Go inside this Seattle architect’s ultimate Lego paradise

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Thanks to Ed Fries, I got to play a real Computer Space tonight! Ed bought a Time2000 backbox from me (backbox for a vintage Atari pinball that I had around, it had been intended for a wall decoration for a gameroom that is likely to never get built out in that way, so decided to sell the BB. Ed bought my Atari Space Riders pinball some time ago). So I took the BB out to his house tonight, and in the arcade he recently built near his house in a separate building – lo and behold, a 1971 Computer Space resides.

Here’s the story of his Computer Space. And here’s some history links on the game itself:

http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=7381 – KLOV
http://www.pinrepair.com/arcade/cspace.htm – Pinrepair.com
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_Space – Wikipedia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nhdu2Jh9cuc – The Dot Eaters (video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esp24NI9ixs – Computer Space making a cameo in the early 70s dystopian Soylent Green

I got to play one of these a few years ago at California Extreme, along with another extremely early Atari game – Space Race – but i honestly don’t remember the gameplay. It was very cool to *attempt* to play this – the controls look at first glance similar to the much later Asteroids (button to thrust, button to fire, two buttons to rotate the ship left and right) but the layout is effectively a mirror image of Asteroids, so hard to figure it out without practice.

One of the things I really like about this game – besides its age and heritage from the dawn of videogames – is simply that it represents a dream. When you look at that wild fiberglass cabinet, you know someone was thinking of science fiction when they designed it. They were thinking of inspiration and imagination, dreams of spaceships and exploration that wasn’t far removed from the Apollo 11 landing only a few years before – dreams that we still have in other forms, but to me, not quite the same, perhaps even a bit more cynical these days.

But when Computer Space came out, it was still at the dawn of solid state hitting both US industry far more broadly as well as the nascent consumer market not long after. For two kids at the local Sunshine Pizza Exchange in Oregon (and the far bigger, always extremely fun arcade down at Seaside, OR) the question was always “Can I have a quarter?” and “can I have another?”….

Thanks, Ed.

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I had a buddy in high school that was really into them but I never got there. May have to check this out though….?

The Residents thrive on odd mix of fame and obscurity

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So having had to travel to TX over the past two weeks for work has given me time to read a few books (on the plane and in the hotel). So I revisited a couple PKD books, namely The Man in the High Castle, Radio Free Albemuth and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (upon which Blade Runner was based).

It was interesting, because I haven’t read The Man in the High Castle for many, many years, and was inspired given the recent Amazon-produced trailer of a likely upcoming miniseries based on the book. I have to say, that while the story is good and the research done to create the book was extensive (tells the story of what might have happened had the Germans and Japanese won WWII) – I was left a bit disappointed. The ending just ‘ends’ (to me anyway) and i’m not sure what to make of it. Still, a good read though.

Radio Free Albemuth is another interesting one, because it wasn’t published in Dick’s lifetime, the manuscript only surfaced after he passed away. I had read it originally before Bush became president, and after 9/11 sadly to me, some of its predictions actually came to pass – albeit in a more reduced fashion (and unlike President Fremont in the book – Bush actually LEFT office when his term was up). This book is also different because PKD is an actual character in it – half the book is told from his perspective – half from the other central character’s perspective. Each largely thinks the other is crazy – although both may be partially nuts, it’s hard to tell. The ending is not unlike that of A Scanner Darkly – where there is only a dim hope for the future – but hope nonetheless….

Finally, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. I have only read this book possibly 3 times (vs. the bazillion times i’ve seen Blade Runner). So I knew about but enjoyed rediscovering the several key plot points that are missing from the movie (Mercerism, Buster Friendly, everyone trying to own a real animal but often prevented because of persistent fallout – this is hinted at in the movie but never really talked about) – and chickenheads (william sanderson’s character). But I think the movie is actually somewhat more human and touching than the book, which left me a bit cold this time around. But given that the book repeatedly emphasizes the androids have no feelings (the movie is quite the opposite) I guess that’s no surprise.

It was good to revisit all three but I guess the perspective of time (and ever more sci-books read since) means I just feel differently about them this time around? PKD is still one of my fave sci-fi guys but I guess I’ve moved beyond him a little bit, too?

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saw Big Hero 6 last night – great movie! While it’s a Disney movie and in some ways, in the tradition of Pixar (and since the Pixar guys are running the Disney animation studios these days, that’s not surprising) – it’s still unique in its own way(s), too.

Apparently this is a Marvel comic – I had never heard of it – but they changed the story more than a bit for the movie. While the plot sometimes clips along a bit too quickly for the story setup, it’s still well done and entertaining. And like with earlier Pixar movies like Up, they don’t hold back on the teary scenes either. Which I don’t mind, really (although Up was a bit extreme in that regard) – it means they aren’t just making a 90-minute toy commercial, after all. 🙂

There are echoes of many other movies in this one – I saw homage(s) to The Matrix, The Avengers, and Godzilla, but I’m sure there are others. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but I’m glad they didn’t go overboard with it, nor did they spend time with always-despised product placement in the movie, either (Michael Bay, I’m talking to YOU!)

Definitely worth watching.

Other voices:
Yahoo Movies
Rotten Tomatoes
Metacritic

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Saw this fri night with Kerewin. I love the fact that they made a movie making fun of (well, not completely but mostly) LARPing. Which surely is ripe for satire by its very nature. Always great to see Steve Zahn in anything too, although I didn’t even recognize him until the credits. And a great central character by Jackal Onassis! 🙂

The movie itself is kind of a cross between Scream (being not quite as ‘self-aware’ as that movie but definitely in that vein) vs. Fanboys (arguably much better than this movie for a number of reasons, but also more cutting in terms of satirizing the nerd fanboys therein).

Still, not horrible with some key funny moments, just a bit uneven.

Other voices:

Rotten Tomatoes
Metacritic

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Got to go to the third day of the Science Fiction Fantasy and Short Film Festival put on by SIFF every year about this time – very cool! The first bunch were the ‘encore’ best of sci-fi shorts from Saturday (Fri night shows horror shorts); then the second session was ‘best of from the past ten years of the festival, including the winner from the very first one (‘They’re made out of meat‘ – pretty weird).

One of my favorites, ‘The Kirkie’ is linked below but i wasn’t able to find it online. Some other good ones are below the pic – click through and enjoy!

time travel lover

time freak (may work, may not)

decapoda shock – may work, may not

RPG OKC

wanderers – carl sagan narration

came across this earlier this week – apparently they spoofed Samurai Jack on the more recent Duck Dodgers series – you can watch it here on YT – just fast forward to the 10:25 mark….this still has Mako in it (voice of Aku in the original) – it was done the year before he passed away…..

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In the effective winding-up of my recent ‘read all the John Scalzi books‘ quest (I tried Redshirts, but bailed out), I just finished Lock In, and really liked it.

This is a buddy-cop story with a number of interesting twists and nuances. Suffice it to say one is human and as always, the other is something else (modified human but fairly alien at the same time – this character, Chris Shane, is the central protagonist).

I won’t really discuss the plot because it would be easy to spoil it – but per usual with Scalzi, I liked the semi-regular doses of humor and humanity he gives his characters. And I liked the novel’s setup and back story – which I could easily see getting put into several sequels (hint).

Another angle on this book is that often in buddy-cop plots i’ve seen a tendency to have one be the sane one, one be the edgy one – but here, i’d argue there are nuances of each in both main characters. Clearly one is more edgy but it’s not the one you’d think and if there are more books, i’m confident Scalzi will explore this more as to the other. He’s usually not content to just treat things in a ‘Marvel Comics’ way where the super power makes up for or partially covers character flaws to produce a person we can still identify with – there’s more going on here, but it will take definitely more than one book to explore.

The pacing of the book is well done too, Scalzi is able to introduce the detailed backstory without bogging down in expository details for chapters on end (Dune sequels, I’m talking to YOU).

I guess a basic qualifier of a good book to me, anyway, is if I want to read more or hear more stories about these characters. Unlike Kerewin, I’m not as big a ‘cop story’ guy, despite keen interest in Ghost in the Shell and similar – yet here, I definitely want to read more. Bring on the sequels!

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