WIZARDS

The City Museum has a collection of vintage pinball machines. For a small additional charge, you can play as long as you like. I like to think I was pretty good at this in my youth. A friend and I were almost late for our last law school exam because, if memory serves, we had 23 free games racked up on our favorite machine. When I tried again the day this picture was taken, I was just awful. Skills decline.               

WIZARD

Ever since I was a young boy, I've played the silver ball…  Pinball was quite my fancy when I was young. I was almost late for my last final exam in law school because my friend and I had so many free games rung up on our favorite machine. But that was long ago. On Friday, Ellie and I went to our nothing-else-like-it-in-the-world City Museum. For a few dollars, you can play a large suite of antique machines for as long as you like. The kid, a child of 21st Century tech, isn’t interested.              

PLAYS BY SENSE OF SMELL

Those who are as close to dotage as I am may remember Tommy, The Who's deaf, dumb and blind pinball wizard who plays by sense of smell. Well, maybe, given a big dose of poetic license. But mixing mini golf and pinball is a novel idea, except that you can't run up free games no matter how good your shot. It's always down the hole in the end.            

WIZARDS

The next step in kid entertainment during her fall break. We went to our unique City Museum, https://www.citymuseum.org/, which is packed with weird stuff for children and adults. One of them is a hall of old pinball machines. For a $6 supplement over the regular admission price you can play all day.         

INFLATABLE DINOSAURS BRING HOLIDAY CHEER

Our Internet service seems to be steady again after much in and out. There is a very handy website, https://downdetector.com/, that can give you information and outage maps for most power and online services and has a mobile version. AT&T is still having lots of problems but not so much here.

The City Museum has lots of seasonal spirit. What better way to celebrate  than with a blow-up t rex in a Santa hat and antique pinball machines.               

EVER SINCE I WAS A YOUNG BOY I PLAYED THE SILVER BALL

I played a lot of pinball when I was in law school. After all, the only reason I was there was to get credentials that might lead to a paycheck. The tables were so much more seductive than my class on the Uniform Commercial Code. My best friend and I were almost late to our last final exam because we had 23 free games racked up on our favorite machine.

The City Museum has a good collection of old ones. Just out of the frame to the left there is a table called World Series, maybe from the 60s. American fans will instantly recognize the setting as Wrigley Field. How inappropriate for the name.

Meanwhile, Ellie found a small table with 38 year old versions of Pac Man and Space Invaders. They were just demos, not full versions, but she was fascinated. Maybe there is something in the genes.

The reference in the title of this post is, of course, to this.       

Pinball Wizard

 

'How do you think he does it?
I don't know!
What makes him so good?'
Ain't got no distractions
Can't hear no buzzers and bells,
Don't see no lights a-flashin'
Plays by sense of smell.
Always gets a replay,
Never seen him fall. That deaf, dumb and blind kid

Sure plays a mean pinball.

 

 Ah, pinball. Many a youthful hour was spent refining my eye-hand coordination at these devices. I met Mrs. C over a pinball machine in a bar on St. Patrick's Day. I was almost late for my last final exam in law school because my best friend and I had 23 free games racked up on our favorite table while drilling one another on the exceptions to the hearsay rule.

It's been a long time since I played. This bar on Cherokee Street has some tables. I love the beautiful simplicity of the neon sign, a ball, a flipper and a single word. Nothing else needed.

 

Weirdly, back to Charlotte, North Carolina today. Overnight there and then onward for some time off. Mañana por la noche vamos a hablar español. Fotografías de Domingo.