LL81: LearnedLeague

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bomtr
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Re: LL81: LearnedLeague

Post by bomtr »

In my pinball heyday, when I could sink a quarter into a machine at Rooter Russell's Rendezvous in Arcata, CA, and play til dawn, while giving away free games to anyone who wandered in and wanted one, I had a definite hierarchy of companies. Gottlieb were by far the best made and most interesting playing fields, followed by Williams. Bally lagged way behind. Until they ruined pinball by shortening the game from 5 balls to 3 and started jamming electronic flash at the expense of gameplay. Pretty soon, all you could find was Bally, and I never saw that free game reel roll to 99 again. And that immensely satisfying THWOK of a free game won. You could feel it through your fingertips on the flipper buttons.

I got this one.
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Vermonter
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Re: LL81: LearnedLeague

Post by Vermonter »

alietr wrote: Wed Jun 12, 2019 8:08 am I have an econ degree and don't remember ever hearing the name David Ricardo. The 6% on grisaille I can believe, but I'm skeptical of 14% knowing Ricardo (especially with almost double that on the MCWA (among them, mine)). But my opponent thought I would, so I did manage to take down my rundle's leader though we both got 4 right. You're welcome, Vermonter.
Thanks! But today I've got KnobelR, so I'm not feeling so hot
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Woof
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Re: LL81: LearnedLeague

Post by Woof »

bomtr wrote: Wed Jun 12, 2019 10:16 pm In my pinball heyday, when I could sink a quarter into a machine at Rooter Russell's Rendezvous in Arcata, CA, and play til dawn, while giving away free games to anyone who wandered in and wanted one, I had a definite hierarchy of companies. Gottlieb were by far the best made and most interesting playing fields, followed by Williams. Bally lagged way behind. Until they ruined pinball by shortening the game from 5 balls to 3 and started jamming electronic flash at the expense of gameplay. Pretty soon, all you could find was Bally, and I never saw that free game reel roll to 99 again. And that immensely satisfying THWOK of a free game won. You could feel it through your fingertips on the flipper buttons.

I got this one.
My gameplay was done at Silver Ball Gardens off Telegraph Ave in Berkeley and the arcade at the Santa Cruz boardwalk. I liked the flipper action of the Gottlieb and Bally games better than the Williams games (the latter always felt squishy, making it difficult to catch and hold balls). In college I purchased an electromechanical Fireball machine that still graces my house today.

Yes, I got it, too.
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This Is Kirk!
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Re: LL81: LearnedLeague

Post by This Is Kirk! »

I love that pinball is making a comeback. You see machines all over nowadays.
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RandyG
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Re: LL81: LearnedLeague

Post by RandyG »

bomtr wrote: Wed Jun 12, 2019 10:16 pm ... And that immensely satisfying THWOK of a free game won. You could feel it through your fingertips on the flipper buttons.
To a 12 year old boy, nothing compared to that sound and feel.

I commented earlier on the LL board about having visual memories of playing pinball in the 1960s during summertime vacations.

One game in particular that I've had distinct memories of featured a ladies fan that rotated in stages in front of her image, with each successive stage representing achieving some bonus in game play..... And then, when the fan completed its rotation you heard and felt that sweet THWOK! (And I think you won more than one free game.)

So.... I just had to finally find out what that game was in this "everything's on the Internet era" (including passwords, SSNs,...), and I found it -- D. Gottlieb's Miss Annabelle -- here at The Internet Pinball Database. Yes, there is such a thing. https://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=3406

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trainman
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Re: LL81: LearnedLeague

Post by trainman »

bomtr wrote: Wed Jun 12, 2019 10:16 pmUntil they ruined pinball by shortening the game from 5 balls to 3 and started jamming electronic flash at the expense of gameplay. Pretty soon, all you could find was Bally, and I never saw that free game reel roll to 99 again. And that immensely satisfying THWOK of a free game won. You could feel it through your fingertips on the flipper buttons.
Bally and Williams merged in 1988, and they released games under both names until the company got out of the pinball business at the end of the 20th century, so if you only had Bally-branded games around, that's the fault of your local operators. (In the '90s, their pinball competitor was Sega, and, for an all-too-brief time, Capcom.)

I think the overall gameplay is much more interesting on modern machines, where you have various modes to complete in various ways -- I play in pinball leagues and tournaments, and it adds interest to try to get to the mode that's going to get you the most points -- although older machines are a fun change of pace as well.
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GaryG
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Re: LL81: LearnedLeague

Post by GaryG »

One more LL-J! coincidence on 6/12: LL gave you the Crimean War and expected you to get Charge of the Light Brigade. Jeopardy did the opposite.
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boson
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Re: LL81: LearnedLeague

Post by boson »

Vermonter wrote: Wed Jun 12, 2019 10:30 pm Thanks! But today I've got KnobelR, so I'm not feeling so hot
Now you are just sandbagging... Congrats on your victory and moving to first place!

I have two games by Voodoo on my phone, both supported by ads, including, too often, the Helix Jump game. Still missed it.

No chance on the others I missed. Trying to stave off relegation.
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Re: LL81: LearnedLeague

Post by mrparadise »

I had pinball right away, but later had the brain flash of no! it's slot machines of course! Not sure where that came from.
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This Is Kirk!
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Re: LL81: LearnedLeague

Post by This Is Kirk! »

The Walter Reed question bit me defensively yesterday. My opponent was Canadian and I figured that would be something a Canadian would be unlikely to know. Unfortunately he did and got three point for it!
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Re: LL81: LearnedLeague

Post by classicroadster »

Tough set for me, getting only Morehouse. Lost 1(1) - 3(2), although I turned a win into that loss by not thinking through the National Lampoon one. I knew it was Vacation and ended up going with Playboy and instead of thinking of the full movie title. Figured it wouldn't cost me as film is my best category but I was defended with a 3 on it! Tough week for me so far, 0-3-1 through 4 days.
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gnash
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Re: LL81: LearnedLeague

Post by gnash »

Mixing up slightly similar Vietnamese names cost me a six-pack, but no points. My opponent saw my works history % (and was possibly also influenced by my current events %) and gave me zero points for that. Second match day in a row that I missed a zero-point question.

But it gets weirder.

I answered Tho. It's not that I mixed up Nguyen Thieu with Le Duc Tho, but that my memory couldn't handle those "Th" names accurately. Oh well. But then another uncanny LL-J! coincidence happened, with Le Duc Tho being mentioned in the clue last night. I had submitted my LL answers long before, but this could have been one of those gray areas. Had I not submitted, would this clue have helped me? It didn't mention the person in the LL question, nor did I at any point actually have a "Tho or Thieu" dilemma. But it would have probably alerted me that Tho was not the answer. Would I have gotten to Thieu or close enough? Who knows? Would that have been cheating? I don't know, but the way things have been recently, it may be safer not to watch J! before submitting the day's LL.
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This Is Kirk!
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Re: LL81: LearnedLeague

Post by This Is Kirk! »

I just want to know who the idiot was who started the thread on the LL forum about season 81 being easy...
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Re: LL81: LearnedLeague

Post by 1stlvlthinker »

classicroadster wrote: Fri Jun 14, 2019 9:13 am Tough set for me, getting only Morehouse. Lost 1(1) - 3(2), although I turned a win into that loss by not thinking through the National Lampoon one. I knew it was Vacation and ended up going with Playboy and instead of thinking of the full movie title.
Of course I had seen Vacation, but when I think of John Hughes, I think of stuff like Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club. I had no clue he did Vacation. Dammit.
Now swimming in the J! pool.
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mennoknight
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Re: LL81: LearnedLeague

Post by mennoknight »

I am SO close to getting relegated back to B. The promised land.
I eat chicken. That's what I do.
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This Is Kirk!
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Re: LL81: LearnedLeague

Post by This Is Kirk! »

1stlvlthinker wrote: Fri Jun 14, 2019 11:15 am Of course I had seen Vacation, but when I think of John Hughes, I think of stuff like Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club. I had no clue he did Vacation. Dammit.
I totally blew that one. My first thought was Rolling Stone, then changed it to Playboy. Didn't even think of National Lampoon until I submitted my answers. :oops:
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Volante
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Re: LL81: LearnedLeague

Post by Volante »

This Is Kirk! wrote: Fri Jun 14, 2019 11:35 am
1stlvlthinker wrote: Fri Jun 14, 2019 11:15 am Of course I had seen Vacation, but when I think of John Hughes, I think of stuff like Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club. I had no clue he did Vacation. Dammit.
I totally blew that one. My first thought was Rolling Stone, then changed it to Playboy. Didn't even think of National Lampoon until I submitted my answers. :oops:
That poor dog...
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This Is Kirk!
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Re: LL81: LearnedLeague

Post by This Is Kirk! »

Volante wrote: Fri Jun 14, 2019 11:49 am
This Is Kirk! wrote: Fri Jun 14, 2019 11:35 am
1stlvlthinker wrote: Fri Jun 14, 2019 11:15 am Of course I had seen Vacation, but when I think of John Hughes, I think of stuff like Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club. I had no clue he did Vacation. Dammit.
I totally blew that one. My first thought was Rolling Stone, then changed it to Playboy. Didn't even think of National Lampoon until I submitted my answers. :oops:
That poor dog...
Well, he probably kept up for a mile or so...
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Volante
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Re: LL81: LearnedLeague

Post by Volante »

This Is Kirk! wrote: Fri Jun 14, 2019 11:52 am
Volante wrote: Fri Jun 14, 2019 11:49 am
This Is Kirk! wrote: Fri Jun 14, 2019 11:35 am
1stlvlthinker wrote: Fri Jun 14, 2019 11:15 am Of course I had seen Vacation, but when I think of John Hughes, I think of stuff like Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club. I had no clue he did Vacation. Dammit.
I totally blew that one. My first thought was Rolling Stone, then changed it to Playboy. Didn't even think of National Lampoon until I submitted my answers. :oops:
That poor dog...
Well, he probably kept up for a mile or so...
Image
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This Is Kirk!
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Re: LL81: LearnedLeague

Post by This Is Kirk! »

Ah, I remember that. I thought you were alluding to the movie. I guess the takeaway is that National Lampoon really likes jokes about killing dogs.
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