LesterOfPuppets

Ice cream deal alert!

Safeway has not quite pints of Haagen Dazs on sale for $2.27 'til tomorrow night. At least here they do.

Velo Vol 

Did you know that pinball machines were once illegal in some cities?

LesterOfPuppets

Welp, enjoy your nightmares!

LesterOfPuppets

I did indeed.

Heathpack 

Currently eating peppermint ice cream topped with crushed peppermint jojo's <actually the Aldi knockoff product>, chocolate syrup and whipped cream.

BillyD

Do they really, I did not know that.

Heathpack 

Is that Ricard Simmons??!!

Velo Vol 

Were you part of the pinball underground?

LesterOfPuppets

Not exactly. I have visited taverns that were. I know the producers of this zine pretty well, also: Multiball - ZineWiki - the history and culture of zines, independent media and the small press.

rpenmanparker 

What’s a Safeway?

Seriously we have Safeway (Berkshire Hathaway) subsidiary here called Randall’s. No real Safeways for decades.

rpenmanparker 

Yes. It is routine. I always inquire to be sure, but have never been told otherwise at the point of service.

LAJ

Good question!

Trsnrtr

Yes.

rpenmanparker 

Mainly because they were a gambling venue. The pinball machines in New Orleans BITD were nothing like what you knew. No flippers. Very complex electronics for the day to facilitate gambling. Twenty-five holes on the slanted board with a 5X5 numbered array on the vertical screen. The object was most simply to get 3 of 5 balls in a row to win 4 “games” i.e. a dollar.

It was all about “body English”, hitting the machine from side to side to move the ball where you needed it to be without tripping the mercury switch that ended the game.

And there were substitute screens that could be slid into position over the hole numbers your balls were in to get a winning pattern. Obtaining the screens was a random function of depositing more money which could also be used to obtain extra balls and/or drive up the odds. It was common for a game to take an hour as maybe $50 or more was fed into the machine to prolong the opportunity to win and increase prize money. I have seen guys win $5-600 with 20 people standing around them, cheering them on, and bringing them drinks. It was a delicious form of entertainment.

When you were done playing, if you had won some games, you went over to the bar and spoke quietly to the bartender. He paid you off and zeroed the machine from behind the bar. All very hush hush. And a true Mafia business. Flippers were for kids.

rpenmanparker 

And of course I’m talking about being in the bar drinking a “hi-ball” (like Seven and Seven) watching all this at age 14. Ah, New Awlins. Nothing like it.

rpenmanparker 

And eating a roast beef po-boy in the bar at 2:00 in the morning. Or Jim’s Famous Fried Chicken. Those were the days.

Trsnrtr

First ran into Nespresso machines in Italy in 2008. They were all right, I guess. I almost bought a machine a year ago from Costco but my store doesn’t carry the pods. I spent a week checking stores in my area and found no one that carried the pods so I never bought the machine.

I’ve been strictly Aeropress since early fall. Gave up on low end machines and don’t want to spend the money for an espresso machine.

Trsnrtr

The word machine(s) is used five times in the above post.

Trsnrtr

Did I make you count?

rpenmanparker 

The pods are sold only by Nespresso. Dealers that have the machines don’t sell the pods. There are a few boutiques in some major cities not including Houston. Most people have to buy them by online mail order. Free shipping however so that really isn’t a bad way to go.

Trsnrtr

A couple of our local department stores used to sell the pods but no longer do. In fact, they no longer sell the machines either. Anyway, when I complained to Costco that they sell the machines but no pods, he told me the same thing that you say.

seedsbelize 

Dumb

WhyFi

What constitutes 'low-end' machine? I would think that $800, split between espresso machine and grinder, would be provide several years of service.

LesterOfPuppets

Guess you're gonna have to go with Blue Bonnett from the Piggly Wiggly then.

datlas 

I believe the history is that back in the 1920's along with prohibition of alcohol came prohibition of gambling devices like slot machines and bagatelle, which was the precursor of pinball. As a result, pinball machines were lumped together with these games of chance, and were banned for quite some time. The bans were gradually lifted.

I remember that growing up when you played pinball, if you got a good enough score you could win a "free game" or two, but when I visited my family in Chicago you could only win an "extra ball" because a "free game" was still considered gambling and banned...that would have been the mid-1970's.