Yesterday, I was paid to go skiing and attend the Amazon Seattle Annual Party.
It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it...
The skiing took place in a mini-resort called "Steven's Pass", a few hours north of Seattle. A few devs from my team, and some local devs, made the ride up there, arriving about 9. They had about twelve or fifteen runs, including some over the "other side" of the mountain, so more than enough for a day's (or even a weekend's) skiing. The freestyle snowboarding area looked intriguing - half-pipes, jumps, and rails galore - but after so long off a board, I wasn't quite ready for that yet!
On the ride home, I discovered that Trevor (one of my coworkers) was really into graphic novels. Score!
We all returned to our apartments to get changed, and reconvened at the subway to go to the "Amazon After-holiday party". I must admit, I had high hopes - the London Christmas party in Madame Tussaud's was impressive enough, but as the base of operations, Seattle should go one better, right?
Happily, my expectations were exceeded, and then some. Sadly, I forgot my phone, so couldn't take any pictures (though, given that I only today the timing of the shutter meant that I've been blurring almost all of my pictures so far, that may not be a bad thing), but it was truly spectacular. I'll try to link some photos in here if coworkers post any publicly.
Imagine (if you've been lucky enough to attend one) a Cambridge May Ball, held in the O2 arena, and attended by several thousand people. The theme was "Around The World", and different sections were themed around the different areas in which Amazon has offices - Japan, England, China, India, Brazil, and so on. Decorations, food, drink, performers, were all similarly themed. Then there were some non-themed but still-awesome ball type entertainments - including live karaoke and (oh how well they knew their crowd) a free arcade section (Crazy Taxi ftw!). Also a casino, in which I revelled in losing all of my fake money in mathematically-unsound but highly-enjoyable wagers.
(Note; I am not referring to American Dollars as fake money (even though, come on)).
Today, after Skyping with Laura, I finally went to visit the EMP Museum of Rock Music, Science Fiction, and Popular Culture, about which I've been excited since arriving here. Turns out it was a bit of a misnomer - it's rather more a museum of Rock Music, which happens to have some exhibits on Science Fiction and Popular Culture on-site. Then again, from talking to some people I met at the Magic tournament the other day, it seems like the exhibits rotate on a fairly regular basis (I missed a full-size BSG Viper model by only a few months! Nooooo!), so I may have come at a music-heavy time.
Still, it was a really enjoyable day out. There was a metric fuck-ton of awesome memorabilia in the Jimi Hendrix and Nirvana sections, and the exhibit on the history of the Leather Jacket was surprisingly compelling. The centrepiece of the museum was an installation called "IF VI WAS IX" - a multi-story structure composed of instruments, most of which are hooked up to an array of servo motors that co-ordinates them into playing together. Spooky but impressive.
The Science Fiction section was, as detailed, a little less whelming than I hoped, though there were some pretty cool items on display - Neo's coat and Starbuck's outfit being highlights. The main event of the whole day for me, though, was the real, actual, genuine "Mr. Pointy". Yep. I nerded out.
It's been a pretty great weekend :)
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