Archive for the ‘entertainment’ Category

The 5th Day of Christmas, Ending the year and Starting the New One with a Touch of Pintastic NE

Posted: December 29, 2021 by datechguy in business, entertainment, fun, pinball
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This year Pintastic NE was the week before thanksgiving rather than in late June and while it meant a very long wait for its return it paid pretty big dividend for me. During our “Peak” period in the warehouse we tend to work 6-7 days a week till Christmas. Even before the supply chain issues people started ordering gifts early in the last few years so instead of peak beginning Black Friday it’s now starts for us as early as the first two weeks of November which used to be pretty dead.

That late Pintastic provided a welcome break just before the crazy week began and as I’ve often said NOTHING relieves stress like a pinball machine.

So imagine my surprise when a familiar face turned up at the door on Boxing Day an hour before Mass.

Brian was bearing the game Diner which was never one I really mastered but I guarantee you that with a month of play if there is a tournament including said machine I’ll be ready to go.

It was not a gift that I was expecting and I’m flattered that my sons were thinking of me. I’m even more flattered that this game out of his personal collection as the newer games were all out.

As of today a Diner goes for between $5200 & $8000 it’s a pretty good deal to get it for a month. For those who missed the interview from Pintastic NE 2021 here it is

Ironically when I interviewed Brian I said that while my wife would never let me buy a machine she might let me rent one and now it’s here for the rest of the Christmas season and two weeks beyond.

If I may suggest it might make a great Birthday gift particularly if you’re not born in December or January since the volume will be higher during those months and thus the availability of the newer games might be a little more iffy.

I’m going to have a lot of fun

You can find the Bushey Brothers facebook page here.

CRT the ivermectin of the Salvation Army and other assorted thoughts Under the Fedora

Posted: December 16, 2021 by datechguy in Always look at the bright side of Trump, comedy, culture, elections, entertainment, politics, under the fedora
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Via Instapundit

The most interesting thing about the spate of “Salvation Army desperate for volunteers and donors” stories in the MSM is the complete lack of mention of the CRT business that caused things to implode.

CRT is the ivermectin of the Salvation Army story that which must not be named

The day the kettles 1st came out in my city I rushed to put money in. The next day the CRT story broke and I walked right by them. Within a week the kettles were gone and I haven’t seen one in the area since although my wife says they’re around..

t might be a shock to some but the Salvation Army but: “Give me money you racist” is not a great business model.

The more I think about it the more I understand why the left is still in full Trump panic mode. There were having excellent success in quietly changing cultural norms and here comes Trump acting based on reality and giving people the courage to call out falsehood.

This is why we’ve entered the age of the big lie. It is now impossible to simply coax people to their own destruction so now blunt force trauma is needed to force falsehoods down our throats.

The left will never forgive Trump for making them come out in the open and the sheep will never forgive him for forcing them to openly choose between bravery and cowardice.

The panic among the left over the popularity of Joe Biden or lack thereof is a good sign in the sense that it suggests they aren’t comfortable about their ability to steal the midterms. But it also means that a lot of the institutions that cooperated in the fraud of 2020 have an incentive to go all in to make sure they aren’t exposed.

The next three years are going to be incredibly ugly.

I see that John Cleese ended up with an ambush interview with the BBC and is unhappy about it.

He should not be shocked at the ignorance of his interviewer. “Higher Education” no longer provides people with the type of education that the Pythons enjoyed. I guess those institutions that they japed about so merrily for decades might have had some use after all.

Personally given his own social media reach I don’t see why he bothered. A few strategically placed tweets will draw his audience better than the collection of media fools anyways.

I see a group of people in NYC were arrested for not providing vaccine passports at the Cheesecake factory.

Maybe they should have told the cops there were just there to loot the place rather than eat, they might have been left alone.

Stacy Abrams channels Monty Python #unexpectedly

Posted: December 4, 2021 by datechguy in comedy, politics
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Many years ago Monty Python did a sketch concerning the Piranha Brothers which had the following exchange concerning weather nor not Dinsdale Piranha was nailing peoples heads to the floor:

This came immediately to mind when I heard about Stacy Abrams on Rachel Maddow:

The big difference in the Python sketch and Abrams is in the skit when the interviewer says: “But the police have film of Dinsdale actually nailing your head to the floor” Stig admits that the case. Actual film of Abrams doing this has not dissuaded her Lets go to the film:

I suspect that unlike Mr. O’Tracy she will not be backtracking on her new claim. After all her whole claim to fame is based on this assertion.

Unexpectedly of course

If you want to hear the full python sketch here it is via their Album: Another Monty Python Record

Pintastic Day 3 We’ve Got the Band Back Together

Posted: November 21, 2021 by datechguy in culture, entertainment, fun, gaming, special events
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Saturday at Pintastic NE is always a busy day. You tend to draw the largest crowds and there is plenty going on.

One of the more popular games was the Beatles 1964

Not only is the gameplay of this machine great but it of course has the best sound track of all the games here

A lot of people bring Pinball games here to sell but one of the problems is: If you sell a game how do you get it home? Well that’s where Dino of Shipmypinball.com comes in

Getting the machine from point A to point B is something that always needs to be considered when buying a machine.

Of course there are those who offer an alternative to buying game, RENTING THEM

I’m thinking the Bushey Brothers may cut the Gordan knot for many guys like me whose wives don’t want a game in their house or big money spent but might actually go along with getting a game in the house if it’s only for a month or two and someone else moves it in and out for you.

Of course there are some thing that shouldn’t be forgotten during Pintastic NE and such as God and the Sacraments. Luckily for a Catholic like me there is St. Anne’s Shrine only a mile away down the road.

If you’re wondering where the hat is , hey I’m at a church of course I have it off.

Of course if you’re buying an old game or even if you need an newer one there is always the need for the parts, that’s where Mayfair Games (not to be confused with the old wargame maker) comes in.

You will see them as the first dealer on the left at every Pintastic

Of course while the old game are big here It’s the new ones that draw eyeballs. One of those new players is American Pinball and I talked to their man David Fix.

He was in high demand and I didn’t have a chance to talk to him until the vendor room was closing. But it worked out very well because he moved one of the Legends of Valhalla games to the Extra Ball Lounge were my youngest and I started playing.

Alas my son is too good so we couldn’t show the full game

Of course I’m not the only guy filming here Todd Tuckey was Livestreaming

While the Guns and Roses Tribute Band: Welcome to the Jungle who played the event played on…

They came in to celebrate the release of the new Guns and Roses game from Jersey Jack who for some reason I didn’t manage to interview this year (more from the band later).

You might recall I talked to Michael two years ago when he brought a bunch of games, well he and Emily have graduated from hobby to Pinball Museum Proprietors in Pawtucket RI

You heard that right 28 of the machines people were playing came from them and it’s worth noting that on day four those machines were still here to play as they’re invariably the last folks out (next to Gabe of course).

But while the hobbyists and game providers are big the real question is what did the folks who paid their money to play think. I ran into four such folks who were attending Pintastic for the first time

When people are willing to come 3000 miles and say they’ll do it again next year you’ve got it right.

By this time is was late and I finished my work day talking to the tribute band after their 2nd performance.

after that I finally got to play the popular Sonic the Hedgehog homebrew which won best Homebrew game and can be played either via flippers or from a Sega controller

2 AM came very quickly and checkout is 11 AM so it was time to crash and prepare for the final day of Pinball.

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