Collection Oddity: Gold Carts?

A lot of people know what I mean when I say "Gold Cart".   The most common and famous ones are the carts for "The Legend of Zelda" and "The Adventure of Link" for the NES.   Well there are other 'Gold' ones then those.  
I mean gold also as they are golden plastic.  No they aren't 24k.  Over time the plastic does loose its golden shine to it but it can be saved by doing random thing to it.  I sadly don't do any of these tactics to keep mine looking brand new.  I actually like the 'tarnished' look to them.

But what Gold carts do I own?   Well I finally got my hands on a Legend of Zelda but I also have come across another cart that I've only heard about.  I found myself a "Micro machines" for the NES.

This is an interesting one because the cart as you can see from the picture has a reset switch build into the cart.   This was Nintendo way of solving why the carts didn't work.  But we all know its just to clean out the systems tray and it works better. 

The game is a racing game done on small tracks.  By small I do mean 'small'  like table top courses, pool tables, sidewalks, ect.  The game has had much success since the NES game by finding home on the SNES, N64 and the handheld Nintendo systems.  

Collection Oddity: Supaboy?

A few years ago I heard that Hyperkin was making a system that would play NES and SNES games on it.  I knew at some point I'd have to get one.  Last year they came out with the Retron 5, sadly I haven't gotten one yet but I have picked up another Hyperkin product.

I picked up the "Supaboy" at a local book store of all places.  This is a portable Super Nintendo that runs off internal batteries (last up to 3 hours on a full charge) and can play SNES and Super Famicom games.

They say it also can be a Super Nintendo system as well with AV cables and ports on the console for 2 player controllers.  Sadly I haven't been able to get the external controllers to work.   That or the ones I have don't work anymore (times have been tough on them).  

Either way this is a great addition to my System collection.

Collection Oddity: VHS Tapes?

Back when the Donkey Kong came out they had a send away promo where you sent a UPC code and you got a Donkey Kong Promotional tape.  Well my mom sent in for it and we got the tape.  It had a ton of info for the game, what the characters looked like, Tips and Tricks, and even never before seen scenes!
This was awesome for myself because I was use to just Donkey Kong on the NES.   The graphics were awesome.   Well Nintendo did many of these VHS tapes and I only got the Donkey Kong one.  

But since I'm all growndup (yes I know I spelt it wrong, deal with it) I can afford all those VHS tapes I never got. To start my collection I had to get the Zelda: Majora's Mask VHS.  This tape comes with tips for another N64 game, Banjo And Kazooie.  I ended up getting this Tape off Ebay for just $1.99!!

There were other tapes they had on there but those were going for high as $20 a tape.  I know I could afford them but not sure I want to invest that amount into those tapes.  There has to be about 10 tapes out in the wild about the promo games like the Donkey Kong one.   I'm sure over time I'll end up getting all them but until then I'll just hook up my VHS player (yes I still own one) and watch the past happen all over again.

Strip Club Review?

I know what your thinking, Brownie your reviewing strip clubs now?   Well, not really.  Just some observations from my trip to another club.

Now keep in mind that I've been in and around clubs for a long time.  Longer then many of the girls I have worked with in the past few years.   I'm not saying I'm an expert on the subject but as many know I've held close to EVERY position in a strip club from Manager to Door man to Bartender to Ect.

Anyways today I decided an adventure to Sportsmen's Lodge Gentlemens Club was going to happen.   I agreed to a trip up to Stanly, WI a month ago but ended up going to the Twin Cities to more popular clubs on my night off.  Tonight I had my co-adventurer with me again.  So I like to think I have both views from a Male and Female perspective.

We arrived to the club only to start our confusion with no indication of what door to enter.  Just a white door with no markings at all.  I asked a gentleman outside if this is the door to enter and his reply "its the one with lights".  yes... yes there are lights all over the place sir.

We walked in and were not even stopped to pay a cover.   According to the facebook page they have they offer free cover till 7pm.  Well we were there near 8pm and no one stopped us.  Ok guess thats a bad on them?  We walked up to the bar and I ordered a beer, my partner ordered a wine.  After 5 mins of them trying to figure out if they sold wine some guy at the bar mumbles "ugh just order a normal drink like everyone else".  I looked this guy over and to my knowledge he must have been either the owner or manager on staff since everyone huddled around him and did as he said.  All this while he was chugging an over poured drink.  

So far we are off to a rocky start.  Lets just see how the ladies greet us.  During the whole trip I didn't let anyone know I work at a club, have worked at a club, or ever been at a club.  One girl... One girl introduced herself to us.  Out of the 3 working (how they run on 3?) one  girl asked how we were doing.  We ran our story of having a night off and going out to check places out.   She said shw ould chat with us later then walked off to some random drunk customer who was falling out of his stool.

We found ourselves a seat between the speakers (blaring music) and sipped out drinks.   My beer was past is date to be sold by a month and my partners wine was not that great as well.
Lets take a step back and talk about the wine, the individual at the bar said the bottle they found was $250 a bottle.  After sniffing and sipping what they gave us I can honestly tell you the bottle was a $12 bottle you can get at most liquor stores.  I know because I have the same bottle in my kitchen.

Anyways we wait for the stage to start up.  A young lady jumps up on stage, spins around the pole, then jumps off.   Amazing!  20 mins later another one jumps up for 3 songs.  Most awkward songs I've ever heard at a club, but OK I guess.   Come to find out the girls choose their own music from a jukebox.

Now I've heard of clubs that run like this.  Girls pay for their own sets and choose their own music.  Many clubs do this so they don't have to pay for licensing usage for DJ's to run their stuff.  Ok I guess but your charging girls a nightly house fee to cover renters fee then charging them to play their own music and making more money off them for that.  Hmm...

Anyways after a while we tried out hand at a pool game.  I find out the pool table is free to everyone since they took the glass off the ball return.... oh boy.  While playing two of the customers (regulars from my guess) begin arguing and making a huge scene in front of everyone.  As a bouncer I grab my back towards my utility knife in case something happens, like I do a lot.  Not even the bouncer stopped this but the girls got in between them.  

We finished our drinks then headed out.  With only One girl to talk to us.   I could count the second one but apparently she had to come up and say the person I was with was very sexy.   Yea sales not working great on that end.  

So whats my final vote about the place?   Well the layout of it is well done.  The lighting and atmosphere looks great.  Sound and presentation of the staff isn't though.  I get and understand that co-workers like to have fun from time to time.  But when someone is sitting at the bar complaining about a drink someone orders and complains about it, then having the staff take longer to find and enter a drink in the system.  This raises a lot of questions about training.
And on to the girls.  If they made and effort to talk to new people that you can tell have never been to the place before, make them feel welcome, and make and effort to be inviting maybe they might make something more.  I always have a rule if your the first to introduce yourself and ask for a dance/drink I'll buy it for you.  It shows you want to make an effort to work and have dedication to your job.  Sure I know dancing can be stressful where ever you are, but make an effort people.  Sell the business and make people want to hang out, have fun, spend money, drink some drinks, and have a good time.

Collection Oddity: The Mystery of the Xbox watch!

So a few years ago my brother, Brad, gave me this Xbox wrist watch/game he found at a garage sale.  I believe he paid about .50 for it.  Not too bad for an odd little game related item.   I placed it on my game shelf not thinking too much about it.
After moving to my new home I finally unpacked everything and the item was on the bottom of the box.   I posted an image of my shelves on a gaming forum site I'm a part of and people started asking some information on the toy.
So I started doing a bit of research for it.  But how the heck do you start looking for info on an item that has no markings, dates, or publications about.   Well from some random image searches I found the information I needed.

This was a promotional game/toy found in kellogg cereals.  There was 5 other games that were given away for the promotion and these you didn't have to email/mail anything in to get them.  Some would say they were the last of the 'prize boxes' you could actually buy.

I've tried to find the rest of the games on ebay and other auction sites but they are selling in the upper $20-$50 range.  I'm one for collecting but not willing to spend that much on them right now.  I did find the one I have is the most expensive one out there.

Proud to say its a great addition to my collection..

WWE: Hall of Fame thoughts..

So its 4am and I finally watched the Hall of Fame from lastnight.  The only speech that has stood out was the one Warrior gave.  He showed the most support to the people that truly deserve it then anyone in a VERY long time.
Of course I'm talking about the people who actually put the shows on.  With out the guys who set up the chairs/lights/ring/merch tables there wouldn't be a show.
About 13 years ago I went to my first SDW show and was asked if I wanted to help set up the ring before the show for free ticket into it.  I said yes and Travis Sharp taught me how to assemble the ring.  He showed me how to put proper tension on the cables under the ring so the ropes weren't too stiff for the guys.  Showed me tricks on how to tare it down and put it away.  After that I was asked to do all the shows for SDW and Neo Pro.  I even got contacts into how to get into working on the shows that led to me being in MPW, NIW, ARW, MIW, and back to Neo Pro.
But it all started with paying my dues in setting up the shows.  Without questions I would make sure everything was ready for the crowd that came in.  So far as to clean up the mess long after they drove off with the ring to storage I'd stick around to pick up trash and make sure chairs were put away.

I really would love to see places like the WWE show recognition to the people who have been doing it for their company for so long.

Xbox one thoughts

So a month ago after my last post I ended up buying a Xbox One.  I know I know, xbox fan boy comments may start if you wish.  BUT... I'm not that impressed as of right now.
Don't get me wrong the advancements are great but its missing alot of stuff that made the 360 work great as a multimedia console.  I say multimedia because I mainly used my 360 for media use (netflix, hulu, youtube, ect) and enjoyed how it ran.  The whole 'new' design of how they lay out choices for these apps I have been using on my 360 to the One is now weirder and weirder.  I know that with new consoles they have a good year to fix out all the bugs and re-figure out how to make things run 'smoother'.  But if your going to make a product and have it work amazingly then bring out a newer faster product, you don't just throw the whole design out the door.  You work off what you've been known for.
And don't get me started on the personalizing of it.   The party system is really pissing me off this past week.  Myself and my cousin have been playing Titanfall and with the 360 you could set up flags that would go off when a game was launched by someone on your friends list.  Like mine would go off when someone started playing halo ce or Left 4 dead.  The One needs to bring this back because I end up spending a few extra mins loading my friends list just to see through the 80+ people on my list who's playing what.  If there was a notification on who signs on and what is being played I'd be happier.  But sadly there isn't, yet.

Speaking of Titanfall I was once again the first in my home town (of 17,000) to pick up a copy.  I showed up at about 10:30pm the night of.  Why you may ask?  Cuz at 10pm Raw ended and I was bored.  So while at the Walmart the 'clerk' asked if I needed help.  I told her that I was there to pick up the game and was wondering if they had any of the new headsets for the One that were to be released the same night.  I've grown use to playing with Turtle Beach and Triton headsets over the past year and want to keep up with that.  The headset that came with the One is utter crap.  Yea you heard me... crap.
So she said "yes I'll go look if they came in".   A little later she came wheeling back out and said they were in.  So I killed another hour or so around the store then hit the counter to stand in line.  Some gal from EA games was there asking me questions about 'what I was excited for".  I just said "I hope the servers don't blow up like a majority of the games do".  Amazingly she laughed about it.  Got my pic taken for their site and then they brought out the games.  I had to wait till 12:01 am to actually buy it, but something wasn't right?  I asked the 'clerk' if the headsets were coming out tonight too since I wanted to get one and she knew I did.  So gave me the crappiest, non-worth a damn answer I've ever heard.  "Yea they didn't come in".  YET YOU CLEARLY SAW THEM IN THE BACK!  As I was leaving I asked another clerk if they were there and he said "yea she was suppose to bring them out".  I walked back to the counter where she was and asked if she'd go look.  yea she said she wasn't going to.  I kinda went off and told her that she was worthless as an employee and just a lazy whore.  Like 6 people in line agreed with me since they were there too to pick up the headsets.
Just amazes me at how worthless you can be at a job that you just supply customers with what they need by going 20 feet to grab something.  Sorry kinda ranted there.  
But all in all the game is great, lol.  I've been playing for 19.75 hours and am at level 47 with 50 being the max.  Hopefully I'll be 50 by monday night.