10 posts from July 2007

Despite the lovely farmer's market brunch that seemed to set our Saturday off to a good start, after a failed attempt at seeing the MIA show @ Amoeba and a handful of hiccups en route to the beach to escape, Liza and I were left with a sort of disappointing day.  To make up for it we decided to escape to the hills in Marin near Stinson beach and walked 2 miles inwards to Bass Lake.

Bass lake was exactly what we could have asked for.  Less than 20 people were around the grounds at any point in time; some basked in the sun while eating lunch while others took to the lake with their inflatable rafts and inner-tubes.  Liza and I overheard a woman talking about a rope swing that was just around the corner, and after a good period of sunbathing we were primed and ready for the water.  The water was warm and clean, and we swam around the edges for and hour searching for blackberries and watching the dragonflies.  Ideal, right?
On our way back we decided to try and climb this large tree in a clearing of a small Eucalyptus forest.  Shakily we treaded up the branches that were aligned like steps to the top of the trunk and once we were inside we took a while to sit down and rest before continuing forward.  After a few flower child photo shoots, we headed back to the car and made a quick stop at the small town of Bolinas.

Last weekend my little sister and I hopped in the car for a long two hour drive to Santa Cruz with little planning other than a few minutes out in the sun and a visit to the old Casino Arcade.  I had originally been to the arcade when I went to SC with pixel7 in the spring, but it was late at night when we went and we only had a few minutes to stop in. 

This time the large room full of arcade cabinets, pinball machines, dance/music games, and laser tag, was filled to the brim with salty tourists from the boardwalk.  I couldn't necessarily tell whether people were just milling in and out aimlessly or whether they were actually playing, but it seemed like there was a good amount of people gaming around.  Along with you're expected DDR's, Time Crisis, and racing games, Casino has a large collection of old pinball machines as well as a pretty large collection of retro gaming cabinets. 

I couldnt help but lust over the retro game section in which they had crowded the last of the Punch Outs and Marble Madnesses together in a dark unlit cavern.  Like a secret treasure trove, the lighted titles gleamed bright in all of their out-dated glory.  Some of them worked perfectly, others blinked rapidly in a seisure-like state. I fawned over the retro art from Gorf and other lost titles.

After many a photo was taken, my sister and I played House of the Dead 4 for a few rounds and then proceeded to get our photo taken in a revised version of the old-timey carnival photo booth.  While walking to the photo section, I noticed this mammoth computer that would calculate your love.  I didn't have anyone to try it with, but I'm sure it's calculating capabilities are as massively successful as it's size.

 

is where I be.
any games peeps want me to take a gander at?

more to come...