Randy Senna is an arcade-game enthusiast and collector that some call "eccentric" (like Philly.com) and some call a hoarder (like the show Hoarders, on which he'll appear next week). A few years ago, he basically commissioned a documentary about himself and his now-closed old-timey game spot on the Wildwood, NJ boardwalk called Flipper's Fascination. The doc lost funding (or something), but its directors, Steve Loff and Prichard Smith, released about 30 minutes of some 107 hours of footage they shot on YouTube in 2008. No one paid much attention, which is perfect in a way (it's like interactive destitution) but also kind of a shame because it's amazing and kind of pre-Jersey craze zeitgeisty and still relevant, I think. If nothing else, there is a really amazing improvised series/movie that is just dying to come out of this or something like it (really, I think Christopher Guest could tear the shit up).
My favorite of all the segments is above, but the one of people just eating boardwalk food is stellar, as is the one about Darlene, who rides a Jazzy, eagerly shows just how false her teeth are, shares a story about her being mistaken for a man and wears vomit on her shirt seemingly just for kicks. The best (and by that I mean most despicable) thing about the one above is that it upholds a great Wildwood tradition. In it, a foreign employee of Randy's is repeatedly referred to as "Pumpkin," which seems kind of...off. Maybe racist and/or homophobic? At one point, after the kid protests being called this, Randy's mother says, "I could call ya worse!" And then, you're almost certain about what she means. Anytime someone says something off color in Wildwood, there's always someone else to prove that your worst suspicions are the correct suspicions.
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Posted by: Andy | July 15, 2011 at 03:42 AM
Nothing I can say is the better than the above comment. So I just won't.
Posted by: Lisa | July 15, 2011 at 12:41 PM
I grew up in Philly going down the shore, mainly to Wildwood in the 80's and 90's (listening to Lil Suzy while riding the log flume is probably my favorite memory ever.) I may have met these guys. I hear they sell bath salts on the boardwalk now. Whuuuuut. So silly. I'll find out when I visit next month. <3
Posted by: Mike is fly. | July 16, 2011 at 01:04 AM
The doc may have been dead, but it appears to have breathed new life as of yesterday: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6a9GsypJeE
Perhaps the episode of Hoarders was just a launching board to get people hooked onto Randy's story?
Posted by: Ben | July 19, 2011 at 11:40 PM
It's guys like you that get us all a bad name! You need a very painful "attitude adjustment" if you even consider telling her that.
Posted by: Genie Bra | July 20, 2011 at 06:14 AM
that was weird !!
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