Pete Weber...Watchout for my Palmball (not really)

I have never been a good bowler. Ok, I have never been much of a bowler at all. I'll bowl maybe twice a year and make it through 3 or 4 games with scores like 80, 100, 115, 107. My game was (notice the tense change) way off with lots of open frames. I understood the game and how to pick spares, etc., but I couldn't execute. I realize it's like saying, I know how to swing a golf club, but I can't break 100, but somehow this is different.

Narcissistic bowling ball and pins love their reflections.

I've always tried to be a straight bowler, but I've never been consistent. From college through last month, I'd bowl maybe twice a year when I'd see my childhood buddy. I tried curving one of the house balls and always hurt my right middle finger by the 2nd game. This pain would occur no matter the weight of the ball, yet I am stubborn and continued trying it each time we'd bowl. Once my finger hurt, I'd skip hooking the ball and went for a straight roll, but of course it never worked.

Last year, after hurting my middle finger bowling with my friend, I played around and threw the ball without using the holes. It was a sort of palmball as I call it. It's akin to duckpins of my parents' day in Bawlmer. I had a little more success, but it just helped that my finger didn't hurt from bowling.

It sure would be fun to smash Hello Kitty's face into some pins, but you'd have to roll a pink ball.

Fast forward to Super Bowl Sunday. A neighborhood Brunswick bowling alley had an email coupon for $0.42/game. I couldn't pass it up. I made the trip figuring it was at worst a cheap day of bowling. I decided to actually practice bowling; something I never took the time to do when me and my buddy would just play. I knew my middle finger would hurt from the start so I played around with the palmball using an lime Jello green 11-pound house ball.

It was different bowling to practice instead of to score. I struggled with scores like 80, 107, and 112 as I toyed with my hook into the pocket and straight balls. The next 3 games went 125, 155, 127. After setting a personal best with 155, I was onto something. It helped I was converting spares too. I had my fair share of gutters, but that's what it takes sometimes.

Sorry grandma, but you'll never beat my Wii Sports bowling high of 280. That's right, I talk trash to anyone, any age.

My final 3 games went 220!, 117, 136. I was in a bowling zone for the 220. All this despite cosmic bowling from the fourth game on. My frames went: 9/, 6/, X, X, X, X, X, 9/, 8-, 8/9. It was uncanny. I just bowled without thinking, getting spares with ease. The next day, nothing along my right arm was sore so at least for one day, my palmball worked. I figured I'd be in pain after throwing so much, but not at all.

This guy bowling in a group next to me asked how I even bowled like this and I just said it feels comfortable. I made it a point to let him know I had never bowled so well before and may never again. I'm ambidextrous so for right-side heavy spare tries in the later games, I threw it from my left hand and it would also go to the pocket which helped on multi-pin spares. I even converted a tough spare (for me at least, probably not for anyone with talent) that was something like 7-5 or 7-3. I must have looked a bit cocky bowling with both hands, but it just worked.

I even zoned out the classic cosmic bowling tunes that played, including "Who Let the Dogs Out," "I'm Blue," and Shania Twain's "That Don't Impress Me Much."

I've looked for any information on holeless or palmball (is that a word?) bowling and I've only found people who throw a thumbless ball. Has anybody been known to throw a palmball with success? I understand this could have been a fluke until I try bowling again, but I'll enjoy it for now. Maybe I had one of the newer reactive resin balls for the house ball, but whatever it was, it helped. I should either buy the 11-pounder and try again or just retire at the pinnacle of my career.

How well do you know TV tunes?

As I buy some time before a legit blog post, checkout this site to see how well you know TV tunes.

http://www.televisiontunes.com/game.html

For a while I was 9th and 10th on the 20-round high score table at around 1300, but that was more luck than knowledge. Tunes range from Ducktales to Entourage to the Munsters.

Sonic Restaurant Drive-In...Please Stop Teasing Me

I know women can be teases, but why does my favorite burger joint follow suit? Sonic has some great menu options, from its fresh burgers and onion ring sides, to its "famous" slushes. But unlike every fast food chain that advertises on TV, the nearest sonic from Bethesda, MD, is 55 miles away in Fredericksburg, VA! And of all places, why does Fredericksburg get two locations within 3 miles of each other when the Baltimore/DC area gets none?

In-n-Out burgers have nothing on this masterpiece. Though the secret menu is cool.

The only Sonic I make it to is on the way home from the beach. It's located in Bridgeville, DE, found after going through a few rinky-dink towns (read: snob). I might be 83.81 miles from home, but it's all forgotten when I pull into my drive-in lane and engulf an onion ring. 15 minutes later, I'm back on the road after a fully satisfying meal of burgers, sides, and slushes.

Would it really pain Sonic to build a location closer to the metro area? It makes me want to heed Brideville's motto, "If you lived here, you would already be home." I would be far from work and have a hellish commute, but at least there'd be a Sonic waiting for me at home.

Enjoy the parody commercial below:

How Many 5-Year-Olds Could You Fight?

I'm not advocating this in reality, but this site tells you how many 5-year-olds you could beat in a fight?

25

I was hurt by having zero fighting and martial arts experience, a low kick, and poor balance.

One crane kick and voila! No more whining. He's even smiling afterward.

Like Riding a Bicycle

It has been a little over nine months since my last post, and even at that it was pretty weak. I haven't posted on a regular basis in a year and I sure am rusty.  Fear not, I have a renewed vigor for blogging after my sabbatical. Expect the same (poor) writing, (weak) sarcasm, and overthinking you came to love. It's either that you enjoy my writing or my blog was set as your homepage and you don't know how to change it. I'll take visitors by any means necessary.

It's easy to ride any bicycle...even a chopper.

How One TV Show Shows Its Age

Beakman’s World was my favorite science show during my childhood. It was a creative program that kept any my short attention span with quick lessons and comedic writing. It aired every Saturday morning and, much to my delight, has returned for another generation’s Saturday mornings. Beakman’s World is the Mr. Wizard for non-cable subscribers.

On a recent episode, a viewer’s letter asked Beakman how he found his answers. Beakman suggested the following steps (and what this means today):

1. Go to the library and look for your topic in an encyclopedia. (Search in Wikipedia.)

A science guy + guy in a rat costume + young actresses = the world of science as of 1993

2. If the topic isn’t found in the encyclopedia, ask a librarian to help you find the subject in the card catalog. (This really dates the show because many libraries began using computers for “quicker” card catalog searches when the show first aired. Today, if you actually need a book, you can search for and check it out from your home computer. This only helps if you know where your library is located and still have a library card. As if.)

3. If a trip to the library does not answer your question, open a phone book and, with adult supervision, call someone who will have the answer. (Just make sure your spam filter is on when you visit sites from your Google search. Adult supervision is suggested so you don’t wander into older content.)

The scientific method hasn’t changed in the 10 years this episode aired, but the research methods sure have.

NHL 95 Update – Online Emulator Play

Thanks to a comment on my NHL 95 entry, I’ve found software called Kaillera that allows you to play ROMs using online emulators. Meaning, I could play against anyone in the world in just about any old school game. I haven’t messed with the software yet, but will keep you posted. I hope there’s no lag and at least equals the quality of play of this one device I used in the 90s to play other Genesis players through the telephone jack in my parent’s kitchen. I can't recall the name, but it was cool at the time, I swear.