Special When Lit: A Pinball Documentary rekindles my love of pinball.

I was really bored last night and since I don't have Netflix anymore (for a few months now) I was trying to hunt up something to watch on the internet that wasn't just some crap on youtube.  I recently started using hulu to watch stuff - mainly documentaries.  As many of you may know, when I'm not watching horror movies I usually watch documentaries these days.  I'm kind of surprised at the wide collection hulu has, especially when it comes to docus of the popular culture/sub-culture variety.  After watching a docu about Star Wars fans I stumbled across Special When Lit: A Pinball Documentary (2009).

It was a fascinating look at the history and culture of pinball and its followers.  One thing I learned was pinball was illegal for nearly thirty years in most of the United States because the powers that be thought pinball was a social ill.  Another thing I learned is there is only one pinball company left in the USA, Stern Pinball.  The thing that astounded me the most was learning the name of man who created the pinball games I truly love, Mark Ritchie.  He worked for Williams Pinball and designed games like Getaway, The Twilight Zone, The Addams Family (a game I actually loathe), Star Trek: The Next Generation, and my personal all time favorite Indiana Jones (I've included a gameplay video I found online further down).

Watching Special When Lit was entertaining but also steeped in mono no aware.  By the end of the docu I was on one hand inspired to run out and find a game but I was also depressed because of the fact I haven't seen a pinball machine in years.  The last place I played was in a washateria in Austin back in the very early 00s (which had Indiana Jones but swapped it out for fucking Addams Family).  There are only Tekken, Ms. Pac-Man, and The Simpsons in the laundromat near my place.  The closest bar only has pool, ping pong, and some shit kicker hunting shooter.  The dirt mall only has four crappy arcade games (one of which is The Simpsons).  I'm not sure if there's a single arcade game on campus.  You can't throw a rock without hitting a pool table, which is great if you're into that.  So what am I supposed to do?

Well, truth be told, I think I'm gonna find me a pinball machine in Nac.  Somewhere in town has to have one, I'm just gonna have to look.  There's a bowling alley next to the movie theater and there's Skatarama.  There's a couple of laundromats.  If any of you folks in Nac know of a machine please let me know.  Might be a fun little quest to embark on.

Anders Loves Maria by Rene Engström

Anders Loves Maria is an excellent webcomic that works because of Rene Engström's good old fashioned Swede-styled mono no aware. It's a grown-up comic that's NSFW but not hentai. Anders Loves Maria is one of those webcomics that is a joy to read even though it's pretty depressing. The art work is sharp and definitely stands out from the slew of comics I read.

I wholeheartedly enjoy this comic - check it out.