Video Games Live

I started out yesterday with my first fully home-made pancake. I was really craving butter (well, Smart Balance at least) and maple syrup, but didn't have any multigrain mix left, so I followed this recipe, just because it was one of the first results that popped up on Google.


There are actually two pancakes stacked on top of each other there...very large pancakes. Since I cut the recipe down to a single serving, but had to use one whole egg, it tasted a little "eggy," but if I called it "crepe-like" all was well :D

After our traditional Saturday lunch of home-baked pizza, I published a new comic and jogged two miles on the treadmill. And when I say "jogged," I actually mean "jog" now! A few weeks ago "jogged" would have meant "mostly walked, with some running," but thanks to two things, I've been making definite improvements in the physiological strength area. (1) I eat enough and (2) I have to walk a mile or two every day just to get around campus, thanks to the generosity of university parking services :/

After exercising I packed some sandwiches and granola bars and we set off for Indianapolis for Video Games Live. As you might expect, this is a concert that features video game music. As you might not expect, it's a concert performed by the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, as part of Gen Con. It's on Sweetie's Bucket List to attend this concert at least once in his life, so when he found out they were coming to Indy he didn't think twice before popping onto Ticketmaster to spend all the money in his Entertainment account (he actually designates fund lines for himself, whereas I'm just a miser all-around. In this respect, he would probably make a better librarian than me). The concert was performed at the Conseco Fieldhouse.


Amazingly, we found this building with relative ease despite a closed freeway exit, lousy detour signs, and the haphazard spider's web of a layout that is Indianapolis. We basically managed by picking big, wide-looking streets and following them towards the profiles of skyscrapers :p

The fieldhouse is technically a basketball stadium, but they convert it expertly into a venue for shows when the need arises.



I took these photos about a half hour before the show before the seats filled up, while the lights were still on and I could capture the stadium with some clarity. Since VGL is not only a symphony concert, but a lasers-and-bubbles-happy light show, it was impossible to take decent pictures after that. This was probably a good thing, or I would have spent the concert fiddling with my camera instead of enjoying the show.

Since we set out extra early, we were there in time to see the cosplay contest. There were Marios, Soras, and scantily clad girls aplenty.


I voted for the Ice Climbers with enormous hammers, but Dr. Who won simply by virtue of being Dr. Who.

During the concert the organizer liked to throw in little games and gimmicks, like a Frogger contest and a Guitar Hero challenge. He also liked to talk endlessly about the greatness of games and flaunt endlessly the coolness of himself, with the aid of about five different guitars and much theatrical leaping. I'd like to pretend those parts never happened. One gimmick I did like, though, was this gal here:


Laura, the flute-playing Link! She was pretty tired from singing, and had to contend with a microphone and nerve-wrecking acoustics (basketball stadiums are still basketball stadiums even if you dress them up like concert halls, after all), so she didn't quite hit a lot of notes, but the concept was fun. Here she is at another concert, in a little better form:



Sweetie was disappointed that they spent so much play time on terrible songs from World of Warcraft, God of War, and other cheap "popular" games, and didn't play a single one from Metal Gear. They also botched One Winged Angel, probably because they were all tired by that point and only had one rehearsal before the show. But I think his overall experience, like mine, was a positive one. We probably won't become one of those couples who returns year after year, but it was fun to get out in the world and surround ourselves with epicness for a night :D