Letters to the Editor

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Need A Good Reason to Spot the Newt?

This month's lucky (and fearless) newt spotter will receive a pair of hand-woven North Star bead ornaments (symbols of hope) from N.H.'s own Native American bead artist Deborah Dostie of Silver Wolf Creations in Bristol, silverwolfcreations.net. Silver Wolf Creations is a proud member of NH Made (www.nhmade.com), the state's official non-profit booster of locally generated products and services. (Just for the record, New Hampshire Magazine is a proud member, too.)

Spot four newts like this one hidden on ads in this issue, tell us where you found them and you might win an assortment of great gifts. To enter our drawing for a free gift basket, send your answers to:

Spot the Newt
c/o New Hampshire Magazine
150 Dow St., Manchester, NH 03101

E-mail them to newt@nhmagazine.com, or fax them to (603) 624-1310.

Last month's "Spot the Newt" winner is Jane Murphy of Pittsburg, NH. November issue newts were on pages 12, 15, 34 and 81.

Letters to the Editor

You Wish
I am probably not the first to point out the error in the "Last Laugh" column in the October 2011 issue of New Hampshire Magazine. I am sure many Democrats in Massachusetts wish that U.S. Sen. Scott Brown (D-Mass.) was a "D." As pointed out in that now-famous debate remark by Scott Brown, it was not Ted Kennedy's seat but the "People's Seat."

Randall Craig
(An outnumbered "R" in a Blue State who enjoys vacationing in N.H.)
Marblehead, Mass.

P.S. Maybe Sen. Scott Brown (D-Mass.) was the "Last Laugh"?

Editor's Note: Either that or maybe the computer's auto-correct function simply assumed that the only letter you can place before a Mass. office holder is "D."

Spooky Settings
The poltergeistian activity on page 45 of the October 2011 New Hampshire Magazine is the compass has flipped East and West. Also, the bearing numbers are messed up. In any direction they only go to a 90 degree count instead of a full 360.

Love the magazine!

Willy Burnell
Strafford

Editor's Note: We published Willy's letter because he gave the most thorough assessment of the ghostly influences upon Page 45 of our October issue. However, there were four other intrepid ghost hunters who found the handiwork of the poltergeist on that page. They are Vicki True of Pittsfield, Mary Ellen Humphrey of Rochester, Bud and Sally Dowd of Atkinson and Sue Kim of Greenfield. All received a certificate recognizing their keen supernatural perception and a free one-year subscription to New Hampshire Magazine.

Don't Eat Your Hat
If the monument in Victory Park [October 2011] commemorates the Civil War, I'll eat my hat. Don't think puttees, plus-fours, trench coats and tin hats were standard - or even uncommon - issue in the 1860s. Also, the Art Deco eagles at the top of the monument would be hilariously inappropriate. Look again!

Pat Meyers
Manchester

Editor's Note: We looked again, and you're right - it's not the Civil War, it's World War I.

Sky-high Praise
I am the manager of Lady of the Lake, and I have had many people come into the shop because they have seen our ad in NH Magazine. All of the comments have been very complimentary concerning the magazine and our ads.

Gloria Moore from Adornments Inc. wanted me to share with you my most recent experience. On September 18, I flew out to see my daughter who lives in California. I was seated next to a gentleman who was on a business trip to Los Angeles. As we began to talk, I told him I was from New Hampshire. He said he lived on an island on Lake Winnipesaukee in the summer and also lived in Amherst. I told him that I lived in Meredith and worked at Lady of the Lake. He said he knew of Lady of the Lake because he had seen our ads in NH Magazine. He went on to say that he had always been impressed with the ads because they were professionally presented. He said they were elegant and tastefully done. He continued to say that NH Magazine was a fine magazine which he enjoyed reading. An aside, I also found out Stephen King filmed "Pet Cemetery" on this gentleman's property in Maine!

Well, the fascinating things one can discover about people and their coincidences all because of a magazine from New Hampshire.

Cherolyn Pierce/Manager
Meredith

Dropped Balls
I just got my November issue. I'm glad to see that you wrote about Sarah St. John and her Pinball Wizard Arcade as I had suggested in an earlier e-mail. Unfortunately, you didn't heed the part where I wrote that you should have me fact-check the article or any article about coin-operated games. I have been following the coin-op industry since the late 1960s.

Here's what I found:

1. The caption for the main photo says it depicts the Addams Family pinball machine, when it actually shows a different Addams game (not a pinball).

2. The place is not the second-largest arcade in the world. It is not second-largest in number of pinballs, number of video games, square footage or any other measure.

3. Peter Townshend's name spelled wrong.

4. I don't know what the "one of only four Ms. Pac-Mans ever made" might refer to, but it's not the Ms. Pac-Man video game.

5. The reference to the Star Trek game as a 1970s classic is deceptive. Last time I checked, she did not have the 1979 one, just the later ones.

6. The assertion that most of the machines are irreplaceable is essentially wrong. There are some irreplaceable pinball games, but none of the games there qualify.

I don't know much about Sarah's personal history, so I can't comment on the correctness of facts about her.

Overall, I think the article will help the arcade and help the readers who want to find such a place.

Dave Marston

Editor's Note: We did drop the ball on some fact checking here. Having checked with Pinball Wizard Arcade owner Sarah St. John, here are our corrections for the permanent record:

The Addams family game is not a pinball machine but a "redemption machine."

According to Aurcade.com, the Pinball Wizard Arcade is in a neck-and-neck battle for second place with Galloping Ghost Arcade of Brookfield, Ill., and, as of this moment, is in the lead with 301 games to their 294.

The story should have said that they have one of only four SUPER Ms. Pac-Mans ever made. It was a bootleg, custom version of the popular feminist sequel to the original Pac-Man.

The Star Trek game was indeed a 1970s classic, but the versions that Pinball Wizard has on display are later models.

To the question of replaceability, Sarah St. John says yes and no. "Some are rare machines," she says "and some, I'd challenge anyone to find them."

As for misspelling Pete Townshend's name, we're guilty as changed, but to quote The Who, "We won't get fooled again."