zx3 @zx3@driveinsaturday.org

later on, after a lavish sushi feast, i visited good old Uncle Bill at Bellefontaine Neighbors, and brought him some vodka and Coke. (i wasn't about to bring him some of the other stuff he was fond of.)

i usually take today off. i had never been to the Weldon Spring Site, which is the location of the massibe white rock sarcophagus that contains the toxic remains of the fissile materials mined and enriched for the Manhattan Project. i still would like to write my Nuclear Occult History of the Central Midwest someday, and this seemed the logical place to start looking for data and inspiration.

i should have taken notes. it's as stark and dystopic as any 70's sci-fi film set. and the spring wind whistling through the metal stairs sounded like distant, ghostly air-raid sirens, which i was told was not a deliberate design feature. and while the view from the top of the sarcophagus was impressive, one could not shake the impression that every stone that made up the giant containment mound, piles of limestone stretching for acres in all directions, was a grave marker.

it is, most assuredly, not a place of honor.

now i'm radioactive. that can't be good.

me: but we CAN'T get rid of all these CD's! they're offline archival material! what if we lose all our backups, and then an EMP knocks out the internet forever! we'd have no way of listening to any of this music!

also me: ...if that all happens we will have WAY more pressing issues to deal with than not being able to listen to...*grabs a random CD from the "Donate" stack*..."Christmas in the Stars, the Star Wars Christmas Album." jesus FUCK.

let's see some goddamned robot lasers

it's true.

*watches King Kong fight Godzilla* hey, ha ha, this is like the old arcade game "Rampage," someone should make a movie out of that someday

*suddenly remembers that there was a "Rampage" movie starring The Rock and i had forgotten about it until now*

awww fack. it's spring already. #boooo #bringbackwinter

"Hi, i'm with the EUA, our event is over in the main ballroom. Would you like to come by and hear our speaker? Or can I interest you in a brochure?"

#cyberdeck CLRKNOV4 is taking shape. upper case dremeled out to make room for the keyboard.

yes, i fucked up pretty bad in a few places, and yes, the electrical tape is a horrible kludge that i will probably work on. but as it is, the keyboard is typable, which is what i was aiming for.

now for the rest of it, which i have a pile of vague guesses about, but then again, vague guesses have gotten me this far.

#ifyoudontknow #nowyouknow

CURRENT STATUS:

welp, the CLRKN0VA project (aka the #cyberdeck) has its paint job, and like i said, i am not good at applying paint to things. but in some spots i think it looks okay, i like the big black stripe along the top vent. insert your own Gibson-speak reason while any good cyberdeck is made out of recycled trash and stolen parts anyway and therefore is supposed to look kinda slapdash.

C64 sticker on the back is OEM. replacement badge on the front by Mateoproceo on etsy.

work in progress. probably should have done the white primer instead of the gray, this is gonna take two coats. oh well, i knew it wasn't going to be perfect, things i make never are.

taped up for detail coat.

c64 case cleaned, sanded, ready for primer.

hey kids, you wanna build a #cyberdeck?

so as it turns out i might be pretty okay at pinball.

this is the second week of the league, and both weeks i have moved up a bracket, which is not bad for a robot whose main strategy is "keep the ball in play for as long as possible even if you're just gently juggling it back and forth between the flippers like a dork, eventually points will somehow accrue."

this is not to brag, just to chronicle something nice that is happening in my life.

what i don't get are the guys who slam their entire body into the machine and take out their frustration on it with the flat of their hand when it swallows a ball. it is not the machine's fault, Anger Boys. Gravity is a harsh mistress. be gentle to the machine, speak love to the machine and she will shower you with points. Blessed be the Bride of Pin-Bot. Z'ommmmm.

oh, and yes, there is a Dolly Parton pinball, it's real and it's spectacular. ⚙️

i mean, look at this cover and tell me you'd give it a second thought