After this, it's full speed ahead on the Spirit of 2005. It may continue into the fall.
Showing posts with label Scan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Scan. Show all posts
Friday, July 30, 2010
64DDenied
From Nintendojo's "Requiem for a System": the article "64DDenied". It focuses on the Nintendo 64DD. Sorry, no OCR. Click on scans for a better view. Not available on Archive.org.
After this, it's full speed ahead on the Spirit of 2005. It may continue into the fall.
After this, it's full speed ahead on the Spirit of 2005. It may continue into the fall.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Meijer vs. Walmart!
I went on vacation, and I finally got a chance to see Meijer stores and other Wal-Marts. So, what was the prognosis?
First, let's go over a few things. I was spoiled by size by my local Walmart: 254,000 is huge, and I'll rarely get more than that.
I visited two Meijers and one Walmart Supercenter (in Marquette, MI)
The first Meijer I visited was north of Ann Arbor (en route to Flint, I believe) and was very dated. Signage was all in teal and had early-90s-type italic fonts. There were no drop ceilings, but it was still low. There wasn't even alcove shops in front, just a large window. It was the type of store that almost felt like a craft store, but the 1990s look was just enough for me to think "this needs a renovation" rather than "I wouldn't be surprised if I saw a Lisa Frank notebook around here somewhere" or "why don't they stock Nintendo 64?"
Photos coming soon.
The second Meijer I saw was much more akin to an actual hypermarket. It had alcove shops, higher ceilings, and more. It had towels and more. Unfortunately, I couldn't check the departments and Made in Whatever as well as Kmart. I do, however, have a directory.
I was disappointed that the "restaurant" was only a Starbucks Coffee, but they did have a barbershop, an actual butcher, a substantial produce section, and non-food dry goods.
The Wal-Mart Supercenter (it was branded as "Walmart", but a "Wal-Mart Supercenter" labelscar was visible) in Marquette was much better than the local one, despite being smaller. It too was an expanded Wal-Mart, and had a McDonald's (instead of a Subway), a pharmacy as an alcove shop, a portrait studio, and even an arcade. The arcade, sadly, was just a bunch of animal crane games and one of those "bubble of plastic" things. Said Wal-Mart also had some gourmet cheeses.
Finally, for the sake of completeness, the College Station Walmart directory, showing us that bigger isn't necessarily better.
Leave comments, ask questions. And another blog post will follow by tomorrow.
First, let's go over a few things. I was spoiled by size by my local Walmart: 254,000 is huge, and I'll rarely get more than that.
I visited two Meijers and one Walmart Supercenter (in Marquette, MI)
The first Meijer I visited was north of Ann Arbor (en route to Flint, I believe) and was very dated. Signage was all in teal and had early-90s-type italic fonts. There were no drop ceilings, but it was still low. There wasn't even alcove shops in front, just a large window. It was the type of store that almost felt like a craft store, but the 1990s look was just enough for me to think "this needs a renovation" rather than "I wouldn't be surprised if I saw a Lisa Frank notebook around here somewhere" or "why don't they stock Nintendo 64?"
Photos coming soon.
The second Meijer I saw was much more akin to an actual hypermarket. It had alcove shops, higher ceilings, and more. It had towels and more. Unfortunately, I couldn't check the departments and Made in Whatever as well as Kmart. I do, however, have a directory.
I was disappointed that the "restaurant" was only a Starbucks Coffee, but they did have a barbershop, an actual butcher, a substantial produce section, and non-food dry goods.
The Wal-Mart Supercenter (it was branded as "Walmart", but a "Wal-Mart Supercenter" labelscar was visible) in Marquette was much better than the local one, despite being smaller. It too was an expanded Wal-Mart, and had a McDonald's (instead of a Subway), a pharmacy as an alcove shop, a portrait studio, and even an arcade. The arcade, sadly, was just a bunch of animal crane games and one of those "bubble of plastic" things. Said Wal-Mart also had some gourmet cheeses.
Finally, for the sake of completeness, the College Station Walmart directory, showing us that bigger isn't necessarily better.
Leave comments, ask questions. And another blog post will follow by tomorrow.
Friday, July 23, 2010
PCfx!
First off, let's get one thing straight. This is NOT about the PC-FX, the Japan-only sequel to the TurboGrafx-16. This is about something ENTIRELY different.
When I was younger, my family only used Macs. I didn't mind it...the graceful Macintosh was a lot cooler looking than the Windows flavors available at the time, except with one minor difficulty.
Most games were available on PCs.
By the time I actually came to this sad truth, there was only one option other than getting a full PC. It was a product called Connectix Virtual PC with a promise to put a virtual PC in your Mac. It had previously made the Virtual Game Station (a commercial PlayStation emulator) that seemed to run OK, so why couldn't VPC open a world of games I never knew? Unfortunately, my family never bought it, and one of the reasons became painfully clear: it was much slower than an actual PC. Unless I really wanted to play Minesweeper or some early DOS game, let's face it...I was out of luck.
But I found out a far more awesome example...things called PC cards. Sadly, despite being faster than VPC, they were discontinued as expansion slot-less computers (like the iMac) took over (and more Mac ports of PC games became available). So I gave up. Years passed. Eventually OS 9 was completely obliterated and Boot Camp appeared, which although being a great solution, rendered OS 9 in a position of emulators. However, during that time, I found out that PC cards were not only super-expensive, but also not as fast a PC.
In late 1998/early 1999 Mac magazines (such as MacAddict) published ads for Orange Micro's "PCfx!", a card designed for game playing.
Pretty awesome, huh? And where'd those list of PC games come from? They stopped at F, but I'd like to see the whole list. If I was a bit older in 1998, that would've been the coolest-looking thing since sliced bread, and I would beg that Mom and Dad order it off a catalog (MacPowerhaus was one such catalog vendor, not the maker of the product) so we could install it in our Mac clone PowerWave tower right away. $650 for an awesome thing would run all the games we wanted, right? Wrong!
As you can see (click it to make it larger), the "PCfx!" would've been a disappointment in many aspects. You could play 1997-era games and 2D games, but it wasn't enough to run the latest games of 1998, and certainly not of 1999. At that rate, a little more could pay for a much faster actual PC. Given that the PCfx! was one of Orange Micro's last PC cards (the OrangePC 660 was faster, but more expensive), it was no surprise that PC cards fizzled by 1999 (the fruit-colored iMacs had no expansion of any kind). Orange Micro made other peripherals after the PC cards died, but it too perished in 2003. And that's the end of the story.
Anyway, since I'm back, it's full speed ahead for my other blogging and type pursuits. Webpages will be created, BATs will be produced. Blog posts will pick up. Already, in the schedule, there's two webpages, a little less than half a dozen Spirit of 2005 posts, and "Meijer vs. Walmart".
When I was younger, my family only used Macs. I didn't mind it...the graceful Macintosh was a lot cooler looking than the Windows flavors available at the time, except with one minor difficulty.
Most games were available on PCs.
By the time I actually came to this sad truth, there was only one option other than getting a full PC. It was a product called Connectix Virtual PC with a promise to put a virtual PC in your Mac. It had previously made the Virtual Game Station (a commercial PlayStation emulator) that seemed to run OK, so why couldn't VPC open a world of games I never knew? Unfortunately, my family never bought it, and one of the reasons became painfully clear: it was much slower than an actual PC. Unless I really wanted to play Minesweeper or some early DOS game, let's face it...I was out of luck.
But I found out a far more awesome example...things called PC cards. Sadly, despite being faster than VPC, they were discontinued as expansion slot-less computers (like the iMac) took over (and more Mac ports of PC games became available). So I gave up. Years passed. Eventually OS 9 was completely obliterated and Boot Camp appeared, which although being a great solution, rendered OS 9 in a position of emulators. However, during that time, I found out that PC cards were not only super-expensive, but also not as fast a PC.
In late 1998/early 1999 Mac magazines (such as MacAddict) published ads for Orange Micro's "PCfx!", a card designed for game playing.
Pretty awesome, huh? And where'd those list of PC games come from? They stopped at F, but I'd like to see the whole list. If I was a bit older in 1998, that would've been the coolest-looking thing since sliced bread, and I would beg that Mom and Dad order it off a catalog (MacPowerhaus was one such catalog vendor, not the maker of the product) so we could install it in our Mac clone PowerWave tower right away. $650 for an awesome thing would run all the games we wanted, right? Wrong!
As you can see (click it to make it larger), the "PCfx!" would've been a disappointment in many aspects. You could play 1997-era games and 2D games, but it wasn't enough to run the latest games of 1998, and certainly not of 1999. At that rate, a little more could pay for a much faster actual PC. Given that the PCfx! was one of Orange Micro's last PC cards (the OrangePC 660 was faster, but more expensive), it was no surprise that PC cards fizzled by 1999 (the fruit-colored iMacs had no expansion of any kind). Orange Micro made other peripherals after the PC cards died, but it too perished in 2003. And that's the end of the story.
Anyway, since I'm back, it's full speed ahead for my other blogging and type pursuits. Webpages will be created, BATs will be produced. Blog posts will pick up. Already, in the schedule, there's two webpages, a little less than half a dozen Spirit of 2005 posts, and "Meijer vs. Walmart".
Friday, March 12, 2010
Vista Ridge Mall
I went here over five years ago (May 2004) after playing with my orchestra at Sandy Lake Amusement Park in Carrollton, Texas (suburb of Dallas). After the event and a day of fun, we went to a nearby mall, where we ate dinner. I got a guide to SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition here, a meal at Burger King, and a smoothie from Frullati Café. Regrettably, an Orange Julius was here, which I did not try (grrr) and I do not recall the interior much (it wasn't anything special).
But I DID get the directory, which I have faithfully scanned here.
Apologies for the wrinkly paper (I could have used Photoshop but I don't have Photoshop).
The listing of stores is also in black and white (it was originally the green on the front, but an automatic setting made it B&W)
Enjoy!
But I DID get the directory, which I have faithfully scanned here.
Apologies for the wrinkly paper (I could have used Photoshop but I don't have Photoshop).
The listing of stores is also in black and white (it was originally the green on the front, but an automatic setting made it B&W)
Enjoy!
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Sgt. Pepperoni's Pizza
This is a restaurant I visited in January 2007 but it is sadly gone now (as of early 2010). The name is derived from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and like the album, it was pretty good. There are other Sgt. Pepperoni's in the USA, but they aren't related. Anyway, the place had good pizza rolls, arcade games (I think? There was definitely another room), and ceilings out of another era.
It was a pit stop after driving on a long road in the county that stretched 32 miles, starting as a hilly rural road, crossing a railroad, becoming an urban four-lane road, crossing the highway, before doubling back on itself, crossing the highway and the railroad again, before going through cotton fields and ending at Texas 105.
That's about where Sgt. Pepperoni's was.
Here is the menu:
update Nov '13: cleaning up
Monday, January 25, 2010
Little Tokyo
I don't know when it opened (I'm thinking 2008) but this is a sushi place in the mall. It replaced a Corn Dog 7. Yes, I know you were expecting the second installment of my Wii criticism, but TWR is also supposed to be an archive of things, not my rants, raves, and ramblings. That Dragon Roll looks kinda cute, and I did NOT write in "Texas Roll".
So, yes, this is filler, but why don't I make it good filler?
(Speaking of filler and sushi, I am really hungry right now)
note: click to enlarge
So, yes, this is filler, but why don't I make it good filler?
(Speaking of filler and sushi, I am really hungry right now)
note: click to enlarge
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Saturday Night Blogging Episode 2
Welcome back to Saturday Night Blogging.
Miss Episode 1?
==VIDEO GAMES==
Two bugs in my favorite computer games have really gotten me annoyed.
The first is Yoot Tower, which started behaving oddly after a clean reinstall of Mac OS 9. Actually, it was not behaving badly, but the background is not rendering with the correct colors. We (as in, my brother and I) think its an extension conflict, but we don't know and it could lie with QuickTime itself.
The second is Monkey Island II: LeChuck's Revenge. In Hard mode, staying too long in Booty Island causes the music to endlessly loop and override any other sound track (as in, play over it). Yours faithful posted in a subject regarding this and was not able to get an answer yet. It did prove one thing...it wasn't ScummVM's fault. Bad news is the commercial version doesn't have a handy keystroke for killing the iMuse tracks.
Anyway, this week, watch for "Why I Hate the Wii", a three (or four?) part series of my distrust of the once-hopeful console.
==WEBSITES==
TVTropes is for the win this week. Exploring common "tropes" (plot elements) of fiction is very fun. You can jump right in with one of my favorite (but ended) TV shows or go for the jugular. Freaky things can be seen, or the funny side of things that should be not-so-great. Wrap your head around how Disney villains die or what could've been. But be careful, TVTropes can potentially ruin your life. And remember, it's all subjective.
==NEWS==
On January 21, 2010, the campus of A&M Consolidated High School was vandalized.
The local newspaper published it two days late (it happened on Friday)
CS student accused of painting graffiti
Eagle Staff Report
A student at A&M Consolidated High School is accused of spray-painting several areas of campus.
Chuck Glenewinkel, a spokesman for College Station schools, said the student painted graffiti on the outside walls of the school and on the Tiger statue outside the building.
"It's all been cleaned up and they know who the person is," he said. "The police are handling it now."
The student's name wasn't released and it wasn't clear whether the school planned to discipline the student. It also wasn't clear how school administrators identified the student responsible.
Lt. Rodney Sigler, a spokesman for College Station police, said those caught spray-painting public property are typically charged with criminal mischief -- a state jail felony punishable by up to two years behind bars. But, Sigler said, if the student is a minor, he may not be charged, and if he is charged, the punishment could vary because he is a juvenile.
Sigler said he wasn't familiar with the specifics of the case.
Glenewinkel said the student wrote "Vikings," among other words, on one part of the building and it was possible that he wanted it to look like the graffiti was done by a Bryan High School student.
"It's hard to speculate what he was trying to do," he said.
----
The perpetrator had written many things on the outside (I didn't see most of it, but HA HA HA was written near the cafeteria) in several areas but misspelled "Vikings". It was only because of a tip that a woman called in to name him and Principal Buddy Reed was "disturbed" by the incident.
==MOVIES==
I recently watched "Santa Claus", MST3K-edition on YouTube. The first part is here. The movie is very odd...it was made in Mexico and dubbed into English (which creates voice-mismatches). The film is very odd because no real "Santa" figure was common in Mexico and involves way-creepy toy reindeer pulling Santa's sleigh, Santa's home being a floating castle in the sky and instead of elves, Santa hasenslaved children child helpers from around the world (and highly stereotyped, at that). Oh, and there's Merlin, too. And devils. And, at least in the MST3K cut, not a clear distinction if Santa is God, Santa is under God, or completely independent of God altogether. Very odd.
==SCAN TIME!==
A rare menu from the short-lived Travis' Soul Food of College Station, TX.
That's it.
Miss Episode 1?
==VIDEO GAMES==
Two bugs in my favorite computer games have really gotten me annoyed.
The first is Yoot Tower, which started behaving oddly after a clean reinstall of Mac OS 9. Actually, it was not behaving badly, but the background is not rendering with the correct colors. We (as in, my brother and I) think its an extension conflict, but we don't know and it could lie with QuickTime itself.
The second is Monkey Island II: LeChuck's Revenge. In Hard mode, staying too long in Booty Island causes the music to endlessly loop and override any other sound track (as in, play over it). Yours faithful posted in a subject regarding this and was not able to get an answer yet. It did prove one thing...it wasn't ScummVM's fault. Bad news is the commercial version doesn't have a handy keystroke for killing the iMuse tracks.
Anyway, this week, watch for "Why I Hate the Wii", a three (or four?) part series of my distrust of the once-hopeful console.
==WEBSITES==
TVTropes is for the win this week. Exploring common "tropes" (plot elements) of fiction is very fun. You can jump right in with one of my favorite (but ended) TV shows or go for the jugular. Freaky things can be seen, or the funny side of things that should be not-so-great. Wrap your head around how Disney villains die or what could've been. But be careful, TVTropes can potentially ruin your life. And remember, it's all subjective.
==NEWS==
On January 21, 2010, the campus of A&M Consolidated High School was vandalized.
The local newspaper published it two days late (it happened on Friday)
CS student accused of painting graffiti
Eagle Staff Report
A student at A&M Consolidated High School is accused of spray-painting several areas of campus.
Chuck Glenewinkel, a spokesman for College Station schools, said the student painted graffiti on the outside walls of the school and on the Tiger statue outside the building.
"It's all been cleaned up and they know who the person is," he said. "The police are handling it now."
The student's name wasn't released and it wasn't clear whether the school planned to discipline the student. It also wasn't clear how school administrators identified the student responsible.
Lt. Rodney Sigler, a spokesman for College Station police, said those caught spray-painting public property are typically charged with criminal mischief -- a state jail felony punishable by up to two years behind bars. But, Sigler said, if the student is a minor, he may not be charged, and if he is charged, the punishment could vary because he is a juvenile.
Sigler said he wasn't familiar with the specifics of the case.
Glenewinkel said the student wrote "Vikings," among other words, on one part of the building and it was possible that he wanted it to look like the graffiti was done by a Bryan High School student.
"It's hard to speculate what he was trying to do," he said.
----
The perpetrator had written many things on the outside (I didn't see most of it, but HA HA HA was written near the cafeteria) in several areas but misspelled "Vikings". It was only because of a tip that a woman called in to name him and Principal Buddy Reed was "disturbed" by the incident.
==MOVIES==
I recently watched "Santa Claus", MST3K-edition on YouTube. The first part is here. The movie is very odd...it was made in Mexico and dubbed into English (which creates voice-mismatches). The film is very odd because no real "Santa" figure was common in Mexico and involves way-creepy toy reindeer pulling Santa's sleigh, Santa's home being a floating castle in the sky and instead of elves, Santa has
==SCAN TIME!==
A rare menu from the short-lived Travis' Soul Food of College Station, TX.
That's it.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Fry's Electronics, March 2004
The scanner cut off the margins. It should fit on a regular 8.5 by 11 piece of paper. This location is also notable as being a former Incredible Universe location.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Today's TWR Post, Brought to You By...
The Old San Francisco Steakhouse, once with several locations in Texas, has been reduced to just one in San Antonio (the Old San Francisco) distributed a map of Houston in the 1980s. While you cannot get an ice cream sundae for free or visit the restaurant in Houston, you can view this map.
Sorry for the slight distortion.
Wow. You can see how the Galleria and Memorial City Mall have grown since their early 1980s incarnations (the Memorial City Mall anchors at this time were Sears, Montgomery Ward, Lord & Taylor, and Foley's) but sadly, both the MKT railroad (paralleling I-10) and the Old San Francisco Steakhouse are completely gone.
Nothing to see here, with the minor exception of Westwood Mall and Sharpstown Center. Westwood is now an office complex, and Sharpstown is in bad shape, with an upcoming remodel plan to make it Hispanic-oriented.
If you squint on Northwest Mall, you'll see the script "Foley's" written. A nice touch (by the way, the original map was a bit darker and higher-res than this scan, but not too much). Also note Hanna-Barbera Land and Greenspoint Mall.
Sadly, the 70s looking Holiday Inn is still there though sources indicate it recently traded hands to Crowne Plaza (another Holiday Inn brand). Astroworld is NOT there, sadly, not under ANY name.
Gussie who?
I've neither driven through Washburn Tunnel or visited Gulfgate Center. Well, I will never be able to do the latter.
The ""sunken subdivision" is just east of here.
A steakhouse with the 1800s equivalents of strippers? What were those "saloon women" called anyway?
Anyway, that was the Houston map that I've been wanting to scan since around October (literally). For more vintage Houston, check out the HAIF's "Historic Houston". While not the foremost place for Houston history, there are many vignettes and stories not found in other, likely more comprehensive websites. Or download Google Earth and drag the time slider back to 1978.
And oh, on This Is Why You're Fat they featured the McDonald's Holiday Pie (née the Custard Pie). I had it in 2002, but I don't think I can get it locally. :(
Deliciously unhealthy-looking, isn't it?
TOMORROW: We wrap up 2009 by comparing it to 2008, 2006, 2004, and 1999. Predictions, resolutions, fireworks, and
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Disneyworld Part V/New Blog Launch
Next blog post I do, we'll put more than one page on there. Now, despite me saying stuff, the next blog is to be launched...Pseudo3D's SimCity 4. This time, no preview posts!
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Disneyworld Part IV
...long before Celebration, Florida...
Anyway, due to a "renovation" project, the two budding blogs are now temporarily unable to update, and two more remain in the pipeline. I was considering a "Best of the Bowl" blog showcasing great commercials, including this shocking one from Jack in the Box.
About a month later....
Ah, Jack, we'd knew you come back. Last time it took you 14 years.
Disney stuff continues tomorrow.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Disneyworld Part II
Food and music this time. Sorry, it's Magic Kingdom only, not the whole DisneyWorld.
Friday, June 5, 2009
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