My brother-in-law Jeff and my son’s mentor Max joined me for pinball in Pelham, NH last night as mom and Aunt Fabienne did my wife’s hair and watched the baby. It was my first time at Pinball Wizard on a Saturday night, and the place was buzzing with excitement. It was also the first time I took my camera to the arcade.

Here’s Jeff taking Rudy’s abuse in Funhouse and liking it:

Max engaged in his first encounter with Pinball 2000 and Star Wars Episode I:

Max on the same machine with Jeff looking on:

Pinball Wizard’s glorious Williams pinball row:

After a couple closed days due to rain, Berkshire East reopened for skiing on Saturday, March 11. Here is a video taken from clips shot on my Sony A55 camera and 50mm f1.8 lens. The featured skiers are Jon and I.

For best quality, watch the video in 720p.

My wife Misha, my brother-in-law Jeff, and I visited Pinball Wizard Arcade on the night of their two month anniversary. This is a very large, classic arcade featuring more pinball machines than I’ve ever seen in one place. The room is painted dark gray. Track lighting from the ceiling lights the room with just right subtlety, allowing the games to shine. With a huge amount of beautifully restored pinballs and video games, Pinball Wizard is already becoming world famous, rivaling the legendary Fun Spot in Laconia, NH which bills itself as “the largest arcade in the world.”

Here’s a clip of me playing my all-time favorite pin, Addams Family, a game I enjoyed in between college classes at arcades in Boston.

Thanks for the video Jeff!

I have never played an Addams Family game running so perfectly and displaying so beautifully. This experience plus playing Funhouse with a perfectly working Rudie and introducing it to my family and my relatives Skip and Barbara (who met us there) were the highlights of my night. Turns out that Skip is quite a player and could hardly be dragged away from Funhouse as the 10 o’clock closing got closer! Jeff was very into the Twilight Zone pin.

Here’s a shot of our group wrapping up the fun and heading home. Owner Sarah is the tall blonde behind the counter. Both she and Christina spent a lot of time with me, as they could see my enthusiasm and my big smile that never went away.

Thanks to my mother-in-law Myrtha for babysitting so us kids could run out and play! Can we do this again tomorrow night mom?

Here’s some video from Sunday, February 27 that I edited together from my ski day with Christian at Cannon & Mittersill in Franconia, NH. This was just my second ski day of the 2010/2011 season so you can bet I cherished it. The video starts with footage of the notch, driving up 93 North. At 1:45 you can ski Christian skiing the Taft Trail that heads toward Mittersill, just before the short hike up. New this year is a double chair at Mittersill, although the trails are still un-groomed and un-patrolled.

This was my first-ever time skiing Mittersill, a lost ski area so many others have hiked, enjoyed, and written about, so the experience was magical. I chose a song that conveys some of the wonder I felt, Frazier Chorus – “All the Air.”

After you press the Play button, choose 720p for the best quality.

Here’s a short video I made from a few hours spent last night at Wachusett. Thanks to my neighbor and friend Christian for capturing a couple video clips of my skiing. The song is a reggae cover of Sade’s “Baby Father.” The cover version is by Mandy Wood & Steele. I have it on the CD, R&B Hits Reggae Style Volume Four.

Last night was my first time on skis this season. Things have been very busy since my son was born on 1-11-11. Oh yes, there’s a bit of news for you!