Vanishing New York reports the closing of one of my favorite high school hangouts — the Chinatown Fair on Mott Street. It was famous for having a tic-tac-toe playing chicken (they also had one that danced, but he was generally less impressive).
The New Yorker
It was a long time ago, but I think he beat me once, and the couple of other times I played, I fought him to a draw. When one in the line of hen-hustlers died, the Times ran an obituary.
Here’s a scene from the schmaltzy movie, Falling In Love, with Meryl Streep and Robert DeNiro. (Never saw it, but remember seeing a scene being shot in Grand Central back when I was a messenger– they play Westchester commuters that fall in love.)
Anyway, I used to hang out there because it had one of the greatest pinball machines ever, the Fireball.
Fireball photos courtesy of Pinball Rebel
It not only was one of the first machines to have multi-ball action, but it was the first to have a rotating disk in the center that would send the ball flying in random directions. I dropped a lot of quarters into that machine.
Some great pictures of Chinatown Fair here.
If you’re somewhere in the vicinity of my age (45), you probably remember the game Mouse Trap. Behind where I’m staying in Draper, there appears to have been constructed something that reminded me of it. It’s a water-park.
I think that game taight me one of my first life-lessons - things often aren’t as cool as the box or television ad would indicate. I never even played the game – I was just interested in building the mouse-trap contraption, but I don’t recall it ever working right, or even close to it.
Wikipedia says:
There are several points at which the mousetrap can commonly fail. If not built level, or if kicked too hard, the marble can fall off the incline; it can also miss the chute if not properly aligned; the contact of the marble with the pole may fail to dislodge the ball above; the ball may fail to propel the diver into the tub; the movement of the tub may be insufficient to dislodge the cage; or the cage may get stuck on the barbed pole partway down.
Tru dat! I love Wikipedia.
Yes, I have completed the crossword two weeks in a row. It might just be the law of averages at work, but I have another theory - though my friends are advising me against writing about it. I'm still mulling it over.
But for those of you who think it's all that blood I drink from the Christian children in the neighborhood that I've been ritually killing.. nope, that's not it. That got me Obama winning both Virginia and North Carolina, but not this.
Meanwhile, an encore...
Let the heralds proclaim, that in this time, and this place, your humble correspondent completed the Nov. 29th Times Magazine crossword, et en stylo, bébé... 'cause that's how we men do.
I think my last one was 2 years ago; and yes, I realize that's about a 1% completion rate. Definitely need to pick up the pace.
Lisa's Brain: Poor predictable Bart; always takes Rock.
Bart's Brain: Good ol' Rock, nothing beats that!
Why is the game "Rock-paper-scissors" known in the UK as "Paper-scissors-stone"? Is there anyone who is paid or gets a scholarship to figure that out? I want that gig.
No matter the nomenclature, it was invented in Japan in the 19th century; what makes it interesting is that it one can be 'good' at it. It's very hard for humans to act in a truly random fashion. Different people have different 'strategies' and if you know what the other person is likely to 'throw', it's possible to regularly beat them. (see Bart v. Lisa).
A great RPS moment was from "Pete & Pete". The kids are terrorized by a bully named "Papercut", who forces them all to play RPS. He always throws (what else?) paper, but the kids are too scared of him to throw anything but rock. Little Pete defies him by throwing scissors, enraging Papercut, who demands a rematch. With the help of his friends, Little Pete comes up with the breakthrough strategy of throwing "Meteor" and "Volcano", and ends Papercut's reign of terror. I think they still teach that one at West Point.
Check out Poor Predictable Rock for more on how the flaw in Bart's logic pervades a lot of pop-culture 'worlds'.
