About three months ago, the uber gf says "keep friday 7/31 clear".
At that time, (A) I was still raiding and (B) my guild was not raiding on fridays, so sure honey, I'll keep the night clear. What's it you've got in mind?
Nuttin'. Just keep the night clear. Its a surprise.
Ok.
Then a few weeks later, an envelope from TicketMaster gets magneted (*) to the fridge.
What'cha got in the envelope?
Nuttin'. Don't look in there. Its a surprise.
So week after agonizing week, every time I loot her fridge (no innuendo implied) I see this envelope flappin in my face.
The anticipation builds up. Quite a bit. So I get to thinking, and say to her....
You know, I could probably look through the browser history or google around and figure out what your little surprise is.
Probably. Don't tho. It's a surprise.
Grrrr. FINE! But you're killing me!
Good. That's my job.
A little more anticipation-filled time goes by.
My guild starts to raid on fridays, so I post my planned absence on the guild forums. Nothing's gonna keep me from finding out what this surprise is.
So the date gets closer and closer.
Then I have my big raid retirement a week before the surprise day.
And then on the day of 7/31, I have the worst day ever. Well, not ever, but it was a pretty shtty day.
When evening time comes and the uber gf gives me the GPS coords for the surprise destination, I'm in the worst mood ever. Well, not ever, but it was a pretty shtty mood.
AND I STILL DONT KNOW WHAT THIS FREAKIN SURPRISE IS YET!
So I drive, following that awful annoying voice of the chick on the GPS navigator, and we...fight isnt the word, because none of my anger was with her, but she was cool and let me vent and grumble and yell at the world and whoever I was bent out of shape with (boss, family, landlord, in no particular order).
I kinda cool off, but not really, but she says cool the whole time....
BECAUSE SHE KNOWS WHAT'S COMING IN FIVE MINUTES ONCE WE GET TO THOSE CURSED GPS COORDS!
So I find a parking spot, ready to just rip the damn envelope open and look at the tickets.
And then we turn the corner and I see a giant tent with this on it....
Symphony orchestra playing the songs from key video games throughout the history of gaming with a giant visual display of clips from the games up above the stage.
And we're sitting 2nd row, center.
I can't even describe how cool it was.
If you like Warcraft, which you probably do since you're reading this site, you likely know (A) the three theatrical trailers for the different WoW releases, (B) the song from the loading screen in WotLK.
The philharmonic orchestra plays a selection of the music (with matching video playing on the screen above them) from the trailers and other Blizzard-supplied clips, and they whip out a choir from a local college to do the vocals.
Like a kid in a candy shop.
Even games I never played were fun to listen to, the power of the full orchestra sitting 5 feet away from us, watching the games up on the screen, listening to the crowd go wild.
Some Highlights:
1) Fat kid from audience that they then stuff into a "gamer sized" (bullsht) medium tshirt so he can become a live piece in a game of space invaders.
2) Songs from Zelda. Nuff said.
3) Scrawny 13 year old kid playing guitar hero aerosmith on expert setting, acting like he is a total badass up on stage.
4) This Guy. Live. Fastest piano fingers I've ever seen. Blindfolded. Playing Super Mario Bros and Final Fantasy music.
5) Local jailbait dressed up as characters from Final Fantasy, Princess Peach, and some other random skimpily clad video game-inspired outfits. Oh, and some "dudes" dressed as Link from Zelda too.
6) There's a ton of other stuff, but since I'm retired from blogging (kinda) you'll just have to go read the website.
If Video Games Live comes through a city near you, I highly recommend you go, its a unique experience.
And if your gf can pull off a surprise as cool as this one, you might consider granting her a title like uber as well.
(*) Yes, I made it up. It means "temporarily affixed via magnet"
