Backflip

This past weekend I had the very enjoyable experience of watching Wicked the musical at the Schuster Center in Dayton. If you recall a post in December I was pretty underwhelmed by the the Broadway performance of a Broadway Holiday. And while I took Josh’s words to heart and decided to like Wicked no matter what I was still a bit worried it would not live up to my expectations.

However, the play met my expectations quite early in the night and then proceeded to blow up my expectation meter and go into the stratosphere. It was amazin’!

Before I get into why I greatly enjoyed the musical let me start off by telling you of my weekend and the events leading up to the big night. Friday was pretty typical at work and once I got home my roomate Dan helped me replace a headlight on my Mazda (driver side bulb burned out). I thought this was going to be a 5 min. project but it turned out to be more complicated than I had expected and turned into about 45 min. worth of tinkering. Thankfully Dan is very knowledgeable about cars so we were able to replace it and it’s working great.

That night I met some peeps at Sakai to eat some delicious sushi and they all wandered over to the house to play some Street Fighter IV and Castle Crashers on the XBox 360 (play and watch would be a more correct description). It was a great night. However I got a little carried away and didn’t end up going to sleep till around 2 a.m. Which is pretty late. I was also volunteering at Carillon Park on Sat. morning as an interpreter (tour guide) and I had to be there at 9 so this wasn’t the wisest of all decisions. Just to clarify, this was not a LARPing event as SOME people like to think.

This was realized pretty early on Saturday morning when I was 1/2 way to the Park (it’s located near downtown Dayton) and I realized I had forgotten my ticket to Wicked. Since I was planning on volunteering till 5, grabbing dinner at 6 and catching the show at 8 this was very problematic since I would have no time to run back up to Troy to get my ticket. So I turned around to pick up my ticket causing me to be late to the park. Thankfully the volunteer coordinators are not strict and since the park doesn’t officially open till 9:30 I still made it at a decent time.

Interpreting was great, the park has a ton of cool artifacts and buildings and it’s great taking groups through and talking about the history and people who put Dayton on the map. Most famous are the Wright Brothers and we actually have the original (not a replica) Wright Flyer III which was the first plane to be perfected by the Brothers. It’s pretty neat stuff.

After leaving the park I headed to Thai 9 to meet some friends from work for a delicious Thai meal. At this point I was a little worried my decision to stay up so late the night before would have a negative effect on the upcoming show. I had a mild headache and was feeling quite sleepy. However, after a tasty meal and a few Coke’s I was ready to go. We headed off to Wicked grabbing our seats mere moments before the awesomeness that is the show began.

Just being in the theatre caused great excitement and once the musical started I was completely hooked and greatly enjoyed the next 3 hours. The actors pulled the audience into their story and were amazing in their acting, singing and presentation. The special effects were way cool and flowed flawlessly. I won’t go into the story so as to not spoil it for anyone planning on seeing it but it was very witty, funny, epic and education all while being extremely enjoyable. I can’t quite describe how I felt, but I didn’t want the show to end and was actually ready to just campout in the theatre until the next show so I could watch it again. Unfortunately common sense prevailed on Saturday night and I ended up goin home and goin to bed.

I would highly recommend this musical to anyone so inclined to such things. It’s quite a show and one that won’t leave you disappointed.

Having seen a show that flows and fits I’m excited for Phantom of the Opera which hits sometime in the next few months. I think musicals are a form of storytelling that impacts me the most and it’s great to be caught up in the music and story. I know Wicked will be staying on my playlists for quite a while.

A lot has happened in the past month. As the title suggests I have joined a Dojo, bought an XBox 360 and installed a fin on my car.

Let’s start with the Dojo. It’s called the Gi Yu Dojo (http://www.giyudojo.com/index.html) and it is lead by Sandhu Sensei and has been a great experience for me. Not only do I get to learn sweet ninja moves (we study the Kobudo) but the ideals of the Dojo are on improving as a person and benefiting the community. Two activities that I greatly enjoy.

In the short month that I’ve studies there I have picked up one arching idea. It is to be aware. The word Zanshin describes it perfectly. Zanshin means maintaining a state of total awareness. Before you jump to conclusions let me first tell you I am terrible at this technique. The little time I’ve spent thinking about it has shown me how often I do not pay attention to what is going on around me. Whether it’s driving in the car, walking around the office, or just sitting in my home I am happily oblivious to events that are going on around me. So little by little I’m starting to pay attention to the world I live in, and it’s been very eye opening (get it?).

Not only am I realizing how much I miss by zoning out but I feel much more secure and competent since I know what is going on around me and can react in a proper manner. It’s a little thing, paying attention, but it can have vast benefits if taken seriously.

Onto the XBox 360. For those of you who do not know, it is Microsoft’s gaming console. It’s in direct competition with Nintendo and Sony’s offerings (such as the Wii and Play Station 3). The XBox decision was a long one one at which I did not arrive at easily. It was a tossup between buying a new gaming laptop, since my current one is 3 years old and can’t play my new games, or getting a dedicated gaming machine. After weighing the pros and cons, the prices, the expected benefits and bugging a bunch of my friends about their ideas I went with the XBox.

Having had the machine for a few weeks now I am still very happy with my purchase. It’s everything I expected and more. Games run flawlessly and the controller adds a new dimension to gaming that is more enjoyable (at the time) than a keyboard and mouse. Another tangible benefit is the XBox is a great party machine where multiple people can play at the same time in the same place. While my game selection is currently slim (LEGO Batman and Street Fighter 4), I plan on expanding it in the near future.

I plan on picking up Rock Band (3?) and I have my eye on a few other games that are good for groups. If you know me, you may be wondering how I play my XBox since I do not own a TV. This was factored into the decision and while a TV is necessary for most XBox players, I find the machine and games so intuitive that I don’t need one to play and enjoy it.

Heh heh. Ok, that was very untrue. What actually happened is that my roommate Dan picked up a TV from a friend at a great deal. I feel quite ridiculous talking about it since it’s quite a beast, 52″ HD rear projection screen behemoth that we stuck in the basement. It was way larger than the machine I was contemplating purchasing but I’m not complaining. We have no plans to get cable so the screen is being used for gaming and movies (which the XBox can play).

So far it’s working out great and it has completely changed the space in our basement, making it a great hangout place.

Boy, I sure write a bunch once I get goin.

Last topic, a fin for my car (Mazda 3). That’s right. I am the proud owner of an AquaCar – Cars that can navigate underwater. While that would be quite interesting I will say I have very little use for an AquaCar (if they exist) and my fin is much more practical. It acts as a radio antenna. It replaced my tail antenna on my car and looks quite spiffy. My dad and brother helped install it last night and it’s stayed on all day (even with the snow) so I hope it stays that way. I haven’t taken any pics yet but will try to post some once I do.

Besides that, life is just peachy. Can’t wait to see what the future has in store.