Archive for the ‘opinion/news’ Category

Pintastic NE 2022 Day 4 Valley of the Dolls and Balls

Posted: June 30, 2022 by datechguy in fun, pinball, special events
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One of the givens of Pintastic NE 2022 was the popularity of the Toy Story 4 game by Jersey Jack. When I woke up very early on the final day of Pintastic this was confirmed in the free play room.

I stayed in the extra ball room for about 3 hours and joined in several 4 player games of Toy Story 4 during that time. I lost track of time until my stomach reminded me in the middle of a game of Theatre of Magic that I hadn’t eaten so I walked to McDonalds for a sausage biscuit.

When I came back the reason for the vendor room packing up fast the night before was setting up. The previous management of the hotel had doubled booked the weekend and a Doll and Teddy Bear Show was taking place that morning and afternoon in what had been the vendor room.

I went in while they were setting up and talked to one of the dealers

It was quite a contrast between the clientele of the Doll show and Pintastic which was still going on with the ladies tournament in the Southern NH Pinball club room, the free play room and of course the extra ball lounge.

There was a fair selection of dolls and after the show officially started I got permission to go in again and interviewed the promoter:

took some photos

The ladies in those chairs weren’t in a hurry to have their picture taken.

Like Pinball one of the most important persons there was a lady who did repairs, She gave me an interview

One lady who didn’t consent to an interview at this time makes infant dolls in her “reborn nursery” The dolls are so realistic she took to keeping her baby car seat in her vehicle as police kept thinking she had kids in the car without carseats.

But I didn’t spend a lot of time there because the clock was ticking and there was only so much more pinball to play. Before I knew it the time had come to do closing interview with Michael and Emily

They gave all the credit to their excellent team which demonstrated how fast you can pack up a machine and gave some advice on how to do so although the first minute of the video or so was a tad blurry

Talk about someone ripped

At this point there wasn’t much left in the free play room so I headed to the extra ball lounge, most years those machines get moved in here but because of the 2nd show they stayed where they were. I and my son kept playing until that fatal moment that comes during every Pintastic, that sad event where someone taps you on the shoulder saying “last game”.

That’s the moment when it’s time for the final interview of the show speaking to Gabe one more time

So we ended Pintastic not knowing where we would be next year but as I prepared to leave I saw one final sight that brought a smile to my face and caused me to turn on the camera one last time.

That’s how good the Toy Story 4 Pinball Machine was. It was so good that despite 4 machines available to play and the crew being there the whole time, they didn’t get their chance to play the game until the show was over and every other player was gone.

Jersey Jack the Pintastic NE 2022 Interview

Posted: June 28, 2022 by datechguy in fun, special events, pinball
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I spoke to Jersey Jack himself on day 3 of Pintastic NE 2022

Pintastic NE Day 3 Early Mornings and Friends

Posted: June 28, 2022 by datechguy in fun, pinball, special events, Uncategorized
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Day three of Pintastic 2020 started early for me with a trip to the extra ball lounge

A night’s sleep means a morning of pinball with little wait but once the vendor room opened the line for some games kicked in like the Weird Al Game

It’s an interesting combo of virtual and physical with of course Weird Al himself providing voice and music.

Day three continued the tournament that is a big part of Pintastic

These are the games to be played

The games that an individual plays are randomly determined.

Of course the vendors were still there with plenty of interesting stuff like this from pinovators

and the return of an old friend

You might recall I had interviewed the Pinbox 3000 crew who hinted at a big reveal and when they said “big” they weren’t kidding:

Alas there is only one of these but I suspect there will be enough demand for the big guy to be produced.

There was also a new face, Todd Tuckey’s daughter who was up to give him a hand:

My friends Hanna and Jake were doing their first Pintastic.

You’ll note them in the Pinovators video (Janna had showed up three years ago in the final hour) They had a grand time. They were not the only ones having a great time at the first Pintastic

Carline, Hanna and Jake all had a chance to play the new Toy Story 4 game despite the long lines.

That image of the three of them playing together and having fun is the essence of Pintastic.

For those who want a closer look at the game here is a bit of gameplay when I had a chance to play it in the Extra Ball lounge.

But the game I spent the most time playing, other than Arabian Knights was Doctor Who in the free play room.. Here is the person who brought it:

The free play room was hopping particularly since as soon as the vendor room was closed folks were packing up but before that happened I had a shot to speak to Anthony from Maine Home Recreation

Why were they in such a hurry to pack up? That story is for the final day of Pintastic.

Reasons to oppose Pritzker for governor and president

Posted: June 26, 2022 by John Ruberry in crime, elections, News/opinion, opinion/news
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Blogger at the border

By John Ruberry

There is speculation that Illinois’ Democrat governor, J.B. Pritzker, is considering a run for president. A visit last week to New Hampshire is his first clue. 

But Pritzker, a billionaire scion of the family that owns the Hyatt Corporation, faces reelection for governor this fall. I’ll be voting for the Republican candidate, and I of course dearly hope whoever the GOP entry is in November will make Pritzker a one-term governor. 

There are many reasons to be against Pritzker for governor–and president. Let’s get started on why.

Gerrymandering. As a candidate in 2018, Pritzker vowed several times to veto gerrymandered legislative maps. He lied. Unless you are an aficionado of Cubist art or a Democrat activist, the 2021 census remaps, are a disgrace to democracy.

Budget. Illinois hasn’t had a balanced budget since 2001, when Republican George H. Ryan–yeah, Ryan was a bad guy–was governor and there was a GOP majority in the state Senate. In one of his first ads for his reelection campaign, Pritzker claimed the Prairie State’s budget is balanced. It’s not, unless you figure in trickery and federal COVID-19 bailout money. With a Republican majority a near certainty in the US House, Pritzker and the Democrats can’t count on bailout cash for Illinois’ next budget. 

Crime. While I’ll concede that governors don’t have much control over local law enforcement, if you think crime is bad in Illinois now, just wait until New Year’s Day, when Illinois’ no-cash bail law goes into effect–after the general election votes are counted this autumn. There are still instances when judges can lock up accused criminals. But of course, big time crooks also commit small time crimes. Petty crooks often move on to become big-time crooks. Cook County’s state’s attorney is Kim Foxx, a George Soros-funded pro-criminal so-called prosecutor. If Pritzker has ever criticized Foxx, I missed it. Pritzker signed the no-cash bail bill into law in February of 2021. If it’s such a good bill, then why didn’t no-cash bail go into effect immediately?

Last year Cook County, which included Chicago and it’s where I live, recorded over 1,000 murders for the first time since 1994.

COVID. The lockdowns in Illinois were among the longest and most severe. But his wife, M.K., and his daughter spent two months in Florida in the spring of 2020. Florida’s lockdown policies were less stringent. Pritzker claims that his family were in Florida before the pandemic was declared. But the governor didn’t reveal that information until two months later.

Stagnant population. Illinois had lost population, according to the US Census, every year since 2014. Or had it? But like late night ballots arriving in big-city polling places, the Census Bureau said, wait, no, Illinois gained population between 2010 and 2020. But growth, such as it is, can rightly be called anemic. 

Corruption. Until it appeared that the US Attorney’s office for Northern Illinois was finally closing in on Boss Michael Madigan, who was for decades the most powerful Democrat in the state, Pritzker was silent on the Illinois Democratic Party chair and longtime state House speaker. Only after a surprisingly lackluster 2020 general election for Prairie State Democrats did Pritzker issue a half-hearted call for Madigan to resign as speaker. The Boss failed to win reelection as House speaker last year and then he quickly resigned as Illinois Dem party chair. 

Three months ago, Madigan was indicted on numerous racketeering charges by the feds. Illinois is generally considered one of the most corrupt states in the Union. Even the Washington Post agrees. What is Pritzker doing to fight criminality by Illinois public officials? I can’t see any evidence that he is doing anything.

Toilets. Pritzker and his wife own two mansions on Astor Street on Chicago’s North Side. Allegedly looking for a property tax break, M.K. had the toilets removed from the one that Illinois’ future first couple didn’t live in. Then she had that mansion declared “uninhabitable,” so the Pritzkers could score that tax break. The Pritzkers later paid Cook County back the money from that sleazy move.

In 2019, Chicago’s NPR affiliate reported that the toilet scam was under federal investigation.

John Ruberry regularly blogs at Marathon Pundit.

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