So, we made it. We’re here. The big 40. Had I nice dinner last Sunday at Clay’s.
Looking at the images now, I really do need a haircut. Not sure the long hair suits me anymore. Whatever, let’s talk about some of the gifts I received.
This is the first gift that explains the blog title a little bit. It is a 1936 Shaeffer WASP “Vacuum” Pen. I know enough about fountain pens to be dangerous. Jody, is the person that gifted me the pen and is much more knowledgeable so I’m just going to quote her note:
“There is no direct imprint of the pen to connect it with the Sheaffer company. It comes with a two-tone steel flexible fine nib with the Vacuum imprint. The official color was listed as “birds eye” pattern, but collectors affectionately call it ‘Screaming Souls in Purgatory.'”
Now the final gift to wrap things up.
Yea, that’s a machine that just plays the original Double Dragon game.
Let’s take a walk into the past. Little Mike, somewhere in the ballpark of 6 years old, and his older sister, Robbie, were in the arcade. Mike, being a small kid, was standing on a stool to play the arcade machine, and Robbie was playing it with him. The game? Double Dragon. It’s a side scroll beat’em up. You control dudes that are fighting a gang to get the girl back they kidnapped. That’s it. That’s the plot.
The game is fun. I’m having a great time. We sink in a ton of quarters, and we make it to the final gang boss. We beat him, and, as far as I know, we beat the game. I don’t notice that the chick, we went to rescue, is still tied up. Furthermore, I don’t notice Robbie’s character casually walk over and pick up the bat. She then strolls over to my character, bat in hand, and proceeds to BEAT THE SHIT out of my character. See she had figured out that there could only be one of us in the end. One woman to rescue, you see.
There was nothing I could do. The bat is the ultimate weapon in that game. I’m jumping around trying to get away or attack or do anything; asking, “What’s going on?!” I died. Robbie’s character unties the chick, and the credits roll.
Robbie says, “That was fun!” and walks off. I’m in a state of shock. Frozen at the arcade machine. The very idea that there was something like that in a game. That I didn’t notice it first. That I … fucking LOST. Even now, if a game has Co-op, I am always prepared for treachery, and I always ready to betray. I can never escape it. To this day, my Co-op soul is stuck screaming in the Double Dragon purgatory.
Yea, still gaming after all this time.
