Pintastic NE 2021 Day 4 Final Day and Catching up

Posted: November 22, 2021 by datechguy in Uncategorized

The last day of Pintastic NE is always a bit of a mix. Checkout time is 11 AM but Pintastic runs till 4. I didn’t book for sunday night so there was a rush in the morning to go to breakfast at Cracker Barrel get back check out and run back in to cover what is there.

Between the band concert and the last day of the extra ball lounge (which runs to about 6 AM) it can be a tad odd.

I didn’t get to the Extra ball lounge till 11 AM and it was empty…almost:

They should take a bow this game had a line in front of it constantly. I only had a chance to play it twice during the entire four days myself.

The games were gone but not forgotten. I left this room to eyeball the vendor lounge where the packing up was far advanced but the SNH Pinball club was still rolling on.

The Free play room was still going strong and there were quite a few people playing. It’s a quieter day for the security team as there is only one room to really watch so Lisa had time to talk to me.

Without this staff mostly volunteers none of this takes place.

Some games still had lines the big one was the homebrew game Sonic the Hedgehog I talked to the creator who is from the Southern New Hampshire Pinball Club

Brian made good use of his lockdown time and I suspect that this will be a big draw for club membership.

With Pintastic done there is a lot of work to do to move machines, there is also a need to find places to play. Southern NH Pinball is one solution but there are others. I talked to Josh Allen of the Bitbar in Salem as he got ready to pack up the Hercules game who operators a restaurant/arcade

You need a team to move this giant.

I spent the rest of the day in play until they started to shut down the games and when that moment comes it’s time to speak to Gabe D’Annunzio one more time.

My Pintastic was done but he had hours of work ahead of him then he can rest but not for long, because when June comes along we’re going to do it al over again.

Lots of Illinoisans are crossing the Wisconsin state line–permanently

Posted: November 21, 2021 by John Ruberry in business, crime, economy, News/opinion, politics
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By John Ruberry

“He crossed state lines with an AR-15” is a typical bellyache from leftist pontificators about Kyle Rittenhouse traveling from his home in Antioch, Illinois to help protect a business in Kenosha, Wisconsin during the riots (oops civil unrest) there last summer. 

The northern city limits of Antioch end at the Wisconsin state line. So for many people, including for Kyle Rittenhouse, travelling to Wisconsin is a daily trip. He worked in Pleasant Prairie, which is sandwiched between the Illinois state line and Kenosha. And Rittenhouse’s father and other relatives of his live in Kenosha.

Rittenhouse of course was found not guilty–and it was the correct verdict–of charges surrounding the self-defense shootings of three rioters (oops mostly peaceful protesters) in Kenosha last summer.

Do you need to fill up your gas tank? Only naive fools top off their vehicles in Illinois when there is a Wisconsin choice a short drive away. For instance, last month Mrs. Marathon Pundit and I visited Illinois Beach State Park in Zion. On our way out of the park I told Mrs. Marathon Pundit, “Let’s head up Sheridan Road and fill up our car.” And so we did. At the BP station there–which is just 50 yards north of the Illinois border, we paid 40 cents less per gallon than we would have south of the Cheese Curtain. The BP station is a large one–there were about ten vehicles filling up. And each one had Illinois license plates.

What about permanent moves to America’s Dairyland?

Just north of that border you see many manufacturing facilities and warehouses, most of them are newly built. Many of them are businesses that formerly called Illinois home. U-Line has a massive warehouse in Pleasant Prairie, they moved there, bringing 1,000 jobs, from Waukegan, Illinois in 2008. That facility has many neighbors that are equally massive. But on the Illinois side you see farms and some small scale businesses.

Why are they leaving?

Writing for the Badger Institute in 2019, Mark J. Perry said, “On 14 different measures of labor market dynamism, economic growth, various tax burdens, business climate and fiscal health, Wisconsin comes out ahead of neighboring Illinois on all but one of those measures — state individual income tax rate.” Perry added, “On net, Wisconsin has gained 116,000 Illinois residents between 2006 and 2017, an average of nearly 40 residents every day from 2014-’17.” 

Illinois has other substantial problems. Its public pension system is the second-worst funded of the 50 states–at just 39 percent–while Wisconsin’s public worker pensions are the best-funded at over 100 percent. Only an amendment to the Illinois constitution to eliminate the pension guarantee clause, a default, or hyper-inflation can solve the pension crisis. Illinois regularly contends for the title of most-corrupt state. Since I was born four Illinois governors have served time in federal prison. No governors of Wisconsin from that period have suffered the same disgrace.

Violent crime and robbery is a growing crisis in Chicago and its inner suburbs. Chicago will probably exceed 800 murders this year–numbers that the city hasn’t seen since the crack-fueled street gang wars of the mid-1990s. According to Hey Jackass there have already been over 1,400 carjackings in Chicago–nearly double than the yearly total of 2009. Flash mob robberies are occurring not just in Chicago but also the suburbs, such as this outrage where a gang of thieves on Wednesday filched over $100,000 in merchandise from a Luis Vuitton store in DuPage County. Two days later in Chicago’s downsized Magnificent Mile a flash mob of shoplifters struck Neiman Marcus–filling up three cars of merchandise. Wow, up until recently finding even an illegal parking spot was nearly impossible on the Mag Mile. Of course no one has been charged in these flash mob thefts. 

So crossing the Illinois state line into Wisconsin isn’t just a common occurrence. It’s the safe and smart move for people and businesses. 

Who knows? Mrs. Marathon Pundit and I might make that migration north too. Without a rifle. We only own a handgun.

John Ruberry regularly blogs just forty miles south of the Wisconsin border at Marathon Pundit.

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.

What didn’t go well in Virginia

Posted: November 20, 2021 by ng36b in elections
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Not everything went well in the Virginia elections, and its important to point out what could be better.

Let’s look at fundraising, specifically for the House of Delegates. Now, the House of Delegates doesn’t get as much attention as the governor race, but all 100 delegates were up for election, and since they make the laws, having control is important. In close races, Republicans fell short on fundraising by a lot, and had they raised a bit more, might have swung a few more elections.

In District 10, Republicans lost by ~500 votes, but were outspent by over 1 million dollars

In District 21, Republicans lost by ~200 votes, but were outspent by $500,000 dollars

In District 93, Republicans lost by ~1,000 votes, but were outspent $333K to $62K

Clearly, this is a problem. Spending doesn’t always predict winning (see NJ) but it does enable more ads, more flyers, more rallies and more travel. Delegates don’t get big press coverage and struggle to get their name out there, and fundraising makes all the difference.

Let’s talk about apathy next. While there was a lot of energy, there are nearly as many curmudgeons that refused to vote, refused to donate, and refused to be poll watchers, but had plenty of time to whine and complain about politics. I’ll call these people the “Commenting Peasants,” because they won’t lift a finger to help the issues that they claim to care about, but many are all thumbs when making comments on Reddit or other social media sites. Republicans have a lot of these people. Close elections, especially delegate elections, come down to very few votes, and unless people start shaming these “Commenting Peasants” to stick their comments where the sun doesn’t shine and get their butts out to vote, Republicans will continue to lose close elections.

Early voting is here to stay, yet Republicans didn’t have a “drive to vote” group going. That was a huge mistake. The Campaign Sidekick app I had told me to ask people about who they would vote for, but I had no way of putting someone on a list to be driven to a voting station. Why on earth not?

Lastly, why on earth didn’t we hear more from Winsome Sears and Jason Miyares? In person, these people are excellent speakers, better in my opinion than Youngkin. I’ll say it now, Sears needs to be groomed to run for governor next time around. These two should have been featured in more ads and more speaking engagements.

That’s the bad as I see it. Nothing critical that cost Republicans, but plenty of areas where more attention could have picked up more votes and more delegate seats.

This post represents the views of the author and not those of the Department of Defense, Department of the Navy, or any other government agency. If you liked this post, consider purchasing the authors book for you or a friend.

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