PIXEL = BEER

We measure raster images in pixels, yes? Not anymore. Now we measure images in beer.

THE CONCEPT

Barcade is a beer bar and arcade shack combined into one. Barcade's entrance is decorated with an in-progress mosaic constructed from beer bottle caps. Patrons are invited to participate provided they follow the house rules—hardcopies available at the bar.

Dear friends we have a challenge before us. It involves color correction, financial investment, and lots of drinking. (Unless we cheat and just collect caps from other bars.) Barcade's wall is constructed from square wooden planks, provided by the bar, which each hold 10 x 10 bottle caps. This means the smallest valid contribution we can make involves drinking 100 beers. Say again:

The smallest valid contribution we can make involves drinking 100 beers.

THE MARIO (400 BEERS)

Barcade is both a bar and a retro arcade yet its bottle-cap wall contains ZERO arcade characters. I figure Mario is a good place to start. JP and I came up with the "Powers of Ten" party: We plan, we purchase, and we drink. And keep in mind we must drink at least 10 x 10 beers per wooden plank.

I did some research and realized one plank is not enough pixels to do Mario justice. Thanks to Seth I have a history of Mario's pixelation on file. The original 1981 (pre-NES) Mario was 12 x 16 pixels (16 x 16 when running). That's at least 2 x 2 planks or 20 x 20 beers.

THE CLOUD (1600 BEERS)

Using the smallest cloud from the original NES Super Mario Bros. still requires 4 x 4 planks, or 40 x 40 beers. Yes. One thousand six hundred beers.

The real trick to all of this is color correction. We must find solid color bottle caps. Barcade's rules clearly state they must be BEER caps and not caps from soda or other. So when's the party? How many parties? What's the timetable? How much will it cost? Who will die?



Stay tuned to Stewdio...