we did were:

Ayabie 彩冷える
Dir en Grey *Vulgar and Prior*
Hime Ichigo 姫苺
An Cafe *before they became lame*
D
Phantasmagoria
Enter Shikari
Avenged Sevenfold
Maximum The Hormone

After we finally finished, we went to the counter to pay and found out that we had seriously miscalculated the price for カラオケ. The bill was 9,400 something. *$90 O_O* Simply put, we'll be sticking to the hours we stated from now on and try to keep away from Big Echo. <- We later remembered that the chain itself was really expensive. Later in the evening, we decided to grab something to eat *it was like 2 am now* so we went to なか卯 *The place from the other day* I wasn't all that hungry since I had bought some 弁当 from Family Mart a few hours before. When we got there, I was feeling a little daring decided to try something new. [Note: Whenever I try something new, it almost never goes right. XD] I had seen this program on 納豆 earlier that day was thinking "Hey.... Not a lot of people like this stuff. I wonder why..." I only half regret eating that stuff. It smelled awful and it tasted equally bad.

*It actually looked a lot better before I added the Soy Sauce XDD*

After that experience, I had to buy some candy and something to drink to get the taste out of my mouth. XD

*Mmmmm.... Green Tea Ice Cream*

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=BONUS=

*Japanese KFC Teriyaki Chicken Sandwich*

Day 5

Yesterday, we decided to try our luck in finding flower records *This rare CD store that has a lot of 配布 from bands* Getting there wasn't that bad really. In fact, it was really easy to find. The problem wad the store itself, which was the small room, packed with boxes of CD and stuff. It was very, very, very packed. It was hard to move and it just seemed like you shouldn't be touching anything b/c either 1.) it's dirty or 2.) it will collapse on you. XD Apparently, there were a few rarz there, so Shuu bought one thing and I bought another and we left. To make up for the experience, we went to Like an Edison *another CD store, which wasn't all that spectacular* and the last Closet Child in Tokyo. [Note: For those of you who don't know what Closet Child is, it's a CD store that sells a lot of awesome/ rare CDs in Tokyo and has been raping our wallets for the last 3 days XD] After leaving there, with yet another bag of CDs, we headed to a ラーメン place to grab something quick to eat. Shuu got 醤油ラーメン *Soy Sauce Ramen* and I got おもちラーメン *Mochi ramen* After that, we headed back and that was basically it.

And now, we come to today... What will we do now...? Will update again later!

Taste of Chaos 2008 General Overview

*Waiting outside in the rain and cold*

Taste of Chaos came to Seattle on Tues. April 15. It was an awesome day... for the most part.

The day, for me, started at 6am. I had a lack of sleep that night b/c I was thinking of an excuse to get out of work. While I laid half asleep, I had a dream that I had called out already and everything was awesome. Of course, I woke up a few seconds later, looked at my cell, and realized it wasn't true. -____- After gathering up some courage and figuring this was the best time to call *seeing as how I sound sick when I'm half asleep anyways XD* I finally called and got a hold of my store manager. Took me completely off guard because he's usually not the one to answer the phone. After giving my excuse, which sounded kind of nervous b/c of who I was talking to, he gave the ok and I was ready for school.

Afterwards was when the day really started. At 11:30, I was already on my way to pick up Arlden and Shouta *a friend of Arlden's* By 12pm, we were on our way to Seattle. On the way there, I was going about 70-80 mph. Not too smart. I was flagged by a cop and he started to follow. Luckily, I had a trick in mind. *TAKE NOTES HERE!* I had observed a cop pulling someone over after following them for about a quarter or so of a mile. Keeping that in mind, I slowed down to 60 and turned on my cruise control. The cop followed me for a good 10 minutes before he gave up and moved to another lane and ahead. The lesson learned: Cruise control is your best friend XDDD

We got to the city at about 1:00, but spent about half an hour in traffic by the theater where the concert was held. Then, we spent another 15 minutes trying to find a parking space. By the time we were done, it was almost 2. We hurried and got a spot in line and soon afterwards, another one of my classmates showed up right behind us. We waited for a little bit, but it started to rain. :/ Then it got colder. Then it rained some more. Needless to say, the wait sucked. Luckily we were given bags of paper and a sample JRock CD. Plus, free Rockstars, which were ok. * I spilled most of mine trying to find a way to take a picture of the can and showing a poster to one of my friends XD* When it finally got to about 4, the line just broke loose and everyone rushed the door. It left me wondering: "What the hell was the purpose of the line?!" So, after migrating forward, they started to let people in. *Word of reminder: The "Jump the Line" wrist band doesn't do sh*t. Don't bother with it. :/* We all got in at the same time and made our way to the stage area.

We moved to the stage and it was only partially filled. We got fairly close, maybe about 2 rows from the bars. It was good. Here's the list of who played (courtesy of Shuu):

Oregon band with Tragedy in the name
D'espairsRay
Idiot Pilot
MUCC
The Underneath
Blessthefall
Atreyu
Avenged Sevenfold

Bullet for my Valentine didn't play b/c of the bassist's departure. I wanted to hear what they sounded like, but it didn't bother me b/c I didn't know them.

The Oregon band was the first to play. They played ok. The crowd wasn't too enthused, but it was catchy. Their music almost sounded familiar... Easily stated, I wasn't too into it. I was too busy looking at the D'espairsray banner slowly coming down in the background... XD

When D'espairsray took the stage, the crowd went crazy. Apparently, a lot of people at the concert were well aware of who they were, which made it awesome. What made it even awesomer was the fact that ZERO (ba) acknowledged me, not just once, but three times during the bands set! It made them that much cooler to me and made me want to start listening to them again.

Next was IdiotPilot. I can't really say if they were good b/c I was too busy trying to prevent myself from being crushed by the bastards in the crowd. Two of them were wearing Star Trek shirts plus, they were playing the techno effects off of an Apple Mac Book. .... NEXT please.

During IdiotPilot's set, MUCC was setting up there instruments. It helped take my mind off the awkward techno and the people elbowing me in the back. After they finished, MUCC took the stage. I went crazy. Screaming, yelling their names, waving and jumping. XD I wasn't too keen on the song names, but I did recognize Fuzz and Libra. Listening to it live was much better than listening to it on CD. During the songs, however, some chick threatened to elbow me if I didn't keep away from her *which I was confused about b/c she was 2 people away from me* and some guy tried to get me to mosh by kicking me several times. I looked over at him, then just turned back around and continued to listen. I figured "I've waited to see these guys live for a while now; I want to be able to enjoy every minute of it" The crowd, surprisingly enough, liked MUCC over D'espairsray. Or at least it seemed like it. They seemed to be more into it and seemed to know the words to their songs. It was an awesome set.

After they finished, I bailed to go buy some gear and get signatures from D'esray and MUCC. Shouta, who had been close by most of the time *this was our first US concert*, decided to follow b/c he was tired of getting shoved around. We stood in line and talked about the bands and what we thought of the concert so far. We agreed for the most part, so it was good. After buying the stuff, we headed over to the Ernie Ball booth to get D'esray to sign my towel. We shook hands and that was about it. It kind of seemed rushed, so it wasn't that enjoyable. :/

After that, we headed straight for the Rockstar booth to get signatures from MUCC. While we were in line, Arlden came out of the concert fairly pissed off. He was mad the he was all sweaty and had lost his hat. My response was : "Well.... what did you expect from a rock concert?" He was pretty much mad for the remainder of the concert. After finally reaching the booth, I had a small conversation with each of the band members. All were really polite, except for maybe Miya (gt), who looked like he didn't want to be there anymore. When I made it to Yuuke, I wasn't sure what to say *yeah... he's my fav. band member* so, I just asked if I could take his picture. He agreed and I said "thanks" a crap load of times. XD Tatsurou (vo) wanted to practice his English with me, but I wanted to practice my Japanese. It was a very awkward convo. XD

*Yukke*

*Tatsurou*

*Awesomeness that now resides on my wall XD*

After that whole ordeal, we headed back inside, just in time to catch the beginning of Atreyu. Their intro was the speech that Willy Wonka *the original* made when the group was going through the chocolate river tunnel. I was reminded of how much that movie had scarred me. o_o They played a good amount of songs, all really good. I had only heard a few of them before, but I was still really new to them, so I don't have any song names. :/ On the last song *Lip Gloss and Black, I think*, they got help singing the last part of the song from all the vocalists of the bands before them. It was purely awesome.

Finally, Avenged Sevenfold started *after a 15 min wait* They played: (Courtesy of Shuu again XD)

Critical Acclaim
Second Heartbeat
Afterlife
Beast And The Harlot
Scream
Seize The Day
Pantera (Cover w/ crowd member)
Bat Country
Almost Easy
NOFX cover
Gunslinger
Unholy Confessions

En:
A Little Piece Of Heaven

Words can't begin to describe how awesome their set was. This was the first time I had seen them live, so it was definitely a great experience. The crowd was insane. At times, it seemed more like a riot was going to happen than a mosh pit. XD

All in all, this concert was pretty good. We got home around 12:30am and I went to sleep at about 2am. *I couldn't get my ears to stop ringing XD* Today, my arm, neck, and jaw hurts. Plus, I have a major headache ><

Will I go to Taste of Chaos again? Well, I was partially deaf/ blind, dehydrated, starved, out of breath, and had an irregular heartbeat for the rest of the evening and day....

...yes. *Only if good bands are playing* XDDD

Anyways, that's my report. If anyone wants better pics, just ask.

I'll leave it at that. My head is seriously starting to hurt again. ><

Later.