Or not...

Out like a lamb?

Thomas cuts loose

This is the last concert Thomas has for the orchestra (though he still has the Mega Show: Showcase in April, several percussion performances and a wind concert, I think, but since Thomas only gives us 5 or so hours notice of these things, we really don't know). This was the last number they performed, Conga del Fuego Nuevo by Arturo Marquez. Since I was off to the side, up on the second deck, I had a nice clear view of the percussionists, but the sound quality is a bit off, since I am getting the echo of the instruments stage right. Such is life. Of all the percussion instruments (and there are thousands), Thomas loves playing the marimba the absolute most. I keep begging him to take up steel drums but they just don't grab him. He's already started to ask about moving out to go to university and was very concerned that there would be rules prohibitting students from having marimbas in dorm rooms. (He also wants to take one of our living room chairs and our flatware.)

We're about to live in a food desert

When we first moved into our house in June '99, the nice little grocery store/supermarket that had been right next door for decades had just vacated (soon to be replaced by Family Video, and you know how that ended).  But never mind, there was still VG's, Farmer Jack's and, if desperate, a rather grotty Kessell (soon re-named Kroger) just down Franklin.  Well, Farmer Jack's was the first to go - the Detroit-based chain, mentioned in many an Elmore Leonard novel, went belly-up.  Then VG's moved out of Flint entirely.  Finally, Kroger is leaving.  We can still drive to get food, but I can't imagine what people who are old and lacking a car are going to do.

River still frozen

It's about to be a run of 40 degrees (F, of course, this isn't the Sahara) but for this weekend, at least, the river in For-Mar is still frozen.  Here's Frederick standing on it:

 And this picture represents our struggle to make it through the long Winter:

Now no longer even pretending to be educational

What's on at Sloan Museum these days, I'm sure you're wondering.  (This is the museum that we re-christened the Dinosaur Museum when Thomas was tiny because they had a display of terrifying animatronic dinosaurs that both attracted and repelled him.)  Well, turns out they've stopped trying to appeal to/terrify the tots and have decided to target sad middle-aged men.  That's my people!  How do I know?  Because this is their current exhibit:

They give you 4 tokens at the door and you can pay for more if you like, but I've stockpiled tons because I whizz through the museum all the time with Frederick and he shows no interest.  What youngster wouldn't be drawn to flickering monochrome blips, you ask?  Beats me!  (The one on the left is the earliest ever game, called "Computer Space" that was probably played by Bill Gates in his formative years.  The one on the right needs no introduction.  No, it isn't a game about foul smells.)

This is the first one I remember playing, on a holiday in Wales, whence Sophy and I had been shipped by parents desperate for a break.  (They left us on the platform in Taunton and departed whooping with joy.)  Many's the 10P I sank into this.  It was no loss, I would otherwise have spent them on souvenir shells or rock or some other tat.

A classic.  I mostly played the version that Ralph burned into the EPROM of my Commodore PET.  Yes, that sentence was intended to be Greek to most of you.

Now you're talking.  Sadly it was on the fritz this particular day, but this is the fastest and most fiendishly difficult game EVER.  Well, except for its sequel (Stargate), which added yet another button.  Great sound effects, especially when a humanoid is being snatched by an evil alien.  Also good "whump" sounds - sometimes it pays to be in a big chipboard cabinet.

I love the little graph paper sketches.  I did many similar such things in my rough book when I was supposed to be listening to Mr. Isaacs teach us German at Wellington School.

This one I played a lot on my one visit to a student union conference in Blackpool, either 1984 or 85, when I was at Exeter College.  It was that or listen to interminable droning in the actual hall.  I believe at least one future Labour Politician was there.  Quite cured me of student politics, it did.  But the game's good.

Sadly, as with many joys of my childhood, the grip has loosened, and I no longer feel the need to spend the day hunched over a joystick in the fetid dark.  Now I look at that sentence, that's probably a good thing.  Perhaps it would've been different if they'd've had Amidar, a strange Pac Man ripoff where you alternate between being a gorilla and... a paint roller.  It's only my fave because it happened to be the game that the failed CB shop in Wellington had that me and my pimply pals used to go cluster round after school.  I was the first to get the SECOND extra life, an achievement that is easily top three in my lifetime triumphs.

Thomas Lays it on the Line

Since I am on winter break, I am spending this time doing a massive spring clear out, starting with all those "Things To Do" that have been hanging on me for over 9 years. The first is sort through old photos and various other "memorabilia" that have been shoved into various shoeboxes and then packed away in various closets. While going through it all, I found all sorts of wonderful photos Thomas and Frederick when they were young and chubby. I also found these notes, which I had forgotten about, but now remember Thomas had taped to his door when he was 3 or 4:I don't know what we did wrong (it was probably me), but I am sure Thomas will remember.