MAMEWorld Forums - The Loony Bin - Edited for my tastes, and syllable counts

> 'Twas The Night Before MAME
> or: A Visit From St. Nicola (Mickola?)
> by Stiletto
> ---------------------------
>
> 'Twas the night before Wednesday, and all through the list;
> Not a member was posting, not even on Gist!
> The code was all pushed up to Github with care,
> In hopes that St. Nicola soon would be there;
>
> The "emu-newzboys" were all snug with their sites,
> With visions of Model 1 decaps in sight!
> And humble Stiletto, in torn jeans and cap,
> Was researching tech stuff, and talking to hap;
>
> When out in the 'Net, there arose such a clatter
> I sprang to my desk to survey the matter.
> Away into Windows I flew, acting rash,
> I opened a browser, and disabled Flash.
>
> The URL on my page, white as the snows,
> Linked to MAMEDEV's Git, as fast as it goes,
> To that repo, where what to my eyes should appear,
> But a lightning-fast Vespa with MAMEdev (and beer),
>
> With a slick little driver so lively and quick,
> I knew in a moment it must be St. Nic'!
> More rapid than eagles, his fingers they flew,
> He chanted and cursed til' his face had turned blue;
>
> "On OG! On Micko, Vas, AJR, Osso -
> On 'Belmont! On Patrick! On Moogle and Angelo!
> From the top of the server and its firewall,
> Now code away, type away, hack away all!"
>
> As Cheetos that into the hungry mouths fit,
> When finding encryption, they blew it to shit.
> So onto the server the source code it flew,
> With a ZIP file of toys and St. Nicola too.
>
> And then, at a speed that was really quite keen,
> Those coders and hackers arrived on the scene.
> As I moved the mouse with my hand and scrolled down,
> St. Nicola leapt to the page with a bound.
>
> He dressed all in khaki, from head to his feet,
> The tattered appearance, it looked rather beat.
> With a bundle of PCBs flung on his back,
> He looked like he'd copped more than one hit of "smack."
>
> His eyes -- how they twinkled! His pimples, oh how merry!
> His cheeks were like ashes, his knuckles were hairy!
> His droll little mouth had drawn up in a bow,
> And the beard on his chin clearly needed a mow.
>
> He held a hash pipe rather tight in his teeth,
> And the smoke - it encircled his head like a wreath;
> He had a broad face and the slightest beer gut,
> The smell on his breath, why, I shall not guess what.
>
> He chuckled, and grinned, and looked pleased with himself -
> I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
> I peeked at my wristwatch and I felt somewhat dead,
> I realized at 3:30 at night's time for bed.
>
> He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
> And compiled the source code; then turned with a jerk,
> Then sent up the builds faster than I could doze,
> And giving a nod, from the repo they rose;
>
> He sprang to his scooter, to the team gave a whistle,
> And soon they all left with the speed of a missile.
> But I heard him exclaim, as they drove out of sight,
> "ENJOY THE NEW MAME, GUYS, AND HAVE A GOOD NIGHT!"
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------
>
> - Stiletto (ed. Mog)