Journalist Tool

Kineticist

  • HDashboard
  • IItems
  • ↓Ingest
  • SSources
  • KBeats
  • BBriefs
  • RIntel
  • QSearch
  • NName Review
  • +Health

v0.1.0

← Back to items

The Spinner Is Lit - Episode 64 2024 GSPF Pre - Show Chat (1)

The Spinner Is Lit Pinball Podcast·podcast_episode·1h 24m·analyzed·Apr 15, 2024
View original
Export .md

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.033

TL;DR

GSPF 2024 pre-show promotion covering volunteering, tournaments, games, and campground events.

Summary

The Spinner Is Lit hosts a pre-show episode promoting the 2024 Golden State Pinball Festival (GSPF) in Lodi, California (May 17-19). The hosts discuss volunteer opportunities, game sign-ups, tournament structure and registration, Camp Silver Ball camping, streaming plans, and unique campground activities. Key highlights include the main tournament selling out in minutes, a separate women's tournament still accepting registrations, target match play format with 128 qualifying players, and special events like Tiltalica team death matches at the campground.

Key Claims

  • The 2024 GSPF main tournament (128 players across Friday/Saturday qualifying sessions) sold out in minutes

    high confidence · Host stated 'Minutes, yeah. I think it sold out about as fast as the RV slot' and mentioned it happened very quickly

  • Volunteers who complete 2 shifts or one long shift receive a free weekend pass; additional shifts unlock progressively better rewards (patches, posters, water bottles)

    high confidence · Detailed breakdown provided by hosts on volunteer incentives and rewards structure

  • The tournament uses target match play format (25-point cap, 3-2-1-0 scoring similar to Pinburgh) with top 16 finishers from Friday and Saturday qualifying advancing to 32-player Sunday finals

    high confidence · Mark explained the tournament structure in detail: 'target match play style...3-2-1-0 scoring system...top 16 for friday and it's the top 16 for saturday and then it's a 32 player finals on Sunday'

  • 300-350 games were brought to the 2024 show; the organizers are actively recruiting more game submissions

    high confidence · Hosts stated: 'what did we do for games last year? 300? Yeah. 330, 350. We'd love to meet that this year.'

  • Camp Silver Ball RV camping slots sold out in approximately two minutes

    high confidence · Host stated: 'Camp Silver Ball was gone...two minutes. Yeah, two minutes.'

  • Jason is returning to Camp Silver Ball and will bring rare, unique games to the show

    high confidence · Hosts confirmed: 'Jason got in, so I will be staying on Camp Silver Ball...he's bringing some really cool, really rare, unique stuff'

  • A separate Women's International Pinball Tournament is being held at GSPF 2024 with registration still open

    high confidence · Hosts confirmed women's tournament happening with 'extended hours on Friday morning' and stated 'We are still accepting women's registrations for the women's tournament'

  • The tournament will be streamed on Elk Grove Pinball's Twitch channel with professional equipment and commentary

Notable Quotes

  • “It's one of the best shows, I'm telling you.”

    Host (Dan or Mark) @ Early in episode — Establishes strong positive sentiment about GSPF as a premier event

  • “The more volunteers, the better the show runs, especially.”

    Host @ Volunteering section — Emphasizes critical need for volunteer support to maintain show quality

  • “It's legitimately the most fun I think that I have at the show every year.”

    Host (discussing Tiltalica) @ Campground activities section — Demonstrates emotional investment in unique campground events and their importance to community experience

  • “If you don't have games, you're on a show.”

    Host @ Game sign-up section — Underscores that game submissions are core to the show's existence

  • “Minutes. Yeah. I think it sold out about as fast as the RV slot.”

    Host @ Tournament discussion — Demonstrates extreme demand for the tournament and Camp Silver Ball spots

  • “There's almost an unofficial show that happens out at the campsite. That's right. It's the after party.”

    Hosts (dialogue) @ Campground section — Highlights the dual-ecosystem nature of GSPF: official show + campground parallel economy

  • “It's so cool. It's just a great opportunity.”

    Host @ Campground games discussion — Expresses enthusiasm for community trust and inclusivity in campground machine access

  • “You're going to play a lot of pinball. And you're going to get to socialize with everybody in the tournament area.”

    Mark @ Tournament format discussion — Captures the dual value proposition of match play tournaments: competitive play + community

Entities

Golden State Pinball Festival (GSPF)eventRick DemmelpersonJasonpersonMark SteinmanpersonDanpersonRustypersonJackperson

Signals

  • ?

    event_signal: Spinner Is Lit podcast hosts creating dedicated pre-show promotional episode one month ahead of GSPF 2024, highlighting registration deadlines, volunteer opportunities, and exclusive campground events.

    high · Entire episode dedicated to GSPF promotion; hosts discussing specific registration links, deadlines, and encouraging immediate action

  • ?

    event_signal: GSPF 2024 main tournament (128 players) sold out in minutes; Camp Silver Ball RV spots sold out in approximately 2 minutes, indicating extreme demand exceeding supply.

    high · Host: 'Minutes. Yeah. I think it sold out about as fast as the RV slot.' and 'Camp Silver Ball was gone before we clicked go. Yeah, two minutes.'

  • ?

    product_strategy: GSPF 2024 expanding volunteer reward tiers with branded merchandise (embroidered patches, foil posters, custom water bottles) and fall thank-you party at The Flipper Room, signaling increased investment in volunteer retention and community engagement.

    high · Detailed breakdown of 3-5 shift reward structure with specific branded items; hosts noting rewards are 'primo stuff' and 'even better than years past'

  • ?

    design_philosophy: GSPF tournament director Mike implemented major registration and format changes based on prior-year community feedback, shifting from early-morning standby queue system to online registration to increase accessibility and player participation.

    high · Host: 'He took the criticism to heart...is going to do something that I think will work a lot better and actually get more people involved' and comparison of old 7 a.m. queue system to new immediate online registration

  • ?

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.252

0:00
Hey, welcome to the Spinner's Lit Pinball Podcast. It's episode 64, the 2024 GSPF Pre-Show Chat. That's the Golden State Pinball Festival. So we're just a month out from the show. And, of course, that show is in Lodi, California, May 17th, 18th, and 19th. You can look up the website at goldenstatepinball.org. So we're just going to kind of go through a brief episode here and just kind of talk up the show and let everybody know what's going on and what to expect. You know, some of the same as last year and years before and some returning stuff that's been going on, all kinds of good stuff. Of course, load-in is going to start. Wonderful time. I am so excited.
1:07
I can't wait. It's going to be a fun time. It's one of the best shows, I'm telling you. So the show actually starts Friday, 1 p.m. But the real show starts, I mean, you know, the show starts like Thursday because we're doing load-in. So load-in is Thursday.
1:22
You can start bringing games Thursday morning. and of course there'll be all the fun Thursday night at Camp Silver Ball and let's just start at the beginning like we've had guys working on this show for everybody who's interested in going since the show ended last year and it's prime time now is the time when things have to happen so you know I think that we're all going to be in as ground levels we can be. We're going to start volunteering on Thursdays or on Thursday. Yes. On Thursday. Just one. Right.
2:04
And I don't know about you guys, but yeah, I just pretty much, I want to get in there and just help get this thing set up, you know, because we need people, we still need people to volunteer. You know, we still have tons and tons and tons of volunteer spots available. The more volunteers, the better the show runs, especially. Yeah, sorry, I'm looking up on the website if there's the link where you'd volunteer. Oh, yeah, if you go to the website, right up in the upper corner, there's a button so that you can volunteer. And you get good stuff for volunteering, like even better than years past. Primo stuff for volunteering. In addition to just if you volunteer for a shift, you get that day for free. and if you volunteer for two shifts or one long shift, you get the weekend pass for free. What is considered a shift? How many hours is that? Usually four hours. I think, yeah, most of the shifts, I think, are three to four hours just depending on what you're doing. Yeah. Sometimes some of the desk shifts are a little bit shorter, but it's generally like four hours. So it's like half a day, half a day of work.

high confidence · Hosts discussed streaming setup and announced: 'You can go to Elk Grove Pinball on Twitch TV to check it out' and mentioned streaming 'both days of qualifying and the tournaments and the finals'

  • A homebrew game called 'Q' (6 prototypes, never went to production) will be playable at GSPF 2024, brought by Jason

    high confidence · Host stated: 'Q's coming back this year. Yay. Yes. Jason's bringing Q again...there's very little...they never went to production'

  • Multiple Northern California pinball collectors will bring rare vintage machines to Camp Silver Ball, including Godzilla (Sega) and Barb Wire (last Gottlieb)

    high confidence · Hosts discussed 'people from Lynn's Arcade' bringing machines and mentioned 'two or three people in the Northern California area that own that game [Godzilla]'

    • Ted Slavacekperson
    Joeperson
    Brian Dunnperson
    Wigperson
    Mikeperson
    Brian Allenperson
    Emotoperson
    GeneXperson
    Lynn's Arcadecompany
    Elk Grove Pinballcompany
    The Flipper Roomvenue
    Camp Silver Ballevent
    Tiltalicagame_event
    Qgame
    goldenstatepinball.orgwebsite
    Match Playplatform

    community_signal: GSPF campground has evolved into parallel competitive and social ecosystem distinct from main show floor, featuring user-generated games (Tiltalica, pin golf tournaments), machine swaps from local arcades, and trust-based public play of rare/prototype machines.

    high · Hosts repeatedly reference 'unofficial show that happens out at the campsite,' GeneX pin golf, Tiltalica team death matches, and Lynn's Arcade machine swaps as separate from main tournament/show

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Strong positive reception to new GSPF tournament format (target match play, 128-player registration, online signup) with hosts expressing confidence this will be 'our best tournament ever' and solving prior pain points.

    high · Host: 'I think it's going to be fantastic. I think it's going to be our best tournament ever' and detailed praise for registration ease and format improvements

  • ?

    venue_signal: Northern California arcade operators (Lynn's Arcade) and collectors circulating rare machines (Godzilla Sega, Barb Wire, Lost in Space) through GSPF and Camp Silver Ball, indicating strong regional collecting/operating community and inter-venue cooperation.

    high · Discussion of Lynn's Arcade bringing machines; hosts noting multiple local owners of rare Godzilla (Sega) game bringing it to shows

  • ?

    content_signal: GSPF tournament streaming on Elk Grove Pinball Twitch channel with upgraded professional equipment (instant replay, drawing tools, high-quality audio/video). Indicates growth of competitive pinball content production and viewership infrastructure.

    high · Rick Demmel 'bringing this streaming rig that...is equivalent to what IE Pinball has' with 'some treats' and 'even more upgrades to the setup this year'

  • ?

    collector_signal: Rare homebrew prototype 'Q' (est. 6 prototypes total, never went to production) being circulated through GSPF by collector Jason, indicating active collector ecosystem valuing access to experimental/limited machines.

    high · Host: 'Q's coming back this year...there's very little...they never went to production...you're not going to see it anywhere else probably'

  • ?

    operational_signal: High-demand event components (tournament registration, Camp Silver Ball) selling out in minutes, suggesting GSPF operating near or above sustainable capacity and may need to increase availability or manage waitlists more aggressively.

    high · 128-player tournament sold out in minutes; Camp Silver Ball sold out in ~2 minutes; hosts actively managing waitlists and encouraging registrations

  • ?

    community_signal: Separate Women's International Pinball Tournament now established as regular GSPF feature (mentioned as 'every year') with dedicated building and extended Friday hours, indicating growing focus on gender-inclusive competitive pinball.

    high · Hosts: 'Women's tournament has still slots available' and 'we've done the women's tournament every year' with reference to Rusty placing 4th in 2019

    • 3:17
    Some of the jobs, you know, some of the tough jobs, you know, are longer, but that's a long shift, right? So if you're on the trucks and you're moving games or if you're unloading trucks and setting up games, like that's a day. But, you know, that gets you in. You know, you're great. And those are those are the jobs that like, let's be honest, if you if you can swing it, we really need help there. And then we got a lot of more intellectual jobs. If you can't, you know, move a game or or if you're more talented in a technical way, we got, you know, technician spots. You know, if you're if you're a technician, you know, obviously we need to we need to take a look at that and make sure that you're good. You know, we've got we've got the desks. We got people checking wristbands. We got security, which security is great, man. You just walk around and make sure everyone's being cool. You know, there's just so much that you can do to help if you're here in Northern California.
    4:18
    You know, we would really, really appreciate anybody who wants to get involved with the show. And it's fun. You know, we get to be a part of the machine, and we also have a lot of great prizes. What was it? Two shifts you get in for free. Three shifts you get a fun pack. Yeah, and that includes an embroidered patch, a key chain, a ton of stickers, plus the weekend pass. That's a pretty good deal. Four shifts, you get a foil show poster, plus everything else. And then five shifts, and you get a super volunteer show water bottle. Plus all the other stuff, right. In addition to all that. And the coolest thing of all, I think, is that whether you volunteer one shift or five shifts or ten shifts, you're going to get an invite to a thank you party at the Flipper Room this fall. You know what? I'm glad you brought that up because I actually hadn't thought about that. But that is a really cool bonus to get. I wish I could make it. I never can make it because it's always a bad time. You're making it this year. You need to make it, Mark. You need to get out there. I need to get out there. I tell Heidi that Dan's pathetic and he's crying. you gotta come and you gotta take care of me Mark have you not been to the Flipper Room ever? no it's always been at a bad time with school always was in the way you gotta make it out there for that man I will those kids can learn from somebody else for the day there you go you can have substitute teacher Uncle Dan that wouldn't turn out very well plus I'm not missing the show so yeah so i mean they definitely make it but you know and you know in the volunteer stuff man like doing a shift you're like and you know it's like four hours like well that's half a day it's like well it is like a half a work day but i mean it goes by quick and you're still hanging out and talking to people and doing stuff so it's it's you know it's really a good experience and you get like i said you do three shifts you get a whole or two long or two shifts and you get a whole weekend pass right you know and you can come in and you can come in after your regular job thursday and help you know set up games and then do like a friday or saturday shift to get the whole weekend you know or whatever you can work before and after the show that's the great thing is like if you're if you're all about like moving games or something like that like you know they will we will find positions for you you know thursday or or even monday after the show because that's honestly when we could use the most help because those are some tough jobs, but there's all kinds of positions left during the show. There's, you know, all kinds of things that you can still do. I mean, honestly, looking at the, looking at the lineup, we got a pretty good amount of the spots filled, but as you, especially as you get towards Sunday and, and Monday, the, the breakdown of the load out, you know, those are the spots that we need the most help. Speaking of games. Yes. Speaking of games. We need games. Okay.
    7:24
    I think, what did we do for games last year? 300? Yeah. 330, 350. We'd love to meet that this year. We know a lot of you guys love to wait until the last minute to sign up your games. Well, it's here.
    7:41
    It's time to sign up for games. Yep. And I always like to look at that list. I need to sign up my games, to be completely honest. I've kind of been slacking on that myself. Do they have a list of games from their website? I know they used to have a link where you could go to the spreadsheet and see what's there in real time. Yeah, if you go to the website and you go to bring games, it actually shows you all the games that are signed up. Keep in mind, some games are going to be in the tournament area. Some games are on the show floor. So don't don't see something go. Yes, that's what I'm here for. But, you know, pretty much all the games you will have access to. And just like with volunteering, we have different levels of reward for when you're bringing games.
    8:28
    Oh, yes, that's right. Yep. Bring in games is I mean, not even second to volunteering. Maybe it's even first to volunteering. But like, you know, there's no show without games. Yeah, if you don't have games, you're on a show. So you get 50% off a weekend pass for bringing one game. Okay. So if you bring two, you get the VIP pass for the weekend. Bring three or more, you get extra stuff.
    8:55
    Yeah, you get meal vouchers, you get the show. Silk screen, a silk screen barrier poster. Oh, meal vouchers, that's nice. I don't know what the limited edition item is for bringing six games, but, man, I kind of want to find out. Yeah. Maybe I need to take six games. Right. Okay. So you get the – oh, and then there's – we'll get to that. But there's the early entry Saturday with the breakfast. It's like coffee and orange juice and pastries and stuff, boomerang buns, croissants. Cool. That's awesome. Yeah. The branded item is going to be something really cool. I don't know what, but you know, maybe, I don't know. It might be something like the coffee mug or something. Cause I've seen a couple of the coffee bottles last year. Right. Yeah. I think so. Yeah. A special water bottle. And yeah.
    9:46
    Yeah. As soon as you see that thing, you're just like, Oh, these guys aren't messing around with the swag. Like the people who run our show, like they, they, they spring for some good stuff. You know, it's nice, nice name badges, nice lanyards. Very, very nice rewards. the show poster this year is awesome. Yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing that.
    10:09
    Well, we showed it, right? Isn't it? Yeah, it's up. You haven't seen it yet, Mark? Yeah, it's on the front page. It's got a tiki theme. It's by Brian Allen. Oh, yeah, I saw it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I just I'm looking forward to seeing it big. Oh, in person. Yeah, gotcha. OK, yeah, seeing it in person. That's what I mean. Yeah, I've seen the design and stuff. It's awesome. And I want that. I want that foil version of it. Yeah, so we're getting one because Rusty's doing four shifts. So I'll do three, you know.
    10:38
    Cool. Well, the other nice thing, too, is when you volunteer the day before, you know where the games are when they set them up. So when you want to go to the show floor, you know exactly which game you want to go to. That helped me last year.
    10:52
    Yeah, that's right. You did game setup, right? Yeah, I did game setup. That's man's work. Yep. I would do that for the rest of the show. So I just check the games in. Yeah. All right, Mark, go do stuff around. Yeah. I don't mind that. I'm doing, but that's my first shift is 9-2-1 Friday. So the late comers, people coming in late still need to get their games in. Right. Give them a hand. So I'm going to do that.
    11:25
    Well, it's great to see how many people who volunteered right when the link went up. But we always need more. Like you said, we always need more. So Sunday's the lightest day. There's still, I mean, there's a lot of people volunteer, but there's still a lot of slots. I mean, every day there's slots open except for, hold on. Yeah, and volunteering is really easy. Like I said, you just go to the website, you click the link. Yeah. Sign up what you want to do for your job, and you get a confirmation email and it tells you what you're signed up for and what time and day and everything. It's pretty awesome.
    11:58
    So, you know, games, you know, it's the same process. You go to the Golden State Pinball Festival website, bring games.
    12:06
    You know, there's a little drag down. You tell them what you're going to bring. I'm going to click right now. So you just go to add game and you put in your email. If you weren't in there before, you set yourself up and then you type in the name of your game and you go, yes. And we don't all we ask for games is that you're all they ask for games is that they work and that you're going to leave it on the on the floor for the duration of the show. Right. That, you know, we're we're not picky. You know, if we have five police forces signed up and you want to bring the six, well, maybe we're just going to have a police force. Rific year. Yeah. But of course, newer stuff is always appreciated because everybody would love to see your Elton John. Yeah, not a lot of people. Yeah, there's still Pulp Fiction, Elton John. Yeah, that would be nice. Yeah, more your John. Even Venom because there's still a lot of people haven't played that yet.
    13:06
    Dude, somebody's bringing a Canada Dry. Isn't that cool? Yeah, I saw that. Which is Eldorado. Nice. Branded Eldorado. Yeah. Well, what it is, it was made – I believe it's an edible, I think. Well, no, wait, because they made an edible of Eldorado called Cold Strike, I believe. Yeah. No, that's what the edible – look, I don't know, man. All I know is I want some ginger ale. Yeah, Canada Dry is legit. I mean, it was made by Gottlieb. Yeah, no, it's a real game. Like I said, they're bringing a Canada Dry. I've just never seen one. I mean, I've seen pictures, you know. It's cool, though. Yeah. So I'm not sure why they made that one. But, you know, regardless, I think maybe Canada Dry asked them to. I'm not sure. I know there's a story behind it. I just don't know what it is. But that's cool. There's some other cool rare stuff coming. And I saw that Q's coming back this year. Yay. Yes. Jason's bringing Q again. It was a hit last year Yeah it's a lot of fun You're not going to see it anywhere else Probably because There's only what was like six prototypes Or something Correct yeah there's very little Yeah they never went to production And it's a really unique and fun game So if you get a chance come find me and I'll play it with you We know Camp Silver Ball talking about that Talking about cool swag If you were lucky enough to get a spot because that's another thing that sold out really, really quick. You get this year's – you have the opportunity – you have to purchase them separately, but you have the opportunity to purchase the Camp Silver Ball T-shirt for this year. Cool. Yeah, which is different than last year's.
    14:55
    So we have that going. And then, you know, we have – coming up Friday, we have – you know, when the show starts at 1 p.m. And then we have a Friday tournament, right? We have a Friday. Every day has a separate kids tournament. And then we have a main tournament Friday.
    15:15
    Yes, there's going to be two. I'm not even looking at the tournament page. I'm still looking at Camp Silver Ball. Oh, are you? I'm sorry. No, no, it's fine. I was just like, oh, hey, I hadn't even looked at this page. What is a coin-op shower?
    15:29
    Coin-op shower. Apparently you can throw some quarters in and take a shower. Okay. And that's what's really funny is because, no, no, no, you can shower there, but they've never been on. Like, I mean, you can go shower, but you've never had to use the coin-op part. So I don't know why it still says that. You just go take a shower. Yeah, because there's restrooms, there's showers. Yeah, so like, oh, I got to bring quarters? No, you don't. That's the, you know. Okay.
    15:56
    Okay, but yeah, so tournaments, right? Is that what we're talking about? The two tournaments are, like I said, you completely shot past me. I was still like, ooh, Camp Silver Ball. We're going to talk about camping. Oh, no, we're going to talk about tournaments. No, that's great because I want to talk about the tournament, especially, even though I'm not playing in it. I'm going to be a part of the process. Yeah, so will Friday, is there a special tournament going on Friday? No, I believe Friday and Saturday.
    16:21
    Maybe Mark's going to know more about this. It basically says main tournament as well as a women's tournament hosted in its own building with extended hours on Friday morning. please see the tournament location on the map provided. We're also offering a kids tournaments all weekend long and the main GSBF hall. The main tournament will consist of two separate and independent qualifying sessions, one on Friday and one on Saturday. You may sign up for only one session. They're both sold out. So if, if you are not in you, you get on the wait list either Friday or Saturday, but not both for your qualifying attempt. We are still accepting women's registrations for the women's tournament. Okay. All playing sessions will be target match play style. This format's great for new and experienced players alike. During each round, you'll be paired with players performing at your same level, which makes for a fun and always competitive experience.
    17:13
    All right. Our badass tournament player, Mark, could probably speak to that. Right. So it's going to be a target match play up to 25 points using a 3-2-1-0 scoring system, which is similar to pinberg and then whoever gets uh either whoever has the highest point value after 12 games or whoever reaches 25 first is based on who is qualifying for that seed and it's the top 16 for friday and it's the top 16 for saturday and then it's a 32 player finals on Sunday. Oh, wow. So it's a, it, I, I was fortunate as soon as it turned to 10 o'clock Pacific time, I hit that register button. I had no issues and it was great because it already had my IFPA number on it and I just hit register and I was in and I didn't see any confirmation or anything. It just pretty much said you're registered and that was it. So just because I was concerned if I was going to see my name on there or not. It did not show any player names. And I think today it still doesn't show any players until probably the day of the tournament. But one thing I did notice is that when I tried registering again, it said, you already registered, which pretty much said it wouldn't work because I'm in. So I know for sure that I'm in along with some other people that I was hoping they would get into the tournament. So, yeah, it all worked out, and it was effortless. It was really nice and easy just hitting one button for match play events, and I was in.
    18:50
    Oh, you can see the list of players for the tournament, Mark. You can now? Go to the match play and go to registrations. Oh. Not players, but registrations, and it'll show you the list of everyone who's... Oh, that's cool. Okay, good. Let's see who the scary people are in here. Uh-oh. I know Jack will be in there for sure.
    19:15
    Jack, uh... And Ted will be in there probably. Slavacek? Yeah, Slavacek for sure. He's been on there, and so is Joe.
    19:22
    So is Joe, yeah. Huh. Well, you know, and another thing is... Mark Scoff! Our own Mark Scoff! He's going to bring it home to the spinners lit.
    19:38
    There's Wig, Brian Dunn, Scott I'm definitely pissing on those Yeah No, I'm not I'll piss on it but it'll just be verbal There's some bangers on the waiting list Oh, Teddy's on the waiting list Teddy's on the waiting list? Really?
    19:57
    Oh Huh, well that's cool that you found that I didn't know where you go So you go to match play and registration Match play, GSBF 2024 qualifying session one And I haven't looked at number two. I think number two is a lot more of like our local guys. Right, right. I prefer to play on Friday. That's better.
    20:20
    So if you're not in the tournament or not doing the tournament play or not doing commentary like Dan, and I'm going to try to slide over to the booth and do some commentary. I can't promise. You got to trust me. We're going to burn down the Internet. It's going to be fun. We're going to get Rick kicked off of Twitch for sure.
    20:36
    Anybody can do it. It would be you and me, Dan. Shannon, you know it's over. Oh, yeah. Rick's probably going to listen to this and be like, no. Change my mind. Yeah, you guys just go drink and eat and have fun. Yeah, Mike has this down to a science He been running the tournament every single year and at this point i think that they found the best possible format uh to get the most people involved of the most skill levels and still have it be like super super exciting and competitive exactly basically it's what 40 bucks to get in yeah i think that's what the the entrance or the Entrance fee is $40. Yeah, I think that's right. I mean, short of just paying for the show and playing on the show floor constantly, you can't get more pinball for that money. No, true. You're going to play a lot of pinball. And you're going to get to socialize with everybody in the tournament area. And it's a really great format. I always like target match play because you're still going to get a lot of pinball in and get a lot of rounds in. and it's not so stressful and waiting in line in queues and doing a card system or a Herb style type format. You get to play pinball every time with four people. And it's just a great time to not have any downtime. You're always playing, you know, except of course when you're waiting your turn. And I'm excited to see what kind of games they're going to bring. I hope they have a lot of classic games. it's always nice to break the ice and have a variety of machines. And hopefully they'll have an EM or something. They usually do have one or two, but maybe they'll have a little more. We'll see. Regardless, it's going to be a great time. And I really like the idea that they increase the number of people to 128 instead of the one that they used to do where on Friday you'd stand in line early in the morning, like at 7 a.m. Right. To get your spot. And hope that you get in. You hope you get in, right? And then you're standing there for three hours, possibly, camping out, waiting for your chance to get in or not. And this was so much easier. And now you don't have to go and get up early and stand in line and camp out and stuff like that. So I really am glad that he made a decision to change the registration process.
    23:12
    Oh, no. I think it's going to be fantastic. I think it's going to be our best tournament ever. And I think that, again, the decisions that are being made are being made because we've seen what worked or he has seen what worked the previous year and what didn't work the previous year and what players were unhappy about. And he took the he took the the the criticism to heart and, you know, is going to do something that I think will work a lot better and actually get more people involved and more people playing. and I'm a little bit unhappy that I didn't register, but I'm going to be working on the stream. So you're also going to have all the benefits of getting to play pinball and have me talking crap about you on the Internet. Nice. Along with Rick Demmel of Elk Grove Pinball, who, you know, will be playing, but he's also bringing this streaming rig that, you know, is awesome and looks like it could launch a space shuttle. It's very professional, and it is equivalent to what IE Pinball has and other things. It's a really nice setup, clear images, great sound and audio, and great commentary. Great commentary.
    24:28
    Well, commentary-wise, I'm not going to speak to the quality of that because I'm involved. but uh but the equipment and the presentation is is top-notch and rick's actually done even more upgrades to the to the rig end of the setup this year so he's can't wait to see what he did he's got some treats yeah i'm i'm looking forward to getting in there on friday and just sort of seeing how it works because the problem is i basically do this with him once a year so it's not like i remember how everything worked last year hopefully i retained something And he has that thing where you draw on the screen. Does he have an instant replay now? We got everything, man. We got everything.
    25:11
    Cool. The more that we put on there, the worse I am about using it. But yeah, being able to do the clips, being able to do the instant replay. So yeah, we're going to be streaming both days of qualifying and the tournaments and the finals. So that'll be super, super excited. You can go to Elk Grove Pinball on Twitch TV to check it out. And, you know, I think that for folks who are into competitive pinball, like our tournament last year was unbelievable. Like there's a collection of clips on YouTube we should find a link for and put it on the Facebook page. I'll do that after the show so that you can like check it out. And just like the game selection, the quality of the players and the way that the event is being run is is second to none. So and I think that the and I think that the commentary, you know, is is or the streaming presentation and commentary is definitely, definitely pretty good. And having 64 players means they're probably going to have a lot more games to play, which I'm excited about. actually no there's less games so that you guys have to wait in longer lines no no no i'm sure there's more i haven't seen the game list for the tournaments yet but i know some of the stuff that's in there and it's pretty pretty good cool looking forward to it but unfortunately you've signed up already you got to jump on the wait list yes and who knows how long the wait list is now for people who didn't make it towards the end when it was all sold out but That's incredible that they sold out 128. Was there any information about how long it took to sell out?
    26:56
    Minutes. Minutes, yeah. I think it sold out about as fast as the RV slot. That's Camp Silver Ball. Yeah, Camp Silver Ball was gone. Camp Silver Ball was gone before we clicked go. Yeah, two minutes. Oh, my gosh. Well, the good news is Jason got in, so I will be staying on Camp Silver Ball. again, which is nice. That means he'll be having a lot of room to bring games. I don't think he's going to bring as many as he did last time, but it definitely will be a good number of games that nobody else sees. We'll see. We'll see how it goes as far as what he's bringing. Yeah, I checked the game list. He's bringing some really cool, really rare, unique stuff. Good. And I hope more people have games on the campground, too. That's just the stuff for the show, right? Yeah. Right. That he signed up on the list. Is he going to have other games that are going to be out at the campsite? I hope so. I'm going to try to talk him into it. So that's the crazy thing is, you know, this is, you know, we're talking about the official show at this point, but there's almost an unofficial show that happens out at the campsite. That's right. It's the after party. Yeah. Or even the during party or the before party. Or the during party. Yeah. Insanity. Yeah. That's what makes the show so unique is the campground. The campground. The campground right next to the main show. It's a show within a show.
    28:19
    Yes. It's a little loud inside or a little hot. You walk outside, you take a stroll around, and you're going to see people drinking, having a good time. Nobody's too rowdy. Nobody's lighting stuff on fire. But what we've started to see is that people are bringing games, and they're setting up games at the campsite, and they're doing special events. They're doing competitions.
    28:46
    There was like a campsite pin golf, right? There was a campsite pin golf that was from GeneX. He had that set up where you could just go to different machines. And it was pretty amazing to see the trust involved, having somewhere like brand new machines just sitting out in the open in the campground and just having it on, ready to walk up to and play pin golf. It's so cool. It's just a great opportunity. And a lot of times people from Lynn's Arcade, they bring a few machines. I know they brought like Barb Wire, which I've never played until that time. The last Gottlieb. Yeah, the last Gottlieb. Yep. Yeah. So that was cool to see that. And they had a Lost in Space and they had one other. I think they had Godzilla, if I'm not mistaken. Right. We got all those maniacs from Redding. Sega version. Right. Sega. Is that right? Was it Sega? Two. Okay. Godzilla. The Godzilla. Sega.
    29:47
    What's funny is they only made like 550 of those. We have like two or three people in the Northern California area that own that game. And they bring it to the show. So we've had two of them at a time at past shows, which is neat. Because I think it's a fun game and you don't get an opportunity to see it too often. Right. And Dan, you were mentioning before that the women's tournament, kind of going back to the tournament real quick, The women's tournament has still slots available for people who want to sign up. Is that correct? Yes. Women's tournament registration is still open. Okay. That's really cool that they have a separate women's tournament this year. So that's really awesome. I think they had it last year too, right? They had a match play, if I'm not mistaken. I think we've done the women's tournament every year. Didn't Rusty take fourth in it one year? Yeah, that's right. She did in 2019. In 2019 when it was in the other room. It was in the – I forgot which hall. That's the year it rained so bad. The rain year, yeah. The storm. Yeah, she took fourth. Yeah, she's still sitting outside in the game room in the spa shelter.
    30:54
    Cool. Because all our pinball trophies. There you go. They're sitting on there. So, yeah, no, there's a lot of good stuff going on in the tournament. If you're not into the tournament play, that's okay, too. If you are, it's awesome. because on Friday there's also the Flippin' Friday kickoff dinner, which is always – Can I interrupt one more thing about Cancel Overball before we move on to Flippin' Friday? Yeah. And if you're really looking for, like, the brutal, cutthroat, killer competition,
    31:26
    Tiltalica will be back at the campground this year. Yes. I was waiting for you to say that. Thank you. No, I really was. I was waiting. because I didn't want to say anything so for the people who haven't done this yet we take two Metallicas we link them together so that one game can tilt the other and then we basically play four player team death matches it's so fun it sounds terrible and stupid it is legitimately the most fun I think that I have at the show every year. Like there's just something about knocking somebody out and hearing that because it's when you hit the target behind the fuel lane and it goes, and the person gets knocked down. Everybody groans and everybody cheers and you get to be a hero or you get to be the goat. I mean, it's absolutely fantastic.
    32:23
    So we're happy to bring that to you at least one more time. Right. And there may be some other surprises available like a Midnight Madness tournament and other things on the campground. So we just have to keep your eyes peeled on that if you want to go after hours after the show is over and check it out. I don't want to speak to what any of these other bad men are planning because, yeah, there's going to be some great stuff. There'll be some surprises. Let's just put it that way. But, no, I'm glad you brought that up, Dan. I was waiting. I didn't want to say nothing because I didn't want to steal your thunder, but I'm so glad you brought that up. A lot of folks have come to either Shannon or myself and said, hey, I hear you guys aren't doing it this year. and the truth is I think that you know from what I've heard from Shannon because all I basically do is make a machine available you know and bring it to the show but from what I've heard from Shannon he has plans that are going to make this the biggest baddest Tiltallica ever okay so knock on wood I am going to bring a powered subwoofer to plug into at least one of the Metallicas though so it'll be even nastier than usual so that so tiltalica may be set up as early as thursday night maybe as far as i know tiltalica yeah might might be out at the campground always but i don't know if it's going to be always up and running because right it's not a nightly thing previously we've moved it in and out of the show right it's that's nice it'll be a permanent fixture because then you won't have to worry about the issues of transporting it back and forth or players that come up to it and go, what happened? Why did I tilt my ball? I didn't even shake the machine. I think it'll depend more on if we can figure out like how to have a quasi, a quasi semi permanent-ish shelter. But that's what I heard we're getting. So cool. No pressure, but it'll be there for sure. Nice. Well, at least it'll be there as far as I know. Unless something janky happens to one or the other parties. But, yes, Tiltallica.
    34:33
    Everybody loves it. We won't stop doing it until people stop loving it. I don't think people ever stop loving it because it's just a good time. It's a lot of fun.
    34:42
    So, I mean, we've got everything cranked up from, you know, Thursday when we start loading in Thursday night, if you're lucky enough to get a spot at Camp Silver Ball. So, for anybody coming, you know, come over to the Camp Silver Ball area in the mornings. Early morning, you have coffee with me and Rusty because we just have coffee out. We have coffee. We talk before the show and hang out.
    35:11
    So Friday night, we have the dinner, the Flippin' Friday Kickoff Dinner. Flippin' Friday Kickoff. And that dinner is put on by the local Girl Scout troop, and they do all the cooking and serving. And it's led by one of the Girl Scout, I guess. Are they called Den Mothers?
    35:31
    I don't know. This is join the NCPA for our annual Flippin' Friday kickoff dinner on-site at the lovely Great Festival and Harvest Fairgrounds. Mingle with VIPs, friends, and special guests as we honor this year's recipient of the Spirit of Steve Charland Award. Reservations include an on-site catered California fresh dinner, complete with dessert, beer and wine are included. So don't get all sloppy, but you can drink it. Yes. It's cool because we do a little reception like before. We just talk and have drinks and they have hors d'oeuvres. And the hors d'oeuvres are off the chain. They're fantastic. They're really good. And typically one of the cool things is any of the special guests that we're having at the show are going to be there. So like last year I got to rap with Mike Vinicore from Stern for a while, and he gave me a coin.
    36:27
    So, you know, walk up to people, say hi. You never know what's going to happen. And then once they bring you in and they sit you down, the food is awesome.
    36:41
    Yes, agree. And it's family style, so it's plenty of food. Yes. It looks like it says a green salad with balsamic vinaigrette or basil ranch salad dressing, grilled mother load style tri-tip from the world famous Swingle Meat Company, rice pilaf, penne primavera with garlic cream sauce and farmer's market fresh vegetables and fresh Italian milk rolls. Yum. Dude, it is the best meal that you're going to have at the show, I'll tell you that. Yep. I'm sitting here, I'm holding my Stern Insider coin. that I got from my question. Yeah, I've got one of those too, and I don't know what I did with it. It's laying around here somewhere. So remember Mark, go pester if Mark's there, or anybody from Stern, go pester him for a challenge coin this year. Well, just talk to him. Don't pester him for anything.
    37:33
    Remember, these guys are our VIPs. And so there's still not the registration up for the Friday kickoff dinner. What's it usually like? $60? bucks? Something like that. Yeah, it should be getting up any day now. So by the time we get the show on the air, it should be up and running. And tickets usually sell pretty quick. It's not working yet. Yeah.
    37:58
    It's like, guys, get the show on the air. Yeah, I know, obviously I know who's getting the Steve Shonland Spirit Award this year.
    38:12
    We're not at liberty to announce here. So, no, no. Well, even if I was. It is a very well-loved and well-respected figure in our local pinball community. So, I mean, every year that I've called out since the first one to Cliffy and said, hey, man, you're getting this award, it's been great. It's been a real honor for me to be able to do that and a real privilege. and certainly not to take anything away from any of the other recipients because they're all super worthy and super deserving of the accolades. But this year, man, was just like, you know, when I called the recipient, they were like so humble about it. They're like, are you serious? I'm like, yeah, I'm serious. Like, wow, this is so cool. I'm like, dude, how cool do you think this is for me to be able to, you know, call you and tell you this? And so that was really You know so I'm real excited So I mean I'm always excited But you know what I mean it's just Because this it's When you come to the show And you find out who it is you're going to be like Oh yes So yeah So it's going to be yeah and the dinner's always Top notch and it's Andrea Songy never want to give her a shout out Because she's been doing the dinner since We started doing this and she lays out a spread, man. You will not be disappointed. You will not go away hungry.
    39:43
    It's no joke. Yeah, man. The beer and the wine are top notch. And that's what I was going to say. And the beer last year,
    39:53
    when my mistake was from Das Flipperhaus, right? I think so. I think you're right. I don't know who it is this year, but last year it was a really good beer.
    40:04
    I was very fond of the blonde ale. I remember the first year they served it when we were waiting out in the sun, though, and I got hammered. Yeah, I remember you were tired. That was great.
    40:16
    I was like, oh, wow, this is – it hit me like a tank. That must have been like 9%. That was good fun. So every year is good fun. And I didn't fall over and I didn't spill anything. No, you were a perfectly well-behaved gentleman. But it was funny because you were pretty buzzed. I was as wrecked as I ever get.
    40:40
    That's the most wrecked I've ever seen. You were still a perfect gentleman. You were completely fun. Deep inside, I am a good person. I'm a much better person when I'm drunk than I am when I'm sober. Yeah, you were great. But as I tell, oh, Dan's got a buzz. Exactly. And then what's going on Saturday morning? Oh, man, there's so much cool stuff going on. So, okay. So Saturday morning before the show even opens up, if you bring a game or more, just like bring one game, there's a VIP breakfast. It's like, you know, donuts, croissants, probably some fresh fruit, orange juice, coffee, that kind of coffee. Yeah. But you know what? It's a chance to mingle, get in and play games early and get a little bit of something in your belly and see friends. And then there's the swap meet. This is one of the coolest things. You find good stuff. Especially at this show. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. So it starts again. We got a big covered area, and people bring some cool stuff. Yeah, so if you're worried about keeping stuff in and out of the sun or the elements, it's like a big – well, it's like an opener. It's a roof, but it's like open air. It's like a hangar. Like a hangar. It's covered. Yeah, like a hangar. Yeah, it kind of is. So it is right outside of the doors in the main show room. So you real close by And it doesn cost any money to bring stuff to sell there does it No once you you have to pay to be in the show Okay. You know, at least for Saturday. But once you're there, you can bring your own table. It's got to be game room stuff. You know, you can't just bring any old junk. But, you know, video games, pinball stuff, obviously.
    42:23
    And space is first come, first serve. So if you want to sell, I would say, you know, be there somewhat before 10 a.m. Is it starting at 9 or 10? And bring a table. Begins at 10. I don't know what time they let you set up. Yeah, why did I think it was 9? I don't know. Maybe that's when they let you set up. Is that it? Okay. I actually did sell there one year, and I think it's really cool because it's a swap meet, man. So you're wheeling and dealing. You're buying. You're selling. You're trading. you know I sold some things and ended up buying probably just as much as I sold you never know when you're going to find that one off plastic that weird mechanism something that you never thought that you'd find one year I bought a complete brand new set of lawn darts yeah nature's most lethal toy for weeding out the stupid kids and I have a set and one of these days I'm going to play with it. People look at lawn darts and go, God, clacker dust seems so dangerous now.
    43:29
    And I have two sets of those. Lawn darts are from an era where if you did something stupid, you paid for it and you learned a lesson. Or you died.
    43:38
    Oh, come on. If a lawn dart killed you, God didn't want you to live. Man, that's rough, but true. It really is true. I mean, that's just all it is, man, thinning out the herd, you know? That's right, exactly. If you got killed by a lawn dart, you weren't supposed to be here. We didn't need your DNA in the gene pool. There you go.
    44:02
    God, we're terrible humans. For what it's worth, if you know anybody who got killed by a lawn dart, I am really sorry. Yeah, same here.
    44:11
    Statistically, the odds of that actually happening are like getting hit by lightning. Yeah, and somebody actually did. I'm really sorry. No, they did. It sounds like they should bring long darts to a silver ball. No, no, no. We should not do that because at that point there's accountability.
    44:30
    If we kill ourselves playing with long darts, that's on us. If somebody kills somebody else playing with our long darts, that's also on us. Right. So, yeah. We're not bringing any long darts to Camp Silver Ball. But you got those new in the box and everything, right? No, it's a brand new set. They're still in the box. That's what I'm saying. Like, yeah, no, that's a rare.
    44:52
    They've been sitting in a shed in my backyard for like 10 years. So they're probably all like they definitely don't look new, but they're still new. They're still new. Yeah, that's cool. It's the yellow hoop, right, that you connect. And then it has the yellow and the red. Is it the yellow and red? I don't know, man. Big plastic fins and spikes. Yeah. Yellow and red or blue and red or green and red or something like that. Anyways, you never know what you're going to find at the swap meet. And it might kill you if you're not careful. There you go. I got the swap meet. People are going to come just for the wrist. Like, yeah, I heard you could die out here.
    45:30
    It's like, this is pretty cool. I don't know, man. I was looking at the internet, and these dudes said that they bought lawn darts. It's freaking lethal. You never know what you're going to find at the pinball show. No, but I mean, I've seen, like, cool gumball machines, you know, come out of those. I've seen people buy entire, you know, project pinball machines. Yeah. I've seen, you know, I've sold stuff out up there. I mean, I really should. Marquees for video games. Yeah. Back glasses. Video game parts, back glasses, you know, all kinds of new and used parts. I mean, just people bring out the cool swag.
    46:06
    And, you know, it's a great chance to get in on some of these things that, you know, you're not going to see anywhere. Or if you do see them in other places, they're always crazy expensive. So you could probably go out here. And this is the perfect time to throw out an offer, man. It's a swap meet. I almost bought a parking meter last year. It worked and everything, right? Because I've always wanted one for my downstairs bathroom. You don't know what that would be. Buy a parking meter. I know. But it was like, it weighed like 40 pounds. And it's like, I don't, you know, we rented a minivan. So, and then this year I'm bringing a truck. So more room. You know what I've always wanted that's kind of in that same sort of vein is a drive-in speaker. You know, it's funny you mention that. I've been thinking. There was a drive-in that was the old Marysville drive-in before we moved. And before they closed up, they had switched over to the FM frequency. And they were selling the speakers at $15 a piece. And I thought about buying a couple. And then I didn't do it. If you want a decent pair, they're $150, $200 like on eBay. and I've been thinking about buying a couple of pairs. I think there were like 50 years where a pair of wire cladders, we could have stolen for free. I know. Or just forget, drive off with it, you know.
    47:23
    Exactly. Either you're getting a speaker or a new door. What a deal. Yeah, a new windshield window, one of the three. You know, depending on how high your window is up. Wham, crack. No, I used to see people do that all the time. and they get hammered or just forget. Wham!
    47:41
    They got lucky. It wasn't on their mind anymore. Yeah, people are taking those and refurbishing them really nice and then putting Bluetooth speakers in them. It's really cool. No, that's what I would think. I think that would be just awesome. Yeah, same here. No, I'd love to do that. It would be great to do that in your game room, like next to a chair or a couch, sitting next to your creature. That would be perfect. Yeah, like how cool would that be? Oh, yeah. Really cool. It's true. Really, really cool. That would be a cool topper. Yeah. Way heavy, though. Like, you need something to either secure to the wall behind the machine or, like, you can top it with screws or bolts on the top of the machine. Yeah, because if that thing falls down and hits the glass, it's over. Yeah, it's over. Yeah, because they made those things to last. It's like the people who put gumball machines on top of their Twilight Zones. It's like, that's a cute idea, but I hope they're not just trusting gravity.
    48:32
    Yeah, there's... So, yeah, the swap meet always ends up being, if you go, because then people will, like, forget. Oh, God, I'm sorry. I missed it. Like, oh, man, you bought that? Damn, I wanted one of those. You know, kind of thing. Exactly. Ever. Definitely, definitely have your coffee in the morning, have a donut or a croissant or whatever, and head on over to the swap meet. Because you never know what you're going to see over there. Yeah, bring cash. Bring cash. People bring some really cool stuff. And you can. You can get, like, on old project games, you can get some good deals there. So I've seen some people walk away with some really nice older games at really good prices. And, of course, we have the tournament going on Saturday still. We have the kids' tournament. It's like a separate kids' tournament each day. There's also the silent auction is Saturday. So people will donate items, and we still need items for that. So if you have something crazy you want to donate, and it doesn't necessarily have to be pinball-related, but it's nice if it is. and then we have the Saturday pinball raffle. So for like a $5 ticket, you can win a pinball machine. And they're always nice. Always nice. Really good condition machines and good titles. Yeah. Really good titles. Last year was a Star Trek. I haven't on Good Party that this year you can win Deadpool. That's what I've been hearing. Deadpool? Really? Yeah. I don't have that for 100% fact. Dan, I believe, does, but I've been hearing that too. That's awesome. What was it last year? Was it Star Wars? It was Star Wars Pro, right? And a Firepower 2. Right. Both good games. I played both those, and the Firepower 2 was nice and it played good. The Star Wars Pro played really good. I was actually bummed I wanted to win it because I was actually having really good games on it. I was like, you know, it's like because I'd only played the pro one other time. And that was when I was in Idaho back in 2019. There was a bar we went to. They have like seven games and they had a Star Wars pro. And and I had not seen or played the pro. And I mean, since then, they've had them at the show. But I'm playing other new stuff, you know. And so that's the first time I'd ever or the second time I'd ever played Star Wars pro. I believe the other game that's going to be there probably in that same area is Alvin G's soccer is coming yeah I saw that yep the head to head like to play or to win to play oh I thought you were saying someone's wrapping up an Alvin G's soccer I'm like dude don't get me wrong winning a dead would be amazing but winning one of those Alvin G's soccers that would be insanity it will be there to play and I know also there's going to be some homebrew machines isn't that what i heard yeah yeah there's been more homebrew machines last time i love that that was so cool to play those games when i think that's a crazy thing with these yeah like what happened in texas right like in a lot of ways i think that the homebrews are kind of taking over the world yeah because you're never going to make everybody in the world happy like with these themes that you can do professionally but like homebrews man you never know what's going to show up and we've had you know we had uh kill bill oh my gosh was that a couple years ago when they did when they did kill bill kill bill was incredible what was the one that we had that we had we had the crazy pin that like the crazy swappable pin last year that could be any pinball machine oh yeah and the guy who built his own joust built his own joust and And then there was also one with, oh, shoot, what was it? It was Atari game, and he had new code on it. Yeah.
    52:19
    Oh, God. Not Lost World. Yeah. I'll have to look it up. But, yeah, it was one of those that was not the best game for rules at the time, obviously, with the way it was in its original condition. But it was really neat to have that code on the little screen on the left side. Middle Earth, that was it. Thank you. Middle Earth. You got it. Good job, Dan. Middle Earth.
    52:45
    I'm good at this. Yes, you are. There was like a beer theme. I know things about pinball. There's a beer theme and a cannabis theme. Those are supposed to be back. And a cannabis theme. Yeah, I was supposed to be back. I played the beer one, but not the cannabis one. October Fest. What was it? There was a movie, right? There was a movie where they did. It was like Beer Fest? Beer Fest. Yeah, Beer Fest. And then at the end they did a trailer for Weed Fest, I think. Yep.
    53:13
    That's actually a pretty funny movie. Was that by the guys who did Orgasmo? Trey and Matt? I don't know. I don't remember. Or no, it was by the Broken Lizard guys.
    53:30
    Oh, okay. Good flick. Something that somebody should make a homebrew pinball machine out of because at least six people would be like, this is the best thing to ever happen.
    53:39
    Will would never leave. No doubt. It's probably not going to come to our show, but I wish it would because I watched some video footage. Dan and I were talking about it. Are we transitioning out of schedule and into games? No. Why don't we finish the schedule? Okay. Yes. Finish the schedule. So, yeah, Sunday they have Machine Raffle 1, which is Friday at 530. No, no, Saturday. Saturday at 530. I'm sorry. Then Machine Raffle 2, which is Sunday at 430. Right. And you have to be present to win. I don't think you have to be present to win, but you have to have the game out of there by, what does it say on the thing, like Monday at noon or something? Yeah. Oh, okay. For the pinballs, you do have to be present to win. You got to present your ticket. Yeah. And there's also the other raffles where you buy a dollar ticket and you put it in the bucket to raffle. You put it in the bucket. Yeah, for artwork and stuff like that. So the pinball raffle tickets the past year have been $5. I think they still are. I think they had like five tickets for $20 or something. Okay. Right.
    54:46
    And, yeah, it's a madhouse when they're giving away those machines, man. You want to be there just to feel that energy. Even if you don't win, just to feel the collective yay and ah. It's crazy. Yeah. Well, I think what's really cool is 20, was it 2019?
    55:06
    It was 2019. It was the year that Jim and Roxy won the – They won my Demo Man. Your Demo Man. The one that I sold to Mike and Mike donated to the show. Yeah, and then who won the – there was a Fishtails. Who won that? It was Josh, right? His name was Josh. Josh, thank you. Yeah, Josh. He moved away, and then that got sold, and that belongs to a couple of the people who play in Folsom now. Nice. Or no, I don't think they play in Folsom. I think they moved. Oh, okay. I think they moved away, I think. I don't know. I'm not really sure who ended up there. It was one of the couples who plays in Folsom, either owns it or used to own it. That was a nice Fishtails, too, man. I wish I'd bought it. That was a nice Fishtails. I want another Fishtails so bad. I think that game is awesome. So speaking of games.
    55:57
    Speaking of games. What are we hoping to see? sounds like we already talked about some homebrews already talked about beer fest I want to play Pulp Fiction me too I can guarantee you that that's happening good I haven't played Queen yet and I see it's on the list to show up to the show so I'm happy about that so is Barry Osler's Barbecue test. Yep, that will be there. Also, GTF will be there.
    56:34
    And possibly, maybe, I don't know. We'll have to see what happens with Pinball Brothers, but maybe we'll have another title coming. Let's see which one it is, though. Ooh! Cool. Yeah.
    56:48
    And I'm looking forward to playing Elton John again. Yeah, same. I'm looking forward to playing it. Because I want to see the reaction on people's faces when they play it, because it is an experience. So pinball traders, are they the guys who brought the galactic tank forces last year? That's correct. Okay, yeah, those guys were cool. I ended up owning one of those galactic tank forces. That's right. I didn't buy it from them, but I got it from the guy who bought it from them. And yeah, super, super nice game. Yeah.
    57:23
    Yeah, that's cool. A few aliens. Good. got a Looney Tunes somebody bringing a Looney Tunes somebody special I don't know if we should name his name he's a little persnickety about things but anybody who knows the show knows who we're talking about alright he's like a cactus he's about a TCM he's prickly on the outside but sweet on the inside he's prickly on the okay he was about a TCM I'm bringing a homebrew called Escape from Hell.
    58:01
    Really? Okay. Cool. And what about a Texas Chainsaw? Is that one coming too? I haven't seen it yet, but it's still early. I haven't seen a TCM on the list, but no. TCM? Okay. I know I told this story last year about the person we're talking about. He was one of the recipients of the Steve Charnow Spirit Award. And he's like, why didn't you – because I just talked to him like a week before the show and – or before I called him. And he goes, why didn't you tell me? Because he got real emotional.
    58:39
    And I guess, why didn't you say something beforehand? And I'm like, because you wouldn't have come. Because I know him, right? It would have been like – Surprise. You know, surprise. By the way, because I told him, I said, hey, I need you at the show because the two other people who are getting the award, I'll say the two other people. Reasons and things and stuff. Yeah, yeah, reasons. Okay, so the two, because there was three guys that all got the award last year and that had been instrumental. There wouldn't be a Golden State Pinball Festival. You can name names if you want. I just don't want them to be mad at me. I don't like it. Okay, so it's Brad. Let's keep it a mystery. So it's Brad Graham. Brad Grant is bringing Looney Tunes. I'll say it. So the grumpy old man who's really sweet. So I go, hey, I need you to be at the dinner. Why do you need me at dinner? I said, because we're giving Steve Faith the Spirit Award.
    59:39
    And so then I told Greg, I said, hey, we're giving you and Steve and Brad the award. So I told everybody everybody was getting the award except Brad. I didn't tell him he was getting the award until he got there that night.
    59:53
    And I said, oh, by the way, you know. You schemer. Yeah, yeah. I said, you know, we're giving the award to Steve. We're also giving it to Greg. And he goes, oh, that's great because they're, you know, part of the, you know, instrumental in keeping the show alive, keeping Pinnagogo alive and starting Golden State Pinball Festival. And you get that look on his face. I'm like, and you're getting the award as well, the three of you. and he's like why don't you guys you know we talked last week about this why don't you say something then i'm like because you wouldn't have come because i already had him in the building you know and uh i said here have have a cold drink so um yeah because by like by that time he's stuck he can't leave you know because i knew otherwise he wouldn't have come because that's just that's brad he's a very humble man and uh doesn't like any of the attention been poised on him. But long and short of it is he's, it's really funny because as soon as I saw the Looney Tunes listed, oh, he texted me and said, hey, so many days till the show. Cool, blah, blah, blah. And I'm like, yeah, I see you're bringing a Looney Tunes. He's like, oh, is that me?
    60:57
    Because the same, actually, I think it was the year before, he says, he pulls me aside like Thursday night or Friday morning and says, I'm selling four games. Don't let me buy any games. I've got to just – I'm trying to cut the – I've bought four games, but I bought six. He did. He ended up buying – no, he ended up – he sold – I think he sold either three or four, and he bought three. And I'm like, I thought you weren't going to buy any more games. He's like, well, you weren't here to stop me.
    61:25
    He bought – I don't know what he bought, but it was cool. Because we joke about that all the time, so it's always good fun. But, yeah, so, yeah, so there's going to be a Looney Tunes there. Awesome. I know a lot of people are bringing games and they just haven't listed them yet. And it's like, okay, there's still time, people.
    61:44
    And speaking of games... Yeah, even the look of what's over here is already bangers. Oh, yeah. And speaking of games, since we're talking about that right now, this show is very unique because it's got one of the best collection of EMs and solid states in a dedicated room. So you got the early solid states and the EM room, which we called it. And that's where also where the raffle takes place and where the home brews are. If they're doing that same format like they did last year. They probably will. And I don't know. Oh, man, those are some great games to play. I regret not being spending more time in that room. I want to make sure I play a lot of EMs. And like that firepower that I heard is just was unbelievably perfection. Have to play those things. So, yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean, one of the craziest things about just the arcade scene in California in general is just like we have some absolutely insane collectors who have some of the some of the weirdest stuff and they bring it out. you know, they're going to bring things out that, you know, yeah, you can go anywhere and see and see you know Godzilla Don get me wrong Godzilla is a great game and I sure you love to play it But like you know there are very very few places that you can come out and see some of the some of the wood rails and the EMS and and the homebrews and just some of the weird stuff that like makes it to our show. Right. Yeah. Well, like you mentioned earlier with Mark, you had mentioned the Alvin G soccer. You don't see a lot of those, you know. LNG soccer, good luck finding that anywhere. It's a great game. Yeah. No, it's the local community, like Dan said, really comes together and really brings some really fun and unique stuff. Not necessarily always rare, but, well, rare in the fact, like you said, the firepower, that was the one right next to the flash, right? Correct. Yeah, those were gray wolves, both of those. Right. And hopefully he'll bring those again this year. Yeah, those are really, I mean, looking at it, it was pretty stunning. But I didn't get to play it. Yeah, ground up for the restorations on both of those. My only disappointment has been that ever since I dealt it off, Spanish Eyes hasn't made the trip. Yeah, it hasn't, has it? Yeah, no Spanish Eyes, you're right. We need to yell at Steve.
    64:27
    Make him bring it so somebody will fix it. Nick and Barry says something about getting it running proper and then throw it in the tournament.
    64:34
    Yeah, oh gosh, that game. That's a one-player tournament. Do you remember about four years ago it was in a women's tournament in the finals? I forget. I think it was like Pinnberg or something. It was one of the big tournaments. Or maybe It Never Drains. I don't know.
    64:50
    Dude, that's one of the most awesome games. It is. like if if the guy who the guy who it went to really wanted it and he took really good care of me so i didn't see any reason to keep him away from it plus he was the only one who ever kept it running but like it i hated to get rid of it because when it did run like it was insanely fun you and i had a lot of fun games on that in your garage yeah when it worked when it worked no i I remember a lot of summer afternoons, man, or summer evenings. Garage door open, you and me just sitting there playing Spanish Eyes. I'll tell you, that really helps you with your nudging skills. It does. That's a new. Get it in that pop and try to pop it out of there and go into your flippers. Yeah. There's no game with a crazier setup for the flippers. Right. And ironically, Q is like that, too. It has a bumper right in the middle. Yep. It's got that weirdness. But it's not just the bumper. It's the bumper and the combination of those rubbers. Exactly. You can completely dump that ball and it'll come around and you can, you can get it back. Right. Yeah. Just by nudging.
    66:01
    Yup. But yeah, we're going to have, we're going to have tons of games. Let's see some more signups. And you know, if, if you really want to, you know, to have people see your game, play your game, appreciate your game. Like everyone's very respectful.
    66:18
    Of the games, you know, we have a nice, safe, you know, climate-controlled environment. So it's a wonderful place to bring your game. You don't have to worry too, too much about it. It'll get some plays on it, you know.
    66:31
    If you want to see if your repairs are going to hold up, you know, it's going to get 500 plays, 600 plays in three days. Right. You know, it's always exciting to take a game and watch someone jamming out on it. Is Pinball Pirate bringing any Elton Johns possibly? Because I know he brings Jersey Jack games, right? Yeah, he hasn't listed what he's bringing yet, but I'm sure he will. Okay, I bet he will bring an Elton John. Yeah, he just hasn't put it up on the board yet.
    67:00
    I'm sure in the next couple of days he'll list what he's bringing. He's going to bring a lot of games, you know that.
    67:06
    Oh, yeah. Last time he brought a lot of Bonds, and he brought the new Venom when it came out. Yeah. I don't think we're going to have any new stern, though, by then, unless there's an announcement in the next couple of days. Didn't Jaws literally just come out?
    67:26
    It's been like two, two and a half months. Three months. Yeah, two and a half months. Something like that, yeah. I don't know, man. That's crazy. I don't think so. It's too soon, yeah. I'm sure we'll see some Jawses. Oh, definitely. Yeah. A new one. There'll be plenty of Jawses, yeah, for sure. But yeah, if we see some of the new spookies, that'd be really, really cool. Like I said, it'd be great to see Texas Chainsaw and or Looney Tunes. And the fact that we're going to have a Berrios barbecue is pretty cool. I can't wait to give that game a look. I mean, I know everybody loves to piss on them these days, but I'm a big fan of American Pinball.
    68:07
    You know? You are. Yeah? So I want to see their new game. I'll give them credit I'm also a sucker for stupid themes so yeah it might shoot really well people were complaining about how it shot but remember that's in a show environment that maybe is sucking the power out of there but Golden State you don't have that it seems like it's a very simple layout yeah a lot of people these days are going for simple layouts you know and the bash what is it called Hey, Spencer, maybe we'll get lucky and Turner Pinball will come and they'll bring Ninja Eclipse. Oh, yeah. Ninja Eclipse. Yeah, yeah. Goody. Yeah, gee, I hope so. I'll contact him and make sure he brings it. Yeah, make sure he brings it. Say, Spencer Kling and Mr. Gone extends to you a personal invitation.
    69:02
    You know, you know. Bring the most exciting new game, Ninja Eclipse. I will go find, I will go to Marco. I will find one of their little kitty step stools. so I can get high enough up so they can piss on the back glass.
    69:17
    Yeah, you're going to need about 16 of those little kiddie steps, Shorty. There you go. You know, in all sincerity, I'll give it a play. I'll give it a try. I'm not buying one, but I wasn't going to buy one anyway. Just angle up and pinch it. If I was going to buy one, yeah.
    69:34
    There you go. Good one. If I was going to buy something On the podcast that you should edit out Mark That's it No we're going to cut it No you know what If one showed up I'd give it a play or two And I'd give it an honest critique You know what I was at some folks House that had been that were at Texas And they said It has come a long way Yeah Well you know And everybody's like he listens He listens to feedback What he listens to is nobody bought his game. That's what he listens to. Yeah, but that's still listening to feedback. And it is. And it is listening to feedback. But the reality is, is like, hey, we've got this game. It's like, we're not going to give you money for that piece of shit. He probably heard your rant and said, shh, Mr. Goss. I got to do it. It looked like the old Bally home games of the 70s, you know. And I was like, we're not going to give you money for this. Fix it. fix it and we'll talk. And he did. And people are like, Hey, they're making improvements. I will get, if I get a chance to play one, I will obviously give it a play and give it a fair and honest critique. But, um, at least I know now he's not ever going to be making, uh, any of the other stupid titles like, was it box lunch or, you know, whatever.
    70:59
    I don't know. There might be a, he sold them all off. Yeah, I know. Well, you know, good for him. Cause I, you know, Apparently he wised up and let somebody else be stupid and take the heat for having a bad idea. Like it's not really the topic of this show, but we can talk about it after. We'll talk about it after. How about Punny Factory? I want to play that. You know, I've heard that's not terrible either. Bring Punny Factory. Anybody have it?
    71:24
    There's no one on the list. We've been counting on you to buy one, Mark. Oh, there you go. Yeah. So you know what else? It would be perfect. I'd put it in my classroom. You know what else is bad about puns? What did you say?
    71:37
    Yeah, there you go. You know what else is happening Saturday? Saturday and Sunday. And they don't have the actual – I mean, they don't have the class schedule up yet, but Pinball University, so you can matriculate. And what's Pinball University? What is that all about? Seminars, right? It's seminars. Seminars and – yeah, classes. A few years ago, our own Greg Ong did one on redoing cabinets. So guys will do stuff on board repair and cabinets. They'll do stuff on basic maintenance. I mean, they'll do all kinds of different seminars and classes. And this year it's going to be put on because it was on hiatus the last couple years, the first two before the pandemic.
    72:23
    I went to the Spooky Seminar. That was really cool. That was right around the time they were releasing Alice Cooper's Nightmare Castle. and I got some cool swag. I got a couple of keychains. That's right. I still have those. It's really cool. Anyway, this year is sponsored by and put on by Marco Specialties. So Marco will be returning this year to the show. They were absent last year. They were missed. So Marco is going to be back this year and they're going to be heading up. And I think Emoto is going to be doing some of the stuff. Cool. That will be good. Those are good sessions. And I think they didn't, they record it last time. I think they did all the sessions. So you could see them later if you couldn't make it to the live show. Yeah. Sorry. The live presentation. I'm sorry. If you're going to moto his last name, Harvey, Harvey, Harvey, something like that. Yeah. Moto Harvey. Yeah. Something like that. I didn't want to get, I didn't want to get it.
    73:21
    Yeah. So Saturday and Sunday, I believe it was pinball university. Is it only Saturday? No, Saturday or Sundays. They got classes for it. Yeah. They haven't announced what the actual sessions are. Right, right. Probably closer to the show time. Yeah, probably another week or two this should be up.
    73:41
    And I know this isn't on my show notes list, but I want to bring it up. Oh, here we go. See? Here's where we go off the rails. I was trying to keep us on the rails, kids. I tried so hard. Okay.
    73:58
    He fell because you're talking to me, man. You know this. I failed miserably. No, I mean, I was the one going off the rails earlier. I started trying to talk about freaking. We always do that a little bit, though. That's part of our turn. Turner pinball. Yeah. You guys just do that because you know it gets under my skin. And actually, you know what? It's like, again, if he's doing right by folks, I don't care. As long as he's doing right by folks. I talked to him, right? I'll just say it because I think you'll think it's appreciated. I was talking to him online. and we were talking about uh the thing that we talked about earlier with alice in wonderland and uh and raza and what was the other one magic girl right and i was like i you know he commented on and i said well we all assumed you had the rights and he said i did and i'm like oh yeah yeah it's like well okay he bought the rights in the in the fire sale but and dealt them off. Batteries involved. Well, yeah. But that's a lot of speculation that wouldn't be backed up by the statements. Right. So Pinball University is happening Saturday and Sunday. Look on the website at goldenstatepinball.org and keep yourself posted because the class schedule will be going. You can matriculate and get an education at OPU. for the late and all day to do that joke.
    75:25
    Spencer's like, that's the only reason we did this episode. Well, got to go. Got to go. I'm here all weekend. Got to go. Thank you for coming to tip your server on the way out. So that pretty much does it for Saturday. You know, there's pinball late until midnight. The show's open until midnight on Saturday, So you can play from like what, like 10 a.m. to midnight, right? You can literally play pinball until you won't be able to feel your arms or your feet. Yeah, we've done it. Bring comfortable shoes. Bring a change of comfortable shoes. So Sunday, Sunday, Sunday, Sunday, Sunday.
    76:04
    There's more pinball opens up at 10 and closes at five, right? Yeah. and there's the second pinball raffle so if you don't win a pinball machine on Saturday you have a second chance to win on Sunday and then that's when they do the other raffles too like with the little I was thinking Saturday no they do them Saturday and Sunday that's right so there's a Sunday raffle of like just other cool you know pinball and non pinball related things like people bring bottles of whiskey to auction off or raffle off and they bring different pinball related items and cool artwork and things like that. So there's that, there's the tournament finals. And is there anything else going on Sunday this special? No, usually Sunday, again, it's just, you know, you can last chance to win a pinball machine. There's going to be the tournament finals, which, you know, if, if, you know, it Should be very, very exciting. I don't know if there's a spectating area, but to be completely honest, it's just a great chance to get some last-minute pinball in and just play games until they kick us out. Yeah, yeah. It's like at 5 o'clock when they turn off all the games and the lights. You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here. And you can actually stay there if you volunteer to help with Takedown on Sunday. So if you have time, have a couple spare hours at the end of the show to volunteer and help break down games and help clean up the mess that we make. We're actually real good. We keep our cell area pretty clean.
    77:46
    Oh, and I would be remiss if I didn't mention one thing, and I actually didn't put it in the show notes, and I just remembered it. There is a snack bar area, right? That's happening again this year?
    77:58
    Oh, yeah. I would imagine. I would imagine so, too, where you can buy. And then isn't that usually run by World of Wonders and the volunteers there? I think so. All I know is that the sausage with the peppers and onions is bomb. Yeah, man. Those are good. You got to get one of those, at least one of those every show. Yeah. And knock it back with a cold pop or a cold beer. Oh, yeah. And they serve beer there, too. So, you know, unlike a lot of other shows. Well, not a lot of some other shows you can you can have a cold beer with your with your sausage or broad. Those things are bombing. They're legit. Definitely. You come to the show, support that and have yourself the the the bratwurst to the sausage sandwich. It's good stuff. And here here's the thing about this show. that's really awesome is that major proceeds from the entrance fee to the silent raffle all go towards a great charity for the local community. And that's what makes this show so powerful is having that charity function of a show and having that money. Yeah, because it's the World of Wonder, right? Yeah, World of Wonder. World of Wonder, Girl Scouts. Girl Scouts sometimes. The tournament also helps support. Proceeds, Benefits, World of Wonder, Science Museum.
    79:28
    That's awesome. And being a science teacher, hello. Yeah, it's completely not for profit. Nobody makes a penny. Nobody who's involved in the show is actually making any money. Like our vendors and stuff are obviously there to make money. So please support them. But yeah, the show itself is not for profit. anything that we make goes either gets donated or goes back into the show. So, or anything that the GSP, uh, GSP or NCPA, Northern California Pinball Association makes. Once again, we're not really associated, but because we're so involved with them, it's just us. It's like, no, it's not us. It's them. But yeah. So it's, it's a wonderful organization. Uh, it's, it's a wonderful show put on by a bunch of wonderful people. And, you know, to be completely honest, I said for us, this is pinball Christmas. Yeah. Yep. Could not have said it better. Yeah, could not have said it better. And a family reunion. Yeah. This is what we do it for, you know. This weekend, May, in a little town in Lodi, California, is the center of the pinball world. There's other pinball shows. I'm sure you got a local pinball show if you're not local to us here in Northern California. But for us, you know, this is the big one. And if you haven't come out and given it a look in the past and you have the ability to, if you're in the Northern California or adjacent area or you feel like doing a little traveling, do yourself a favor and come out and give it a look. It's different than any other show that you'll go to. Maybe they have some stuff that we don't. Maybe we have some stuff that they don't. That's what gives every show its flavor. but I think that our show is you know especially with the Camp Silver Ball and the after hours stuff and the general community the vibe I don't think that there's any show that touches this show that's right and when are those dates again yeah Friday May 17th Saturday May 18th and Sunday May 19th so it's a week after Mother's Day so always a weekend after Mother's Day If you can have a chance to come out to Golden State Pinball Festival, make sure you go. You don't want to miss out. Yep. Three-day weekend pass, $60. Two-day pass, $45 for Saturday and Sunday. One day Saturday, $30. Or one day for Friday or Sunday, $20. You will not be able to have more fun for that money. If you're 13 and under, we have discounted rates. And Active Military with ID gets in for half price. Plus, free parking. Uh-huh.
    82:09
    That's a huge deal, man, especially these days. Parking, people pay a crazy amount of money for parking at events.
    82:18
    So that's a huge deal. Yeah, hard-pressed to find more entertainment and fun for that price. Agree. And family-friendly entertainment. You can bring the whole family. You can bring from grandparents on to the little ones, and everybody can have a good time. So I think that's about all we got. I think we've covered everything, man. Yeah, I mean. Can't wait until it comes up, man. I'm just counting the days, counting the days. Of course, Spencer has a dedicated spot on Pinside counting those days down. I do. There's some good posts in there about people bringing certain games or other things. So check out that Pinside thread. It's pretty awesome.
    83:03
    Yeah, and, of course, any questions, comments, queries, concerns hit us up on our Facebook page Spinner is Lit or you can email us at thespinnerislit at gmail.com and where can they find us? Oh, on SoundCloud is our flagship, they can also find us on iTunes and you can also find us on Spotify with that, let's say we've got one month until we actually are all together at the Golden State Pinball Festival in beautiful sunny Lodi, California. So you guys know what to do. Play pinball. Keep America strong.
    84:03
    you