The chronicle of the GRATE EXPEDITION:
NASHVILLE TO LOS ANGELES: JULY 1997
Welcome to the website of one of mankind's greatest adventures. It was much more than a physical journey, but a journey of both body and soul. Follow us along our path of enlightenment as we travel across the fruited plains and high deserts of southern and western America.
Like any human endeavor, our journey began with a well conceived plan. During Anime Expo (AX) '96, the virtual gathering places in cyberspace remained empty save for the few who chose not to go. And, of couse, shortly thereafter came the neverending stream of "Convention Reports", which are always glowing and full of excitement about what basically seems like a fairly fruitless expression of geekdom of the worst kind. My long time compadre Ethan and I vented our frustrations, and thus ignited the sparks of a plan for the next year. In this fit of disdain and disgust for anime fans and fandom in general, this plan was forged, and went something like this:
<Riiya> Hey Mike, let's go to AX '97 and cause troubleOver the next several months this plan was fleshed out a bit. Our plan consisted of these following goals:
<lamune> OK
The purpose of the trip, on the surface may seem like the annual anime fan pilgrimage to "anime mecca"- 'The Premier Exposition' - but it was far greater than this. For the purpose of this journey was the journey itself. Anyone can board a plane and be anywhere in a few short hours. The reason for going was to see and experience the vastness of the American landscape, to be places we have not been, to learn, and to suffer- and in suffering, grow. And, to hopefully piss off a few fanboys in the process.
Note that these pages may be somewhat image intensive.