Blue Rooster May 18
About a week ago now, I happened to be at The Blue Rooster Pub & Grill. They had a Stranger Things (Pro) that, as it turns out, was on pretty old code. (Skill shots scored 500K, 600K, etc instead of 5M, 6M, etc.) It also had (upon my arrival) some of the default high scores, including the default grand champion of 130M with initials "BRE".

That changed by the time I left: the new grand champion score was...
https://www.skqrecordquest.com/2025/05/25/blue-rooster-may-18/

Del Mar Lanes May 14
And then, for the first time in quite a while, I felt the urge to swing by Del Mar Lanes and get in a round or two on Godzilla (if nothing else, to confirm it's still there and playable). The high scores have been cleared since my last visit; my 606M+ grand champion is still there. I didn't get pictures of the (new) records and high scores, I will hopefully be able to get those on the next visit.

https://www.skqrecordquest.com/2025/05/21/del-mar-lanes-may-14/

Cidercade April 25
This was another in the many (mostly) monthly visits to Cidercade. The highlight was Game of Thrones, 256M (high score #4 and Stark Champion). Most of the rest were pretty run of the mill. And yes I am playing more video games when I go to Cidercade, not because I'm giving up on pinball, but because in most cases, these are games I actually enjoy playing that I never got to play very often as a kid (or in some...
https://www.skqrecordquest.com/2025/05/21/cidercade-april-25/

Yesterday's Bar & Grill April 4
After work in the Bryan/College Station area, I dropped into Yesterday's Bar & Grill, which has the only known pinball machine in the area per Pinball Map. That game is a Star Wars Pro (Stern) with a couple of minor issues that don't (usually) affect playability.

My best score was the first game I played, 183.2M+. I feel I made a pretty good run overall, winning three replays by score off of two paid credits,...
https://www.skqrecordquest.com/2025/05/21/20317/

Cidercade March 28
Admittedly most of this visit was run of the mill but there were a couple of highlights: 20k+ on Pengo, 74k+ on Ms. Pac-Man, 135M+ on Deadpool, with the rest being more or less run of the mill.

https://www.skqrecordquest.com/2025/04/30/20155/

There's a blog I've been subscribed to for 15+ years, and it has recently started popping open a modal dialog when I'm reading asking me how much I'd like to donate via Google Pay for reading the post.

Don't do that.

@triz The design is okay I guess, but it's hard to tell what some of the keys actually do from just the cat icons. Also there appear to be no insert, home, or end keys.

40 years since snooker’s greatest game – The Black Ball Final
https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/snooker/steve-davis-b2734112.html?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub

Posted into Sports @sports-Independent

Texas Pinball Festival 2025 part 6: Closing thoughts and a look at the future
So with that, another Texas Pinball Festival is in the books, for me and for everyone.

First, a review of the tournament. It has been long enough since the event that I now know my overall tournament standing for IFPA purposes: 112th out of 167 total players (one player withdrew before playing...
https://www.skqrecordquest.com/2025/04/15/texas-pinball-festival-2025-part-6-closing-thoughts-and-a-look-at-the-future/

Sorry for the extra noise, I am having to make edits to prior blog posts, and they should not be re-tooted when that happens but somehow they are.

@corruptian I will try but there is another event I frequently attend on first Fridays that conflicts.

Texas Pinball Festival 2025 part 5: What do you mean, he's not done playing pinball for the weekend?
After the closing ceremonies it was time to make my way back to Houston. Due to road construction in Huntsville, I decided to take a rather indirect route down I-35 through Waco, picking up Texas Highway 6 and later Texas Highway 105, FM 1774, and Texas...
https://www.skqrecordquest.com/2025/04/10/texas-pinball-festival-2025-part-5-what-do-you-mean-hes-not-done-playing-pinball-for-the-weekend/

Texas Pinball Festival 2025 part 4: On the show floor
Despite spending what seemed like almost the whole weekend in the tournament room, I did have some time to check out games on the show floor.

It's hard to pick out highlights from these, as in a lot of cases I don't know what constitutes a really good score. To be honest, a lot of the time on show floor games I'm not really going for high...
https://www.skqrecordquest.com/2025/04/07/texas-pinball-festival-2025-part-4-on-the-show-floor/

Texas Pinball Festival 2025 part 3: Finishing up the tournament
After some time on the show floor (which I will cover in the next post), lunch and dinner, some rest, and breakfast, it was time to get back to the tournament. Saturday's play would have four rounds or eight games.

It was already looking rather bleak for me, but I decided to stick around and play the remainder of the...
https://www.skqrecordquest.com/2025/04/02/texas-pinball-festival-2025-part-3-finishing-up-the-tournament/

Texas Pinball Festival 2025 part 2: The first six rounds
We move on to Friday and the first day of the first year of the new format for the Texas Pinball Festival Wizards tournament. For those who don't keep up with the ins and outs of the competitive pinball scene, I will summarize the changes briefly.

In 2024, players had 25 entries (game plays) of which the best 12 counted towards the final...
https://www.skqrecordquest.com/2025/03/31/texas-pinball-festival-2025-part-2-the-first-six-rounds/

@nivex Looks like in trying to Prove A Point™, they accidentally Made An Ass Of Themselves™.

@nivex I agree 100%, does someone just not know what the hell they are doing when they drop packages like this?

@Urban_Hermit It has long since been time to talk about the bigot agenda. It's gotten out of hand and is threatening to destroy decent society as we knew it.

📣 ENGINEERS OF ALL FIELDS 🚨

"Remember professional ethics. When political leaders set a negative example, professional commitments to just practice become more important." - Timothy Synder, "On Tyranny"

✅ TODAY is the time to review the IEEE Code of Ethics (or those from your own discipline, if applicable) and, even if you're not a member, start doing all you can to promote them:

https://www.ieee.org/about/corporate/governance/p7-8.html

@fluffy True, it's a different situation with Jim Henson and The Muppets, as the popularity of the latter was much higher. ALF/Gordon was one TV show, one (made-for-TV?) movie, and not a whole lot more. Sure, kids of the 80s remember him but the current generation probably doesn't really recognize him.