Friday, March 27, 2009

CP Pinball

Last weekend we got together a pinball caravan to drive 30 miles north to South Roxana, IL in search of CP Pinball Parties. Thanks to Rob for the tip in a recent CC&G comment. Sorry you couldn't make it out there!

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So you know I had to get a picture of Elvis pinball, but Theater of Magic ended up being one of my favorite games. There are about 60 games (including a couple upright arcade games) spread over two buildings. I was told by several people that this is hugely important: they have not one, but TWO Medieval Madness games. I didn't realize it was such a rare and expensive game, but after playing it about 20 times that night I understood their awe.

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I didn't get a chance to speak with the owner myself, but I saw him around all evening. Several people told me that he stopped by when they were playing to give them tips and tricks. He definitely has a passion for pinball!

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We didn't get there until 7 and I think nearly everyone said something early on about missing that extra hour. Let me just tell you, that much pinball is rough on your body. Four hours later, everyone was bleary eyed and complaining about sore backs, thumbs, and forearms. On Monday I still couldn't grip a pen at work. It was totally worth it.

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One more thing I wanted to mention: They have The Who's Tommy the Pinball Wizard and Tim showed me how to play it with the blinders. That could possibly be the most frustrating and challenging thing I've ever done in my life.

They are open to the public two weekends a month from 6pm-12am, admission is $10, and all the machines are set to free play. All the information can be found at their website, cppinball.com. This is probably the most fun you can have for $10 within 45 miles of St Louis (I can say that because Meramec Caverns costs $15.)

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Wresting at South Broadway Athletic Club

Oh, South Broadway Wrestling, I missed you! Back in the day we used to go every single month. This past weekend was the first time I'd been in at least a year. The important things remain the same, but the building has had a makeover since I was last there.

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I've been trying to get started on this entry all week but I can't find the words to do it justice. This is one of those ones that you can't fully appreciate until you go. I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

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South Broadway Athletic Club hosts MMWA-SICW (Mid Missouri Wrestling Alliance and Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling) wrestling once a month, either the first or second Saturday. You can find the full schedule on either of those websites. Admission is $7 in advance, $8 at the door, $2 draft beers, $1 50/50 tickets.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Reason #462370 Why I Love Living In St Louis

I live down the street from a windmill.

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I was sitting at the light on my way to SBAC Wrestling and scrambled for my camera when I saw the bride and groom come out onto the balcony. One of these days I will do a Craves post on Bevo Mill.

SBAC Wrestling will be my next post, but I have about 100 pictures to wade through and edit. In the meantime, check out my friend Robbie's new blog, Pandora's Lunchbox. Craves, Caves, & Graves and Pandora's Lunchbox will be doing some co-blogging adventures in the future!

UPDATE, 3/20/09: Bevo Mill Closes

So much for that Bevo Mill post! Hopefully this is just temporary, as the restaurant has changed hands many times over the years.

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Weird Internet Museum Tour

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So maybe I'm cheating, but I didn't get out much in February. Take a virtual vacation with these weird internet museums and I'll get back on the road in the next couple weeks.

showhistory.com - Everything you've ever wanted to know about freaks and geeks. I love sideshow history and this is the most comprehensive site I've ever seen. Well done!

Ronald Dupont's Squished Penny Collection - I would like to see his whole collection as thumbnails on one page with links to bigger pictures, because I think the internet museums are really more user friendly that way, but y'all know how I love the squished pennies. I have my own collection so I had to include this one.

International Arcade Museum - What this site lacks in user-friendly browsing, it makes up for in sheer volume. Boy how I wish the Coin-Op Museum in St Louis was still open. Maybe some day I'll open my own.

Skytopia Fruit Museum - This one is definitely weird. This person does detailed reviews of fruits, complete with rankings and awards. Oddly enough, it's far more engrossing than it sounds.

Sancho's Museum of Culinary Disasters - I could spend hours and hours and hours on this site just laughing at the ridiculous cook book pictures. PLUS there are links to other great sites like The Gallery Of Regrettable Food (an old favorite of mine,) Haunted Road Trips, and Beauty Tips of the Past. The design of the site is not so great, but the content is A+.

Official Bad Art Museum of Art (OBAMA) - This is not an internet-only museum - there is an actual cafe in Seattle that houses the museum. However, they have an excellent online gallery of the bad art, so you can virtually visit.

Frank's Vinyl Museum - Whew, I was starting to think there was no such thing as a weird internet museum with a decent website. Take a hint from this guy, all you other weird internet museums! It's 2009, you don't have to use Geocities anymore! Look for "Everything You Always Wanted to Hear on the Moog," "Polka Disco," and "The Ballad of Jim and Tammy." Wow.

UglyDress.com - They call it an archive of bad bridesmaid dresses, I call it a museum. Ladies, I have already spent an hour on this site, laughing out loud like a lunatic. You must check out the "Ugly Weddings" tab. Warning: some of their banner ads are of an adult nature.