Monday, February 28, 2011

Cops and mopeds

Nope, it's not what you're thinking.

About six years ago, I was coming home late from Moped Monday. I lived in an apartment on the Ave, and was locking up to a bike rack in front of the Radio Shack. I was more than a little intoxicated, and ready to hit the sack.

From the corner of my eye I spot a cop car slowly roll up and stop. A warning goes off in my brain, but I ignore the car. I fumble with my keys, hoping that he moves on and doesn't try to give me a hard time about parking on the sidewalk. Regardless, no one wants to talk to a cop when you've got whiskey on your breath.

The window rolls down. I don't look up.

"Hey!" Okay, I finally look up. "Is that a Kinetic?"

Puzzled, I respond, "No, it's a Puch."

"Oh, I've got a Kinetic. I ride it all the time!" Turns out a fellow moped rider just wanted to chat.

Cops and mopeds rarely collide in a way that works well. Usually it's just a recipe for frustration on both parts.

It's like the joke goes: What do you call a moped rider in a suit? The defendant.

This is an oddball article from Moped Biking magazine, circa 1977. It's worth reading. It's pretty clear that, just like today, most cops hate mopeds. Officer Friendly, who's spotlighted in the photos, is obviously not a fan of these moped-things. I can only imagine how much he must have hated riding away from the precinct on the Puch. I can almost hear the ribbing Im sure he took. I'd love to see a conversation between this NYC moped cop and my Seattle cop-moped-enthusiast.

As if cops on mopeds in NYC isn't weird enough, the whole article has a renaissance fair as its backdrop.

Think about this one next time you're pulled over.




















Monday, February 21, 2011

Mopeds are dangerous...so are zombies

I snapped this photo in one of the parking garages at work. I haven't thought about the Martha's Vineyard protests in a while. Thanks for reminding me, ultra-safety driver.















Here's one of the best game trailers I've seen in a long time. I think one thing that has been missing with most zombie games is a lack of emotion and humanity. Although, we don't see any actual game play here, they certainly capture a feeling that we've never seen in a game of this sort before.



Speaking of zombies, check out these amazing Walking Dead figures that Mcfarlane Toys will be releasing in September.




















One more zombie-related thing. The best $3 you will ever spend is for Plants vs Zombies for your space phone. Utterly addictive game play. Damn you PopCap games!



Spent your last $3 on beer? Download Zombie Dice for free instead.

Or maybe you just think zombies are played out at this point.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Nerds only

It's been over a year since my gaming group stepped into a post-apocalyptic landscape.

Late last year the newest iteration of Gamma World was released. This is the 7th edition of the game since it's initial release in 1978. The RPG has been around almost as long as D&D.

Last night we sat down for a session of the new game, and it was a blast. It's post-apoc, but with a tongue firmly planted in the cheek. Everyone played as a randomly-created strange mutation, be it a vampiric plant, or a reanimated doppelganger. Oh, and a pony that road shotgun in the pickup truck.















They battled sentient, walking potatoes with a grudge against humanity, zombie rednecks who wanted beer more than brains, and biker pigs on motorcycles. They met the mayor of the town who was a ficus tree from Walmart, who couldn't speak, but rustled his leaves at them. You get the picture.

It was a good time.