THE MAACA DAILY NEWS! Your daily read about YOU,the members!

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Azatotht
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Re: THE MAACA DAILY NEWS! Your daily read about YOU,the members!

Post by Azatotht »

Sparky wrote:Please disregard the previous message. I just played one game of Rolling Stones. And I rolled it on ball 2.

All is right in the world... because... pinball.

Image
LOL I have to get back to playing pinball... I might clean the boxes on top during the holidays :FP:
I am the monster that breathing men would kill.
I, am Dracula... (and you're not!)

Pinball machines I have owned

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Post by cait001 »

cait001 wrote:I want to give a shout-out to all the techs out there. In the last year my job life has really ramped up and my time for coin-op and repairs has withered to nothing. And the workload shows no signs of diminishing for at least a year.
I am so grateful to the people out there willing to take on my projects and try and bring them back to life. And normally that'd be enough to say about the pinball techs, but right now I have dispersed obscure coin-op machines to get fixed to three different people who were willing to take on the challenge. We're not talking about a basic shop job here.
one person is working on redoing a purely mechanical 1934 World's Series
one person is working on a 1970s Japanese Arrangeball machine, taking on some of the earliest solid-state board tech in Japanese coin-op.
one person is working on a 1960s German gambling machine!

I won't name names, but give a shout if you want to. I have been good at the hunting and coordination to bring these international odd machines to Ottawa, but I am floored by the enthusiasm and support of the people in this hobby willing to take these coin-op machines in and try and get them running again so they might be shared at future OPGS shows.

Revisiting this post to say that things have not improved at work, but I'm still super excited about the enthusiasm and hard work being done in the pinball community.
A new purely mechanical pinball project will be leaving my basement shortly for another member to work on and I'm very excited about it.

Shout out to JF, sylvain, sparky, xylog, semicolin, and all the other techs that help make the magic happen!
backglasses wanted: Star-Jet, Fairy, Star Trek (1971 Gottlieb)
marquees wanted: Roller Aces, Quiz Dragon, Strider, Varkon, Dark Planet, R-Type (w/ship), Quantum, Ninja (Sega)
blog -- collection -- want list -- Pinball Women Ottawa -- Ottawa Pinball Map -- ratings

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Post by R.A.B. »

Sparky wrote:Even though I FaceTime my family every night, I still blatantly lie to myself when I say that I do it all for them. I am my father's son. A father who still works like crazy at 74 years of age. We are stupid, stubborn Irishmen that don't know when to quit. But hopefully my brain will win the race against my body, on who will give out first. Stubbornness VS physical breakdown. It's a tight race folks!!! Watch for the photo-finish! LOL

I kid... but not much. 5-year plan. When I started this job, which I still love even though it may not seem like it, most have said that no one really passes the 5-year mark.
Sorry for reducing your great post Ian, but I think there are at least 3 important points that speak to me (and maybe others) in the quote I extracted.

1) the ideas of the past about family and sacrifice have changed, more parents are going crazy in more ways than before, the old roles are broken. The latter could be good in a few cases, but our education and upbringings can not keep up with the times changing as fast as they do, so we often scramble to adapt, and/or compromise and often trip up. Metaphorically, we may break our bones trying to adapt, or more safely just limp along to the end of our lives.

2) Some of us have found some solace in being married to our work. It is a safe place in a way, but deadly much later in life. We look for a place where we are hopefully in charge. Being married to our work until we collapse is a sign of a truth we have found as valid in a way, something that we can hang on to until death or senility without having to explain why. It is a good excuse to stay busy and be productive, but for many of us it is much more complicated than that.

3) 5 year plan - the best of anything we do is the beginning, I still believe that. The routine always settles in usually at year three of doing the same things and dulls the lives of those who are still alive and want to break new ground. These people are just not ready to settle, and as you said, our minds or our bodies will end up waving the finish line flag when it is time for our kind.

Hugs,

Rob
http://www.montrealpinball.com
https://amusement.evolvo.com/

Bally 1936 "Bumper" - North Star 1949 "Sea Breeze" - North Star 1950 "Richelieu" - Universal 1950 "Feature Bell" - Gottlieb 1952 "Queen of Hearts" - Williams 1960 "Ten Spot" - Gottlieb 1971 "Challenger" - Williams 1973 "OXO" - Bally 1976 "Bonanza"

Maxed out at 10 machines, no more. Un max de 10 machines, pas plus.
Une règle suivi guéri de tout. A rule respected can cure anything.

A philosophy of doing shall rule until the days when I can no longer "do" arrive. Because when I am too old to adjust an AX relay or relieve a woman friend from sighing, there will only be memories to fill my time. So, the task at hand is to build that RRSP of memories in order to joyfully cushion the later stages of life.

Personally prefer the exceptional qualities lurking beneath any normal state of affairs. Alas, our day to day is being promoted as extraordinary via a world wide web largely fueled by the new dumb & followed closely by the latest breed of unscrupulous scoundrels & judas goats. So, god bless the fool hearted, the crazed, and the railroaded all in good measure for they will likely inherit what is left of the earth after the screwheads are done with it. God damn darwinian primates, why do they refuse to evolve, even after all we should have learned from being dumb savages for so long.

"I try my best to be just like I am, but everybody wants you, to be just like them. " - Zimmy

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Post by Guard »

Played my first full 3 game hockey tournament in a looooong time. Fake hip held up wonderfully.......now to lose some fat before next winter.

Edit: and now I have 10 days off. Let's play some pinball.
PINS- Hit The Deck/ Tee'd Off/ Flash Gordon/Bluenote / Stern POTC/ DE Star Wars/ Big Hit/ Algar/Asteroid Annie and the Alians/Slugfest/Batman The Dark Knight/DE The Simpsons/Dirty Harry/T2/ Devils Dare/ World Poker Tour/Swords of Fury/ Lethal Weapon/Ripleys BION/Circa 1933/Striker Xtreme

RIP- Sinbad/ Supersonic

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Post by Guard »

Never forget "they" will replace you before your dead body hits the floor. F$%k helping them....they showed you their true colours and they aren't pretty.
PINS- Hit The Deck/ Tee'd Off/ Flash Gordon/Bluenote / Stern POTC/ DE Star Wars/ Big Hit/ Algar/Asteroid Annie and the Alians/Slugfest/Batman The Dark Knight/DE The Simpsons/Dirty Harry/T2/ Devils Dare/ World Poker Tour/Swords of Fury/ Lethal Weapon/Ripleys BION/Circa 1933/Striker Xtreme

RIP- Sinbad/ Supersonic

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Post by Guard »

PINS- Hit The Deck/ Tee'd Off/ Flash Gordon/Bluenote / Stern POTC/ DE Star Wars/ Big Hit/ Algar/Asteroid Annie and the Alians/Slugfest/Batman The Dark Knight/DE The Simpsons/Dirty Harry/T2/ Devils Dare/ World Poker Tour/Swords of Fury/ Lethal Weapon/Ripleys BION/Circa 1933/Striker Xtreme

RIP- Sinbad/ Supersonic

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Post by Fifty »

Sparky wrote: Tue Mar 31, 2020 11:17 am Well, as predicted, "The Man" is crumbling under the weight of my work. They even called me at home today because they knew I wouldn't answer my cell. The problem though is that by having 2 teens in the house (especially Emma), the phone doesn't even ring half a ring before one picks up. So, before I had the chance to yell out "don't answer", she handed me the phone.

It was our office manager (who is a temp... yet still works full time), asking me if I wanted to stop my RRSP payments.... yeah right. The company matches what I put in. So if I stop, they are again off the hook for more money. I literally told her that I didn't trust the company anymore and to leave it as-is.

More money when (not if) I leave.

And on top of that, I told my sales manager about not having anything taken over by the guy in the west. He is even more pissed off than I am. And add the fact that the US tech support department has issued a complaint against me for not answering the phone (cuz my management failed to advise them that they laid me off temporarily). Come to find out that they are all still working. Lovely.

I do appreciate the time they are laying me off. Gives me time to think.

Big mistake for them. Gives me time to organize. Not to their advantage. Time gives me clarity and perspective.
It'll be interesting to see if they start begging you to come back. There are two sayings I remember when shit like this happens. The first is;

"You don't know what you have until it is gone."

The second is one my Dad taught me and it's a little more crass;

"It's not who you know, it's who you blow".

While thinking of these sayings I decided to Google them (yes, I was careful) and this one also came up and I thought it was appropriate;

"If I cut you off, chances are, you handed me the scissors"

Best of luck man, as you said, use this time to clear your head and gain some perspective. I've been fairly lucky through this whole mess. My employer has reduced everyone to a 4 day week (32 hours) to avoid layoffs. I am working 2 days from home, 2 days from the shop. It's pretty much what I've dreamed of doing since going full time.

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Post by R.A.B. »

Hit me on this sunny Monday morning, a strange thing to admit, but here goes.

I have done next to nothing pinball related in the past month or so and it feels pretty good. If I have to be precise, I stopped fixing anything pinball related on the 24th of March and since then have mailed a couple of parts orders from my personal stock, cleaned up my tool boxes and put together a couple of pinball porn photo albums from a shoebox of old photos. Mostly of Pinball Expo in '88 & '89 and of my collection from the late 80's and early 90's and the pinball store I had in Ville Lasalle back in 1992. Then around that time I counted 103 machines stored in two basements and said that's enough non-sense, got a job as the a route tech for Reflex Amusements and put aside the home service and collecting thing until I was hired at Laniel Automatic on February 8th 1998. By October of that year I was setting up a Parts & Service dept at a newly opened Laniel Automatic branch office in Mississauga. Found pictures of that as well and stuck them in the albums to make sure I never forget how nutty that all was.

Now the industry is almost dead, even more so with this COVID-19 thing. Who knows who in the coin operated business will survive in its aftermath and have the resources or the balls to start up again. And as the business of coin operated amusement machines tries to reinvent itself via the next generation of operators, P1AG, barcades, FECs, route techs and home techs, on line parts stores, the handful of operators who haven't given up their livelihoods yet and the collector/enthusiast market, hell I think I want to make it to the end of the line while riding that train. It surely has been colourful spending this last month or so looking back in order to look ahead with more depth of perspective.

The time to jump back in may be a long while off I reckon.

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=26238

"What a long strange trip its been...." The Grateful Dead
http://www.montrealpinball.com
https://amusement.evolvo.com/

Bally 1936 "Bumper" - North Star 1949 "Sea Breeze" - North Star 1950 "Richelieu" - Universal 1950 "Feature Bell" - Gottlieb 1952 "Queen of Hearts" - Williams 1960 "Ten Spot" - Gottlieb 1971 "Challenger" - Williams 1973 "OXO" - Bally 1976 "Bonanza"

Maxed out at 10 machines, no more. Un max de 10 machines, pas plus.
Une règle suivi guéri de tout. A rule respected can cure anything.

A philosophy of doing shall rule until the days when I can no longer "do" arrive. Because when I am too old to adjust an AX relay or relieve a woman friend from sighing, there will only be memories to fill my time. So, the task at hand is to build that RRSP of memories in order to joyfully cushion the later stages of life.

Personally prefer the exceptional qualities lurking beneath any normal state of affairs. Alas, our day to day is being promoted as extraordinary via a world wide web largely fueled by the new dumb & followed closely by the latest breed of unscrupulous scoundrels & judas goats. So, god bless the fool hearted, the crazed, and the railroaded all in good measure for they will likely inherit what is left of the earth after the screwheads are done with it. God damn darwinian primates, why do they refuse to evolve, even after all we should have learned from being dumb savages for so long.

"I try my best to be just like I am, but everybody wants you, to be just like them. " - Zimmy

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Post by R.A.B. »

This may be a good place for updates on how most of us are feeling after more than (in most cases) a month of being away from paid employment and/or being at home.

Personally, about two days ago I began to feel that things were shifting as I observed my environment, maybe it was because I was taking in more info and opinions than I should be which resulted in my slowly beginning to feel a bit "bughouse". This larger and slightly careless intake of information from various sources is difficult to digest despite the daily walks and talks with neighbours, so I reduced my info intake to the Guardian and Health Canada and stopped listening to people who are scared. This is not a time to hide, and this is not a time to go out into the world thinking you are invincible.
20200502_090608.jpg
Today is going to get up to 20 degrees and that is going to change things again during the daily walks. There may be more smiles and people wearing less layers and looking like they want to feel life's warmer side, but there is still that distant look when people walk by which I make a point to challenge with a big warm smile and sometimes a hello. There will be no dancing in the streets this summer, but there will certainly be some warmth and yearnings for life to continue cautiously. There is no stopping it.
20200502_090534.jpg
Last edited by R.A.B. on Sat May 02, 2020 9:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
http://www.montrealpinball.com
https://amusement.evolvo.com/

Bally 1936 "Bumper" - North Star 1949 "Sea Breeze" - North Star 1950 "Richelieu" - Universal 1950 "Feature Bell" - Gottlieb 1952 "Queen of Hearts" - Williams 1960 "Ten Spot" - Gottlieb 1971 "Challenger" - Williams 1973 "OXO" - Bally 1976 "Bonanza"

Maxed out at 10 machines, no more. Un max de 10 machines, pas plus.
Une règle suivi guéri de tout. A rule respected can cure anything.

A philosophy of doing shall rule until the days when I can no longer "do" arrive. Because when I am too old to adjust an AX relay or relieve a woman friend from sighing, there will only be memories to fill my time. So, the task at hand is to build that RRSP of memories in order to joyfully cushion the later stages of life.

Personally prefer the exceptional qualities lurking beneath any normal state of affairs. Alas, our day to day is being promoted as extraordinary via a world wide web largely fueled by the new dumb & followed closely by the latest breed of unscrupulous scoundrels & judas goats. So, god bless the fool hearted, the crazed, and the railroaded all in good measure for they will likely inherit what is left of the earth after the screwheads are done with it. God damn darwinian primates, why do they refuse to evolve, even after all we should have learned from being dumb savages for so long.

"I try my best to be just like I am, but everybody wants you, to be just like them. " - Zimmy

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Post by R.A.B. »

Sparky wrote: Sat May 02, 2020 8:29 amMore time to enjoy things... but I do miss friends.
Yeah, I miss all night bull sessions with like minded friends along with a few off the wall characters thrown in so as to keep things hopping. Just talking around a kitchen table sipping scotch and yelling the occasional obscenity is really something I miss. Honestly, I did try to do this alone, but it doesn't quite feel right. :lol:

There are so many things to a lifetime, but the one thing this pandemic has made difficult to deal with is the lack of the close knit social side of existence which energizes a good bunch of us and usually encourages one to thrive on. There will certainly be a change of approach and attitude when we once again come together, differently this time moving forward, always forward. I don't think this distance thing is a great problem as long as it doesn't last over a year or so. We will need a renaissance to go with the huge unpredictable economic changes looming, so we need a fix to getting this bug under our thumbs. I am sure that we will see something like the roaring 20's erupt again within the next 5 years or so, I just hope I can still manage the moves by then. :FP:

Personally, I have been digging into the past too much I think, I am down to the decades of journals entries and written words, I can only review and sort them out for an hour each day, too emotionally & intellectually loaded to deal with without letting my present moods take a beating, not always in a bad way, but in a "too much to acknowledge in order to move forward" sort of way. The amount of events we live in a lifetime are enormous, especially when you have triggers to revive them through your memory. I don't know if that makes sense to anyone here, but I do believe we can only deal with so much of that at a time, everyone has boundaries and thresholds that become evident just before the "bughouse" stage.

"Ok now", I sometimes say to myself, "that's enough for today." There are boundaries here. especially in this time of reflection and review. I feel it in a most powerful way. It is good and it is bad and everything else in between, but it would be best to just step back slowly, away from that threshold for now.
Last edited by R.A.B. on Sun May 03, 2020 7:03 am, edited 5 times in total.
http://www.montrealpinball.com
https://amusement.evolvo.com/

Bally 1936 "Bumper" - North Star 1949 "Sea Breeze" - North Star 1950 "Richelieu" - Universal 1950 "Feature Bell" - Gottlieb 1952 "Queen of Hearts" - Williams 1960 "Ten Spot" - Gottlieb 1971 "Challenger" - Williams 1973 "OXO" - Bally 1976 "Bonanza"

Maxed out at 10 machines, no more. Un max de 10 machines, pas plus.
Une règle suivi guéri de tout. A rule respected can cure anything.

A philosophy of doing shall rule until the days when I can no longer "do" arrive. Because when I am too old to adjust an AX relay or relieve a woman friend from sighing, there will only be memories to fill my time. So, the task at hand is to build that RRSP of memories in order to joyfully cushion the later stages of life.

Personally prefer the exceptional qualities lurking beneath any normal state of affairs. Alas, our day to day is being promoted as extraordinary via a world wide web largely fueled by the new dumb & followed closely by the latest breed of unscrupulous scoundrels & judas goats. So, god bless the fool hearted, the crazed, and the railroaded all in good measure for they will likely inherit what is left of the earth after the screwheads are done with it. God damn darwinian primates, why do they refuse to evolve, even after all we should have learned from being dumb savages for so long.

"I try my best to be just like I am, but everybody wants you, to be just like them. " - Zimmy

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Post by R.A.B. »

Sparky wrote: Sat May 02, 2020 9:47 am
R.A.B. wrote: Sat May 02, 2020 9:27 am Personally, I have been digging into the past too much I think, I am down to the decades of journals entries and written words, I can only review and sort them out for an hour each day, too emotionally & intellectually loaded to deal with without letting my present moods take a beating, not always in a bad way, but in a "too much to acknowledge in order to move forward" sort of way. The amount of events we live in a lifetime are enormous, especially when you have triggers to revive them through your memory. I don't know if that makes sense to anyone here, but I do believe we can only deal with so much of that at a time, everyone has boundaries and thresholds.
"We all have a past, Watson. They are the shadows that define our every sunny day." - Sherlock Holmes


Vladimir says hi. ;)
Thanks Ian, I sort of forgot about Vladimir, - that ghostly bastard of a man. :lol:

I will have a couple of drinks with him later tonight in order to get him talking, I have rum and cranberry juice in stock, that should do it. Possibly I can get another part of his interpretation of the events that took place in the past 100 years of the Crane Building.

Later alligator.
http://www.montrealpinball.com
https://amusement.evolvo.com/

Bally 1936 "Bumper" - North Star 1949 "Sea Breeze" - North Star 1950 "Richelieu" - Universal 1950 "Feature Bell" - Gottlieb 1952 "Queen of Hearts" - Williams 1960 "Ten Spot" - Gottlieb 1971 "Challenger" - Williams 1973 "OXO" - Bally 1976 "Bonanza"

Maxed out at 10 machines, no more. Un max de 10 machines, pas plus.
Une règle suivi guéri de tout. A rule respected can cure anything.

A philosophy of doing shall rule until the days when I can no longer "do" arrive. Because when I am too old to adjust an AX relay or relieve a woman friend from sighing, there will only be memories to fill my time. So, the task at hand is to build that RRSP of memories in order to joyfully cushion the later stages of life.

Personally prefer the exceptional qualities lurking beneath any normal state of affairs. Alas, our day to day is being promoted as extraordinary via a world wide web largely fueled by the new dumb & followed closely by the latest breed of unscrupulous scoundrels & judas goats. So, god bless the fool hearted, the crazed, and the railroaded all in good measure for they will likely inherit what is left of the earth after the screwheads are done with it. God damn darwinian primates, why do they refuse to evolve, even after all we should have learned from being dumb savages for so long.

"I try my best to be just like I am, but everybody wants you, to be just like them. " - Zimmy

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Post by R.A.B. »

Once in a while you read something that expresses what you were thinking, and does it so well that you do not even attempt to write anything more or comment about the idea. That is a good reason as any for me to stay quiet about this extra-ordinary time.

Well, that's what happened to me yesterday as I was taking in more info and perspectives than I should be exposed to in the face of this pandemic. As I said earlier I have tried to limit my information intake in order to not get depressed or just plain god-dam angry at the stupidity of our species and some dangerous individuals who do not agree with how things are unfolding and want to explain civilization to you solely via the tenacity of their beliefs. Truth is on the move again, things are changing real fast and many people are starting to go off the rails, and with many more to come I'm afraid.

For those who can read more than a paragraph at a time without wondering off to get a snack, have yourself a five minute think session. The article in the link below starts off a little too "touchy/feely" for may tastes, but does an amazing job at explaining how we got here and why it is difficult to deal with what we need to do via isolation in order to get this bug under our thumbs. It also clearly exposes how we may come out of this in good shape providing we can maintain a wider understanding of how things have & will continue to change radically in and through and after this great strife. (The latter not being an exercise for the unimaginative and the dumb) Suffice to say that this article is written with a more thoughtful & less individualistic American perspective than the one spewing off from their leader. What an embarrassment to be stuck represented by that sociopath to the rest of the civilized world.

Last week I had my pool table cloth supplier call me on my cell to let me know that he is working from home (Chicago) and can ship whatever Alouette may need in billiard supplies and also to see how things were going. We have become good friends over the years, so we got talking. He laced into Trump like I have never heard anyone do before. Not all Americans are loud mouth proud and righteous dummies, but man sometimes I wonder how what De Niro calls "a fake president" could have come about ? Oh wait, I do know how, it is a pretty neat trick.

https://www.theatlantic.com/family/arch ... ic/611350/
Last edited by R.A.B. on Mon May 11, 2020 2:50 pm, edited 2 times in total.
http://www.montrealpinball.com
https://amusement.evolvo.com/

Bally 1936 "Bumper" - North Star 1949 "Sea Breeze" - North Star 1950 "Richelieu" - Universal 1950 "Feature Bell" - Gottlieb 1952 "Queen of Hearts" - Williams 1960 "Ten Spot" - Gottlieb 1971 "Challenger" - Williams 1973 "OXO" - Bally 1976 "Bonanza"

Maxed out at 10 machines, no more. Un max de 10 machines, pas plus.
Une règle suivi guéri de tout. A rule respected can cure anything.

A philosophy of doing shall rule until the days when I can no longer "do" arrive. Because when I am too old to adjust an AX relay or relieve a woman friend from sighing, there will only be memories to fill my time. So, the task at hand is to build that RRSP of memories in order to joyfully cushion the later stages of life.

Personally prefer the exceptional qualities lurking beneath any normal state of affairs. Alas, our day to day is being promoted as extraordinary via a world wide web largely fueled by the new dumb & followed closely by the latest breed of unscrupulous scoundrels & judas goats. So, god bless the fool hearted, the crazed, and the railroaded all in good measure for they will likely inherit what is left of the earth after the screwheads are done with it. God damn darwinian primates, why do they refuse to evolve, even after all we should have learned from being dumb savages for so long.

"I try my best to be just like I am, but everybody wants you, to be just like them. " - Zimmy

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Post by R.A.B. »

As the days go by - don't let them go on their way without any influence. They have no interest in you, must take interest in them somehow.

"Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing underground" - Talking Heads ofcourse

Gonna be a future anyway. May not be pretty, but there will be one regardless.

For now -

No routine is able to exist for very long in a vacuum without turning on itself. We need to bust out again and again in order to remain vibrant and not become stunned or bughouse. Lots of us are becoming stunned these days and we may not all come out of that fully/completely any time soon. Some people like it, it may be reassuring. Lucky bastards in a way.

Got to watch what is in our "intake" valves more carefully in these times, (info, food, drink, smoke, chemicals, sugar etc.) and when we let crap flow in more easily, we can't have that same productivity output quality that was once a major part of many routines. Kinda of a luxury not to work, but what a paradox to those who are still healthy & active. It is like retiring before you are washed up, retirement is the "goodie" we are told/sold as being the big rock candy mountain we should all desire and plan for, this is often bullshit unless you decide that you are truly finished contributing, alot of us never are.

Social distancing leads to increased screen time, which leads to decreased sleep, which leads to increased frustration, mostly because of an overload of information which often is useless in bettering our real lives. This overabundance of screen time (TV, computer, phone, ipad, even the weather channel) leads to increased snacking and so it goes. Not a good path. As one of my favorite philosophical bloggers put it recently (and from which this writing is inspired and borrowed) - "No matter how hard you train, you can't build much muscle out of Lucky Charms."

Sleep has been laced with dreams of being around others and doing stupid things, like running down the street dodging people by a fraction of an inch, pissing in laundry baskets instead of the toilet, dancing with naked women and chasing shopping carts full of potted plants and casual looking cats. I am often slow to get up and looking for ways to fill the empty days once 11AM rolls around, after having accomplished my morning routines. I try to find something positive to fill the voids. Trying to accomplish the latter without being around others to the same extent as when I was working at jobs and my output was steady is now proving difficult because I see no meaning in doing more things just for myself. And even in all that work I use to do fixing pinball machines for people to play, it is just starting to look so stupid & useless from this difficult context. Meanings are changing while importance is shifting.

When it comes time for bed, usually around 10pm, I am full of piss and vinegar from the day's empty promises. Yet as much as I want to be unconscious and get away from myself and this viral reality for a while, I still dream of what I would be doing if the world hadn't gotten bit by this bug. So many of these dreams are laced with a twisted vision of what I see around me. I have more time than ever but my output has taken a big step down. A downshift, simple things have become huge accomplishments. Going out for food is like going out hunting and navigating the obstacles and threats to then make it back to the cave unscaved. Cleaning my place and putting things in order is now overrated and silly, while disinfecting is making my eyes tear as I realize that classifying the past is now more or less lock stock and barrel until retirement. I am allowed to forget about the past because it is just piled up neatly behind me in a cabinet and if I need to remember or access something for reference sake, there is no real struggle to be had. Case in point, my friend JamesSchid asked for an accurate date when Drapeau had the by-law banning pinball in Montreal on the books when he was first elected mayor. I remembered a Montreal Gazette article a high school friend turned journalist had written, a full page feature on pinball and my small business back in May 1990 (yes, 30 years ago). She had done her background research at the archives & at the municipal library from the actual source documents (no www then) so she likely got the straight dope. Now in this age of spewing information and misinformation being posted so easily, we couldn't not get a straight answer on the web as to the actual date of the by-laws back in the 50's. Maybe it is buried deeper on the web, or not up there yet, regardless, the info came out of my time capsule cabinet in under two minutes.

Planning a new business venture or project is also tricky these days because we don't know what the future holds and what will have changed in all sorts of sectors, not just rental properties/space or real estate. Lots of things are becoming obsolete as we dig ourselves deeper into this hole and many things/values we banked on will likely no longer be valid in the next reality that looms. Even what we previously believed to be the tasty ingredients in making up a good life have shifted again and we are learning that there is only so much miserable ease healthy human beings can take. A world without what we have come to know and believe to be privileged moments may also be around the corner and most inflexible beings do not take well to having their realities and routines busted up. Some get violent and volatile if things change too suddenly and especially when they feel like the ground is shifting and may give out under them. That is when they start believing that they have nothing to lose, and that usually ends up meaning - nothing left to protect at the very end.

Same as it ever was, same as it ever was.

OK, done for this morning. I will post a scanned section from that Montreal Gazette feature story from 30 years ago which details the approximate dates for the by laws when I have finished my morning routine.

:D Have a nice day. :D :FP:

MTL Gazette May 27, 1990 - bottom left of article - Montreal by laws.jpg
Last edited by R.A.B. on Mon May 18, 2020 6:50 pm, edited 2 times in total.
http://www.montrealpinball.com
https://amusement.evolvo.com/

Bally 1936 "Bumper" - North Star 1949 "Sea Breeze" - North Star 1950 "Richelieu" - Universal 1950 "Feature Bell" - Gottlieb 1952 "Queen of Hearts" - Williams 1960 "Ten Spot" - Gottlieb 1971 "Challenger" - Williams 1973 "OXO" - Bally 1976 "Bonanza"

Maxed out at 10 machines, no more. Un max de 10 machines, pas plus.
Une règle suivi guéri de tout. A rule respected can cure anything.

A philosophy of doing shall rule until the days when I can no longer "do" arrive. Because when I am too old to adjust an AX relay or relieve a woman friend from sighing, there will only be memories to fill my time. So, the task at hand is to build that RRSP of memories in order to joyfully cushion the later stages of life.

Personally prefer the exceptional qualities lurking beneath any normal state of affairs. Alas, our day to day is being promoted as extraordinary via a world wide web largely fueled by the new dumb & followed closely by the latest breed of unscrupulous scoundrels & judas goats. So, god bless the fool hearted, the crazed, and the railroaded all in good measure for they will likely inherit what is left of the earth after the screwheads are done with it. God damn darwinian primates, why do they refuse to evolve, even after all we should have learned from being dumb savages for so long.

"I try my best to be just like I am, but everybody wants you, to be just like them. " - Zimmy

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Post by JamesSchid »

Approximate no more!

I found the relevant by-law ("règlement", in French) documents on the city of Montreal website. One just had to know the magic combination of options and keywords for the search.

The first two are in French and available in PDF format.

Règlement #2223 : as of May 1st, 1955 pinballs and bagatelle games are illegal in public spaces in Montreal.

Règlement #2229 : adopted May 5, 1955 (a few days) clarifies the definition of "jeux de boules (pin ball machines) et jeux de bagatelle"... the French text is :
"Tout appareil, dispositif ou mécanisme, fonctionnant au moyen de billes ou boules agissant sur des obstacles qui déclanchent un allumage de lampes ou l'apparition de numéros ou qui produisent des effets analogues, utilisé ou destiné à être utilisé pour fins d'amusement ou de récréation, dont la mise en mouvement requiert l'usage de pièces de monnaie ou de jetons quelconques, et dont le maniement, suivant l'habileté de l'opérateur, produit des résultats différents."

which I'll translate to :
"Any device or mechanism, operating by means of marbles or balls acting on obstacles which trigger the lighting of lamps or the appearance of numbers or which produce similar effects, used or intended to be used for amusement or recreation, the setting in motion of which requires the use of any coins or tokens, and the handling of which, depending on the skill of the operator, produces different results."

Règlement #5156 repealed #2223 and #2229 in Sept. 1977, i.e. allows pinballs, but only in amusement halls, which have a particular definition. This document is bilingual. At the federal level, there was Bill C-71.

-- James.

My post on amusement machines spotted in movies during the period when pinball was illegal :
https://pinballspotting.blogspot.com/20 ... treal.html

By-law lookup : http://ville.montreal.qc.ca/portal/page ... ema=PORTAL

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Post by R.A.B. »

JamesSchid wrote: Sun May 17, 2020 12:11 pm Approximate no more!

I found the relevant by-law ("règlement", in French) documents on the city of Montreal website. One just had to know the magic combination of options and keywords for the search.

The first two are in French and available in PDF format.

Règlement #2223 : as of May 1st, 1955 pinballs and bagatelle games are illegal in public spaces in Montreal.

Règlement #2229 : adopted May 5, 1955 (a few days) clarifies the definition of "jeux de boules (pin ball machines) et jeux de bagatelle"... the French text is :
"Tout appareil, dispositif ou mécanisme, fonctionnant au moyen de billes ou boules agissant sur des obstacles qui déclanchent un allumage de lampes ou l'apparition de numéros ou qui produisent des effets analogues, utilisé ou destiné à être utilisé pour fins d'amusement ou de récréation, dont la mise en mouvement requiert l'usage de pièces de monnaie ou de jetons quelconques, et dont le maniement, suivant l'habileté de l'opérateur, produit des résultats différents."

which I'll translate to :
"Any device or mechanism, operating by means of marbles or balls acting on obstacles which trigger the lighting of lamps or the appearance of numbers or which produce similar effects, used or intended to be used for amusement or recreation, the setting in motion of which requires the use of any coins or tokens, and the handling of which, depending on the skill of the operator, produces different results."

Règlement #5156 repealed #2223 and #2229 in Sept. 1977, i.e. allows pinballs, but only in amusement halls, which have a particular definition. This document is bilingual. At the federal level, there was Bill C-71.

-- James.

My post on amusement machines spotted in movies during the period when pinball was illegal :
https://pinballspotting.blogspot.com/20 ... treal.html

By-law lookup : http://ville.montreal.qc.ca/portal/page ... ema=PORTAL

Thanks James for taking the time to dig up the legal dope and the exact dates of these Montreal by-laws.

As always, when more precise info comes to light, new questions are generated. I am not making this shit up, I have questions, but no worries I think I can offer some answers as to why bingo machines especially were still being operated on the island of Montreal during that 20 year span. As well, there were many pinball machines on the Main, usually deep in the back of various stores. I was told that this was common practise in those years, especially when you knew the cops in your hood and had an understanding of what you could offer them as a gratuitie so as to have them look the other way. Apparently, It was just business on the Main.

According to the pdf of by-law #2229, fines of $100 or 60 days in the icebox was the penalty for getting caught operating a "jeux de boules". And if you paid the fine at anytime after being locked up, you were immediately released, so a good place to take a break if you needed one. Christ, according to a retired amusement machine vet I still know to this day, a bingo machine could take in 1000$ a week in a busy spot. So if they were being operated on the slide in the back rooms of restaurants and corner stores, you can probably still estimate a weekly take of about 500 bones in nickels. An operator who had 10 to 20 of these on the road must have been rolling in it and pretty busy collecting up and down his route making good cash money every single day of the week. The fine at that point I reckon would have been more of an inconvenience than a deterrent, so the real hassle I would venture to say would have been to have your equipment seized and having to find another location. Making a trip to Laniel Amusements on Notre-Dame street was also likely required. In any case, I bet you a lot of those operator fines were paid in nickels.

One should also remember that pinballs and bingos were more than likely still being operated without too many hassles in the Laurentians, Eastern townships all outside Montreal island where there were likely fewer restrictive by laws, if any.


George Dragouniss of Playmore Music was one of my mentors and also a good friend. We met in the late 80's and he died in the mid 90's. We use to go on home service calls together when there was a jukebox (I wasn't any good at fixing some of those, still ain't) and pinball in the same home. He was a master with Seeburgs and mechanical slots.

During those road trips and all the time we spent having coffee and apple pie on the way there and back, he had plenty of time to tell me stories about raids and payola. He just wanted someone to listen, and I did and wrote stuff down when I got back home.

Drapeau wanted to clean up the streets of Montreal, but the police and some of the municipal staff were not all saints within that context. The law they would choose to support depended on the amount of money there was in it. George told me that in the late 40's he operated a large route of slot machines in several south shore hotel bars along the 132 and 134. It was quite the hopping scene and very good money. There was a large trunk in his truck filled with nickels and he said that they just took what they needed and never ever counted the booty to the bottom. He would make it a habit to carry gifts with him for the hotel staff whenever he did collection. When there was going to be a police operation he would get a call from a municipal office worker he knew through that grapevine he carefully nurtured and would start picking up his equipment ahead of the police. Obviously this was a service that was being paid back in one way or another, especially when you were in good with someone who knew what was going to go down where & when. George was a very likable character, I learned an awful lot from him and all he wanted in return was for someone to listen to his stories, he was no longer an operator when we met, but was well respected amongst the collector circles of that time. Oh yeah, he would also smoke my cigarettes whenever I bought him coffee and pie in return for his help in fixing jukes, he never wanted any money from me for his help.

George also told me that when his slot machines did get seized, they would be brought to Bordeaux jail and the press would be called in to see the “booty”. They would take pictures of the police officer raising the sledge hammer and holding it up high so every media photographer could get a good pic for the morning edition. Once the journalists left, the cops would put the sledge hammers down and sell the machines back to the operators who had an agreement and whom had been told to wait near by until the coast was clear. So the whole process would start again. It was like paying tax, but not to the public coffers.

Not sure if the above scenario played out the same way with pins and bingos, probably not. Seen news footage of pins and bingos in the 1960's being plowed into what is now a parking lot in Greenfield park, mayor Steve Olnick hated pinballs. So they were definitely being operated during the ban and seized for good press, there was too much money in that racket to not risk the penalties.

I sold many 1950's refurbished bingos to Montrealer's back in the 1990's, for their homes ofcourse. Each and everyone of those older guys I sold to had stories of playing them for payouts as young men. They could be found in snack bars and back rooms all over the Montreal area, so it is apparent that some operators weighed the price of getting caught against the cashbox and figured that the cashboxes were heavy enough to take a chance.

From the mouth of someone who was there (no not me) http://www.montrealpinball.com/blog/?vi ... &year=2009

Version Francaise - http://www.montrealpinball.com/fr/blogue/
http://www.montrealpinball.com
https://amusement.evolvo.com/

Bally 1936 "Bumper" - North Star 1949 "Sea Breeze" - North Star 1950 "Richelieu" - Universal 1950 "Feature Bell" - Gottlieb 1952 "Queen of Hearts" - Williams 1960 "Ten Spot" - Gottlieb 1971 "Challenger" - Williams 1973 "OXO" - Bally 1976 "Bonanza"

Maxed out at 10 machines, no more. Un max de 10 machines, pas plus.
Une règle suivi guéri de tout. A rule respected can cure anything.

A philosophy of doing shall rule until the days when I can no longer "do" arrive. Because when I am too old to adjust an AX relay or relieve a woman friend from sighing, there will only be memories to fill my time. So, the task at hand is to build that RRSP of memories in order to joyfully cushion the later stages of life.

Personally prefer the exceptional qualities lurking beneath any normal state of affairs. Alas, our day to day is being promoted as extraordinary via a world wide web largely fueled by the new dumb & followed closely by the latest breed of unscrupulous scoundrels & judas goats. So, god bless the fool hearted, the crazed, and the railroaded all in good measure for they will likely inherit what is left of the earth after the screwheads are done with it. God damn darwinian primates, why do they refuse to evolve, even after all we should have learned from being dumb savages for so long.

"I try my best to be just like I am, but everybody wants you, to be just like them. " - Zimmy

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Post by cait001 »

I'm so sorry, Ian :(
I feel that dread in my bones.
backglasses wanted: Star-Jet, Fairy, Star Trek (1971 Gottlieb)
marquees wanted: Roller Aces, Quiz Dragon, Strider, Varkon, Dark Planet, R-Type (w/ship), Quantum, Ninja (Sega)
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Post by R.A.B. »

Sparky wrote: Fri Jun 05, 2020 7:54 pm It was a good day. I took the opportunity to have some always enlightening conversation with RAB. Otherwise, just getting ready for a roadtrip tomorrow. It will be a long day.
Good to see you Ian, and I am glad you saw the big boss man walk by the parts counter and took a moment to say hello. Looks good for his mid 80's, don't you think ? I plan on being just like him when I grow up. :? 66 years running his own business and no intention of letting that fade away or ever retiring by choice. I as well have no intention of letting this gig fade away as long as I am here or there or anywhere. I know now with great certainty that whatever this business happens to mutate into in the years to come, I got my end of it covered. Being off work for two months felt like retirement in a way, and I want no part of that, even though I was keeping busy, I still felt an emptiness and a lack of purpose and especially a void of meaning in doing whatever I wanted based on my moods and desires. You need that contrast between difficult days and easy days in order for them (and your life) to have any meaning at all. It is like a rough day on the road and then tasting the reward of the refuge that comes at the end of that day when the work is all done.

DaveW texted me after you left with your parts which I don't believe you really needed, maybe that power supply was legit, but pretty certain you have leg bolts (p/n 4322-01125-40) in your stash somewhere along with lots of other goodies. :lol: Again, good to shoot the shit with you, - mask, plexi separator and all.

But back to Dave's text.

He asked if he could have an extra Alouette plastic bag as a souvenir before they run out or shut the place down. Been using them alot for parts now that this dept. is running at much higher volume than it has in the last decade or so and especially since it has been brought back to life in the last two years after almost totally closing around 2012. Texted Dave that I had a couple of cases of Alouette bags upstairs (500 per) and he can certainly have a case if he likes. A case would even be enough to line his cats litter box for a while or for me to sell him more parts for the next 5 years before plastic bags become illegal, - he didn't text back. LOL.

Alot of people seem to believe that Alouette has run out of steam and can't seem to reinvent itself fast enough to maintain relevance and that they will be closing this year. If that is the case, (and it is not if I have anything to do with it) I strongly suggest that if you have never been here, make the pilgrimage, because it is worth it. This location is something else. Alouette has been in this building since 1969 when is housed 100 plus employees. We are now down to seven employees if that, and the size of this cool building doesn't make sense anymore in lieu of the changes we all need to face this year.
"Don't hit the machines" (just the employees)
"Don't hit the machines" (just the employees)
Too many square feet for so few employees
Too many square feet for so few employees
Case in point, I had a new client from the Ottawa region come in with mbudman when pinheadpat was at the counter bringing me two Bally boards to test for him over the weekend (life and business mixing it up again, and I am totally ok with that by now) and buy some parts for his latest acquisition. The new guy (Victor) was obviously freaked out at the place, with the showroom and conference room looking like something out of the 80's, it seemed to have thrown him off a bit, nice guy though.
Showroom from inside
Showroom from inside
Conference room
Conference room
Service dept. 20-06-05
Service dept. 20-06-05
Showroom pinball row
Showroom pinball row
I didn't show him the rest of the building because of that covid thing, but I would have liked to, he is a Gottlieb dude and so am I. He did buy Gottlieb chime grommets and asked me a technical question about the reset target bank coil firing at the wrong time on his Card Whiz. I needed the schematic in order to show him what to look for. So, the Gottlieb EM paper packages he needed came out of an adjacent office for consultation.
Filling cabinets- manuals
Filling cabinets- manuals
Had one full package envelope for Jumping Jack, and one schematic for Card Whiz and Vic was happy to buy them both and was also blown away at how fast those came out of that room filled with manuals and diagrams. I usually classify the Gottlieb paper first out of all the other brands since I think Gottlieb is the Cadillac of pinball, a sort of pinball prejudice I have for things that are well built. There are over 1000 original manuals here (arcade games, bingos, pinballs and video games of all sorts) in four different parts of the building ranging from the 50's to the early 00's. Not many new Stern docs, and that is just baller with me, can't deal with them anymore or consider them anything close to my idea of quality after seeing them each day for 8 years at P1AG. We are definitely in a different age than when Gottlieb was a 160,000 square foot factory with 1000 employees a day building pinballs that are still running strong to this day. American workmanship took a major drop coming into the 21st century.
165 W. Lake, Northlake, Il.jpg
You guys need to know that this place (although it may be elsewhere later on this year) will make it to 70 one way or another. I am definitely where I am suppose to be to help this happen and right in the vortex of what the amusement industry is to me. I am a bit of a goofball historian philosopher repair guy who gets off on part numbers and the romantic side/nature of a colourful past that has now reached another period of major change. Glad that I am still here to see this happen and that I can still have an influence. Simply happy to be able to make a difference in the business, the hobby and most importantly, people's enjoyment of this leisure activity.
Gottlieb & parts display
Gottlieb & parts display
All this to say that I hope this covid thing gets knocked off the planet along with that trump troglodyte and that you folks can make it to Alouette before it changes too much while in the process of getting updated to serve what the industry and home businesses have become. We are at the end of another era.
Entrance
Entrance
Last edited by R.A.B. on Sun Jun 07, 2020 8:06 am, edited 12 times in total.
http://www.montrealpinball.com
https://amusement.evolvo.com/

Bally 1936 "Bumper" - North Star 1949 "Sea Breeze" - North Star 1950 "Richelieu" - Universal 1950 "Feature Bell" - Gottlieb 1952 "Queen of Hearts" - Williams 1960 "Ten Spot" - Gottlieb 1971 "Challenger" - Williams 1973 "OXO" - Bally 1976 "Bonanza"

Maxed out at 10 machines, no more. Un max de 10 machines, pas plus.
Une règle suivi guéri de tout. A rule respected can cure anything.

A philosophy of doing shall rule until the days when I can no longer "do" arrive. Because when I am too old to adjust an AX relay or relieve a woman friend from sighing, there will only be memories to fill my time. So, the task at hand is to build that RRSP of memories in order to joyfully cushion the later stages of life.

Personally prefer the exceptional qualities lurking beneath any normal state of affairs. Alas, our day to day is being promoted as extraordinary via a world wide web largely fueled by the new dumb & followed closely by the latest breed of unscrupulous scoundrels & judas goats. So, god bless the fool hearted, the crazed, and the railroaded all in good measure for they will likely inherit what is left of the earth after the screwheads are done with it. God damn darwinian primates, why do they refuse to evolve, even after all we should have learned from being dumb savages for so long.

"I try my best to be just like I am, but everybody wants you, to be just like them. " - Zimmy

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Post by WARLOCK »

Great stuff Robert. I will greet: and; (in a socially distant manner) "hug" Sparky across the room at Bluffs later this afternoon.
He is on several missions today; (which is his story to tell) but includes at least picking up a grail at Bluffs from Dave Astill.

I bought my first 53' pinhauler today to more effectively and efficiently move things around the planet...
Enjoy the sunshine and the changes in front of us. May be a bumpy road, but a fascinating one ahead.

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WARLOCK wrote: Sat Jun 06, 2020 9:42 amI bought my first 53' pinhauler today
:o
THAT'S A LOT OF FEET
backglasses wanted: Star-Jet, Fairy, Star Trek (1971 Gottlieb)
marquees wanted: Roller Aces, Quiz Dragon, Strider, Varkon, Dark Planet, R-Type (w/ship), Quantum, Ninja (Sega)
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Post by R.A.B. »

WARLOCK wrote: Sat Jun 06, 2020 9:42 am Great stuff Robert. I will greet: and; (in a socially distant manner) "hug" Sparky across the room at Bluffs later this afternoon.
He is on several missions today; (which is his story to tell) but includes at least picking up a grail at Bluffs from Dave Astill.

I bought my first 53' pinhauler today to more effectively and efficiently move things around the planet...
Enjoy the sunshine and the changes in front of us. May be a bumpy road, but a fascinating one ahead.
That's what I appreciate most about both you crazoids, the will to move stuff around and getting it done, just done.

Good luck with the big project in this month of June Scotty, I think it is a good decision.

And yes, we are headed for big changes and bumps in the road for sure.
http://www.montrealpinball.com
https://amusement.evolvo.com/

Bally 1936 "Bumper" - North Star 1949 "Sea Breeze" - North Star 1950 "Richelieu" - Universal 1950 "Feature Bell" - Gottlieb 1952 "Queen of Hearts" - Williams 1960 "Ten Spot" - Gottlieb 1971 "Challenger" - Williams 1973 "OXO" - Bally 1976 "Bonanza"

Maxed out at 10 machines, no more. Un max de 10 machines, pas plus.
Une règle suivi guéri de tout. A rule respected can cure anything.

A philosophy of doing shall rule until the days when I can no longer "do" arrive. Because when I am too old to adjust an AX relay or relieve a woman friend from sighing, there will only be memories to fill my time. So, the task at hand is to build that RRSP of memories in order to joyfully cushion the later stages of life.

Personally prefer the exceptional qualities lurking beneath any normal state of affairs. Alas, our day to day is being promoted as extraordinary via a world wide web largely fueled by the new dumb & followed closely by the latest breed of unscrupulous scoundrels & judas goats. So, god bless the fool hearted, the crazed, and the railroaded all in good measure for they will likely inherit what is left of the earth after the screwheads are done with it. God damn darwinian primates, why do they refuse to evolve, even after all we should have learned from being dumb savages for so long.

"I try my best to be just like I am, but everybody wants you, to be just like them. " - Zimmy

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Post by dos.reboot »

Big thanks to Sparky!! Delivered the Viking today.

:ty
LF: more space :geek:

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Post by mrmikeman »

Sparky wrote: Mon Jul 13, 2020 8:52 pm I find myself in nostalgia land today with the vids in the house... and I am suddenly craving candy I used to chew down and drinks I guzzled when I was a kid playing Pacman...

Koo Koo Taffy. Christ, I ate this stuff by the case. I haven't seen this stuff in decades. I have seen McCraw's Taffy which is the same manufacturer, but I don't care about berry or banana flavor. I want neapolitan.

Bottle Caps.... root beer flavor. Oh yeah......

Maple Leaf gumballs. 5 for 5 cents. I was always leaning g towards Strawberry Ice.

Nectar soft drink. I still don't understand it. I am sure I can find this at my local grocery store.

I am hungry.... fak... lol
After finding the video of you on DDR I got nostalgic too and started searching pics from the Allentown shows from almost 20 years ago!

Got my first DMD there in 2003. Royal Rumble.

Also saw pics from 2005 when I had Pinbot, TFTC, and Laser War for sale at Allentown. 975$, 1500$, and 700$ or 800$ for laser war.. Times sure have changed!
PINS:
Labyrinth (#21)
Jurassic Park LE (#449)
JAWS Premium
Scooby Doo CE (#141)
MultiMorphic P3 with all 7 current modules + all mini-games currently available
Star Wars Prem
Star Trek the Next Generation
Lady Luck (Recel) (in winter storage)
Gtb Pro Football (in winter storage)

Incoming: Looney Tunes, Princess Bride (P3 module)

VIDS:
Vewlix S 2-player: Running Emu PC *SOLD PP

MISC:
Aristocrat Shuffle Alley (in winter storage)
Custom built mini Virtual Pinball

JUKES
Seeburg STD2 Entertainer - Converted to MP3 while retaining the original look and feel. *FOR SALE - $500 (in winter storage)
NSM Emerald Ice CD(100) wall hanger juke. *FOR SALE - $1400

Gone but not forgotten
So many... CCrLE, WOZ ECLE, Stern POTC, Star Trek Pro, MMrRE, Stranger Things LE, Dr Who, RFM, SWEP1, Road Show, Monster Bash, Twilight Zone, Lord of the Rings, Simpsons Pinball Party, Demolition Man, Terminator 2, Funhouse, Tales from the Crypt, High Speed, Bad Cats, Flintstones, WWF Royal Rumble, Laser War, Laser Ball, Silver Slugger, Batman Forever, Pinbot, 6 Million Dollar Man, Galaxy, Meteor, Countdown, Hot Tip(SS), and others I just can't think of lol.

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frosken
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Re: THE MAACA DAILY NEWS! Your daily read about YOU,the members!

Post by frosken »

Gang, you want nostalgia???

Look what I just found!

The group picture of the first ever MAACA meeting!

Name the year and try to name everyone on the pic... some are still around...some have left the hobby...some haven't changed a bit!
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maaca 003.jpg
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Welcome to...Frosken Pinball!

After a 8-year hiatus, I'm back in the hobby... :shock:

Current working Pinball Machines:

1. Bally Black Jack SS
2. Capcom Flipper Football (#2)
3. Stern Rush Pro

Gone but (mostly) not forgotten:
- Bally: Nitro Ground Shaker, City Slicker
- Bally/Williams: Black Rose, BS Dracula (x2), CFTBL, Dirty Harry, Getaway(HS2), Indy500, Judge Dredd, Shadow, Slugfest
- Capcom: Breakshot, Flipper Football
- Gottlieb: El Dorado, Big Shot, Bounty Hunter (project), Gold Wings (Project)
- Stern: Big Game, Cheetah, Meteor (x 1.5)
- Williams: Big Guns, F-14 Tomcat, Fire!
- Misc.: Hit The Ice non-dedicated, Hyper Olympics non-dedicated cocktail, Chexx Bubble Hockey

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R.A.B.
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Re: THE MAACA DAILY NEWS! Your daily read about YOU,the members!

Post by R.A.B. »

Yikes !!

I see ghosts, and that's normal these days. This present sucks and in most cases we are still adjusting to the new ways of doing day to day stuff. Such a different future that lies ahead and which is looking more & more difficult to navigate, at least until it becomes routine and we act within its boundaries in a thoughtless/automatic way which will make it easier to manage. Then what ? Does normal ever come back ? Yes it does, and it seems to be when a certain cycle of repetition & routine installs itself in our lives.

So this is what happens in the mean-time. (one of my favorite words these days)

We look to the past and often get nostalgic, OK, it is a form of regret for something that will never come back the same way. And when the present becomes fantastic again, (during a renaissance let's say) we will stop being nostalgic because there will be that rare period when the present will be unbeatable, an existential state of mind that is usually easier to achieve by the younger members of the tribe who own the present and have less past. But you know what, the past sure looks more comfy than the present to many of us older folks right now. Add to this the fact that our collective future appears more unstable/unknowable than in the pre-covid times, so ....... this is a time for looking back to the past for a sense of stability. Paradoxically It helps us to move forward after we are done lurking there. Yes, I have found myself there many times, and when I begin to feel better because of a memory, a picture, a clip, a work of art or phrase capturing something long gone, I think about how long life really is and what a wild and wondrous state we are in (no, I do not mean Arizona) and know that the only constant has always been change and that is really what we need to learn to live with and hopefully adapt to some extent. Adapting in order not to become out of whack. Being out of whack in these times seems to be an easier course of action than adaptation for more people than usual these days. Yikes again.



Fawk, good morning everyone.
http://www.montrealpinball.com
https://amusement.evolvo.com/

Bally 1936 "Bumper" - North Star 1949 "Sea Breeze" - North Star 1950 "Richelieu" - Universal 1950 "Feature Bell" - Gottlieb 1952 "Queen of Hearts" - Williams 1960 "Ten Spot" - Gottlieb 1971 "Challenger" - Williams 1973 "OXO" - Bally 1976 "Bonanza"

Maxed out at 10 machines, no more. Un max de 10 machines, pas plus.
Une règle suivi guéri de tout. A rule respected can cure anything.

A philosophy of doing shall rule until the days when I can no longer "do" arrive. Because when I am too old to adjust an AX relay or relieve a woman friend from sighing, there will only be memories to fill my time. So, the task at hand is to build that RRSP of memories in order to joyfully cushion the later stages of life.

Personally prefer the exceptional qualities lurking beneath any normal state of affairs. Alas, our day to day is being promoted as extraordinary via a world wide web largely fueled by the new dumb & followed closely by the latest breed of unscrupulous scoundrels & judas goats. So, god bless the fool hearted, the crazed, and the railroaded all in good measure for they will likely inherit what is left of the earth after the screwheads are done with it. God damn darwinian primates, why do they refuse to evolve, even after all we should have learned from being dumb savages for so long.

"I try my best to be just like I am, but everybody wants you, to be just like them. " - Zimmy

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Azatotht
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Re: THE MAACA DAILY NEWS! Your daily read about YOU,the members!

Post by Azatotht »

AMEN Robert

Frosken, the year is most likely 2005 and from left to right:

Mindstorm88, Steph, Sylvain, Frosken, Spacecadet, ?, Sparky aka The Moonlit Knight, Splitskull, Macphreak, AMX, MrMikeman in the back, JD3, a kid probably old enough by now to own his own house and gameroom, a young Azatotht, Richard (Rickards ?? ), not sure on the last one.
I am the monster that breathing men would kill.
I, am Dracula... (and you're not!)

Pinball machines I have owned

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