Sort of a conglomerated post of several outings, starting with my most recent one: Final Fantasy Distant Worlds concert, a motorcycle toy drive, and a tour of our new 2010 Olympics store!
It’s very rare that I go out these days, being the shut-in that I am. So it’s a bit refreshing to actually step out of the house to go somewhere. Thanks to my wife, I actually get to breathe some outside air, and get some sunlight.
More photos after the jump!
The concert was amazing. It’s not the first time I’ve ever been to a concert. And I have been to an orchestrated concert before at UBC, but never have I been to one of these. I’d have to say that this is very much more a “real” concert to me than anything. Absolutely incredible experience.
What’s also cool was that my wife actually recognized half of the music, even though she’s never played any FF games before. 😀
One of the bass players. Look at the seriousness of it all!
Moments before the concert was about to start. The excitement was definitely building up!
The upper balcony of the Orpheum Theater. An absolutely breathtaking sight that could not be properly captured on my crappy little PAS.
The beautiful chandelier that hung above the entire theater. The illustrations around it are amazing.
So what better way to show it than through a youtube video of where I was sitting?
[pro-player]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itUc_2AV38c[/pro-player]
The tuning seconds before the concert started:
[pro-player]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovdgDirkE8U[/pro-player]
I couldn’t take any more videos or photographs after that. The front row is more susceptible to angry staff members telling you to turn off your camera.
So here’s a video of the Stockholm concert of To Zanarkand:
[pro-player]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0pj-Bhvvzk[/pro-player]
A screen shot of the VSO website. It was a sold out show! Every single seat in the house was taken. They even had these makeshift seats out too! A few days before, there was still about 10 seats left.
A synopsis of the show. Quite amazing. Ticket prices seemed reasonable to me, I think. For that kind of experience, it seemed worth it. The cheaper tickets were definitely cheap!
The one thing I am glad to have taken home with me is the Distant Worlds CD. This moment is captured for eternity just minutes before I open the shink-wrap. They also had an “art book” and a T-shirt. The shirt was a bit too nerdy for me, and didn’t really look that great. The art book was just a flimsy thing with a couple of illustrations per FF game. For $30, I can get a REAL art book.
Tifa Lockhart approves of this concert.
No Final Fantasy concert is complete without the obligatory FFVI opera scene. This rare statue was obtained a long long time ago.
This ticket validates my existence. Row1 Seat 37. Sitting right next to the Concert Master of the night. She was absolutely amazing to watch. I must say, watching Nodame Cantibile definitely helped me in understanding the major roles of an orchestra!
Incidentally, my Yuffie figure arrived the next morning. Oh how I have searched for this one. Review in the future, perhaps.
And now for something different – It’s the Vancouver Toy Drive. Motorcycles from all over Vancouver drive through delivering toy donations. I’m always amazed at seeing the variety of motorcycles and cars, and their intricate detailing, much like how I admire figures.
That dude is scary, but friendly at the same time. I love the horns on that helmet.
Teddy bear tied to the front and back is so cute!
Hardcore east indian crew know how to ride.
Here they come! The entire street going in one direction was closed off.
Angel wings. Yes. The Yosamite Sam is nice too.
A higher up shot. This was zoomed in with my new 18-200mm lens! XD
Lots of bikes. This is at 18mm. You see that intersection up ahead?
This is at 200mm at that intersection above. There are A LOT of bikes.
That’s my wife waving hello to you, my readers! 🙂
Military bike FTW!
Tricycle. It looks so cool!
Greetings from Canada!
It seems early, but that’s what this Toy Drive is for – Xmas.
This dude knows how to ride.
The guy on the bicycle joining in with Santa!
This is win.
The end of the parade with a couple of classic cars. I LOVE these cars!
Bad-ass Deathproof-mobile.
Bad-ass cop car.
Finally, I went to the new Olympic Store set up by The Hudson’s Bay Company. I can’t wait until the 2010 olympics!
Very cute children’s watches with my two favorite mascots.
The entire store is HUUUUUUUGE. There’s so much stuff that you can buy, and it’s all very nicely decorated.
Pay premium pricing for a sticker on your SD card!
Honestly, the only reason I would have for buying that maple syrup is the cute mascot. Cute Miga is cute.
This is “the back corner” where all the good deals are. I got a full jogging outfit for $80! And it’s really good quality and style for that price!
A replica of our Olympic torch. It’s done by Birks Jewelers. A whopping $295 CAD!
Other neat little mascot goodies!
My wife models the official Olympic mittens. EVERYONE is going to wear these. They’re cheap, feel good, and is an excellent way of representing our city. Even the news channels are promoting it as a must-have. And yes, we bought a pair.
These are cute.
One of the many cashier registers.
If that Olympic torch replica doesn’t suit you, you can spend your $300 on this sweater. WTF.
Another cash register.
The biggest mascot stuffed toys I have ever seen. Miga’s definitely my favorite – nyoron~.
That photoshop I did of myself looks a little creepy. ha ha ha.
Yeah, sorry. Had to block my wife out. 😛
I love the mascots. They’re so cute.
keychains!
A tube full of Muk-Muk toys! Muk-Muk is the mascot sidekick. Is he like, the first ever “Olympic Mascot Sidekick”?
Mascot dispensers!
This was a nice little cafe in the store. Very good idea jumping in on the cash grab. They actually serve food here too!
They’re expecting that when the Olympics hits, this store will be jam packed with at least 1000 people a day. That’s a lot of people, so I’m glad I managed to get a “preview” tour of it before everyone else does.
I also had an older outing that I wanted to mash with this one post, but it’s already gotten WAY too long. I apologize for all the crazy scrolling. I do hope you enjoyed the photos though!
Read more!
I remember when I found out about the FF concert in Frisco, two weeks earlier and they were sold out. I cried tears of blood that day ;_; I hope they make another tour around here in a couple of years.
Wow the Olympics is such a big deal, even though I don’t really give a damn ^^U I guess I’ve never been the sporty type unless it involves some manly friendship and training uselessly against the ocean (watched too much captain tsubasa lol)
It looks pretty cool to have a bunch of oldie badass bikers participate in a toy donation, I’d feel motivated to donate some too! XD (besides gawking at the sweet sweet bikes. I’m a bit of a sucker for them ever since playing Full Throttle)
OMG! Sorry to hear that you missed your chance at the concert. I do hope they do more concerts, so there could be another chance.
The Olympics is overrated in my opinion. It’s not a boon to the city, it’s a liability. There are so many financial problems, geographical and environmental problems, and minority groups complaining about stuff, it’s ridiculous. The only thing I like about our Olympics really, are the mascots. :3
It’s really tough for the athletes. They work really really hard, and it definitely is inspiring to see some of these people half my age who are so much more confident than I am. I definitely need to work on rethinking my life!
Full Throttle… ah… those were the days. I never actually played it, but I’ve played many other Lucasarts games. I really wanted to play it when it first came out, but I had no money, and my computer sucked.
Really too bad you missed it =/
I remember playing Full Throttle… but I was bad at problem solving that I had to use online walkthroughs XD
dude, I LOVE those point and click games. I wish there were more nowadays.
Nice, I wish a FF concert would play where I live. Front row must have been pretty awesome (though proof is in the video :P). Did you buy the seats months in advance? How much did they cost if you don’t mind saying?
I had originally signed up for the newsletter, and then when they announced ticket sales were open, I went and bought that very morning. However, it did take a while before the good seats were taken (like a few weeks). There were still a handful of seats available the week of the concert.
I paid $65 (x2 since my wife went too). The pricing is in one of the images I posted above.
Looks like a fun couple of days you got there!
ha ha indeed!
Awesome how you manage to do so much cool stuff in so few days in Oct =) I don’t even think I’ve had anything so exciting in the past 6 mths lol. But definitely these outings are always a welcome change from a shut-in life, though sadly my change of pace is pretty much just limited to meetups and dinner with friends.
Can’t say I’m too psyched about the Olympics as well, though definitely the mascots are helluva cute. I see them around but I’ve never actually held one up to verify, but I hear the plushies are pretty expensive -_-; That true?
I definitely have my wife to thank for dragging me out to these outings, otherwise I’d be at home all day. The summer months had proved it – I had all the chance the whole summer to hit the beach and enjoy the sun, yet not a single day did I go do that. I kinda regret it now, but well, I never seem to change. Next year will be the same. 😛
The mascots are definitely overpriced. At the same time, that extra money is what you pay for sentimentality and other emotional strings attached. After this Olympics, the only things you’ll have to remember it by are the cute little mascots. I think that’s worth the price.
The good thing is that there are three different sizes for your budget – the small UFO-size ones, the standard plush size ones, and the mega-huge “I’ve got money to burn” ones shown in the photos.
That’s a snazzy theatre! ^^ For some reason I just love being inside pretty theatres xD
Yeah, I like it cuz it looks so old and victorian. ^^
Harro mai waifu
LOL
Nyahaha I had the honour of seeing your unblurred wife’s face, lol XD But then she also got to meet Mr. Disastrous Room ^^;;;
It was totally a fun concert. My brother knew some of the songs as well since I played a lot of them in the car when we went on outings ^_^
Heheh funny thing about the Olympic mascots when they first came out. Quatchi is short for Sasquatch, but when I first heard it, it sounds like “kuaci” which means sunflower/watermelon seeds that you eat in Indonesian language XD
^^ Dear friends are always welcome to see my wife. 🙂
The versions of the songs you played in your car, original OST or arranged orchestra?
Sounds to me like you go out more often than I do! 😉
When the mascots first came out, I had no idea who’s name was who’s. lol. The only one I remembered was Muk-Muk. (I still smile to myself when I say that name).
It’s interesting how certain sounding names mean different things in different languages. It’s like the first emperor or whatever of Hawaii is named Kamehameha. I was floored when I first learned that (I was pretty young then, and it was the DBZ generation). Pretty wicked to share the same name as a super move.
I used to play just the original OST, but if I bought ones that are arranged then it goes in there too ^^ LoL maybe I do, but during my WoW days, I was a total shut-in XD
I only remember Quatchi because of the sasquatch thing AND the similar language thing, heheh. Right now I only remember Sumi as the flying bear thingy. They’re uber cute adorable for sure though. I’d love to get one of the plushies ^^;
Heheh, it’s the other way around for Kamehameha XD But yea, I remember I was shouting that out loud during my younger days and my dad/mom mentioned about the Hawaiian king, lol.
I used to love playing original scores, but after a while, I kinda grew out of it, and want to listen to orchestra versions better. Mostly Jpop and Kpop go in my car and of course, Michael Jackson. 🙂
Quatchi, Sumi, and my favorite sea bear Miga. :3 I have all three, plus the side-kick Muk Muk. SO CUTE!!!
KAMEHAMEHAAAAAAAA!!!!! BSSSSHHHHH!!!!
Wow, never knew something this big was around Vancouver… if it was only available here in Toronto T_T
For the next set of templates to cover faces, you can use the Laughing Man face?? ^_^ Or you can try the warning signs from Seto no Hanayome…
yeah, I thought about laughing man. It seems a little bit too intrusive though.
I actually liked that thing you covered your face with! It almost made you look like a muppet or something out of Wallace and Gromit XD
ha ha I’m still creeped out by it. I don’t think I’ll do that anymore. I’ll try to paint a less creepy expression next time.
You get to go to a Final Fantasy concert! I’ve always wanted to go to one! How nice is that to be able to go to one, and in such a posh looking theatre too!
It was a pretty unreal experience, that’s for sure! It’s my first time in that theater, even though I’ve lived in Vancouver all my life. ^_^
Eh really? So I guess you didn’t go to Video Games Live then?
Unfortunately no… I missed out on that one. 🙁
Nice experience.. makes me wonder why NYC never seems to have Final Fantasy music concerts… well there was the video game concert.. but still.. Nice pictures.
Thanks for posting all those Vancouver Olympics mascots pictures. I’ve been looking for something like this because there’s a lack of Olympic merchandise here in Toronto. The most I’ve seen are pins and a few giant plushes that are out of my budget. It’s a real shame; they’re really cute and I’m sure they would be immensely popular. Keep posting!
BTW love the Photoshop work on your face 8D from the thumbnail it looks like you stuck pieces of paper on your face.