Video Game Music a Hit at Seattle Symphony, Another Heartbreaking Loss for Sonics: SeattleIAM

by Inveslogic | January 28, 2008 at 12:02 pm

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This is a selection of recent popular blog articles from SeattleIAM where you will find the best blogs from Seattle, Washington as well as video uploads, social networking, rumors, and blog authoring

Sonics vs. Kings: Another Heartbreaker

Gary Washburn, blogging for Seattle Sonics Blog, reviews the Sonics’ loss to Sacramento yesterday 103-101. It was a “heartbreaking loss” as the Sonics “played well enough to barely lose again.” The Sonics had another slow start, falling behind nine point early on and spending the rest of the game chasing. “And when you leave the game to star players as they did against the Lakers, Rockets and now the Kings, those stars are going to be stars down the stretch.” Sacramento’s Kevin Martin was yesterday’s star, hitting “a leaning 14-footer at the buzzer after Damien Wilkins hit the tying 3-pointer with 6.1 seconds left.”

Washburn writes in his post that “Seattle has to learn to play better in the early going and Kevin Durant [has] to pare down his shot attempts and distribute the ball.” Durant “was 2-for-12 from the field in the second half” and after the break “no other Sonic took more than four shots.” He notes that “without Durant the Sonics shot 50 percent in the second half with him it dropped to 38 percent.”

Seattle Symphony Takes on Video Game Music

A recent post by Wesa over at Metroblogging Seattle reviews the Seattle Symphony’s PLAY! which features 17 songs from a variety of video games. Last Saturday, Assistant Conductor Joseph Crnko lead the symphony through the set at Benaroya Hall. It was the second showing of PLAY! and “the first show on the previous Thursday had quickly sold out.” Since video game music has become increasingly popular over the past few years, the music has started to appear outside of the video playing world. In August of 2003, “music written for video games was performed for the first time outside of Japan by a live orchestra-the Czech National Symphony Orchestra-in a Symphonic Game Music concert.”

According to the post, there was an “eclectic” crowd for matinee that included “adults, young adults, and children... dressed to the nines or in jeans and t-shirts.” The screens above the orchestra “displayed scenes from most of the video games and close-ups of the orchestra and choir,” although some of the game graphics “did not enlarge that well” and other games, such as Square Enix “did not grant permission for the use of their graphics.” Jeremy Soule, composer of the music from Oblivion and Guild Wars, and Martin O'Donnell, composer of the music from Halo, were in attendance. “This was a great way to introduce many people to the idea of going to the symphony.”

Bellingham Bells Gets New GM

C.R. Roberts, writing for Biz Buzz, reports that “Dave Lewis, former general manager of the Tacoma Rainiers, has taken the position of general manager of the Bellingham Bells.” The Bells are unaffiliated with a major league team and play in the West Coast Collegiate Baseball League. The unpaid players “typically arrive from local colleges and universities.” Their season contains 42 league and around eight non-league games from early June until mid-August.

Lewis is also a minority owner of the Bells. “The umbrella ownership group of the Bells is Brett Sports, and one of the owners is George Brett, a former Kansas City Royals Hall of Famer.” Brett used to play minor league baseball and is the managing partner. “The Bells play at Joe Martin field in Bellingham, and can accommodate over 2,000 fans.” They expect “to average 1,500 fans per game” over the summer. According to the post, Brett Sports “also owns three other baseball teams: the Spokane Indians, Tri-Cities Dust Devils and the High Desert Mavericks in Southern California.”

Lee Rousso “Disappointed and Betrayed” by Gregoire’s Leadership

On Chris Mulick’s Olympia Dispatch, Mulick updates us on Lee Russo’s campaign to run against Gov. Chris Gregoire. Rousso, a Renton attorney, “is the Washington representative for the Poker Players Alliance.” He has challenged the constitutionality the 2006 online gaming ban approved by the Legislature, which “made it a felony to wager money over the Internet playing.”

Rousso's website explains that he “I voted for Christine Gregoire in 2004,” but now feels “so disappointed and betrayed by her leadership that I wouldn't support her re-election with a loaded gun to my head.” His expectation is to “peel off 10 or 20 percent” of the Democrats in the primary and says the Libertarians are an “easy target.” But his victory will be from Republican voters. He’s asking them to “make a cold, raw calculation of their political self interest.” According to the post, Rousso calls Gregoire “a mix of Hugo Chavez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, with a little Vladimir Putin thrown in for good measure.”

About SeattleIAM

SeattleIAM is part of a groundbreaking network of city-focused blog aggregation, user generated media and social networking websites currently rolling out across North America. Each IAM website filters and organizes blog content as well as offering video upload capabilities, social networking, blog authoring, favourites lists and rumours. The IAM Network is a division of SoMedia Networks Inc which also operates Inveslogic.com, Greenedia.com, Healthedia.com and Blabaloo.com. For more information or to register an account, visit SeattleIAM.com.