Nerd Days of Summer

Closing out August on a nerdy note, with back-to-back geekery.

FRIDAY 8/30: NTX Pinball Final Friday Strike 3 Tournament

As many times as we've been to TPF with Jenny & Michael, and as many times as we've partied together at AmigoNet Arcade (they're both repeat champs), none of us have ever played in a real official pinball tournament.

What? You didn't know their are "official" tournaments?

Yep. And it turns out, NTX Pinball is hosted right here in The Colony!

If it looks like somebody's living room, that's because IT IS.

There's a whole circuit actually, with winners at the state, national and even international levels. Prize money. The whole bit. (who knew?)

Not us. But we do now. And we enjoyed getting to crash the party and hang. Good people. Good times.

Good times, but low scores. 18th place for me.

Jenny, a respectable 5th in the women's division.

TAKEAWAY: We are nowhere near good enough to compete with these players. But good enough time to make a return visit in the future.

SATURDAY 8/31: Texas Atari Computer Owners Meetup

They call themselves TACO, but they're not as tasty. They do put on a pretty good hang though, with lots of old school computer & video game stuff. And one heck of a Free Table!

This one is less party, more showcase. People still doing new things on old things. In this case, Atari computers. (and others of the era: Commodore, Tandy, etc) Grab a beer, listen to a presentation, and be amazed at what these old machines can do. ("You can do that... with that?")

TAKEAWAY: Always worth stopping by. Always some new old thing to take home.

End of summer.

On to FALL nerdity!