So, over 3 years after we moved into the house, I finally was able to get two projects firmly off the ground and into a playable state.

   

First, our new virtual pinball build, Radiant Silverball. Hundreds of pinball tables are at our fingertips, at least digitally. I based it in part on the vintage pinball machine we already had. Part of why it exists is that we only have room for two pinball machines.

   

Second is our MAME machine, Legacy of the Stick. A fairly streamlined four-player machine, streamlined as in it's just for joystick games. I really don't like how layouts feel shoehorned/compromised when the trackball and/or spinner is included in these builds. I'll probably build a dedicated "bartop" for those games later on. We also have a party trick to this setup - the monitor can ROTATE. It's a 40" screen, so you can kind of picture how big Punch Out is (yes, it does show the correct over/under).

And with this, our rec room is officially out of room for more stuff.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/notre-dame...-1.5098604

This does not look good at all.

There is an election approaching in Alberta, like a boulder rolling down hill at an archaeologist. As I write this, in fact, the day after tomorrow.
Personally, the only thing that I'm willing to predict is that turn out will exceed 26.6% of eligible voters.

Because it already has.
Advanced polls have 696,000 voters having cast their ballot already (I'm one of them) and Elections Alberta says that there are roughly 2,615,000 voters in the province.
That takes us to 26.62%
Total turn out last election was 54.2%.

It's going to be a wild ride, and if anyone calls a riding that is even vaguely close before all those early ballots are counted I feel like a solid mocking should be in order.

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Whatever effect the original Scorpions version has, the one they recorded with the BPO backing them up is probably somewhere between doubled and an order of magnitude more potent. I mean, holy balls, Al. I think there's something leaking out of my ears, but I can't be more specific in mixed company.

This is a catch-all thread for stuff that I might find useful for any number of projects - strange words, writing prompts, half-formed ideas, obscure trivia, etc.

Anyone is welcome to contribute.

Official EU Agencies Falsely Report More Than 550 Archive.org URLs as Terrorist Content

Not just Project Gutenberg - the entirety of the Prelinger Collection, the entirety of the collection of live Grateful Dead shows, the Smithsonian's entire online collection, and at least one recording of the proceedings of the US House of Representatives from December 2010, amongst many other links, were all named as being terrorist content.

Quote:Thus, we are left to ask – how can the proposed legislation realistically be said to honor freedom of speech if these are the types of reports that are currently coming from EU law enforcement and designated governmental reporting entities? It is not possible for us to process these reports using human review within a very limited timeframe like one hour. Are we to simply take what’s reported as “terrorism” at face value and risk the automatic removal of things like THE primary collection page for all books on archive.org?

Arctic is warmest it's been in 10,000 years, study suggests

Also, Climate change now a fact of life in Atlantic Canada fishery

So don't try to tell me there's no such thing, or that it's a communist plot. Do the math yourself. Climate change exists.

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lyrics

(na na, na na, na na, na na, na na)

Oh my my I feel so good, I feel so good, I feel so good
Oh my my gonna make my move, a mile in, got nothin' to lose
Oh my my gonna take it all, it ain't no thing, it ain't no thing
Oh my my doin' what I want, learn to do my thing, do my thing
Swingin' up high and take it low I'm feelin' right from head to toe
Light it up and let it roll, here I go

Are you ready, ready to go
Are you ready, ready for more
Are you ready, ready for me
Oh my my, oh my my

Are you ready, ready or not
I keep goin' and I can't stop
Are you ready, ready for me
Oh my my, oh my my
(nanananana, nanananana)

Oh my my gonna hit it big, I got my eyes on the prize
Oh my my gonna spin the wheel, cash it in, and roll the dice
Oh my my it's a thing of gold, all I do is win, all I do is win
Oh my my no I never fold, start it up let the game begin
Swingin' up high and take it low
I'm feelin' right from head to toe
Light it up and let it roll, here I go

Are you ready, ready to go
Are you ready, ready for more
Are you ready, ready for me
Oh my my, oh my my

Are you ready, ready or not
I keep goin' and I can't stop
Are you ready, ready for me
Oh my my, oh my my

(nanananana, nanananana)
(na na, na na, na na)

Are you ready
(na na)
Are you ready, ready for me
(na na)
Are you ready
(na na)
Are you ready, ready for me
(na na)
Are you ready
(na na)

Are you ready, ready to go
Are you ready, ready for more
Are you ready, ready for me
Oh my my, oh my my

Are you ready, ready or not
I'll keep goin' and I can't stop
Are you ready, ready for me
Oh my my, oh my my
(nanananana, nanananana)
(na na)
Are you ready
(na na)
Are you ready


(The uPotato who transcribed the lyrics wrote "guide it up and let it roll" but I hear "light it up")

it just feels like it's inviting Doug's subconcious to unleash the not-merely-dickish side


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There's a few more freindly ones that show up on (my version of) the related videos list, though:

Don't Look Down a very flight-song type piece that may allow for Cris Reeves movie-style flying with someone else too as long as they're careful and don't let go the way Lois did in the famous "Can you read my mind?" scene.

Pull Me Under (cover) - I dunno really, but seriously, it's good, and less grim than the title makes it sound

Stand and Deliver is a good one for when there's a physically able but disorganized or intimidated group too big for Doug to protect alone, to inspire them to act

Oh My My is probably the most subtle effect I've proposed yet for Doug - all it would really do is boost him physically from his usual "impressively athletic even in the funny pages" to "is that guy even human?" and make his chaos field a little more likely to make things go explicitly in his favor instead of just weird. Possibly with the drawback of not being able to stop the song's effect until its full duration elapses, due to the "I can't stop" lyrics, but with this effect it's probably not a big problem aside from limiting the ability to switch. A solid choice for when he just needs a little more Looney Tunes, but not actual blasts of lightning etc. - and it's got a beat you can dance to, and lyrics you can sing along with! That always makes a fight better!

Alternately, it might be a track to spar to, that keeps everyone in the fight healthy enough to keep going even after taking a hit and energetic enough to want to. Handy for training students once they've got some basics down, as he notably does in the SM and Eva steps at least.

Actually, I really like that one. I'mm'a post it up into its own thread for ease of finding later if desired.