You're It!

strange, but this weekend the world doesn't seem to be working so hard to spite me. something bad must be on the way.

anyway this weekend we went lazer tagging with some friends, for ethan's birthday party which was in january. and so after rescheduling several times due to colds, flues, weather and ethan going through detox we finaly got around to it. it started at the chinese buffet where i made my arteries hate me for ever more (mmm...bacon wrapped weiners...) and we made sun of the rather dumb goldfish.

we finnished that up and got to the main part of the afternoon: lazer tag. have any of you ever been lazer tagging ? Not back-yard style, i mean in an arena, such as Ultrazone or Lazerquest, Lazer Park etc. it was very crowded and hot when we got there, but in a fun way. off to the side was a video arcade with a sniper game (overpriced, but enjoyable) which we messed around with until they called our names for the "breifing." we all filed into a room where the very bored employee told us the rules and then informed us that there was to be "noshoving,puching,unspotsmanlikeconduct,climbing,crawlingorrunning" in the arena. we then had about ten minutes to talk and goof off while the game before us ended. we then chose teams (red, yellow or blue) and went into the vesting room, which looked something like the picture above, only cooler. the place had a very military feel to it (duh, we're shooting at each other...) but more than the rest the vesting room felt like we were about to go storm a compound. the vests were heavy but it felt right, i don't think it would be as much fun if we didn't have what felt like body armor on. they looked like SWAT team vests only with colored lights. when the employees gave the word the three teams flooded the rooms, sticking together or going solo. soon red lazers filled the air and the sound of running feet and shooting were everywhere. it was built like a maze, with colored walls and blacklights everywhere. fog was pumped into the rooms and there was kettle-drum filled music over the loudspeakers, all of which combined to make a long, 15 minute adrenoline rush. i did quite well that game, mainly due to the fact that a) i shoot and so could aim better than some and b) i am a tactics nerd and i know weird things (ie how to entera close-quarters room, where to watch for enemies, crap like that). firends and i stayed generaly together, splitting off and coming back sometimes. there was one time i remember in particular about this game. a kid was running down a long hall, i had no idea what he hpoed to accomplish by doing this, but he was on the enemy team so i fired once and him him square in the chest. his vest turned off (which is what happens when you are hit) and he ran away. very fun.

the second game was much the same, blacklights, music, bases, tactices, shooting, smoke, except that this game a group of 6 or 7 girls had begun playing, and being 10-year-old girls (no offense, girls) they had no idea how to fight (yes, i've decided to drop all the pretenses and call it fighting, because that realy is what we were doing) or where to go. i found them, at one point on the stairs between the two levels, where with a few quick flicks of the trigger i got each of them.

boy, for such little girls they didn't have mouths made of sugar and spice.

the hub of activity in this place is the Blue Base, which provides excelent firefighting places. so friend and i stormed it with another person on our team, and somehow got through more or less intact. that was very fun.

on the last game we got into the breifing room and after the employee had gone through her whole thing about the rules we had a few minutes to sit and wait. ethan and friend 1, who were on an opposite team from me and friend 2, started clapping, playing mob mindgames, and it worked. everyone was soon clapping, faster and faster until it just erupted into applause. that reminded them, of course, or "we will rock you" and the whole room erupted into it, banging on the bleachers and hands until it slowly faded away. you know, that song is basicly a tribal war chant. only instead of psycing the berzerkers up to go fight the Danish they we were psycing ourselves of to og after the other teams, or in the case of a sports game, when one is doing that one is psycing the players up to play harder against the other team, but either way it is basicly the same as in the dark ages.

that round went fine, and by the end i was tired and (even more than usual) wanted to go join a SWAT team.