austin_dern | Move over dad, 'cause I'm a double dipper (Reply)

My humor blog has been mostly low-energy stuff, me posting about songs that give me a smile at least, and here's your chance to catch up on those if you missed them:

Enough of that; here's Pinball At The Zoo pictures from April.

So how would you like a coin-operated roulette table machine? For amusement only, of course. Are you amused?

It's got that great late-50s styling with curvy stars and all and yeah okay so it costs $30,000 but ... no? You're not feeling it?

Well, once last chance to try it. Was working when I saw it.

And here's a homemade pinball game that I believe was called something like Trashland or something in previous years. It's got a new name, House of Flesh and Blood, and I guess the theme is changing to match, although at this moment the game wasn't working.

The little side ramp where the ball goes out the playfield and comes back is a cute gimmick but I bet one of the problems with the game flow as the ball probably doesn't behave well there. The legs are very stylish, though. I don't know if they fold up or just come off for transport.

An old Gottlieb electromechanical, Roller Coaster, unfortunately dating to the days before pinballs could have ramps. The old scoring reels weren't fast enough to handle ball speeds that allow ramps.

Well, there is a bit of a ramp, on the inlanes, but it's not a very fun one and you can see, it's not putting any stress on the scoring reels like this.

The other main gimmick was this extra flipper, rotating steadily and sending the ball off as an agent of chaos. Landing the ball in either scoop (above the puny ramps) got you whatever the flipper was pointing to.

And now let's look at the Zootopia pinball game, Police Force, which you've probably seen me photograph before. But how about details? Like ...

The crocodile with the machine gun! The game's choices for villains have two good animal metaphors --- the Drug Rat and the Loan Shark --- but the Diamond Weasel and, here, Machine Gun Croc, are reaches.

Two of the cops in the Police Force car.

And here in the middle of the pop bumpers, a tortoise and hare and for some reason the bumpers are shooting at the hare. Thank you, Python Anghelo, for never compromising on whatever your vision was exactly.

Trivia: Whirlpool Corporation was contracted to make an eight-ounce bag, approximately five by three inches, fastened to the neck ring of Apollo lunar suits, so astronauts could get water when needed. It would expand throughout the program, finally ending up able to hold about 32 ounces of water. Source: Lunar Outfitters: Making the Apollo Space Suit, Bill Ayrey.

Currently Reading: Lost Popeye Zine, Volume 47: Square Egg Island. Tom Sims, Bela Zaboly. Editor Stephanie Noelle.

Move over dad, 'cause I'm a double dipper

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