Birding and Retro Gaming

 Albuquerque, NM

Me and Justin playing SSX Tricky at New Game+ 

Birding with Central New Mexico Audubon

This morning we used our alarm clock to wake up at 7am so we could make it to an 8:30 Birding Hike with The Central New Mexico Audubon Society.  We arrived on time and were greeted by the walk leader.  We took a slow stroll through parts of the Cibola National Forest.  The weather is getting a bit colder and the area is VERY dry so there were fewer birds than I would have liked but we still had a great time talking to other birders and seeing some new birds for us in New Mexico.

There is a walk every Thursday while we are here so we will probably do more.  They will be in different areas so that will be fun.  I also have a few places picked out in hopes to see some of the life birds here we haven't seen yet as well as seeing some more Road Runners and Quail.

Retro Gaming with a Former Coworker

A bit later in the day I met my friend and former coworker, Justin, for lunch and some retro gaming.  We had a great lunch at Eloy's Mexican Restaurant and then walked over to Gamers Anonymous (a vintage game store) to look for games we had worked on together.  We didn't see any so we decided that they were all in the hands of collectors and never going to see the open market again.  They did have some cool stuff but nothing as great as my collection was.  After looking around a bit we walked next door to Retro Games+ to play an our of SSX Tricky on their PS2 for an hour.  I assumed they just had a big collection of games but it looked like they just had modded consoles with MAME on them. Not sure how legit this is but it was fun.

The Game Shop

They had cool artwork too

This is the back Retro Living Room at Retro Games+ where we played PS2.  It reminded me a bit of my game room back in the day (photos to follow at the end of the blog).

Here is the PS2 running some sort of emulator.

I also took 2 very different photos of Francis today.  I thought I would share them.

This is Happy "Pet Me" Francis.  He does this when we get home after leaving him for a bit.

This is Pissy "Daddy Didn't Give Me A Cookie" Francis.  

The Former Game Room

A long time ago I collected vintage video games and starting about 8 years ago I sold the whole collection over the course of about 5 years.  I do miss having the collection but I don't miss the amount of space it took up and cost of storing it.  

That's it for today.  If you missed Albuquerque Museum, check it out.  We saw a lot of O'Keeffe.

Albuquerque Museum

 Albuquerque, NM

Fall Colors

A Visit to the Albuquerque Museum

Today we used our NARM pass to visit the Albuquerque Museum.  The museum has art as well as New Mexico history.  Their art collection is pretty solid and their current exhibit, O'Keeffe and Moore is really great.  Both O'Keeffe and Moore took inspiration from nature and bones.

Fun fact, we also get into the O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe for free but it appears that a lot of their paintings are on loan for this exhibit so we will probably skip it.

Bear with Clouds and Planes - Bob Haozous

Working Model for Oval and Points - Henry Moore

Spring - Georgia O'Keeffe

Reclining Figure - Henry Moore

Black Place I - Georgia O'Keeffe

Pedernal - Georgia O'Keeffe

From the River - Pale - Georgia O'Keeffe

They had a recreation of Moore's Studio

And a recreation of O'Keeffe's studio

unfinished Canvas - Georgia O'Keeffe
I thought this was a cool way to display an unfinished painting, in a replica of a studio.

In the Patio I - Georgia O'Keeffe

Mule's Skull with Pink Poinsettia - Georgia O'Keeffe

Mask with Golden Apple - Georgia O'Keeffe

Banana Flower No. II - Georgia O'Keeffe

Bird Basket - Henry Moore

Clam Shell - Georgia O'Keeffe

Autumn Leaves - Lake George NY - Georgia O'Keeffe

Red Hill and White Shell - Georgia O'Keeffe

Storm Cloud, Lake George - Georgia O'Keeffe

Corner Lamp - Larry Bell

Sacred and Pro Fame - Frederick Hammersley

Dialogue Yellow-blue - Oli Sihvonen

Corona - Richard Hogan

Luminum - Lilly Fenichel

Chavez Ravine V - Clinton Adams

Chima Altar III - Luis Tapia

Carlsbad Trilogy (one of) - Raymond Jonson

Excellent!

Self Portrait - Raymond Jonson
Raymond Jonson is one of the most influential figures in modern New Mexican art history.

Governor Tingley's License Plate 1939

The New Mexico History is broken up into a few wings including "Courageous" and "Spirited"

Donna took this shot of me posing in a replica of a Diner

The whole museum and building are really cool.  It's a great museum to be in.

I took a Georgia O'Keeffe inspired photo on the way out.

Later that evening I headed back to Sister to play some pinball and practice on some machines I am less familiar with.  

I got photos of 2 of the 3 current banks of machines.  They are all in great shape and play really well.

My focus was Lord of the Rings and Monster Bash but there was 1.5 free credits on Attack From Mars so I put in 50 cents and played the 2 games and earned 2 more.  I also have never played tales of the Arabian Nights so I played that a bit and kind of understand it. 

That's it for today.  If you missed New Mexico's State Cookie, check it out.