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While it's not E, O seems close enough...

https://www.cirquedusoleil.com...

> My second thought was, "Hmmm. I wonder if they use MSWindows, on a wireless network?" It might be worth going to see after all.

Sadly, no. I went to see Cirque de Soleil's O. It was the eve of my sister's wedding, we all had third-row tickets (the first non-wet row), and we were excited to see it. 15 minutes after the show time, a sad-looking clown came out and told us that the show was cancelled! Their excuse was that they couldn't get their stage control computer to work. Presumably, they had a setup as you describe...

There's really no excuse for this in my mind. As packed as that place was, and as expensive as those tickets are, there had to be half a million dollars in ticket sales that show. They could have easily had a redundant setup. But instead, they didn't take a mission-critical system seriously, and so they cancelled!

I haven't gone to a Cirque de Soleil show since. How can I take them seriously when they don't understand that "the show must go on" and prepare accordingly?

I don't really see your point. That's much better value than you get at the cinema (and the game is replayable), so what's the big deal?

That's a false comparision. Half-Life 2 Episode 1 isn't up against movies. It's up against other video games who can potentially offer a better dollars per fun-hour ratio. $5 per hour is pretty expensive for video games. Suggesting that it's all okay by comparing it to movies is as silly as suggesting that both movies (about $4/hour locally) and video games are grossly overpriced because I assuming a moderately regular play schedule I can enjoy myself for about $0.37/hour (Assuming a $90 investment, 2 year lifespan, playing about 30 times a year for 4 hours a game).

The reality is that different forms of entertainment are not interchangable. I've happily paid $125 for 3 hours of entertainment; that doesn't mean I'm willing to pay $400 for a game I expect to play for ten hours.

Even assuming we can compare such forms of entertainment, it's hardly a clear win. The proposed Half-Life pricing is roughly $5/hour. Locally I pay around $4/hour for first run movies. If I'm willing to catch a matinee, I can pay about $3/hour. Budget theatres after a few months: $1/hour. Rental: $1/hour, assuming one other person watches it with me. When I purchase a first person shooter, I'm hoping for about 15 hours of gameplay in exchange for $50; roughly $3.50/hour. At $5/hour Half-Life Episode 1 is expensive. However, if it's as good or better than HL2, I'm willing to consider it.

There are also some "fly-in" jobs that are based in Montreal, and I believe there are some too in Vegas and Amsterdam. Check it out ! :-)

I haven't been on the new tour as I went pre-9/11. Is it any good? Clearly it's not as detailed as the old Hard Hat Tour, but then again, they didn't close the dam entirely, either, or the terrorists would have won.

As to Lost Wages, that's a matter of personal taste. On the plus side, there are lots of shows to see, such as Blue Man Group, and Cirque du Soleil [flash required] ... provided you can get tickets. Le Cirque has two very different shows in town and they're booked far in advance. BMG isn't much better. Don't pay scalper prices! [please!]

The group is Cirque du Soleil. More photos can be found here and here.