Lansing Pinball League

Category: Recaps

  • League Night Recap for 4/11/17

    League night #7 of 8

    Games played: Jack-Bot, Indiana Jones, The Addams Family, Fish Tales, Austin Powers.

    Russell endures a game of Austin Powers.
    Russell endures a game of Austin Powers.

    The penultimate league night was the first one since a Stern Star Trek LE appeared at the Avenue (adding to, rather than replacing any of, the current games), but we were not able to play it for this league night.  I don’t actually know why; I just know that by the time I came running in breathlessly after my mad rush from work, it had already been stricken and replaced with, er, Austin Powers.  Ghostbusters was also on the originally-announced game list, but it’s still suffering from Wandering Lockdown Bar Syndrome not to mention wonky flipper action (whoops, I did mention it, didn’t I?).

    This league night seemed somewhat better attended than a lot of them have been this season.

    I did my usual lousy play that I’ve done all season.  I blame work.  Thanks, work!  Screw you and your paychecks… that keep me in pinball quarters… erm.  Anyway, since I came late I once again played with fellow latecomer Russell and otherwise was a bit out of the loop about the night’s activities which has left me without much to report on.  Mike’s birthday had been the previous night so Joseph and I brought him a card and some flavored popcorn from Horrocks (ranch flavor; credit Joseph with that brilliant idea, since the Theio’s crowd all knows that Mike is obsessed with ranch).

    Russell plays Austin Powers.
    Poor Russell, all alone with Austin Powers.

    Also speaking of the Theio’s crowd, Mike used his birthday leverage to insist that we go to the Fleetwood Diner instead this time.  Joseph and I had previously taken him to the Fleetwood and he decided it totally blew away Theio’s in terms of menu choices, so he really wanted a repeat visit.  Adam and Jake were fine with the change to our routine so we all went over Cedar Street for our midnight breakfast, minus former Theio’s regular Sam, who has been conspicuously absent from recent league nights.  Come back, Sam!

    We’re just two and a half hours from our final league night of the season as I write this.  I know that I’m currently in B division range but within range of making A, so the pressure is really on.  I’m sure others are in a similar position.  That will be settled tonight.  The question of whether we will eat at Theio’s or the Fleetwood from now on may remain unsettled, since there is some talk about going to The Grid (the new barcade in Old Town) after league night instead of having a diner visit.  That will probably be my vote, since despite living two miles away I somehow still haven’t gotten out there to check out their oddball game selection.

  • League Update for 3/22/17 (plus: March Hare Madness!)

    League night #6 of 8

    Games played: Iron Man, Metallica, Lord of the Rings, Medieval Madness, Monster Bash

    Your intrepid blogger is, as always, reliable in her lateness.  It has been a good while since our last update, since we had one of those months that resulted in two off weeks instead of one.  During that time we also had the March Hare Madness charity tournament, so I will update you on both at once.

    First, league night.  For a change of pace, all of the games chosen by Matt for league were in fact used.  I must say I was not exactly pleased with how Monster Bash was playing (it was back to shooting down the middle out of the scoop, so some people were just plain avoiding the scoop) but I suppose it technically worked.  I had a really bad night actually, having one acceptable game and the rest awful (I did something like a 4 million Medieval Madness, if that gives you an idea of how bad I mean by “bad”), so I admit I’ve wiped most of this league night out of my memory banks.  If someone remembers something notable about the night please feel free to throw it in the comments because I’ve got nothin’.  (I forgot to take any notes, in other words… or any photos, for that matter.)

    Matt S. shows off the removable lockdown bar from Ghostbusters at March Hare Madness.
    Matt S. shows off the removable lockdown bar from Ghostbusters at March Hare Madness.

    Another development of note is that Pete’s has delivered a Stern Star Trek LE to the Avenue, which is now in the downstairs alcove.  It seemed to have some odd behavior at first, according to Matt (auto-plunging Player 2 before he/she could choose a mode), but it wasn’t happening by the time I played it.  Other than that it seems to play fine.  Unfortunately, last time I was over there, Ghostbusters was in bad shape, with the lockdown bar becoming more of a “hold down bar” and a noticeable delay between releasing the flippers and having them drop.  As a result we did use Star Trek in the March Hare Madness tournament, but did not use Ghostbusters.

    The March Hare Madness finalists.
    The March Hare Madness finalists. (Danny had to leave before it was over, so he is not pictured.)

    So I guess that brings me to March Hare Madness.  This was the second annual MHM, held around the same time as last year, and with the same “amazing race” format.  This is a format in which everyone plays a set of games in order and the lowest scoring player on each game is eliminated.  Last year Aaron G. suffered the agony of being knocked out first; this time it was me.  That may have been for the best as it allowed me to put my full attention into running things.  Come to think of it, I didn’t have to make a single ruling or deal with a single major malfunction during the whole tournament, which I think is a first for my tournaments.

    Mike with his trophies for the main and side tournaments.
    Mike with his trophies for the main and side tournaments.

    March Hare Madness officially became the Stephen Memorial Tournament this year (and will probably continue to be so named in future years), so the proceeds went to the Rabbit and Small Animal Rescue of Westland (where I adopted Stephen).  Although attendance was noticeably lower than last year, I did run a “closest to the pin” side tournament on three games (Tales of the Arabian Nights, Attack from Mars, and Indiana Jones) for 50 cents per try, and that helped make up some of the difference in fundraising.  Mike S. won on all three games, and took home all three prizes (two Klassic Arcade passes and one $5 Schuler Books gift card).  I got some stick from Chris for accidentally putting the target score for TotAN at 75,000,000.  “If I may make a suggestion,” he said, “this seems a little high.”  It was, of course, an error; I had accidentally carried over the target score from Indiana Jones.  The target score for TotAN was actually 3,500,000, and the target score for AfM was 1,000,000,000.  Mike’s winning scores were Indiana Jones, 74,753,920; TotAN, 3,484,660; and AfM, 992,248,050.

    Meanwhile, in the main tournament, the final four ended up being (in order of finish) Chris, Joseph, Mike, and Danny.  Joseph and Mike ended up having a playoff for 2nd and 3rd, and Joseph won the randomly chosen playoff game on Medieval Madness.  This was the first time either Joseph or I have taken home a trophy at one of our own tournaments (not counting Fear and Trembling, where everyone who attended took one home).

    In total the tournament earned $161 for RASA Rescue.  Thank you to all participants for helping me memorialize Stephen.  Thanks also to the prize donors. My friend Alesia Tom donated a pair of earrings and a bunch of movie posters for prizes, one of which (La La Land) was highly coveted by Adam, resulting in some bargaining between him and the finalists.  Adam also donated a Game of Thrones translite for one of the finalist prizes.

    Tonight, after a long dry spell, league is back in action, so I will see you all at 7 p.m.  Actually, you’ll see each other at 7 p.m. and I’ll see you whenever I manage to get out of the philosophy mines.

  • League Night Recap for 3/7/17

    League night #5 of 8

    Games played: Ghostbusters, Indiana Jones, The Simpsons, Getaway, The Addams Family

    Danny, Adam, and Joseph.
    I can get away with taking pictures like this only because Joseph is not bothered at all by me being in his peripheral (or is it periphe-real?) vision.

    This league night took place during my spring break, which meant that I could be on time for once this season.  I also got more photos than usual thanks to being less rushed.  We were originally scheduled to play South Park among others (we have not yet played South Park for league, not that anyone’s crying over it), but when we arrived several of them malfunctioned or started eating quarters, so Mike S. asked Matt on Facebook if we could reshuffle the games and perhaps consider playing something we hadn’t done yet this season, such as Indiana Jones.  Matt rather testily told Mike he should go ahead and just tell us what we’re going to play.  Then Matt showed up in person carrying the league’s lightbulbs (yes, we are a BYOB league: bring your own bulbs).  Mike gave him a bit of a ribbing about how he had forgotten to take one of them home after league last time.  Matt responded by staring at Mike and dropping the bag of bulbs on the floor where he stood, causing a tell-tale glass tinkling noise, before walking away to get a drink.  Casualties: one of the two remaining league-owned LED bulbs, and Matt’s patience.

    Everyone’s two favorite things are in this picture, am I right? (I mean hats, and stairs.)

    Prior to league play beginning, Danny was putting in some serious work on one of his favorite games, Getaway.  He had a parade of extra balls and got very nearly to the grand champion score before having a couple of virtual house balls.  Still, he was looking good for playing Getaway in league.  Thus we were all surprised by the turn of fate: Danny slam tilted Getaway.  This puts him in an elite group of people who have slam tilted games in the league and I think it’s the first slam of the season.  We were all surprised, because although he gave it a pretty hard shove, it didn’t seem hard enough to warrant a slam.  Unfortunately, the league’s rules on it are clear, so Danny went from the pinnacle to the pit on Getaway in the space of an hour.

    The only good thing I can say about the new placement of games by the pool tables is that it allows for new photo angles.

    With Addams Family on the slate, we once again saw Chris using his shoes to block the strobe lights.  I guess that works well for him and I’m wondering if we’re going to start seeing more of it.

    League members Joseph, Adam, and I – plus Sarah who has often played in the league in the past – all competed in one or more of the tournaments held by the IFPA in Dallas over the weekend (Sarah and I in the Women’s World Championship, Adam in the Nationals as the Michigan state champion, and Adam, Joseph, and I in the Pin-Masters pingolf tournament).  Adam did especially well, finishing in the top eight of both tournaments, so be sure to congratulate him on his excellent representation of Michigan when you come to league tonight.  As for the rest of us, well, at least I’ll have some stories to tell.

  • League Night Recap for 2/21/17

    A picture of Gone Wired Cafe
    I failed to take any pictures of league night. So here, have a picture I took in 2008.

    League night #4 of 8

    Games played: Terminator 3, Tales of the Arabian Nights, Jack-Bot, Monster Bash, Fish Tales.

    This is going to be a rather scrawny update, which is because it was a very scrawny league night.  None of the Grand Rapids players attended.  Stalwart Chris and new member Parker (AKA “East Side Rodney”) were missing.  Russell was present but not playing; he was just there to sit at a table with his laptop working.  When I arrived (late, as usual for this season), Joseph told me that play hadn’t started yet; Matt decided to wait for me.  I felt bad that I had held people up, though it was not my intention.  Joseph also told me about the low attendance, and I responded plaintively that this would be a disappointing league night.

    “There’s something upstairs that’s going to make you very happy,” he said.

    My eyes immediately sought out the mezzanine.  I knew it was unlikely, but my thoughts went straight to it nonetheless: “Is there a FunHouse up there?”

    “No, no… but do you hear the sound of slightly inebriated, droll sarcasm?”

    I gasped.  “Aaron is here!”

    That’s right, Aaron H. made his first appearance this season.  He’s one of the first friends I made in the league when I joined back in 2013 and he always brings so much cheer to league nights, so I have missed his presence since his work schedule started preventing him from getting to league.

    Speaking of Aaron: later in the evening I was playing Fish Tales and had been trying and repeatedly failing to get video mode going.  When I finally made the necessary shots and the animation started, I leapt back to commence my “I did a thing” dance (which involves hopping from foot to foot and swinging my arms).  Unfortunately, someone was walking behind me and I felt my hand fly out and clobber them.  I couldn’t see who it was and couldn’t turn around before I had to start shooting water skiers, but the exaggerated yell of pain let me know it was Aaron.  (He should save the theatrics for World Cup Soccer.)

    I had a good game of Fish Tales and a very fun game of Jack-Bot (Casino Run FTW!  I love the thrill of gambling with points).  Too bad I had a truly awful game of Monster Bash in which it was pulling all kinds of TBS such as shooting the ball down the middle from the scoop (yes, that again) and catching Drac’s foot as it came from the right orbit and being diverted down the middle.

    Fortunately, South Park was stealing quarters or something like that, so we didn’t follow our usual practice of playing the newest game.  I don’t think anyone is all that excited to see it, even though it is nice that they keep adding games.  I remember when we had only four games.

    Tonight at 7 is our next league night.  We have four down and four to go.  And the good news for me is that I’m on Spring Break and can come early for once.  I will see you all there… I hope.

  • League Night Recap for 2/7/16

    League night #3 of 8

    Games played: Metallica, Attack from Mars, The Simpsons Pinball Party, Addams Family, World Cup Soccer.

    As usual for this season and my unfortunate new schedule, I rushed to league as soon as I could after work but still arrived after most people had started.  Sam was waiting for me, though, since Matt had assigned him to be my partner.  Actually, it’s a little more complicated than that.  Matt gave the Grand Rapids Three (Jake, Sam, and Adam) a choice of playing together or splitting one person off to wait for me.  Jake decided to make that choice on Sam’s behalf while Sam was at the bar getting a drink.  I’m glad I had someone to play with, in any case.

    Chris playing Addams Family.
    Chris solves the Addams Family strobe light problem.

    We were originally supposed to play Demolition Man instead of World Cup Soccer, but by the time I showed up, Demo Man had broken and WCS had been switched in.  I’m pretty sure a lot of people wished The Addams Family had broken instead.  The new LEDs are blinding.  When the lights start strobing (during multiball, for instance) it is so dazzling that it can be almost impossible to follow the ball.  If the game were in a well lit area, it would be tolerable, though probably still annoying.  In the gloom upstairs, though, it’s madness.  Some people (following Adam’s lead) have been setting dollar bills over the two strobe lights.  Then there’s what Chris did when he and Kristen (who is rejoining the league after a long hiatus) dropped by the following week to do makeup games…

    Chris's shoes.
    Chris’s shoes.

    On the other hand, I had an unusually good league game of Addams, the best of any of the scores I saw, so maybe I should hope the light stays!

    After league I went to Theio’s with Sam, Adam, Jake, Mike, and Joseph, and while we were there I realized that once again I had failed to take any photos of league night.  Sam decided to help by posing.  Posing as what, I’m not too sure, but here you go.  There are a few more in the photo gallery.

    Sam shows his muscles at Theio’s. He thought it would make a good league update photo for some reason.

    My update from last league night serves, as usual, of a warning that the next league night is coming.  Tomorrow (Tuesday) is our next league night, so I hope I will see you… well, not at 7, because I won’t be able to get there on time.  You should come at 7. I will come as soon as I can, depending on how fast I can escape from work.

  • League Night Recap for 1/25/17

    League night #2 of 8

    Games played: Medieval Madness, Junk Yard, Jack-Bot, Austin Powers, The Walking Dead.

    Results

    Remember last time when I apologized for the lack of photos and promised I would do better in the future?  Yeah, about that…

    I went to fetch the photos for the week and discovered there were no photos for the week.  I forgot to take any, probably because I drove to The Avenue directly from work, immediately joined a group in progress, and never really had any down time.  Unfortunately, skimpy league updates are going to be the norm until such time as I can convince my workplace that it needs to accommodate my pinball schedule better.  Since my schedule is locked in at least through December, I can tell you that it won’t be anytime soon (although I’ll have a reprieve in the summer months).

    League night felt extremely short for me, although I arrived around 7:30 by leaving work as early as I thought I could get away with and then going straight to league instead of stopping at home to change.  Nevertheless, league play had already started (why is it the late starts only happen when I’m on time?) and I jumped into a group with Chris, Joseph, and Mike B.  They had only gotten through one game, though unfortunately for me it was Austin Powers, meaning that I was alone with my misery when I caught up on it afterward.

    I had not yet started Austin Powers when Adam yelled from downstairs to ask if I was ready for Theio’s.  It was hard for me to believe league night was already almost over.  I finished up my last game solo and went straight off to Theio’s with Mike, Jake, Sam, and Adam, meaning that I literally didn’t play a single game at the Avenue that wasn’t a league game.  This brings me to the one story I have a picture for.

    The talk turned to contact lenses and I explained that I only started wearing them so I wouldn’t have to worry about losing my glasses on roller coasters.  Jake asserted that he doesn’t have to worry anyway because his glasses fit snugly.  Suddenly everyone noticed how stunningly tight Jake’s glasses were, and someone speculated that Jake must surely have a dent worn into his head.  Jake was egged on into taking his glasses off, and the sight of his glasses-grooves sent the table into an uproar.  Jake had to see for himself, so he took this photo:

    Jake's glasses dent
    Jake’s glasses crease. Photo graciously provided by Jake.

    Upon viewing it, he cried out, “What the hell is wrong with my head?”

    Joseph, Mike, and I considered going back to the Avenue after Theio’s, but ultimately Mike decided he needed to get home, and I was too darned tired from my day in the salt mines.  So that ended what felt like the briefest league night yet – though sadly I think that’s going to be a theme for me the rest of this year.

    Our next league night is tomorrow at 7, games TBA.  I haven’t made it out there lately, but I hear that the games have been moved around once again and some of them are now in the corner by the pool tables.  I’m sure it will be very educational, as we will get to learn the answer to the question, who’s touchier about their personal space, pool players or pinball players?

  • League Night Recap for 1/10/17

    League Night #1, Season 8

    Games played: Iron Man, Terminator 3, Theatre of Magic, Metallica, Lord of the Rings

    Dan and Russell.  Theatre of Magic was just savage to a lot of people tonight.  My 63M game on it beat Joseph’s 63M game by 15K points.

    The league started its eighth season on January 10 and, unfortunately, this season marks a change back to my old work schedule, which means I will not be able to come until 7:30 or 8 p.m.  I had to do this for the first one or two seasons, but then I was able to get my work schedule changed so I could make it back to Lansing for league on Tuesdays.  This January it changed back, and it looks like my late arrivals will be a recurring disappointment for at least a year.  Due to my late arrival and the fact that by the time I finished many people had dispersed, I was not able to get nearly as many photos as I usually do.  I will try to work around that in the future.

    We had a rather small group on this night, just ten people, and with the games increasingly distributed across several locations in the bar, I went quite a while without seeing anyone besides fellow latecomer (and league partner for the night) Russell.  I know Sam was ill and I expect he’ll be returning for tomorrow’s league night.  I hope some of the other past participants will also be playing this season (paging Aaron H.!).  And, of course, if you are reading this and have been on the fence or shy about coming to league… the season is still early.  We’d love to see you at our meeting tomorrow!

    Despite the small turnout, some of us did have the usual run to Theio’s afterward.  Everyone is always welcome to come along with us on a Theio’s run.  Come for the hashbrowns: stay for the pinball gossip.

    As in the last few seasons, after each meeting I will be mirroring the league standings here for those who are not connected with us on Facebook.  I have streamlined the table a little bit, but it can still be sorted by either points for the night or total points for the season.  I will also be continuing to send my photos to the photo gallery, but as I said, I didn’t have too many for this particular night.  (Sorry about that.)

    Tomorrow, January 24, is our second league night, beginning as usual at 7 p.m.  Our league president, Matt, has announced the tentative game list as follows: Medieval Madness (yay!  Shoot the castle!), Junk Yard (shoot the dog!), Jack-Bot (shoot the visor!), The Walking Dead (shoot the walker!), and Austin Powers (shoot it in the head!).  Iron Man (shoot the … oh, you can figure it out) is the contingency game if one of the other games has to be taken out.

  • Chris Still Undefeated in Lansing

    No drinks to pass this point... but trophies are OK! Joseph, Chris, and Matt (2nd, 1st, and 3rd).
    No drinks to pass this point… but trophies are OK! Joseph, Chris, and Matt (2nd, 1st, and 3rd).

    Lansing Pinball League held its final playoffs for Season 7 on November 8 and Chris once again walked away as the undefeated champion of the league.  Chris has won every season since the league’s inception, both in the previous “points only” format and in the current playoff format.  Second place went to Joseph and third went to Matt, giving him his first A-division hardware in the league.

    Chris plunges his walk-off Ball 3 in the final game against Joseph.
    Chris plunges his walk-off Ball 3 in the final game against Joseph.

    The final battle was tense.  Chris won handily on his first game choice of Getaway, but on Tales of the Arabian Nights, Joseph rolled over Chris with 30 million or so points.  This made Joseph the only person to win a single game against Chris all evening.  Chris chose Austin Powers for the third game and won the night with a walk-off Ball 3, giving him the championship but also burdening him with the knowledge that he made someone play Austin Powers.

    Meanwhile, thanks in part to a miscommunication that resulted in Sam not attending, B division consisted entirely of three people: Jake, Dan, and Mike B.  The three played off to determine the allocation of the three B-division trophies.  The first went to Jake, the third to Dan, and the second to Mike B., who does not appear in my photo because he left to go walk his dog and never returned.

    Jake and Dan. Jake won B division and Dan came in second.
    Jake and Dan. Jake won B division and Dan came in third.

    My own night started with having to play Adam.  (Matt offered to just divide the present people between A and B so that the divisions were evenly populated, but I didn’t want to because I had earned a top 8 position and wanted to play in A, so he kept the original 8-person bracket.  I came to mildly regret that decision.)  I was ahead going into Ball 3 on Jack-Bot (my choice), but Adam (as player 1) proceeded to get multiball out of the slot machine and make plenty of hay out of that.  I repeatedly yelled “bulls—!” as Adam said “Tournament setting is a beautiful thing.”

    Joseph plays his final game against Chris.
    Joseph plays his final game against Chris.

    On my ball, I had a lot of work to do and got multiball going again (on my own, thanks very much) but didn’t make quite enough out of it.  The game ended up at about 3.0 billion to 2.9 billion in Adam’s favor.  Adam declared the game “epic.”  Actually, I think he might have said “kind of epic,” but I’ll take it.  For the next game I picked Indiana Jones and had a similar situation of having a really great game by my standards beaten by an even greater game.  So I lost to Adam, but I felt good about losing.

    Sadly my tour of the loser bracket was brief and consisted of having it handed to me by Jason on the same two games I chose in the winner’s bracket, and without any dignity this time.

    I got a lot of nice photos of the night, so I hope you will check out the photo gallery which draws from the group’s Flickr pool (which at the moment is all my photography, but other Flickr users are welcome to add to it).  The final standings of Season 7 are also available.

    Tonight is Super-Ball VII, the traditional post-season “Zen” (split flipper) tournament!  It’s always a ton of fun and nothing is at stake except some endearingly cheesy trophies, so you should definitely attend.

  • League Night Recap for 10/25/16

    League Night #8 of 8

    Games played: Iron Man, Terminator 3, Demolition Man, The Addams Family, Attack from Mars.

    This was an exciting league night for two reasons: first, it was the last of the season before the final playoffs, and second, it was the second annual League Costume Night.  Nothing quite as crazy as last year’s Three Tabakas happened, and participation was a bit lower (perhaps just a consequence of lower attendance generally), but it was still a good time.  When I arrived at the Avenue one of the first people I saw was Aaron (who was evidently not in costume), so I asked, “Who are you supposed to be?”  He replied that he hasn’t been able to find his father to ask.

    Joseph and Adam.
    Joseph (the raccoon) and Adam (not the peacock) work on their league games.
    Sam.
    Sam: always a bridegroom, never a bride.

    Matt easily won the vote for the second year running for his portrayal of Eleven from “Stranger Things.”  I got second for my peacock costume.  It had been assumed that we would get another round of people going as other league members this year, but I was the only one to do so… since I went as Adam!  (If you don’t get it, you probably don’t know Adam’s last name.)  In third place was Jimmy, dressed as… no one is quite sure.  I guessed “Captain Obvious,” but the best answer might have been whoever wrote “the love child of Kenny Loggins and Henry Rollins” on their ballot.  In fourth place was Joseph, whose raccoon costume was cute but, despite a new mask, probably too similar to last year’s costume for the voters.  In fifth was Sam, wearing his Indian bridegroom costume for the second year running.  Sam also made himself popular by bringing a big bag of Halloween candy for everyone to share.

    Several other people received lone votes despite not apparently having costumes.  I had to disqualify the entry for Hillary Clinton on the grounds that Ms. Clinton was not a league member, but I noted that if she joined the league she would be welcome to participate next year.

    The winners: Jimmy (3rd), Matt (1st), and Heather (2nd).
    The winners: Jimmy (3rd), Matt (1st), and Heather (2nd).
    Jimmy.
    Captain Jimmy reminisces about the girl he left behind. I think her name was “Brandy.”

    When I went to give out the first place trophy to Matt, Aaron barged in and tried to take it. I said, “This is for Matt!” and he said, “I am Matt.  That’s how amazing my costume is.”  I believe I speak for everyone in saying that we all missed Aaron and are glad he’s been coming to league again.

    The playoffs, which will determine our final season results, will be held tomorrow (Tuesday) – yes, election night.  We’ll see our fate decided in more than one way.

     

  • League Night Recap for 9/27/16

    League night #6 of 8.  Games played: Ghostbusters, Lord of the Rings, Fish Tales, Attack from Mars, Junk Yard.

    Adam playing the new Ghostbusters LE. Photo by Sam.
    Adam playing the new Ghostbusters LE. Photo by Sam.

    The big news for last league night was the arrival of a Ghostbusters LE at the Avenue, taking the former spot of World Cup Soccer, which has moved upstairs.  While everyone loves seeing a new game go in, it does feel a bit too ironic that we have gotten such a fancy new machine while several other games remain unplayable for league.  On this occasion, Jack-Bot’s right eye saucer was not registering.  Demolition Man and Austin Powers continue to steal quarters at an alarming rate.  Terminator 3’s right ramp does not register (or doesn’t register reliably; there’s some disagreement about this point).  Monster Bash has long been excluded from league play due to a straight-down-the-middle scoop kickout.  As a result, we have been playing many of the same games (the more reliable ones) repeatedly.  I joined the league when there were only 5 games present, period, so it doesn’t bother me quite as much; still, with all the variety we now have available (in theory), it would be nice to be able to change out games more often.

    Ghostbusters gets mixed reviews from the league.  Some people like it, some people want to like it, others are quite vocal in their dislike.  I don’t mind the Pro that I play elsewhere so much, but the LE at the Avenue makes very unpleasant use of the so-called “magnetic slings.”  During my league game, I was in the process of getting the ball in hand for a jackpot shot when it suddenly froze dead center between the flippers and then dropped right down the middle.  It isn’t just me, either; others reported the same phenomenon.  I’m not a fan of magnets on the playfield in general and this is a particularly bad example.

    Me sitting in the refrigerator.
    A rare league photo of me, taken by Sam. He made me sit in the empty refrigerator that appeared in the alcove.

    Strangely, a refrigerator has appeared where Joust and Dig Dug briefly stood (it was empty yet turned on), and the video games have been moved out to the area near the back door.  At one point Sam outright insisted that I get inside the refrigerator for a photo, which he borrowed my camera to take.  I couldn’t get both of my legs in safely so he fortunately could not shut the door on me (but he tried).  Afterward he ran around with my camera for a few minutes and took some of the best shots of the night.  The reason his photos are so good is that he completely ignored etiquette and took shots of people playing up close (to be fair, they weren’t playing league games), which I am too timid or too polite (your choice) to do.  He also shot from the hip, not literally but close to it, so he got some of those great serendipitous shots that are made possible by not trying too hard.  All the photos in this entry were taken by Sam.

    Photo by Sam of Jake and Danny. I wasn't sure which orientation he wanted, but I thought portrait was a stronger composition.
    Photo by Sam of Jake and Danny. I wasn’t sure which orientation he wanted, but I thought portrait was a stronger composition.

    One of the surprises of the night was the return of Danny after at least a season’s absence.  We did have some advance notice that he’d been around by the fact that Ghostbusters already had DMCs all over the high score table.  Danny was in my group, and one of the stranger events of the night that I witnessed involved his game of Lord of the Rings.  On ball 3, he drained with a pretty low score (especially by his standards).  I went to take down the score and found that it wasn’t ending his ball.  After some confusion, we discovered that his ball was back in the shooter lane.  He confirmed that his ball definitely drained between the flippers.  It wasn’t an extra ball, either; everything was acting as though his ball was still in progress.  The rest of us told him to go ahead and play it.  After all, the game said his ball was in play.  He shrugged, went back to work, and put up a monster score.  (I’ve had that happen to me at least one other time on LotR, though not on a league game.  I don’t know what causes it.)

    Tonight we’re going to be playing our seventh meeting of the season (out of eight).  Some of the positions have really narrowed a lot (see the standings for more details).  I know my 7th place is in danger and I need to keep my nose above the 8th place water mark to ensure playing in A division again.  I’ll see you soon – I hope!

    Portrait of Russell by Sam.
    Portrait of Russell by Sam. The lens I had on takes really nice close portrait shots.

    P.S. Don’t forget to check the photo gallery for more photos (I took quite a few this time, as well as Sam), and to save the date for the Nov. 9 post-election hangover tourney, Fear and Trembling.