Episode 42: Mike Miller

Pinball Profile·podcast_episode·12m 24s·analyzed·May 22, 2017

Analysis

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TL;DR

Top IFPA player Mike Miller discusses his pinball film 'Flipped' and Bay Area pinball community

Summary

Jeff Teolis interviews Mike Miller, a Oakland-based pinball player ranked in the top 200 IFPA, who created the pinball documentary film 'Flipped' as a tribute to the community. The conversation covers Miller's journey from rediscovering pinball after decades away, his filmmaking background (including bubble art videos), his participation in Bay Area pinball events like City Champ at Free Gold Watch, and the importance of the welcoming competitive pinball community.

Key Claims

Mike Miller is ranked in the top 200 in the IFPA
high confidence · Jeff Teolis introduces him as 'in the top 200 in the IFPA' early in the episode
Mike Miller created a pinball film called 'Flipped' a few years ago
high confidence · Jeff references the film explicitly; Miller discusses its creation and music selection
Miller rediscovered pinball through playing at the Metreon movie theater in San Francisco
high confidence · Miller states: 'a couple of people saw me playing at the Metreon movie theater in San Francisco. I think one of them was actually Andre Massinkoff'
Miller's first competitive pinball tournament was at Pacific Pinball Museum around 2013 and he 'choked badly'
high confidence · Miller: 'I played at our Pacific Pinball Museum, had a tournament, and I went and choked badly. I think that was like 2013'
City Champ tournament at Free Gold Watch sells out quickly and holds approximately 70-80 people
high confidence · Miller: 'you have to get them right away because I think we can only hold 70 or so, 70 or 80 people in that space. And there's definitely more than that who want to come'
Miller previously took third place in a City Champ tournament before the last one
high confidence · Miller: 'I lucked into taking third to the one before last, which was extremely exciting'
Pinberg and California Extreme are scheduled on the same weekend, creating a conflict for attendees
high confidence · Miller and Teolis discuss the scheduling conflict between the two events
Miller has been doing large-scale bubble art videos with Led Zeppelin soundtracks, including 'Hawaii Bubble Summit'
high confidence · Miller describes his bubble art background and the Hawaii video project

Notable Quotes

“I wanted to send a love letter because I didn't realize how many people had worked so hard to keep pinball alive when I thought I was the only person who loved pinball in the world.”
Mike Miller @ early in interview — Explains the motivation behind creating the 'Flipped' film and the impact of discovering the pinball community
“Multiball is my happy place. Like this is this is my whole obsession with pinball. I'm looking basically at the flipper area and remembering the rest of the play field when I'm in my when I'm in the zone”
Mike Miller @ mid-interview — Describes Miller's competitive pinball philosophy and focus during play
“Everyone basically wants everyone to do their best, knowing what they're trying to do. And I couldn't believe, you know, in a competitive atmosphere, people would be so... generous and kind.”
Mike Miller @ discussing City Champ — Highlights the welcoming and supportive nature of the San Francisco pinball league community
“I play one pinball event a week most weeks, a major event quarterly.”
Mike Miller @ discussing schedule constraints — Shows Miller's commitment and regular participation in pinball tournaments
“I looked up back glass art and trying to find, you know, like the dog in the front of the boat on, what is it now, Whitewater. I love that dog.”
Mike Miller @ discussing backglass art appreciation — Shows Miller's attention to pinball machine artwork details

Entities

Mike MillerpersonJeff TeolispersonAndre MassinkoffpersonTJ ByerpersonMetreonlocationPacific Pinball MuseumlocationFlippedproductCity ChampeventFree Gold WatchlocationSan Francisco Pinball Department League

Signals

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event_signal: Pinberg positioning itself as a destination gathering place where online pinball community members meet in person for the first time
medium · Miller: 'Pinberg is going to be... I'm going to see a lot of people I've seen online and get to finally, you know, shake hands, talk in person'
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community_signal: San Francisco Pinball Department League demonstrates strong community culture where competitive players actively mentor newer members and prioritize collective success over individual competition
high · Miller recounts first experience with Jeff in the league: 'Everyone basically wants everyone to do their best, knowing what they're trying to do' and notes the league is 'friendly and generous and kind'
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event_signal: Pinberg and California Extreme scheduling conflict on same weekend forces players to choose between two major Bay Area events
high · Miller and Teolis discuss that the events are 'the same weekend this year' and Miller had to choose based on prior commitments
?
event_signal: City Champ tournament at Free Gold Watch is a popular, capacity-constrained event (70-80 capacity) that sells out quickly despite limited physical space
high · Miller: 'you have to get them right away because I think we can only hold 70 or so, 70 or 80 people in that space. And there's definitely more than that who want to come'

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.037

0:00

time for another pinball profile i'm jeff tiolis thank you for joining us you can find us on facebook also on twitter at pinball profile email us pinball profile at gmail.com and please subscribe on itunes i have gone to a few pinball events and i'm always running into people from the San Fran Bay area, Robin, Brian, Gene, and now we go to Oakland and we talk to Mike Miller. How are you, Mike? I'm well. Nice to be here. Mike is in the top 200 in the IFPA. He's played a few events, many in the California area. We will get to some of the other events coming up this year, but one thing that you've done is create a little film a few years ago called Flipped, and it's a fantastic little tribute, really, to pinball. Yeah, yeah. I wanted to send a love letter because I didn't realize how many people had worked so hard to keep pinball alive when I thought I was the only person who loved pinball in the world. Sure enough, this community was waiting for me all along. When I finally found them, a couple of people saw me playing at the Metreon movie theater in San Francisco. I think one of them was actually Andre Massinkoff, his top-ranked player. I think he got really excited about his game and sweated on me while I was playing next to him and said, You're quite good. You should play in tournaments. and I was like, tournaments? I finally got started. I played at our Pacific Pinball Museum, had a tournament, and I went and choked badly. I think that was like 2013, but I had to explore more. Well, you and I both kind of started this competitive, if you will, pinball, or at least IFPA-sanctioned events around the same time, too. I had no idea this existed, so when you talk about a love letter with Flipped, I know exactly what you're talking about, because for me, I think the last time I played a pinball machine was probably 1995 and then almost 20 years later back again because didn't know they existed which i love about your flip movie you find a machine the dr dude machine and it didn't matter that a flipper didn't work you're still playing it that's how much you love pinball yeah that's totally i mean you the machine seems so rare back then like it was just like you find out where they are someone would say oh yeah i think i saw one in a you know in that movie theater in that corner store you head straight there and then of course they don't work for years i lived in san francisco around the corner from a bar that would get a new machine. You'd play it. I'd play it and love it. And then something would go wrong, and that was the end. There's nobody to talk to. People were like, why would we fix it? What are you talking about, pinball? It's like, yeah. So the first time I saw an email address on a machine, it was actually TJ Byer ran the machines at the Metreon. And I emailed and said, there's an issue with this machine. Never expect to hear back. And then like two minutes, I heard back, oh, I'll get that tomorrow. And a new day dawned. Well, you'll be able to watch the flipped video on our website on Facebook, and I'll try to link it as well, too, on Twitter. But it is a great tribute, and also the music, too. I've got to say, I love hearing any version of the song Popcorn. And then you had Space 1999 Bravo Yeah there were a few shows when I was a little kid in the 70s that the opening sequence was actually better than the show The beginning of Space 1999, I would get super psyched. And the other one, I think Mission Impossible is one, where the theme song was just so good. And I found it online and was like, I want to make a movie, I want to edit something to that. It seems like there's exciting parts where they're showing the stuff in the show that's going to be cool and exciting and action-packed. And then there are these dramatic parts where they're just showing who the actors are. And I was like, they're actually kind of sad, those dramatic parts. So what if I use that to show the misery that is pinball in black and white and slow motion and got a lot of people willing to shoot me? I warned them. I'm like, I'm not going to use the part where you're happy. I'm probably going to use the part where you're like, man. And people liked it. I like it. And it's a great 70s throwback. For me, one of those songs that I always thought was better than the show was the theme to Wonder Woman. In your satin tights, fighting for your rights, and the old red, white, and blue, I'm Canadian. I was like, God bless America.

5:39

Yeah, definitely going to be taking pictures. I really enjoy zooming in on back glass art and trying to find, you know, like the dog in the front of the boat on, what is it now, Whitewater. I love that dog. And I never noticed the face of the woman on Mars Trek. She's on the right, I looked at the spaceships on the left, then one day noticed this amazing huge Martian woman face on Mars Trek, which is probably obvious to everyone. That's one of my favorite pieces of pinball art. Well there some great art out there too I usually just watching my ball go on the outlanes before I have a chance to look at the You know in competition is I would never take the time to look at the display much If I was playing I couldn play But when you playing with other players you get to see like, oh, that's kind of awesome. That little show you're putting on there. But yeah, it makes league night, you know, a surprise. Like, oh, wow, I never noticed all the stuff going on on the display. Multiball is my happy place. Like this is this is my whole obsession with pinball. I'm looking basically at the flipper area and remembering the rest of the play field when I'm in my when I'm in the zone and uh so I'm not looking at the display I asked if you were going to be bringing your camera to Pinberg and I say that obviously because you made the film flip but you've done a lot of other film work too and it comes from being a giant soap bubble artist someone bought me a toy uh a bubble making toy in the 90s and I couldn't make it work and I couldn't make it work and then I finally like made a bubble that was like I don't know a foot and a half in diameter And I was like, that's amazing. And I started a goofy Yahoo group that has become the international information exchange place for bubble artists and started making larger and larger bubble making equipment because of those other videos. You know, there are people all over the world who are like, yeah, that Mike Miller makes good bubbles. So that was definitely, it was fun to get back to. Basically, my pinball movie was me getting back to movie making after sort of getting burnt out on a giant bubble, Giant Bubbles on the Mountaintops videos, which I've made quite a few of. Nothing wrong with going to Hawaii to shoot those. Oh, yeah. Actually, I know a couple of people. Oh, right. There's a movie of it. Yeah, that's a good one. If you like Led Zeppelin, look up Hawaii Bubble Summit. That's a video I made with a nice Led Zeppelin soundtrack of us all bubbling together in Hawaii. It's fun because you know people from the Internet who share your crazy obsession, but they're far away. So when you get to go visit them, it's great, which I kind of think, for me, Pinberg is going to be. I'm going to see a lot of people I've seen online and get to finally, you know, shake hands, talk in person. That'll be fun. Me being a Zeppelin fan, I've had a cat for 14 years named Zeppelin. My first on-air name in radio was Red Zeppelin. Maybe just a little bit of a fan. Well, did you see that? I hope you saw that video. Yeah. Oh, yeah. That's a fun one. It's really fun to edit to the music. And they bring something out of each other, the visuals and the music. You know what, though, Mike? it's funny you should say that because when we talked earlier about flipped in the song space 1999 and even popcorn they fit so well and kind of made the songs even better and just recently led zeppelin allowed marvel to use immigrant song in the new thor movie that's coming out in november and immigrant song you want to know how much i love that song when my son carson was born i made sure that when we got into the car leaving the hospital the first song he ever heard was ah So now they put this in the Thor trailer, and tell me that doesn't make the trailer just killer, the way they've used the song. Of course. Of course it does. Yeah, isn't that, there's like a Norse thing going on in that song, right? For sure. Valhalla, I Am Coming? Right, oh yeah. Hammer of the Gods? Yeah, absolutely. This is a pinball podcast, right? Yeah. I do want to ask you about another event that you gone to the last few years City Champ which happens in December I met Brian in Kalamazoo and he said you got to go to City Champ but make sure you get in because it sells out quick And Gene's asked me about it and a few others. I'm very interested. Tell me about City Champ. What can I tell you? So of all the events I do, I mean, I'm pretty local, but the San Francisco Pinball Department League, sort of the format and the crowd. And, you know, I had a really, really wonderful, I'm pretty shy. And when I first joined, you know, a league, there are lots of, you know, introverts, lots, I mean, extroverts, lots of people are just, you know, really loud and fun. And I was like, oh, God, I don't know if I can, I don't know if I'll fit in. And, you know, one of my first games was on the old Bally Playboy, and I didn't know the game at all. And I just kind of muttered, you know, I think I played this 30 years ago. I don't know, geez. And the guy, one of the guys who'd been in the league for a while, Jeff, he stepped right up and he said, oh, here's what you do. And I couldn't believe, you know, in a competitive atmosphere, people would be so, and that was the way it always was. Everyone basically wants everyone to do their best, knowing what they're trying to do. And I thought it was so, like, friendly and generous and kind. And that's why I love that place. It's at Free Gold Watch and those folks. And I feel like City Champ kind of lets us show that off. I guess I can call myself us. I've been in that league for a while now. I'm still new everywhere. They really, it sort of epitomizes, you know, sharing that vibe with the world, which I think is really cool. Like, maybe it's not the whole world, but people come from pretty far. It's, you know, it's super competitive, and we take really good care of the machines. Last, before City Champ last fall, I got to actually show up and volunteer to clean up the games and help make sure all the lights are working and stuff. And that was a blast, too, because I've never been inside a pinball machine, you know. It was really exciting. Someone said, are you having fun? Because I look like a kid in a candy shop. Anyway, so I think it's a great tournament. I don't have a lot to compare it to because I've never been a pinball tourist yet, but it seems like a lovely thing to come see, and San Francisco can't be beat. Yeah, and I lucked into taking third to the one before last, which was extremely exciting. To have people on the Internet watching the stream going, Go Mike Miller, whoever you are! I'm like, thanks! Well, very good. Yeah, it was great to see you. It would be great to see anybody who enjoys those kinds of things come on out. But you do. You have to watch. You have to look for the date the tickets go on sale, and you have to get them right away because I think we can only hold 70 or so, 70 or 80 people in that space. And there's definitely more than that who want to come. Yeah, for sure. Well, we will see you at Pinberg. Thank you for that great little pinball tribute movie in Flipped, and we'll put that again on our Facebook page and Twitter. Mike, all the best to you. Thank you so much. It was a pleasure. This has been your Pinball Profile. You can find us on Facebook, also on Twitter at Pinball Profile. email us pinball profile at gmail.com and please subscribe on itunes i'm jeff tiolas