Review: Z82 Retrocade

Business name:	Z82 Retrocade
Business type:	Entertainment
Location:	Sherwood, Ark.
My rating:	A
Website:	Facebook

I enjoyed video games much more when I was younger, mainly because I had more time to play. Since high school, I have spent less and less time playing video games as my daily responsibilities have increased. Although I find myself playing less, I still enjoy the occasional game. 

This weekend I finally had the opportunity to go to Z82 Retrocade in Sherwood, Ark. I had been wanting to go since a friend told me about it in 2014 but hadn't had the chance. With rain forecast for all day Saturday and no plans, I needed to find something cheap to do indoors. Z82 offers a variety of old arcade games set up on free play and only costs $7.50 per person for the entire day.

Environment

The arcade is a family-friendly environment. There were kids and adults enjoying the games. The machines looked new, the facilities were clean and the staff was very friendly. There aren't a lot of options for food and drinks and no outside food or drinks are allowed. However, a thirty-minute pass is available to allow for reentry. Several fast food restaurants are within walking distance, including Subway, Sonic, Arby's and McDonalds.

The Games
I was first introduced to Galaga when I was in middle school at which time I spent way to many quarters to play. Later I found it again on Gamecube. Saturday was probably the first time I had played in 10-12 years. Z82 Retrocade features classic arcade games such as Galaga, Donkey Kong, PacMan, Frogger and many others. I was even reintroduced to some games I had played in the 90's on the computer but had forgotten about like Asteroids and Missile Launch II.

Along with the classics other options such as Foosball, Air Hockey and Digital Dance Revolution were available.

My nephew and I spent from noon until about 9 p.m. at the arcade on Saturday. It was an affordable indoor option for a rainy day. My rating: A!

A walk in history's footsteps

Note: I have been attempting to write this blog for a week now and keep having technical difficulties.

I do not enjoy sitting down and reading a history book. Most of what I read I forget soon after a test. But I love being able to walk through a place where history happened. Recently I walked through place (although I am currently living in a place that was under that same empire) with a lot of history. I was walking in a city where people such as Julius Caesar, and St. Peter had been (just to name a few). And of course, what would a trip to Rome be without seeing the Colloseo?

One of the first major attractions I saw in Rome was Circus Maximus, the old chariot racing grounds, and nearby the Roman Colosseum. I wish we had payed extra for an audioguide or a tour guide. Later we went to Palastino  and the Roman Forum. The entrance to all three of these places was paid for with the same ticket which was valid for two days.

I wished I had remembered more about the history of the Roman Empire from high school. I remembered very little from the text book. And unfortunately I did not have a lot of time to research the background of Rome before going. Instead I would have to look it up when I returned to Huelva.

The second full day I saw the Vatican. The journey began about 8:45 in the morning, standing in line to visit St. Peter's Basilica. Cost to climb the stairs: 5 euros. After descending the stairs exited into the Basilica. After walking around for a little bit there was a door with museum written above it. Thinking that was the Vatican Museum where the Sistine Chapel is located I paid another five euros only to find out it was the treasure room. Not something I wanted to pay for when I had seen the same stuff in other basilicas for free. After leaving the treasury and walking through the bible history museum (free) it was time for lunch. Very small amounts of food still cost a lot of money in Rome. Two of us ended up sharing food meant for one person so that we could bring the lunch cost down to 40 euros. A small plate of lasagna, green beans, potatoes and a bottle of water cost a fortune.

After lunch, it was time to seriously find the museum. It didn't take long and soon I was paying another 8 euros to enter. It was already 1 p.m. by the time I was seeing the museum. I just wanted too see the Chapel and look around quickly before leaving to see more of Rome. But they wouldn't have any of that. Although signs said, "Sistine Chapel this way" and pointed down a hallway, the path was always blocked. Instead they forced visitors through every one of the 7 kilometers of galleries. Or just about every one of them I guess. It was about 3:30 before finally getting out of the Vatican and heading back to Rome. Which brings me to a quick side note.

The first night in Rome I threw two coins into the Trevi Fountain. The legend has it that if you throw a coin in over your shoulder you will visit Rome again. And indeed, I left Rome to go to the Vatican and once again returned to Rome. But I hope that doesn't count because there is so much more that I have yet to see there.

Anyway, after heading back to Rome I wanted to see a film which was advertised on the tourist map and told some of the history of the Roman Empire. It would be nice to see the re-creation of some of the buildings I was seeing throughout the city. It was hard to imagine what the ruins I was seeing might have actually looked like 2,000 years ago. The movie helped and was definitely interesting. It answered some of my questions and left me with new questions. After the movie I made my way to several other locations but unfortunately it was after 6 p.m. and they had closed. As I said above, I hope I can go back to Rome some day. The following morning it was time to catch a flight to Milan.

The biggest attraction for me there was "The Last Supper," yet another famous painting. However, upon arrival I found that they only allowed 25 visitors per hour. That was about 10 a.m. and they had already sold out of tickets for the day. I was not able to see the painting but I guess I can say I have stood in the same building. The rest of my time in Milan wasn't of much interest. At about 9:30 p.m. I was getting off a train in Venice. And three hours later finally arrived at the hotel. Venice was a maze at night.

The next day is when I got my first real glance at Venice. This is the city I had seen in so many movies and had come to have a romantic connotation with it. I didn't know of a lot of things to do in Venice except for St. Mark's Square. I also wanted to find at least one geocache and visit the Hard Rock Cafe. And once again, what would visiting Venice be without a ride in one of the gondolas? Even better, I got a 40 euro discount from the normal 100 euro cost.

Thursday evening after sightseeing I got to witness a live concert. The tickets only cost 20 euros. The first piece was Vivaldi's Four Seasons. I had heard "Spring" many times before but never the entire work. It was nice.

Then Friday came and it was back to Spain where it was raining on and off, of course. But it was a great trip. Once I returned to my appartment in Huelva I was able to upload pictures and finally do a little more searching about the Roman Empire.

Here are two videos I found and enjoyed on Youtube:





And finally, here are a few other videos from Rome and Venice.

1. Musicians and other street performers are in no shortage in the plazas.

2. Venice has a "metro" made up of boats.

3. One of many street performers in Venice

Old Days

Candle light is often perceived as romantic, and perhaps it is. But when the power goes out, as it did this weekend in Sheridan where I was, it reminded me of history and the movies I have seen when they had no electric lights. Even when there was power but I could not find a flashlight, I took a candle and lit it to walk by outside.

But when the power went out on Saturday it was all candle-light. I enjoyed it. It meant spending time without electronics (or at least the ability to recharge them after they drained). We spent the time (that would have been eating dinner and probably watching TV) playing a non-electronic game: Farkle, by candle-light.

It was to dim to read by because the candles were mostly "smell-good" candles not meant for light. But it took my imagination to the old days. We were in the middle of no where, without electricity. I imagined the metal candle holder with a handle to cary it around for light.

I also thought that, although it will probably never happen, one of my future homes I would like to be in a rural area. I would like it to be semi-rustic. It would have all the modern things such as electric lights, bathrooms, and all that, but also have it set up for candles. Candles last a long time, especially the ones that when they melt, re-harden after they cool. So when a lot of light is not necessary I could use candles instead and save energy. It was an interesting thought and an interesting weekend. Weekends are always too short!

Technology and the Future

It doesn't matter what I am studying, I will always find something to distract me. Today it was technology and the future. As I sat in the library thinking about some geocaching, I began to think of an idea for a "travel bug" that I could put in my first regular sized cache.

I decided it would be really cool to buy a 2 gig flash drive to use for the bug. On the first part I would put a text document with directions and the purpose of the bug. There would then be folders labeled by Country. Inside each country folder, sub-folders with state names would be created and then further sub-folders labeled by cities.

The directions would be something like this: Please create a new text file and title it with your username and home. In the text file write a little bit about yourself and about the area in which you live, whether it be your city, county, or state.

The purpose: In one aspect this is like a time capsule. It is also a chance for learning about other people and communities. Each time the bug is found a new entry would be saved inside the respective folder and the next people who find it can read it.

Then I began thinking about the use as a time capsule type thing. What if the earth is around for another 5,000 years and someone finds this flash drive. Would they know what to do with it? Computers as we know them might cease to exist. And what about energy?

Even if scientists had found old computers that would still function, would the forms of energy still be the same? Would they be able to run a computer to see the information on the computer or external memory devices?

What will scientists be able to know about so much of our culture and our civilization during this time. That information is stored on thousands of computers. Devices which require power. Devices that require other devices to function. Files corrupt. Water destroys the systems. Dirt isn't good for it. So in 5,000 years, after it has faced all these elements and new technologies have developed how much would be availible to study our history?

The example I will leave you with: 3.5 inch floppy disks. You remember those large square, plastic-covered disks. the ones that you slipped inside a slot on the front of a computer. The things that, if left in the computer, caused a delay in the boot-up sequence. The things that would hold 1 picture if you are lucky with today's cameras. The things that were replaced by CD's which are gradually being replaced with flash drives. When is the last time you used one?

So when all that time passes how will things change? How will they be different? Will they use electricity as we know it? Will they have power chords? Will computers have keyboards or be all voice control? Will they be big or small? How will information be stored? What information will be available about our society for future generations?

A Short Drive in Time

Christmas break has officially begun. I got back to Conway, along with my friend Yan, around 8 pm Tuesday night. Wednesday I had a dentist appointment and then we went into Sherwood for my grandmother's appointment. Finally, on Thursday, we got around to doing a little bit of exploring around Conway.

To spice it up a little bit I decided to get some coordinates so we could find some caches in the different areas we went.

First we went to Toad Suck Ferry Park in far West Conway. I always knew this park was here but never knew about the history, and had never visited it. The bridge has only been there for 40 years, replacing the ferry in 1970.

We later went to Cadron Settlement Park. I've been there many times but only walked around the main part which offers a lot of historical information. It talks about the trail of tears along with other historic information. But after that we went hiking to look for the cache (which we would not find). Along the trail we found an old grave site that I never knew was there.

Later we went to eat at Stoby's and then to Laurel Park.

I am sure there are a lot of interesting things in everyone's home towns, you just have to do a little digging. I would encourage you to find something interesting over the break.

The History of ASU

I just finished making some edits to a feature story I had to write for one of my classes. It is a historical feature on the Library. It took quite a bit of work in order to write the feature. I spent several hours in Archives, though at least an hour of that time was unnecessary, researching history.

One of the books that I came across was Voices from State: An Oral History of Arkansas State University written by Larry D. Ball and William M. Clements, both who work(ed) at ASU. I found myself engrossed in the book. All I needed to know was the history of the library. That is what I looked for while I was in the archives.

When I left, they informed me the book was available in the general collection. So from the Archives I proceeded to the fourth floor to find the book. Sure enough, I found it along with another book I had previously checked out. I grabbed it and headed to the circulation desk, and then to the cafeteria to have breakfast with my friends.

It turns out I was more interested in the book than them. I sat down with about five of my friends and ate my food. We normally sit in the cafeteria and talk for at least an hour during our meals. This time when I finished my meal, I pulled out the book. I spent the next 45 minutes reading instead of talking. I ignored them the entire meal.

I was captivated by the history. The majority of the book was written in quote format. The authors said a little bit about a topic and then would tell the rest with quotes from students, faculty, and staff.

Most students hear about the fire that destroyed the administration building. But did you know several buildings were severely damaged or destroyed in a tornado during the '60s? Did you know that there used to be an airplane hangar on campus? There was a ton of information in the book.

I admit, I was unable to read everything in it. Sometime when I have some free time--I can't believe I am saying this about an educational book-- I want to check the book out again and read it. I want to know more about the school I attend.

If you have not read about the history of Arkansas State University, I would definitely recommend those who attend or plan to attend investigate that history. It is entertaining and educational.

The history of Wilson is a good place to start.