CA Extreme is coming up

I'm going to bring several of my games to the next California Extreme show, on July 11th and 12th, at the Santa Clara Hyatt Regency.

Most likely I'll be bringing:

• Xenophobe
• Gravitar
• Tempest (with the multi-tempest kit installed)
• Lunar Lander
• Asteroids Deluxe

And if I can get them fixed:

• Assault
• Space Duel
• Omega Race

Getting them out of the arcade/shed will be a chore, but well worth it. Since I brought them home from work (because I left the company) they've mostly been sitting wrapped up in my garage.

-- Pneu

Until You Love Me

So my grand plan to blog about arcade game collecting isn't going very well, so I'll just steal blog ideas from others. In this case, another of those memes that are really about getting you to reveal your scary inner self, by tricking you into listing what kind of music you actually listen to, rather than what you put on when you think others might be listening. (That's right interwebs, I'm on to your evil scheme, but I've got nothing to hide.)

RULES:
a) Put your MP3 player, iTunes, Windows Media Player, etc. on shuffle
b) For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
c) YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS
d) Tag at least 5 people
e) Everyone tagged has to do the same thing (no they don't, actually)
f) Have Fun! (Step f is not required)

1. IF SOMEONE SAYS 'ARE YOU OKAY' YOU SAY?
"Euphoric Eyes" by 4 Strings featuring Jason Lunar
Well.. at least my eyes are okay... wait isn't Euphoria some kind of pathos?

2. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF?
"Future Brain" by Get Ready
I hope this means that I"m smart.

3. WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?

"The Memory of Trees" by Enya
That what I love about my wife.. she's got the recall of a redwood

4. HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?

"Euphoria" by DJ Tiesto
Wow.. maybe this is some kind of pathos, but if loving techno music is sick, I don't want to be well.

5. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?

"Games Without Frontiers" by Peter Gabriel
I can't think of a better thing to have come up for this question.  Let's play!

6. WHAT'S YOUR MOTTO?

"True Faith (Pet Shop Boys remix)" by New Order

7. WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?

"Just One Day" by Anything Box
Like Reblochon cheese, i guess I'm best if I'm not sitting around long.

8. WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
"Copperline" by James Taylor
Though I like it, I haven't the faintest idea what this song means. Must be the way my parents feel about me.

9. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?

"Tour de France" by Kraftwerk

Does that mean bicycle races? Or post-punk german music groups?  Post-punk german music groups in bike races?

10. WHAT IS 2 + 2?
"Branderburg Concerto N:6" by Bach J. S.

Bach's is highly mathematical, but it's way more complex than 2+2.

11. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
"Neuromancer Ending (Warhol Edit)" by 8-Bit Weapon

This is strangely appropriate on many levels.

12. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
"Whistling In The Dark" by They Might Be Giants

A woman came up to me and said "I'd like to poison your mind...."

13. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
"Southern Belle" by Elliott Smith

My.. I think I'm getting the vapors just thinking about growing up.

14. WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
"What Do You Do With A B.A. In English?" by Original Broadway Cast of Avenue Q

Not that there's anything wrong with a B.A. in English...

15. WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
"Piano Man" by Billy Joel

I would have loved it, but I liked the Bob Marley song we actually used more.

16. WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
"Forest Power" by Deep Forest

It will probably be the forest that kills me.

17. WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
"Don't Think Of Me" by Dido

I guess I like being inconspicuous.. NOT.

18. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR?
"Fly on the Windscreen" by Depeche Mode

Okay, but who isn't afraid of Depeche Mode?

19. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
"Golden, Golden [Live]" by Silly Wizard

I'm not sure which is the bigger secret, that I fear Depeche Mode, or that I like Depeche Mode. Oops.. sorry.. wrong question.

20. WHAT DO YOU WANT RIGHT NOW?
"Red Zone" by Robert Miles

No, No, No... it's Red *Bull*.. but I'd prefer some other caffeine source.

21. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
"Suburbia" by The Pet_Shop_Boys

I hope they're not offended.

22. WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
"Until You Love Me" by 4 Strings

Tag: 

Devanie

Kevin

Scott

Matthew

Paul

These are mostly people who don't actually have blogs, so they'll have to post their responses somewhere else... like facebook.) If they don't respond with linkage in the comments, then they must have something to hide from the intertubes.

A new home for me and mine

I haven't been keeping up this blog very well, but I have been busy.

One of the things keeping me so busy is house shopping. My partner and I looking to start a family, and the loft lifestyle doesn't mesh well with having children, so we're abandoning our cool loft for more a more mundane dwelling in suburbia.

After months of looking, my partner and I just bought a house together. One of the considerations was what to do with all my arcade games. She was very supportive of finding a spot that could house my games. I really don't appreciate her enough.

The place we ended up buying had this little shed out back. When we bought it, it had some bug-ugly carpet, a crappy paint job, and a mis-mash of ad-hoc particle board shelve that were out-gassing formaldahyde so badly that one friend refused to spend more than 30 seconds inside it.

But it did have power, and it's own sub-panel with 80 amp service, and we did some quick measurements and decided that it would be a perfect arcade. After a few changes......

So, out came the carpet and shelves, and on went a coat (or two) of Behr Palace Purple (code 630D-6 if you want some of your own), and a fluorescent fixture that looks like it's right out of an 80's arcade:





But the best part was I found a flooring made of interlocking rubber tiles designed for a garage or other workspace, and a checkerboard pattern of navy blue and black ended up looking great.






Tomorrow: What it looks like with some of the games inside.....

Self indulgent, but immensely fun...

I've decided to publish this blog quasi-anonymously, though it probably won't be too hard to find out my real name--should you really care.

I'm a collector of classic arcade games. Ya know... about 6 ft. (185 cm) tall, weigh about 300 lbs (135 kg), and take quarters (insert local currency here). I currently own 14 of them. Even though they're not all at home, the 9 that are tend to fill up the house quite a bit. Luckily, my partner is really supportive, as long as I keep her favorite in working order. Right now, we live in an old cotton mill converted to work-live lofts, so we've got plenty of space, but we need to move, since this is no place to raise a family.

I'l be blogging about collecting, repairing, restoring--and most importantly, playing these monstrosities. As well as trying to balance this self-indulgent attempt to live out my adolescent fantasy of living in an arcade, with the more mundane* issues of work, home and family.

Pneu

* But ultimately more important.