Sharon and I headed to Rosemont, IL this past weekend. While there, we did a number of things: rented a G35 Sedan and somehow forgot to take a picture of it, stayed at a Westin, went to Medieval Times, took the train into Chicago, ate at Mike Ditka's Restaurant and DRANK FOOTBALL BEER, went up in the Hancock Observatory and saw Chicago, took a death-defying nap, saw a Maseratti, consumed one of the best steaks ever at Morton's The Steakhouse, took the G35 into Chicago and shopped at some rubbish places, turned Sharon onto an awesome game, and lastly ate at a Chili's in Chicago O'Hare.

While all that was fun, the pinnacle of the entire trip was going to the Rosemont Theater to see Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy (pic!).

The concert was amazing. It's the second Nobuo Uematsu/Final Fantasy concert that I've been fortunate enough to attend (the first was in Atlanta in 2005). I failed to post a review in 2005 after seeing the first show (Dear Friends) because I don't have the vocabulary or the creativity to really describe how wonderful the event was. This experience was just as wonderful, during the concert, but even sweeter afterwards because I paid a little extra for the hot-shit tickets that got me a CD of the music (recorded by the Royal Stockholm Philharmoic Orchestra), a super-high quality program book, AND I got to meet Nobuo Uematsu (the composer) and Arnie Roth (the conductor):



I wasn't as starstruck as I suspected I might be, but the experience was definitely enhanced since I was able to meet him, give him my gratitude, get an autograph, and capture the experience digitally ensuring I won't forget it.

I also took some videos of the show. If you can stand the sound quality, enjoy the Terra Theme.