Final Fantasy - Distant Worlds
Wow, what a weekend! Most of it seemed to be spent driving, but still soooo worth it.
So Alex came down Thursday, when my weekend technically began. Thursday night we hung out with Katie and Erin in my room, drinking a little (not too much; I still have like all of my alcohol left, hehe). Friday morning Alex and I got up earlyish (9:00 or so) and headed out on our 12 hour drive to Illinois. Well, we got a little lost and thus wasted around an hour before figuring out where to go, but then we were on our way! I have now officially visited Indiana and Illinois, states that I believe I have not been to up to this point. Gary, Indiana, actually exists, to my delight. The drive took a long time; I believe we arrived around 10:30 Central time at the Best Western near O'Hare airport. We pretty much got our room and passed out.
Slept in late on Saturday, until around noon, and puttered around the room until 3:30 or so. We watched the Faculty on TV (yay useless facts!). Our room was pretty decent; two beds, free shampoo. It seemed a little shabby, but had everything we needed. Anyway, around 4:00 we went to the nearby sports bar, Shoeless Joe's, and met up with three of Alex's guildmates (guildmates as in WoW buddies). They were typical gamers, lol. Anyway, it was fun, listening in to their guild drama issues and all. We had a late lunch and played a few rounds of pool. Around 6:30 Alex and I headed back to our room and changed into better clothing, and ordered a cab to go to the Rosemonte Theatre.
The venue itself was... interesting. Most people were dressed up well, like us. Some came completely casually, and around a half dozen cosplayed; we had a Cloud, a Red Mage, a Tifa, a Reno, a White Mage, and an Edea. The theatre itself was PACKED. It was a huge show. Also, Uematsu-san, the composer of all the best Final Fantasy music, flew in from Japan to see the show. They played some pretty awesome songs; very moving, well done, although Alex said he heard a lot of errors. Only three things (two, really) disappointed me:
1. The CD did not have Terra's Theme on it. This is the opening theme from FF6, my favorite FF game.
1a. The CD did not have "To Zanarkand" on it. I didn't care all that much for FF10, but this song was really good and was played at the show, so it was a little annoying to not have it on the CD.
2. They changed the words for the FF6 Opera House song, "Draco and Maria." It's been years since I've played the game, but I liked the music so much I memorized the words, so I know for a fact they changed them. Not really a big deal; a lot of them didn't rhyme, as (I'm guessing) they were mostly translated straight from Japanese. Still, I don't like changes like that :-P
I bought the CD, which is pretty good besides the aforementioned omissions. I especially like the last third of the FF1-3 medley, and the beginning of Vamo alla Flamenco. Bombing Run, Don't Be Afraid, Liberi Fatali, and One Winged Angel are, as always, good. So, overall, worthwhile.
Drove back yesterday; left around 9:00 again, and got back later... 9:30? 10:00? I forget. Worked on some homework, and fell asleep before midnight.
I now have a lot of work to catch up on, missing class on Friday and all. I'm all set with Spanish, I think; however, I missed my first group meetings on Friday, which bites. Oh well, not too worried; grades really don't mean much to me at this point. I have a ton of other stuff today anyway; RA staff meeting, duty tonight, and a taping to make an RA jury duty video. Wheeee! Oh well, class starts in 30 minutes, so I better make sure I'm ready to go. Ciao!
~Paul
So Alex came down Thursday, when my weekend technically began. Thursday night we hung out with Katie and Erin in my room, drinking a little (not too much; I still have like all of my alcohol left, hehe). Friday morning Alex and I got up earlyish (9:00 or so) and headed out on our 12 hour drive to Illinois. Well, we got a little lost and thus wasted around an hour before figuring out where to go, but then we were on our way! I have now officially visited Indiana and Illinois, states that I believe I have not been to up to this point. Gary, Indiana, actually exists, to my delight. The drive took a long time; I believe we arrived around 10:30 Central time at the Best Western near O'Hare airport. We pretty much got our room and passed out.
Slept in late on Saturday, until around noon, and puttered around the room until 3:30 or so. We watched the Faculty on TV (yay useless facts!). Our room was pretty decent; two beds, free shampoo. It seemed a little shabby, but had everything we needed. Anyway, around 4:00 we went to the nearby sports bar, Shoeless Joe's, and met up with three of Alex's guildmates (guildmates as in WoW buddies). They were typical gamers, lol. Anyway, it was fun, listening in to their guild drama issues and all. We had a late lunch and played a few rounds of pool. Around 6:30 Alex and I headed back to our room and changed into better clothing, and ordered a cab to go to the Rosemonte Theatre.
The venue itself was... interesting. Most people were dressed up well, like us. Some came completely casually, and around a half dozen cosplayed; we had a Cloud, a Red Mage, a Tifa, a Reno, a White Mage, and an Edea. The theatre itself was PACKED. It was a huge show. Also, Uematsu-san, the composer of all the best Final Fantasy music, flew in from Japan to see the show. They played some pretty awesome songs; very moving, well done, although Alex said he heard a lot of errors. Only three things (two, really) disappointed me:
1. The CD did not have Terra's Theme on it. This is the opening theme from FF6, my favorite FF game.
1a. The CD did not have "To Zanarkand" on it. I didn't care all that much for FF10, but this song was really good and was played at the show, so it was a little annoying to not have it on the CD.
2. They changed the words for the FF6 Opera House song, "Draco and Maria." It's been years since I've played the game, but I liked the music so much I memorized the words, so I know for a fact they changed them. Not really a big deal; a lot of them didn't rhyme, as (I'm guessing) they were mostly translated straight from Japanese. Still, I don't like changes like that :-P
I bought the CD, which is pretty good besides the aforementioned omissions. I especially like the last third of the FF1-3 medley, and the beginning of Vamo alla Flamenco. Bombing Run, Don't Be Afraid, Liberi Fatali, and One Winged Angel are, as always, good. So, overall, worthwhile.
Drove back yesterday; left around 9:00 again, and got back later... 9:30? 10:00? I forget. Worked on some homework, and fell asleep before midnight.
I now have a lot of work to catch up on, missing class on Friday and all. I'm all set with Spanish, I think; however, I missed my first group meetings on Friday, which bites. Oh well, not too worried; grades really don't mean much to me at this point. I have a ton of other stuff today anyway; RA staff meeting, duty tonight, and a taping to make an RA jury duty video. Wheeee! Oh well, class starts in 30 minutes, so I better make sure I'm ready to go. Ciao!
~Paul