Day Two Hundred and Thirty-Five - NerdFest 2008

This highly nerdy thing came oh-so-very close to not happening at all. I was out volunteering my time @ LifeBeat 2008 - which was being held to benefit Geneva Centre and things carried on a bit longer than what I had originally planned. I placed a highly-charged call to Joseph and we decided to make a break for it and see if we could catch the tail end of what he dubbed NerdFest 2008. And we made it [well, I made it 25 minutes before Joseph] - we saw Video Games Live! For those of you not in the know [and to be honest I'm not sure why you would be] Video Games Live is an event where video game music is performed by a full symphony orchestra. This event was free and on @ Dundas Square - which also marks the first time that I spent time @ Dundas Square. This location is tacky, visually horrific, a Times-Square-wannabe, a hideous assault on one's senses...and potentially a very good place to get shot.

The performance was very good - it's quite overwhelming to hear music like that [orchestra music I mean] - it's so loud and powerful. And truly, one has not lived until one has heard the Mario theme music played by someone who is very likely classically trained in piano or holds a PhD in music or something. The turn-out was huge - which is why my photos are from so far away. It was really very good though - even though I wasn't familiar with the songs, they really sold it [and they show the animated bits of the video games on a big screen behind the orchestra]. Also - I got to see Fratty [aka Tommy Tallarico] - he is one of the creators of Video Games Live and also co-hosts/produces this silly video game review show that I like to watch to see him bicker with Nerdy [see - they are Nerdy and Fratty] and to get all riled up about ridiculous things [reminds me of me, even though we don't agree on most things]. In short, I would definitely pay money for this - I think crossover culture things like this are superneat. Also, if I saw this @ a better venue not only would the acoustics be better...there might not be nerds threatening me with their lightsabres.





Also - for the first time ever - please enjoy exclusive [ummm - unless you are familar with YouTube] VIDEO of Video Games Live. This is One-Winged Angel - which is the grande finale song in Final Fantasy VII - making it quite infamous to hardcore nerds and casual nerds [like me - which...yes, I have not finished the game yet - but keep watching this space]. And that's Fratty on guitar. No images of the game because everyone and their mother is familiar with it and it was the special encore. [sorry - video won't work - I will need my IT department to investigate]