The Mammon Philosophy

Spotted this first on CTV.ca, then followed it around the horn. First off, let me say my thoughts are with this family, and I hope they find Brandon soon. Anyone with information should contact the Barrie police.

However, I thought this bit from the Star story was interesting:

“Steve suspects the 5-foot-3, 100-pound boy was on his way to meet some friends in Oro-Medonte Township. His three best buddies from school were also members of his “Call of Duty Clan.” Steve has since learned from these friends that Brandon may be part of another clan, but the friends have no idea who those members are. He fears the boy was lured into meeting someone from that clan and is now being held against his will.”

Or your kid is holed up in Oro-Medonte with his pals, Steve. It’s not hard to hide in the basement while your friends lie to the authorities.

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My sense of nostalgia is currently in tatters. Years upon years ago, shopping malls in Ottawa still had coin-op games present in their free spaces. Today, if there’s any games to begin with, they’re located in designated “entertainment zones” and typically cost a dollar a shot for the opportunity to pretend to dance or ride a motorcycle. But in those glorious times when you could play Raiden or Super Sprint for a mere twenty-five cents, the machines would be distributed throughout the centre, huddled around pillars or pushed back into corner alcoves. You never knew when the flash of an attract screen would catch the corner of your eye, and even if you did learn the places where you could expect to find a cabinet, you weren’t always assured that the same game would be there on the next visit.

When I was young, or so much younger than today, I remember catching a glance at one of these games just before it was swept away. It appeared to feature some sort of backflipping superhero, battling large men with spiked bats in an amusement park and, later, an angry yellow boss with waving ball-and-chain extendo-arms. It even seemed that you could switch characters! Unfortunately, the pair of “big kids” on the machine had a steady supply of quarters to pay for their continues, so I had to leave the game unplayed, never to see it again or even learn its name.

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