Not quite Seattle

In previous posts, we referenced a nerdgasm of sorts: Battlestar Galactica and Mass Effect together at last. A TV show we enjoy and a video game we're looking forward to. The only hitch... to participate we need to get to Auburn, Washington, just a half hour south of Seattle.

Road trip, anyone?

The special showing was on Monday, November 12... that involved taking a day off on Tuesday to drive home. We would have left on the Saturday, but we had tickets to another geek-fest, Video Games Live, which was brilliant and we couldn't miss it since we'd bought tickets more than six months prior.

So we (Natalie, Daorcey, Vanessa and Tony) left at 6am Sunday morning for a 14 hour drive through BC to hop the USA-Canada border in Abbotsford. It was a fun trip that involved visiting Tony's dad in near Salmon Arm and listening to too many hobo names courtesy of John Hodgman.

Snow, mountain roads and Tony's had enough of us already.

Coming up on the new mountain pass near Golden. It's pretty amazing.

Crossing the border was a little interesting. I've never driven across the border before, so I was a little nervous. When the American border agent asked me what we were planning to do, my response was that we were driving to Auburn from Calgary to watch a made-for-TV movie two weeks before it's release date... on tv. Not only did he look a little incredulously at us, he responded with "you know, that's a pretty lame excuse to be coming to the United States."

What do you say to that? I mean, it's not like his statement was incorrect.

"Yeah, I see what you mean," I responded. And then he let us through. I guess people wouldn't make up such a sad reason to cross the border.

The hotel was nice (as nice as can be when you're being cheap and making four people share two beds... I may have kneed Tony in the back) and we spent all of Monday shopping at a sad mall (the largest in the northwestern United States... meh) and waiting in line for the EVENT.

The mall had a seating area with giant bacon! Natalie was excited.

And this is where I rant: I won't complain about the trip... the road trip was nice, the company was good and no one was seriously injured. But as far as the "Battlestar Event" went, it was a non-event. Granted, they probably didn't intend for giant geeks like us to drive down from Calgary, but someone at Microsoft or SciFi or whoever was in charge could have tried a bit harder.

We started lining up (front of the line, baby!) to register our attendance at 3:30pm. At 5pm, we were registered and moved to another line where we would stay until 6:30pm. The theatre employees had no idea what was going on and even had an argument with the single (!) event coordinator (a contractor who wasn't keen to let me know who was paying the bills... fine, do your job) over where to put the lineup of 100+ people (most who made me feel rather young... didn't expect that, but I guess I'm not the only target market for BSG). Tony left us in the line while he went to go watch another movie for free... there was nothing else to do anyway.

When we were eventually let into the theatre, we sat watching the same 2-minute music and logo loop over and over again until the movie started. And the fanfare? Well, there was none. The event manager (not joined by two assistants who didn't seem to know what was going on either) told us to enjoy the movie and then let the movie role. It was rather underwhelming.

Now, I don't think I had unreasonable expectations. I mean, a fairly significant tv show and an equally significant video game (see the Globe and Mail review) are having a co-sponsored event. Maybe there'll be a special preview, maybe some swag, maybe a special message from the creators of either product... something... anything. But, no. Instead we are treated in a way that feels a lot like "watch your stupid geek movie, enjoy the uncomfortable companionship of other sad fan bois and grls, here's a series of ads you can see on TV... sucker".

And we even made special t-shirts.

Vanessa's t-shirt design

I'm still glad we did it. It was a fun, spontaneous trip that involved some cross-border shopping with good company and a bit of geekiness thrown in. And the drive (when it was light out) was pretty nice.

Here we are at a gorge/dam in east Washington... I'm sure it has a name... Natalie's not in any of our shots.

Here's the gorge in panoramic view. Click for large image.

I might still write a letter to someone at Microsoft recommending they try a little harder next time they host and event to promote a new game, music machine, etc. How Canadian, eh?

And I will make an effort to NEVER drive through Montanan mountain passes in the dark and snow again.

Back in Blogland

Hey, remember me? I'm the guy who use to write stories about random stuff like poo ponds and embarrassing client meetings.

I've been away for a while. Not like out-of-the-city away, more like too-tired-to-care away. Since September, it seems like we've gone out of our way to ignore the blog. It's as if just yesterday Natalie went to Sudbury. Well, a couple of things have happened to keep us away:

a) It's like I've never really worked before now. I've been at the new job for just over six months and I've been getting busier and busier. Don't tell my old boss, but I'm pretty sure I was a total slacker at the old job now that I know what I can do when a bunch of projects are hurled my way. It only promises to get busier in the near future with fewer coworkers and lot more work. Trust me, I'm less interested in popping on the computer in the evening to blog away when I've been writing all day at work.

b) I was thinking that maybe I've had a less interesting life in the past while, but that's not really true. A spontaneous weekend to Auburn WA, a heating system that is currently locked on to be permanently 27 degrees, new shoes that I promise to never wear outside... there are stories to tell... I just need to get to them...

c) Oh, did I mention our new addition to the family? Following Natalie's triumphant return from the east, we promptly ran to the local electronics story and purchased and Xbox 360. Bioshock, Gears of War, Halo 3, Orange Box... if we have free time, we've been spending it with ol' Boxy.

Which brings me to why I'm back in blogland: Mass Effect.

Dang you, Arone, for helping to make a game so cool that Natalie and I plan to devote much of our waking lives to it over the next few months! Boxy's going to get a workout with this one.

The problem with this new game is that we're both excited about it, but it's only a single player role playing game. With a plot line that promises to be oh-so-cool, we can't bare to be spoiled on it by watching the other person play. So, I've graciously let Natalie have the first crack at the 50+ hour game while I hide out trying my best to not be spoiled on the story. That means, I have to avert my eyes as I walk through the living room and generally keep hidden while Natalie's making her way through a brave new world.

The best way to keep my head down? Hide in the office with the computer (the "second bedroom" space we affectionately call The Kids' Room).

And that's how I've come to be on the blog reinvesting in my online presence (Facebook doesn't count... I can't be bothered enough to make it work). There are stories to tell, and for the next month, Boxy is Natalie's buddy and effectively dead to me. Maybe I'll let you in on why we went down to the states... maybe I'll tell you why I have the window open beside me right now even though there's a touch of snow on the ground...

Maybe I'll finally play Knights of the Old Republic II, even thought it's decidedly an awful sequel to another brilliant Bioware game.

I'm back. Fire up Radio 3 and let's surf the net as though I'm single and trolling for human contact.

Nerdgasm Update

So we're going.

Yeah, that's right, we spontaneously decided to drive to Seattle to catch the below-mentioned geekfest. As Battlestar Galactica and Mass Effect collide, we simply couldn't miss out. The tickets are booked, new tires are on the car and we're making plans for the ultimate geek roadtrip with Vanessa and Tony in the car with us.

Wow.

Photos (and maybe explanations for why we've been so silent on the blog) will follow next week.

Huzzah!