Jim Alfredson

See the funny thing is that I played (and still do play) video games all the time, but I'm not obese nor are any of my siblings. I think it comes down to, like anything else, moderation. No, you can't let your child sit in front of the TV all day. DUH! Kids should be allowed to play the computer or the Playstation for a limited amount of time per week. That's how I would do it. "You have 14 hours to spend watching TV or playing video games this week. If you spend all those hours within the first couple of days, well... tough luck!" After they spend 'em, they gotta find something else to do (aka, go outside and bikes!! That's what I did as a kid. I'd spend all day riding around on my bike and play a few hours of video games before bed.)

Try to hide all you want. I can see you!!! Mwa ha ha ha ha!!!

Perhaps a ZIP drive is the answer in order to back up the photos until a new computer can be bought?

Since Joe Christmas' thread has been hijacked thanks to me and my obsession with his avatar (see here), I thought I would start my own thread about classic and modern computer and arcade games. My brother and I are game fanatics (he even more so) and have been playing them since my dad brought home the trusty Commodore 64 back in the mid-80s. As I mentioned in the original thread, one of my favorite games from that era was Wasteland. I still think it was a truly brilliant game. Some of the original game designers are now working for the Black Isle company, responsable for such great RPGs as Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, and the semi-sequel to Wasteland, Fallout (and Fallout2) which are brilliant games. I actually made a childhood friend because of Wasteland. I remember discussing it with another friend in the lunchroom during sixth grade. This fellow sitting behind me overheard us and joined the conversation since he was playing it, too and the next thing you know we became good friends all through middle and high school. Another game that I was obsessed with was Aliens, based on the movie. My dad bought this for my siblings and I but nobody could even get past the first level. One night, after weeks of all my siblings trying, I made it past the first level! The following morning I pretended to be sick and proceeded to play that game non-stop for about 10 hours and actually beat it!!! My older sisters couldn't believe it. Thankfully the game provided codes that would bring you to various parts of the game so I could prove it to them that I had indeed beat the whole thing. I also played the original Ultima games. Those were fun and pretty wacky. My favorite games were the original AD&D Gold Box games. My siblings would all sit around the computer, each of us had a character in the party, and we go adventuring around for weeks with those games. Fun stuff.

Revised August 14, 2003.

Blue N Boogie Blues Bossa Watermelon Man (no one ever plays the middle section... if they did, I'd take it off the list)

The only way she could PM or email you would be to become a member and we really don't need that, do we?

Haha... Mission Impossible!!! (sorry, getting back to the C64 games). That game was great! "Stay awhile.... staaaaaay FOREVER!!!!!" I don't know why people would cheat on their spouses. Maybe they were never in love to begin with. I can't even fathom cheating on my wife. Number one I think she's the most beautiful thing in the world. Number two I would never want to do anything that would hurt her in such a way. The really sad thing is that adults can deal with it and heal... children are the ones that are hurt the most.

Bammo! Give that man a cookie!

No, not Oleo. Much simpler head than that. Although I agree, Oleo gets overplayed. The Martino version is cookin' though. Just shows what standards can be in the right hands!

I never got into Zork. Probably because 99.9% of the games I had were copies with no instruction manuals or anything so I had no idea what to do. But man, I played just about everything for that computer. Remember the original D&D Gold Box games? Pool of Radiance and Curse of the Azure Bonds? How about Wasteland?!? That game changed my life!!! I played the SHIT out of that thing. Ever play the modern sequel that came out in (I think) 1997 or so called Fallout? GREAT game. The second one was good too, but I never finished it because my harddrive crashed. I should load that puppy up and... What am I saying?!? I barely have time to practice anymore!

For instance (now you got me on a roll), I played this CD I found in my car that I had slapped together for a road trip. I played it during the breaks at my R&B band's gig on Saturday night. It's loaded with various mp3s off my computer. The first 20 minutes were dance tunes and funky stuff. That lasted for the first break. Second break starts out with some Galactic. Cool. And then this Jimmy McGriff tune comes on... "City Lights", recorded on the record of the same name in 1983 I think. On the cover Jimmy is wearing this fuckin' atrocious all pink jumpsuit! Anyway, it's just a shuffle in G, but man that shit grooves so hard... even the crowd couldn't resists. The floor filled up with five or six couples dancing to that shit!!!!!!! It was bad! Jimmy doesn't do anything spectacular on the cut, he just grooves his ass off. A lost art.

You know, this leads me to another topic: When I first heard Scone's new record, I liked it but thought it was sort of elementary. But the more I listen to it, the more I realize that he has the understanding. There are some deep subcurrents running through that date that don't grab you at first. Very very hip. It's easy to latch onto the pyrotechnics (ie, Joey D) and forget about the subtleties that make things interesting for 40+ years (ie, Freddie, Patton, McGriff, etc...)

Frodo is very easy to use. The funny thing is it emulates the C64 EXACTLY, right down to the time it takes to load a program (ie, slower than shit!) But you can bypass that by directly loading the programs in memory. It's very cool. Anyone remember Paradroid? I LOVED that game.

Well You Needn't There Will Never Be Another You Bye Bye Blackbird Birk's Works Man, I totally agree with C-Jam Blues, too. If you're gonna play a blues in C, why not some nasty low-down Don Patterson nutty minor-blues-to-kill-the-white-man? There's a rhythm changes tune that everyone plays too but I can't think of the name right now. Drives me crazy and makes me glad I don't sit in anymore. Everyone plays the same damn tunes.

That's because all these young motherfuckers don't know, man.... they don't know!!! Why do you think Patton called it "Understanding"? Dig?

Dude, it's Lode Runner but he's black! CRAZY! If you want to play Lode Runner again you can do a Google search for Frodo, the Commodore 64 emulator and find the game pretty easy. I still play it. I remember making levels for it on my C64 back when I was 10 or 11. I played hooky from school one day and made a bunch of levels. I remember one was two gigantic letters that were the initials of this girl I had a crush on!! Haha... that's some funny shit!

That's greaze, my friend!

That tune "Shades of Light" by Hubert Laws has interesting changes that are tricky to navigate. I first heard it on Mel Rhyne's Criss Cross release "Boss Organ". Cool tune!

It may all boil down to folks having so many entertainment options at their disposal. Back when the only thing to do at night after all the chores were done was to put a 78 on the ol' Victrola, maybe people listened to music more than in a passing way. Music to a lot of people is just something that's there. They take it for granted. The term "artist" has been thrown around so much it has no meaning whatsoever. There will always be those that listen deeper and I'm thankful I'm living in a day and age where technology gives me the tools to reach them.

By the way, is that Lode Runer?

What a scumbag. Of course, what would be better... having an unloving, uncaring husband around or just letting him go and let karma get him?

It sounds pretty good in the trash can.

You are a moderator for any thread that you start. Thus you can delete it at will.