After spending most all day on a plane I've made the trip back across the country as E3 closes shop. It's always sad to leave and return to the real world, mostly because there are few opportunities in the real world to spend the day playing video games, writing about video games, talking about video games, and daydreaming about video games. At least if one hopes to hold down a 9-5 day job, anyways. After the E3 media center closed down on Friday most of us from the AMN team took a ride out to the Hollywood Bowl to see and hear the Los Angeles Philharmonic perform some of the most memorable movie themes from the history of cinema. Selections included pieces from Ben Hur, Gone with the Wind, Lawrence of Arabia, Superman, Star Wars, Catch Me If You Can, and, of course, Raiders of the Lost Ark. Famed composer John Williams was on hand to conduct the performance. It was a perfect end to a spectacular week of big fun and hard work. I still have lots more to share about my trip, however, so don't wander off.
Oh, one more thing. During the intermission at the Bowl AMN news editor Ray Almeda and I were talking about our favorite film scores and composers, hitting the major movies like Jurassic Park and Back to the Future all the way down to movies most people don't think of when it comes to discussing film scores (such as Gremlins and Scrooged). A man sitting in the row behind us interrupted our conversation and asked "Are you two film score students?" "No," I said, "Just fans." In hindsight I wish I'd have said "No, we're video game journalists!" just to see the inevitable awkward expression that always comes with such an admittance.
