Have You Been Missing the HOchieS?

We've been missing you guys too.  

Not much going on around these parts.  I'm (Or 2) in the process of finding a new job.  H1 has been well.  Why the absence on the blog? 

Well, we haven't really been anywhere or found anything that interesting to be blogging about as of late.  We don't have any pictures of the Bluth banana stand that was set up in Midtown a couple of weeks ago.

We also do not have personal pictures of the massive Lego X-Wing that was set up in Times Square this weekend to share.

What have we been up to? Watching Doctor Who and Arrested Development.

I actually have been blogging over at Kotaku's Reader-centric blog if you've missed me.  You can always take a look right here: http://tay.kotaku.com/  if you wanted to see what I've been up to.  It's all video game related things that may be of no interest to most of you.  But don't worry, Frenemies!  I've not forgotten about sharing the Misadventures of The HOchieS.  

Though I just posted a blog about Gleason's right below this one and that was hard to write.  I've forgotten how to blog on my own blog.  

I find that incredibly disturbing.

The Return of the Claw and More at Gleason's

I'm not sure why it took me this long to go to Gleason's.  Maybe it's due to the fact that I don't really like pizza even if the ones made at Gleason's are specialty flat bread pizzas and high class.  Or maybe it's due to the fact because the pizzas are specialty it makes me think that this place would be plagued by hipsters.

On Tuesday, X and Moodou paid us a visit and we decided to go on a foodie adventure for old time's sake.  You know, that's what we do when X comes around.  It's what we're supposed to do! Never mind we have yet to take her for Tea at Kathleen's Tea Room.  X, don't worry about it.  You saw nothing and you remember nothing about that.

If There's One Thing They Can Do...

The number of times I've seen Muse live now has alarmingly breached my second hand when finger counting.

I'm not apologizing for seeing them 7 times (6 times Muse proper and once as support for U2) though.  Hell, if I had the money and will to do so, I probably would have gone again tonight.

Because last night reminded me of why they're just so damned fantastic.

Before you all get all rolly-eyed with me, know this: I had no intention of seeing them this tour.

It's a blasted, horrible current album.  They've gone off the deep end on this one.  I bestowed upon them the dishonour of being my most hated album last year, as they bestowed upon me the dishonour of having to listen to that mess.

But, if there's one thing they can do...it's put on a show.

Now, I've fond memories from nearly all my Muse shows.  The first was at a tiny venue and they'll never be that small again.  The second was in London - different vibe being on home turf and an awesome time.  The third was...in London at Wembley Stadium with H1 - two sisters having a blast in a huge opening for the Stadium.  The fourth was in the pit at MSG and so close to the action that it was plain amazeballs.  The fifth was god awful at MSG and I don't know what happened there.  The sixth was for U2 and they turned out better than U2 (U2 at the time were touring that rubbish last album).  And last night...Last night was special for the sort of sad reasons you never want to think about.

I was uneasy.  It was not a show I planned on going to but an Active Goat was never afforded the opportunity.  I took her because she and I have become quite the friends and if there's one show anyone ever needs to see, it's Muse.  Goats are all about being dragged to things and actively going there of their own mind even if they don't know they've been tricked.  Haha! Nothing, Goat.  You saw nothing.

I was doubly uneasy.  All manners of bullshit happened in Boston yesterday as terrorists attacked the city during their Marathon.  Hundreds are severely injured.  Lives were lost.

It's a sad time and certainly puts a damper on your spirit.  And a concert at MSG is the furthest thing from my mind knowing shit is going on number one and number two, that you're at a prime target for a terrorist attack to happen.  Security was of course heightened but that did not make me feel better.

I pondered long on getting these tickets and therefore ended up with not prime seating.  Section 106 though I have to say was not bad at all.  Maybe not Row 20 at Seats 1 and 2 but not bad viewing for Muse's theatrics at all.

Always one to do things loud and bombastic, nothing was left to be dull.

The famous inverted pyramid for this tour came down from the ceiling and the first image was one that hit a little too close to home.

A lone marathon female runner - fighting to run.  Stopping to catch her breath.  It was uncanny.  I don't believe it was intentional but it was something.  It was something jarring with Boston fresh on my mind.

Images plastered everywhere on the multi-screen pyramid set to heavy electronic music of The 2nd Law.  Muse eventually came out and dove straight into "Supremacy".

Never one to shy away from Conspiracy Theories and how we should all band together in an Uprising to take down the wealthy government and general spewing of "rock n' roll" rhetoric, it was an odd universe and feeling to be stuck in in that moment during the events that had occurred mere hours previously.

As the highly energetic night wore on with all my old favourites being played, at one point Matt belted out the Star-Spangled Banner on the guitar to a sort of hushed audience mixed in with almost forlorn cheers.  It was heart-breaking.  It was heavy.  It felt right.  I think everyone at the arena stood proud.  I know I did.


The Low Lamps

1.  It's NYC, so Muse thought maybe they could put Chris on to sing one of his songs.  Sorry Chris.  Those songs were horrible.  The was actually not well received at all by the crowd.  I clapped a little because I love them all, but...no.  Those songs were part of the problem of the new album.

2.  A couple eventually ended up sitting next to us at the concert.  We were hoping for some European hotties, Goat and I but alas...

3.  Every time Muse played one of the crappier songs from the current album that I did not care for (which was 80% of the album), I cringed.

4.  Matt jumped into the crowd at the pit! What the eff! He couldn't do that in 2007 when I saw him and was in the pit?! Curse you, effin' Bells.  CURSE YOU.

5.  Absolutely nothing was played from Origin of Symmetry.  Son of a...

The Highlights

1.  You know, I've avoided Biffy Clyro for some while and I'm not sure why I did.  They're not so bad.  I mean, they're a lot more alternative than I imagined them to be but they did have a sort of heavy metal vibe going to them too which is more of what I expected of them.  Good stuff.  Mostly good stuff.  Some of it was dull nearing the end there.


2.  The stage set up.  Truly magnificent! Muse are never meant to be stripped down.  This is how they should be seen.  It was quite the amazing set up this time around.  It all sounded loud, clear, and good.  Mostly.  Sometimes it sounded not so great but damned amazing to experience.

3.  Great songs outweighed the bad ones played.  And the ones I did like off the album were done really well.

4.  Muse.  Even after distancing myself from them for the past two years or so, they still manage to impress.  Dom was so cute at the end there too saying goodbye to NY.  Love that boy a lot.

5.  Section 106 was full on French people.  Whoooaaaa!!!!

6.  An Active Goat.  "Um, Goat.  I think we're on the floor we need to be on already."  "Nah! We didn't go up three flights yet!"  "Um, yeah.  I think we did.  Yep, pretty sure this is us...::watching her go up the escalator." "Uh oh!"  Two seconds later she re-appeared from the service exit staircase.  So freaking hilarious, I can't even tell you.

The Muse at Madison Square Garden Set List on 4/15/2013:

1.  The 2nd Law: Isolated System
2.  Supremacy
3.  Map of the Problematique
4.  Supermassive Black Hole
5.  Resistance
6.  Panic Station (Star-Spangled Banner intro)
7.  Knights of Cydonia (Man with a Harmonica intro)
8.  Monty Jam
9.  Explorers
10.  Follow Me
11.  United States of Eurasia
12.  Liquid State
13.  Madness
14.  Time is Running Out
15.  Undisclosed Desires
16.  Stockholm Syndrome
17.  The 2nd Law: Unsustainable
18.  Uprising (extended outro)

Encore:

19.  Starlight (dedicated to Boston)
20.  Survival

It was during the encore, the boys came back met by a sea of lit phones all around the Garden like twinkling stars, and they in turn dedicated "Starlight" to the people of Boston.  "They need all our support tonight!" or something along those lines were said.  It was an amazingly, fitting moment.

And more so when everything ended in "Survival".

Words cannot even express the pure excitement and solidarity in those final moments as we all clapped our hands together in unison.  For Boston.  For each other.  For everyone.

Currently listening to: "Welcome to Japan" by The Strokes.

The Game of Thrones Exhibition Thing They Dragged Me To For My Camera.

Say what you will about New York City - that people in Midtown are a rude bunch or that our pigeons are fat - but there's one thing that cannot be said and that's that NYC is dull.

Truly, on any given day you can be walking around and stumble upon a street fair as we did last year.  Or you could run into Thor himself, Chris Hemsworth (as our co-workers did) on a Thorsday, no less.

With some money, you can probably enjoy the city in a whole different way but since I don't really have too much of that to be flailing about, I partake in the good, wholesome less costly things.  The kind of things that are free and for me.

And by "free", I mean standing in line for 2 plus hours is a small price of admission to pay while you wait to get into Westeros.

Spell "Free": T-w-o H-o-u-r W-a-i-t

I'm not one to complain about a line really, especially when you have such fun friends to stand in line with (as I did with Alex, Active Goat and Ces).  It truly was fun but there's only so much fun you can have to distract you from the cold April afternoon as the hours wore on.

I think the cold that crept into our blood made us a little bit on edge because near the end of our 2 hour waiting expedition, I'm pretty sure everyone in my group was challenged to duels.  Maybe it was the atmosphere of what lay ahead at the GOT exhibition but Monokuro Boo piggy mittens and gloves came off and everyone got a slap to the face.

Side Note: Duel Tickets going on sale soon - Date to be Announced

When we finally got in doors, the theme music to Game of Thrones was blasting loud all over that dark exhibit room as people chattered happily away about anything and everything Stark, Lannister, Dire Wolves, and Tyrion bitch-slapping Joffrey.

There was much "oo'ing" and "aa'ing" going on for the various set pieces used in Seasons 1 and 2, and there were some new pieces on display too (or so the exhibition page said).

What's this? Toys? Ooooooo.

Aaaahhhhh

These were behind some glass unfortunately, because our feet sure were cold...and those things sure could have come in handy.

Beautiful fan art.

More things to warm the body.  Curse the security eyeballing us.

Won't keep us warm but sekshi? Yes.  Yes, it would.

You don't say...

So, I guess *SPOILER alert* for anyone who has not seen the show and wishes to.  There are things ahead that you may want to avert your eyes from coming up...

like say, maybe this lovely thing right here...

Or this precious beast.

This was one of the most interesting things in the exhibition.

I mean, really.  Fantastic, yeah?

Perhaps the best part of it all, was the fact that a replica of the Throne was there in all its glory.  Better yet, willing participants could sit on the Throne and have their picture taken.

Those were some fabulous pictures we took but how come everyone was smiling when they got on the Throne? Rule with an iron fist!

Seriously.  Iron.  Fist.

I just don't know what's wrong with fools.

We had a great time and even though I have not yet watched the series and/or read the books, I will still forgive them for dragging me with them for the sake of using me for my camera.  But joke's on them because I ended up getting shitty pictures.  Ha!

Currently: feeling really sleepy.

What Have I Become?

Recently, I started up a new game of The Cave.

As the beautiful, hilarious introduction ended and after I took the time to read through the descriptions of my playable cast of characters, I had no idea what to do next.

Indeed, the game had already started and I was none the wiser.  I opened up the in-game manual and the controls were simple enough but what the heck? "X" did not start my game?!

What sort of shenanigans was this?!

I reached for my phone to see if there was something wrong with me because the Internet has made it so easy to just find a walkthrough and hide any and all embarrassment (well, there is that thing called personal shame but...yeah, no one has to know).

Flash back to last year.

I bought a copy of the Jak & Daxter HD collection because I had to replay that greatness and capture a piece of my youth again.  I loved the series so much, so why not?

Memories are a funny thing.

Or maybe, somehow, I've just grown a little bit dimmer as the years have gone on and my skill which one would think should increase as time goes, actually got dull.

I played through the first Jak & Daxter (the one that still had Daxter in the title.  Psh) and I adored it.  I absolutely loved it this time around.  I remember when I played it back at its release, I was so blown away by parts 2 and 3 of the series! I always thought Part 1 was just okay.

At it's HD release though? I collected every trophy (not a hard task by any means) and genuinely had a fascinating, fun time.

Given that, I booted up the 2nd game (my favourite back in the day) eager to feel that excitement again.  "It's going to be amazeballs!", I thought to myself.

It was anything but.

The controls on the hover devices were a lot harder than I recall.  And I died a lot more than I remember.  And how THE HELL did I manage to do all those blue ring challenges when I was younger? The game suddenly seemed near impossible! In fact, I stopped playing and have yet to go back.

What happened to me?

Who am I?!

With that I bring you back to The Cave.

I figured out what to do and was happily listening to the funny tale and plowing through my game, until I came to the part where I was supposed to throw a hot dog on a spike.

For the life of me, I could not figure out how to throw something.

Umm, what?

Maybe I want to excuse myself and blame it on recent real world stress in my life.

Or maybe I am shamefully admitting that I am no longer the sharpest tool in the shed.

Hi, it's me, Or 2.

And yep, I'm a rubber mallet.

Long Lines and Frozen Digits: The Sacrifices Made in The Year of Luigi

I know better.

I would not say I'm a veteran of standing in lines for launch parties and events at Nintendo World but I've stood in a line for Nintendo on at least four other occasions that I can recall.

I've seen the madness of many of their other lines and hence, I have only myself to blame for cold toes and getting there later than I would have liked, to partake in festivities.

But how can you blame anything on that adorable green-clothed man?

Is there anything in this picture that isn't adorable? Okay, maybe the one-eyed orange ghost thing is uh, questionable at best.

You just can't do it, can you?! Unless you're a Mario Loyalist, in which case, I am judging you.  Did you feel the glint-laden stare? That was all in jest...

...or was it?

None of the first world problem stuff matters though because lines (once you've secured your spot with a wristband that confirms your existence) can be rather fun things.

You meet like-minded people.

You meet crazy people.

You try to think of yourself as not being a crazy person but others may disagree.

But at the end of it all, you get to buy a game a day early and unwrap that new smell and take it up your nostrils.  I'm not sure where else you would take a new smell up into but I typed ridiculousness and so it shall remain.

With your new game in hand that you will probably throw on a backlog because after all these years you're still one of those people who refuses to start something new if you're already involved in another venture (and/or you're one of those people who just can't play multiple games at once), you happily collect your swag and head upstairs for the party.

This being the Year of Luigi (hey...wait, I thought it was the Year of the Snake?!), Nintendo planned something special for the launch of Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon. 

There's something completely amazing about a bunch of Luigis in one room and Nintendo decided to dress us up as the younger, better brother.  Moustaches and Luigi hats were given as the gift for this event with the purchase of the game (and if it's free, it's for me!) because somehow Nintendo knew it would be frickin' hilarious to have a bunch of people in over-sized Luigi hats take over a glass building and spill out into the streets.  Who knew?

There was a video chat with the dashing brother himself and he took questions from fans.  Someone asked him about Sonic and it must have been a hilarious response because the person was in a fit of laughter after the exchange.  I began wondering if Charles Martinet was stuffed in a tiny box behind the visuals so that the conversations could be so on point.

A cutie attendant decked out in a formal butler-type outfit operated the elevator to second floor where games of "Luigi Pictionary" and whatever else (I don't know, I did not stay that long as it was crowded as all hell and had a hungry friend awaiting my return for dinner plans - I was scared she would go all zombie on my face) were taking place.

He lied to me and told me there was some interesting surprise waiting at the top - and yeah, there were quite the number of Luigi folks shouting out their best guesses to some terrible drawings - but I was half expecting a Boo to pop out some place.  He made it seem all so mysterious!

There's a game of Pictionary going on in that sea of green hats.

Alas, disappointed at the sad lack of Boo, I watched the back of green hat heads for a while and then made my way out.  I have no idea what sort of prizes were given out but I hope someone got a Poltergust 5000.

Come now, surely the cutest thing you've ever seen, right?

Later that evening when my friend and I made our way to Grand Central with our Luigi hats on our heads, it was cool when people hailed us out.

"Aye, LUIGI!!!", was a pretty standard response and the sort of respect Luigi deserves.

"What's with the Luigi hats?", we were met with by some suits.

Why not Luigi hats?

It's the Year of Luigi, after all.

Time to party or alternately, go hide in a corner.

Fellow 3DS Cool Kids Met Via Streetpass: Only 26 because I did not clear my system.  Don't forget, I had a hungry friend and a zombie situation on my hands.  I'm sure there were so many more tags to be had.

Currently listening to: "I'll Be Alright" by Passion Pit.  At $2.99 on an Amazon deal, I wanted to know what the fuss was about.  Now I find myself oddly compelled to these almost trashy Euro synth, mix...hipster weirdness.  Not convinced that this album is great though but the catchy sort of songs are exactly the kinda things I need these days.  No worries, I'll go back to torturing myself with some The Black Keys soon enough now that I have that much more of an appreciation than I did just a year ago.

The Ides of March

The Ides of March visited my world one week and one day too early this year.

No, I did not get stabbed by Senators and no, in my dying breath I did not utter a very dramatic "Et Tu, Brute?" but it certainly felt that way when my boss of 9 years hauled my department in for an emergency 1:20 p.m. meeting on March 8th and began the meeting with the news, "It's not good, guys".
It was a gross understatement if ever I heard it.

For the 9 years I've worked at a large law firm in Midtown, I've been at the receiving end of a pay scale that supposedly meets "Industry Standards".  Speaking with colleagues employed in other sectors and other firms confirms that I'm an underpaid peon.  Perhaps it's my fault for staying so long but having a job lulls you into a sense of security.  That cushioned feeling one gets when a steady pay check comes in - enough for bill paying, saving, the occasional concert and maintaining a hobby such as playing video games - is calming.
In the 23 years that the collective 'we' were employed by our client, the news of a filing of bankruptcy took all of 10 seconds to tell and with that, 8 plus people (at least those we know about in our immediate circle) were left with looming unemployment.

The nature of the work has required us to wind down operations and without a fixed end date,  it's been nothing but mixed emotions coming into work every morning knowing that you are hastening the end of your job.

I've heard a lot of advice in the past few weeks:

"Start looking right away!", "Go on vacation, mope around your house for a month then dust yourself off and start looking then." 

"Wait for a severance package!" or quite possibly my favourite today, "Oh...don't rely on a severance package because you're probably not getting one of those that's going to be any more than a 2 week pay check for your almost 10 years of service." 

Well that's completely lovely, isn't it?

These days, I've started noticing a lot more too, now that I am not so self-absorbed.  As I make that death walk to work on mornings, suddenly there seem to be a lot of people with portfolios tucked under their arms.  I whisper "good luck" to them every time I see them under my breath.  It's a little prayer for them and certainly one for myself as I face the same grind in a week or two.

And then there are the moments that I try to be optimistic.

"Well hey, the job provided me the opportunity to buy myself some games.  In between looking I can catch up on that atrocious backlog!"

But my heart has not really been in it.  I've been struggling to play "Breath of Fire IV" amongst other things for the past few weeks and I have the occasional chuckle at some of the dialog but if I can play for more than five minutes at a time, it's a lot. 

I think this is what they call a funk.

Tomorrow though, I am off to pick up my copy of "Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon" at Nintendo World's launch party in NYC.  It was bought on a Christmas credit I had from my very kind sister.

It's probably the last game I will purchase for some while.  So, here's hoping that little green plumber can show me his brave stance against the scary things in this world and give me the courage to go out there and do same.  Well, you know...not become a Ghostbuster (although, any job openings in that field?!) or anything, but some encouragement to stay strong during the tough job hunt would be welcome.

At the very least, I hope he whistles that nervous little tune/theme song as he did in the first game. 

That always cheered me up.

Happy H1's Day

Happy St. Paddy's Day (or whatever it is you people call it)!

In celebration of her own day, H1 bought us some cupcakes.  Hiding within the chocolate muddy frosting were nasty surprises...

...the sort of nasty surprises that one may close their eyes and have nightmares about.

Or perhaps the sort that will have me sleeping with one eye open tonight.

As if these tiny, green hellions are not terrifying as is, what with a third hand growing out of their heads and straight through their hats (a feather in their cap, you say? Look again!), whilst digging their hands into their chests to tear out their hearts, then certainly...

...the "gold pots" clutched under their arms are cause for alarm.  Gold pots? Or children's heads turned to gold?!

Currently: nervously watching my back.

Note to Selves

When the Halal guys at the cart on 53rd and 6th with the famous yellow bags give you a little bit of pepper sauce upon request, do not look at them as though they have lost their ever-loving minds and ask for more.

Just in case my note was not clear enough, remember:

That shit is hot and it almost defeated us.

All I see is red.

And yet, somehow, all I can think about is eating some right now.  

Snowfall in February!

It snowed during the first week of February - enough snowfall to go out there and create an army of Zombie Snowmen (Killer Mutant Snow Goons?), enjoy a snow day building Lego and general laziness.

And I did nothing of the sort!

No zombie army was crafted.  There was no massacre in the front yard, there was no building of Lego Werewolves and Mummies and there was certainly no general laziness.  I recall working from home...

Though, it wasn't all horrible (okay.  It was plenty horrible as Clee was not with us but there's always next year! Despair not!) as H1 and I baked a chocolate cake at the request of work frenemies and I took a few pictures of the snow as it fell and quietly piled up in the early stages on its way to 15 inches.

First up...chocolate cake.  Does it look tasty? No? Well it is.

Only on the first day, right after its baked though.  Or at least that is when it's best.

Next, the snow...

...and the snowy owl.

and snowy bats! Which...you're probably wondering why there are Halloween decorations outside but you'd be wrong to wonder.  Halloween is always in the HOchieS' hearts.  Deal.

with snowy bird houses.  (No birds were inside during the time this picture was taken - actually no birds are in here, ever.)

now with more twigs!

and berries.

And flower buds that have no business being around.  What?

Some trees that don't look like much.

Okay, and this little guy.  A bud that charmed me.  He's an acceptable Winter bud.  Not like that other thing that was the remnants of a rose. 

So that was Snow in February for you.  We've not had too much in terms of major snow falls.  We have had dustings and a couple of inches here and there but really, it's been a decent winter for us.  Not so much for others but let me not talk as we're still in Winter for another few weeks and there's talk of snow on Wednesday.

I'm sure H1 will thank me to shut my pie hole.

Currently listening to: "Selene" by Imagine Dragons.  Can't quite figure them out yet.  The Killers influenced? Las Vegas as they may claim? I don't know.  I halfway like them for their halfway good album with a halfway mess on the rest of it.

Fail in February

I came across a decent idea: Four In February.

The idea being to play and finish four games in February as a step towards ending the backlog of video game shame most of us who play games have.  The criteria could extend to games you've already started and if you finished it in February, it'd count towards your overall total.

Indeed! I do have a backlog... a shameful one, H1 might reckon.

I did not make the "four in February" but in my defense, I play a lot of JRPGs and well, as anyone who knows these sort of things, JRPGS tend to take a lifetime to finish.

So, I failed.  But, not really!

I *finished* Persona 4 The Golden (*have to get the true ending but you know, 83 plus hours later, I'm considering myself just about done).

I finished Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask.

I finished Little Inferno.

So, see? I did not fare too poorly.  Right?!

With March soon upon us, I am plugging through a few more.  What to play portable wise?

Hmmm... 

Suggestions? Anyone? From this list?

Paper Mario: Sticker Star
Lumines
Freshly Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland
Ace Attorney 2
Fire Emblem: Awakening
Resident Evil Revelations
Dragon Quest VI

Now, keep in mind I have to finish whatever I start by March 24th.  Why? Because Luigi's Mansion 2 comes out and...it's Luigi.

Don't judge me.

February Exists

Or rather, The HOchieS exist!

We do!

It's just that...one of us has been slacking on writing up anything and since that one is me (Or 2), well...yeah.  I was trying to confuse you for a second.  Did it work?!

Even though she has not read it yet, I can feel H1 glaring at me.  How odd...

Anyway, a bunch of things happened in February...like food outings, NYC's Restaurant Week (which I actually think I attended in January) and birthdays.

Oh...the Birthdays I have missed chronicling.  I take pride in my slacker behaviour and why shouldn't I?!

What's that? It's probably in my best interest to stop slacking because H1 will buss my ass? Yeah...you speak only the truth, Brain. 

Getting back from that muddied mess of text, here are the Birthdays that we did not write on the blog and should have.  Shame me.

February 2nd - Papa HOchie's Birthday! Yep.  Pretty much should hang my head in shame.  Mhm.  Mhm.

February 18th - 1st Year Birthday of Baby ZBoos.  Yep.  Extra shame with my shame. 

February 24th - Alex Friend's Birthday.  Atlantic City shamed her which in turn shamed me by keeping us poor.

February 25th - MC's Birthday.  Do I feel shamed? No, not particularly.  Hahahahaha.

So, there you have it.  All those other things I mentioned previously that "happened" in February, you will just have to wait on those.  It won't be another 3 weeks until I post!

...one can hope.

Currently: feeling ashamed.

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Happy New Year, everyone!!!

It's the Year of the Snake.

What does that mean exactly? I'm not sure exactly but I'm sure a quick Google search could reveal much.  Since I'm just half-Chinese, I'm going to half-ass this greeting and not even look it up for you guys.

Have a good year, all!

Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit. Hare, Hare, Hare.

What? I missed wishing all good luck yesterday when it was the 1st day of the month?! Hey, it's the first day of the month some where in the world, right?  RIGHT?!

Well, I wished it in my heart for everyone yesterday.  I just did not make a grand announcement.

That's all!

So umm, good luck all.

My well-intentions today are the same as they are yesterday.  If for some reason you have some sort of ...debacle happen this month, don't blame me.

Blame Persona 4: The Golden.

Heh.  Heh.

...

Heh?

The Legend of Zelda Symphony That I Dragged H1 To

Yep, it was some time in November when I dragged a poor, little H1 to that thing.

November 28th to be exact.

Much like our trip to the Final Fantasy Distant Worlds Symphony in April of 2011, there were people dressed up as their favourite characters but the best I saw had to have been the awesome tribute someone did as a Skull Kid from the best of the Zelda games (which of course is Mask of Majora).

However, unlike our trip to Distant Worlds, this Symphony was vastly different and not in a terribly positive way either.

The Highlights

1.  In celebration of the 25th Anniversary of The Legend of Zelda, the good people at Nintendo crafted this entire tour featuring the music of the fantastic Zelda series.  It was the same for the 25th Anniversary of Final Fantasy and I couldn't be happier.  Both series shaped the type of games I enjoy playing now, and gave me a greater appreciation for music of its kind.  I'm sure I spoke at length before about my adoration of one Nobuo Uematsu but he's not the only one to thank.  The great Koji Kondo, composer to the Zelda series helped create the tone and indeed, the world of Hyrule and beyond.  The fact that the opportunity was afforded to be in attendance to hear musical genius realized by a full orchestra is a highlight enough.

2.  I saw Stephen Totilo and Jason Schreier of Kotaku at my show! They sat one row in front of me but more to the left of me but not too far away that I couldn't hail them.

3.  The music was played absolutely beautifully.  The orchestra sounded better than at Distant Worlds and the acoustics at the Theater at MSG were quite lovely.

4.  The scenes accompanying the music from the various games in the Zelda series was well-thought out and put together.

5.  Ending the Symphony with music from The Mask of Majora? That's a damned plus right there even if it almost felt like an after thought.

6.  Whhhhaaaaa...??!! Conducting the Orchestra with the Wind Waker baton? I see what you did there...

Well-played (and I see what I did there).

7.  I would have rioted had "Lost Woods" not been played.  They're lucky... 

The Lowlamps

1.  This is not so much the music but the Theater at Madison Square Garden.  It's not that nice, which is sad.  It sounded great but it was not that comfortable.

2.  I did not shout out to Totilo and Jason at Kotaku.  I was playing Woobeewoo in that, "I'm shy".  It also meant I did not get to tag them in Streetpass.  It also made me miss Crecente.

3.  The Symphony itself while it sounded fantastic, as H1 rightly observed, it was not as fun.  This was not really the fault of the music selection though maybe that could be part of it but it was very much due to the fact that the musicians did their job and that was to read sheet music.  It was not played with feeling and there was no investment on their part into what was being performed.  At the very least in Distant Worlds the musicians truly had a keen interest in what was going on and the interactions from the crowd.  It made the FF concert that much more lively while this one suffered from a lack of personality.

4.  Musically, the song selections while not...horrendous, there was a lot overlooked and could easily have been included to make it not as somber as it felt at times.  I did not mind the inclusion of many of the Ganondorf battle music but what about the exploration? Some of it was there but not a lot...fantastic dungeon music, forest temples, and even some of the other minor bosses' music was overlooked.  Any piece of boss music (save Ganondorf) from Wind Waker would have made the whole thing so much more entertaining.

It was a fun night overall, except for the fact I failed to get a blasted ocarina at the shop which was a complete mob scene.  It was one thing to not get an ocarina but it sold out right before I could have ordered and sold to some woman who did not even want to really buy one.  ::sigh:: Such is life, I suppose.  And maybe it was Karma paying me back for having the "opportunity" to order a Virtue's Last Reward pre-order bonus thing.  I don't know.  Let's not talk about it.

I think H1 had a decent time and I think it's safe to say these crazy Video Game Symphonies won't be happening again any time soon.  Awww, that kinda makes me sad...Ah well.  Maybe next 25 years...

Awww, friends.

Fellow 3DS Cool Kids Met Via Streetpass: It was probably over 60 and it could have been more too, if not for my not wanting to leave my seat.

Currently listening to: "Magick" by Klaxons