A loose interpretation of the classics

Original post:  May 26, 2015

Over the weekend, we took a side trip to the Lakes Region of New Hampshire. Since our boys are of a certain age, we decided to spend some time at the Funstop. This building houses the self-proclaimed "largest arcade in the world." Whether it is or is not, it is certainly an amazing place. The top level is filled with classic video games. It is, in fact, a living museum with actual working models of the very arcade games that I played when I was the age my boys are now.

There was a Pong game from 1972. Of course, we had to try it. It was actually much more difficult to play than you would think. Perhaps it is because the controls were really not well refined.

There was also an old football game where you could actually run real "plays". Given the state of computer programming at the time, the "players" were literally the letters "x" and "o"!

I can remember spending hours at a time in this electronic playground. It seems like we were always in search of that ephemeral high when you actually entered temporary immortality. Fortunately, I was able to show the boys that I still had a few skills left:

Who are you going to believe?

Original post:  Mar 9, 2015

Video can be quite unforgiving.

Over the weekend, I was transferring some home movies to DVD for the grandparents. My mother-in-law is quite skeptical of internet sites like YouTube. While it takes a lot more time, it is also nice to have some physical reminder as opposed to a virtual reference every now and again.

There was some video of the boys last year delivering their speeches for the Toastmasters group. I had also videotaped my older son giving a speech he delivered on Robert Goddard. I thought that it was a nice way to show how much he had progressed over the last year.

Little league tryouts are next Sunday. Since we have barely picked up a ball since fall, I thought it would be a good idea to get outside and toss a few. I also decided to videotape him pitching. It was actually quite interesting to watch on the playback. You start to notice small differences in the delivery that can be corrected. There is a reason why professionals often videotape their efforts and review them. The camera stares and records all of your best efforts. It also reveals correctable flaws.

The only unfortunate piece is that it can't correct them for you.

When I was your age....

Original post:  Nov 12, 2013

You know you are starting to become more seasoned when you begin to have anecdotes that begin with those words. As time passes by, I realize that I am starting to accumulate more of those stories.

Recently, Blockbuster announced that they would close the last 300 stores in the US. I can still recall many weekends spent poring through long rows of movies attempting to find something interesting to watch. There was the disappointment of missing out on the latest new release holding the empty VHS case because they only had 40 copies on the shelves that first weekend. There were the panicked realization that you had forgotten that the video was due back at the store and it just closed! Ah, the good old days....

For fellow travellers of a certain vintage, you might also have similar experiences. Here is a brief video tribute to the stories we can tell the young folk: