Atari XE hopes

1987 was probably the worst year of my life, and also the best. I could go on and on about that for ages, but my memories of that year are very vivid and I keep coming back to that year again and again for various reasons (some unknown). I was 9 years old and obsessed with video games. Well, I still am, but things were at a fever pitch in 87, as the NES was still unattainable but so so close to my grasp, the Atari 7800 was in my clutches and I was psyched! The 7800 port of Xevious really broke my brain! In retrospect that system was a failure waiting to happen, but getting it as a bday present August 17th 1987 was a really invigorating prospect.
But beyond the hot desire for the NES and my love of this newly acquired Atari system, something lay like a nagging forgotten dream. Home computing. As I've written about previously on this here blog, (http://trashcanland.blogspot.com/2009/01/stevie-you-rodent.html) computers were rather fascinating to my young self. Not fascinating enough to really pursue a relationship with the machines mind you, but just enough to generate feelings of longing. I had no computer, could not financially have one, but I had used a C64 at my friend's house and found it frustrating and kind of obtuse: "Why do we have to spend all this time typing weird stuff into this thing to make it play a game? My Atari does it just by inserting a cartidge!" Yet, all those computer wiz characters in cartoons really inspired a need. A need to compute, even if it was in a roundabout dilletantish way that maintains to this day! I was more psyched on (the completely fictonal)computer book that Penny used to solve crimes for her lame as Uncle Gadget than I was in Basic or anything else boring...or based in reality.
I sort of gave up on the computer thing once I realized how out of my family's budget it was, and how very alien the reality of computers was to my sensibilities. But I thought I found the bridge; the place where I could rest my outsider head in the world of home computing. The Atari XE.
This was entirely inspired by the televsion advertisements, as I was enough of an outsider to the culture that I had no idea that Atari had several hugely successful home computers even though I had a fierce brand loyalty to the Atari name.
This is sort of similar to how I was too young to actually notice the great videogame crash, but I reaped the benefits of it in complete ignorant bliss. Discounted 2600 games at 4 bux a pop? Bring it on, merry christmas, Danny! But I read no magazines and had no context. I was 6 and loved my 2600 and that's all I cared about. I saw the 5200 games in Toys R Us and something about the boxes kind of scared me, but that was really my only exposure to the "second generation" systems. Oh and one memorable Donkey Kong/Colecovision commercial. That shit just baffled me though. Wouldn't you just prefer playing Frogs and Flies or Demon Attack for all eternity?
But these ads for the XE really linked cartridge gaming and computers! How could I go wrong! I remember kind of struggling with having designs on this guy, or the wave of the exciting future, which was obviously the NES. I went with the NES and found out there was no Santa in the process, but I still wonder what would have been. Would have I gotten into programming and have an IT job now instead of being a DJ and paperboy? Or would have I just been still totally alienated by all that nerd shit and stuck with yet more ports of Joust? I bet the latter, as it still took me a while to realize that the B button did anything on NES once I got one in early 88. Small minded in the realm of button possibility I suppose (this later really fucking threw me in Metroid).
But anyhow, here are the ads that gave that nerd-desire a momentary pop appeal for moi.



An odd side note: At a time when videogame rentals were still kind of rare, the local mom and pop convenience store rented out XE games. Bet they regretted that business decision!

Journal entries from 2001

January 21st: Once again
My foot is cold and wet
due to a hole in my shoe and snow on the ground

I feel city
It is nice
John Davis

January 22nd: Here is this time....I'm an Idiot

January 23rd: Coddled by life,
hated by many
Is the rug geoing to be ripped out?
Is this damage the final joke?
All meaningless.

January 24th: I'm stupid.
I'm Evil.
I'm a circle.
Ignore myself,
and send flowers for best results.

January 25th: More bathroom dreams,
Mike was wearing a lie...
"whitesnake"
Definitely not Mike.

January 26th: Written the day after Amy was here
She is TOO CUTE!
and I mean that

January 27th: Dream:
Chuck E. Cheese but different
Axl Rose down a river
Roger Ebert and MK fetching a frog
Monks,
Porno ----------->autobiography of a flea
we are in a movie

January 28th: Perhaps doing things of imiportance from a distance now, letters, etc.

Anthro Rex things

Hey, whoever was interested in getting some old Anthro Rex material...email me: DJCashman78@gmail.com...I might have some things.

And that's where I picked up...

Jan 15th 2001
Insignifigent dreams.
George went away.
I am not satisfied.
Explosions are important to me.
I need to grind.
Destroy
I've been a good boy
too good.

Jan 16th 2001
Trying to minimize hatred in traffic...
what hate people when I can just igore it
hate and hypocrite

Jan 17th 2001
Money problems are ridiculous
so are completist issues
Fucking, get off it, Dan!

Jan 18th 2001
A smell like musty nothing
else kept creeping in

Jan 19th 2001
I wanted to watch cartoons forever today.
sometimes it's all I need.

Jan 20th
I ran for the orange line
It wasn't there yet
there were some chicken bones strewn about
train came soon enough
it smells really awful in here
like vinegar.

Old entries found journal

Fri Jan 4th 1946
Dear Diary I did four test in school. I wonder if I got a hundred in each one.

Sat Jan 5th 1946
Dear Diary I helped my mother change the place around today. I hope I did good.

Sun Jan 6th 1946
Dear Diary I miss two masses this morning so I went to the eleven o'clock.

Mon Jan 7th
Dear Diary I got a bike today and it is a good bike. I have a basket on it.

Tuesday Jan 8th
Dear Diary I did mouthing today and I thing I am a awful bad boy.

Wed Jan 9th
Dear Diary I did a lot of work today. I hope you like it.

Thurs Jan 10th
Dare Diary I painted my bike today blue a orange.

Fri Jan 11th
Dear Diary I painted my bike bike again today and the color of it was red.

Sat Jan 12th
Dear Deary I was a bad boy and I got a licken it hurted me.

Sun Jan 13th
Dear Diary I was a bad boy today.

Mon Jan 14th
Dear Diary

[final entry]

Anthro Rex Discography

After all these years I wrote out a discography....
damn that's a lot of tape.
I thought I had it all and George says "Hey, did you remember that double C90 you did?"
nope.

Anthropophagous Rex Discography
The First Two Albums C-60 BWR
"King of Avarice" on "Show and Tell Vol 2" comp on BWR
3way split live cdr with Bengeorge7 and Landmines Across America
I Like Fun/I am Particled Density CDR on BWR
Contra 4: The Discs of Hollywood 2xC-90
The Erotic Rites of Anthropophagous Rex CDR on BWR
Gothsluts, Jeep Beats and Jeff Foxworthy CDR on BWR
For the Girls C-60
"under the veil of wilderness" on Gilded Throne comp
HM/M/HM C-30
(as DJ Cashman) Mad Monster Maze C-?
Wart Life (live) C-?
Goth Booty Vol 2 C-30
"Gimme Some Cocaine" on comp
Cruisin for Alchemy C-60
(as DJ Cashman) Duo Dimension split with Snackattack
split C-20 with Syn-Toffs on Shorty
Justified and Ancient all covers tape C-30
HM (partial reissue) CDR
Nice Buns/Awesome Graphics C-46 on Ormlycka
(as DJ Cashman) Duo Dimension Dos split CDR with Snackattack
60 minutes of solid gold c-60
Don't Mess Me Up CDR

Entries from found diary.

Jan 3rd 1946
Dear Diary I cleaned house for my mother. I hope I was doing well.