# PNP Ep. 521- Rachel Ristow Chats Womens Pinball + 1st "Gimp"pressions of Pulp Fiction **Source:** Poor Man's Pinball Podcast **Type:** podcast_episode **Published:** 2023-03-17 **Beat:** Pinball **URL:** https://poormanspinballpodcast.libsyn.com/pnp-ep-521-rachel-ristow-chats-womens-pinbaal-1st-gimppressions-of-pulp-fiction --- ## Analysis Rachel Ristow joins Orbital Albert on Poor Man's Pinball Podcast to discuss women in pinball during Women's History Month. They cover tournament director best practices for welcoming female players, the positive impact of women-only tournaments in creating safe and supportive spaces, and critique of game themes that disproportionately cater to male demographics while discussing the balance between art relevance and inclusivity. ### Key Claims - [HIGH] Rachel qualified 14th or 15th in the Women's World Championship and in the Open Division — _Rachel Ristow stated this directly in response to Orbital Albert's question about her qualification_ - [HIGH] A women-only tournament in London, Ontario attracted 30 players compared to the typical 15-20 players at monthly co-ed tournaments — _Orbital Albert recounting his experience as a tournament participant and observer in London with TD Julie Dorster_ - [HIGH] Women's pinball tournaments create a more supportive, encouraging environment where women cheer each other on more than men do in mixed tournaments — _Both Rachel and Orbital Albert made this observation based on their tournament experience_ - [MEDIUM] Approximately 95% of pinball game themes are disproportionately geared toward men — _Rachel stated this as an observation about the pinball industry, though she noted it's business-driven (following the money toward their primary demographic)_ - [HIGH] The Fundy Flippers league in Nova Scotia has 35-40 women players, sometimes more — _Orbital Albert stated this about his home league_ - [HIGH] Ladies' Flip Wisconsin is a women's traveling pinball tournament series founded by Rachel Ristow — _Rachel stated: 'I won ladies flip wisconsin which is a women's traveling pinball tournament series'_ - [MEDIUM] Women players at tournaments tend to leave their ego at the door more than men and are more supportive of each other — _Orbital Albert's observation: 'I think on average women are super competitive... I just think that I find women cheer for each other more so than men'_ - [MEDIUM] Unsolicited game instruction without being asked (mansplaining) happens more commonly toward women players — _Rachel Ristow described this as a personal frustration but acknowledged it as her individual experience_ - [MEDIUM] Games like Mandalorian with family-friendly themes attract more diverse players including children compared to adult-oriented themes — _Rachel used Mandalorian as an example of inclusive game theming that would appeal to kids at family venues_ - [MEDIUM] Columbus, Ohio women pinball players set the standard for supportive and encouraging tournament behavior — _Rachel stated: 'The most encouraging crew in all women's pinball I've met so far are the Columbus, Ohio ladies'_ ### Notable Quotes > "I'm so excited to be in the top 32 women in the world, and what a cool opportunity to go play it." > — **Rachel Ristow**, early in interview > _Establishes Rachel's competitive achievement and positive outlook despite self-doubt about her recent performance_ > "I wish that I could bottle the energy that is women's pinball tournament days." > — **Rachel Ristow**, mid-interview > _Captures the emotional and community appeal of women-only tournaments versus mixed-gender events_ > "Women cheer. They cheer each other on. They pump each other up. They're super encouraging." > — **Rachel Ristow**, mid-interview > _Highlights the distinct supportive culture of women's pinball versus competitive isolation in men-dominated tournaments_ > "It's like a party. It's much more like a party. It's great." > — **Rachel Ristow**, mid-interview > _Describes the tone and atmosphere of women's pinball tournaments, emphasizing fun over pure competition_ > "The most encouraging crew in all women's pinball I've met so far are the Columbus, Ohio ladies. They really set the standard and the example forward." > — **Rachel Ristow**, mid-interview > _Highlights specific community leaders in women's pinball and the role-modeling effect of inclusive behavior_ > "I think a disproportionately large [percentage of games] are geared towards men... I assume that's what they're [doing] because that's where the money is." > — **Rachel Ristow**, late-interview > _Acknowledges business realities while critiquing the industry's narrow demographic targeting_ > "If a game came out like that today, I would not be able to handle that because you can't do anything about the games that are in the past." > — **Rachel Ristow**, late-interview > _Distinguishes between historical pinball art/themes and modern standards, allowing for legacy while advocating for contemporary inclusivity_ > "We are competitive. Oh, yeah. We want to win. We want to win that trophy or those points or that money or whatever. I want to win a pinball machine this weekend." > — **Rachel Ristow**, mid-interview > _Corrects the perception that women's tournaments are less competitive, emphasizing skill and drive alongside camaraderie_ ### Entities | Name | Type | Context | |------|------|---------| | Rachel Ristow | person | Guest on episode; tournament director, organizer, streamer, competitive pinball player; founder of Ladies' Flip Wisconsin women's traveling tournament; qualified 14th-15th for Women's World Championship | | Orbital Albert | person | Host of Poor Man's Pinball Podcast; based in River Hibbert, Nova Scotia; runs Fundy Flippers league with 35-40 women; former tournament participant under TD Julie Dorster | | Julie Dorster | person | Former tournament director in London, Ontario for Monday Night Pinball League; known for enforcing respectful environment and preventing sexist behavior | | Danielle (Drop Target Danielle) | person | Orbital Albert's wife; occasional tournament participant; prefers smaller local tournaments over large competitive events; plays pinball with family | | Ladies' Flip Wisconsin | organization | Women's traveling pinball tournament series founded by Rachel Ristow; designed to grow women's participation and create safe spaces for female players | | Women's World Championship | event | Major international women's pinball tournament occurring this weekend (implied March timeframe); Rachel qualified in both Open and Women's divisions | | Fundy Flippers | organization | Pinball league in Nova Scotia with 35-40 women players; described as open and welcoming to newer players | | District 82 | venue/organization | Pinball tournament location where Rachel serves as tournament director; hosts regular competitive events | | Columbus, Ohio women's pinball community | organization | Recognized by Rachel as setting the standard for supportive and encouraging behavior in women's pinball tournaments | | Stern | company | Pinball manufacturer; criticized for disproportionate focus on male-oriented themes; mentioned for James Bond game's nuanced approach to female characters | | Mandalorian | product | Stern pinball game cited as example of family-friendly theming that appeals to broader demographics including children | | Game of Thrones | product | Pinball game adaptation featuring character Daenerys Targaryen; discussed in context of theme-appropriate costume representation | | James Bond (Stern pinball) | product | Stern game praised for careful approach to female character representation, avoiding rescue narratives and over-sexualization | | Silver Ball Mania | product | Classic pinball game with sexually-oriented art; used as example of historical game design that Rachel acknowledges but wouldn't accept in modern releases | | Playboy (pinball concept) | product | Referenced as example of adult-themed game that Rachel doesn't believe modern manufacturers would produce today | | Josh | person | Tournament organizer from Minnesota who ran both open and women's tournaments; noted women's tournament was more fun than state championship | | Dory | person | Rachel's friend from Milwaukee; example of player who became dedicated pinball enthusiast after first experience | | Tish | person | Columbus, Ohio pinball player; identified as part of exemplary women's pinball community | | Poor Man's Pinball Podcast Network | organization | Podcast network featuring Orbital Albert; covers pinball culture, community, and industry | | London, Ontario | venue | Orbital Albert's home city; hosts Monday Night Pinball League with 103-member local brewing guild comparison; had women-only tournament that doubled participation | ### Topics - **Primary:** Women's inclusion and welcoming practices in pinball tournaments, Tournament director responsibilities and best practices, Women-only pinball tournaments and their benefits, Game theme representation and gender inclusivity, Community culture differences between mixed and women's tournaments - **Secondary:** Women's World Championship preparation and competition, Ladies' Flip Wisconsin tournament series, Venue safety, cleanliness, and lighting for female players ### Sentiment **Positive** (0.78) — Rachel and Orbital Albert are optimistic about progress in women's pinball, celebrate community achievements, and express genuine enthusiasm for inclusion efforts. However, they acknowledge persistent industry issues (male-skewed themes, unsolicited mansplaining) with honest but not hostile critique. The tone is constructive rather than accusatory, focused on solutions and positive examples. ### Signals - **[community_signal]** Women-only tournaments demonstrating dramatic participation increase (15-20 → 30 players in London, Ontario example) and strong community engagement despite lacking explicit recruitment (confidence: high) — Orbital Albert: 'the one month she said no no it's women only and they got 30 players and we had never got 30 players monday and they were all women' - **[community_signal]** Women's pinball tournaments creating distinctly different social environment characterized by mutual support, celebration, and reduced competitive hostility compared to mixed tournaments (confidence: high) — Rachel: 'women cheer each other on...most encouraging crew...I wish I could bottle the energy of women's pinball tournament days' - **[product_strategy]** Pinball manufacturers deliberately targeting male-skewed demographic (estimated 95% of games) due to revenue concentration; business model prioritizes mid-40s white male collector base (confidence: high) — Rachel: 'I understand that the average pinball manufacturer is going to gear a game towards a man in his mid-40s... that's where the money is' - **[design_philosophy]** Industry tension between IP-authentic representation (e.g., Game of Thrones costumes) and over-sexualization concerns; modern standards differ from legacy games but industry reluctance to self-regulate remains (confidence: medium) — Rachel discussing Silver Ball Mania vs modern expectations, noting historical context differs from contemporary acceptability standards - **[venue_signal]** Basic venue conditions (cleanliness, lighting, security) identified as significant barriers to women's participation; bathroom conditions and security presence particularly noted (confidence: high) — Julie Dorster pre-cleaning women's bathrooms; discussion of well-lit venues and bouncer presence as safety measures - **[competitive_signal]** Rachel Ristow qualified for Women's World Championship in both Open and Women's divisions (14-15th place), competing this weekend (confidence: high) — Rachel: 'I qualified in Open Division, and I qualified, I think, 14th or 15th?' - **[community_signal]** Columbus, Ohio women's pinball community identified as exemplar for supportive tournament culture and community standards-setting (confidence: medium) — Rachel: 'Columbus, Ohio ladies... set the standard and the example forward of how to really be supportive' - **[operational_signal]** Best practices for TD inclusivity include: greeting/vetting new players, asking about home collections, providing venue information, brief etiquette guidance, ensuring bathroom cleanliness (confidence: high) — Rachel describing her approach: 'Is it your first time here...what games do you have at home...give them those pointers' - **[sentiment_shift]** Growing enthusiasm and infrastructure for women-specific tournaments and events; shift from token participation to community-building with dedicated programming (confidence: high) — Multiple tournament examples, Ladies' Flip creation, Women's World Championship, Gator Queens mentioned implicitly - **[gameplay_signal]** Women's tournaments exhibit less ego-driven competition, more peer encouragement, and higher social bonding outcomes despite equivalent competitive intensity (confidence: medium) — Orbital Albert: 'women leave their ego at the door more than men...women cheer for each other more...less hostile, more open, more fun' - **[product_concern]** Industry pattern of games with gratuitous female nudity or violence toward women creating barriers to women and child participation; potential family venue exclusion (confidence: medium) — Rachel discussing objections to games with 'violence towards women...women in their underwear and a bra' and noting family venues might exclude such themes - **[event_signal]** Women's World Championship occurring this weekend (implied late March) with Rachel competing; preparation discussion ongoing (confidence: high) — Rachel: 'I've been prepping for Women's World Championship...I'm so excited to go play that' --- ## Transcript All get around, he's on the rebound, hear the sound of our buddy, oh lordy, it's Orby, pinball now to rejoice, he's tugging pinball, craft beer and coffee, mixed with syrup and honey, he hopes to laugh with his family in a random tangent, stories of his boys, he's on the poor man's pod network, We're going to get more listeners for the Pinball Nerds Podcast. Coming to you from beautiful River Hibbert, Nova Scotia. Welcome back, Pinball Nerds, episode 521 of your fifth favorite pinball podcast. My name is Orbital Albert, and on today's show I've got the one, the only, of our own Poor Man's Pinball Network, Rachel Risto. Rachel, welcome to the show. Hello, friends. Yay! So happy to be here. How are you doing? Oh my gosh, I'm doing well. I was busy today. It is maple season. Whenever the temperatures are going below freezing at night and above during the day, it means Orby's doing lots of trips out to the sugar bush to get some yummy sap, which I'm going to burn off tomorrow. So I've been busy here. How have you been there? That sounds delicious. Thank you. I've been really good. I've been prepping for Women's World Championship. Woo! I'm excited to go play that. Where did you qualify in that? That's my main focus, at least. I qualified in Open Division, and I qualified, I think, 14th or 15th? 14th, maybe? Woo! You're on fire. Yeah. I am. I am. But I will confide in you. We'll get to this there, too, maybe. But I've not played so great this year, I'm a little nervous about going to play it, but you know what? I'm so excited to be in the top 32 women in the world, and what a cool opportunity to go play it. I'm super excited. Well, everything kind of worked out well because you're not only playing in the Women's World Championship this weekend. It's obviously Women's History Month. We're going to talk a little bit about, and I don't want anyone to turn off the podcast too soon. We're not going to be too judgy. We're just going to kind of have fun with it. and maybe talk about a couple ways that we can continue to make pinball more and more open and welcoming for not just women or men, but just really everybody. But especially because this is Women's History Month, we're going to be talking a little bit more about that. And I thought you would be the perfect person to have on the show, really, to maybe enlighten the listen nerds a little bit. Especially, you know, and I don't want to be preachy about this, because I honestly have said and done things that especially my teenage self might not even like. And one of the best examples I was going to use with you is that I've even still to this day, once in a while, if, say, my boys and I are doing a really hard job here on the homestead, I even catch myself. Sometimes I catch myself before I say it, sometimes right after, but I'll say something silly like, Hey, man up. Come on, guys. Oh, sure. And it's just little stuff like that, right? so yeah absolutely we're all a work in progress aren't we i mean that's just part of it well i just want to say thank you so much for the opportunity to come on during this month of march and to have an opportunity to talk about i don't know pinball number one yes let's talk about women's pinball it is something that is special to me and i just really really appreciate the opportunity to be here and to be given advice and be given the opportunity well you are so very welcome. At the end of this, I don't want to tease it too much, but we are going to chat briefly about Pulp Fiction. I'm also going to, somewhere in the middle there, we're going to chat a little bit about some of your other hobbies and just the way that when people come on the show, I like to talk about pinball as well as some other stuff maybe that is interesting to everybody. But let's just start right at the very, let's start at the very top. And I know some of these questions are going to have similar answers. But if you're a tournament director, so I was lucky enough, my tournament director for years in London, Ontario at the Monday Night Pinball League was Julie Dorsers. And she was a very strong feminist woman. And if you ever said, even sometimes she would catch me and I would say, oh, the girls are outside doing this. And then the guy, and she would say, girls, we're women. Thank you very much. So even I would catch myself. But I think because my main tournament director coming up in pinball was such a strong, proud female who wouldn't let any, you know, guys do sexist jokes or anything stupid like that, anything degrading in any way, shape, or form, or she was going to kick your butt out of there. I think because of that, I'm kind of lucky in that way, because I have been to some other tournaments from time to time, especially if there's no females around, and the guys, when they all get talking and get, you know, whatever, from time to time, maybe a guy says a joke that's not, you know, super cool or something like that, and what I try to do, I'm not going to call the guy out and be like, oh, you're such a chauvinist pig, and you're such, you know, like, but I just won't laugh at it, and I just won't really include myself in that conversation, and I think that that's all the best I would ask other people to do, if they're in a tournament, right? 100%, no response is the best response, yes, I mean, yes, there's a time and a place to stand up and say, or you can also say, not funny, dude, not funny, bro, yeah, and that's actually even a better response than no response, by what I mean by no response is a good response is that you're not engaging and you're not giving any type of any type of feedback whatsoever but to take it a step further would be say not cool brah you know and and because that also signifies that you stand you stand against whatever the thing may be uh what I do want to say before we really get started is today I'm going to express my viewpoints as Rachel Vistot as me as me as me not necessarily you know as a pinball player, as a tournament director, organizer, as a podcaster, a wannabe streamer, all these things. So I'm just going to speak from my heart and from the experiences that I've had and from what my viewpoint is. Now I'd say that because as a disclosure, because my viewpoint isn't the same as every other woman that is out there. Of course not. And I, yeah, because we're all unique individuals. And I think it's just, I think it's important to state that. So what I say today isn't like you know the word of all women oh of course not of course we're in the bible but uh it's not that it's just it's just my opinions and viewpoints and my the way that i view things and or me i think you know me enough that kind people are my kind of people right and so i'm a person that loves and so that's the place where i'm going to come from from today so shoot me your questions all right so the way that i think about it with women and i found really helps me is first of all everybody should first of all be respectful to everybody as much as they can be we're all there to play pinball we're all there to have fun you know we're not doing our monday to friday nine to five so for all intense purposes uh the main thing would just be you know to treat others like you would like them to treat yourselves and what i try to do is i assume yeah i assume that every woman there is you know i'm playing with my mom or my aunt or my best friend or my partner or my niece or another... Your daughter. Right, right. And I would treat them with the same respect that I would treat any other female in my life with, or at least I would try to, because I definitely fall short from time to time. But let's just jump into question number one. So let's say that you're a tournament director, because I know sometimes you are a tournament director, of course, and sometimes you're not. But as a female or a male tournament director, what are just some little small things maybe that you can do to make the tournament more female friendly well number one i guess is if it's a if it's a new to me player because i've been the hobby enough it's a new to me player i no matter the gender this is how i greet all new play like at district 82 and i meet new players i always i'm like you know is it your first time here because that gauges you that it's a very easy opening question uh because especially if it's a place you play all the time you usually generally know people that come and play right right so it like it gives them an opportunity to either say oh yeah it's my first time ever playing pinball or this is the first time here but i've been i'm traveling from blah blah blah it gauges you a little bit to know you know if they're a player player or if they're new you know and so and i think that's just good you know it's a good icebreaker uh for any conversation with any player now when it comes to like my women's tournaments and being a tournament as rachel being a tournament director i definitely take that even a step further you know because a lot of times the women that come play are uh like the the boot camp recently ran like a lot of several spouses of our significant others uh you know came to play and so then i take it a step further and i taught i asked them what games do you have at home you know so it's For me, it's just like finding a warm, welcoming way of finding the conversation about something that they might be interested in talking about. And if you have a couple of icebreaker questions that are friendly like that as a tournament director, I think that gets you a long ways. It's also, as a TD, it's really your job, I think. And, I mean, it's a job. There's no money in pinball, you know. It's a job you have to do because you have the passion. But as a TD, I think it's kind of your responsibility to welcome any new player, regardless of age or if it's older, younger, and gender, whatever, just to engage with them and welcome them into the hobby. And also, you know, point out different things to them. Just state things like, oh, you know, we have a water filling station here at District 82. It's back over here. Or, you know, like, by the way, da-da-da-da, you know, giving them those pointers. And also as a TD to a new person, also just to kind of give them like a very short little etiquette thing, like, you know, don't disrupt players while they're playing their game and don't play games next to them if, you know, they're still playing a competitive game, stuff like that. So I think like, you know, those are all those are all things that TD directors, you know, should be doing anyways, no matter the gender. um you know if that's a hard question to answer because i think you already said and number one way there that uh everybody needs to be is just to be uh respectful right and to treat uh treat other to treat each other that way in terms of i love your viewpoint on that to treat people to treat women as if they're your sister or your mother or your grandmother or your favorite aunt or your niece that you you know you're your goddaughter whatever the case may be that's how you should be treating them with that same kind of family level of respect because here's the here's the deal guys should also be treating other guys the same way guys need to be treating dudes maybe if i can use or dude or bro i don't know which right word there is i like both of them they should be treating good so men should be treating other men the same way men should be treating other men as their father their grandfather their favorite uncle their nephew whatever their son they should also be treating each other with the same respect okay so i think that you know that it just that's it i think that's the number one bottom line to to make sure that that's there's that kind of um because when you have respect for each other then it creates like a welcoming environment hopefully that makes sense i think that totally makes sense i think another thing that all of the other women who are more the regulars in that league can do when and when a new woman comes it doesn't mean she's new to pinball it just might mean she's new to that area i think it's nice if especially if another woman goes up and tries to welcome her and say hello i think that's a little easier and this is going to sound lame and i'm sure someone's going to think give me some pushback on this but uh our old tournament director julie would actually go there and clean the women's bathroom ahead of time because we played in i'm sorry tony we played in a shithole called call the office and it was a punk rock bar and there would usually be like overflowing gross toilets and there would be no toilet paper in the women's bathroom and i'm sorry women need toilet paper more often than men they just do and so like dudes can just really just stand up and pee into a sink into a garbage into a back alley they can dudes can just wherever and and so she would say you know women have came here and been turned off and not want to come back to this tournament because oh absolutely so that's just a small little thing that a yeah exactly just even a five minute or right and that could be more so maybe not the tournament director but the barcade owner right well okay that's that's a no-brainer definitely have a clean restroom but there's definitely things that owner bar you know uh the barcade owners and places that they can do make sure the place is well lit yes i mean i don't want to be playing i mean i don't like i don't like playing with the lights on necessarily all the lights on at district 82 it's kind of hard I don't really like that. But here's the thing. When you're going to somewheres, make sure it's well lit, that it's a safe environment. That's huge. You know, making sure that if you have a bouncer, that the bouncer is, you know, I like having a bouncer at the door a couple of different places that I've played because that makes me feel a little bit safer. You know, just also I think, I'm trying to think. Like, one of the – I'm trying to think about things that have happened to me that I find that might be a little bit insulting is that I really hate – well, I shouldn't say hate. That's too strong of a word. Dislike. I just like when people say – they decide how to tell you how to play the game. Oh, like mansplaining. They decide. Well, it can happen. Well, mansplaining, well, mansplaining, it doesn't matter. But that can be, but I don't like using the word mansplaining, but explaining how to play a game to a woman without her asking is pretty rude. It's one scenario if I say, hey, Arby, I forgot what the hell the skill shot is on this game. Can you please tell me? And then you're like, here, Rachel, here's the skill shot. Do you need anything else? And I'll say, perfect, thanks. Or no, yeah, that's great. Tell me the rest of the stuff. but if if I flub up the skill shot you come over and you say do you know what the skill shot is that's kind of that's harder to deal to deal with I don't know but that's me personally as a player and as Rachel but I think that happens um toward toward I don't know if it happens towards men I've never noticed that I guess because you know I'm a female does that make sense too no no no that totally does make sense um I do think one thing that's prohibitive uh and I do agree with you like um you know having spare security can help better well-lit areas obviously uh i do think the one big thing that maybe we don't talk about enough is how much women's only tournaments actually help people come out because i remember our old tournament director in london uh we would on average get 15 to 20 people would come out to this monthly tournament in the one month she said no no it's women only and they got 30 players and we had never got 30 players monday and they were all women and like my wife who you know drop target danielle who she'll come out to the odd tournament here or there but as soon as she heard that women's tournament was going she said you know what i'd like to meet some of the other spouses i would like to meet some of the other women who i don't hardly see that often and she she really went and had fun at that tournament i think that's the tournament she probably had the most fun at just because they're honestly on average i think women leave their their ego at the door a little bit more than men i'm sorry there is some differences between men and women and I think on average women are super competitive don't get me wrong I just think that I find women cheer for each other more so than men the men just sit back and go I hope his ball goes down soon I want to play like that's what I've noticed on average I do sometimes cheer for good friends of course but I've just noticed that like the environment and it seemed less hostile it seemed more open more fun so I would like to continue to see more women's pinball tournaments don't you think that's another good way to get women out heck yeah so i i won ladies flip wisconsin which is a women's traveling pinball tournament series right and it's like bells and chimes just i mean i founded this thing i decided to do something my own thing because i live in a dead zone there isn't really any pinball around me i thought this is a great way to travel around the state play you know different people's collections different places whatever and in the same term gather more women into the hobby number one reason why i do it is to get more women into playing. And it's not even like getting them to play competitive. It's just getting them into the hobby. And I agree. Pinball, and I have this thought the other day, like I really do love organizing women's pinball stuff, and I love playing those events for a multitude of reasons. Number one, it's great getting more women in the hobby, but by proxy what happens is it creates a safe space for women to come play. in terms of that they don't have to worry. Number one, like you don't have to worry what the fuck you decide to wear. You wear whatever you do, you boo. You come comfortable. You come dressed up. You do you. Ain't nobody going to say anything. Other women are going to be like, damn, girl, I really love your Jurassic Park backpack. You know? Yeah, I love them. That's much more how it is. Women's tournaments also have a – I've talked about this. I wish that I could bottle the energy that is women's pinball tournament days. I'm so excited for Women's World Championship because that energy is going to be there. Women cheer. They cheer each other on. They pump each other up. They're super encouraging. And I will tell you, the most encouraging crew in all women's pinball I've met so far are the Columbus, Ohio ladies. They really set the standard and the example forward. Our girl Tish, our tribe member. Yes. They all set that sample forward or example forward of how to really be supportive of other women in pinball to cheer them on you know if you have a bad game you know women are like shake it off or shake it off rachel it gonna be okay you know and the thing is is like when you play and the women that just she beat she's whipped my ass on this game she's gonna turn and i'm looking defeated she may very well turn around and say that you know go get them but good luck the rest of the way and being a lot more you know positive or whatever uh just that and then also like there's a lot of clapping that's uh whooping whooping you know whoo you know people get excited about hey you just unlocked your godzilla multi-ball you've got all the shit stacked i'm excited for you we're gonna look it up you know so it's just like it's a it's a whole different thing um i had a friend of mine um out in minnesota uh josh he ran the open end women's tournament and he said that at his house for the state championship or whatever. And he said the women's tournament was by far more fun than the state. He was like, he was like, Rachel, it was like a party. I'm like, yeah, it sure is. It's much more like a party. It's great. It's also like what's great about women's pinball is getting together with the gals. You know, we chit-chat too and all that stuff. But don't get me, like you said, don't get it wrong. We are competitive. Oh, yeah. We want to win. We want to win that trophy or those points or that money or whatever. I want to win a pinball machine this weekend, you know. So that drive is there. But it's just a whole different feeling. It's just amazing. The other thing, so much I want to talk about because I love a women's pinball, but something I want to talk about that too is that also when women come and participate in smaller ladies' flip events, I find, especially if it's the spouses of folks, they go home and it helps them to, like, have more of a connection with their other half. And to me, like, that's doing God's work, right? So, like, if you're helping, if they're able to go home and she's like, hey, I played this game in a tournament today and we've got it at home, let's go play it together. Well, that's great, right? That's help that's helping marriages and other people along in life. So I feel like there's so many good things and positive things that can come out of women's pinball, too. But I think my favorite, my favorite is the women, like my friend Dory that's down in Milwaukee that get bit. That they're gung-ho, everything pinball. She just turned into a hardcore pinball nerd after one try? Yes, women that are like me, that they play one game and it's all over. It's all over. Yeah, and they dive right into the hobby. And I love that because that ultimately, they're going to draw other women into the hobby too because it just, you know, keeps going in turns. So, so many good things there. You know, it's just, I'm just going to say, you know, the other thing I thought about too, about how, what other people, what people can do really the point is, is what can people do in order to make pinball, you know, more welcoming towards women. Another thing is actually just being self-aware, being aware of the things that are coming out of your mouth. You said this earlier, but be aware of the things that are coming up out of your mouth and who you're saying it to. If you have a long rapport with a woman that you play in your league or you play a lot of tournaments with, it might be something different. be one thing to say something that's, I don't know, a little more edgy or out of line. The thing is, you should always let the woman lead the conversation in terms of, you know, what the boundaries are. Does that make sense? I'm going to keep using that sentence today. No, I think it totally does. And, you know, especially if someone is new, it doesn't matter, again, like you said, if it's a man or woman, but especially if it's a woman, because most pinball tournaments are what, 70, 80, 90% men. The last thing that you want to do is being flirtatious or something with some some person their first time out that's just inappropriate no matter which direction it goes but it just so happens to happen probably more often to women because there's you know it's you're coming sort of into a man's house so to speak right so which it isn't but that's how they kind of treat it now i don't think any of my listeners that listen to this show or any of the tribes members or anyone listening to the poor men's pinball podcast would be in that grouping of jerks that would just be totally way out there but at the same time I think that it's important that we at least talk about it uh one thing I think is huge that you said is that it allows you know let's say for instance it is a spouse not that all the women new women coming out or spouses there play pinball but let's let's just say their partner does play pinball so like with my wife and I for years and years and years when I lived back in the forest city in Good old London, Ontario. Shout out. I was part of the London Home Brewers Guild. And I believe there was like 103 of us. And I think there was two women who came. And there was just 0% chance that my wife would ever want to come with us and brew beer for nine hours. She just, there was zero, that just was not going to be fun for her. That's not awful. But thank you. Hey, a couple weeks later you get like cheap beer at a quarter of beer, right? And then I had a couple other things that I did where I was part of a triathlon club. and of course that one there was quite a few women but I had all these different hobbies that I never got to do with my wife and then all of a sudden when I got into pinball she even if she was you know going to the mall or something like that when she comes to pick me up from the arcade she would come in and she'd go oh you got a couple loonies so I can play and she would go play a couple games and just like her her name says drop target Danielle and just over the last few years if she knows it's not a highly competitive tournament and she's not going to be there for like again she doesn't like going to the really really long huge tournaments but she likes the small local ones if she knows that our whole family can go and this is something she can do with both of our sons plus plus her yes and we can all do it together because like my sons are too good at basketball for me to play that anymore with them um you know they're too good at video games for me to be competitive with them there's not tons of others you know we play like munchkin together board games together video games together but pinball is like the main thing our whole family can go to all together and really it's the nice part is I play in the fundy flippers out here and it's honestly I think it's 40 sometimes women at least 35 quite often uh amazing yeah and it's great and I think it's a very open welcoming environment to newer players because we're such a newer league we haven't been established for like 10-15 years like some of the larger leagues where once they get to a certain size it's a little harder to get into that league but what I really wanted to talk about is how I do believe there is a disproportionately large number of themes that are particularly directed more towards men than women and you know I was I'm serious well yeah like what 95 percent of them well you're you're completely right and here's the thing but you gotta I understand as a woman in her a white woman in her 40s I understand that the average pinball manufacturer is going to gear a game towards a man in his mid-40s that's white most likely right and i'm not trying to be like no that's where your money comes from those are the people oh i'm sorry oh i just said that's where that's where the money is right you got to follow the money right that's that's i assume that's what they're i have no idea i don't work for any pinball manufacturer who knows if i ever will maybe i will hope so i don't know let's who knows I'd like to someday. I mean, it'd be cool to do all that, but that's – lest I digress. I never want to spoil an opportunity. Where were we at? Well, I was just saying that, like – no, no worries. I was just saying that, like, I think a disproportionately large are geared towards men. Yes, you're absolutely right. And the hardest thing for me is, like, okay, like, Silver Ball Mania is a great example of some, like, really kind of, you know, sexually purposed art that's on that game. and I love, love that game, love the backhand horseshoe. And I actually don't mind the art because for the time and the age and everything, I understand it. But if a game came out like that today, I would not be able to handle that because you can't do anything about the games that are in the past, right? No. It's like you might as well just enjoy them, enjoy the game or whatever, and that's just part of our history, part of the pinball history. But if games today are coming out that have violence towards women on them or in them or they have games that have women that have a lot of nudity, that are women in their underwear and a bra. I still have an issue with that. I understand that even if it's the art style, but the thing is that we also want to have pinball machines that kids want to play. Mandalorian is a great example of a good game, I think. Kids aren't going to be drawn to that game, right? If they're at a pizza joint with their parents, there's two games, and maybe Mandalorians, they're going to want to play that. They're not necessarily going to want their kids to play a Playboy, you know? Do you know what I mean? And I think Playboy is an extreme example. But I don't think that Stern or another company would make a Playboy in this day and age. At least I hope not. No, I don't think so. You know? And the thing is, like, I am a male. I am attracted to women. And, you know, when I see, like, you know, Daenerys, Targaryen, Game of Thrones, they're not obviously going to put her in like a big snuggie like Travis Murray or something like they're going to have her in skimpy clothing because she wears that in the movie so it's relevant to the movie that I'm okay with one thing I didn't love that Stern did a while ago was the big the Winona's no what was it something with the watermelons big juicy watermelons oh god yeah Wonnelly that to me was just like dude you're just glorious like who is she she's no all she is is a very attractive woman with large breasts and are we do we really want pinball machines that are just glorifying women for being women and in like an inappropriate way that's not very fun anyways so if it's relevant to the game cool fine don't overdo it obviously and i think that james bond stern did a you know they had a very tricky line to they didn't want to have any modes that were about um you know rescuing the woman or like getting the girl and i think they did a good job kind of like sexualize they didn't want to over sexualize them and i think that they did a good job showing the women and recognizing the women without overdoing it and not you know so i think that's good and i i think some of the i do want to thank the pinball companies because we do have themes like and i know no one liked it other than me but we do of course have themes like toy story 4 and i think that especially that equally young women and young men would both like that and a lot of i know a lot of women even around my age who had their children like my wife and i watching our kids watch Toy Story, that's like, you know, that one is fine. That one's good for both men and women. Wizard of Oz, arguably maybe even more women-like. But I mean, for the most part, I'm not saying we have to start seeing My Little Pony and like Gem and the Holograms tomorrow. No, not going to do games. I know we're not going to do Bridges of Madison County. I know you're not going to have romantic comedies. No, man, Fifty Shades of Grey. Whoa, okay. That one would be hard to walk the line without being over-sexualized. but you know it'd be great Princess Bride Princess Bride that like that would be my wife's favorite you know oh Princess Bride so yeah we can't talk G-Dreams we'll be here all night talk one give me just one theme that you think would A sell okay and that women and maybe men would both equally enjoy the Peanuts the Peanuts there you go Snoopy Charlie Brown Lucy I've got it I'm going to design a game I'm going to do it I can hear that music in my head an animal based game that's cats or dogs or pets uh that would sell really well too i think so we need more of those so someone else there's yeah we need more of those family family themed but i also understand like you know i understand why companies are doing what they're doing and the games that they're releasing and i do understand that and what i really like and i don't think that it gets enough love is the p3 and i really wish i could afford one i wish i afford all the games and i can have 100 games um and maybe i will eventually uh but anyways with the p3 i love that there's all these different modules and all these different people are designing and making games and that just blows my mind so you know there's uh there are that's and there's a lot more uh family-friendly um content on that format or within that uh within the p3 so that's just like i think a nice shout out there uh so anyways i mean i don't know it is what it is Orby. You know, like, I can't, I can't change what the manufacturers are doing. But, I don't know. There are other themes that are out there that I think would be more interesting. It's hard though because I'm also a 90s girl. And so now they're starting to release like these 90s pins. And so it's, I'm up and down about it because I like original content I think better than I do like something that's, you know, from, how long, more than 90s. Oh gosh. Yeah. 30 years ago, 40, 30 is gone. Anyways. 30, come on, 30, not 40, come on. Oh, God, I don't even know. A long time ago, it feels like. But anyway. There is more women working in pinball. Yes. I know that Stern hired. I'd love to see more. Yeah, I know Stern hired at least two women last year. I know the one girl from Hot Nudge is there now. Yes, yes. And then also I know Zofia is working over at American Pinball. Nice. I hear tomorrow we're going to hear GTF. So let's hope that is good. And the art is, I'm sure the art will be good because we've seen the art. We just haven't seen the gameplay. So I'm kind of excited for that. But I think that I really, you know, I have a degree in marketing from good old Funshaw, as we called it, because people like to party there and have fun. But it's actually called Fanshawe College in London. and something that we learned is that once you've saturated a certain demographic you want to try to expand it and to me right now if i'm sitting on the marketing team of any pinball company out there i'm saying hey we have like every single dude who probably is in their 50s or 60s who would probably buy a pinball machine has heard about pinball and knows about pinball and they played it growing up and they saw it in the 70s they saw it in the 80s maybe they don't know we're they don't know we're making new pins now but like we've saturated that market pretty freaking well what they haven't done is they haven't saturated the market from primarily a woman's standpoint so to me just from a marketing standpoint i'm going geez could we come up with some themes that you know also maybe men are still buying a higher percentage of them but is that the chicken or the egg right like is it because there's not more pinball machines that women would like well yeah but they have to you know again it goes back to whatever their target market is, you know, and who's really buying the games is at that age. Well, then I'm going to change the target. Pew, pew. You know, I don't know, because, like, Stranger Things, that was a great, fantastic game. I love the game. It's a fantastic title. That's geared for everybody. Yeah, it's fun for everyone. It's fun for everyone, unless you're a little kid, and Demogorgon might scare you the first time. but uh um the other thing i wanted to mention too just going back i just want to backtrack a little bit is that because you asked me about the other things about you know about how what what we can do as players right towards other we were talking a little bit about being self-aware and the things that come out of your mouth and who you're saying it to and those kind of things and uh the other thing is that uh two things there one women just want to be treated equal in all things in life that's very applicable here um shit and i lost my second chain of thought there that's okay i think that we've done really good covering this it's such a you know what i just want to thank you because rachel this is a difficult topic it's not necessarily fun for anyone to talk about but i think it's important and i also do want to thank all the other female content creators out there as well i know what it is okay i know what it is okay the other thing is like when when women talk about women's tournament right do not talk i really cannot stand dudes that talk negatively about it or they will they will say this is the number one thing that should never come out of a man's mouth when talking about a women's tournament is that oh that sounds like fun i'm going to dress up like a woman and come play it that is not say that that's lame do not say that do not say that please please please never indicate number one there are uh trans folks that you play okay yes number so i you know number one number two uh that is an incredibly rude thing to say um just just out of your mouth that's a prime example perfect example of be aware of what you are saying and to the audience that you're saying it to uh i thought that's that's sorry i just want to make sure that i brought that back because it's something that i had to go through i've had a lot a lot a lot of dudes say that to me and now i just i tell them to shut their mouth before they even finish their sentence and i'm that direct and rude and i'm not a person necessarily and i'm not that way as built as rachel but because i'm protective of women's pinball that when people start to crap on it i just tell it like it is and tell it like it is and tell them you know think think about what you're saying you know so anyways i just want to make sure i said that rv Thank you for saying that. I do believe that that's the main point. Yes, I do believe that's the main point that we should all take home is that don't be rude, especially online or in person if women are having a tournament because the fact of anyone who listened to this whole show and all the reasons that you explained why it's more welcoming and why it's easy for women, especially when they're newer to pinball, to play with a whole bunch of other women for all of those reasons and just because you're being a jerk. Don't be a jerk, jerk. You know what I mean? Be a jerk, jerk. Yeah. Yeah, don't be a jerk, jerk. And more women's tournaments. Women I can get my words out today Women tournaments lead to more women into the open Right So you know so what good for the goose is good for the candor we get women in playing women tournaments they more likely to tip dip their toes into an open tournament because they know another gal that's there or they met the gal and her boyfriend or whatever the case may be she feels more comfortable and so that's the way to do it folks women's tournaments is the doorway and a pathway into getting more women into the open tournament stuff and then just into the hobby period for sure so i want to just publicly ask and then we're going to move on to some other topics but i want to publicly ask any tournament directors listening any barcade owners anyone who even any just women listening to this that have ever thought about maybe throwing a little pinball tournament whether it's through if bar or not maybe the first one it's better not to be highly competitive or something but i just want to encourage more people to try to run more women's tournaments because i just think more women's tournaments means more tournaments means more players means more whoppers for all of us means more pinball machines being bought means more people you know like just it's good for the what's good for the goose is good for the gander right like you know it's good for everybody so um let's move on to some other stuff though i'm so curious to know you only got into pinball a couple years ago what are a couple of your other hobbies maybe you used to nerd out harder on before you got into pinball isn't that the truth how it goes right yeah um so prior so i have not knitted or crocheted anything or not much in the last three and a half years i have a nice stash of yarn and every needle and hook you could possibly imagine uh lately it's been i've been making baby been crocheting baby blankets I did make myself a scarf over the winter uh so that has obviously really subsided because my hands are busy playing games instead um so that that's that's one of the hobbies I still do it but just not as much um I also love doing puzzles and this is the first winter well first day of spring is this Monday maybe I won't have time over this week going to do one unfortunately it's the first winter in probably 10 years I've not done a puzzle and not even a 400, 500 piece. I like 1,000 or 2,000. I'm bonkers. I have a big puzzle table, this whole setup. But I just didn't get to that this year because of pinball. The third thing, I guess another, oh, a couple other, two other good hobbies. I used to be a very avid reader, but now I watch pinball streams and read about pinball stuff. But I listen to audio books. My favorite series is The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan. That would be an awesome pinball machine. if there's people out there listening to this and you agree, holler at me. And maybe I'll just design my own. And I love being outside nature. So when the weather is great, I love to be able to wander around our state parks that we have nearby. I love to get out and kayak. I love to just, you know, enjoy the flowers that we have. You know, just enjoy Mother Nature. I live near Lake Michigan, so sometimes it's nice just to walk along the beach. I don't even mind just walking around in the city where I live either but being in nature really helps me to reset Rachel as Rachel so I rely on that that's a hobby I guess quote unquote hiking I like to call it wandering around nature because that's more what it is yeah getting lost yeah so those I think are my hobbies I like to cook I don't know hang out with friends I like to do the royal icing cookies okay i have a friend i have my friend karen who's the nicest karen you'll ever meet or be she's not a she's not a real yeah she's really a karen though she's the nicest karen you'll ever meet but she bakes cookies and does the royal icing which is like a fancy dried icing that's on cookies and uh so she bakes cookies and then i frost a bunch for district 82 when there's different events there like so they're little little flippers and pinballs and pot bumpers and it's fun it's like art therapy so yeah i don't know now i heard something i was used to garden yeah flower garden so i just love being outside we we have a lot of hobbies in common there i love kayaking canoeing hiking outdoors um i'm not so much into the uh rug hooking or the uh crocheting or the puzzles but i heard something and if you don't want to talk about this it's okay but ever since you've been doing so much pinball podcasting is it true that you've lost listeners on your puzzle podcast yes sure I've lost all my listeners on my puzzle podcast because I think I was the only one oh I thought you were the fifth most favorite puzzle podcast oh no I think I was the 15th so 15th I'm just I'm totally kidding but something you said about nature really is true because I know some days especially here in the cold winter you you know the same thing you were just telling me you guys got a foot and a half of snow in the last week um we we haven't got dumped on like that here in Canada yet we're at least not the part of Canada I am in I think David Dennis up there and Fredericton got hit pretty hard a couple weeks ago but um we've been very lucky here I've only had to shovel three or four times haven't needed a snowblower at all so we've been very lucky but uh yay for climate change no I'm just kidding um but we've been very lucky the thing is is that uh I get really bored and I get in a funk sometimes and you know especially if I'm not because you know I work at a very seasonal job where I run a cafe and you know we're not really going from that last Christmas show a week before Christmas all the way until like I think we have our first show next Saturday Seedy Saturday a gardening show which is going to be awesome but um I kind of get bored and and and I kind of get in a funk and I kind of get down sometimes and my wife's really good about to say let's just go for a walk through the woods and we're lucky enough to have seven acres here on the homestead and two and a half of those acres are in the woods and we've built our own trail and we i call it danielle's creek because i used to love dawson's creek so we have a little creek and even if we just go for a walk and we stop by the creek and we listen to the the water for a bit and you listen to the birds and you smell the clean air and it smells like a christmas tree in the forest you know because that's evergreens mostly. Just going out there and doing that, I just, even no matter how much of a funk I am, like if I'm a grumpy Albert, like a three out of 10, you know, I'm like a four by the time I get back. Like I'm slightly better. So for everybody out there listening, I know this is a pinball podcast. We'll go back to pinball in a second, but do like Rachel and Orby, go out and get yourself some nature if you're just having a tough day, especially if you can, it doesn't even matter if you live in a city, just go to a park with lots of trees or something, right? So find nature wherever you are. Yes, and I love what you said about that, just listening to the birds, hearing the birds, listening to water. Again, I'm lucky to live by Lake Michigan, and Lake Michigan gets so angry during the winter that it sounds like the ocean because the waves are so loud. And there's just something about that, listening to what the world is saying to you without it saying it to you. So there's our deep thoughts. Deep thoughts with Rachel and Orby. I love it. At least it wasn't deep thoughts with Jack Handy because that guy, he's crazy. So, oh, this is something. He's a nutso guy. Here's something a little controversial. And again, if you don't want to answer it, it's okay. But Tim and Drew on the network here, they both have this thing like Tim sucks at pinball and Drew sucks at pinball. And I don't want to out these guys. But Drew played in a tournament with you last year and he did pretty freaking well. And then I've seen some of Tim's scores. He sends me scores, especially on his new Walking Dead and stuff. and I go, Tim, I don't think you suck at pinball either. Is it the truth that they're actually, they're maybe not like, you know, Keith Elwin level or Raymond Davidson level, but these guys, they actually don't suck. Is it true that they actually don't suck? I would say that they both do not suck. I think that we actually, I really do. I think that they both are good players. Drew, even though we tease him about being the center post cafe, He's got a lot of center posts on his games and stuff. He is a very good player. He is very good at nudging. Tim Lee, I've had the opportunity to play several games with him and watch him. He gets really dialed in, like super hyper-focused, like laser-lose-focused. And they're both really good players. I think it's just funny that they tease each other all the time about that they suck at pinball. No, actually, it's funny because now I'm the one that's in control of recording Chai Multivol. Right. And I should just end it. I can't just clip it out. So he kept it. Because in every episode, almost every episode, Tim cheeses Julie, sucks at pinball. But, no, they're both really good players. But neither one of them are as good as Raymond Davidson, hands down. But I think it would be fun to see a – I mean, Raymond's just another level, you know. But it would be fun, I think, at some point to do, like, a five game, like a best of seven game between Drew and Tim and see who wins. Include like two moderns, two like 80s games, and two maybe solid states or EMs, like older games. Something like that. Great. Make them run the gauntlet. I'd love to see that. I hope that they do that someday. And maybe live stream it if possible. Yes, take bets. Yeah, we can live stream it. We take bets and we donate it to charity. But we take bets and we donate it to like, you know, Project Pinball or something. Yeah. I think that would be a fun way to do it. Now, go ahead. They're both – I love Tim Lee so much. I want to just shout him out. He's the best editor for all the stuff I do, and he is so awesome, and I love Drew so much. Because of him, he opened an awesome world of pinballs for me. So before I cry, I just want to say, but I thank both of those guys because they mean a lot to me too, you know. Yeah, and Rachel, I'm assuming you're going to MGC. Not only am I going to be at Midwest Gaming Classic, my friend. and I am running the Open tournament that day on April 1st, on April Fool's Day. Ain't no joke. I'm stoked. I have 80 players that have signed up. That's bumped up from 64 from last year. I have found 15 games. I'll have 16 by the day of. That's bumped up from 12 last year, so the tournament is growing. It's all day Saturday. It's two qualifiers and a final. It is the longest day of all pit pinball. It's longer than playing because it's a lot of organizing, making sure, kicking people out that don't belong uh but it's a lot of fun and i'm really really excited it's my second year um organizing and running it and what a cool opportunity uh in milwaukee and to represent the midwest i still don't know who the fuck i am sometimes orby i'm very jealous i'm very jealous i hear you like getting to do all this pinball stuff and there's not as much pinball stuff around me but someday i've talked to my wife and we would really really like to join as partners and do like a travel across like almost go all the way across north america like down you know across the midwest then down down california then across through texas of course uh you know whatever over to florida like do like literally spend a whole year after our kids are grown up and gone maybe sell the house do van life or get a little camper and just get to so see so many pinball locations maybe i'll be a traveling live streamer that sort of thing I did want to say yes someday someday hopefully and of course it wouldn't just be pinball we'd be checking out all the incredible national parks that you guys have there in the US you know I've been watching I think something like 90% of the TV shows that I watch are like you know based from the United States so there's so many of these iconic states you know I've been over to Detroit before I've been to Buffalo I've been to New York City one time I've been to Atlantic City one time I've been to Vegas once and that Oh, I've been to Florida once. So, you know, I've been to a couple places for like three days, but like, you know what I mean. You can't just fly into somewhere for two or three days and get to know it. I want to spend like three or four months and just really get into the nitty gritty of America and check out all these incredible pinball bars I've heard of and meet so many people from, especially the poor man's pinball tribe that I've never met, that I feel kind of close to, but like I've never met before. So that's something after my boys have, you know, depending on how long they go to college or university, that sort of thing. Once they're moved out, I honestly think that that is going to be the time of my life. But I did want to mention that because you're going to be at MGC, our boy Drew here was awesome enough to put in by far the largest order of coffee we've ever got in our lives here for Angry Alpaca. So to all the tribe people and everybody else listening, make sure you head over to Drew. I got it shipped out yesterday, guaranteed to be there within eight days. So something cool I did is I actually included a special sticker card of my pinball degenerates pitcher that I got from Joe Chervino, of course. And I turned that into a sticker card. And I double-checked with him that we could use that. I already said, yes, once we paid for it, we can do what we like with it, of course. And so each pack has four or five kind of just like almost like joke cards. Like I put a tennis card in there. I put a hockey card because it's coming from Canada. I threw in a Pokemon card as a joke, but each card will have, if like two inserts, each pack will have two inserts in it, and everybody gets that free just for buying some awesome organic coffee. So there will also be... So let's roll it back. Yeah. So let's roll it back. So at MGC, the poor men are having a booth again at MGC, just like we did at Pinball Expo last year. And so what's happening here is that your coffee is going to be sold at MGC. is that correct? Yes, and half of them are like you know the really cool picture, the art picture of Drew and Ian that you see on the Facebook page? That is actually on the cover of the Poor Man's Pinball podcast Rocket Fuel. We called it Rocket Fuel because you know what's inside your butthole after you have coffee, sometimes it gets your whole thing going so Danielle actually came up with the name Rocket Fuel. I just wanted to make sure that everybody understood what's going on that's awesome that that's happening yes everyone should stop I will be at the poor men's booth at some point I know I will because I'm going to have some drinks over there everybody should stop by the poor men's booth because there's all sorts of junk in addition to amazing coffee there's all sorts of junk that people bring to sell so it should be entertaining and that was actually so much fun at Chicago Pinball Pinball Expo that I'm really, really stoked to have that opportunity to party up with the tribe again. It looked like so much fun. Yeah, and Orby, here's the thing, you'll get here. I will get there. It will happen. You will get here. Yeah, and the thing is, you have to trust the timing of your life. Yes, yes, yes, yes. It will happen. I'm trying to trust mine. It will happen. Well, I'm sure there's things you would like to have a full pinball arcade with 20 pins in it like some of these awesome collections you're just not quite there yet right but you're getting there um two quick things i want to talk to you about i want to try to stay under an hour plus i promised you not to be too long i know you have a big giant you know the women's tournament this weekend so two things uh do you ever get like starstruck or anything you know i know starstruck is probably the wrong term but you get to record one of your pinball podcasts with of course tim lee of course you get starstruck for tim lee it's tim lee but you have sure you have the ray ray show of course here on poor men's pinball network as well and you're recording with raymond davidson formerly number one in the world i think he's back to number one in the world or he was briefly um do you ever like do you ever just say to yourself like holy shit i get to sit here and talk to ray day about tournament theory um every time we record every time before we record i get very nervous because i'm like what the fuck is going on and who am I because I still think of myself as rookie Rachel I know I've been playing three and a half years but you know Raymond's so knowledgeable and he's such a great guy and he's so kind in his pinball knowledge and his encouragement that I still am sometimes I'm just like wow and then what happens is then I trip myself up like you know sometimes recording we do a little bit of editing for that you know I flub up the beginning because I'm anxious you know or I talk really fast because I'm anxious uh because I'm just like what am I doing you know and I never want to sound like an idiot you know I don't ever think that I do but you know I think as a person you always you're always thinking about what you're trying to say right that makes sense there it is again um yeah I do get starstruck and I definitely with Raymond and I think there are other people in the hobby um Josh Sharp I get starstruck at starstruck every time that interact with him like I don't know why it's just because he's he's a he's so nice um and so encouraging um and his dad saved pinball that helps yeah no kidding uh that's just a small thing there right small potatoes um taylor bancroft um you know i admire her quite a bit there are there's different women in pinball that i admire because you know they are trailblazers and they are great players or they're content creators um and there's plenty of plenty of guys too that's just um every time i meet uh every time i run into jack danger i almost call him jack black different person uh every time i run into jack danger i get um because i know that he knows who i am now that's terrifying uh but he is also just such a he's always so kind and nice to me uh i mean like why wouldn't he be you know of course he's going to be but i'm saying it's just like it's weird um because he has like i still don't feel strange here's the thing i'll talk just a little bit about that okay so yeah i know that i do the pot because of the podcast and because of the fox series pinball streaming and other stuff that i do in the pinball world So you know I a pinfluencer That what the back box gals call me was a pinfluencer For sure. And that's cool. Yeah. But it's absolutely terrifying sometimes when people like I, you know, they get to they know who I am and I and I also know who they are. But I'm like, oh, my God, like, I can't believe, you know, me and you listen to my junk, you know, like I don't because I don't feel it's not that I'm not confident of who I am. I am, but it's just like this really surreal trip. Like, wow, this is just, I don't know, because it's been such a short amount of time that I've been in the hobby, uh, to think about me watching, you know, during COVID three years ago, COVID started three years ago, watching Jack stream, you know, on dead flip. And here I am, I ran into him recently, you know, uh, and, you know, we had a chit chat or a quick conversation, you know, but it's just, that's bonkers that's bonkers stuff so yeah i definitely still get starstruck and it's just trying to like uh figure out how because people are so nice uh another thing i'll say is thanks you know or be for the opportunity people keep asking me that's why i get involved in stuff how i end up with the pot to a podcast the stuff you know is like um i want to do this thing or people say rachel you want to do this i'm like sure i'll do it i'll do it as long as it's fun and having a good time because why not take that opportunity so um I just really appreciate you for you know giving me the opportunity today because again that's a cool thing that goes on my pinball resume you know it really is well I luckily I had spent like what felt like thousands of hours with Jack Danger because I was I would say for like two or three years leading up to going to my very first pinberg which was the very final pinberg I had been watching dead flip and he knew me from chat and he kind of he had even came into believe it or not I used to have a pinball nerds podcast live streaming uh thing on twitch and so he had even came into my chat a couple times and said hello which is kind of embarrassing because I think the one time he came into chat I stopped to have a lunch break because there was only like two people watching so I'm sitting there eating a grilled cheese or something and like he's like hey what's going on uh Albie uh what's and I'm like oh I'm just eating I'm about to start doing pinball just wait give me a minute you know and but so by the time I met him I was kind of you know I felt like I kind of already knew him but even though even with that still yeah the first few times I'm like this dude has like 21,000 followers and now he's a pinball designer so now I have to get but I think I'll be fine can you do me a favor I don't want you to send him a private message I don't want you to like call him on his phone and be like hey Jack Danger I need you to do me a favor just here on the podcast I've asked Jack Danger on twice since he did Foo Fighters could you just say hey Jack it'd be super rad or something like that if you came on the show with orby jack if you're listening to this you need to come on the show with orby it is the best time because you can talk about nothing and everything and get off on 10 000 challenges tangents and it's fun fun fun fun no i i know he's super busy i'll give him the shout out and if i run into him if i run it i'll tell you this if i run into him this weekend a woman's world because who knows maybe he'll stop by, because it sounds like some people stop by since he's at Interium and Schaumburg, that I'll poke him. No, you don't have to. I don't want to tell people in person to do it. I just mean on the show, if he happens. He does listen from time to time. He's a casual. He's super busy. He just came from South by Southwest. He's crazy busy. I don't even care if it's a month from now after the Foo Fighters sales start to go down and get lower or something like that. but it doesn't matter. He's, I can't wait to flip that game. Cannot wait. There's so many games out right now. I cannot wait to flip. Well, not wait. That was the final thing I wanted to talk to you about was I was going to call it first Gimpressions of Pulp Fiction because, you know, the Gimp part is my favorite and least favorite part of the movie. It's certainly the part that if I'm watching it with my sons, I have to skip because that part, I'm not going to try to explain, but you know, I don't watch it with them. It's way too, it's way too, that's not a movie you watch with your kids, right? But. That's dead baby. That's dead. Yeah, that's dead. Pulp Fiction. Yeah, well, just give me your quick thoughts on it. Just because it's the newest one to come out. And usually, I'm sorry, listeners, I had a little bit of pinball burnout because I did like so many episodes because so many machines coming out. So I only wrote really two sentences here on Pulp Fiction, but I want to first hear your thoughts on it, Rachel. Sure. Okay. being a 90s girl and pulp fiction i'm like i'd even have to play the game i want to buy one because i love the theme and knowing that quentin tarantino was uh heavily involved in uh you know the development of the game that also excites me so that i know that it's going to be something that's going to be a fun play i just think that based upon whatever so when i did watch the video i was like okay i'm digging this i love pop-up brews i love the saucer it's got a spinner it has the drop targets and it's got a multi-ball so to me the game itself looks amazing um the topper looks awesome it's hard man like i said at a million dollars or a pinball sugar daddy one of the other in order to like uh i'm not kidding you in order to afford like all those games because i would just buy it hands down it looked to me it looks like it's going to be a fun flip and i do love the retro feel of it because like that's been a dream of mine if i do design a game i want to make it like a retro game like an old em i want to feel like that so um having that come out is is cool um can i make one side comment about that that popped in my head it kind of makes me think about the special bond edition and how that's kind of like the retro there too that's interesting i just that just popped in my head like oh yeah they both we both have two different kind of retro games in the park market quote unquote yeah and then of course fathom revisited came out and then even really to start it off we all have to thank scott denisi because honestly a lot of people when tna were coming out they were saying oh if it doesn't have ramps and other play fields i don't want it and tna is probably one of the fastest most fun uh on the planet right so i think there has been a good resurgence to not necessarily saying like we'll put it this way i've played like 100 games of aiq and i still can't fully explain the rules however in a home environment that would be great because you'd never get sick of it because there'd be so much to learn. Whereas I think it is possible with TNA, the rules aren't necessarily that deep. Same thing maybe with Pulp Fiction. The rules aren't, and I don't know, I haven't played Pulp Fiction yet. The rules certainly look deeper than TNA. They just don't look as deep as a few of the more modern sterns. It looks like within 10 to 15 games, you'd kind of figure out what you were doing in Pulp Fiction. And I think that's actually a good thing, especially for pins on location, right? Me too. I've seen people at my local record store come in, put a loonie into Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and honestly, sometimes it seems like two minutes later they played all three of their balls and they just walk away and they go, oh, well, that was quick, and I didn't really understand what I was doing. And John Borg's games, you know, they have that hungry left-out lane. It's a great game. Yeah. It's a great game. It is a great game. But it's not your talk. You're looking for a game that's approachable that's going to be on location. For a newbie, especially. Yeah, for a newbie, for a brand newbie, for a brand new newbie, for them to go there and be able to plunge the ball and be able to play for five minutes. And this definitely looks like a game that would do it. I agree with you. The other thing I just want to say, the CGC, Cactus Canyon, is also a game like that. I know it's a remake or whatever there, but that game is also very easy as a brand new player to figure it out. It's also, I think, a very straightforward game. And I think that's great. So seeing that they're doing the same thing, I mean, seeing that that's carrying forward with Pulp Fiction, that looks like it's going to be an easy game to figure out for a brand new person. That's great. I agree. I don't want to waste. I hate games. I love Wonka, but there's one by me. It's a dollar per play. And that's just too steep. I'm so cheap. It's a dollar per play. I'm going to pay a dollar for a game of Wonka because that Wonka can be an ass kicker. you know so it's like even for me a person that knows how to play the game i don't want to spend a dollar on playing it you know so well pulp fiction they added the five songs that i really wanted so that was great there's 12 custom sculpts i don't remember the last pin with 12 custom sculpts it has my favorite sculpt in all pinball which is obviously the royale with cheese i honestly that that burger my my wife was sitting here watching that with me and she's like that is the coolest sculpt I've ever seen, until she saw the topper, that topper is my second favorite, I do think the Mandalorian topper maybe is slightly cooler, maybe, I don't even know, I'd have to see them both side by side, but wow, when Mia and Travolta's character really get like dancing at Jackrabbit Slim's, and they start, and they both, and the mechs are spinning, and the other thing's spinning, and then the neon lights in the background are changing, and then the cars look awesome there, and I think my third favorite, so my favorite mech in it is definitely the uh or if you want to call it the sculpt is the cheeseburger my favorite mech is the topper but my second favorite mech is the gold the gold uh briefcase that well sorry we don't know if it's gold there's something golden in it and it turns towards john travolta and it's just like wow so another thing no one think go ahead they think it's vincent vegas like fans believe i think that vincent vegas sold i've heard that case so that's apparently what it is but i don't but go on go on i love this i love your enthusiasm for the game because i'm telling you this theme is spot on totally something that i would buy um just to just me man again i got 300 call yeah 300 callouts it's got that coin door that's a throwback to like you know instead of just the black coin door it's got the coin door that looks like a solid state from back in the day which i love i don't mind that it doesn't have the lcd screen i really don't because i hardly ever look up at that i get it's better for other people but you know anyways again i don't know how it's going to shoot because i haven't shot it yet but i love inline drop targets i especially love inline drop targets that don't just drop the ball back that that's an up they're inline drop targets that go to an upvuck and then yes you know like they've already got what three wizard three mini wizard modes uh a wizard mode like it seems like it's fully coded uh i i loved all the i don't want to say which Richie's better, but who knows? JJP could be going, maybe we should have got the other Richie brother. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I'm kind of being facetious there, but I'm really excited. Think about what their, think about what that Thanksgiving holiday is like. What's your game? I can't tell you. What's yours? Eh, you'll see. Yeah, it's funny, but Fish Tales is better than Star Trek. It looks like an amazing game. Yeah, it looks great and I'm going to do probably, hopefully a better review on it. There's, I I've seen some word on the street that Galactic Tank Force will be coming out tomorrow, which is St. Patrick's Day. So an early happy St. Pat's, Rachel. There's also going to be on the Buffalo stream, there's going to be Mr. Scott Denise's new game, Final Resurrection. Resistance. Resistance, thank you. Thank you, thank you. That's okay. And speaking of... I'm a big Denise fan. Oh my God, he's incredible. I love the way he incorporates sound. And if you know me, you've heard me complain about other pinball machines, about their sound before. I don't typically love the sound packages on JJPs, but I love every sound package that Scott Denisey has ever touched. I used to be like a raver kid back in the day, going to clubs and stuff. I mostly listened to drum and bass, but that's why I connect with that type of music. So tomorrow on the Buffalo Pinball Twitch channel, they're actually going to be doing the first live stream. So make sure you watch for that. And I do have to give a quick apology out on my last pinball podcast when I was talking about The Godfather, which is another pinball machine I'm excited to play. Just basically, I had got a message from, I'm just looking up his name right here, Donovan, Kevin Donovan. And he is a longtime listener of the show. Kevin, I just wanted to thank you for sending me this message. He said that the coder, the primary coder in the game. So even though I think that I was correct that Joe Katz does help with some of the coding and rules, Keith Johnson, who's probably even more renowned for doing rules and coding, is the primary coder on it. So I apologize for that mess up. Honestly, when there's this many shows coming out, you're going to get something wrong from time to time, especially when I don't edit, as you know. But that's part of the charm we have here on the show. We just do it straight from the hip. If it's good enough for Joe Rogan, if Joe Rogan doesn't edit every podcast and get rid of every little two seconds of silence and every um and every ya and every time he says a repeatable line, then I don't think I have to either, right? Am I right? I totally agree. I like doing it off the cuff. You know what I mean? Yeah, I think I know where you're coming from there. I'm trying. I'm trying. You'd think after 500 episodes I'd have this figured out, but I don't. No, but I think, but again, it's what makes us all human. You know, just we're all work in progress, right? It's about the journey, my friend, about the journey. That's what they say. Well, listen, Rachel, this has been a great time. I want to thank you very much. If there's any shout-outs you want to give quickly on the way out the door, you can. I think we've mentioned both of your other main podcasts, but if there's anything you can think of, feel free to go ahead and do that shout out. And I do want to say, if you have an event, an all-women's event coming up, and you want me to fire you off, we do like these small little, like, I would say they're kind of sample packs of coffee. They go in the same size as our tea bags. It's enough to do, you know, the tea, there's enough to do about two dozen cups of tea, whereas the coffee, there's only enough for about a dozen coffees in it. But if you have an event coming up, probably would be hard to send you out like 80 for an event with 80, But if you had an event that was, you know, 15 to 20 and you just wanted some samples, let me know. I'll fire it off to you and we'll do something fun. Yeah. Okay. Well, thank you so much for that. Yes, we'll work it out. I definitely, I appreciate that so much. No cost. Thank you again for having me on. You're welcome. And letting me, you know, express my own Rachel Risto opinions and feelings. And that means a lot to me. Anytime. Uh, uh, uh. Anytime. that again anytime i i just really appreciate the opportunity like not everybody gets that not everybody and i just so i know how special it really is as far as things that i want to shout out yep i try multivol the ray ray show i also run like i said ladies with wisconsin i will shout out i'm doing my biggest tournament of the year there at district 82 for ladies flip district 82 will be may 20th and it's a double tournament 13 round match play followed by a four strike classics or just classics only will that be live streamed i'm sorry will that be live streamed rachel yes fox city's pinball stream will be live we'll be streaming that so i'm super excited about that um it's cassidy who's number one woman in the world at pinball myself where we basically built like the dream tournament day for us because those are the things that we like to play so we're really plugging along and working on getting that rolling and hopefully i'll have 50 women that's the benchmark uh hopefully so that i can cover my purse prize because that's the way i roll i'm living a little dangerously this year but you know at all people are so kind to contribute towards that too so uh yeah i just want to shout that out and i think that's probably everything i'm just again you know i'm always grateful for the opportunities um i just feel i hate using the We're blessed, but I really am that way. I'm just so grateful. So thanks, Orby. Andrew and Tim, do not suck a pinball. Yeah, no, they don't. Hey, thanks so much for being on the show. And guys, make sure you go follow Fox Cities Pinball because I love to listen. And maybe it's just because I feel like I know you a bit better than the average person, but I love listening to you do commentary. I think that especially, you know, you don't overcomplicate it for me. And sometimes I need that because, you know, sometimes it's hard to follow if they're especially on a newer game and uh you know they're blowing it up uh for instance i love dalton he's incredible player and he's a very good commentator but sometimes he's explaining rule sets and i'm like what i don't you know like what the seventh multiplier you're adding into the third multi-ball and it's like i i'm lost i need one two three yes tell me the simple i need a hit concise you know instructions that even a stoner or a pothead can remember after getting high that's what I need I need like just the straightforward I need the straightforward hit this hit this do this do that done you know like the the two minute synopsis so oh yeah well I can't wait to hang out someday we're gonna get to enjoy of course the devil's lettuce and I know you don't drink too often but maybe I could twist your rubber arm into having even a light beer or two um because it would be really nice to uh get to hang out with you sometime and play pinball and I'm actually curious I think there's a chance I might be able to beat you at some of the old EMs, at least the ones that aren't at District 82 that you're not familiar with. But I think I would have no chance on any solid state or new machine against you because I've seen you play, and you're incredible. And thanks for all you do for pinball, and thanks for being on the show. All right. Thank you. You're so awesome. All right. Well, listeners, thank you so much for the show today. I know it probably seemed a little preachy at times, but I thought it was an important topic and there wasn't a better month and there wasn't a better women's pinball representative to talk to about it. So I hope you all enjoyed and until next time, say it with me if you know it, Rachel. Remember to eat, sleep, and breathe. Sleep, breathe, pinball. Pinball. Pinball. _(Acquisition: groq_whisper)_ --- *Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: c6ecb9f0-3b6c-4dd9-b42e-7c8a8d88ab96*