Archive for July, 2012



Atari’s C-380 Video Pinball (1977)

Speaking of Atari, this is the first console I ever had, the C-380. My dad found it in the garage when we moved into our new house and dropped it in my lap—my eyes might have actually boggled. This is the second version of the C-380; the first had a tacky wood finish, like most everything else in the ’70s.

There were 7 games total: 6 variations on Breakout and Pinball, and 1 basketball game. (Screenshots via www.old-computers.com.)

It’s hard to believe I squeezed so much fun out of this thing. I never had a 2600, so it held me over until I scored my Atari 800. I salute you this day, Video Pinball! Gaming Gods willing, we shall meet again.

1980 J.C. Penney Christmas Catalog: Atari 800

1980 JCPenny Christmas page354

Oh my holy grail. This is the best gift I ever got, although it was between $200 and $300 when my dad told me, out of the blue, to grab one off the shelves—was it ’82, ’83? That was a lot of money then, and here it’s bloody $1,080! Mine came with Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, and the Basic cartridge. I didn’t have any of the peripherals, and at some point after War Games came out I started to long for a more sophisticated system: the IBM PC XT. That never happened, but I did get to borrow one from my dad’s friend, who went out of town for a weekend. I was on that thing all night, man, just sitting in the dark, my face lit up by the glare of that beautiful green text.

The 800 was my first love, though. And you never forget your first love.

(Image via WishbookWeb. Click to enlarge.)

Quick Movie Reviews: The Boy Who Could Fly (1986)

Yeah, I watched it. So what? It’s from the ’80s and I’m 40. These days, that’s all it takes.

Anyway, Mindy Cohn’s character, the obnoxious neighbor, sums this one up after the 14-year-old female protagonist gets hammered and starts to get horny for the kid who sits in his window all day not saying anything and pretending he’s an airplane: “You can’t be in love with a retard. It’s just not done!”

Also, spoiler alert, the title is not a metaphor. The kid actually flies at the end, and it’s really, really stupid.

What the Future Looked Like: Logan’s Run (1976)

logan's run city

logan's run city-3

logan's run city-4

logan's run city-5

logan's run city-2

logan's run design-8

logan's run design-9

logan's run design-7

logan's run design-3

logan's run design-4

logan's run city-6

logan's run design-5

(Images via Voices of East Anglia, Deep Down Genre Hound, Snowcrest, Space: 1970, Death to CGI, Reflections on Cult Movies and Classic Television, Ultra Modern Style, Art DepartMENTAL, Ouno Design, Ultra Modern Style)

Ten Forward on the USS Enterprise-D

This is where I would like to be if I were in space. I would get a drink (none of that synthohol shit), have a seat by the windows, and listen to the steady hum of the galaxy class starship on its way to discover new worlds.


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