space invaders
A 1126 second single frame image of Dovercourt lighthouse taken just after sunrise on a beautifully clear summer morning.
For some reason, this reminds me of my school days- or more specifically, sneaking out at lunchtime to the local arcade to play Space Invaders. The huge cabinet which housed the small screen and a couple of red painted joysticks stood in the far corner of a rather worn out room and was a magnet for my 12 year old self, it’s gaudy paintwork an explosion of rockets and stars promising adventure beyond my imagination. There was an old, cracked skylight in the ceiling and in the summer shafts of light would pierce the gloom, lighting up dust fairies which seemed to beckon me forward. No wonder I was addicted.
Of course, playing at lunchtime wasn’t without risk. There were prefects whose sole purpose in life was to ensure that we didn’t leave the premises. But at least some of them could be incentivized to turn a blind eye- although you could never be certain that the deal would be kept on your return. And there were also the boys from the rival school down the road– should you happen to run across them in town, the option menu (as far as they were concerned) didn’t seem to list either meaningful dialogue or reconciliation. Which meant that you had to run fast.
But the upsides far outweighed the risk- I learned about economics and commerce. About the fact that verbal contracts were not always binding. And of course, as I spent all my lunch money playing video games and then frequently had to run back to school pursued by an angry mob, it meant that I was really very skinny.
In fact, I think that we’d all be fitter and healthier if we still spent our lunch money on games and then chased each other up and down the high street.
space invaders
A 1126 second single frame image of Dovercourt lighthouse taken just after sunrise on a beautifully clear summer morning.
For some reason, this reminds me of my school days- or more specifically, sneaking out at lunchtime to the local arcade to play Space Invaders. The huge cabinet which housed the small screen and a couple of red painted joysticks stood in the far corner of a rather worn out room and was a magnet for my 12 year old self, it’s gaudy paintwork an explosion of rockets and stars promising adventure beyond my imagination. There was an old, cracked skylight in the ceiling and in the summer shafts of light would pierce the gloom, lighting up dust fairies which seemed to beckon me forward. No wonder I was addicted.
Of course, playing at lunchtime wasn’t without risk. There were prefects whose sole purpose in life was to ensure that we didn’t leave the premises. But at least some of them could be incentivized to turn a blind eye- although you could never be certain that the deal would be kept on your return. And there were also the boys from the rival school down the road– should you happen to run across them in town, the option menu (as far as they were concerned) didn’t seem to list either meaningful dialogue or reconciliation. Which meant that you had to run fast.
But the upsides far outweighed the risk- I learned about economics and commerce. About the fact that verbal contracts were not always binding. And of course, as I spent all my lunch money playing video games and then frequently had to run back to school pursued by an angry mob, it meant that I was really very skinny.
In fact, I think that we’d all be fitter and healthier if we still spent our lunch money on games and then chased each other up and down the high street.