Mika Mondays

Oh Dear!
We knew this day would come. This is the day where I completely miss the deadline and with DAMN good reason!
I'm on the road.
I'm in the traveling kid's production that pays my bread and butter and this just so happens to be a three day weekend here in Japan which means extra shows for me!
That's five, trampoline jumping, High kick swingin, back flip springin, explosive dance moving, high note belting energy charged shows!
FIVE SHOWS!
THREE DAYS!
With 10 minutes to check out from my hotel, this photo from fellow castmate IQ JANE of me hooping on the Shinkansen (bullet train) platform in the first city on this 3 city tour weekend is all I could manage for Mika Mondays.
May it please the court to know that I am currently listening to Grace Kelly by Mika as I type this and not for nothing a video has been recorded for this week to be released next Monday!

Mika Mondays

My good friend Mishal edited my first performance with Hooplovers thus giving me my first edit free pass on the Mika Mondays ride!

Thanks Mish!

*I'm the one with the white furry leg warmers.

Here's what I did with my Sunday night instead of prepping Mika Mondays. I made my flat go from fratboy clubhouse,

to functioning oasis


Cause after an action packed week of Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School, Tokyo,


Tyler Foundation Fundraising,


and high octane trampoline fueled children's entertainment


Life could use a little cool down.

Special thanks to IQ Jane for her backstage photo. Jane has done a wonderful job documenting life on the road with the English Carnival! If you wanna see more check out her flickr here.

Mika Mondays Episode 5

Hey there Hoop Groupies, this is the entry that almost never was. I was in the midst of dotting the (I)s and crossing the (T)s when my poor computer crashed and took with it all the editing I had done for the last 5 HOURS!
Tears were seriously shed as it was 2 in the morning and exhaustion was burning the back of my eyeballs.
BUT
All is not lost because even though we're already more than half way through Monday in Tokyo it's still Monday all over the world and there are plenty of hours still left in the day to enjoy the music and the hoop.
Today I bring you Mika Mondays in two segments.
The first is of course the video of me hooping to the music of a band I just recently discovered last week called FatBlueMan they are based out of Kansai in the Aichi Prefecture in the city of Nagoya which gets its reputation as basically being the Detroit of Japan but has oh so much more to offer than just cars. Front man John Janzen invited me to sit in on a jam session and they absolutely rocked my socks off.
So check out the LED hoop action as I rock out to their song Which Road Takes Me Home

Mika Mondays Episode 5 Part 1 from Lady Elle on Vimeo.

Next up are your FAQs and Comments. Since starting Mika Mondays the love has been pouring from all sides, thanks for all your wonderful questions and comments your energy is what kept me going last night so thanks for all of your amazing support!

Mika Mondays Episode 5 Part 2 from Lady Elle on Vimeo.

OMG I'm on Hooping.org

OMG OMG OMG OMG!
Mika Mondays episode 4 got a shout out on Hooping.org. I am now for the next few hours the Hoop video of the day!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm absolutely OVER THE MOON!
That's at least 5 minutes of my 15 minutes of fame allotment.


And today I just got this email from Holly the Hoop angel who let me know about it.

"Hey Leila! I'm a hooper from San Diego Ca and saw your video on hooping.org. It's video of the day if you didn't know already, you should check it out! I just wanted to say I think it's awesome what you are doing to try and get into a Mika video, Honestly I don't really know who that is. Maybe he is more popular in Japan, that tends to happen musically as opposed to groups here in the US. But I wish you the best of luck with your journey and hope to someday see you in a MIKA video! Keep Hooping! Peace and Hoopiness ~Holly"

Did you read that!!!
She doesn't even know who Mika is!!!!
Is that even possible in this day and age??
Did I just introduce someone to the yummy lovey goodness of Mika!?!

Oh Happy Day indeed.

Mika Mondays #4 - Tochomae

Hello Mika,
Happy Monday! In this week's installment of Mika Mondays (the weekly segment dedicated to auditioning for one of your music videos) I went to The Tokyo Tocho (Government building) as it is virtually my backyard. I love this area of Tokyo because it's got wide open spaces which are absolutely ideal for hooping. When I first moved into the neighborhood I absolutely fell in love with the round sculpture and fountain in the courtyard and I knew that I was destined to hoop there. So this week's Mika offering is extra special because I've captured two visions with one wish.
MM 4 - Tochomae from Lady Elle on Vimeo.

Location: Tokyo Tocho
Music: Sweet Dreams By: Mika

Special thanks this week to Graig Russell for being my awesome cameraman and Daniel "Danz" Perez, Fashion photographer who gave me a few tips on the technical end of things.

Enjoy
And don't forget to spread the word!

MM #3 Utter Exhaustion

Some days living the dream is a little more exhausting than others. Last week was soooo full on that while I had time to shoot some cool footage around the city, I kinda fell down in the editing department. So I cheated.
I used some old footage from the cutting room floor of a previous entry.
It's short and sweet and still chalked full of yummy pipe dream goodness.


Mika Mondays #3 from Lady Elle on Vimeo.

Location: Shibuya Crossing (Think Lost in Translation)
Music: Lollipop By: Mika
Yay! Mika Mondays survived another week!
SPREAD THE WORD!

Mika Mondays episode 2

Welcome to another installment of Mika Mondays. For those of you who don't know, Mondays on Leilachan is dedicated to my inner teenager; the one I didn't listen to enough 10 years ago and who is finally getting a voice in the form of a series of online auditions to be in a Mika music video. I consider this the last of my MTV exploits before I magically become adult-like upon my 30th birthday. It's my lingering pipe dream, one which I'm giving my all to and should my efforts actually payoff I've got 10 more pipe dreams waiting for their chance to make it. So here's to you Mika and all the other groupies over 25 may the party never end!


Mika Mondays #2 from Lady Elle on Vimeo.

Music: Ne-yo -Closer (Stonebridge Remix) brought to you by Hooping.org
Remember to help spread the word!
Bloggers unite for Mika!...and me

Mika Mondays

I love to Hoop.
I love to listen to Mika.
And ever since The Buggles broke the video barrier on MTV, I've wanted to be in a music video.
Today all my passions shall collide!



I have decided to devote Mondays on this blog to Mika audition videos like this one.
It's my virtual message in a bottle.
Help spread it to the world and put this whole 6 degrees theory to the ultimate test!

It's the perfect way to kick my own ass and practice everyday. I'm expecting you all to hold me accountable! Yikes!

This brilliant idea was brought to you by Ze Frank the foremost authority on brain crack.
Thanks Ze!

Stay tuned!