If someone local can make it over to the Makerspace one Thursday night, please post a YouTube video! We've talked about doing this sort of thing in north metro Atlanta, and we could use some inspiration.

This was my 2nd time out to TPF. The tournament was the highlight for me, because unfortunately that was all I really got to enjoy. At about 7pm Friday I had a "bratwurst quesadilla" from one of the food trucks. I woke up at 2am with a pounding headache, and headed down to the lobby to buy aspirin. I had to hoof it to the 7-11, which wasn't far but it was a damned cold walk. I got back to my room, took the aspirin and within 5 minutes everything I ate for the last month came up, I think even the gum I swallowed when I was 5. It was about that time that my neighbors got back and flipped on the TV. I put the pillow over my head and prayed for death, or at least a do-over.

I woke up on Saturday at 2pm, and ate the 2 donuts I'd brought back from the 7-11 the night before. Success! I decided it had been food poisoning, so I went down to try a few games. I was feeling weak, so it was "play 5 games, rest for 20 minutes". But I didn't feel sick, no fever, just a little tired. Around 7pm my buddy brought back some In-and-Out and I devoured it, since the only thing I'd had all day was a few donuts. I went to bed around 10, and started feeling nauseous again. That feeling lasted until 3am, when, almost like clockwork, I threw up again. This time I got it all in the toilet, which is a LOT easier to clean than the sink, let me tell you. I didn't make it back to the show. I headed straight for the airport and napped until my 4pm flight. I did mention my plight to the hotel staff and suggested cleaning the bathroom with bleach ("noted").

But I did get to shake Jack Danger's hand, and say hi to my old friends Marcus and James. So, it wasn't all bad. I was also amazed at the quality of the tournament pins. I could have played Nitro Ground Shaker, Frontier and Cleopatra all night.

As someone who brings mostly early 80's games to our show (SFGE), let me offer this bit of advice: play the old games first. It doesn't matter how well the owner takes care of them, they are still the most vulnerable to breaking down. I average about 25% failures for the games I bring, and these are games that I've babied for years in my own gameroom. In fact for this year's SFGE, I'm dedicating myself to resurrecting classic pins that are down.

Oh yeah, I forgot - I got to shake WhySnow's hand too!

The tournament was fantastic IMO. Of course, I came in 81st so I have no real skin in the game. I just enjoyed competing on some ridiculously nice games. I had the #1 score on Nitro Ground Shaker for about 4 hours Friday night, so that was my little victory. There are ways for anyone to enjoy a tournament, no matter what their level.

It upsets me when organizers are accused of having an unfair advantage, having been in this position myself a few times. Try running an event and see how much of an "advantage" you really have. Might as well extend the prohibition to the games' owners, while you're at it. See how many game volunteers you get then.

I had an awesome game on CCC! I felt guilty about all the EBs I got, but I got to the reverse flipper mode and saw a lot of other new stuff. Great, great work. I can't wait to see other classic games getting this kind of treatment.