Lurker > HaRRicH

Forceful_Dragon posted...

That was a bizarre filler episode that I didn't understand

Me either man, but I'm trying to do on-the-ground reporting as best as I can.
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So, Bottle Up.

The guy game-runner is the only one there tonight -- I'm just gonna call him Buddy since that kinda sounds like his name and he's the only person not wearing a name-tag there that I've seen. He's also all alone. It's just us for awhile while he smokes his Juul out in the middle of everything (most carnival workers will step to the side of their games to smoke)..

He's mad at me for not coming earlier when there were a bunch of kids here earlier -- apparently it's Kid's Day. He's also complaining how hot it is outside, which he was correct about. I ask him about what it takes to set the game up every day. He tells me about how they have to remove the wires, speakers, and prizes every night...but at least trucks drive up to his booth to ease the loading. I'm into these conversations about how the fair works.

I eventually tell him I want to play and have my $5 out, and he tells me winners have to pay $5 for one try. I look at him funny and ask him "Is that what the rules say?" while I point at the rules. He's insisting on it and I'm calling him out on it, but eventually I cave in and negotiate with terrorists -- I'll pay $5 for one try THIS TIME, but that's just because it's only going to take one time to do it today.

And folks, that's when it happened.

Buddy then took the closest pole and told me he's going to curse my pole. He rubbed his hands all over the rod I'd use to stand the bottle with and made like the faintest of humming noises, then he finally handed it to me. "There, it's cursed."

To reiterate: dude had cursed my pole with the carnival curse.

I asked him if the bottle was cursed too. He said nah.

I line up and stand the bottle on my first try, effectively breaking the curse and shutting him the fuck down on his little $5 winners-only hijack he thought he'd get away with. This one felt good.

However, right before I pick the HUGE rainbow koala I was about to pick, there was what felt like a very Tell Tale Games-like moment. A woman beside me exclaimed "No, not the koala bear -- that's the one I want!" I turn to see this cute chemo-or-a-statement-type-of-bald-headed lady with her boyfriend, and she's right to shout right then because that was the only koala of its kind available for grabs. I feel the Tell Tale Games-bar dwindling down on what to do, and I think I did what made the most people happy:

"Tell you what, I'll wait here in case you can win the prize -- I'll let you have it if you can win."

The game-runner gets a boost and the couple gets hope. He happily accepts and spends about fifteen dollars before deciding he can't do it. He then walks to me and puts me in another situation:

"How 'bout if I gave you $25 for the prize, would you do that for her?"

My heart churns a bit. I tell him I'm giving these prizes to kids and non-profits, and he understands. We shake hands and they leave. I lean to Buddy as they leave and say something like "Damn, don't it cost $25 just to get here?" He laughs, not knowing it only costs me $15 since I ain't paying for their parking.

For the record, I fully intend to give these to kids and non-profits, but I do have a price since these have all been coming from my pocketbook. That price? More than $25, I assure you.

Buddy then takes me to the koala bear I wanted and showed it had a decent tear on its leg -- styrofoam or cotton or whatever fell out as he showed me the hole. I change my mind and go with a big ole' purple monkey I've been eyeing awhile.

I ask Buddy what time would be best to show up tomorrow. He says 8:00 PM. I told him I'd try to come around then. Realistically though, I get off work at 5:00 PM and I don't wanna go home before the fair or play that late, so I might actually show up earlier -- we'll see. At least I got some info on when they think their busy times are.
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This is just a little story, but the guy running one of the basketball games there caught my attention on my way to Bottle Up. His name was Palmer, and while he was under his umbrella on a sunny day he just HAD to share a story with me that I didn't fully understand.

Basically (...?), the boss is a hard-ass and he's been riding Palmer hard lately. As we were talking, this boss was riding in a golf cart driven by someone else. Palmer pointed him out, and I immediately offer to talk to his boss for him. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO," he says. Apparently, this situation was over something about somebody pulling a truck up to pick up fair supplies and they backed up too far, hitting one of their set-ups...I think, not really sure.

I lost track of the story mid-way through to point out that I appreciated they had a sign that says "Basketball Rims Are Oval." He was like "Yeah, the boss insists on it." I shake his hand and head over to my main event.
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So let's talk about that fresh lemonade and deep-fried Milky Way.

You may be asking yourself how does a deep-fried Milky Way taste. If so, you need to go to more fairs, but basically imagine a Milky Way with the temperature consistency of a Hot Pocket -- hoooooooooooot on the outside and still nearly frozen on parts of the inside.

Let's get the bad news out of the way too: a small glass of lemonade is $4. I have sworn off restaurants before for charging $4 for cranberry juice. Also, a deep-friend Milky Way is $5. Milky Ways are usually what, $1, give or take? That's a lot of profit as long as their vendor fees aren't through the roof. I'm kicking this fair's ass and not paying for parking so I feel comfortable going to other vendors for an experience or a story, but still...man, I'm glad I don't have kids with these prices. At least I get it with movie theaters when so much of their money comes from concessions, but I don't know that's the same situation at the fair. "Here, we squeezed a lemon into some sugar-water and we served you a candy bar that will either scald you or freeze your teeth depending on the bite, now pay us the average full dinner price of our surrounding restaurants."

Whatever, it was delicious.

I talked with a woman selling lemonade. She's lived here all her life and has been serving lemonade for local events for her fifth year now. I congratulated her, secretly being mad these prices must be what it takes to stay in business -- I checked out a few different booths first before and that's pretty consistent pricing.

For the deep-fried Milky Way, I talked more in-depth with a woman named May. She was cute and funny -- when I asked for advice on how to explain this purchase to my doctor, she was straight-up and said "Just tell them you had a deep-fried Milky Way" as she powdered it with sugar. She had been with the company since January...

...so let's talk company-business the little bit I've gathered from my perspective. The event is the local fair, but the local fair is not the business -- the business is called Wade something and it bounces from location to location. Some booths -- food, games, stores, etc. -- are local businesses renting space while others travel with the business as part of the business. I haven't figured out that line yet -- I assume every ride is part of the business, for example, but I don't know that. I learned a little later at least one of these booths were churches that seem to keep all the money they make too -- more on that later.

Anyway, again, it was delicious. If this was an RPG, it was a full health replenish that also lowered my max HP.

I was on my way to Bottle Up until I was stopped by another carnival worker.
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Leanansidhe posted...

This is a really fun topic! Is this what the show Carnival Row is about

...that's a show? Ha. I'd watch an episode.

And thank you! Same for the rest of you enjoying the topic -- haven't done much on Board 8 lately and just thought this would be fun to come back and share. =)
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Heavy lifting in the heat is hard work.

http://imgur.com/a/ioSbalt

@lordloki12 I tried to get you a cool shotgun picture, but this is as close as I could get.

http://imgur.com/a/S5TElwO
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We all know Mountain Dew's Game Fuel, but did you know about Fair Game Fuel?

It's true, it exists! Behold: fresh squeezed lemonade and a deep-fried Milky Way.

http://imgur.com/a/EDFPBDX

Whew, I needed it today too. Story later tonight.
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I got a little caught off-guard, certainly. That said, I've worked up some courage since then by sleeping in a bed of snakes.

http://imgur.com/a/5omDlQw
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ChaosTonyV4 posted...

Harrich got some carnie strange

Funny joke aside, this brings up a question: is the word "carnie" offensive? It was never my understanding growing up and I see some websites describing the word as informal but not necessarily offenive. That said, also online is recognition that it can offend and I've been corrected on this before after telling my story on this game.

I imagine you gotta be a kid or be "in" with the carnival workers to be safe with the word. Otherwise, I dunno anymore.
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Forceful_Dragon posted...

If HaRRicH was murdered I'm starting my investigation with Duwana...

Start with the other dude coming up on me from behind.
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ShatteredElysium posted...

Honestly they probably don't mind you winning if there's a crowd, especially if you win easily because it makes it look easier to other fair goers and may encourage them to try more than they would have done otherwise

If it were me running that game, I'd be trying to get you to win to show others how 'easy' it is to win.

I imagine the cost/reward consideration here is if it costs them more for me to win a prize for $5-$10 (on top of my $10 entry fee) than if they miss their opportunity to influence enough other folks to pay that much money or more.

So these snakes I've won from Bottle Up have all been from the manafacturing company Goffa. I have no idea what their bulk prices are other than what foolmo and Santa were talking about, but here are some of their prices:

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Goffa/node/7959996011?productGridPageIndex=4

Not many things are under $20 on their Amazon page (skunk tails, dinosaur tails, plush soda bottles, ten-inch animals.....), and those are just for skunk tails you hang behind you. The prizes most similar to what I've won in the past before range from $70-$122 here.

But that's on Amazon -- let's go straight to the source:

https://www.goffausa.com/
https://goffatoys.com/

Oh hey, these are made in New Jersey -- wasn't banking on these being made in America.

I've tried to go even more straight to the source for their pricing in bulk, but nobody's picking up my calls from the numbers their site provides...darn.

Anyway, some observations after browsing this page:

https://www.goffausa.com/plush.html

***My snakes come in more colors! I saw the green one yesterday and may win that later, but also there's a red one?! Ya'll holding out on me, local fair...though to be fair, these snakes at the bottom are listed as part of their Small Toys collection and these things of mine are humongous.

***They have license toys with food companies. Tootsie Rolls, Dots, Junior Mints, Rita's Ice...just interesting to see food and toys join forces like this. I didn't really expect broccoli plush dolls, but I forgot candy and sugary treats get toys too.

***Speaking of Rita's Ice, I found some pricing

https://www.goffausa.com/uploads/7/3/9/3/73931107/ritas_ice_2018.pdf

These range from $1.75 each (for 144 of these -- $252 total) to $7.85 each (for six of these -- $47.10 total). There's still the individual pricing that would probably be sold in a retailer that would need to include their mark-up too, so...I dunno, $15-$25 dollars?

***They have inflatable plush dolls now. I'm used to thinking of them as either plush or inflatable, but, uh, why not both I guess. They have pricing available online too:

https://www.goffausa.com/uploads/7/3/9/3/73931107/inflates_2018.pdf

These range from $1.25 each (for 180 -- $225 total) to $8.50 each (for eighteen -- $153). I'm guessing individually in a store these would be more like $25-$35.

***While we're on pricing, here's a quote from their FAQ:

How can I purchase your products as a business buyer?
We only sell full cases to businesses. All orders must meet a minimum of $300.00. For business inquiries, please email us at [email protected].

***They have poop emoji hats for all the shitheads out there.

I checked out GoffaToys's site too and found similar snakes:

https://goffatoys.com/collections/jumbo-size/products/jumbo-snake-soft-plush-64

This is $40 for smaller snakes with sadder eyes than what I have now from them.

Looking over all these, I imagine ~$15-$20 individually is doing alright cost-wise versus buying in bulk from Goffa and doesn't hurt the game-runners much if at all in the long run.
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__LeiaRolando__ posted...

I say you keep one of the prizes - just ONE, likely the first - as a trophy and give the rest away. I don't think anyone will blame you. I certainly would be fine with it. "I won one for me, now these are for the kids."

Also, got a cool picture of that cool artwork? I wanna see!

http://imgur.com/a/NHgg2Mn
http://imgur.com/a/IoaTP6z

And like...maybe I'll keep one, but real talk these things take a lot of space! I do like the snakes a lot though.
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I got to thinking that if I'm going to give all these prizes away anyway, I need a way to memorialize the type of run I'm trying to make happen. I'm taking pictures, certainly, but I need something a little more fair-related than that. One of the places I scouted earlier was the caricature-booth, and I figure there's not a better way to record the moment of victory.

I go up to the booth and wait my turn to be drawn. It's easy to feel silly standing in line for fifteen minutes for a caricature with a stuffed animal, but I make this feel better somehow by saying to myself "I know the solution to this feeling! I'll tell the artist to add the other snake I won to the picture! That'll make this much better!"

I eventually get a seat and tell the artist about the two snakes I want. I'm afraid he's going to charge me extra -- pictures with one person are $12 and $6 more for each additional person in the picture, and they charge for actual live animals too -- but the dude was cool and said these snakes wouldn't count as extra. Nice.

He asked me to look like eight inches to his right and make whatever look I wanted, so I smiled until my cheeks hurt. They advertise this as being a five-minute ordeal, but this was more like fifteen minutes -- probably because of the snakes.

I got to talking with my artist -- Don here had an interesting story. He studied to be a graphic designer in Florida and loved the work itself, but he hated the type of work environments around him. He eventually quit to be a barista, then after taking that job a co-worker encouraged him to take a job doing caricatures for people. He did that a few years and now has his own business doing it here when he's not traveling across states for other fairs. He says he makes decent money doing that. I didn't ask for numbers, but this is the second time a person working at the fair spoke highly about their income with me...and, I mean, I know lots of money flows through fairs, but it was never very clear to me the people working the booths and rides received much of that money.

Don also does theatre in town! I knew the two theatres he's worked with but I never saw him perform, so we talk about that and some of the acting classes he's taking. This ended up being a networking opportunity for me and now I may have a place for him in some future shows I produce. Cool!
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Twenty-five minutes pass and I return to Bottle Up. There's maybe nine people now...? Should have counted better, but it seemed a little more crowded.

Duwana sees me and immediately calls me up to play. I pay five bucks for two tries and I step up.

Suddenly though, I am approached behind me and just to my right enough for me to see someone is standing uncomfortably close. I turn to see who it is -- it's the other game-runner.

I didn't know he was here so this was a little surprising, and then this was also the first time I've not seen him being excited or personable to be there. He could have just come off of a lunch break, sure, and that's probably what happened to some degree...but like, I tried talking with him a few times to no response.

"Hey, what's going on man?"

Silence.

"Ya'll getting many players tonight?"

Silence.

This is pretty different from when he was telling me his life story Friday, or when he was offering free tries after finessing the game with some friends Saturday. Nope -- this time, the guy is just RBF'ing me over my shoulder.out of nowhere. I've been joking that the fair would kick me out eventually or even take me out back for some carnival-based scare-tactics like holding me up with a watergun, but this was a moment where I thought I was about to be told I've stood my last bottle.

With this pressure on me, I messed up the first two times -- welp, time to pay another five dollars. Duwana's busy, so I just tell the guy mean-mugging me I have a ten and ask if I should pay him or her. He nods. Well fuck, dude, that doesn't answer my question but okay.

I got it on my third time -- really gotta stop missing it these first two tries and save myself some money. Duwana goes WINNER WINNER WINNER and nobody applauds. Our nearby players have the same enthusiasm these game-runners now have for me. I gave Duwana my ten and ask for the pink snake. She gets "the winner's ladder" back out and brings it down. As she comes back down and gives it to me, I decide to share a thing with her.

"Hey, can I tell you something?"

"Yeah."

"I know I probably look like a jerk, but I'm giving these to kids and non-profits."

"I recognized you. You're fine."

And it was that point I wasn't sure if she understood me -- maybe, but I dunno. "I recognized you" makes me think she thought I was trying to disguise myself each night, but "You're fine" makes it sound like she's cool with me returning each night. I'll try not to overthink it, though now it's interesting to see there might be a division in how the two game-runners feel about my daily return. The guy who runs the game then got on his headset and started hosting the game. He sounded excited as he usually did at this point going forward..

I got to the other side of the fair and realized I didn't get change for my ten that I gave Duwana earlier. Eff it -- I got too wrapped up in winning and walked away, I'll take responsibility there. I'm not about to hassle for $5 back now that I walked away and am crushing them on their own game each night, but if they offer me free tries again in the future I may take them up on it and let that even itself out.
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I went alone today (probably will the rest of these nights too, who knows). Some missions are best done by one man.

The fair was packed yesterday, but Friday and especially today were less populated. I almost directly walked to the front of the line today.

I remembered some of the fun stuff aside from my game while waiting on Stamps and Robert yesterday, so I decided to scout and make sure I knew where a few things are...more information on them as I need them later.

After that, you know where I walked. This game is unfortunately on the far end of the fair and I park further away than their paid parking, so it's a lot of stepping on my end. It's okay though -- I'll work these crowds and I could use the exercise anyway.

I found the game and the crowd was maybe six people there. This was the first time I saw only one of the Bottle Up-pros working by themselves -- this time it was the woman, think her name's Duwana.

Duwana doesn't notice me until some other person wins. This guy spent like thirty dollars to win a prize -- been there bruh, but at least you won. He got a giant blue snake for his son and they both seemed happy once Duwana got "the winner's ladder" back out. I congratulate him and how how long it took him to win -- he said it's taken longer in past years and he's won a prize like this for his son every year the past few years. That's pretty sweet, right? I wish I could temporarily loan him these skills, but he's got love so he'll be fine.

Anyway, the game-runner catches me right behind her after this. She freezes to size me up and go "'Sup?" We are not equally happy about me being here in this moment.

I watch some other people play awhile, then I offer $5 to throw down on here. Duwana gauges the crowd, then looks back and says for me to come back when there's a bigger crowd.

I now believe I am "in" with them. I tell her I'll be back in twenty minutes, then started telling all my friends about this situation where I thought I could have bern banned. I'm laughing about this between games of Toss the Ball in the Bucket -- lost ten bucks there, crap, but whatever. It's fine because I think I'm "in" on Bottle Up now.

I really thought things were fine now, but a new insecurity was looming ahead.
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So hey, what's better than winning one snake?

Hint: what's the subtitle to that Metal Gear Solid 1 remake?

http://imgur.com/a/FNlNPLG

TWIN SNAKES

And in case you don't think I'm having enough fun yet:

http://imgur.com/a/NHgg2Mn
http://imgur.com/a/IoaTP6z
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I've had that question for a long time, trying to figure out if I've become my dad or a carnival worker more...but I can still piss them off, so I don't think I've crossed that line.

Yet.
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I might have an update in an hour, might be tomorrow though.

New prize and more.
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Sorry for the delay, the game-runner just told me to come back a little later when they have a bigger crowd.

PROMOTIONAL STATUS
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Getting ready for another night -- can I go three for three on prizes?!
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The game needs to be at more fairs, right on!
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The guy running it comes up to me and had a cool moment though. He was like "Hey...how many times you wanna play tonight? I'll just let you." I appreciated that, but I told him I'm happy to pay my part and play by the rules. I throw down another five dollars, effectively agreeing to the rules as they exist...including the rule we haven't talked about yet: ONE PRIZE PER PERSON PER DAY that's clearly up at that game still.

I try it a third time and stand it the third time. Finally. The tepid applause returns while the game-runners repeat the word WINNER a bunch. Stamps and Robert go wild.

They ask me what prize I want. I was originally going to get my brother's kids a different prize each, but after seeing the bear my brother didn't know he could fit any of them into his car. We agree that I'll get the kids a giant snake as a group prize -- that's his best chance to fit something in a car trunk, as huge as it is.

The woman running the game was mad I picked the snake. Remember what I said about short people running these games? Yeah, she couldn't get the snake down by herself. She went to get her step-ladder to grab the snake, and she still couldn't get it down. She walks away for a bit and gets a bigger ladder to finally get it down. Robert dubbed the second ladder as "the winner's ladder."

Carrying this snake back was a bitch. Stamps and I wore it on our shoulders back to my vehicle, plus I had it wrapped around my neck like a scarf in our hot weather. I was pretty hot and tired when we finished carrying this.

Security came up to me as I was walking out and said "Hey, where's my prize?" I turned my head as much as my new snake let me and didn't miss a beat: "Where's my sponsorship?"
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The Bottle Uppers start going "NO NO NO" but Stamps already paid them my money and I've got the pole in my hands. I'm going forward. I hear them over the speakers saying "Oh, they're trying to finesse us! Everybody, watch these guys trying to finesse us right here!"

The pressure's on in a bigger way now: carnival workers are throwing mad shade, friends are watching, I was thrust into a new gameplan, and they've got the audience watching. I crack and missed the first time.

The announcer then says "You only get one more try for your $5 and then you're outta here!" Ffffffffff, I'm nervous now, but it gets a little easier when I see the dude trying to stand it up during this time and he's messing it up too.

I try again -- MISSED AGAIN. Laughs surround me -- shut up, the four people I care about right now.
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We march down the path to get to the game. I'm pointing at each game along the way letting Robert know my prizes are bigger than those, bigger than these here...and as we pass some winners with huge animals, I let him know I think they just won Bottle Up. He wasn't ready enough for the hype about to go down, so he bought a lemonade.

We get to the game and it's the same two people working. Uh-oh. I'm about to be recognized. That's when Stamps pulled an audible on an unplanned strategy.

He asked me for some cash to play the game. I give him enough to play a few times and he goes up to learn how the game works. He's asking all the rules and strategies, and he's flirting along the way as he pays her. I step in closer so I can see how well Stamps does, and then the move of the century goes down.

Stamps grabs his shoulder and starts acting like he's in real pain.

"Ooh, ooh, ow, my shoulder! Something happened to my shoulder! Ow, and I already paid too, ouch! Somebody help me not waste my money, ooooooh. Sir, you sir, will you please use my money and play for me? AAAAAGGGGGHHHHH"

They game-runners look at me, and Robert said it best later that night: I'm the first person he's ever known to have the people running the game to get pissed at someone walking up.
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So I wait awhile for my friends to show up 'cuz I'm early and they gotta take an Uber which I clearly won't be able to join them for with a prize. I won that baby shark while waiting, yada yada yada...and then they show up. Awesome. The story begins.

Stamps saw me beat the fair last year on my first try and knows I know how to do this. Robert saw pictures before...but if you don't see it live, then you just don't really know.

We're here to do two things: get turkey legs and wreck this game.

The turkey legs are tougher and more expensive than I remembered! But then, I hurt my teeth on them last year so I shouldn't be surprised. We go up and ask for one each, and we were told these weren't just turkey legs...they were pterodactyl legs. Well shit, name your price then.....

$11 bucks later each we all regret this, but only a little. I bet next year Stamps and I'll do this again. You can break a liquor store window with these things. Just needs some more sauce and maybe not make the skin so hard.
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Oh, you meant Stand the Bottle, right?

https://imgur.com/a/vrT9dd9
https://imgur.com/a/BoJnyfH

There's a story coming tomorrow.
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I won this baby shark (doo, do-do, doo doo do-do.....) while waiting on my friends! One dollar, first try at a game I never played before called Any Color Wins.

https://imgur.com/a/RZlGelf

They call this a medium-sized prize, which is not my idea of a medium but this was the more kid-side of the fair so whatever.
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Just parked for round two.

I'll have some friends tonight.

Let's do this.
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Underleveled posted...

...Charlotte's Webb, is that you?

Forceful_Dragon posted...

I love the regular carnival stories, can't wait for installment number two.

Thanks dude, more are on the way if they don't take me out back and shoot me with their waterguns first.
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lordloki12 posted...

Kind of bummed it couldnt ride shotgun on the way home.

Man, if they ever made a stuffed animal for Ridley, I'd love to get a TOO BIG picture of me trying to fit it in for shotgun.

jcgamer107 posted...

You're HaRRicH! How Many Oversized Stuffed Animals Can You Strap to Your Car Before the Fair Ends?

If this was a video game, I hope it'd play like Crazy Taxi where I have to then deliver these prizes.

ChaosTonyV4 posted...

You look and sound nothing like I had imagined in my mind, knowing all the theater youve done.

This is just another character, don't mind me.
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I'll post pictures of past prizes later, but before this year I only won three times before. Once in like 2009, then twice last year.

Working on fifty though to finally prove foolmo right.
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I would love to hear more about bulk rates as they might apply to the fair. I've been trying to reverse-engineer how much money a fair probably makes on this game total each night.
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Monstrosities like this brought in $120 for a non-profit's auction last year, but hey, to each their own.

They have other prizes you might prefer. I'll post them as I win them.
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Show me where you buy that for under $15 ($10 admission fee), and I'll start gambling on trying to win this on just one try for $13.
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MariaTaylor posted...

was this topic just a trick to get us to watch your stand up?

My dad learned this game thirty years ago just to trick you into watching it.
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Sidenote: they officially call it Bottle Up now I guess, but for a long time I never knew them to have a real name, so I'm gonna often call it what I called it for a long time...Stand the Bottle.

So I found...Bottle Up...and they got a bit of a crowd there. I hung out awhile and watched the people mess it up. There were two people running the game, and to their credit they were largely teaching people and showing how to do the game right. They just do it uniquely due to their set-up...

...so, to explain if you didn't watch the video in the first post, the goal is to stand a bottle up from its side with a ring tied to a pole with a string. You can do this a few different ways, but the safe bet is to reach hard when you do it and use a steady follow-through instead of trying to flip it...

...their unique technique was to lean into their fencing -- like basically fall into it -- and let gravity help their follow through. I bet that works if you don't jerk, but it's not natural-looking.

Anyway, I watched them for about ten minutes. I'm watching everybody and their techniques, then I look for the rules.

ONE PRIZE PER PERSON PER DAY
WE ARE ALL WITNESSES NOW

So I eventually jump in and pay. Last year, they charged $5 for one try and $10 for four tries. This year, it's $3 for one try and $5 for two tries. I pay five dollars and I'm told I can do it three times...cool, thanks for the deal.

Won't need the one to grow on though -- got it my first try. They turn around and start to celebrate in a big way -- that's fun, but it was more fun to notice the delay before they celebrate because they clearly didn't expect me to do it. TEPID APPLAUSE ENSUES FROM THE DOZEN PEOPLE NEARBY

This game is clearly hard to learn, but I think the most challenging thing that happens at these booths is getting prizes down. They get short people to hang big prizes high, and they don't expect to pull them down often so I guess they don't worry about it...but it's kinda funny to watch people bring them down. It's a struggle.

I talk with this person awhile and ask for a name...and I don't really know how to pronounce it or type it. I ask how long they've been doing this -- apparently since October, which then went into a spiel about how this game changed their life. Turns out, according to this person, you can stop selling stuff you shouldn't be selling for this kind of job. He goes on to overshare how this job's allowing him to make $4,000 every two weekends. WHAT?! I don't believe that, but I smiled and said cool.

Lits of people ooh and aah as I walk my new teddy bear back. A dude tried to buy it from me as I strap it in the back of my truck -- couldn't fit it inside, so I had to get a bungie cord out.

Drove home, set my giant teddy bear up in a spot that I expect will surprise my roommate when he returns home tomorrow, and I will report back on that reaction when it happens.
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So I found my game soon after meeting that previous winner, but I circled around awhile first and got roped into another game first.

We'll call it Toss the Ball in the Bucket.

The goal: to toss the ball in the bucket. Truly, get two out of four throws in to win a prize.

Talked to a guy who was trying real hard to get me to play, to the point of saying "This is how I make my money man!" He made a deal where he'd let another guy play for free if I played, so I threw five bucks down. I asked them how the pros do this, and he told me "Hit the rim on the way in."

Four tries! First one bounced in and out, then, they threw one in. I took that opportunity to use the ball in there to stop it from bouncing out, and it worked. They then cleared the balls...uh-oh. On ball came short, the other bounced out. Bummer!

In hindsight, I think the actual trick is to throw them in for an angle. They could do it like that.

Still, he was alright with me. He was a stickler for rules at first, but when I asked if he cared my toes were on the line he said "I don't fucking care dude, stomp all over it." I liked him.

I shook hands and stepped away to smell the bad side of the fair, then got to the reason why I was there: Bottle Up.
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Here's what his prize looked like:

http://imgur.com/a/fRyO1vs

S'mine now.
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Just passed a dude with a huge tiedye teddy bear on his shoulders.

"How'd you win it?"

"Bottle Up."

IT'S HEEEEEEEEEEEERE
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In case you forgot what my game of choice is:

https://worldchannel.org/episode/sfts-rocky-top-remembers/
(about ten minutes in)

I'm a man with a simple goal: defeat the fair every night of the fair this year. I think they're open seven nights over the next week or so, so it'll probably be a seven-prize max when it comes to the biggest prizes at the fair.

Can I still stand the bottle? Will they let me play every day? Will the game even still be there?

How many prizes will I win?! First update's coming tonight.

All prizes will go to kids and non-profits.
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Really like the haunting sound of Forest here. The instruments here help tie together some weather storms I have planned for the story.

I didn't know Happier was intended to be a lyrically-sadder song than its title and sound implied.

Philip Quast > Russell Crow

No Good Deed's a good fit -- I haven't always been crazy about this soundtrack, but returning to this song has been refreshing.

Listening to the other songs a little later today...in the meanwhile, I'm adding Lynyrd Skynyrd - Was I Right or Wrong.
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Thank you for the suggestions! Right away, I can confirm Satisfied fits the bill. I think Cleanin' Out My Closet does too, but I'll relisten shortly. Checking out the rest today!
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I'm working on a new play and need help with a playlist please.

The play's built around the premise of exploring times when someone could feel bad for doing what they are responsible for doing. Maybe it's a family issue like stopping your son from running outside in a storm, even though he thinks he heard his dog he lost three months ago. Maybe it's a work issue like pushing your employee not to take their bereavement leave because it's the most important days of the year for the company and it can't survive without your employee being present...I hope this is painting a picture. It's not that these decisions must be morally or legally right -- it's that these decisions are made out of who and what you're responsible for, and that feeling can leave you with regret or other bad feelings if acted upon.

What songs might you recommend around this guilt of responsibility? I know it's kinda specific, but help would be appreciated!
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Very very nicely done.
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Tag.
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Appreciate the feedback team! Getting him a N64 controller dongle now and the rest should be history.
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My nephew found a Twitch stream recently that showed some user-made levels or maybe a full game based off of SM64 and now he's interested in watching more or maybe even finding out how to play them.

Please help me be a decent uncle. What could he have seen? What would you recommend from this type of category? Are these available for public download?
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Cuphead

Both are flawed but terrific anyway.
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Gotta get a new controller anyway and am probably gonna switch from the 360 controller I lost recently instead of getting another one.

The d-pad though: does it feel good? With or without comparing to the 360, just wanna be sure.
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Good race.

Deltarune's on now.

SMS and REmake 2 are next.
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