Malice Mizer, behind the scenes of “Bel Air“ and “Verte Aile“, 1997 [x]

28 years old, posting oldschool visual kei, last.fm

Model: Jed Hill Agency: R&L; Models Photographer: Rick Day Website: www.rickdaynyc.com Jed Hill football athlete turned model photographed by Rick Day, Jed is represented by R&L; Model and Talent Mgmt. Continue for more after the jump:

"The Bod" It’s gonna be a thing. (Source: Sleepy Hollow Stills)

27 years old, posting oldschool visual kei, last.fm

On Sunday, Kanazawa held the annual “Firemen ceremony”. When I first heard about it I just assumed that it was a hoity-toity officious thing for indicting new firemen, involving lots of bowing and choreographed taking of certificates. “No,” a friend corrected me, eyes sparkling in delight, “It’s a festival full of shirtless firemen!”. I needed more details but she herself had never been and had only heard this tagline from a friend who had gone before. It didn’t matter, the brief description was pretty selling. So early on Sunday morning I eagerly layered up and braved the freezing rain, waiting for the show to start on the cold castle grounds, facing the hoards of dangerous umbrella-wielding Kanazawans. Hundreds of firemen, in their very fancy uniforms, stood in rows as the MC belted out the usual (boring) opening comments. And then the show began. Now, the word “shirtless firemen” definitely evokes a certain image. For me, that image was along these lines: But in Kanazawa, what “shirtless firemen” actually means is this: The ceremony was too fun to be disappointed however. In the first “act”, groups of firemen held up slippery wooden ladders as one brave fireman from each group climbed to the top and performed incredible synchronized tricks. In the second “act”, new firemen stripped down to their traditional Japanese skivvies and held onto firehoses in pairs. The sirens from nearby firetrucks flared up as freezing water burst from the hoses. The firemen held strong for a solid 3 minutes, getting doused, before finally the water died down and they scurried to get their clothes back on. It was brief, but pretty fantastic, despite the lack of calendar firemen. :)