Concert Was Good.
The Final Fantasy Distant Worlds concert in Dallas was excellent, as expected. The venue was gorgeous and cavernous in size, and we had seats in the second row, on the bottom floor out of four stories. We were right between the conductor and the first violin player!
The audience itself was about 3/4 appropriately dressed and behaved. There were otaku in crappy clothes, and a few cosplayers, but at least no one shouted out during the music or anything.
Masashi Hamauzu, who composed FFXIII's soundtrack and Dirge of Cerberus' score, off the top of my head, was in the audience a couple of rows behind us as a special guest. He also ended up singing in the chorus on One Winged Angel, because apparently he was involved in the recording of the original track, too.
The singer on a bunch of the games' tracks was there, too (wish I could remember her name). Her vocals were amazing; she sang all the love themes from Final Fantasies 8 through. . . 14? I think they played a couple of songs that aren't out yet. I'm partial to "Melodies of Life" from FFIX and "Kiss Me Goodbye" from FFXII.
Also, some guy used the concert hall and a multimedia thingy with text over an FFXIII cutscene to propose to his girlfriend. What a bastard--making every other guy there look like a schmuck! There's no way anyone could top that. That lucky girl probably got dinner, the orchestral concert of Final Fantasy music, engagement, and an expensive ring all in one night!
The trip itself went okay, though poor aoi_tsuki1 is still really PTSD-stressed in the car when I'm driving because of last year's crash. The Dallas traffic didn't help with that, either. . . I think I'll just leave it at that.
I'm continuing to take care of my mother-in-law in the mornings as she recovers from surgery. Despite having to get up early in the morning, it's been nice to spend time with her and my aunt.
Father's Day has come and gone, and next up is my dad's birthday on Wednesday. We pretty much combined the two for each of our dads--Lindsey's dad's birthday is close to Father's Day but before it, and my dad's is close to Father's Day but typically after it. June is birthday month in my wife's family: her father and both of her brothers have June birthdays, and then hers is coming up right at the beginning of July. This means lots of cake and other good desserts, such as peanut butter pie.
And finally, Yotsuba&! is still the single best feel-good manga you can pick up for a laugh anytime. It's great to travel with, great when you're depressed, and requires very little brainpower since it's about the exploits of a five-year-old.
The audience itself was about 3/4 appropriately dressed and behaved. There were otaku in crappy clothes, and a few cosplayers, but at least no one shouted out during the music or anything.
Masashi Hamauzu, who composed FFXIII's soundtrack and Dirge of Cerberus' score, off the top of my head, was in the audience a couple of rows behind us as a special guest. He also ended up singing in the chorus on One Winged Angel, because apparently he was involved in the recording of the original track, too.
The singer on a bunch of the games' tracks was there, too (wish I could remember her name). Her vocals were amazing; she sang all the love themes from Final Fantasies 8 through. . . 14? I think they played a couple of songs that aren't out yet. I'm partial to "Melodies of Life" from FFIX and "Kiss Me Goodbye" from FFXII.
Also, some guy used the concert hall and a multimedia thingy with text over an FFXIII cutscene to propose to his girlfriend. What a bastard--making every other guy there look like a schmuck! There's no way anyone could top that. That lucky girl probably got dinner, the orchestral concert of Final Fantasy music, engagement, and an expensive ring all in one night!
The trip itself went okay, though poor aoi_tsuki1 is still really PTSD-stressed in the car when I'm driving because of last year's crash. The Dallas traffic didn't help with that, either. . . I think I'll just leave it at that.
I'm continuing to take care of my mother-in-law in the mornings as she recovers from surgery. Despite having to get up early in the morning, it's been nice to spend time with her and my aunt.
Father's Day has come and gone, and next up is my dad's birthday on Wednesday. We pretty much combined the two for each of our dads--Lindsey's dad's birthday is close to Father's Day but before it, and my dad's is close to Father's Day but typically after it. June is birthday month in my wife's family: her father and both of her brothers have June birthdays, and then hers is coming up right at the beginning of July. This means lots of cake and other good desserts, such as peanut butter pie.
And finally, Yotsuba&! is still the single best feel-good manga you can pick up for a laugh anytime. It's great to travel with, great when you're depressed, and requires very little brainpower since it's about the exploits of a five-year-old.