Random stupid things on your mind. Post them.

[Usagi]

I'm going to an '80's-style arcade in Tacoma tonight.  I haven't been to one since, well, the '80s.  Hope it's as fun as it was then.  Bonus points because they serve beer.  I'll be slumped over the Tempest game as long as we're there.

Oh, is that right?  I try to come up with as few reasons as humanly possible to go to Tacoma, but this might just have to change.  I drag my butt all the way up to Everett to go to the AFK Tavern sometimes. Maybe they have Gauntlet!  I wish I go right now.


What's it called?

[Sardondi]

ooh play a game of galaga for me.

Oooh, maybe they have one of those cool Pong games! So fast and exciting! (Ah, but I loved Galaga even more than Space Invaders!)

*sigh* But as neat as those first- and second-generation electronic arcade games were, they can't hold a candle to those wonderful, big-ass pinball machines. They always reminded me of self-contained grave-sites: short plastic coffins with lit-up tombstones standing straight above them. Those big wired-up metal and plastic boxes on legs were built to take being kneed, slammed and hunched and all that real physical abuse. They weren't some pretend-motion game where you have to wiggle and jump on a mat because Big Brother thinks someone in your family had a few too many cinnamon rolls in 2009. Don't like the path the pinball is moving on? Slap the side of the box! And if you're lucky enough to have a game with a high-threshold tilt level, you can keep on playing...maybe. Real, gravity-operated pinball...what great games.

[HorrorRetro]

Oh, is that right?  I try to come up with as few reasons as humanly possible to go to Tacoma, but this might just have to change.  I drag my butt all the way up to Everett to go to the AFK Tavern sometimes. Maybe they have Gauntlet!  I wish I go right now.


What's it called?

It's Dorky's on Pacific in downtown Tacoma.  I don't believe they have Gauntlet, but they have a pretty good selection of '80's games. 
I was disappointed that Tempest was out of commission.  It'll be back though.

Here's a video review of Dorky's.  They've added more games and beer/cider since this review came out.

Dorky's Barcade (arcade) in Tacoma, WA

ooh play a game of galaga for me.

I played quite a few games of Galaga tonight. 

Oooh, maybe they have one of those cool Pong games! So fast and exciting! (Ah, but I loved Galaga even more than Space Invaders!)

*sigh* But as neat as those first- and second-generation electronic arcade games were, they can't hold a candle to those wonderful, big-ass pinball machines. They always reminded me of self-contained grave-sites: short plastic coffins with lit-up tombstones standing straight above them. Those big wired-up metal and plastic boxes on legs were built to take being kneed, slammed and hunched and all that real physical abuse. They weren't some pretend-motion game where you have to wiggle and jump on a mat because Big Brother thinks someone in your family had a few too many cinnamon rolls in 2009. Don't like the path the pinball is moving on? Slap the side of the box! And if you're lucky enough to have a game with a high-threshold tilt level, you can keep on playing...maybe. Real, gravity-operated pinball...what great games.

They have a decent selection of pinball games as well as video games.  We had a great time.  They have a good selection of beer and cider, no hard alcohol, but that's okay.  At 9 p.m. everyone under 21 gets kicked out and a live DJ comes in.  They were also playing Fast Times at Ridgemont High on screens throughout the place.  We'll definitely be going back.

[stevesh]

Oooh, maybe they have one of those cool Pong games! So fast and exciting! (Ah, but I loved Galaga even more than Space Invaders!)

*sigh* But as neat as those first- and second-generation electronic arcade games were, they can't hold a candle to those wonderful, big-ass pinball machines. They always reminded me of self-contained grave-sites: short plastic coffins with lit-up tombstones standing straight above them. Those big wired-up metal and plastic boxes on legs were built to take being kneed, slammed and hunched and all that real physical abuse. They weren't some pretend-motion game where you have to wiggle and jump on a mat because Big Brother thinks someone in your family had a few too many cinnamon rolls in 2009. Don't like the path the pinball is moving on? Slap the side of the box! And if you're lucky enough to have a game with a high-threshold tilt level, you can keep on playing...maybe. Real, gravity-operated pinball...what great games.

Fond memories of way too many wasted hours in Pinball Pete's in East Lansing...

Asteroids, Robotron, then (best arcade game ever) Stargate eventually left the pinball games behind.

[Rachael Nexusei]

I thought of this, while eating an apple yesterday.
Biblically speaking, if any worms were inside, munching on the original ‘apples’, then that would make them as intelligent as
humans. Maybe they know everything but is just keeping it to themselves. Maybe we’ve underestimated them.
AND, if birds ate the intelligent worms, would they then gain superior knowledge, or just digest it, then poop it out.
I know some people who sort of do that. Only it comes out of their mouth, instead.
I guess it can work down the food chain, sort of. Like in the song ‘and the green grass grew all around all around, and the
green grass grew all around’. Green due (haha, like doo-doo! :-) to all the fertilizer, of course!
Wait, or is it more like that lady who swallowed a fly....
It was just a random thought.

[Juan]

Genius - the worm eats the apple, a bird eats the worm, the bird poops, the poop lands on grass, a cow eats the poopy grass, then is milked, the milk is made into cheese which goes into a pizza roll and is popped into George's mouth.  Luckily he didn't swallow.

[Caruthers612]

Fond memories of way too many wasted hours in Pinball Pete's in East Lansing...

Asteroids, Robotron, then (best arcade game ever) Stargate eventually left the pinball games behind.

     Oh dear, don't even get me started on my C-64 days...<wistful sigh> There are some great videos on youtube made by collectors of the old games which they still play on their C-64s. Takes me back to when I was young, pretty, rarely got laid and thick hair on my head. One of those things has changed.

[Usagi]

I want to sleep in a "wigwam".

[HAL 9000]

Oh dear, don't even get me started on my C-64 days...<wistful sigh> There are some great videos on youtube made by collectors of the old games which they still play on their C-64s. Takes me back to when I was young, pretty, rarely got laid and thick hair on my head. One of those things has changed.

You mean you don't still have yours? I have both of mine (C=64) and both of my 1541 floppy drives. I modified them all - the C=64s I added a very small spring-loaded push button on the back that allowed me to reboot without used the power switch, and the 1541s were modified by cutting the appropriate trace, and then soldering in a toggle switch so I could change drive numbers to suit my needs. Then, there was always the ubiquitous floppy puncher which allowed you to use both sides of the floppy.

As a gift one year, I received a special cartridge so that, once a copy-protected game was loaded into memory, I could take a snapshot of the game running in RAM, and it would then dump the appropriate binary back onto a new floppy, so the game was now permanently cracked. Usually, my bit-copiers could copy most anything between the two drives, but the cartridge was fool-proof.

Those were the days - when truly elegant code was necessary and done in assembly.

[Agent : Orange]

They have a decent selection of pinball games as well as video games.  We had a great time.  They have a good selection of beer and cider, no hard alcohol, but that's okay.  At 9 p.m. everyone under 21 gets kicked out and a live DJ comes in.  They were also playing Fast Times at Ridgemont High on screens throughout the place.  We'll definitely be going back.

Wow, you are lucky. I wish I had a place like that near me. Though I have to say the combination of coin-ops and beer might be a bad idea without a pause feature. You have to make sure you have the timing right when you break the seal. After that it might have to be short games only.

[HorrorRetro]

Wow, you are lucky. I wish I had a place like that near me. Though I have to say the combination of coin-ops and beer might be a bad idea without a pause feature. You have to make sure you have the timing right when you break the seal. After that it might have to be short games only.

I seemed to do better after a Guinness and two ciders.     I was able to score a free game of Defender after getting one of the high scores.      It was really fun, and I'm looking forward to going back there.

[Sardondi]

I seemed to do better after a Guinness and two ciders.  ....

Isn't it odd how that works? Alcohol is supposed to adversely impact hand-eye coordination and reaction, etc., and almost always I did better after mild to moderate lubrication.

[Juan]

I think alcohol initially overcomes tension, which is an even greater impediment to body motion.

[Treading Water]

I seemed to do better after a Guinness and two ciders.     I was able to score a free game of Defender after getting one of the high scores.      It was really fun, and I'm looking forward to going back there.

and this is sort of Johnny Fever, kind of Doctor.   

[Caruthers612]

I want to sleep in a "wigwam".

          That sentence has the virtue of having never been uttered before.

[Caruthers612]

You mean you don't still have yours? I have both of mine (C=64) and both of my 1541 floppy drives.

        Wow. Hal--and thanks for another bone making picture of Sarah Palin-- you have dredged up from the unwashed crevices of my mind several artifacts, being the several items you mentioned regarding the C=64's hardware. I too had that cartridge and used to use my own twin 1541 floppy drives to less than entirely legally copy software. And you're right about the elegant code, as well. I went to computer school in the early 90s when optimization was still emphasized, I remember. The only advantage of today's computers is I just watched a youtube cooking video featuring an Asian lady with breasts bigger 'n basketballs.

[HorrorRetro]

I want to sleep in a "wigwam".

I totally get this.  I'm a Route 66 freak, and when we lived down in Oklahoma, we'd hit old Route 66 whenever we could to see what was still out there.  I'd rather go for a vacation on Route 66 and stay in old oddity motels than stay in some boring beach-front resort hotel.  We've seen some cool stuff on Route 66, mainly in OK, TX, and NM.  I still plan to get down to the Arizona portion of Route 66.  I'd love to stay here:

http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/route66/wigwam_village_hotel6_holbrook.html

[Sardondi]

There were a series of "Wigwam Villages", this one in Bessemer, AL as it appeared in 1951. Incorporated in Horse Cave, Kentucky, there were other WVs in Holbrook, AZ and Rialto, CA.

[ItsOver]

and this is sort of Johnny Fever, kind of Doctor.   

What first came to my mind.  Loved WKRP.  Hilarious episode.

[999]

I want to sleep in a "wigwam".

I stayed in one of those about 20 years ago - it was pretty cool. Evidently the teepee we were in is allegedly haunted (someone had asphixiated in there due to a malfunctioning heater decades ago) but we didn't notice anything odd.

[Agent : Orange]

I seemed to do better after a Guinness and two ciders.     I was able to score a free game of Defender after getting one of the high scores.      It was really fun, and I'm looking forward to going back there.

It would be ridiculously satisfying to come back a few weeks later and see your score still up on the board.

[analog kid]

I totally get this.  I'm a Route 66 freak, and when we lived down in Oklahoma, we'd hit old Route 66 whenever we could to see what was still out there.  I'd rather go for a vacation on Route 66 and stay in old oddity motels than stay in some boring beach-front resort hotel.  We've seen some cool stuff on Route 66, mainly in OK, TX, and NM.  I still plan to get down to the Arizona portion of Route 66.  I'd love to stay here:

http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/route66/wigwam_village_hotel6_holbrook.html

Sounds awesome. If I had a bucket list, Route 66 would be on it.



unrelated - internet memory lane: Owny Woo

"Uh hello, this is a Clyde. I'm in a kleine sad uh (mm)
centimeter uh software op. But I'd a body would have
um owny woo? Workstation had a match is a uh eyeball
to connect date sauce. That doesn't mean a where we
can a make a change."

[stevesh]

http://www.collegehumor.com/article/6872071/8-new-and-necessary-punctuation-marks

[HorrorRetro]

Sounds awesome. If I had a bucket list, Route 66 would be on it.

It's a must see for me.  While so much is now gone, there are still really kitschy fun places and things to see.  If you travel down any interstate, you see the same garbage over and over -- chain stores, chain motels, chain restaurants, and chain gas stations.  On old Route 66, you can see some really unique places.  On one of our Route 66 day trips up in the Texas panhandle, we met a German national on a bike tour of Route 66.  He said it's an extremely popular destination for Germans and other Europeans.  It's sad that most US citizens don't even know what old Route 66 is and the nostalgia related to it.  They just want to get from point A to point B as fast as possible.  It's part of our history, and it's slipping away.   

[Eddie Coyle]

 
       The next dog I get will be named "Stains".

         Or..."King", so I can do the old gag at the dinner table "hey this food is fit for a king!(whistles)...here, king"

[Sardondi]

http://www.collegehumor.com/article/6872071/8-new-and-necessary-punctuation-marks

Indeed random, and hilarious!

[BigDave]

I had to move a mattress a couple of Hours ago. I wonder why all matresses have that warning label on them? Stupid and pointless to me :

[Rachael Nexusei]

I had to move a mattress a couple of Hours ago. I wonder why all matresses have that warning label on them? Stupid and pointless to me :

OMG!!! You didn't rip it off, did you?  The mattress police will get you if you did, and you don't want to mess with them!!! 

[Rachael Nexusei]

This is random at least.  I am wondering how good this film will be.  The background was apparently done on green screen (or whatever) and they used actual civil war photos as the backdrops (or so I have read.)  Story sounds interesing, as does the filming, dunno about the actors/acting though.
http://www.savinglincoln.com/

[Usagi]

http://www.collegehumor.com/article/6872071/8-new-and-necessary-punctuation-marks

Wow.  I can truly get behind all of these.  It's not even funny.  It's necessary!

I feel obligated to use smilies so often in order to denote tone.  Occasionally, I'm torn whether or not the textual situation is casual enough for it to be appropriate.  I shouldn't have to deal with this anxiety!  I sure as hell don't "lol"... why should I be relegated to a semi-colon and a p‽