Pacman, life, the universe and everything

I was watching TV the other night and saw a show called Pawn Stars ( not what I originally thought but what can you expect in a 7:30 pm time slot), it was an interesting show but the thing that caught my eye was a guy selling an original 80's vintage Pacman video game table. I was more than a bit lucky growing up above our beachside corner store. This was for many reasons but in this case because we had several video games and pinball machines in the store and I was lucky enough to have a big bag of specially marked 20c pieces, this meant that I could play the games as much as I wanted and I got my coins back. Anyway back to the show, these guys from the Pawn shop bought the machine for $175 even though it was not in the best condition, they took it to another guy that is obviously more than mildly obsessed with these classic machines, he charged them about $350 but brought this amazing machine that gave me zoo much pleasure growing up back to almost new condition. I am sure that there would be a guy somewhere nearby that could do the same here all I need is to find an old Pacman or Asteroids machine to fix up.

Today games machines sit in almost everyone's lounge, whether it's a Wii, Playstation or whatever the games have improved but I don't think the social aspect of the old time video machine arcade can be replicated. Now, I'm not saying it was all perfect but the potential for kids to get locked inside endlessly playing the same game is not one that's going to help them in the future, unless they want to join the army (I still think that Call of Duty is the best recruitment tool the army's ever had)

Thanks for sticking with me through my nostalgic musings, I'd really like to hear your experiences with video games growing up and how do you think the newer types of game experience are going to influence our kids.

Gout really is a pain in the...

...Foot, did you think I was going to say something else.
I guess Gout is Gods way to stop you in your tracks long enough to get your attention. I think his message is "You need to really look at how you are looking after yourself.
I had my first Gout attack just after Christmas, maybe it was the more than several beers enjoyed daily over the festive season or maybe just a bit too much good food. In hind site I have had minor niggles for a couple of years and just put the pain experienced in my foot, down to a stubbed toe or sprained ankle.
I have a family history of this kind of thing with my mother and uncles suffering from Gout in one form or another. So I guess I should have taken preventative action sooner but I didn't. Now, despite cutting out all alcohol and watching what I eat for the past 6 months, I am very annoyed that my foot has flared up again.
The cure is almost worse than the disease with the anti-gout drugs having a particularly strong laxative effect and the anti inflamitory drugs having lots of potentially nasty side effects. Maybe it's a boy thing to ignore problems until you're forced to deal with them but I certinally hope to learn from this one.
BTW God you have my attention, but please deliver the message to me here as I can't get up, my foot's killing me.