# Dwight Silverman – “Retired” Reporter and Pinball Enthusiast- Episode 28

**Source:** JBS Show  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2024-05-17  
**Duration:** 84m 44s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** Buzzsprout-15087244

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## Analysis

Dwight Silverman, retired Houston Chronicle technology reporter and pinball enthusiast, discusses his journalism career spanning tech coverage and Internet adoption, then pivots to his rediscovery of pinball and two articles he wrote for Houston Chronicle and Texas Monthly about the local pinball community. He traces how covering the Texas Pinball Festival led him to discover Wormhole Pinball and its owners Tim and Christine Hood, and describes the investigative rabbit holes he pursued while researching the broader pinball collector ecosystem in Texas.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Dwight was the first person to write that Bob Dylan had become a born-again Christian, breaking the story before his album 'Slow Train Coming' release — _Dwight Silverman, recounting his early journalism career at Beaumont Enterprise_
- [MEDIUM] A Compaq computer company executive told Dwight that his writing about the Internet probably got more people online in Houston during that era than anything else — _Dwight Silverman, reflecting on his technology coverage career_
- [HIGH] The new Stern John Wick game will introduce Stern's new AI combat system that responds to player behavior and controls playfield lights — _Dwight Silverman, citing game documentation he wrote down_
- [MEDIUM] Dan Ferguson co-founded the Texas Pinball Festival — _Dwight Silverman, reporting what 'one of the other founders' told him during interviews_
- [HIGH] The Lone Star Pinball Museum building in Healy, Texas still stands with a phone number in the window, but the family of deceased owner Dan Ferguson does not want it reopened or accessed by collectors — _Dwight Silverman, describing his visit to the location and phone call with Dan Ferguson's widow_
- [MEDIUM] Tim and Christine Hood appear to have the largest pinball collection among collectors in Texas based on Dwight's data analysis — _Dwight Silverman, noting he spent two days verifying this through Pinball Owners Database/Pinside_
- [HIGH] There is a robust, self-sustaining pinball community in Houston that most residents are unaware of — _Dwight Silverman, reflecting on discoveries while reporting his Chronicle article_
- [MEDIUM] Keith Pritchard, operator/collector, is about to open another arcade in the Houston area — _Dwight Silverman, reporting what Keith Pritchard told him during interviews_

### Notable Quotes

> "Don't tell me where we've been. Show me where we're going."
> — **Dwight Silverman**, ~15:00
> _Reveals Dwight's personal mantra that reflects his approach to journalism and life—seeking novelty and forward momentum_

> "What needs to happen is that AI needs to be in the background... if anybody can do it so that you don't know it's AI, it's happening, but it's just kind of like magic, then that's great."
> — **Dwight Silverman**, ~35:00
> _Articulates Dwight's view on how transformative technology should integrate invisibly into experience; reflects his decades of tech reporting perspective_

> "I'm a journalist. I'm suspicious. It's like somewhere I'm going to open a door and there are the bodies in the basement. People are too nice."
> — **Dwight Silverman**, ~52:00
> _Humorous moment revealing Dwight's skepticism as a journalist encountering the unusually welcoming pinball community culture_

> "I'll just ask. And so I went to the Chronicle didn't want to do something else on it and I didn't want to do the same story."
> — **Dwight Silverman**, ~55:00
> _Shows Dwight's iterative pitch process and how he shifted from Chronicle to Texas Monthly to secure the Wormhole story_

> "Every time I talked to somebody new, it opened up another rabbit hole."
> — **Dwight Silverman**, ~65:00
> _Describes the investigative process that led to multiple unpublished research directions and illustrates journalistic curiosity and thoroughness_

> "The building had to be the focus... the building was its own character."
> — **Dwight Silverman**, ~85:00
> _Key editorial decision that structured his Texas Monthly piece around the Lone Star Pinball Museum building as a central narrative element_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Dwight Silverman | person | Retired Houston Chronicle technology/business reporter, freelance journalist, pinball enthusiast who wrote two pinball articles |
| Christine Hood | person | Co-host/co-guest on this podcast episode, married to Tim Hood, pinball enthusiast with large collection |
| Tim Hood | person | Owner/operator of Wormhole Pinball in Houston, appears to have one of the largest pinball collections in Texas, subject of Dwight's second article |
| Houston Chronicle | company | Major Texas newspaper where Dwight worked as assistant state editor (1990) and tech reporter (1993+), published his first pinball article about Texas Pinball Festival |
| Texas Monthly | company | Magazine that published Dwight's second article focusing on Wormhole and Tim/Christine Hood |
| Wormhole Pinball | venue | Houston-area pinball arcade/entertainment venue owned by Tim and Christine Hood, featured in Dwight's articles and this podcast |
| Texas Pinball Festival | event | Annual pinball tournament/festival in Dallas; Dwight covered it for his first Houston Chronicle article; Phil Grimaldi competed; Dan Ferguson co-founded it |
| Phil Grimaldi | person | Ranked pinball player featured as focus subject in Dwight's first Houston Chronicle article about Texas Pinball Festival |
| Dan Ferguson | person | Deceased owner of Lone Star Pinball Museum in Healy, Texas (died late 2019), co-founder of Texas Pinball Festival; family does not wish to reopen museum |
| Keith Pritchard | person | Houston-area pinball collector/operator; founder of Houston Arcade Expo; planning to open another arcade; interviewed by Dwight |
| Lone Star Pinball Museum | venue | Defunct museum in Healy, Texas founded by Dan Ferguson; family closed it and does not allow access; building still stands; was character element in Dwight's Texas Monthly article |
| Stern Pinball | company | Major pinball manufacturer releasing new John Wick game with AI combat system |
| John Wick | game | Upcoming Stern pinball game featuring new AI combat system that responds to player behavior and controls playfield lights |
| University of Texas at Austin | organization | Where Dwight studied and played pinball; had game room in Jester Center basement and Le Fun arcade on the Drag |
| Beaumont Enterprise | company | First newspaper job for Dwight; where he was religion editor and rock critic; broke Bob Dylan born-again Christian story |
| San Antonio Light | company | Second newspaper where Dwight worked after Beaumont Enterprise |
| San Antonio Current | company | Startup newspaper in 1980s where Dwight worked; still in existence; similar model to Houston Press |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Pinball community in Texas, Journalism career and technology reporting, Wormhole Pinball venue and Tim/Christine Hood
- **Secondary:** AI integration in technology and pinball games, Texas Pinball Festival, Lone Star Pinball Museum and Dan Ferguson legacy, Pinball collecting and collector ecosystem, Freelance journalism and editorial process

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.82) — Dwight expresses genuine enthusiasm for both his journalism career and rediscovery of pinball. He speaks warmly about the pinball community's niceness and his interview subjects. Light-hearted banter with hosts. Minor skepticism reserved for AI hype and corporate vaporware—professional caution rather than negativity. Overall tone is affectionate, curious, and reflective.

### Signals

- **[content_signal]** Long-form podcast episode featuring Dwight Silverman discussing his journalism career and pinball journalism on JBS Show/Wormhole Pinball Presents (confidence: high) — Episode title and format of informal conversational podcast with Dwight as guest
- **[machine_intel]** Stern John Wick game announced with new AI combat system feature (confidence: high) — Dwight states: 'The game called John Wick will introduce Stern's new AI combat system... responsive to the player behavior and has built to challenge players for boosted action'
- **[venue_signal]** Keith Pritchard planning to open another arcade in Houston area (confidence: medium) — Dwight mentions: 'he's about to open another arcade'
- **[community_signal]** Texas pinball collecting scene features robust community with Tim and Christine Hood appearing to have largest collection in state (confidence: high) — Dwight spent two days verifying collection sizes via Pinball Owners Database and concluded Tim/Christine are number one; describes self-sustaining Houston community
- **[historical_signal]** Lone Star Pinball Museum in Healy, Texas closed after owner Dan Ferguson's death in late 2019; family refuses access or reopening; building remains standing (confidence: high) — Dwight visited location, called widow, visited building with Christine Hood; widow confirmed no reopening; Dan Ferguson co-founded Texas Pinball Festival
- **[content_signal]** Dwight Silverman wrote two articles on pinball for major Texas publications: Houston Chronicle (Texas Pinball Festival focus) and Texas Monthly (Wormhole/Tim Hood focus) (confidence: high) — Detailed discussion of editorial process for both articles; Texas Monthly piece did not make print edition but appeared online
- **[sentiment_shift]** Dwight's professional skepticism about pinball community niceness was disarmed by genuine welcoming culture; influenced his editorial framing (confidence: high) — Quote: 'I'm suspicious... People are too nice' but later confirms community is genuinely welcoming; discovered 'really robust community' most Houstonians unaware of
- **[technology_signal]** AI being integrated into pinball game design; John Wick system represents shift toward adaptive, player-responsive mechanics (confidence: high) — Stern John Wick AI combat system controls lights responsively to player behavior; Dwight connects to broader AI trend and invisible integration philosophy
- **[collector_signal]** Dwight conducted data scraping from Pinball Owners Database/Pinside to map Texas collector landscape and verify Tim Hood's ranking (confidence: medium) — Dwight describes: 'I scraped the data from the Pinball Owner's Database... building spreadsheets so i could figure out who was what'
- **[venue_signal]** Houston Arcade Expo and Wormhole Pinball represent growing commercial pinball venue infrastructure in Texas (confidence: medium) — Multiple venues discussed (Wormhole, Houston Arcade Expo, defunct Lone Star Museum); Keith Pritchard expanding operations

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## Transcript

 Just do a search for pinball power couple and you'll find the story. Oh, if the penny bites back. I talked about the fact that most of the machines would be playable, which I said is a technical feat in and of itself. Keeping them running and keeping them in good enough shape, to do that with a 120 machine, that is going to take a lot of research. I'll buy it. I know where to buy them. Okay, we're editing that out. I know where to buy it. It's unacceptable. Hello, my name is Jamie Burchell, and welcome to Wormhole Pinball Presents. You are either listening to and or watching our podcast, and today I'm very, very excited to be joined by two great individuals. One, a very, very close friend of mine, Christine Hood. Thank you, Jamie. I'm happy to be here. How are you? I'm great. And, of course, we are joined by retired Houston Chronicle reporter and current freelancer. Right. She's written a couple of pinball articles. Retired. Okay. Because that's what it feels like is retired. That's what he's, what do you call it when you're manifesting? Oh, you're manifesting retirement. Yes, I wish. It doesn't, like in no day that I have do I feel like I can sit back, relax, and go fishing. It just hasn't been like that. Well, come fishing with me and Tim. We'll take you fishing. We love to fish. We have this great place we're going to check out sometimes. Yeah, we are. So welcome back to the Wormhole, Dwight. We thought, hey, let's do a podcast because you've written two great articles about pinball, one more concentrated about the person to your left. So what we thought is let's go through a little origin story first. Let's make it – let's let our audience know where you're coming from. Okay. And then we'll go back and forth, very informal interview. Okay. Go from there if that's okay. That's great. Christine, start us off. All right. Dwight, where were you born? Oh, that's an easy one. Jacksonville, Florida. Okay. But I lived there probably for about 20 minutes. Okay. And my dad was a Zales Jewelers. Okay. And it was like being in the military. We moved around all the time. He was like a troubleshooter. Okay. So he would be sent one place that was not doing well in the company. He'd build it up and then say, okay, go over here and build. And so I went to different high school every year I was in high school. Oh, goodness. But I was born in Jacksonville, Nevada. So it definitely shapes you as a person to move around so much. Well, a couple of things. First of all, I feel like I can make friends easily. I get to know people easily. And also, I like change. If things aren't changing, I kind of get a little antsy. Bored? No, no, no, not bored. But I look for things that are new. I want things that are new. I have, it's on one of my 700 social media profiles. I have say, don't tell me where we've been. Show me where we're going. And that's kind of the way, that's kind of my mantra. I like that. I like that. So how did you come to be writing articles for the Houston Chronicle? At the time that I was doing journalism, and I started in journalism, and it's still kind of this way. Okay. I graduated from the University of Texas at Austin. Hook'em. Hook'em. Hook'em. Hook'em. In the – Florida Southern, Moccasin. I can go with that. There's 2,800 of us that graduated. My wife went to New College. Okay. And so she – I know the Florida College. All right. There you go. Thank Lord. Anyway. Anyway, so I was at the University of Texas. I graduated from there. I got a job at the Beaumont Enterprise. Okay. Like quickly. I was surprised how quickly I got a job. And because this was the time, this was like just after All the President's Men came out. Okay. And everybody. God, I love that movie. Yes. Yes, indeed. literally it's like a ruin for me when it's on like gnt yeah there goes my day yeah exactly it's done it's over yeah great movie and and but everybody wanted to be Paul Woodward and bernstein including a lot of people who shouldn't have been Paul Woodward bernstein and i had already like said i want to be a journalist i was already doing this before that happened and uh but so i surprised i got a job quickly and the job i got was i was both the religion editor and the rock critic at the Beaumont Enterprise. Okay. Mainly because the person who I replaced, who left, was the religion editor and assistant entertainment writer. That was, you know, it was a small paper, so you fill in. Sure. And at the Daily Texan, I had been a music critic. Yes. Okay. And this was during the Jerry Jeff Walker, Willie Nelson, Wesley Weir era. Yes. And I was writing there, and I also did movie reviews and so forth. But this is an opportunity to write about what I wanted to write about. I didn't think that I'd be able to do that straight out of school. And so I got this job at the Beaumont Enterprise, and it was – and while I don't think I'd ever want to live in Beaumont again – sorry, Beaumont. Nothing personal, Beaumont. No, it is kind of personal. Oh, okay. We've got some friends over there. You're shitting all over them. We're not shitting on y'all, we promise. Okay, all right. It has nothing to do with you. All right. It's all white spaghet. Yes, it is. So anyway, so because I was doing these two jobs, I had like probably the first scoop of my career, which was I was the first person to write that Bob Dylan had become a born-again Christian. Oh, my goodness. So remember he did this album called Slow Train Coming? It was actually a pretty big hit. It was a great album. But Beaumont has this community of Christian rock musicians. And they had heard this from, he was out in California, and they'd heard this from their network that Dylan was exploring Christian music. And so I started kind of looking into it, and I wound up getting in touch with his manager and talking on the phone to him. And he says, how did you learn this? And I told him, he said, well, yeah, it's true. Okay. And so we did this. I never got to talk to Dylan. I was going to say, he's quite reclusive. Yes. He is quite a reclusive person, does not give interviews, doesn't sign a lot of memorabilia either, I don't believe. Right. Right. At least he didn't then. I think he's a little more open now than he used to be. Okay. But so I had this great scoop. And in fact, being a young reporter and overzealous, I did like part one and part two columns on it. So it was a lot of fun, and it kind of got my name out there because I had done this. That's fantastic. And I went from there to the San Antonio Light and worked at the San Antonio Light for a while. I then joined the startup in the 80s, the San Antonio Current, which is still in existence. It's kind of like the Houston Press was. Okay. And they ran out of money, and so I ran out of a job and wound up doing some freelance for The Chronicle, and then eventually they hired me in 1990 as an assistant state editor. By 93, they had an opening on the business desk to write about tech, and I said, pick me, pick me. Right. And so that's how I got into tech. Fantastic. And that's how you got into The Chronicle. Yes. What a journey, an interesting journey. It was fun. And, you know, my wife, who is a psychotherapist, you know, and we have my brother and sister are both physicians. He's like my brother-in-law is an ear, head and neck and brain surgeon, you know. And my wife and I are always looking at each other going, we went in the wrong profession. But you know what? No, I didn't. You're having fun. I've had too much fun. And that's why you do it, you know. Well, and I think that that's evident in your smile through your eyes and your enthusiasm speaking about your career. Oh, I wouldn't do it if it was like, if I was just saving lives, it wouldn't be as fun. Who wants to do that? Who wants to save lives? All right, not a pinball question, but you recently served as technology reporter. We just talked about that. But what do you think about this? And this is a question I kind of got from her husband, Tim. What do you think about the new AI craze, tablets? Everything's going to be AI-enabled in the next probably three to six months. Are you getting the MacBook Pro enabled? Because I know you're a Mac guy. I just – I picked up today. I went down to the Island Village Apple store, and I got the new iPad Pro. Okay. Which, you know, they're touting as lots of AI. In June, Apple will do its worldwide developer conference, and we'll see what the software does. Right. And, you know, I have seen I've covered so many of these like big trends and I've seen a lot of them like shoot into the sky and fizzle out like a firework. And then there's nothing there. The things that stick around, you know, the what's interesting is I got to cover the rise of the Internet. I one time had a Compaq computer company executive tell me that he thought my writing about the Internet probably got more people on the Internet in that era in Houston than anything else. Oh, that's remarkable. Because I was writing about it a lot. And the Internet obviously was not a fad, although a lot of people predicted it was at the time. but what's kind of has happened to the internet is yeah we have the internet but the the presence of it the thing itself has kind of faded into the background now we have streaming television which comes over the internet but people can't pinball right and pinball right and pinball don't be glossing over the pinball here okay we'll get to the pinball i'm kidding but essentially like the internet has become like plumbing right yes and it enables all these other things and i think what's going to happen is that that ai if it doesn't flame out in some way is going to be the new plumbing and it will be what what runs everything okay um so today today i got a demo i've not tried these yet meta which is facebook company of course they also own oculus which is the right you know the headset company so they have these ray-ban glasses that are ai powered glasses and you put them on and not only do you look really cool because you're wearing ray-bans but um you can supposedly use the ai to do things like get directions and translate a menu and um you know take a picture of something and tell you what it is take a picture and tell me where to shoot a pinball maybe i mean really but exactly but calculate the trajectory of the pinball off It was a demo, but the guy who was giving me the demo, it was like one fail after the other. Oh, yeah. It's called demo hell. Yeah. We were doing that, right? But it was one hell after the other, and he kept saying, well, soon it won't do that. Soon it won't do that. And that's kind of where we are now, right? But I'm very – the skeptic journalist in me says, not yet. Keep watching. Okay. I think there's going to be a run on computers come Christmas. That could be. I do. And I think you're going to look at organizations and say, oh, I can gain 15 minutes extra a day per employee. That's 3,000 per employee. Yeah, done deal. Or I could lose 20 employees because I have this. Yes. Absolutely. That's the downside. Honestly. So AI just entered pinball, weirdly enough. Right? The new Stern game is John Wick. Yes. And they are – I wrote it down so I wouldn't screw this up. The game called John Wick will introduce Stern's new AI combat system. So if you're a video game guy and you're doing too well and you make a turn and you go down a different path, they'll bring in different weapons and different people. While they're doing the same thing here, it's going to control the lights on the play field. and the system is responsive to the player behavior and has built to challenge players for boosted action. So there you go, AI and pinball. Yes, and it needs to be, what AI needs to be to be successful is that you don't realize AI is happening. Right. It needs to be in the background. That's one of the things I'm interested in what Apple does with it because Apple tends to not say, you know, okay, here is our feature. Instead, Instead, it just happens and it happens smoothly. And if they can pull that off in the way they always have, you know, with what's coming, they're behind right now. They are, yeah. Right. Absolutely. But if anybody can do it so that you don't know it's AI, it's happening, but it's just kind of like magic, then that's, you know, that's great. um google has this has really interesting ai powered photo features where you can like if you if you have a google pixel phone and there's like take a picture in the park and there's a bunch of people in the park and you just want you know your wife walking walking down the road uh in the sunset looking good you can go and you can circle those other people and the ai removes it okay and And so that's a good use of AI. They call it magic editor. And so when you do that. Yeah, it's just going to get better and better and better. Right, right. And that's kind of the way it is. You know, I don't want that. I don't want that. I don't want that. And it's done. It doesn't say, okay, AI working, you know, just does it. And that's kind of what needs to happen. So AI seems like quite a divisive topic. I feel that there are people out there who fear AI taking over, especially, as you're saying, if it's if it's linked into the Internet and it's it's it's in the plumbing, so to speak. And then there are people who welcome it and think that it's the best thing, that this is our future. What's your opinion on that? You know, a lot of a lot of our opinions about technology come from science fiction. and a lot of this is driven I think by what we've seen in movies like 2001 right yeah there's a there's a movie I did I gave a talk to a group shortly after the AI thing started at the in late 2022 and I used a clip a a now unintentionally hilarious trailer for a movie called Colossus, the Forbin Project. Okay. And it is essentially about... Someone's going to Google. Hopefully someone Googles that. No, no, it's definitely worth seeing. It's definitely worth seeing. Okay. The trailer. I think the movie looks like it's awful. But it's essentially a supercomputer that becomes so smart and takes over the Earth's systems and says, you either do what I say or I'll kill you all. that is the kind of science fiction thing that is kind of in our cultural collective memory that's kind of what we think of when we think of stuff like this okay and i think while it's certainly possible that that a super smart ai could get hold of systems and make trouble um i don't necessarily think that i don't think that that's what's going to happen what I think is going to happen is that a lot of people are going to lose their jobs because it's easy for the machine to do it. Sure. But whenever there's this kind of disruption, there's other jobs that are created. Of course, you know, there's other. And so what you end up with is kind of a balance. And there will be a period of pain, just like the Internet created a period of pain. I mean, the newspaper industry, right, is still in pain. And so but but ultimately, you're in the middle of change and you don't know what it's like on the other end of that line. Right. And so I think we just have to kind of wait and see. How's that for a wishy-washy answer? It is completely wishy-washy. That's all right. It was. What I've concluded from that is that you did not actually state an opinion there. Yeah, I just want it. It was like three minutes. Because my opinion is after decades of covering this is you got to wait and see. Yeah, sure. Got to wait and see. All right, Christine, I'm going to put you on that question. Great. Okay, let's turn to pinball. Okay. Last year you wrote an article for the Houston Chronicle titled, Pinball is Bouncing Back into the Hearts of Texans. I don't write the headline. We're going to chat about that. Don't worry. That's coming. I'm here to spend time on this podcast. I fully expect it. I saw the look on your face when you saw me standing here. You knew I was coming for you. No, I'm kidding. I saw your car out there. Okay. Yeah, you knew I was here. Okay. Your car is distinctive. Yes, it is. It is. And no, I'm not a vindictive person. I'm not coming for you. That's all meant in affection. Okay. You wrote this article for Houston Chronicle, and the initial article was following Phil Grimaldi as he played the TPF, Wizards Tournament, Texas Pinball Festival Wizards Tournament in 2023. Right. Okay. How did you happen upon Wormhole? How did you go from that into Wormhole? Like when was – Well, Wormhole was a part of that story. Yes, it was. Initially, you were following Phil through TPF, and then he kind of mentioned us, I think. Is that what happened? We've always been curious. Like how did you kind of come about us? All of a sudden, one day you're interviewing us here. So the reason I wound up doing that story is – and we have to go back to the University of Texas when I was a student there. Yes. Hook'em. Hook'em. And I was a student there, and I was – and I played a lot of pinball. There was a game room in the – I don't know if it's still there – in the basement of Jester Center. Yes. And there was a place on the drag called Le Fun. Yes. And I spent many quarters at both of those places. Yes. I skipped classes in order to play pinball. I know someone who also did that. Yes, yes. I think it's a common malady. Yes, it is. And so I loved pinball, and when I started dating my wife and we were married, we were young and we were poor, we kind of had three things we did for entertainment. We watched – we taped every episode each week on VHS tape. Yes. Late night with David Letterman, and then on the weekends we would binge it. Okay. and we binging back then back then oh yeah yeah on your vcr yeah um and and uh we played uh nintendo famicom the original nintendo okay played super mario brothers wow okay your wife sounds pretty cool she is pretty cool and we would go out and play pinball because it was relatively cheap and cool and so i continued to do it but but once i had kids you know this is true i think of a lot of the people who I see at Wormhole, a lot of people who are my age or maybe down into their late 40s, mid 40s, they played it when they were younger and it dropped away and then they kind of rediscover it. They may have money to buy their own at this point. And so I decided, my wife was going to go out of town to see her sister. And I decided that since she was going out of town and there was this pinball festival happening in Dallas. Yeah. And so I thought, well, I'll just go there and, you know, she'll go and see her sister and I'll go and play pinball. But I also knew it cost money to go up there and I'm a freelancer, right? Okay. So everything I do is on my dime. Okay. I don't have a company behind me. So I went to the Chronicle and I said, I want to do a story on this festival and I want to see if there's anything local about it. Okay. Right? And so I started asking around and found Phil and found I just like did Houston Pinball and that kind of got me what I need So Space City Pinball Right And the reason I focused on Phil was that journalists editors want you to have a focus on something Yes. And the focus then illuminates what's around it. And he was an interesting guy and he was ranked, you know, ranked last year than he is this year. but he was ranked and so I thought okay well this would be cool I'll follow him and so I went up there I got the chronicle to agree to a story okay and which which covered my expenses and and I got to play pinball and so I went up there and I did it I you know did the story but but what happens is when you talk to people you learn all a bunch of other things I found out about wormhole, which was really interesting. The concept is like, whoa, really interesting. And so I included that. I came here during a tournament. I talked to you. Yes, I talked to you. Yeah, I talked to a bunch of other people. And then I wrote the story. And what was interesting was I discovered that there is this really robust community here that a lot of people in Houston and don't know about. It's self-sustaining. It has its own culture. Everybody is like nice. It's like kind of like. They actually are. They really, really are. We are, right? Yes. We are. It's like I'm a journalist. I'm suspicious. It's like somewhere I'm going to open a door and there are the bodies in the basement. Right. People are too nice. and that was true at the people I met at the pinball festival. Absolutely. It's true about you guys. Thank you. And so I really enjoyed it and my intent ultimately was to like start playing, but I just, I didn't. So the next one comes around and I go, you know what? This time I'm going to go up there and I'm just going to go for fun. I'm not going to do work. And my wife said. Is that possible? How do you separate the curiosity that is just intrinsic to you from? Well, I want to redo the same story and I didn't know what story was there. Right. And but my wife said, oh, so you're going to go up there and spend money and you're not going to get the story. And I said, OK, I'll ask. And and so I went to I didn't I knew the Chronicle didn't want to do something else on it. and I didn't want to do the same story. So I wanted to focus on you and Tim because last year when I talked to everybody. So now you're talking about the second article. Yes. How one led to the other. Okay. So when I talked to you guys, and Tim was not available to talk to last year. That's right. I was able to talk to you, but everybody I talked to said, oh, you've got to meet Tim. You've got to meet Tim. Particularly Phil. Oh, you've got to meet Tim. Oh, interesting. So that was kind of in the back of my mind. So I thought, okay, what if I focus it on Wormhole this time? Okay. And I thought about the Chronicle isn't going to want that. So what the hell? I'll see if Texas Monthly wants something. Fantastic. So I approached somebody at Texas Monthly who I know who's a good friend, and she said, you know, that sounds like a really good story. That isn't one that I as an editor would handle. Go talk to this editor. So I emailed this other editor, and I said, you know, she's not interested in it, but says you are. She said, you know, that sounds like a really good story, but I'm not the editor who'd do that. Oh, okay. I'm going to send you to this guy. Okay. And he handles sports. So you're bouncing off the side rails, you know, down the side rails, and your little pinball analogy, like they flipped you off to the next. Yes, I was hitting bumpers. Yes. and and so uh i i they finally tossed me to the sports editor and texas monthly doesn't do a lot of sports and in fact um he's not like on staff he's actually a contract editor which is common in the magazine business and so i emailed him and didn't hear anything and i thought well okay i'm just going to go play i'm just going to go have fun okay and uh and then two days before i was going to leave, he emails me, hey, that sounds like a great story. Let's do it. And I was like, oh, man, I don't want to work. Yeah. Well, now you got to do it. But it's Texas Monthly. And, you know, Texas Monthly is a big deal. Texas Monthly is there's kind of two Texas Monthly. There's the website, which is actually a really robust, really, and most of their copy goes on the website. And there's really good stories there. And then there's the print magazine, which is kind of a different thing. And they seem to serve two different audiences. And sometimes stuff online gets pulled into print. Migrates. Right, gets pulled into print. This one did not. But your next article will, your follow-up article? Yes. Well, I don't know. Right now I'm looking into a story about cats at an old folks' home. So maybe not. But that's not our audience. No, it's not. It's a great story. I'm sure it is. I'm going to read it. Yes. Because I follow you on all the socials. So anyway, so I decided I was going to do that, and I reached out to you guys. And one of the things about this story was that every time I talked to somebody new, it opened up another rabbit hole. Yes. I know we've talked about so many things. And many things that did not make it in the story. But to give you two examples. So one of them was when I talked to Tim at the Pinball Festival, he mentioned Dan Ferguson and the Lone Star Pinball Museum. Yes, yes. I know that intrigues you. It really intrigued me. I know. And so I thought, oh, you know, I need to find this out. And, of course, you know, Dan died in late 2019. Right. His family does not want to reopen the Pinball Museum and doesn't even want like, you know, any collectors or anything buying or even going in and looking at it. Right. It's done. But I wanted to see it. And so I drove out there to Holly. Right. We're laughing because we're starting to know Dwight. We're laughing because we're really starting to get to know you over the course of the last year. Tell me about something. I love it. I love it. Oh, yeah. You do not give up. That's right. That's right. I drove out there. And what's interesting is the building is there, and there's a sign in the window with a phone number. And I walked around. I took pictures. And so I sat in my car out front, and I called Dan Ferguson's widow. Who was that phone number? And she basically said no and hell no. Right. And then at the end of the conversation, she said, is there a bunch of trash out in front of the building? And I said, there's a few beer bottles. I'm going to have to come over there and pick those up. You know, there's that bar over there, and people come over and drink, and they drop their beer bottles on the grass outside. I want to come over there and pick those up. I almost said, would you like me to pick them up for you, and then we can talk? Then we can talk. No, I didn't. I'll do you a favor. You do me a favor. Just give me a peek. That's right. Peeking in the window is not sufficient. That's right. That's right. Clearly you were not on camera either. No, I was not on camera. Yes. So another one was another rabbit hole that I went down was had to do with the local Houston pinball arcade. And the owner of that, the guy who started that, I'm blanking on his name. Is that Einstein's? No. No, the Houston Pinball, the Houston Arcade Expo. Oh, yeah, Keith Pritchard. Oh, Keith Pritchard, yes. And so we talked quite a bit about his collection. I was trying to find out another rabbit hole. I was trying to find where Tim fit among the collectors in Texas. Number of machines. Right. It looks like he's number one. I'm trying to make sure. We'll get him a flag. And so I probably spent two days trying to figure this out, and I just assumed. But anyway, so I'm talking to Keith, and then Keith told me all this stuff about his collection and how it came to be, and he's about to open another arcade. And, you know, I mean, it was like – And he's a fascinating, interesting guy as well. I had him on the podcast early on. Oh, I'll have to go look at that. Oh, yeah. I do like him. And so I went in, and when I was writing it, I really wanted to use more from that, but that was a rabbit hole that I could only, like I just mentioned briefly. Right. And so, I mean, I even went in and I scraped the data from the pinball owner's database. On Pinside or? No, pinball owners. Okay. Actual pinball owners. Yeah, right. I'm not familiar with that site, yeah. And I maybe misremembered. You know, once the story's gone, it's like, okay. It's probably Pinside. Now you're on to cats. Yes, right. Okay. Yeah. so so anyway so i was like scraping the data from the pinball thing and building spreadsheets so i could figure out who was what didn't use any of that unfortunately but okay so then um after i talked to you and i talked to tim and i was lucky enough to get to visit your home and see the collection in there and the artwork and the dogs yeah um the dogs are great the dog yes and for For example, Tim showed me all these punk rock, Austin punk rock posters that he's collected. Yes. And I wanted to mention that, but I couldn't do it. So you kind of go down these rabbit holes in a story like this. But what really cemented the story was, and I almost didn't do it, was getting the opportunity to see the building. The museum building? The museum building. Okay. And when I saw that, I actually had been struggling with the structure of it. I had just been – I actually went back and looked at it at one point, then read the Chronicle story, and I was recreating the Chronicle story. And I was going, no, I don't want to do that. So I was frustrated. I went and looked at the building. You and I spent the day looking at the building. What a great afternoon we had. Yes, yes. It was so wonderful. Except for the poo. but sometimes you get vagrants and there's vagrants sometimes it's an old building it happens it does and it did can I say that on here too? you can do it everywhere it's expected so anyway and what I decided when I saw that is that the building had to be the focus that the building was its own character You know, there was Wormhole itself as a character. Yeah. There was you guys as a character. There was Dan Ferguson actually was a character in it. You know, he was kind of he because his a lot of what he did informed what happened later. And he also co-founded the Texas Pinball Festival. Yes. And so. Actually, I don't think I knew that. Yeah. And Ferguson did. Yes. Because I talked to one of the other founders and he said, yeah, that's one of the original co-founders. so um i have no idea what you're saying could be complete wrong but we're gonna we're gonna keep going this is all the fact check you later this is what i was told that's the greatest reporter line that's a good reporter line that's right actually what we'll do is our fact checking department will call you for a follow-up interview okay sure in fact that's right sure and i'll just lap up for all reasons um so anyway so so once i had that and so i went on vacation i went to see some friends in albuquerque uh i love new mexico and i love any opportunity i was looking forward to a vacation there but i was had not finished the story and i kept telling the editor it'll be ready next week we're ready next week and i finally and he wasn't in a rush because it was not a time-oriented story but i was in a rush because i wanted to do it right and i was writing for Texas Monthly. So I went on this vacation and basically my wife and our friends went and vacated and I sat in my friend's office doing this. Got it. And finally I came out and I finished it and I sent it off and then I got to have like a day and a half of vacation after that. But it was very difficult. Seeing it with you crystallized the story and so the focus on the focus was you wormhole and the um in the building and one of the things you set me straight on which i am glad i got to put in the story is that the wormhole effort is a collective you know that everybody contributes to it that's right and and you know people who are listening to this or watching it you know it it looks pretty cool but you but you have no idea and it's largely it's largely because it's largely because you know what's here and the vibe and the care that's taken in it and and so i wanted i tried to communicate some of that in what the museum may become so i talked about for example the fact that you're interested in doing like like private rooms where you can order the pinball machines you want to play and they'll bring them to you. Yes. Right. Yes. And so how cool is that going to be? That's right. I mean, I will probably lose some money setting up this room. But anyway, you keep writing articles. I think there's a book coming out of it. It's a book, a documentary. And I do want to talk with you about those specific items as we go through this. OK. All right. Anyway, I'll shut up because but that's basically how we came together and kind of how it was. It was very hard to write, but in the end, after I saw it, the building, it all coalesced. Because that's what we're moving toward. Oh, well, that building, I mean, I almost wish that you could have like a time tunnel in the middle of the building where you could see what it was like before and you see what it's like now. and when you see what it's like, what it will be, and when you see that, you can totally get it. I can totally see what it's going to be in there. And you articulated the vision for it very, very well. Oh, thank you. I have some questions about that vision later. Do you really? I do, actually. Okay. But you're going to ask. This is not on the script, Jamie. Jamie Virchow. Does it sound like there could be more work? We need to check the sidebar. No. All right. Well, we're there. So we might as well go to it, right? I'll ask her and you some questions, all right? Okay. Are you going to ask her some? Well, I'm going to ask her some questions. Do I need to cough and leave? No, it's going to be good. What it'll do is it'll spark a conversation about the museum. Okay. Yes, but before we do that, I do want to acknowledge one thing you said. And you know how much I harped on this, and you know how much it was important to me and to Tim to really make sure that it was clear that, yes, we understand that there needs to be a focus within the Texas Monthly article, but it really is all of us. And for Tim and for me, we don't consider ourselves any more important or any more of contributors. We pale in comparison, we feel like, to all the efforts that are put forth by the Wormhole Five, by Jamie, by Janine, by John, and then there's Tim and me. And that's just scraping the surface of so many countless hours of amazing tech work, amazing people being here, just making the culture evolve. We did not create this culture ourselves. We started this spark. that's really grown into this, but it's evolved on its own, and it's very much a collaborative effort. So it was a little uncomfortable, actually, to have an article be published that focused on Tim and me because we are not – we don't consider ourselves a power couple, Dwight. And as I said when I – We're getting our T-shirts already made, so should I get to that order? That's right. Because it says power couple on the back. Cancel it. Cancel it. Okay. All right. I thought that was happening. Okay. It might be happening. If it does, then we're going to have to chat. We'll laugh. Well, so, you know, first of all, I agree with you to a certain extent. The structure of a story, particularly for a magazine, a magazine-focused publication like Texas Monthly, they want to focus. they want something that is an is is entree to the rest of it so you guys talk about a spark you are a spark that illuminates the rest of it but you're the spark and so that's kind of was the attitude towards it but also the building was a spark okay you know the bit to me um you know i i almost i almost there's a version of the story that starts with with a christine hood saying, look out for the poo. And it almost starts like that. I thought about doing that. But the scene with Tim in the vaults, with these people coming in going, what the hell is this? So the vault, let's take a 20 second and explain what the vault is. So the vault is a property that Tim and Christina own that they have turned into a pinball staging area, if you will, for the wormhole and eventually for the museum. Yes. There have been multiple iterations of this vault. It is moving. We don't need to talk about that. We can just say that there is a vault and you went to see it and there's a ton of cool pinball machines in there, isn't there? Yes, it's really amazing. And I kind of was like going, I wish these things were like set up because, you know, there was one, I took a couple of pictures of it. There's one, a pinball game just called Punk. Yeah. And, you know, it had like silhouettes of, you know. Rockstar. Rockstar. Yeah. Well, but it was generic rockstar. Right. It was generic punk. And I really wanted to see that. I really wanted to play that. It was a really interesting, and it was broken down. Okay. So you guys could have set that up? Well, yeah, he probably could. The other issue from that particular vault, because there's going to be another vault, but that vault, he got in trouble. I'll tell this story very quickly. We got in trouble because we were playing very loudly and the neighbors weren't really excited. About 2 in the morning, we're playing Terrific Lake, which is a really fun, weird, old, kind of cool, rare machine. Exactly. And it was just we had the sound. Were you in the house or in the vault? The vault. The vault. Right. So the vault backs up to an apartment building with residential tenants. So it's the backside of that. Oh, I see. We thought it was concrete, that it would be okay, but not so for Terrific Lake. Well, when you go in there and you put the volume all the way up, when you push the button. We had to test it. Yes, I think that's essential. We had to test it. The pinball process. I mean, that's the whole point of the vault. Because, I mean, if you look at his collection, their collection, there's museum pieces here. Okay, this isn't, you know, when you look at museums and you think of a museum, you instantly think of the museum in Vegas, which is the Pinball Museum, right? And I'm not going to disparage those people. I've done that enough on these podcasts, but we're not going to be anything like that museum. Oh, my goodness. No way. This is going to be, you know, unbelievable machines and top of the line and in perfect shape. Because if you come to the Wormhole, Dwight, here's a little advertisement for us. These machines play great. And we'll talk about the list of grievances on our Wednesday night thing that we want to do here in a minute. But, you know, that's because of our tax and all these people that make us great. One of the things I said in the story I talked about the fact that most of the machines will be playable which I said I said in the story is a is a technological is a technical feat in and of itself keeping them running and keeping them in good enough shape to do that with 120 machines. That is going to take a lot of resources. Yeah. And so I, I wanted to mention that because I was impressed with it. And, you know, what's funny is when you go to like a big festival or a big competition, competition, one of the things that I really loved at the Texas Pinball Festival in the competitions was when a machine goes down, like eight guys have pinned on it to work on it. Yes, it's warm. And the first time I was there I was in there with my phone going, what? And I was just really impressed with that intensity. And then one of the stories I also have done is on, I wrote about the launch of Labyrinth and how Barrel's Fun came to be. And one of the things about that was getting to tour their facility where they build it and how technically intense. They had it. Yeah. They did one today. They did a live Facebook. I saw that. Did you see it? Yeah. Go back and watch it. It's a very quick – Erin, who – Erin Winnick-Anthony is one of our wormholers. Pinball girl. Pinball girl. Shout out to pinball girl. She's fantastic. And she was holding the camera and interviewing David David Van Es, who is one of the – Yes. Yeah, David David Van Es is a really interesting guy. Yeah. Indeed. He doesn't always return my calls. He doesn't always – Me neither. He doesn't always text back, but he's a really good guy. He returns my calls. I'm kidding, Dwight. Okay. We'll have to talk. Okay. By the way, I have an idea for you. Oh, please. Edit this out. No, no, no. So you remember at the festival, we were in one of the labyrinth sessions. Yeah, and we were streaming with this rig behind us. Yes, sir. Although I think you weren't streaming in this particular one. No, they were just – okay. Right. And we were talking about your rigs, and I said you ought to sell them. You ought to build them and sell them to other pinball facilities. And you kind of went – but you know what you ought to do? What? You've got to contract with Barrels of Fun to build them for you. Okay. Oh, to build rigs. Yes. So that every streamer in America and the world can have a streaming rig and get 30 people watching them at a time. Exactly. Hey, we have at least 45. I'm joking. Listen, people tune in and they know what they're getting out of it. Okay. I'm sorry. But I think you've got a manufacturing facility that would do it for you. And, you know, there's lots and lots of places, I think, that have big collections of pinball machines who would be interested in doing that. And, you know, so what if they only get 45? You get your money. Wow. I like the idea, although the problem is I ripped it off from a guy named Jack Danger. And Jack Danger is really one of the first pinball streamers, if you will. And then he now works for Stern, and he designed that Foo Fighters back there. Oh, wow. So he has a bigger trajectory than I think I'll have. But what I can say. Don't sell yourself short. I know. God bless him. You're going to have your own. One of my favorite people on the planet. Ditto. Ditto. We're a little family here. We are. Are there trade seats? No, no, no. It's okay. But anyway, he's pretty famous. And he designed this rig, and he basically sent it, gave the Internet, here's the instructions, and I just followed. I see. So it would be uncool for you. Well, I've then upgraded everything from the original. And so this is all really a work of art, if you want to give me a second. That rig. Whatever I see, I'm really impressed. We've got two rigs now, and we're building a third. So we don't know. This is an interesting segue to the museum. I don't know what to do there. And we've got time, but we don't know if we're going to do this system with the rig system or something different. And I'm probably going to go with the rig system, but do three rigs there. You can start with the rig because that obviously is mobile and you can move it around. But you could also have built into the ceiling, you know, cables and cameras that zoom in and so forth. We're going to get there. We're going to design it. We just need – I need expertise, someone to help me with that. But we are definitely doing some really cool stuff at the museum. So I have questions about the museum, but I don't want to interrupt you. No, not at all. I was just – I'm not now. So I know this is how it happened. This is how we go down a wormhole and wormhole rabbit hole. That's how we got the name. We never talked about this, but I'm going to segue very quickly. Okay. Before we talk about Wormhole East Museum, how we got the name for the wormhole. Right. So we were COVID here. It was me, Tim, John, Christine, Janine, and a few handful of others. We're trying to keep our spider web tight because of COVID. And we were, we were being good. We were being good. And we were going a little nuts at home and needing to. get out and see each other. And October is when we put machines in this place. In October 2020, Tim and John were moving their machines in. None of these stickers were up, and none of this stuff was up, right? It was just bare walls. We need to tell the sticker story, too. Well, the stickers would – I mean, there's thousands of stickers that have been put over here, and Tim Hood has put on 98% of – no, maybe 99% of every sticker. I think there's like five stickers there that Tim has not put on, and he knows it. Tell me this when I was doing the Chronicle story. Tim would come in here. Get on the ladder. I went crazy and bought him a ridiculous amount of stickers. I still get sticker mule coupons. They love me. So we found stickers and stickers and stickers. Now, I would present these stickers to Tim and some didn't make the cut And so they would get tossed into this pile, and they're gone now, the stickers that didn't make it. But he had placed the only sticker that he did not place in the beginning was a New York Yankees sticker that I placed right there. Right. Right when you walk in. Right. And Pinball Mafia, our friends from Beaumont that Dwight was crapping on. Yeah, I heard him crapping on that. He was not crapping on the Pinball Mafia. He was crapping on that. He put up one sticker. We love you. And that is it. So that is the only stickers. That's one of our techs. That is our lead tech, actually. He's amazing, Brian. So, Brian. Yes. That is what happened was Tim would be putting stickers up until 2 in the morning. We're playing video games. And all of a sudden now it's 3 o'clock and we've got to go home. Yeah. And we've been here since 4 in the afternoon because I own a staffing company and there was no staffing going on during COVID. So none of us really – I was definitely not working. So I was here. and all of a sudden one day Tim's like this place is like a wormhole it's like you're here all day and then time's just a suck yeah and that's how we started calling it the wormhole huh that's great I always thought that the it was wormhole because when you drain it's like it got your ball no it's not really being here yes laughing that oh my god it's three in the morning I've got to get home and come back tomorrow. Right, exactly. And rest, to rest up for tomorrow. And we put this, it's funny, I put this, so I did the construction build out inside here, and I put this gorgeous spiral pipe in, and I was so proud of this. Which one? Oh, yeah, the AC duct, yeah. The AC duct, it's a spiral pipe, and it's really specialized, and it's a really nice upgrade of the HVAC system. and Tim comes and he's like, he comes to me and he's like, Hey, um, would it be, would you mind if I put stickers on the pipe? And I'm like, hell no, hell no. We're not putting stickers on the pipe that, do you know how nice that pipe is? Like it's a work of art. It's a focal point of the building. So I come up here and he's looking a little dejected and we're kind of talking about it. And I mean, Tim's pretty independent, so he's going to do what he wants anyway. But it was, It was nice that he gave me a nod and like we laugh with each other and kind of wrangle with each other sometimes. So he comes up here and John Spates comes up to me and he's like, did you really like really say no to that? Like I heard that Tim really wanted to put stickers. It's such a tough thing too. He's going to be listening to this and he's like, yeah, that's what I said. There's a lot of history in the main public here. Yes. That's okay. Yes. so I'm like hey so Tim's definitely got some advocates out there so he John John's like you know I mean the the you really want to say no to that and then Tim comes up later and he's like you really are you really serious about that like you really don't want stickers and finally I'm just like okay guys okay and I am not kidding you the first sticker was on probably 50 minutes later. He had a vision. He did. He had an artistic vision. He did. And I really appreciate it now. It's so integral to this space. The door's getting out of hand. People, Tim started putting them on the door and then some other people put some stickers on the door. So the door's not totally Tim. And I think he looks at the door with a little bit of sustain. You know what? Same word, right? I think so. But, you know, you're going to have to ask him. You'll notice there's one thing about all the stickers on the pipe. They don't overlap. Yeah. And when you get to the door, they're all overlapping and covering things and touching each other. Although, you know, for a door, that makes sense. That makes sense. Some of those. But here, you want to see, I mean, you get to see your pipe. You get to see your pipe. You get both things. We did both, and it worked out great. Right. And I really was not trying to be a buzzkill, but I just needed a moment with it in its, like, glory of being this awesome piece of, like, architecture. You can kind of see it in the upper left above her head, some of the stickers, what she's talking about. So I can tell you, and I'm just making a suggestion here. It's so much happier with it the way it is. Oh, my God. I love it. I'm just making a suggestion here, just kind of something I noticed. I'm just saying. Oh, oh, no. The bathroom doors are kind of bare. Oh, Dwight. Yeah. I'll buy. I know where to buy them. We're editing that out. I know where to buy the stickers. That would be cool. I knew that was coming. That's unacceptable. We'll do it. What? That sounds really cool. I'll buy the stickers right now. I got a whole list. I feel like I'm going to get overrun. First the pipe, now the bathroom. It'll be cool. All right, Christine's turn. What stage is the museum in? the tentative title, I understand, is Wormhole East. Is that correct? Yes. All right. So what stage is it in and when do you think it will open? Okay, then. We're just going to go. You could pull up a quote when I ask him what stage it's at. It's an effing shit show right now. Okay. No. And that is It's totally set in jest. It's in permitting right now. It is – I can't really predict when it will be done, what we're discovering and what we're actually in the process of doing right now, all of us collectively, as we have our first board meeting. We do. This Friday. I feel like there's a lot of excitement building going on around that first board meeting. This is the first board meeting? Yeah, we're having our first board meeting. Yes. Our first museum. board meeting. So how is a board meeting different from just like, you know, the five of you sitting around here talking about what you're going to do? Because as you notice in this podcast, you know what happens when we get together? Our structure goes away a little bit. Yeah, thanks. I'm working on my airplane right now. Wait, I'm going to work on the plane. Is there going to be a sergeant at arms? we are you know what it's going to be interesting to see how um how the dynamic goes in a structured meeting with all of us because we get going and we start talking and then and it's all these ideas and they flow into each other and then we start interrupting each other and then it's just all of us talking at once and it's just all this crazy great energy. And sometimes somebody will get annoyed and then the energy changes a little bit and then we disperse and then we get back together. And so I don't, I think that it, we're all, we've all started settling into what our role will be in all of this. And so I think that this meeting is going to be a way to say, okay, we all have our specialties and our expertise, our areas that we focus on or enjoy participating in the most. And let's now entertain all the ideas we have. Like you had mentioned, like one thing I'm going to add to the agenda is, hey, what about a streaming rig that will have some museum rows of pinball machines that are fixed? So there'll always be machines in those spots. So I'm envisioning on a football field, and you've got the camera that dips over the field. What if we had a cable across that row of machines, and we could remote control where that rig – I've been all over it. I'm trying to figure that out. Exactly. I know. I know. I'm all over it. I'm all over that. I can't wait to talk about that. So it's going to be brainstorming. It's going to be, okay, how do we really want to proceed? How do we grow our brand that's already really been solidified by you, Jamie, and by John and here at Wormhole with all of us? But John's now putting games in local breweries. Yeah, John's an operator now. So are the games branded in any way that in any case it's part of Wormhole? Oh, that's a good question. I don't think so. I think those are John's machines and those that are Tim's, Tim's just that they're not at the wormhole that Tim wants to route out with John. But it's an opportunity to raise the profile of the wormhole with these machines. It is, but I think it is. Absolutely. And there are wormhole stickers on the machines, on many of them. Yeah, I think there's wormhole magnets on them. Right, but wormhole doesn't have to become a black hole of consuming everything and all pinball in the city. The other thing is – I think that really it's an opportunity – I'm sorry to interrupt you, but it's an opportunity for John and Taylor to really grow that part of a business and make connections within the community and really have some independent – It's like doing a solo. If you're in a band and someone's going out and doing a solo, the band's still there to support them. Even Eddie Vedder went solo. That's okay. It is okay. It's all right. And so, yes, we are 100% behind that endeavor as far as our support and our encouragement. And many, many people who come to Wormhole are there working on machines or playing in the tournaments that are sponsored. but it's not really something that is specifically a wormhole venture at all. The one thing about putting those machines out there and you guys kind of walk a line because you don't have wormhole in and of itself. It's not like widely open. Intentionally. What are you doing with that? And so you have – My paper plane that we were talking about earlier with my script. That's right. And so you can't just go, oh, it's Wormhole. You can come because maybe you can't come. Well, on those Mondays, we still have – we're only open three days a week, the Wormhole, and we are open for events, and you can rent us, and you can check us out at WormholePinball.com or email us at WormholePinball at gmail.com. It's parts unknown. No. Indeed. Yeah, but they can find the address if they need to. But, you know, I think going back to Wormhole East, if you don't mind, how many pens do you think will be there? I think we can put in 166. Wow. Oh, Tim told me 120, but I like 166 better. I think we can find a way to put in more. That lead tech there? Yeah. I think I just heard him fall. I have a heart attack. Is he okay? Do you want to go check on him? I need to go get him. Brian, are you okay? Brian, how are you? Actually, what's happening right now is that in the vault, as games are shopped out and they're repaired, they are then becoming museum ready. Yeah. And so they'll be closed down and stored. And so this museum endeavor is starting now. So if the question was, when will it be ready? It's actually in the works right now. We're in the process right now of making sure that we don't fall into the trap that so many small businesses do, right? Of growing too fast. And then you get there and you're overrun or it is unprofessional or it's not matching your vision. So by starting with our board meetings, with our board, all of us, we're creating the format for us to work together in this structure at least a little bit of the time and then have fun the rest of the time i think this will be these meetings will be fun i think they're going to be great they're going to be great they're all about how do we develop how do we focus on our team building together um we work well as a team and so this is about honing that relationship and all the contributing ideas that we can start working on now. Do you expand? How do you expand the team? Because at some point. We're not going to because we're a cult, and we want to keep that cult really tight. It's okay. Throw the secret hand sign. Okay. Exactly. That would be going too far. We'd have to edit that out. Sure. I think, you know, there's my third story. Exactly. Exactly. We're always picking up people. You know, when the Wormhole opened in October, there were 10 of us tops, right? And now we've got tournaments where 40 to 50 people come in through here. Brian Foytick was not our tech of, you know, he came to us and he loves machines. And you know what we pay him? Peanut butter cups. The guy loves peanut butter cups. I know, but they really feel good. I'm not kidding, Dwight. and we just take care of him and we make sure that these guys know and we try to take care of him with other funny things along the way that are just spontaneous. Here's a thank you for you It takes a village It does take a village Can you do that at the scale you're going to do at Wormfield? That's a challenge I can tell you, just knowing Christine and Tim and Janine who's helping a lot, they're not going to open this thing with 10 working pinball machines. There's a place like that. It's called Vegas. We don't need... Jamie, you said you weren't going to do it. I won't do it again. These machines have to work. They have to be... They're works of art. You don't get to see Terrific Lake. You can hear it if you live on the other side of the vault at 2 a.m. But hey. So they need to be perfect. and that guy right there is making sure they're perfect and when they are perfect and they're not coming here they're going to be folded up in the vault and they're going to have tags on them to say they're museum ready and now look when you move pinball machines everybody knows if something goes wrong and you know always always but we're going to have tech there and we're going to make sure it perfect so so the door the door opening who knows when that will be exactly I would tell people maybe end of 2026 2027 I think that reasonable I really like to have a big ribbon opening and invite all these famous people. Let's make that happen, Dwight. You should cover that. That's going to be great. Dwight, we have so many things you should do. Okay, Dwight. I'm not buying this retirement thing. He's all acting like he needs to retire and stuff. I've got one more question for her, and then we'll wrap this up. Okay. Any design ideas that you could share with us, like vision of what you think is going to look like? Or you're not ready to go there yet? Oh, I've thought about all of that. I know. I just was curious if there was, like, an architect that you really admire as well that people could Google so that they could look at it and go, we don't have to give that. I'm just curious. You're asking me to give up personal stuff? Then let's not do it. It took me like five visits with Dwight before I started becoming myself. All right. Actually, you know, we're working with this amazing architect called E-Studio Architecture. Our team is – they're rock stars. You guys are rock stars. the structural part of the museum is in permitting right now um dwight as you've seen by being there it's uh the building is from the late 1800s and some the the foundation is not great uh you know it's pretty old it's been there for a while um and houston soil is not great as we know um and the walls are falling down and we have a bee swarm that's residing there. And, you know, um, it's, it's kind of, uh, got a lot of work to do. Yeah. We'll get there. It'll work. We'll get there. We'll get there. Uh, but that's actually moving along quite well. The, the interior design phase has, we've done quite a bit of work on that. you've got full blueprints. We do. Not a lot of people have seen those. Yeah. Dwight. No, no, Dwight. I have. I've seen it. I know. It's cool. On the kitchen, yes. One of the things that made me decide that I wanted to see the inside of it was because, you know, a lot of people say, oh, we're going to do X. And X never happens, and it's kind of a dream, right? And when Tim showed me the blueprints. Maybe it seemed like we were serious? I thought, okay, as I said, I think in one of our conversations, these are serious people, as they said in succession. And in doing that, so when you said you want to see the building, initially I said, well, I want to get this done. I want to get the story done. Damn it, I want it off my plate. But then the more I thought about it and the more I thought, like, I had a really bad plate in front of me, I wanted to see it. And then seeing that and seeing how real it was and then seeing the building itself, when I say it coalesced it, that's why. Oh, interesting. That's why. Because I saw this is real and this is going to happen and I get to write about it. You know, I mentioned it in the first story. You did. At the very bottom, just kind of tossing it off. And I said to the editor at the Chronicle I was working with, I said, you know, there may be another story we could do soon on this. And she said, no, let's wait until they're just about to open. and I thought there's something more there you know and so that's why one of the reasons why I kind of nosed around that at first and as I said it wound up the whole story became the whole building became a character did you cut out my whole segment? because I thought I was going to get a page and a half just Jamie Burton no just Jamie Burton in the article and they cut me all out I got like a little laugh Yes. Are we limited to a certain time frame? No, no, no. I'm talking about the Texas Monthly article. I got a line there. What happened to that, Dwight? Yeah, Dwight. Yeah, what did happen to that? I talked a lot about all the wormhole five. And I know that you don't have editorial control over all of it. And we are teasing you because we feel like we've broken the barrier of formality now and we can give you a little business. Happy to take it. I love doing this. But it's tough to not have everyone have the same acknowledgement. Well, I will go back to the focus. Are we beating this? I think we're beating this too hard. I'm joking. I'm being joking. It doesn't matter to me. You know, it was a beautiful article about two beautiful people that I care deeply about, and it shows their passion. Well, unless he went in and cut it, I talked about the wormhole five. and I talked to him because I didn't have that phrase. I didn't have that phrase in my vocabulary until you sent me that email. Yes. I went, oh, if you remember, I remember I asked you if it was wormhole space five or wormhole five, wormhole five. Right. And so I cared about that. Thank you. You did. To do that. And, you know, I have not kind of gone back and done a line by line, see what he left in versus see what got cut. Most of it, I think he did a really good job of editing. I think it's a great article. I think anyone that wants to read it, please go to TexasMonthly.com. And I second that. Just do a search for pinball power couple, and you'll find the story. Oh, if the penny bites back. Dwight, well played. Well played. I was saving it. I was saving it. Is there anything else that we haven't spoken about that you'd like to address or plug? Address or plug. Well, just I can tell you that this story about the cats at the old folks home. Yeah. Is a good one. Primo. I mean, you're OK. We know it will be. We have you tell me, give us any little tidbits that haven't been released to the public yet. Well, first of all, the big tidbit is I haven't even talked to an editor about who I'm writing for. Oh, OK. But but it involves an a an old folks home. Oh, yeah. It involves a retirement community where my mom lives, actually, and that has been around since the 60s. And as far back as anyone knows, there has been this colony of feral cats. That are stealing their soul. And the old ladies and old men who live there come out and feed them, I think, much to the consternation of the owners and managers who just want them gone. Oh, we have a friend, John, who has three feral cats in his yard. I'm sure he'd be happy to take on some more. Absolutely. We know exactly where they can go. I know. We've got to play the farm. We have a stealth mission. We're going to. It's across the street from my house. Yeah, you will need that big. Drop them off in the backyard. You'll need that big van of yours. Okay, great. How many cats? How many cats? I don't know. I haven't been able to count them. There are probably dozens. Oh, I can fit them in the van. Dozens is no problem. No worries. John can handle that. You know that they clip when you take feral cats in. Yes, they clip theirs. And there's, I'd say about a third of them are clipped, which means there will be more cats. Yes. Yes. Great. So I'm volunteering right now, my services, to come help safely, help capture some cats, take them, get your clips done, get them fixed, and then we can release them back to their. I'll have my mother call your people. Oh, that's lovely. That's really nice. All right, guys, if you don't mind, I have a few pieces of business on you. Business. All right. And it's just the end of the podcast. Before you do that. Yeah. Thank you so much for the article. We have very much appreciated having you become part of our community. We have been thrilled about the article and the care that you took in writing it and the just the good energy that you brought to this community and really the spotlight to all of our collective efforts. And I don't want that to go unsaid, that Tim and I wanted to thank you for that. Well, you know. We appreciate that. I don't play it as much as I want to just because I can't get out there and do it. But I have to say that pinball brings me joy, and I enjoy writing about it. I said when I did the first story, you know, I don't want to become the pin. I don't want to do the pinball beat, but here I am. but it brings me such joy and as I said at the beginning of this it amazes me how nice everybody is and you guys are the kings and queens of nice oh thank you they really are and you are too he's talking about all of us I'm talking about the whole community the whole scene it's amazing that To me, it's amazing that Houston doesn't know about this as more than they do. I'm kind of good with that right now so far until the museum opens. Agreed. And then they can come. Exactly. Well, and this started as this really like underground speakeasy vibe, and we love that. So it doesn't mean that it's exclusive. It means that it's underground. Yeah, and we've kind of – Deliberately not advertised. And we've glamored on to Space City Houston, right? I mean, just to give them the props with Bill Grimaldi, Elizabeth Drone, Mark Ammons, David Pollack, all of them. And all those guys are incredibly nice. I mean, everybody in that group is really nice. Yeah, but because what we did, I like stealing things sometimes, is we kind of stole what Space City was doing, and we just put it on steroids here. Right? Okay. And they don't mind. They don't mind. No. Well, we collaborate with them. We do. We support Space City events. We support Bells and Chimes. Especially love Bells and Chimes. And they're having a big event here in a couple weeks. That's right. Actually, next weekend. Yes. But thank you, Dwight. Thank you so much. This has been an honor. Oh, my gosh. I really enjoyed it. Well, I cannot express my gratitude to Tim and Christine. And this is what I wrote. Don't go there. I'm going to do it. Don't do that. No. I have to do it. It's like three lines. Okay. It's not even that bad. Yeah, it is. I hear it. It's not even that long. Here's the deal, and I won't even read it. They're just very gracious, okay? They're very gracious. I jokingly said they let us play with their toys. That is really nice. They would be very good Playpen friends as we grew up. Playpen? Friends, because they let us play with their toys. In the same box. We're in the same box, right? And who knew? They've been very close friends of ours for a very, very long time. And Tim and John have sucked me into the world of pinball. And they're just lovely. And I love all them so much. You mean you were not originally in the world of pinball? No, I wasn't. John and I didn't really know each other. John Spates is Tim and Christine's roommate in college. Right. And Tim and Christine. Did he have the beard in college? No. Oh, I should bust out some pictures of John. Bring him to the next podcast. His beard is great. His beard is epic. It's very. He grows like in a week and a half. I mean, he really has skills. Really? No, it's really like a month. It's curated and perfect, though, isn't it? Yes. Yes. Not during COVID, though. That was a rough one. Sorry, John. Everybody has those beards. Everybody has those. I need to get those pictures out, too. Anyway, I need to run soon because we got league tonight. But I just want to, you know, they sucked me in by Tim. They lived in Pearland. Tim would go, come over. I got a new machine called Metallica. And I'd play it. I just never thought anything of it. Right? I was like, oh, this is fun. He's like, you're really good at this. And I can hear him trying to chime in and trying to get me into it, but I'm just like, I can't. And it was John and Tim said, come to the league and go to Charlie's at Joysticks. He has a bar called 1820 next door, and they had Pinball League there. And there's 30 to 40 people that would come to Pinball League and play these machines. And I just went and hung out, and I met this community, and I met these pinballers, and I fell in love. That was it. And then I started learning that these machines are different. Every pin is different, and everything has a story. And it's a video game with skill, and Funhaus is totally different than Rick and Morty over there. And one fun house machine may be very different from another. Exactly. Absolutely. And they're really great players, and I'm not one of them. Know those differences and can feel those differences, right? And they know where the tilt bob is, and they're just amazing. So Tim, I jokingly say, is a great cult leader. You would be as well. John's a very good first lieutenant of being a cult leader, And that's what we've really done here in Houston is just taken what space city did and just taken to a different level. And it is a cult. So when we're done, let's grab some Kool-Aid. Yeah. And I've got some nice sneakers for you. Exactly. One of the other things I wanted to throw in, Jamie, you were asking me about the design for the pinball museum. Structural plans are in the city right now. and we have done quite a bit of work, initial work, on the design inside the building. I really am – I can't disclose that. No, no worries. Because I would like to build the suspense. Yeah. And Janine and I need some time to meet with eStudio and build out the designs from what we've already had – the foundation that we've already built. She and I need to get together and really take what the foundation is of the space design and just explode it out even more. So that's part of what will be happening as the foundation of the building itself is being repaired and restored, is all of us building towards the museum opening and fine-tuning our roles and where we will be in that. But we will all be part of the board of directors, and I think that it's going to be really interesting to see how people emerge as leaders in their particular areas. I think it's going to be really cool. I think Janine's going to end up with a design company out of this, and we're going to have to reel her back in. She's excited. Is she? Yeah, she's pumped. She's amazing. She's pumped. And anyone that knows you, and this is another, I can't help it, but she's a very talented architect. So anyone that knows, just come to the Wormhole and look at our fence and know all we needed was a fence to block out because people were walking in during COVID and walking up upon us. So we said, hey, can we just have a little fence? And then it's just beautiful fence. It didn't need to be that beautiful. And it is. And that's just a testament to how great this museum is going to be. All right, homework, you ready? Yep, ready. I got to shut it down. So on Wednesdays, we are going to start. Let's start there. On Wednesdays, we are going to start a stream maybe once a month where we put the rig over the text and we show people what the text you're working on and involve the technical people on chat to help. Right. We're also doing this in conjunction with Markle Specialties, which is a huge pinball distribution company of parts. One of the biggest part distributors in the world. And they're going to we're going to tie in their stream. It's going to be awesome. And we're going to something that we're probably going to do at least once a month on the world, which channel. And then we'll put those thoughts up on YouTube like we normally do. So, yeah, that could be material for our documentary that we are starting. as well. Absolutely. Are you going to do a documentary documenting the build out of the museum? Yes, absolutely. You got to. You got to. Imagine a time lapse. A time lapse from today until it's built. Yeah, get the cameras up. Do you know anyone? Do you know anyone that could produce this for us? Dwight's retired. Oh, Dwight. You don't want in on this? Dwight's retired, yeah. Okay. Yeah, okay. I know. Oh, he's like. Oh, see, he's already. I told you they're cult leaders. I'm telling you, man. When they give you special sneakers and a sweatsuit to wear, you're going to put it on. I'm in such trouble. Look what I did. I put everything on. I put all this. You didn't even know you were in trouble. The water's already hot. That's right. All right, you clowns. Let me set this down before I get mislead. I got to practice. All right. Go check out Space City, a pinball counter, and see where the pinball events are in Houston. Also, go check out Eureka Heights because John – well, he's yelling in my ear. He's yelling around. Because he's right. The Houston Arcade Expo. Here, Brian. We need to eat your face. He's okay. The Houston Arcade Expo is right around the corner, and there's a color DMD sale going on there. Anything – we need machines. Contact Keith Christensen. Contact anyone that if you need information about the Houston Arcade Expo. When is the Arcade Expo? It's going to be October, the beginning of October. Yeah, the dates have changed. The dates changed. Moved a little earlier. It's a little before the Stern calendar, the Chicago Expo. So that's going to hurt us a little, but I think it's going to be great. It's the week before the Chicago Expo. Thank you, Brian. May 20th is Wormhole's Monday 3X. Then May 26th, Aaron's going to be streaming live here for Pelham Shines Space Camp Finals. That's going to be awesome. You should tune in for that, Dwight. That's going to be a badass. And then June 1st will be our Saturday 4X, sponsored by St. Arnold's Brewery, which is kind of cool. Nice. The 11th through the 13th of October. Thank you. All right, guys. We covered a lot. We didn't really focus on this that much. I'm working on my airplane right now. You guys did a great job. It's your first podcast. How'd you do? Oh, this is your first podcast? Yes. I didn't want to say it in the beginning. Thank you. Thank you for not saying it in the beginning. You have a good presence. Do I? Yes. Thank you. And you have a good voice for it. Thank you. I felt like I needed to modulate my voice. Modulate or moderate my voice because I'm not this way. You know how I am. My speech pattern is a little bit different than most people's. You do. You got to think. Yeah, I'm a thinker. I do. I'm purposeful about the words. Yeah. Except I threw a lot of really good likes in. You know what you should keep doing is banging that mic as much as you want, because people are going to love that sound. Have I been banging it the whole time? No, you just did it right now. Like that? Yeah, I'm just kidding. Like that? Is that banging the mic? Dwight, thank you. Thank you. What a privilege it was for us. We really appreciate it. When does this get, when does this go live? We have an editor now, and he is going to get the Zoom link in a few minutes, and it should be up tomorrow, I think. Okay. Worst case, Friday morning. Okay. but I will tag you and I'll watch it before I send it over to my editor at Texas Monthly you can watch and or listen it'll be on Spotify and all the other places as well I like to watch podcasts I like to listen because it takes too much attention interestingly enough our podcasts do almost 5-10 times more on the audio side than the video side I think that's true in general It is. I did. I was a regular on This Week in Tech, the thing with Leo Laporte that has been on forever and ever. And he made a big deal out of doing video with it and for years and years. And and I want I got a chance one time to look at his at, you know, who watched what? And it was largely audio. Yeah, yeah, it is. It is. I think that's tremendously different. we put it on as VODs up on YouTube and that'll get like two, three hundred views. And you also don't know how many people are listening to it but not looking at it. Exactly. They just play it. Alright, we gotta go. Thank you so much. Thank you. I had a great time. She's nervous and there's nothing to be nervous about. Pimal is great and what we're doing here is awesome. Brian's calling it. We're done. It's a wrap, folks. Thank you so much. Thank you.

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 49e1b060-4bf6-4908-8c7b-ec38311ebe84*