Road Kings
Williams, 1986Quoted from pinmister:I try and go into restaurants and order just one rib
Ironically, that is what we had for dinner! One beef rib!! But it came with some other stuff. 
At Smoq Pit BBQ in Pittsburgh. Not as good as Fette Sau in Brooklyn, but still good. $25 fed the whole family.
rd
Quoted from rotordave:Ironically, that is what we had for dinner! One beef rib!! But it came with some other stuff.
At Smoq Pit BBQ in Pittsburgh. Not as good as Fette Sau in Brooklyn, but still good. $25 fed the whole family.
Usually the fancier the sign, the shittier the BBQ. Best pulled pork I ever had was at a very nondescript roadside place in Hiawassee Georgia many years ago. It was a real mom and pop sort of place. Went back there a couple years ago and somebody bought it and put up a fancy sign. They didn't even have pulled pork on the menu. You could order chopped pork though. There is a difference that I'm not sure those folks up north are aware of based on those pics you posted. You'll understand when you get to Tennessee. 
Quoted from mcluvin:Usually the fancier the sign, the shittier the BBQ.
That can be applied to so many other things too. Never judge a book by the cover ...
However in the material world we live in today, some people think if a place looks "dated" or the prices are cheap that's what the place is. Style over substance. I started running into this line of snobbery about 10 years ago in my furniture business ... I knew when that started happening, retail would never be the same and I got out of it.
We see the same in this hobby too ... So many guys (esp new guys) think if a game is expensive, it means it's good. That is generally not the case.
rd
Dave, little bit of info on Southside.....mosdt of those old buildings have been there since the Steel Mill days! Pittsburgh was the largest manufacturer of steel in the world at one point! A lot of those homes were homes to the steel workers. Fast forward to about 1985 and people started to open bar after bar. There are more bars in Southside then there are of other businesses. People who live there hate the weekends as it gets flooded with bar patrons who drink in excess and then piss all over their property, wreck into their cars and scream all night!!! So now you have a better understanding as to why there are a lot of bars and a lot of boarded up places???? 
If you and the family are interested in meeting up for lunch on Friday I will be happy to take you all to Teutonia Mannerchor (aka German Club) that is located on the North Side of Pittsburgh by the Heinz Plant (yep the Ketchup makers)! Just pm me .... I know you're probably already booked but it's an offer!
Quoted from meSz:If you and the family are interested in meeting up for lunch on Friday I will be happy to take you all to Teutonia Mannerchor (aka German Club) that is located on the North Side of Pittsburgh by the Heinz Plant (yep the Ketchup makers)! Just pm me .... I know you're probably already booked but it's an offer!
Thanks for the invite! We will probably be at PAPA all weekend but I'll let you know if not ...
Good history there too. I know a little about the city and its industrial history. I saw some photos today of the smog in the 30s and 40s caused by the factories, at midday you couldn't even see the end of the street!
rd
Drive out to the coin op museum - http://coinophof.com/
About 35mins from the city. Amazing arcade collection and tons of pins too. The arcade collection includes lots of early games, including the older projection based games, em games, etc
Quoted from flynnibus:Drive out to the coin op museum - http://coinophof.com/
About 35mins from the city. Amazing arcade collection and tons of pins too. The arcade collection includes lots of early games, including the older projection based games, em games, etc
Wow, never heard of that place. Thanks for the tip!
rd
Quoted from rotordave:Wow, never heard of that place. Thanks for the tip!
rd
I'm spoiled because I've been to papa enough that the collection is old hat to me... But the vid collection at ed's place is to die for. The pin collection is solid, and he has a lot of rare games too. Stern viper, kryul, etc.
Msg Ed on their Facebook page. I'm sure he'd welcome the famous alien and his family
There was some kind of falling out between him and the regular PPL people normally associated with papa... So you don't hear much about the place at papa hq.
Quoted from rotordave:I saw some photos today of the smog in the 30s and 40s caused by the factories, at midday you couldn't even see the end of the street!
Yeah there are a lot of neat pictures like that. Ironically the picture you show was taken during the day time! The stores use to have to keep the neon lights on all day and cars did the same with the headlights!!! This is the main reason back then no one complained about second hand (cigarette) smoke as that was considered fresh air!!!
Check this photo out that was taken in Donora, PA (just South of Pittsburgh) at noon (lunch time).
October 26 – Killer smog settles into Donora, Pennsylvania. Noon in Donora The 1948 Donora smog was a historic air inversion resulting in a wall of smog that killed 20 people and sickened 7,000 more in Donora, Pennsylvania, a mill town on the Monongahela River, 24 miles
You should check out pnc park for a pirates game when in the burg. One of the best ballparks in US.
Also Counterpunch playing Wednesday the 13th and even though boring but a great guitarist Joe Satriani Tuesday the 12th.
First ever day playing at PAPA today.
Met up with some of my good pinball friends from all over the planet ... Finland, Germany, Sweden, U.K., almost every country!
Classics 1 is all done. 176 of the best players in the world. It's pretty insane. My first ticket got 18th first up, but as more people play, your points change. I watched that ticket go down, then up a little, then down, then down ... Ended up 41st out of 176.
It took over 2 hours to play the 4 games, and they reckon the queues are much worse in the weekend. I only had enough time for one other ticket, which wasn't as good as the first.
Anyways, I was in good company at 41st ... Lots of big name players around me.
My 12th place score on Seawitch held up all day.
Only had time for two tickets in A ... Tough bracket. Playing with the big kids in this group ... Jeeezzzus. First ticket is about 50th place, 2nd ticket I just scoped out the other games and voided. Tickets cost $25 USD per each (for 5 games) Some dudes are entering and voiding tens of tickets. I'm on a budget!
Danni played in Womans, B division and Juniors 1.
They have a Juniors every day. Today she came in second.
1. Alexander
2. Danni
3. Escher
4. Gregory
Nice!
She is currently 2nd equal in Womans and 14th in B. Long way to go with these two...
rd
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Nice job Dave! It's nice to see some other players on that list I play against on a fairly regular basis.
Quoted from Erik:And Danni! How much does she charge for lessons? For my daughter I mean
Come around to our house. We have deli meats and Shasta in the fridge. Danni can teach your daughter her patented breathing techniques. Best to come around when Mom is out. Don't drink her Pepsi products. And no Miners allowed.
rd
Dave it was good meeting you today. Let me know about going to Ron's house. You guys will LOVE it. Guaranteed.
Quoted from robotronjohn:Dave it was good meeting you today. Let me know about going to Ron's house. You guys will LOVE it. Guaranteed.
Will do. All depends who makes the playoffs Sunday. Will be in touch.
rd
Quoted from rotordave:That can be applied to so many other things too. Never judge a book by the cover ...
However in the material world we live in today, some people think if a place looks "dated" or the prices are cheap that's what the place is. Style over substance. I started running into this line of snobbery about 10 years ago in my furniture business ... I knew when that started happening, retail would never be the same and I got out of it.
We see the same in this hobby too ... So many guys (esp new guys) think if a game is expensive, it means it's good. That is generally not the case.
rd
One of the best fried chicken places we went to was Coop's in Charlotte, didn't look as flash as some others, but was great.
Today I played pinball. And the flu won. 
(
Hard to play while you're coughing a lung out, so I didn't bother. Played one ticket in classics and half a ticket in A and pulled the pin. I felt like crap.
While I was having a break I met lots of Pinsiders like Mez, John, Nate and Ed Robertson just to name a few. Thanks for taking the time to talk to me in my sick state.
Later on, my good buddy Ari from Finland wanted to team up again for the split flipper like we did in Sweden last year. We had a few tickets, currently we sit just inside the cut line.
rd
Quoted from blue95:I wonder if Brett and Naiomi practice this at home?
Amongst "other things" ....
rd
RD, great meeting you and Fiona! Question, did Fiona move at all? When I came back to PAPA on Saturday (I forgot that Frank from Germany had brought me a bottle of vodka (pic below) so I had to run back out to PAPA Saturday) she was still in the same spot!!! My wife wouldn't have made it 30 minutes at PAPA before abandoning me!!
Did you make it out to Ron's today?
Quoted from meSz:RD, great meeting you and Fiona! Question, did Fiona move at all?
Haha. She is pretty cool to come along and sit through it all.
Yes, we went to Rons place today. John was kind enough to arrange a visit for us.
To those who haven't been there, Ron has a secret hideout about an hour out of Pittsburgh where he has about 150 machines and an amazing collection of "stuff" ... Movie props, Kennywood stuff, etc etc.
Here's a video that John shot a year or so back ... Check it out!!
rd
Quoted from rotordave:Haha. She is pretty cool to come along and sit through it all.
Yes, we went to Rons place today. John was kind enough to arrange a visit for us.
To those who haven't been there, Ron has a secret hideout about an hour out of Pittsburgh where he has about 150 machines and an amazing collection of "stuff" ... Movie props, Kennywood stuff, etc etc.
Here's a video that John shot a year or so back ... Check it out!!
rd
» YouTube video
kool you got to go out!!! "STUFF" is the exact word I would use as well!!!
Ron threw some GREAT PAPA parties! Unfortunately with the moving of the PAPA date the weather isn't nice enough to have a party like he use to have!!!
Dave it was great you made it out to Ron's. Glad I was able to arrange the visit. Truly a treasure to the hobby he is.. the stories he has are every bit as exciting as his place. When you left I was putting up a GC on his Mustang.. which Al promptly beat. I shouldn't have said anything and maybe it would have lasted longer.
Man that place looks amazing 
The life size statues are incredible. Looks like a theme park on steroids. When I win the lottery I'm stealing so many of his ideas
I wonder how much the electricity bill is monthly?
Ron told me sometimes he uses enough power for the power company to increase his rates. One year he melted a transformer on the pole. Had it replaced during one of his epic parties and he let the workers play games. A week later they upgraded it for him..
The video that Dave linked was shot 2014. The second time I ever went. Now Ron and I are great friends.
Quoted from robotronjohn:Ron told me sometimes he uses enough power for the power company to increase his rates. One year he melted a transformer on the pole. Had it replaced during one of his epic parties and he let the workers play games. A week later they upgraded it for him..
The video that Dave linked was shot 2014. The second time I ever went. Now Ron and I are great friends.
I remember this party as several of us were standing outside and happen to look up at the transformer and you could see the oil in the transform bubbling out of it!!
Quoted from rotordave:In the PAPA carpark, this building has For Sale signs on it.
I'm pretty good with renovating commercial buildings (that's what I do...) but I don't think my magic wand would work on this one ....
rdimage_(resized).jpeg
Wonder how much they want. Maybe a kick-starter to fund buying that and bulldosing it to give more parking for papa. Hah
Def a creepy-assed building
Quoted from rotordave:Classic.
rdThis image got 1 "unsafe" tag and has been hidden automatically, as per your settings. un-hideimage_(resized).jpeg 1
Great meeting you and the family Dave! Have a great rest of trip.
You should get Danni to make a video, teaching us all how to play pinball.
She's got mad skillz!
-Drew
Quoted from Chambahz:Great meeting you and the family Dave! Have a great rest of trip.
You should get Danni to make a video, teaching us all how to play pinball.
She's got mad skillz!
-Drew
I taught her well
Nice to hang with you, Ed and Nate for a while. Apologies for my flu, I was looking for a place to hide from it last night. Got the aching limb stage going now, my legs feel like I've got arthritis. Succccccccks
rd
Quoted from PinballNZ:Your flu won't make coaster riding as enjoyable as it should be ....
This is true ....
rd
Well, the last few days Danni and I have been representing NZ at the IFPA World Pinball champs in Pittsburgh.
We are playing mainly on the PAPA games from last week. Some are pretty tough, especially on the tilts. I did a mild slap save on Wizard and tilted it. I tilted 3/5 balls on Hokus Pokus (by Focus...)
The standard of play has been very high, as you'd expect. Danni was above the top 32 cut line for a while yesterday but fell below it last night. I've been hovering just under it the whole time. This morning we both needed good rounds to make the top 32. I was slightly ahead of her in points, then I had my worst round of the comp, just house balls every game, even on Avengers which I am pretty consistant on.
Danni pulled a very good 17 out in the last round which puts her on 92 which just missed the 94 cutoff point ... Bummer. She has been playing nicely the whole event, everyone is impressed with her play.
Special thanks to Bowen Kerins and the others who have been assisting her with her play the whole time. Cheers guys.
rd
Man, how did I totally miss this thread until just now? Would've loved to meet up with you guys at PAPA! I really enjoy meeting up with other kids who are into competitive pinball, there seem to be very few of us, so it's fun to get to talk to others when I get the chance (I'm 17, got into pinball at 16, so I never had a chance to play in PAPA Juniors, unfortunately).
Anyways, looks like you guys are having a great trip, it was super fun to read all these stories!
Definitely worth the trip! 
http://www.travelchannel.com/shows/man-v-food/video/adam-orders-a-60-oz-steak?soc=sharemail
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