view from the archipelago: June 2009

quote of the moment

"let me enjoy my enjoyment."

-- white 20-something woman talking to a white 20-something man; las
vegas, NV

pic of the moment

chalk drawing in a casino parking garage; las vegas, NV

quote of the moment

"mr. rogers was the wabi-sabi of cool."

-- me, in a phone conversation with suttonhoo

haiku of the moment

michael jackson gone
the world will now mock elsewhere
still the raw beat lives

thought of the moment

you know you're getting too old when you hear firecrackers outside and
think they're gunshots until you realize what day it is.

trivium of the moment

54% of all americans carrying credit cards settle the entire balance
every month and carry no balance.

-- credit card official on NPR

haiku of the moment

couch professional
you and your sock suspenders
bye ed mcmahon

quote of the moment

"don't talk about it, be about it."

-- unseen person on unknown topic; las vegas, NV

quote of the moment

"for those of you who like to play beer pong as much as we do, oshea's
is the place to be."

-- (live) leprechan on the strip; LV, NV

haiku of the moment

desert vegas heat
tattoo peers above woman's belt
well hello kitty!

pix from the pinball hall of fame; las vegas, NV

all these taken with my great new sub-compact. unfortunately blogger doesn't allow me to quickly/easily post larger pix, so i've just compressed the hell out of them. a few notes follow

probably the only 4-level pinball machine ever built (at the cost of over US$1M). only 2 made. never mass produced because the case was wider than the average machine, yet didn't attract more players.

very long (think "about 2 pinball tables in length") pinball machine with a tilting surface. you try to hit the ball through the other person's flippers -- when you do, the surface tilts with you now being on the downhill side.

detail of a machine. pre-dates (predicts? influences?) kraftwerk by 10 years.

actually a craps game that on the playing field looks like a roulette wheel. if you hit 2, 3, or 12 on your first shot, you lose. hit 7 or 11, you win and shoot again. if you hit anything else (4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10) you keep shooting until you either hit the number again (in which case you win and keep shooting from the starting rules) or hit seven and lose. numbers exactly equal to probability on a dice roll. the score keeper is meaningless. designed to look "legtimate" while actually allowing people the chance to wager on a dice game. may be the only machine of its kind left in existence. found half covered with water in a swimming pool. absolutely spectacular.