I remember vividly visiting my
grandmother when she worked at the family insurance
company above The Golden Eight Ball circa 1979. There
were 2 video games there: Space Invaders and Circus.
My uncle Tim was 3 1/2 years older, and thus Space
Invaders was his choice. I loved Circus. My
grandmother had to pick me up and hold me up to the
controls. A HUGE childhood memory was this
game.
Then one day at Godfather's Pizza
(Used to be Farrell's - that loud ass place to scare
kids on their birthday), I walked into a room
where there were 8 videogames, and one of them was
PAC-MAN. This time I used a chair and was completely
enthralled. My addiction to videogames was
set.
Then came 1981. Godfather's Pizza,
and a brand new game...Ms. Pac-Man. From this point
on, I've never been able to pass a machine without
playing. NUTTY about this game. My mom would give
me 4 quarters, and I'd be gone for about 2 HOURS,
'cause I got so good at this game. I actually
beat the world record of 200,000 something (according
to the 1985 Guiness Book of Worlds Records) when
I was 11. I later found out that I did
it on a a souped up version of ms. pac-man, where you
can move MUCH faster than the ghosts...the
original record was on the NORMAL machine..but STILL.
All the revolutions in videogames came and went, but
Ms. Pac-Man was always my favorite.
What the hell is my point
already...
I now own a 1981 Ms. Pac-Man
table-top arcade game. I swear to god, it's a thrill
that I never thought I'd have. I've wanted this thing
for nearly 20 years. I cannot believe I have one.
So how did I get it?
Everything was
set-up Friday, but apparently Debbie forgot that he
had booked 5 heavy metal bands. I played door man
tonight...For 5 hours I had to be a freakin' bouncer.
The worst $14 I ever made. Total that is. Either way.
He had a variety show planned for Friday and pushed it
to tonight. Well no one showed after getting screwed
the night previous and Jess and I sat there for 3
hours. Great night.
Well, I've kept somewhat mum about
this, but the aaah! CAPELLA shows have been pretty
atrocious. I've been mum because these were a BIG
deal. The reason being is that the theater is
basically 5 minutes from completely going under. Bad
business decisions by the owner has gotten him in over
his head, and I've been over there quite a few times,
trying to clean up the place and help him out. I feel
bad for him, because the space is just
SOOOO huge, and he can't seem to pull it
together. If you've checked the shows section of the
site, you've seen that there have been quite a few
no-shows...because he's too busy trying to keep the
electricity on to worry about it. It all came to a
head when he finally planned a show Friday when
I was performing to get people in. A variety
show with other comedians and such. Well, I get there
and he forgot about a 4 band heavy metal concert he
already booked. I ended up playing "doorman" for the
next 5 hours for $14. I was HIGHLY pissed. He was
completely unprepared, there were kids everywhere,
doing all sorts of chemicals. Cops came by,
everything...it SUCKED. And they were pissed about
paying $7. And I'm the big doorman. Unhappy. He
reschedules for the variety show to be the next night,
and I'm the only one who shows up. Sweet jesus
I was pissed. His head is constantly spinning,
and I have obviously caught the tail end of what was a
kick-ass venue. Well, on Tuesday I went over there and
helped him fix his computer, and tried to get his
spirits up. On my side, he does have a bunch of
contacts, and can help my career out, but on an
unselfish side I just feel bad for him. He's not
the businessman. His wife was, and she left him
(amazing what becoming a drag queen can do to a
marriage), and now he's just stuck. My heart goes out
to him, because he does my motto of "following his
heart", but unfortunately has
NO BUSINESS sense to go along with
it.
The next night was my night,
and...
Saturday,
April 15th, 2000
AAAH!
CAPELLA'S 5
THE SETUP
Had it
all set up the night before, but no one
showed after getting screwed yesterday and
Jess and I sat there for 3 hours. Great
night.
Well, he had a Ms. Pac-Man game
and he let me have it for all the times I've helped
him out the past 3 weeks. God love-him. He obviously
has my loyalty for as long as he needs it, but
unfortunately I don't see this place making it
more than a month. I hope he can find some way to
pull it off, but it looks grim. Either way, I'm still
playing there this weekend and whatever weekends he
has left. It's very sad. We'll see what
happens.
But of course on the
bright side, he has made a childhood dream
of mine come true. Getting to take apart
this machine and see what I had been
popping quarters into the last 20 years
was an amazing thrill. I'm so damn excited
I can't even tell you. I even played
myself at a 2-Player game...check it out:
VIDEO...
YouTube
link added
12.20.07
As well, I'm putting together my
auditions for the MTV commercial and the next 5
emails will have my 5 auditions. Theyr'e pretty funny.
I'm having quite a bit of fun with my after effects
program. Video production is becomming just as fun as
audio production for me. Who knows where that will
lead me.
Anyway, be on the lookout for some
cool videos, and as well...please throw some videogame
stories my way! I'd love to post some
reactions...