Eight is Great

MOVING ON: This evening, CJ and several classmates who have completed eighth grade, are aging out their learning co-op, had a sweet, personalized ceremony at a lovely assisted living facility.

It might sound funny that their graduation party was at a retirement community, but it's right next door to the kids' learning center, and the two places have a nice, cooperative relationship, so it worked out nicely.

We contributed dessert to the party. Specifically, cupcakes and cookies. The theme of the event was the logo for the learning center, which is a crayon-like drawing of four mountains (yellow, red, blue and orange), flanked by evergreens. 

We decided to make mountainous cupcakes and Color Mist their icing with the logo's mountain colors, and flank them with white cupcakes with royal icing 'trees.'

We also decided to make some Cascade logo cookies, and some letter cookies.

It was a fair amount of work (especially because half of the cupcakes were gluten and vegan), but it wasn't particularly hard, and it was totally worth it. :)

The ceremony itself was short, sweet, and very personalized. 

CJ had an opportunity to perform, and he decided to take full advantage of it, by "rick rolling" the audience. The audience didn't seem to mind too much. In fact, they sang along!

LIGHTS OUT: Have we mentioned there's a TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE (squee!) coming up this summer?! The morning of August 21, to be specific. 

Check out this video from "Smarter Every Day" with tips about how to watch the eclipse.

https://youtu.be/qc7MfcKF1-s

Skits 'n' Stuff

ACTING OUT:  This afternoon, we spent an amusing hour watching CJ's improv drama class go through their paces. Lots of fearless and funny kids who are fortunate to have a great teacher who gives them confidence and inspiration. Well done, one and all!

WHO TURNED OUT THE LIGHTS?: We're gearing up and geeking out about the upcoming total solar eclipse this summer. It happens on the morning of Aug. 21, and we're still plotting our best bet for witnessing it. 

We were happy to discover a sneak preview tool of sorts today. On the Eclipse Mega Movie site, you can type an address into a simulator and see what the eclipse will kinda sorta look like from where you are. 

The following address will give you a view of what it will look like from Seattle's Space Needle. 
https://eclipsemega.movie/simulator?lat=47.6204232&lng=-122.34935519999999

You can type your own - or any - address into the website and see what you can expect come 8/21.

NAME CHANGE: Anyone who visits us regularly knows that we love heading to Safeco Field for Mariners games. Imagine our surprise today upon learning that after the 2018 season, there will be no more Safeco Field!

Fortunately, the stadium will still be there, but Safeco is giving up naming rights. I can't help but wonder what the new name will be, and I wonder how long it will take us to get used to the new name. Time will tell. 

Game Day

ANNUAL EVENT:  This past weekend, we headed south for what has become an annual pilgrimage for the family - attending he Northwest Pinball and Arcade Show.

The first game that greeted us upon our arrival was a sweet Batman 66 machine. It was the featured new pinball machine at the expo, coincidentally, the weekend that Adam West, the original live action Batman, passed away. 

Super cool game, and a lovely tribute to a man who brought the Caped Crusader alive!

As always, there was much to see and do at the show. 

Following are Annabelle's highlights. ...

The Northwest Pinball and Arcade Show is an event held in the Tacoma Convention Center every year. This year we visited on Sunday, the last day of the weekend-long show. The very first thing we did when we arrived in the morning was work our way back to the arcade machines towards the end of the exhibition area. The machine that immediately caught my eye was a large screen with two chairs in front of it labeled “Space Invaders FRENZY”. The game had room for two players to each control a cannon as they shot at dozens of extremely fast space invaders.The most interesting part is that some invaders are larger and split into smaller ones as you destroy them.

After playing that game, we wandered the expo and played a variety of games, from a classic Joust machine to an old “Space Shuttle” pinball! The old pinball machines were in amazing shape and some were on sale. There were also multiple tables around the expo with people selling video game memorabilia and arcade or pinball machine parts. My favorite game that I played at the expo was a version of Donkey Kong in a pink and purple cabinet. The different colors drew me in, and I realized that in this version you play as Pauline, the “Damsel in Distress” of the original Donkey Kong, and you try to save Mario! The game has the same stages but it was really fun to see a “Flipped” version! I can’t wait to go to the expo next year!

Below, the kids play Space Invaders Frenzy.

I looked it up online. We could buy the unit for around $14,000 :0

We'll take a pass, and enjoy having played it once, for kind of free (with show admission).

The back half of the exhibition hall had old arcade games, including my fave, Tempest.

 I encouraged the kids to play games they'd never played before. "Space Demon" fit that bill. 

 After the show, I looked it up and learned it was released only in Japan. That explains why we hadn't seen it before. 

Following is CJ's take on the Sunday event. ...

As my family has for the past multiple years, we attended the annual Northwest Pinball & Arcade Show, down in Tacoma. According to the event's official website, the show draws between 2,500-3,000 collectors and fans each June. The festival began as a small annual event held by Washington pinball collectors, but in 2008 became a full-fledged regional convention featuring hundreds of pinball machines, arcade games, electro-mechanical games, speakers, vendors and tournaments.
According to Q13 Fox (linked below), the event this year featured over 400 pinball machines, some of them almost seventy years old. There were also arcade machines, though they were mostly located in the back of the building.
An example of a game I never played before that was at the NWP&AS was an unusual version of Donkey Kong, the Nintendo classic. In this new version of Donkey Kong, you actually played as Pauline (a character who is the damsel-in-distress in the original), while trying to rescue Jumpman (the iconic player character in the original). The cabinet for this version of Donkey Kong was colored pink and purple, contrast to the original's red and black.
Next weekend, my family will go to the Seattle Retro Gaming Expo at the Fisher Pavillion, in Seattle Center.
http://www.nwpinballshow.com/http://q13fox.com/2017/06/09/pinball-wizards-turn-out-for-northwest-pinball-and-arcade-show-in-tacoma/

Mr Do! was another one that was new to us.

 As they played it, Annabelle reported, "It's like Dig Dug." 

And sure enough, reading reviews online after the show report that fact.Mr. Do! was created by Universal in 1982, and is a Dig Dug replicant, of sorts. 

There were many stand up Donkey Kong arcade cabinets at the show. We passed this one a couple of times before stopping to play. 

The purple and pink colors on the cabinet caught my eye, as they are not the traditional Donkey Kong colors.

Annabelle eventually hit the 'start' button on the game and squealed with delight.

 It turned out it wasn't Mario trying to save the princess - the princess was the hero!!!!!!!!!!!

I wish *SO* many video games featured girls as the rescuers.

In other news, below, CJ tucks himself into a Buck Rogers game.

 And Annabelle, below, attempted to take out some 'clay' targets in the confounding "Clay Champ." I'm guessing the game hadn't been properly calibrated since the 1980s. 

While arcade games were a big draw, most of the show was actually pinball machines. 

We've been to so many shows, and have seen so many machines, but this year, we saw a number that were new to us, including Egg Head. 

 I'd seen this machine before, but have to laugh that Eight Ball didn't mention anything about
"Happy Days," but the characters on the screen are clearly modeled after Fonzie and Pinkie Tuscadero. 

 One machine we'd never seen before was  Guys Dolls beauty by Gottleib.

From 1953, the machine has no flippers but six moving posts. 

Fast forward to 1980, and you find a Roller Disco beauty.

 This Gottlieb machine has amazing graphics and color!

We also stumbled across this awesome "Teacher's Pet" pin from Williams. 

 It dates back to 1965. 

This Gottlieb Top Card machine from 1974 was an eye catcher. 

 And I absolutely loved this Bally Capt. Fantastic machine.

 Below, the bumper looks like Elton meets Where's Waldo?