butter tarts are essential

So, exactly how common is the knowledge of "whack-a-mole"? It's used as a metaphor in a link from one page of a Salon article to the next today, and I have used it metaphorically before to describe various things. It's the greatest metaphor sometimes, because there really is nothing else - nothing so concrete, that is - like whack-a-mole. I think I'll google "whack-a-mole."

Well, I just googled "whack-a-mole." And what do you know but it's being used for nefarious purposes as a computer game/virus. O, whack-a-mole, what hath you wrought? I remember when whack-a-mole was a real game, not a computer one, found in the likes of Chuck E. Cheeses and arcades. You would have this big... I don't know, whacker thing - it was about the width of a thing of cotton candy, but perfectly cylindrical, with foam inside and a leather outside. Then you'd stand in front of this board with holes in it, and when a mole would pop up, you would wield the paddle with all your might to smackdown the mole. They'd pop up and down really fast, and you'd turn into a whacking dervish, grunting and laughing. And whacking.

I guess I'm glad that whack-a-mole is still alive and flurishing on the internet, but I can't help but believe that wielding a real leather paddle and smackingdown real plastic moles is much more satisfying than clicking away with a pansy-ass mouse. So if you know of an arcade or Chuck E. Cheese going out of business, please let me know so that I can attempt to buy their Whack-A-Mole. (And keep the phrase alive)