Stee-RIKE!

Beloved Girlfriend and I bought a Wii about a year ago. All we do is play 100-pin bowling.

Yeah, I know. We're sad little people.

I mean, I've bought and rented some supposedly good games... Mad City, Lego Star Wars, Super Mario Galaxy... but at the end of the day we still end up playing 100-pin bowling.

Because it rocks!

You see, unlike most games, which carefully guide you down a linear path to glory and fame, 100-pin bowling says "Here. We've totally mutated the physics. Go see what you can do with them."

So you don't just toss the ball down the middle and try to get a good score. Uh-uh.

It's much more fun to, say, put a high-velocity spin on the ball and bounce it off the top of the side rail, then watch it as it leisurely caroms off the opposite rail before plowing with measured purpose into the heart of the pins like a little round buzz-saw, taking about forty seconds from start to finish. I've managed to knock down as many as 95 pins at a time this way. If I ever manage a strike with this technique there will be no living with me.

I have, however, managed a strike bouncing it three times off the side rails but that seems like kid stuff now. I've yet to manage a 3000-point game but I've gotten close on occasion. There's always this one pin that won't go down. We've dubbed him "Fred, God of Pins". He vexes me.

And lest you think me crazed let me leave you with these last two words: Strip Bowling.

Addendum: I just found out they make a Wii Bowling Ball! Hail, Fred!

=lefty=