“Kishi Kaisei, it’s a story of love, of hope of never giving up. And that story belongs to you and me and anyone fearless enough and anyone fearless enough to dream big..
Because the heart that beats in me is the heart that beats in you.
And the heart that beats as one is stronger than the two.”
Regardless of who you are and where you’re from,
It’s the unifying spirit that connects us as one.”
— Hiro the Rabbit
From 2015- 2016 while exploring the city and making deliveries, I started noticing stuffed animals hanging everywhere. There’s a teddy bear hanging from a power line. Oh and here’s another and another. And another and another and another…
From Silverlake to WeHo to DTLA to Beverly Hills. I kept seeing them everywhere. I asked folks and got no answer. And by folks I mean other stand up comics. Most assumed it was some sort of drug thing. “Must be really good drugs” Some guessed “gang related”. What do they mean? A murder? Lynching of imaginary friends? Gang related? LA Death Museum had no answers. Neither did most folks. One comic proclaimed it’s an art project that says, “LA Kills Innocence!” This is Lost Angeles, “the Boulevard of Broken Dreams”.
So while making deliveries I just started taking photos and posting them & marking locations. Crescent & Fairfax, Crescent & Beverly Boulevard, El Centro & Fountain, Larrabee on Sunset, Melrose & Robertson, Oakwood & La Bre, Romaine & La Brea, Lexington & La Brea, Rodney & Franklin, Gower & Fountain, Martel & Melrose, Clinton & La Brea, Orlando on W. 3rd St., La Cienega & Rosewood, Waring between Alfred & La Cienega, Beverly and Orlando, Gardner & Beverly, Law Jolla & W. 3rd St. Everywhere I went there they were. And then some folks started accusing me of placing the bears around town. (I’m looking at you SNL writer Erik Marino!) It put me in a tizzy.
I was speaking with comic Or Mash who said “Hey Al, why don’t you google what the #HRKK Hashtag means?” So I googled it & found out. A few minutes later, it broke me. I laughed maniacally. I felt like Homer Simpson when he discovered Mr. Sparkle’s origin.
起死回生 Kishi Kaisei roughly translates to “Wake from death and return to life”
It also happens to be a single from the New Wave Electronica band Hearts Revolution “Ride of Die” album. During a 13 month period the band traveled with a dude in a track suit wearing a giant bunny head around Los Angeles in a magical Swarovski crystal ice cream truck. They met folks, danced with them and gave out ice cream. No murder or sinister Q Anon adjacent conspiracy. Sometimes the mind jumps into some dark spaces and we like to think the worst of things. It was just a poppy dance track that slaps hard, something the kids would call a “Bop”. The track slaps, I also recommend the tracks Choose Your Own Adventure and Kiss.
Sometimes it’s not an evil cult. Sometimes it’s a rock band traveling around the world doing crazy hippie stuff. And that’s why I don’t believe in most conspiracy theories.