# Pinball Junk Drawer Episode 76 - Listener Mail, AI-Gate and what AI thinks of beer

**Source:** Poor Man's Pinball Podcast  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2025-07-04  
**Duration:** 39m 10s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://poormanspinballpodcast.libsyn.com/pinball-junk-drawer-episode-76-listener-mail-ai-gate-and-what-ai-thinks-of-beer

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## Analysis

Pinball Junk Drawer Episode 76 covers listener emails about Gary Stern playing pinball, streaks on Insider Connect Talks, a Ladies Flip Wisconsin tournament experience with various machines, and controversy over AI-generated artwork in Harry Potter pinball. Hosts discuss the implications of AI in graphic design for pinball and the broader gaming industry, touching on quality concerns and the 'derpy dragon' AI artifact that sparked community backlash.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Gary Stern was seen playing Black Knight Sword of Rage in a Jack Danger livestream around 1:20-1:25 mark — _Glenn the Skateboarder submitted video evidence; hosts verified the clip_
- [HIGH] Metal Luna (Harry Potter artist) acknowledged using AI as a tool for graphics but claimed extensive hand-retouching and rework happens afterward — _Artist statement referenced; community discussion of AI usage in Harry Potter pinball artwork_
- [HIGH] Harry Potter pinball artwork contains noticeable AI artifacts including a 'derpy dragon' with apparent third eye — _Dennis from The Pinball Show and Zach identified and named the artifact; community consensus on Pinside_
- [MEDIUM] Predator pinball (Pinball Brothers) also contains heavy AI usage with derpy elements — _Dennis and Zach mentioned 'Predatorp' in reference to AI issues; unspecified extent of usage_
- [HIGH] The host maintained a 243+ day consecutive play streak on Insider Connect Talks after breaking previous 165-day streak — _Host directly reported streak numbers and motivations_
- [HIGH] Ladies Flip Wisconsin raised $600 total ($300 donations matched by hosts) for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society via Beatles Gold side tournament — _Host confirmed donation amounts and matching commitment from event organizers_
- [MEDIUM] Yingling is the oldest beer in America — _Host stated in context of AI beer recommendations; historical claim about brewery founding_
- [MEDIUM] Shazbot Nanu Nanu was Bon Scott's (AC/DC) last recorded phrase, spoken on a friend's band recording — _Host referenced connection to AC/DC pinball machine and Robin Williams' Mork character catchphrase; verifiable but requires confirmation_

### Notable Quotes

> "Who's responsible, I say, who's responsible for this unwarranted attack on my person? I say, I say, I say, pay attention now, boy."
> — **Foghorn Leghorn (host persona)**, Opening
> _Signature Foghorn Leghorn character introduction to the podcast_

> "AI is going to eliminate a lot of graphic jobs... the last thing any corporation or anyone wants to do is pay a graphic artist"
> — **Host (Foghorn Leghorn)**, AI-Gate segment
> _Personal perspective on AI's impact on graphic design profession; frames industry concern about automation_

> "You're selling this thing costs 15 grand. Yeah. You best take, you better clean this up. You know, it's very sloppy."
> — **Craft Brew Sally**, Harry Potter discussion
> _Consumer-side criticism of quality standards for premium-priced machines_

> "Well, JJP's more flamboyant, like lights and craziness and wow, look at how bright and loud and everything is... Stern tends to make just very shootable games that are nice."
> — **Craft Brew Sally**, Harry Potter evaluation
> _Design philosophy comparison between Jersey Jack and Stern approaches_

> "It's just like oh next new shiny and whatever... That's all that pinball is."
> — **Host (Foghorn Leghorn)**, AI controversy conclusion
> _Commentary on community's short attention span and novelty-driven interests_

> "I asked AI what America's favorite beer for the 4th of July is... and the answer that I got was regular domestic or international beer. Isn't that all beer? Yes. Isn't that every single beer there is?"
> — **Craft Brew Sally and Host exchange**, AI beer segment
> _Humorous critique of AI's useless/circular reasoning in recommendation generation_

> "At change 900 you stop really caring a whole lot... because every little ticky-tack thing is another couple hours of your life"
> — **Host (Foghorn Leghorn)**, Graphic artist experience discussion
> _Insider perspective on revision fatigue in commercial design work_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Pinball Junk Drawer | organization | Pinball podcast from Poor Man's Pinball Network hosted by Foghorn Leghorn and Craft Brew Sally |
| Foghorn Leghorn | person | Host of Pinball Junk Drawer podcast; creates show in character of classic cartoon character; graphic artist by profession |
| Craft Brew Sally | person | Co-host of Pinball Junk Drawer; handles brewery and craft beer recommendations segment; co-owner of pinball machines including Godzilla and Elvira |
| Glenn Wechter | person | Glenn the Skateboarder; community listener who submitted video evidence of Gary Stern playing Black Knight Sword of Rage |
| Gary Stern | person | Stern Pinball executive; documented playing Black Knight Sword of Rage in Jack Danger livestream |
| Jack Danger | person | Former livestreamer and current Stern Pinball designer; host of stream where Gary Stern played Black Knight |
| Metal Luna | person | Harry Potter pinball artist; acknowledged using AI as tool in artwork creation with hand-retouching claimed |
| Dennis Nordman | person | Dennis from The Pinball Show; identified AI artifacts in Harry Potter and Predator artwork including 'derpy dragon' |
| Harry Potter | game | Jersey Jack Pinball machine; subject of AI art controversy with noticeable artifacts in playfield artwork |
| Predator | game | Pinball Brothers machine; noted to contain heavy AI usage with visible derpy elements |
| Black Knight Sword of Rage | game | Stern Pinball machine; referenced in livestream footage showing Gary Stern playing |
| Insider Connect Talks | product | Stern Pinball app/system with daily streak tracking; hosts maintaining 200+ day consecutive play streaks |
| Ladies Flip Wisconsin | event | Ladies-focused pinball tournament with 10-round match play; supportive community atmosphere for learning rules |
| Rachel | person | Pinball player from Ladies Flip Wisconsin league; documented tournament with photos |
| Leukemia and Lymphoma Society | organization | Charity beneficiary of Ladies Flip Wisconsin fundraiser; received $600 donation from Beatles Gold side tournament |
| Beatles Gold | game | Pinball machine used in charity side tournament at Ladies Flip Wisconsin |
| Pinball Brothers | company | European pinball manufacturer of Predator machine with noted AI usage |
| Jersey Jack Pinball | company | Manufacturer of Harry Potter pinball with controversial AI artwork |
| Stern Pinball | company | Major pinball manufacturer; design philosophy noted as 'very shootable games'; designs for AC/DC pinball referenced |
| AC/DC | game | Pinball machine themed to rock band; referenced for Bon Scott connection to 'Shazbot Nanu Nanu' |

### Topics

- **Primary:** AI artwork in pinball machines, Harry Potter pinball quality concerns, Community tournament and league play
- **Secondary:** Graphic design profession and AI automation, Insider Connect Talks daily streaks, Charity fundraising in pinball community, Pinball machine evaluation and purchasing decisions
- **Mentioned:** AI capability and limitations

### Sentiment

**Mixed** (0.55) — Tournament and charity segments express positive sentiment; AI artwork controversy and quality concerns drive negative sentiment; overall pragmatic/resigned tone about AI inevitability in industry

### Signals

- **[business_signal]** Premium pricing ($15k+) for pinball machines now questioned when quality control issues like AI artifacts appear in flagship releases (confidence: medium) — Craft Brew Sally: 'You're selling this thing costs 15 grand... You best clean this up'; consumer expectation of perfection at luxury price point vs. observable defects
- **[event_signal]** Ladies Flip Wisconsin tournament demonstrates supportive community atmosphere with educational gameplay environment and successful charity fundraising (confidence: high) — Host participation in 10-round match play with multiple machines; $600 total donation to Leukemia and Lymphoma Society; hosts noted helpful community members teaching rules
- **[sentiment_shift]** Pinball community expressing significant dissatisfaction with Harry Potter artwork quality despite strong IP appeal (confidence: high) — Host: 'There's a gigantic threat of horror and dissatisfaction on pin side towards it'; Predator also noted with AI issues; emerging pattern of AI usage discovery
- **[design_philosophy]** Harry Potter pinball artwork contains visible AI-generated artifacts including 'derpy dragon' with apparent third eye, sparking community backlash on Pinside (confidence: high) — Dennis from The Pinball Show identified and named the artifact; confirmed as topic of massive Pinside thread; hosts acknowledge community dissatisfaction
- **[market_signal]** AI-generated artwork becoming visible pattern across multiple pinball manufacturers (Harry Potter, Predator) with community increasingly critical of quality control (confidence: high) — Multiple machines (Harry Potter, Predator) identified with AI usage; Dennis from Pinball Show coining 'derpy dragon' terminology; hosts noting this as industry trend
- **[market_signal]** Harry Potter pinball generating mixed interest despite strong IP; purchaser hesitation based on gameplay and theme-to-price ratio concerns (confidence: medium) — Craft Brew Sally uncommitted to purchase despite Harry Potter being lifelong theme interest; preference for gameplay quality over theme; comparison to other $15k+ options
- **[community_signal]** Graphic artist perspective on commercial game development shows fatigue with revision cycles and quality sign-off authority problems (confidence: high) — Host (production graphic artist) detailed personal experience of outsourcing, AI replacement fears, and revision fatigue: 'at change 900 you stop really caring a whole lot'
- **[product_strategy]** Harry Potter pinball appears to have extended production timeline with contentious revision history potentially contributing to quality issues (confidence: medium) — Host: 'This whole thing, like, the whole, like, announcement to release to now, this AI thing, I just, you're adding tick marks onto my head'; 'my head hurts' indicating troubled release cycle
- **[product_concern]** Harry Potter pinball released with AI artwork that was not adequately cleaned up or retouched before manufacturing, indicating quality control gaps (confidence: high) — Host commentary: 'You best clean this up. You know, it's very sloppy' in context of $15k+ price point; Metal Luna acknowledged AI use but claimed extensive hand-retouching (contradicted by visible artifacts)
- **[licensing_signal]** Harry Potter pinball production involved complex approval chain with Warner Brothers and/or original IP holders; revisions and sign-offs added production complexity (confidence: medium) — Host discussion of revision cycles and sign-off authority; speculation about Warner Brothers involvement and movie industry's 'revolving door of nonsense' in approval processes

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## Transcript

 Now who's responsible, I say, who's responsible for this unwarranted attack on my person? I say, I say, I say, pay attention now, boy. This is, of course, Foghorn Leghorn presents the Pinball Junk Drawer. You all asked for it, I say, you all asked for it, now you're gonna get it. Boy, oh boy, are you gonna get it. Go, I say, go away, boy, you bother me. And this pinball podcast is being recorded before a live feline audience. That's right, it's time for the Bell Interrupts Our Podcast show. My name is Foghorn Leghorn, with me as always, Craft Brew Sally. And by that I mean, this is the Pinball Junk Jorn. For your ears, your butts, and your felines. I almost said females. I guess females too, but there's cat problems, is what I guess I'm alluding to in this long-winded joke. Yes. Oh my goodness. Very many. Alright, well we've got a pretty decent show lined up. Okay. First, we're going to start with some emails. Because if you remember way back when, two weeks ago, two weeks and two days ago, we're running this one a little bit later than usual, I had posed a question out. And also, the question, well, first I had like that trivia question about how I end each show. And didn't get any answers with that. Glenn Slippy Slappy Samsonite Silly something something. He had a guess, but that wasn't the right answer, which is okay. It doesn't matter. But Glenn and Jason, I thought we had a name for Jason, but maybe we didn't. I don't know. Glenn wrote about the has anyone ever seen Gary Stern play pinball? Now, this is a, I'm sure, and again, I'm fairly certain that most everyone at Stern has probably seen him play pinball. And then when I started thinking about it, I've never seen Jack Guarnieri play pinball. I don't know. Maybe in the public spotlight they don't want to because then it's just going to be let's pick at how these guys play. Right. Even though they played their whole lives. You know what I mean? So whatever. So Glenn was the first to reply, and he had sent a Black Knight Sword of Rage YouTube clip where he wrote back and said, like an hour and 20, an hour and 25 minutes in, Gary is seen playing. And I went to that video and I said, yep, there it is. It was, it was when Jack Janger used to do a live streaming before he did a design and some of that. He used to do a lot of live streaming and stuff like that. So yay. And then he signed it off. Slippy, slippy, sloppy, sweaty, stardust, yo, Sammy, Samity, Samsonite, Glenn, the skateboarder. It gets longer every time he writes us. So that's it. We make stuff up as we go, too. Sure do. Because then the follow-up one was from work. I don't know the reference other than it's from work from work, which that is correct. I watched that show as a kid. My dad was a big fan of Robin Williams. I don't know if he was on Happy Days, so my guess would be that Nanu Nanu as he played the Fonz, because the Fonz used to play pinball, which was a good guess. That is not what I was thinking. And then Jason from Rockford, Illinois, not to be confused with doing the actual Rockford move, which is a, I'm the only person in the world that knows that. Like there was this old, there was this old detective show called Rockford. And every now and then he would do this move where he would drive a car in reverse really fast and they'd like whip it around. So it was like he would turn around at high speed. Destructo does Rockford. Yes, he does. That cat Destructo does Rockford. So every now and then I'll try it, but it doesn't work so good with front wheel drive cars. So that's a Rockford. so Jason had said he wrote and said that he remembered seeing some video during the COVID shutdown that was streamed on the internet and then I had forwarded to him this clip that Trip S to the 10th Power sent us and then he said oh yeah that might have been the one he was thinking of and then he said what a trip down memory lane this was Jason replied what a trip down memory lane I purchased an LEBK Black Knight when it was released I remember that stream and miss the way Jack would live I miss the way Jack would live stream all the time. I remember that stream and miss the way Jack would live stream all the freaking time. It's goofy how the love for the game wasn't present back then and now very much revered. I recall one, maybe two PM offers from Pinside members for purchase. I refused and continue to play and own. Happy weekend. So thank you very much, Jason, and thank you very much, Glenn. We always enjoy listener emails. I should probably go clean up that thing, but I might not. I'm very lazy. Now, for the answer to the trivia question, because I try to remember at the end of each show to say Shazbot Nanu Nanu, and this does have a direct pinball... Should I answer the trivia? Okay, answer it. So, that is... Glenn was right. That is from Mork from Mork. So that was... Robin Williams used to say that. Now, the connection is Bon Scott, the original singer for ACDC used to have a, he had a friend whose name, whose band name was Shazbat Nanu Nanu. And that is actually the last recorded voice. The last thing that Bon Scott has recorded in his life is him saying Shazbat Nanu Nanu. So I kind of made the jump from ACDC pinball machine to Bon Scott's last known phrase ever recorded, which is I'm kind of an ACDC fan. I wouldn't say I'm a super fan. I like the older stuff. Yeah. They have 78 albums. They all sound exactly the same. So I like the first six and a half copies of that. After that, I'm kind of like, you know, I don't know, flip of us, fly on the switch wall. I don't really care. It's all this. I'm like, no, I'm good. Right up to about where they did the soundtrack for that truck with the face, Steven King thing. There was a movie and they did the soundtrack. Hey, you with the face. Yeah, it was like a Joker truck. He's like, ooh, it's so scary. Like the machines. Who made who? I think that's the name of the album. Doesn't matter. After that, I was kind of like. I'm not a huge Steven King. Or work from work. Oh, I watched that all the time. Everyone watched that. He was hilarious. A lot of Coke back then. And also, of course, ACDC. I do like the pinball machine. I would like to play some of the different variations of it. I don't see that out and about very much. No. Where did we even see it? Was it an expo? It must have been an expo. Yeah. Because there's like, I think, four or five different versions. Anyway, so that's the pinball connection. It was the last recorded phrase of Bon Scott. So in reverence to him and also in reverence to the ACDC pinball machine, that's why I end the show saying Shazbot Nono Nono. Until I forget that exists or somebody gives me a better ending phrase. Which could be any time. The strings in my brain are very loosely held together. Just one click of that one string and boop, that memory's gone. Bye, memory. So thanks for your emails, everyone. What's next up? Now, we do have an update on some streaks ending, some streaks continuing. Yeah, go ahead. Give us the news. Oh. So I was going on my merry way with my insider-connected streak. Yeah, you were cranking on it. I was. Me too. I was up to, like, oh, goodness. was it 165? 145? No, I think it was 165. Yeah? Yeah. Well, one day, because I get home like slightly earlier than Crafter Sally, so I go downstairs and I just fire them up and I play my games and then when Crafter Sally gets home, she goes down and plays her games or we go down together and play a couple. It doesn't matter. So one day I come down and I'm like, holy crap these machines have been on for a day and a half what the hell and I look over at Crafter Sally and she's like she's pretty much laying on the floor crying because why was that because that means I didn't play my games the night before I know I even reminded you of it and you said oh I have to do that and that's it and that never happened so one of us celebrated so sad now mine I'm up to 200 I switched to the second page of consecutives because like it tops out 240 is the last one on the first page. This is Insider Connect Talks. So I had 240 days in a row, and that flipped me to the second page, and now I'm continuing on. So I'm at 244, 243, something like that. So that just happened. And if I get to the end of that, it's 360. It would be cool to do a full year, but that's a lot. There's probably something that will happen, but you never know. So my streak is continuing on. Crafter Sally said, I'm done with that. and she's done with that. I didn't have the heart. I'm sure I'll restart because I know you were on a streak before and then you started again. I never thought I would because I was at 145 and I was like, I'm never doing that again and here I am at 243 and having dreams of doing a full year. I'm like, I don't know about that. We'll see. My last badge was 165 but I got up to 176 days. Yeah. Yeah. I know. It's crazy. And I'm like, What is it? Something like 360 days total or something? No, I don't know. It doesn't matter. The only one I'm kind of looking at is the streaks. Right. So that was super sad. Yeah, it's okay. Now we have the AI gate and then we have your tournament So which do you want to do first It doesn matter You talk about your tournament because you had a new exciting experience Yeah, last night I went to Ladies Flip, the Ladies Flippin' Fireworks. So it was a 10-round match play. Okay. So this was a really nice one because it didn't kind of rank the people based on win or lose. You kind of got to play everybody, which was really nice. I didn't get to play everybody, but I got to play a lot of people. And then I played nine different machines because one I played twice, which I don't think I like Getaway. uh that high speed and getaway are both they're they're fun but i don't know if i would own one like i wouldn't go out and buy one no i mean like it's not a knock against them i played them and if they're set up right and like and they're they're they're they can be very fun and fast playing you know uh but there's so many other machines i can that i like would love to have right i never really was super high on them but again it's not a knock against them i'll play how many times they're there. It's just, it's not one of those that jumps out at me like, oh, I love this machine. Right. You know. But, yeah, go ahead. So, I also played Paragon, which is one of those that you have to work out to play. It's a little bit of the wider one. A little too wide on that one. Yeah. It was, it was, I mean, I like the game. It was. Now, does Paragon have that double flipper where there's that gigantic gap? Yeah, it's just, I think, on that one side that has the double flipper. And if you try and trap, you're losing your ball. And that's such a natural thing. And you know, if you play and you leave your flippers up and you don't realize it, they go right down the out lane. They sure do. Yeah, they go right through those two flippers. I think they have one of those at District 1, don't they? I don't know. It might be a Lost World. District 82? No, no, no. The brewery. Oh, District 1? Yeah, District 1. I don't remember. I remember playing something like that, but I could be wrong. I don't really remember. I know we played it somewhere. Yeah. And then I played The Simpsons Pinball Party. Yeah. That's one I would love to get. Yeah. But it's always expensive, and I'm not sure why. I think just because it's The Simpsons, because I think everybody knows. It's hard as hell. Yeah. That game is... I've never walked away going, wow, that was a whole ton of fun, but I sure want one. I don't know. It's such a weird experience. It's like, you know, it never drops in price, though. Ever. Never, never. It's just, I don't know. It's just one of those that you'll never buy because it's, you know. Ridiculous. I can get a CE Harry Potter or I can get a 25-year-old Simpsons. Let me think about that. Yeah, because they're still on TV. Go ahead. And then I played Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. And then my first go-around with Getaway High Speed. Okay. And then James Bond. I love that game. I do too. I love that so much. I like both of them. Even that 50th anniversary that kicks your ass. It's a fun game. I like them. And then I played Volley. Which is one of those, it's an older... Like a wedge head probably. And it's very floaty. It seems floaty. But it goes down the center a lot. It sure does. I think I remember. I think I've played volley up at District 82, but I could be wrong. Yeah. A lot of those, and that's the thing about a lot of those old games. I like them, and I like playing them, but they don't really stand out unless they're doing something really wild, you know? Mm-hmm. But, yeah. Like that one that bumps the balls sideways. The steps it over with that melody or something like that. Yeah, maybe. See, that's the thing. I don't even know the name of it. I love it, but it's just one of those, you know. And what else you got? Oh, right. And then I played Guardians of the Galaxy. Yeah. I like that because there's a big Groot in the middle. That's the only reason you like it, though. He's so cute. Yeah. I think they did, that one was like, I think it was bad when it came out, but then they like did some fixing of the code. Yeah. I remember hearing that it's better because I played it once and I was like, what in the hell is going on here? Right. Okay. And then I played Cactus Canyon, that remake. Nice. Which I like that game. It's a fun game. It is. I didn't play it much until they had it up at, they just got it at District 82. Yeah. And I found myself playing it a lot, and I was like, wow, this is cool. This is a fun game. I would like to play that one more. Yeah. I played it, I think I played it once or twice when I was out on my own. You were doing something, and I went to play that one. I was like, this game's fun. Because that's the first one I played yesterday when I got there, before the tournament started. Yeah. And I had a really good game, and then I played it again during the tournament, and I had another good game on it, so. Nice. Yeah. That's cool. and then I played Cyclone yeah Cyclone's always you know any of those trio I like them some are better than others but I don't know they make me laugh they're not the best machines but they're fun like the Cyclone the Comet and Hurricane those are the three the one we used to play was the Comet right no play Ride the Hurricane Ride the Hurricane because that's the one with the mystery wheel and stuff Comet's the one that's just kind of the first one I think it's more of a butt kicker It has that scoop that you jump in whichever hole it goes in to start it out. They're all three are fun games, I thought. Right. Yeah. So we also had a side tournament yesterday for the host decided that they would like to do this side tournament and take donations for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Nice. So they had the Beatles Gold, and it was a dollar each time you wanted to enter, which was, you know, I love that game, but it kicks my ass so bad sometimes. Yesterday was one of those days. Yeah, well, you know. But the host said any donations that they got, they were going to match. Oh, cool. Yeah. See, that's nice. You know, you kind of get a little bit more. So it wound up being that $300 was raised yesterday. So they are matching that. So there will be a donation made to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of $600. It all helps. Yep. Very nice. So if you would like to make a donation, find them online and send them some money. And if it asks, reference ladies, Flip Wisconsin. All right, cool. And while you're thinking of that, if you also want to give us money, go to silverball.swag and buy a shirt or a pint glass. That's giving us a little bit of money and getting our name out there even more than you already have. I know. You guys keep buying and I keep asking more. It's so sad. So you didn't bring home a gigantic trophy? I did bring home a major award. You did bring a major award. I did not win a trophy, but I won a cat race and I got a spooky hat. Yes. Very nice. I was very excited it's like a spooky trucker hat I'm like yeah I love it cool Rachel took pictures right away I think she posted them in the tribe group yeah she did nice that was it good time was had by all oh yes they're always fun the ladies flip is it's just like a group of girls playing pinball and everybody helps each other like if you're standing there and you're not and you're like not getting a lot a high score the person you're playing with will probably tell you like hey here's where the skill shot is or do this and do this and then you'll get more points I think sorry to cut you off I think that kind of atmosphere would be much more fun it is I mean like a lot of people will do that it's really nice because there's stuff you don't know like I don't I am not really interested in learning all the rules of games which is bad because I should but it's nice to know some of those things yeah that's I mean you do it by playing what it's all so you do it by when you watch something you're like how did they do that you know some people immediately dissect the game and then they learn every rule and then they can immediately exploit it where I kind of always just let the machine reveal itself to me. That's part of the fun to me, but everyone's different. I guess that's one of the things I'm watching now is some of the shots I'm making instead of just trying not to drain the ball. Oh, no, no. Never do that. Try to not drain the ball, but I always am aiming for something. I'm trying to dial in my shots. It's kind of wild when you go from machine to machine how different they are. It's weird. So good. Fun times. Make sure if you're in the area, or I guess in any area, see if they have any ladies flip around you because if they do, you'll be fun times. Well, ladies flip is just this one. Wait. Bells and chimes is the one. Bells and chimes is what I'm thinking of. They're kind of national, right? I think so. If not, I hope they should get national. Yeah. All right. On to the last subject before everyone favorite subject is of course the AI gate hit where Harry Potter artwork was dissected And they found a lot of instances of AI usage, which I will say right up front, now I'm a graphic artist. And I've done that my entire life. And that's a very long career. but I'm a production graphic artist which is totally different that means I'm not doing art all I'm doing is cleaning up everyone's garbage and making it go through a printing press that's how I've remained a graphic artist my entire life and getting paid for it because I have a feeling AI is going to eliminate a lot of graphic jobs and not now because it's kind of rudimentary right now but it's getting better and the last thing and this is sad but the last thing any corporation or anyone wants to do is pay a graphic artist it's weird i was in my last job our entire thing was making graphics and the the company was trying to figure out ways to make not have us make graphics but that's what we made it was it hurt my head because um you know just how little reverence there was given for it so when i hear things like well ai is used yeah of course it is if if somebody in charge could give a supervisor access and they could make graphics good enough, there won't be any graphic artists there. That's the reality of it. I mean, where I was before, outsourced an entire floor of graphic artists. We're talking about over 70 graphic artists outsourced to India. And it went down to like four or five. And the garbage, they were just there to clean the garbage that India did. So now if you replace- Which was everything. Now if you replace India with a robot, well, guess what? Yeah. Now India is worrying about losing their job because robots or a program is replacing them. So it's just the natural selection. But what happened with this one, I guess, is the artist came out because Metal Luna does all the art for Harry Potter's, like, I guess, books and some and like anything that's like the theme parks and like all that kind of stuff. So are they associated with Warner Brothers? I don't know. OK. because that's who does the movies. So the artist came out and said, yes, I used AI, but I use it as a tool where there's a massive amount of work that goes into these pinball machines, and if you can have something that helps you, then you go through and retouch it, hand-draw it over what they've done, whatever, you know. The amount of stuff that's on that, it's impossible for somebody to look at every single inch of that and fix AI's mistakes. Yeah, that's the side that most people fall on, like, well, whatever. And then the other side is you're selling, this thing costs 15 grand. Yeah. You best take, you better clean this up. You know, it's very sloppy. Yeah. One of the funniest things I heard was Dennis from the pinball show, Dennis and Zach, and Dennis called it the derpy dragon. and they also said Predatorp because I guess there's some AI on Predator like it's derpy. Who's doing Predator? The Finball Brothers. It's from Europe. There's heavy AI usage in any of these machines going forward. It just will be. It's just how much they catch, how much they fix. How do you feel about it? You said you talked to Nikki from Lumberjack Johnny's. She hasn't actually played it yet. It sounds like they only have it at probably the Appleton location. It doesn't sound like they got one for home. So she doesn't get there that often. Right. So she hasn't played it yet. I mean, do you care about it? Do you care? I mean... I still haven't committed 100% to this one. Oh, yeah. I mean, like, this has been my dream theme since who knows when. Well, it's a fun game. Like, I think I've said it before. if Stern got this, it would be totally different for me, I think. And I don't know why. I guess I'm a Stern fan girl, I guess. Well, I guess. I feel like it would have been done better. Well, JJP's more flamboyant, like lights and craziness and wow, look at how bright and loud and everything is. So it's way more of that. Yeah. where I think Stern tends to make just very shootable games that are nice. I don't know. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. This one I felt it shoots okay, but, again, I don't really care. So to me it's going to come and go, and I'll be like, whatever. And so now we've played the display sample, and we played the CE. The CE, yeah. Because Lumberjack Johnny's, when we went the next time, the sample was replaced by the CE, which is the top of the line. Right. I just, I don't know. I think this one's going to take me a while, too. If at all. Right. Because you don't like Willy Wonka, you know. I don't. Or Wizard of Oz. Yeah. And I like both of those movies a lot. Like, Willy Wonka, I've probably seen a million times. Yeah, you said that's one of your favorites. Yeah. And so is Harry Potter. Well, it's one of those things, I think, that, like, you can love a theme. I love Terminator. Yeah. That doesn't mean if I found a Terminator pinball machine even remotely cheap, I would. There's this one that's been floating around. There's this one floating around in Appleton for $4,000. I ain't paying $4,000 for it. No. If it was $2,000, it'd probably be sitting here. Yeah. But to me, it isn't worth it. But it's not. Theme only matters so much. Then it's, okay, what else? It's gameplay. I don't like the knockers. Yeah. I don't know why I don't like that. Yeah. I'm usually not good enough to hear a lot of them in one game. Yeah, I don't know. With this one, I'm kind of really open-minded. If you had said, oh, we're going to save towards this, I'd be like, well, we save towards it then. I dig it. We have a Godzilla for that reason. Elvira. Yeah, that matters. But it has to be a good machine, too, though. That's the problem. Not the problem. That's the main thing. There's a lot of machines that I think are really cool. but if they're not top echelon, who cares? Right. If this is a lot of money you're talking about, I'm not going to just willy-nilly go. If I was a millionaire, okay, maybe. I would be a little bit more flippant about it and just be like, yeah, buy this one, sell this one, buy this one, but I'm not. Yeah, if we just had 15 grand laying around, I'd probably just get one. Yeah, well, there you go. And I don't know. I don't know. Yeah, it's just whatever. But so the AI thing doesn't bother you at all? I mean, I have to look at the dragon. I know. I want to see it. I'm going to go look at the derpy dragon, and then probably once you see it, you'll never not see it. Right. With, like, a third eye on the side of its head. This whole thing, like, the whole, like, announcement to release to now, this AI thing, I just, you're adding tick marks onto my. Like, bro, my head hurts. Right. I don't know. Yeah, we're used to it. We're used to, like, smoother releases usually. Right, right. Because, like, people bitch about, oh, Stern does this, Stern does that. They're pretty tight with their leases. Yeah. Here's our thing. Here's the video. Here's the machine. And if one of those things isn't there, here's the machine. Like, they just go buy it right now, you know. Yeah. I don't really care so much about it. I do think it is the job of the graphic artist to make sure it's correct. Someone should have checked that. But also, like, okay, nothing went out that wasn't signed off on. Right. So that means, you know. Somebody else looked at it. All the people that had to, I'm sure this was a tedious, horrible process, because I've gone through numerous revisions as part of my life daily. Yeah. Things come back, change again, change again, change again. Until the person that's signing the check says it's okay, your job is to change crap. So I can only imagine, as a graphic artist, you're sitting there, you're going to just be like, whatever. at change 900 you stop really caring a whole lot and i know that sounds terrible but you've already dumped 100 hours in this thing and it just doesn't seem like there's going to be an end to the nonsense because every little ticky-tack thing is another couple hours of your life then it has to reset the entire process again and i've lived this i've lived this my entire life has been this kind of graphic artists, you just get used to it. But at some point, you know, sometimes you have to say, we're losing money on this job. Either tell them to sign off on this or tell them we're not the right place for you. Right. Now, that's not going to happen in the pinball world, I don't think. No. But sometimes, you know, it's all right. Like, I'm wondering who's behind that. Like, who is the one that signs off on it? Because I think... The rights holder. Yeah. But what I'm saying is like, is she, is like the author, I don't know how involved she would be with this because this is movie graphics that they're using. That's true. It's not, like I know it's her. Property. Yes. IP, but yeah. Well, if it's Warner Brothers, that's the other thing. Well, then you have the movie industry is a revolving door of nonsense. Yeah. And if this was really many years in production oh my God Yeah Like next month you going to be talking to some new idiot And then next month you going to have to re teach the new new idiot Like okay we already been through this We up to this point And then somebody else is like, I don't care for this direction. Like it's just a big, it's nonsense. You know, now maybe that isn't the way this went. And cause who knows, we're never going to know. No one's going to know, you know, um, even if someone comes out with an interview in four years down the road, are they full of crap? Who knows? Probably. It was probably AI. just so I don't care that much but I would can I would assume there'd be more care for what I consider as a high-end luxury item you know like if but whatever it wouldn't dissuade me having a the derpy dragon or a predator doesn't mean I wouldn't get it necessarily right I talk about frequently I talk about buying raven so you see where my bar set you know I'm I'm kind of an idiot So, you know, you go, oh, that Raven's pretty slick. You're like, is it? I'm like, I'm going to outfit the Raven with that helicopter from ABBA. You know, I'll ruin both machines then. Yeah. So there you have it. We're not breaking the news. Obviously, there's a gigantic threat of horror and dissatisfaction on pin side towards it. So it'll peter out. No one cares. Like, it's just on to the next new shiny. That's all that pinball is. you know that's all a lot of things are it's just like oh next new shiny and whatever so we're good yeah time for everyone's favorite subject sure okay craft brew gonna have to put your journal down you've been to all the breweries around You've been running all over the town Tell me what to drink until I fall on the ground Yeah That's right, people. And we're back. Yes. So, I also asked AI a couple questions today. About graphics? No. Oh, about beer. Yeah. I asked AI what America's favorite beer for the 4th of July is, because this is the 4th of July weekend. Oh, my. Yes. And the answer that I got was regular domestic or international beer. Isn't that all beer? Yes. Isn't that every single beer there is? A lot of faith in AI. Right. I really think it's the way to go. It is not. But then it said. Did it say, try some Derpy Dragon lager? No. Mead from days of yore or something. But no. And then it told me Yingling traditional lager, which I was like, okay, I can buy that. I'm bored with that. Yeah, sure. Samuel Adams Boston lager. Write down that. Those two make a lot of sense because like Yingling is the oldest in America. So you're celebrating heritage. Yep. Sam Adams is basically, you know, they always do that. From Boston. Yep. Yep. and then Budweiser. Okay. And then it immediately went into trivia. Huh. But that's not what I asked you. Well, that's what you're getting. I asked you about favorite beers. Right. And then, so, yeah. So then it gave me some interesting facts about beer. All right. Let's hear them. So, beer has played a significant role in American history since the colonial era. Okay. Did not know that. Wait, in history? Yeah. Well, there's beer from Egypt. There's beer from the monks. There's beer from... Nope. Just America. American colonial era. Yep. Plays a significant role in my memory loss, too. From about 19... to about yesterday. Anyway. And then it said it was brought by the first English settler as a safer alternative to often contaminated water sources. Yep. That checks out. Yep. And then it says taverns where beer was served were crucial meeting places for revolutionaries like the Sons of Liberty. Yes. The first modern day terrorists. And then, okay, then what else? Founding fathers like Thomas Jefferson enjoyed and even brewed beer. Wow. Yes. And then it says, during the Revolutionary War, beer was part of daily rations. Okay. Hmm. Yeah. Morphine or beer. You've got to fight back the typhoid some way or another. So then I asked AI what cheap beers were. And I wanted to see how many of these you've actually had. all i'm assuming all how many times does schlitz appear schlitz small liquor wait wait let me let me start the first one that comes up as cheap beer is paps blue ribbon yeah yeah that's that's the one hams paps what's that so so we've had so i'm ai is what you're saying okay and then it's Schlitz. Oh, yeah. Yep. And then Ham's. Yep. Which I had a very wonderful experience with Ham's. Yeah. And then Genesee. Yeah. Yep. And Falstaff. Yeah, Falstaff. You had that one? Yeah. Never heard of it before. These are all like Pennsylvania Rust Belt. Just, I hate my job. I hate my family. I'm getting drunk beers. You know what I mean? Like, honestly, just go ahead. All right. Then it says, other examples of affordable beer from the era, I'm guessing the 80s, was Blatt's, Rhinelander, Huddy. Huddy, never heard of that one. No, it's H-U-D-Y. Never heard of it. No, never heard of that one. Goble. Nope, never heard of that one. I might have heard of that one. Never had that one. Utica Club. Utica Club might have been replaced by Iron City. Iron City made some really bad beer. They still make stuff. They made nude beer from the 80s. So you scratch off boobies. My favorite beer. Until I got old enough to, you know, not need that. Anyway, go ahead. Matt's. Matt's? Yep. No. Vitamin. Nope. And Schaefer. Yes, Schaefer, of course. And then it says these were often priced under $10 a case. So Black Label did not make that list. No, it's not on here. That's a shame. That's one of my favorites of all time. Black Label. We used to call it Bud Label so we'd feel better about ourselves. Yeah. And then it says that the 80s also saw the rise of Bud Light, which was introduced in 1982. The light beer wars with Miller Light and Bud Light. I don't know. Not wrong, but... I haven't really had a whole bunch of the crap beers. Coors Light is the worst beer. That's what we had. You're going to get some hate mail for that one. I'm sorry, everyone. I don't know. Those beers that you were mentioning, a lot of that slop we drank when we were teenagers, and we would go into Simcoe's. And, like, Schlitz was, it was like a few bucks for the returnable, like, 24-ounce returnable cases. Like, gigantic bottles. And you get, like, and it was literally six or seven bucks. And you just, it didn't matter because you didn't have any, you know. I need to start looking for some of these. There was no preconceived notions of quality. You were just buying this to get drunk, you know. Yeah. So it wasn't, no one cared, you know. I don't have any ill will towards Schlitz. I don't think I would drink one now. I would try a Schlitz. I mean, yeah, yes, I don't know. I shouldn't be so harsh on it. Maybe the qualities really come around since I was a youngster. All right, anything else? Nope. Those have been your fun facts for beer for the week. Yeah, it's the AI fun facts. Sure. I cannot verify anything that I just said. So if you want a sticker from our show for free, send us an email. It's pinballjd at gmail.com. We will send you a sticker for free. It's very shiny and pretty. Just something we like to do for listeners. If you want to, hit us up. Send us your address, and we will get it in the mail for free. And if you'd like to give anybody your money, you can always send money to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society or projectpinball.org. Right after you go to Silver Ball Swag and buy that shirt. Pinball junk drawer, won't you? Thank you. Ha ha! Zing! No! Cross-referencing zing! No! All right, that's it. They can do all three. I know. All right. Thanks for listening, everyone. My name is, wasn't always, will be Foghorn Langhorne. With me, as always... Craft Brew Salad. And we hope to see you next show. Shazbot. Nanu nanu. That's it, man. Game over, man. Game over.

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 885ff65f-8617-44b2-886a-c89c2bbe3f38*