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PNP 600- Santa Orby Chats W Colin A, Josh R, Jeff T., Mike D., GlennTheSk8boarder AND MORE!

Poor Man's Pinball Podcast·podcast_episode·1h 58m·analyzed·Dec 20, 2024
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claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.033

TL;DR

Orby hosts 600th episode Santa-themed call-ins with pinball community figures discussing 2025 hopes and criticism of Blues Brothers game.

Summary

Episode 600 of Poor Man's Pinball Podcast features host Orby (Orville Albert) conducting Santa-themed call-in interviews with community members including Don Garrison (Don's Pinball Podcast), Glenn the Skateboarder, Matthew Megaphone (Melvis), and Mike Dimas. Conversations touch on 2025 pinball community hopes, criticism of HomePin's Blues Brothers machine, personal accomplishments, and content plans. The episode is largely comedic roleplay with Santa character, interspersed with genuine community shout-outs and reflections.

Key Claims

  • HomePin's Blues Brothers is 'the worst pinball machine I've ever seen since anything by Deep Root'

    high confidence · Don Garrison expressing opinion during Santa call segment; represents his subjective assessment of game quality

  • Matthew Megaphone played pinball for exactly 6 hours on Friday to compete in Stern Cup, reaching 2nd place initially then dropping to 124th place after working a couple days

    high confidence · Matthew directly states this during Santa call; verifiable competitive ranking claim

  • Glenn the Skateboarder and his friend Eric both won classic pre-war pinball tournaments at Texas Pinball Festival/Expo (Glenn won Saturday, Eric won Friday)

    high confidence · Glenn explicitly states tournament wins during call

  • Glenn's daughter received a college scholarship for baseball and started her first year

    high confidence · Glenn provides family update during call; later clarifies she was accepted senior year of high school, now starting college

  • Orby missed Maple Pinball event due to leaving passport at home and having expired identification

    high confidence · Orby references this during Don call and Matthew acknowledges it; explains Orby's absence from recent Ontario event

  • Elvira pinball machine can be set with difficult tournament settings (ball save: on/minimal/off) and has some shots that are too easy for high-level tournament play

    medium confidence · Matthew and implied Jeff Teolis observation; Matthew suggests it could work in mid-level tournaments with proper settings

  • London, Ontario now has three pinball venues: London Pinball at Fork River Brewery, Manna Pinball in Hyde Park, and Tilt Arcade

    high confidence · Matthew Megaphone provides detailed venue list for southwestern Ontario

  • Mike Dimas produced a record amount of video content for Pinball Shenanigans channel in 2024

    medium confidence · Santa (Orby) observes that Mike put out 'the most videos I've ever seen' and describes them as 'incredible'

Notable Quotes

  • “At the very bottom of that list, I mean, like, subterranean, would probably be Home Pin, I would think, for what they're doing to Blues Brothers. I like the Blues Brothers movie, but that has got to be the worst pinball machine I've ever seen since anything by Deep Root. It is absolutely terrible.”

    Don Garrison @ early in episode — Strong criticism of HomePin's Blues Brothers machine quality; comparison to Deep Root as lowest tier; establishes negative sentiment about recent game releases

  • “It's like the Denny's of pinball, I think.”

    Orby/Santa character @ following Don's criticism — Metaphorical characterization of Blues Brothers as mediocre/generic pinball experience

  • “I would just like I would like everybody to get along that's all why can't we be friends”

    Glenn the Skateboarder @ answering Santa's Christmas wish question — Deep community request for unity; suggests ongoing tensions or drama in pinball community

  • “When the Twippy Awards happen I'm hoping that there's just no stupid drama just let it happen Everybody have fun.”

    Glenn the Skateboarder @ continuing Christmas wish — Explicit hope to avoid drama at upcoming Twippy Awards; signals history of award show controversy

  • “I played a degenerate amount of pinball last Friday. Six hours exactly, Santa.”

    Matthew Megaphone @ mid-episode call — Demonstrates competitive commitment to Stern Cup competition; shows intensity of casual/semi-competitive play

  • “Well, there is some very easy shots, and I could understand why, as a tournament director, you wouldn't want this game in a tournament.”

    Matthew Megaphone @ discussing Elvira difficulty — Validates Jeff Teolis's criticism about Elvira's tournament suitability; acknowledges design trade-off between casual and competitive appeal

  • “Pinball is growing. Thanks to the Dan of Pinball and London Pinball And Tilt Arcade has Pinball So we have at least three places to play Pinball”

    Matthew Megaphone — Documents expansion of pinball venues in London, Ontario market; indicates healthy local growth

Entities

Orville AlbertpersonDon GarrisonpersonGlenn the SkateboarderpersonMatthew MegaphonepersonMike DimaspersonJeff TeolispersonRyan BerrypersonEricpersonIan Jacobi

Signals

  • ?

    event_signal: Texas Pinball Festival held with classic pre-war tournament component; Glenn and Eric both won tournament divisions

    high · Glenn: 'we got to build that, take it to Atlanta and TPF and Expo, and then we were able to play in a classics, like, pre-war penal tournament. And both Eric and I won that tournament'

  • ?

    competitive_signal: Stern Cup competition showing active participation with Matthew Megaphone's 6-hour session yielding high rank progression/regression patterns

    medium · Matthew: 'I played a degenerate amount of pinball last Friday. Six hours exactly...I'm in the 124th place' (after dropping from 2nd)

  • ?

    content_signal: Mike Dimas recognized as producing record volume of quality video content for Pinball Shenanigans in 2024

    medium · Santa/Orby: 'You probably put out the most videos I've ever seen, and they're all incredible'

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Elvira pinball has imbalanced difficulty with some shots too easy for high-level tournament play; questioned for tournament viability despite being quality machine

    medium · Matthew: 'there is some very easy shots, and I could understand why, as a tournament director, you wouldn't want this game in a tournament'

  • ?

    design_philosophy: HomePin's Blues Brothers game criticized as extremely poor quality and worst machine since Deep Root products

    high · Don Garrison: 'that has got to be the worst pinball machine I've ever seen since anything by Deep Root. It is absolutely terrible.'

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.357

0:00
Ho, ho, ho! Do you have a passport? Yep. Yes, I do have your passport, little boy. And what's your name?
0:10
Oh, hey, dude. It's Don. How you doing, man? Long time listening. I'm so happy to hear you like my podcast from the North Pole. Sometimes I think people think it's boring when I'm just chatting about how mean I am to my little elves. I send them around. They only get one hour a day to sleep, you know. Yeah, I don't think I set up right at the right time when you just finished your 206 drink. Oh, Santa doesn't drink alcohol. I only drink eggnog with pure reindeer semen. It makes me virile and keeps me alive and healthy. Now, the one question that Santa has for you before you hop on the airplane to go visit our friend Ryan Berry over there in Australia is, have you been naughty this year, Don? Or have you been nice?
1:02
That's constantly on brand for me. So yeah, capital N, man, all the way. You were a little niche niche, but you were also a pretty good boy. I did appreciate all those live streams showing the beautiful parts made by my elves up here in the North Pole. Did you know that every single flipper bat from every company is made right here by my elves? And that's why a JJP flipper feels identical to an American pinball flipper and identical to a Stern flipper. They're all made by the exact same elves right here in the North Pole.
1:38
This is going so much better than I ever could have imagined. Well, why would you be imagining Santa not having a wonderful time up at the North Pole? That's what we do here. And I will tell you what, every pinball that you get, all six of them that come in a Stern, whether it's with a John Wick Ellie or not they are shined by Rudolph personally with that red nose he gets right in there and gives it that little twinkle that little something that little special I was wondering where that glaze came from yeah, so that explains it well it would be that and also the black jar heroin that I put inside their drinks each night just to give them the extra little oomph to get them I mean if you saw reindeers flying in the sky you would know no matter what they were obviously on something. Because reindeer don't fly, my friend. Not normally.
@ Ontario venue discussion

  • “You probably put out the most videos I've ever seen, and they're all incredible. They're fun. It's like a blog, a vlog, whatever you want to call it. It's great.”

    Santa/Orby @ calling Mike Dimas — Recognition of Mike Dimas's prolific content creation in 2024; establishes him as top community content producer

    • person
    Colinperson
    Josh Roopperson
    Rachel Ristoperson
    HomePincompany
    Deep Root Pinballcompany
    Stern Pinballcompany
    Poor Man's Pinball Podcastorganization
    Don's Pinball Podcastorganization
    Pinball Shenanigansorganization
    Texas Pinball Festivalevent
    Twippy Awardsevent
  • $

    market_signal: London, Ontario pinball market shows healthy growth with three dedicated venues now operating

    high · Matthew lists: 'London Pinball at Fork River Brewery', 'Manna Pinball down in Hyde Park', and 'Tilt Arcade' all with pinball

  • ?

    personnel_signal: Orby missed significant community event (Maple Pinball) due to personal oversight (passport/expired ID), creating community impact

    high · Matthew confirms Orby's absence acknowledged and discussed; Orby admits 'he left his passport at home stupidly and had an expired identification'

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Explicit concern about drama at upcoming Twippy Awards; Glenn explicitly hopes for 'no stupid drama' and smooth event execution

    high · Glenn's direct statement: 'When the Twippy Awards happen I'm hoping that there's just no stupid drama just let it happen'

    • 2:31
    It sounds like you might be busy there with some boarding pass and identifications. But if you're actually loading the plane while we're chatting, I guess it is funnier, Don.
    2:41
    Absolutely, yeah. I'm about to bag drop, get myself some popcorn, and maybe a little bit of a hot toddy. We'll see how the day develops. A hot toddy. Mrs. Claus, that's her favorite drink. Now, I had a question for you that's a little bit deep, and perhaps you haven't had enough hot toddies to answer. And if not, that's okay.
    3:02
    But Santa Orby has one question for you. If you could get just one gift from the North Pole this year, one gift that does not cost any money, one gift that is free,
    3:17
    what would you ask Santa for? I don't know, maybe like a knocker tip. I love knockers. Well, we have...
    3:30
    Business Cloud certainly has those taken care of, my friend. Now, that being said, is there anything from like a relationship standpoint that you might want to be better or be repaired in 2025? I think the main thing that you would want to get for Christmas, Don, would be to make sure you have your boarding pass before you start recording on a podcast.
    4:06
    Well, sidebar, I will let you guys know that this year, the pinball machines are ready to go. They're under the box. Sorry, they're under the tree. They're in the box. And they are ready to go. And if you haven't ever listened to Don's Pinball Podcast, make sure you head over there and have a little listen. I wouldn't quite say it's amazing, Don, but it's pretty, pretty, pretty good.
    4:31
    It's the best I could hope for. Now, who would you put on the naughty list this year? Of all the pinball companies, Don, let's not think about where you're going in Australia. Let's think about everybody else. Who would be on the naughty list?
    4:45
    At the very bottom of that list, I mean, like, subterranean, would probably be Home Pin, I would think, for what they're doing to Blues Brothers.
    4:53
    I like the Blues Brothers movie, but that has got to be the worst pinball machine I've ever seen since anything by Deep Root.
    5:02
    It is absolutely terrible. Well, my reflexes are slower nowadays, so I don't need a pinball machine to have 500 ramps and all the bells and whistles. But, jeez, could it at least be a little bit better than the Blues Brothers?
    5:18
    Now. Exactly, yeah. It's like the Denny's of pinball, I think. Yes, or as they say in gas stations, the Buc-ee's of gas stations.
    5:29
    Oh, don't you dare use Buc-ee's name and say it like that, man. Oh, I mean the opposite of Buc-ee's. No, no, Don, don't hang up on me. No, the opposite of Bucky's would clearly be... I love you some Bucky's. Bucky's is the best. I always go there. That's why I tell Mrs. Claus I leave in the sleigh ten minutes early to stop at Bucky's and get the best sandwich they have there, which is clearly the...
    5:54
    Brisket, yeah, for sure. Oh, the beef brisket. It makes me have snowflakes inside Santa's underwear. I get so excited for it. This brisket is juicier than the gogs you're going to hear about haggis when you're down there in Australia. All right, I'm losing the Santa voice. Don, thank you so much. It sounds like you've boarded the plane. I think you're supposed to turn your phone off by now or something.
    6:18
    Yeah, yeah. We're hanging out by TSA right now. I'm getting ready to get my first jaunt. Well, ho, ho, ho. Santa just wanted to call you and thank you for all of the wonderful pinball content. Being a pinball content creator is sometimes thankless. So here's your shout-out from Orby and good old Santa. Thanks for all the rad content you do, and I can't wait to hear what's coming up next. Did you want to give everybody a little tease on what type of content we might look for from Don in 2025?
    6:50
    Yeah, I think completely thoughtless is what we're doing in 2025. It's going to be amazing. How dare you talk about my wife that way!
    7:00
    Mrs. Claus may have got run over by a reindeer, but she kept her top on, thank you very much. Well, Santa doesn't want to put you in the bad boy list. It sounds like you're very busy there.
    7:17
    Absolutely. You know what? Thank you so much for your time. Do you have a final shout-out for us before I let you go today, Donald?
    7:26
    Just shout-out to the lovely children all across the world, but mostly America. Did you hear that, Canadian children? Don doesn't love you. That's right. He only loves American children. I'm just kidding. Santa loves all the children of the world equally, whether or not they say A at the end of each sentence or not.
    7:46
    All right, Don. You be a good boy. I can't wait to see you on Christmas Eve. And remember, Santa doesn't want you to leave cookies. He wants you to leave out brownies. No promises.
    7:59
    Okay. Ho, ho, ho. Merry Christmas, Don. Welcome back, pinball nerds, to episode 600 of your fifth favorite pinball podcast. My name's Orville Albert, and on my 600th episode for Christmas, I'm going to be Santa calling people. But until then, to get you hyped up, to get me hyped up, instead of like Christmas, I got a blue world by Mac Miller. Sing it with me if you know it, and if don't, don't worry, because we're going to be calling some nerds soon.
    8:29
    I just turn around and do a 180 I ain't politickin', I ain't kissin', no baby The devil on my doorstep bein' so shady Don't trip, we don't gotta let him in Don't trip, yeah, yeah I let it go but I never go with it Yeah, yeah Okay, cool fall weather, fuck the bullshit I'm here to make it all better With a little bit of music for you I don't do enough for you without the color, it's blue Oh, don't trip, I was in the city, they was talking that shit They had the homies with me, all of a sudden they split We ain't even worried, we're just laughing at the rich You know how it goes, if it ain't broke, don't fix Hey, one of these days we'll all get by Don't be afraid, don't fall, I think I lost my mind Reality's too hard to find When the devil's trying to call your line But the shit always shines Even when the lid's dim No, I ain't God, but I'm feeling just like him Oh, don't trip See, I was whipping the ride with my Whole list of us and that's just it It's a flex just for a bit Let me talk my shit Say my head got big, yeah This mad world got me crazy Might just turn around and do a 180 I ain't politicking, I ain't kissing no babies The devil at my doorstep being so shady Don't trip One of these days I'm gonna get invited to Stern or JJP But I don't know when the fuck that'll be Maybe 2025, hopefully Okay, pinball nerds You expected to start with, uh, you know Probably hearing a little bit of the old Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock Rockin' around a tree or maybe a little bit of sleigh bells ring are you listening stern right? but I didn't I brought out a little bit of my boy Mac Miller and for once I didn't even have him singing in the background my youngest son Owen tells me or little Orby Jr. as you know him he tells me that without a doubt if you're going to get better at rapping slowly dad you've got to sing without the vocals in the back you've got to karaoke it up So that was the instrumental version of Mac Miller's Blue World. But I have talked for way too long. What else would you expect? This is going to be it for me, guys. It's going to be Santa all night long. There is a 0% chance that I ever forget to do the Santa voice. Now, listen, I have not done interviews for a long time. Other than earlier today, I actually got to talk to Donald Garrison of Don's Pinball Podcast. If you haven't heard it, make sure you go check it out. I'm saving that for Ron, also known as Later Ron. That's right. At the end of the show, I'm going to tack it on there. I'm going to throw on my interview with Don. Today, he was getting on an airplane. So he could not talk to me once the airplane was said in flight. But before that, well in line, he ended up getting searched by the TSA. I don't even know what the TSA is, but they sound pretty serious. Is it like the travel security assholes or something? I'm not sure what they are. but literally in the interview you can hear them like doing stuff and like getting checking boarding passes don i hope you weren't hiding anything right here on the poor men's pinball network we love our buttholes and i hope you didn't hide anything up there because don pinball or not i know you're trying to get a present over there to your buddy and ryan berry my buddy your buddy everybody's buddy what time would it be in australia right now because i am actually supposed to call Ryan Barry at some point, but I don't know what said point that is. Now, I'm going to start by calling my best friend, Matthew Megaphone, because I haven't done a lot of interviews recently. They also call him Elvis. Also, I talked to him about 10 minutes ago. I'm not going to lie, guys, he had a couple more drinks than I did, and I started with a 9%-er. So, if you could stop doing that, I would appreciate it. Thank you. I do appreciate the sentiment, but my hands are full, or at least my mic is. I totally forgot, guys. Here on show number 600, whatcha drinkin'? Maybe I'll save it for Melvis. Maybe I'll call Melvis and then after I've called him. And I haven't used this Bluetooth for a long time. I haven't done interviews for a while. If the sound quality is not as shitty as usual, I'm sorry. If it's better than usual, I'm not sorry. I'm happy about it. All I know is next year I'm getting a real mic. That's right. Matthew McGoffin says he's in another call. Well, I guess we could try one more time. Why are you connecting by video? Don't connect by video. Okay. Well, I mean, I didn't think that one wouldn't work. But it did not work. So I guess we'll go on to number two. I didn't think the very first person would work. Let's try... Let's try Graham Murtang here. Mr. Graham Murtang, my old best friend, probably even before Melvis was. I don't know if he's around tonight. He could be busy. He could be practicing for pinball for the next time I come back. Wow. This hat, I'm sorry. This hat is awesome, but it's super... The calling sound is probably not great. Maybe I should just, like, mute until I get someone to answer. What do you think? Is that probably smarter? I don't know. Okay, guys. I'm zero for two. I'm not doing very good, am I? All right. Let's... Okay. Hopefully a third try. Let's try Melvis again, because it seems suspicious that it said already in another phone call. How could he possibly already be in another phone call? Right? I don't have any clue.
    14:18
    Are you already in another phone call? Is that an option you can choose when someone calls? I have no clue. Listen, Pinball Nerds, how have you all been? How's everybody doing? How's your day going? Hopefully better than mine. I did get to interview Dawn. That was pretty rad. Who should we call next? Oh, I messaged so many people. I forgot half the people. Oh my God. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Who should I try? Maybe Glenn, maybe Glenn, Dan, the man you didn't write back. I don't know if you want me to call you. I did put it into the poor man's chat to see which people to kind of feel people out. Cause I do feel bad. I did this like two years ago and I thought I had told everybody and I had mentioned it on my Facebook page, but of course not everybody reads everybody's Facebook page every day. And I accidentally called Ray Day and forgot to tell him I was on a live stream until a couple minutes in, he's like, you're live recording, Albert? And I'm like, oh my god, I'm sorry, Ray Day. So that wasn't very cool. But let's try Glenn. We haven't, we've talked to Glenn before. You guys know Glenn the Skateboarder. He does my intro song. Now this time, Mac Miller and I double teamed it. But let's, let's get into Santa mode and call Glenn the Skateboarder.
    15:31
    Oh gosh, okay, should I mute this? I mean, Glenn answers pretty quick most of the time. Come on, Glenn the Skateboarder, put down your skateboard and answer the phone, buddy.
    15:43
    Howdy, howdy, howdy. Ho, ho, ho. Merry Christmas, Glenn. Oh, it's Printer. That's right. My good friend Orbital Albert has asked me to step in for him. It appears he's had a few too many eggnogs and has slumped over in the corner like a lump of logs.
    16:07
    ah so well he asked me to ask you Glenn what you drinking a yinling lager it supports America's veterans well I love the vet people always talk about how much I give to the kids but if you've been a good vet and you ask nicely you can go to Costco and buy yourself a Stern pinball machine this year wouldn't that be great just throw it in the cart.
    16:40
    Throw it in the cart. Do you know how hard my little elves worked on their hands to make those perfect circular pinballs?
    16:49
    Tell me. I just did, you silly goof. Now, first thing I'll ask you is, were you a naughty boy this year, or are you on my good list?
    17:03
    I'm on your good list, and I'm trying to be a better person. Well, it seems that you and Orbital Albert have something in common. Maybe that's why you're such good friends.
    17:16
    Yeah, I can't find my passport. Well, it's... I can't find my passport. That's funny, because that's the only thing he asked me for Christmas. That and the rest of his dignity.
    17:26
    But that's gone as well as he's in the corner with too much eggnog. He can't keep up with Rudolph. You think that guy has a red nose for anything other than being alcoholic? Come on. Say, I'm a little worried about you.
    17:40
    Why is that? I think you could probably get laid. I think you need that. Well, that is certainly something that our friend Orby may say, but you know what? I would never say that in front of a fine lady like Mrs. Claus.
    17:55
    Oh, she is a fine lady. Thank you for saying so. And even though she did get run over by a reindeer, she's okay. She's on the mend. And again, each year she gets run over by a reindeer. And I say, honey, be careful for the freaking reindeers when you're collecting maple syrup. And then she gets run over again on the same reindeer track. I think she had too many hot toddies, if you know what I mean. Oh, thoughts and prayers.
    18:20
    She'll be fine. She just walks with a third leg now. I don't know why I've gone Irish. So, Glenn, let's go back to this. I want to know, what were your favorite things that happened this year? Could you give me a highlight or two of your whole year, besides being on Orby's podcast, of course?
    18:40
    I couldn't be more grateful than building Saw with my three best friends. Okay, is this a pinball machine as well? Yep, we got to build that, take it to Atlanta and TPF and Expo, and then we were able to play in a classics, like, pre-war penal tournament. And both Eric and I won that tournament, so that was pretty sweet. He won the Friday, I won the Saturday. Well, those certainly are my favorite. I used to win those before the war even happened.
    19:14
    Well, I mean, you guys made them. Of course. Every GC that you get in the box is my score. Nice. And then third, my daughter getting signed to go to college with a scholarship. Simple.
    19:30
    Congratulations. That certainly is excellent. And she started her first year there now. No, that was her senior year of high school. She was already accepted. That is a miracle like we don't know of here in the North Pole. Wow. Tell her Santa's very happy for her, and he hopes this year that she gets a brand new baseball mitt made again by my beautiful elves here.
    19:57
    That will be her graduation present, actually. I've been told that baseball bats nowadays are almost as expensive as hockey sticks here in the North Pole. They're getting very pricey, and a good mitt can run you well over $100 American.
    20:12
    She threw a screwball a couple weeks ago and broke a girl's bat at the handle. She broke a girl's back? That is so rude. She's going to be in a wheelchair for life.
    20:25
    She's broken somebody's hand before. I know. I was very upset. That bitch. Well, did she have to pay for the girl's bat? I wonder if she was naughty or nice.
    20:41
    No, no. That bat was still under warranty, so the mom was actually happy. She said they didn't like that bat anyways. and they're able to get their money back. Well, it sounds like it worked out for both of you and you're both going to have a wonderful merry, merry Christmas. Now, I have many little elves in line here who are excited to call other pinball nerds, so I can't stay on with any one pinball nerd too long, Orby says. Uh-oh, he's moving in the corner. He could be up soon. Okay, can you tell me one thing you'd like for Christmas for 2025 for the pinball community, something that couldn't be purchased with money?
    21:21
    Oh, man. You didn't expect such a deep question, did you? No, I thought this was just going to be, like, clowning off the whole time. Have I stunned Glenn for the first time upon his life?
    21:37
    Why am I speaking like I'm in Shakespeare? I would just like I would like everybody to get along that's all why can't we be friends why can't we be Orby shut up I'm doing the podcast sorry about that he appears to have started to wake up and sing a song when the Twippy Awards happen I'm hoping that there's just no stupid drama just let it happen Everybody have fun. Yeah, that's it. I am so excited for the Twippies. In fact, I might give Ian a call later.
    22:17
    And possibly Colin. Ian Jacobdy, come on, Mr. Nudge. Oh, Jacobi. Jacobi, Jacobi, tomato, tomato. You say tomato, I say North Pole. Let's let the elves have a day off. Just Boxing Day, then back to work on the 27th, bastards. well Glenn it's been a treat thank you for coming on the show many times this year orby wanted me to tell you and until next time remember to eat sleep or breathe a little bit of thank you for doing by the way thank you very much for doing he's waking up thank you very much for doing the song I love it he loves it oh too much eggnog okay Glenn Merry Christmas and have a wonderful new year for you and your family shout out to all the tribe members. Do you have a final shout-out for us on the way out the door?
    23:10
    Yeah, let's shout-out to Cale Hernandez and say it's been an absolute slice. Cale Hernandez! I think that he is a baseball player that we heard about in Seinfeld. Is that correct? No, that was Jose. Oh, that's the wrong Hernandez! The one that got spit on from the left, not the right. Keith Hernandez! Is he friends with Cale?
    23:34
    Possibly. Mary Rachel. Oh, Rachel and Kale. Merry Christmas. Maybe I'll call Kale later. Should I do that? You should. If I wake him up in the middle of the night, it's blame it's on Glenn the Skateboarder who told me to do it. Okay, Glenn. Oh, no, he's on the West Coast, so it's like 2 o'clock there. Well, then I'll just bug him while he's fixing a pinball machine and he'll be happy to take the call.
    24:00
    All right. Merry Christmas, Hanson. Ho, ho, ho. Merry Christmas, Glennon family. Santa? Santa, you haven't been calling people, have you?
    24:16
    Um, maybe. There was this list here of people to call for the podcast. Seems to me like maybe, you know, you wanted me to take over because you were a little too much egg, dog. Okay I'm going back to bed Rudolph can drink like a mouthful Shut up Orby and go back to bed
    24:48
    Hello Merry Christmas Matthew J Merry Christmas This is Orville Albert. I know what the J stands for. Is that what you're doing outside, fella?
    25:06
    Uh, yeah? Well, I tried to call you before, and it said that you were on another phone call, and I thought maybe you was just out for a J break.
    25:19
    Oh, it was a work call. It was a big deal there, buddy. Well, you're prioritizing a work phone call over talking to your best friend, and that puts you on the naughty list. For the listeners had to hear me call you multiple times. But that is okay, because Orby is asleep in the corner drunk on eggnog, and I, Santa, am here to ask you one serious, serious question.
    25:44
    Matthew, are you on the naughty list or the nice list? Oh, I'm on the nice list. Well, that's not what I heard last time you were playing pinball. I saw the ring camera footage your wife sent me. There's no puking in pinball, Matthew.
    26:05
    If you're not puking, you're not trying. Oh, I thought it was if you're not tilting, you're not trying. But I just need to uke some more.
    26:15
    Okay. Is that why I'm not able to beat your GC? Oh So yes, that's why you can't be my DC Oh, okay Now, recently you sent me a screenshot actually Orby showed it to me, sorry and it showed that you were in second place in the stern cup out of one gazillion pinball nerds all competing for this awesome badge to work their way into the proper tier Now, how the hell did you manage to get second place?
    26:51
    I played a degenerate amount of pinball last Friday. Oh! How many hours? I need to know. Exactly how many? Six hours exactly, Santa. So you played from when the competition started for six hours straight and you were in second. And does that mean now you're probably down to third or fourth?
    27:15
    I'm in the 124th place. Oh! Santa hasn't had a belly laugh like that since Rudolph hit the bed. Oh! Why are you doing so poorly, sir?
    27:32
    Well, I decided I would go to work for a couple days. Well, you know what? That is the best excuse Santa's ever heard. So, could you tell me... Hey, you're working to put Christmas presents under the tree for your family and your two awesome dogs. Now, I heard last year Santa was really good for you and got you a very gorgeous Elvira pinball machine. Give us a quick, tell me how much you like your Christmas gift from last year.
    28:05
    It is a great machine. It's worth every penny it was paid for. I do have something someone on the naughty list named Jeff Teolis and he told me it's a little bit too easy for his liking what would you say to someone like our friend Jeff Teolis who says Alvaro is just too easy and plays too long well I'm Jeff Teolis he is an excellent tournament director and a wonderful person in the pinball group so I will never say anything negative about him, but when it comes to Alvira, yes, there is some very easy shots, and I could understand why, as a tournament director, you wouldn't want this game in a tournament. Well, that was very diplomatic of you, you fence-sitting POS. No, I'm just kidding!
    29:02
    No, I love Jeff Cholos as well. I just thought it was funny that the only machine he didn't like is the only one I got you for Christmas. But seriously, Santa, like, you know, you can make it harder, but some of the rams are giving.
    29:24
    I understand why you wouldn't want it in a high-level tournament. You could have it in a mid-level tournament with the proper settings.
    29:33
    Okay. So tournament settings, ball save, turn on, minimal, or off. and you saying it could be a bit of a better game because honestly maybe I getting old Now that I 500 years old I have very short balls even on Elvira well at 500 years you could really learn how to play this game pretty well yes yes it's not that hard I've been playing it for less than a year and I've got some shots figured out of course it's less than a year I brought it for you for Christmas last year now before Santa has to head out I did want to say I guess Orby gave me a message and he's humbly apologetic for the fact that he didn't make it back for the last maple pinball you have to understand Orby is a nice he has a kind heart sometimes but he's a moron and he makes idiotic mistakes sometimes and he left his passport at home stupidly and had an expired identification but he's sorry, he loves you and he'll come to the next Maple Pinball that's what he told me before he passed out drunk on eggnog do you accept his all I will say about that is maybe he should have used his secret slay and maybe Rudolph and Donner and Blitzen could have helped him get to Ontario but you know what, he didn't make it we missed you, Santa but we're sure you're going to make it next time when it counts. I like your idea of putting Orby on Blitzen. Kind of makes sense for him, if you know what I mean. Oh, wow. Well, Melvis, I will let you go, but to everybody who lives in southwestern Ontario, I cannot leave without... Just tell all the people from southwestern Ontario the two coolest places to play pinball in London that didn't exist even when Orby lived there five years ago. Melvis Megaphone will say this. We have London Pinball at Fork River Brewery.
    31:43
    Excellent place. Great beers. Incredible chicken sandwich. Kyle's chicken. Stanton, you cut me off there. I didn't hear what you said. Oh, I said Kyle. London Pinball at Fork River Brewery. Okay. And now we have Manna Pinball down in Hyde Park. Great showroom.
    32:06
    Cheap to enter. You play all you want. Buy something. We have all the pinball you could imagine in London, Ontario.
    32:15
    Is it true that good things grow in Ontario? Shut up, Orby. Well, if good things growing is pinball growing, yes. Pinball is growing. Thanks to the Dan of Pinball and London Pinball And Tilt Arcade has Pinball So we have at least three places to play Pinball And then of course our favorite place to play Mike Dimas' Basement Speaking of Mike, I'm going to call him next Have a rad night, Malthus See you later Merry Christmas Wink, wink, wink Don't wink, wink or nudge, nudge me on a Pinball podcast people will not find it punny.
    33:05
    If you're not nudging, you're not trying. Oh, what the hell? Santa, are you still calling people? I have asked you multiple times to stop calling people. Oh my gosh.
    33:23
    Oh, it sounds like our fearless leader, Drew, unfortunately is going to be busy with clients tonight, which, I mean, the good news is I don't have to try to call him and be devastated when he doesn't answer. But, Drew, thanks for at least updating. I do appreciate that. Ian, you are not out of the woods. I have not heard from Ian yet. Some other people I would like to call, Rachel Risto, Joe Chervino, Mike Davis. I should just call Mike because that's what I mentioned. I'll try him at the start.
    33:50
    So, next we're calling Pinball Shenanigander himself, actually just on This Week in Pinball last week, I think. Not This Week in Pinball. It's such a boring show. The Pinball Show on TPN, of course. Yeah, shout out to Mike Dennis. And, you know, he might answer, he might not. Who knows? It could happen. He did say he was kind of going to be busy tonight. He's probably shagandering, I would say. Most likely, that would be the most likely answer. He's just, he's shagandering. That's what's happening. Now, let's maybe try Rachel Risto, another poor man's tribe member, if not. Let's see. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. I'm supposed to, no, no, don't call her. Don't call her. Oh.
    34:31
    Ho, ho, ho. Merry Christmas, Mike Dimas. Is this Santa, Orby? That's right. Unfortunately, Orby had way too much frickin' eggnog and he's passed out in the corner. So, he's asked me to call people on this list. And it just so happens I already watch all your YouTube stuff and I know you are the Shenanigander. So, I just wanted to say, from Santa to Mike, Merry Christmas. oh thanks Santa Orby you better check that list twice I don't know if I made the nice list but Merry Christmas to you and all the other fellow pinball nerds and shenanigans out there in shenanigan land well thank you so much that is so kind of you Mike to say that now I don't want to get right down to brass tacks you'd think that Santa would want to shoot the shats but I can see Orby's over there in the corner He's starting to wake up his eggnog that he had with Rudolph as Wernoff. So let me just ask you this.
    35:36
    If you were on the naughty list, as you say, why did you do so much nice content this year for us? You probably put out the most videos I've ever seen, and they're all incredible. They're fun. It's like a blog, a vlog, whatever you want to call it. It's great. Could you tell everybody listening, including me, your biggest fan, Santa, what can we look forward to on the channel next year? More of what you're doing now? Is there any changes you might make? Is there any big shows you're going to go to or tournaments you already have planned?
    36:08
    Well, my channel is very, very leppy. It's low-end production, and it's more about quantity over quality. Yeah, you're right. I've probably put up, well, I actually have put over 1,000 videos now, which is just ridiculous to me. But it is true. And for 2025, I'm not really sure. I'm just going to go one day at a time, one episode at a time.
    36:37
    But I'm sure there will be lots of shenanigans in 2025, so you all can look forward to that. What they may be, I'm not sure, but come along for the ride, and you'll see.
    36:51
    Well, Orby tells me one of his favorites was when you went to Yagpin, and you had Julie Dorsters and Sean Russell and it was kind of a vlog and there was like, you know, you were talking to people in the airport and the hallways and I think you've done that a couple times for the Eggpin. And Orby has told me exclusively, he's hoping to make it to at least the Eggpin, if not possibly perhaps Maple next year. And fingers crossed, the only thing he wanted for Christmas was actually a tattoo. Believe it or not, Mike, he wanted a tattoo. He's 45, he's never got a tattoo. He wanted a tattoo right across his forehead that said, don't forget your passport. And I said, okay, let's do it. It's got to be backwards. I think that's a good idea. Yeah. I think that's a good idea. Could you think of any other present-day... We missed out on Arby and the last Maple. I mean, the last time he showed up to Maple Pinball, he friggin' took over the whole Pinball Shandians channel. He grabbed the camera. He was going around all crazy. He might have had a few pops in him as well, and that was good times. and we didn't get that opportunity last time because he got arrested in the airport for being all crazy. So, yeah, I think that tattoo's probably a good idea. Well, you know Orby. He's got a kind heart, but, you know, he likes to have a couple drinks to the old rum and eggnog there, and from time to time I've seen him sneak off and have the devil's lettuce even once or twice. So his memory ain't what it used to be. But if he comes to Maple, what are the chances that he beats you in one of the tournaments in the spring? One of the tournaments. Any chance in hell? Or no way with how well you've been playing?
    38:32
    Well, you know, isn't he like the friggin' champion of Nova Scotia or New Brunswick? Like the number one in the whole friggin' province? No, he got second place in Newfoundland.
    38:45
    What's that? He got second place in Newfoundland. Yeah, if this guy, if this guy, I don't know, man, it would be a good battle. I think I'm hovering around 11th in Ontario, so I'm just schlepping it down in the middle of the pack here, where Orby's at the top of the heap. So if we do duke it out at Maple, then it should be a good battle. You know, I'm up for the challenge. Well, I'm sure he appreciates the kind words. It looks like he's starting to wake up in the corner, actually. He told me he got an email today saying, actually, he finished third in the province. so he'll have to try to reclaim his title January 18th and I don't want to cheat or anything but I may have used a little bit of magic in my hat that I shared with Frosty to help Orby get to wizard mode and win New Brunswick last year but don't tell anyone I don't want him to get called for cheating on Iffa uh oh could maybe it could be it could be a little bit of that reindeer light helped light up for him uh actually uh I think he is getting old because on his Christmas list, Orby asked for glasses this year. So who knows? Maybe he'll be more accurate when he actually gets them. But we'll see. Let's go back to the shenanigander himself for a second here before I have to call the other little pinball nerds and see how their year was. Could you tell me two quick things, something you really, really, really would like to see happen in the pinball community. It doesn't necessarily have to be a pinball machine per se. but maybe something you'd like to see happen in 2025? And on top of that, maybe more importantly, what was one of your favorite pinball moments for you personally of 2024?
    40:31
    Okay, well, I'd say what would be fun to see in 2025, like pinball machine-wise, like, I don't know, like Nirvana might be a pinball machine to see, but the licensing fees for that might be too high. So maybe we'll just have to settle for like a Courtney Love like hole machine or something, you know. Maybe home pin can do it. And it would just be like a giant gobble hole in the middle of the play field or something. And you just kind of shoot the ball in the hole. Like that would be pretty awesome, I think. And as for favorite moment of 2024, I don't know. There were so many. But one was definitely hanging out with the pinball nerd himself at Maple Pinball when he took over the whole channel. and shenanigans ensued. So that was a fun moment.
    41:19
    Well, when Orby listens to this tomorrow, all hungover as all hell, I suspect he'll really enjoy that compliment, Mr. Dimas. So I want to say Merry Christmas to you, your family, all the London pinball nerds from the good old Loppel. I know Loppel isn't happening anymore, but Santa remembers the times when I would pop by those fun parties and it was a good time and there's now Manor Lounge as well as the London Pinball Club at Fork River which we just heard from Mel this megaphone right before you so pinball is still alive and well am I right?
    41:54
    Absolutely, yep, the London Ontario Pinball League has just kind of morphed into a different format at Fork River so most of the same people in the same community, it's being revitalized and it's going strong just had a record breaking turnout of 30 people at our last tournament on Tuesday a couple days ago, and we played a partners thing, so it was like a split flipper, and we had 15 teams show up, so pinball's going strong in London still, so it's all good. Well, Merry Christmas, Mike, and honestly, thank you so much for all of the great pinball content that you provide. Making pinball content, as you know, is a labor of love. It doesn't pay very well, but it is a fun thing, a way for us to connect with, a way for Orby, of course, to connect with all the other pinball nerds across the world. Thank you for everything you do. He can't wait to see you next year.
    42:50
    And thank Orby as well. I love all his content as well. I listen to pretty much all of it. Merry Christmas to all you pinball nerds out there. There's a like.
    43:01
    Merry Christmas. I'm sorry for the sound getting bad there at the end. Have a good night. Alright, you too. Bye-bye.
    43:09
    Oh my gosh. did you hear the sound cut out there? Why did that do that? Oh, no! Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. Well, oh my gosh. Guys, I don't know why the sound cut out there. I mean, ho, ho, ho, I'm not sure why the sound was cutting out there. That wasn't very cool. Okay, let's try to call the dote himself, the most degenerate of all the degenerates. I'm wondering, Mrs. Claus, if you could fetch me another eggnog or throw me one. if that would be possible, and possibly refresh my... Fill me up! Wait, should I sing a Christmas song in between? No one wants to hear that. Who wants to hear that? Nobody. Literally nobody.
    43:54
    Hark the herald angels sing. Yep, nobody. Okay, okay, there we go. Thank you, that's definitely the correct drink. Could I also have the, um... Can I have the Jitney as well? Guys, I'm drinking the Guava Heist right now. If you're wondering what am I drinking...
    44:22
    What? Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas, Joe! Or should I say the dotus of them all? Santa? Is this you? It is I, Santa, all the way on Whippy, from the northest of the North Poles. Oh, boy. I bet you're freezing your elbows up there in the North Pole. Well, thankfully, due to climate change, I'm actually in shorts and a T-shirt outside right now floating on a million-pound iceberg. It's beautiful.
    44:53
    Wow. That sounds great. Yeah. Mrs. Claus is actually in her one-piece bathing suit. She tried the bikini on, but she hasn't been able to fit into one for about 400 years, if you know what I'm saying.
    45:06
    Oh, I know what you mean. I've got a one-piece bathing suit, too. It doesn't fit me anymore, either. Santa would ask that you please hide that picture when I am there Christmas Eve. Please. For the love of God. Make all the brownies. Now, you are a bit of a foodie, so my first question as Santa is, what type of snack would you leave for me? I would leave some delicious caviar on crackers with maybe some truffled pate be delicious and a nice jacuzzi platter as well I quite like that nothing too filling which is nice but could you just leave a little bit just a little something to keep me and all the reindeer they also love pate. They are very refined. They've been around for a long time. Yeah, just be careful. I hear that pate gives the reindeer gas, so just be careful, because you're at the very tailpipe of that thing there, so be careful. Don't let up any matches, too. You don't have to tell me. Why do you think I'd have Blitzen nowhere near the end anymore? Woo! Why do you call him Blitzen? He isn't just Blitzen. You know what I mean? Spliffs. Like, this guy is Blitzen the cheeseburger, the Taco Bell. I feel like he has Taco Bell almost every day. I forgot about my Santa voice there. Sorry about that. No, Orby's asleep in the corner. He had way too much eggnog with Vixen. You know what I mean? He was Vixen-ing it up over there. Up here, I don't know, Ian and Drew of the Poor Men's Pinball Podcast, they sent me up some type of drink called a Mallon Lort or something. Have you heard of this? Mallon Lort? Oh, Santa. It's not good. No, I don't like it. It burns. The reindeer, I don't know if they'll recover. The reindeer brain. And the toilet paper.
    46:57
    Yeah. Have you tried this, my lord? See that for the reindeer. That'll make them really fly real fast. No, no, no. They can have that boxing day when they're all done for the year. Do you know what I mean? Oh, yeah, sure. They've got a tough job to do, Joe. Speaking of tough jobs, it's been quite a year for you. Orby tells me, you know, I don't listen to the pinball podcast as much as I used to five, six, seven hundred years ago. After a couple hundred years, it's kind of all the same thing. Why doesn't the shark eat the ball and such? But, you know, the main question for you, I guess, is how has your content changed this year? He tells me you not only are doing everything with the Pinball Degenerates, but you're also doing a small podcast. And I only say small because it's only got, what, four, five, six episodes now, but maybe tell Santa a little bit about it. Sell me on it so I can get it for other pinball nerds and put it under their tree.
    47:54
    Well, yes, Ben. It's been a very busy year, and we're also working on, in the new year, working on the next Degenis Awards, which is coming out in March 15th. So check your calendars there. Mark your calendars for March 15th. But also, yes, I'm hosting and producing a podcast that started about three months ago called Dude, Where's My Code? In which I just interview people who are involved in the industry who do rules and code for pinball machines. And so far I've interviewed wonderful people like Stephen Silver and Elizabeth Gieske and Mike Vinacore. I just released one with Dwight Sullivan. Our mutual friend, I hope he's on the good list, Mr. Ian Harawar, also as well. was a guest. And many more. Next thing, the new year, I believe, Raymond Davidson, one of your favorite pinball players, stands up. He's going to be on an episode in early January, 2025. So tune in for that. It's available on Patreon. I know people are upset that there is a cost with listening to podcasts that people are not too crazy about. They like to get their content for free, and I understand that. But, you know, it's only $2 a month so I don't think I'm really asking that much and I am reimbursing the you know to some degree giving a thank you gift for all my guests and I paid our good friend Glenn Wechter who did the music for Orby's podcast Oh Glenn the Skateboarder Yeah yeah Glenn the Skateboarder himself he also did the music for my podcast as well so I thanked him for that and then gave him a form of reimbursement for his work, spectacular work on that. And check out his work also on the Saw pinball game, and many other things coming. Another award show, I believe Glenn is working on, The Twippies. The Twippies, yes.
    50:01
    You'd think that I am sick of pinball award shows, but up here in the North Pole, that time of year, I've got nothing to do but slave drive the elves, so I will be watching The Twippies. Wonderful, wonderful, yeah. It's going to be great from the Wormhole Pinball Collective there. Some wonderful people are involved, and I think it's going to be great. And then, yeah, if you are still bored, we can pretty much tune in for the D-Genny's afterward, a month later, pretty much. I don't have to be bored. I watched the D-Genny's last year, and frankly, they were my favorite pinball award show of the year last year, and I'm not just saying that because there was no Twippies. Nope, nope. It's amazing what you can win by default. Hey! What confidence you get. You said it, not Santa. We're going to do more awards that we'll give away than ever before. We're going to have a lot of really great special segments and more of the same what you loved from last year. If you liked how last year's worked out, we're just going to take it to the next level again this year. So it's going to be really great.
    51:03
    Well, Orby tells me that part of his small little Christmas present to you, the content creators, he's going to not only be joining the club because it's, Does he tell me it's as low as $2 a month? Yes, $2 a month. That's what it costs to go on the Polar Bear Express, Joe.
    51:22
    Yeah, for sure. You could buy at least, that's like 2, like that's 1,000% of a topper nowadays. Like, you know, like that's just 1,000% of a topper for your typical pinball topper. So it's great. I think it's a value And it only gets more and more More value as I add more episodes To the show so I mean yeah it's going to be who knows how long I'm going to be doing this but we'll see I've got a lot of great guests lined up And I'm really excited and it's been a lot of fun so far Really learning about something that I'm not a coder so I don't know much about Like the actual technical thing But I love game design And I come at it from a very like sort of Sort of just enthusiast perspective as opposed to, like, you know, a real nerd coder type. So, yeah, you should give it a listen, Santa. If you can't, you know, be a great Christmas gift, you can now gift Patreon subscriptions. So maybe you might want to gift one to our friend Orby when he wakes up from his eggnog coma up there. Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho. I will do that. He's already put it on his list. He would like that and a tattoo on his forehead that says, Do not ever forget your passport. So those are the two things I'll get him. I hope that you can bring him his new passport as soon as possible and he can do some traveling in the new year as well.
    52:50
    And also, another great event that Orby won't need his passport for is coming up in the new year in, I believe, April. It's a Yankton. Maybe he might see Orby there. I don't know. We'll see. It would be nice.
    53:04
    Well, between you and me, before you passed out on that last shot of Malort, did you call it? Malort? Yes, Malort. Before his last shot of Malort, he specifically told me he wants to make it to Expo, Yagpin, and perhaps at least one Maple Pinball while he's visiting his family back in Ontario. So I think there's a strong chance you'll see him at two of the three of those, maybe all three of them, but I'll tell you one thing he won't do is he will not try to board a plane with an expired license and no passport ever again. Ever. Back to Santa. Well, Joe, thank you for all the pinball content you've created. And I would like to suggest another reason. People should really honestly consider joining and paying the $2 a month. Much like me, they only might hear from me or see from me a couple nights of the year, like when they hear about your podcast. But the whole year, you're busy doing content for the entire community through Pinball Degenes. So therefore, I mean, what is the $2 a month after years of service you've had to the pinball community? I think I as Santa hereby tell you if you're listening now go give this man a toonie for a couple months, listen, check it out, if you don't love it three or four months from now and they cancel they cancel, right? But go try it out I beg you they'll love it.
    54:20
    Check it out, dude where's my code of Pinball Podcast? I'll tell you where your code is it's up here in the North Pole and in my heart. Joe Merry Christmas to you, your family, your friends, the entire Toronto Pinball, oh sorry T-Dot pinball community there.
    54:39
    Merry Christmas, and may all your pinball games lead to wizard modes. Thank you, Dan. A Merry Christmas to you and to Orby and his family as well. Have a Merry Christmas.
    54:50
    Thanks, Joe. Hey, Joe, what do you know? It doesn't matter. I kind of got to pee. It's hard to do that voice for a long period of time. Eventually, you're like, I feel like a dipshit. Why am I still doing weird voice? I kind of got to pee, but I kind of want to call the next person. But, like, what if, like, okay, Colin, I kind of got to pee. What should I do? Oh, could you just bring me a cup? Could you? I'm just kidding. No, I'm just kidding. No, I do have to pee. I don't want to make Mrs. Claus take over. Joe, if you're writing me, I'm going to hear the doot-doot. Don't write me right now. Voice call only, yes. No video. Oh, Joe, you're writing me. Don't write. I'm still live, Joe.
    55:32
    Thanks for the call, man. You're welcome. You are welcome. Oh, my God. I'm sorry for that sound. Like, next year, my promise to you guys is I step up my audio quality next year because, like, that's not cool. I get it. I'm calling Colin.
    55:48
    Ho, ho, ho. Colin, what's up? Merry Christmas. Unfortunately. Roll the finger. Yes, no problem. All right. I got you. That's your speaker. Sounds good. I just wanted to let you know, unfortunately, Orby has had a couple too many eggnogs and is asleep in the corner. Uh-oh. So, unfortunately, you're stuck talking to me, Colin. Are you taking good care of him?
    56:14
    I've got Mrs. Claus over there. She's got a cold compress on his head. She's got smelling salts ready in case he has to uke. We don't want him going to the hospital. up here in the North Pole, Colin. It could be hours away, even with my fastest reindeer dasher.
    56:31
    Oh, yeah, that would be a problem. Now, before we get into the nice part of the interview, I've got something of a beef to pick with you. Uh-oh.
    56:43
    Orbital Albert's main Christmas gift arrived, and it appears as if I looked at the back. Now, this is a limited edition Roger Sharp toy. It does not stay here It was made by my elves Oh no, yeah, I know That was an oversight, you know It happens, I'm sorry Well tell me about the toy for God's sake It's beautiful Yeah, so it's a Roger Sharp Action figure, he's the man who Saved pinball Are you familiar with Roger Sharp? Colin I have been around for hundreds of years Making toys including Pinball machines Roger Sharp. Who do you think is the one who whispered into the judge's ear, that was skill. That was me.
    57:32
    Now, it's limited to only 100 of these, which I do like, because you won't put my elves out of business. No, no, only 100 signed in numbers. Okay, and these signatures on the back, is one of these from Roger Sharp himself?
    57:48
    One of them is, in fact, from Roger Sharp himself. Roger and the artist, Daniel Brown. And this is the artist that you helped to make this instead of my elves?
    58:02
    Yes, I reached out to him. It was on a whim. The elves were next up on the list, but I didn't get to them, unfortunately. Okay, well, if you ever do a product in the future, just remember the elves are an option, and they are unionized now. Do they have good rates? You know what? I'm getting better. Originally, I just fed them a thimble of eggnog, and they heard that other people were paid in happy meals. So now we brought a McDonald's up here, and, well, once a month they get one happy meal, and that's it.
    58:38
    What if we pay happy meal and eggnog? Well, then I think you'd have some very happy elves, especially if you put a little of malort or rum in there for them. Oh, malort. Chicago is pretty happy yes the pinball people I already asked you the serious question for the night let's get on to something a little more joyful and Christmassy okay could you tell me just maybe about one or two funny or interesting moments that you enjoyed being part of in the pinball community in 2024 Colin oh my god it's all I loved the pinball media mixer. It was so much fun hanging out with all my pinball friends and seeing everyone in person Stuff that funny I don know That a good question I don think I have a good answer for that What about that podcast Orbital Albert did when he was pretty upset about not getting invited to Storm I would say, in retrospect, it's kind of funny. In retrospect, it was funny. Honestly, I think if we're talking about Orbital Albert, The one that I laughed at the most was the one where he recorded it from the shower. Because at the time that I listened to it, I was also in the shower. So it was a very meta moment. Oh, my gosh.
    60:08
    That is hilarious. You should have messaged him to tell him that. But you've told us all here, you saved this nugget. Thank you for saving that.
    60:16
    Now, you know I've been around for hundreds of years. I've seen award shows, whether it be the Grammys, the Oscars. I've seen them all. I've been there. I was that guy, the seat sitter, the old man with the white beard. Yes, I trim it in the summer, everybody. Okay, but can you tell me, I've heard that possibly, perhaps, you're bringing back some type of pinball award show, and I think that all of the Orbeez listeners need to know a little bit about where, when, how, who, what.
    60:46
    Give it to me, baby. the pinball community awards aka the twithies uh we're going to do it live from the wormhole uh which is a great uh pinball location in houston texas on february 22nd uh of course we're doing um the usual fan voting process so that opens up on january 3rd okay we've got a ton of awesome categories. We're working on the live show script now and creating all of the voting lists. A lot of active work. We're super excited to do it. We think it's going to be a ton of fun. We hope everyone can join and vote for Orby.
    61:33
    Well, I don't know about that. I've heard his show. Even for me, it's a little rough. I'm bored up here. There's not much content. But that being said, I'm sure he would appreciate you saying that when he sobers up enough tomorrow to maybe listen to this. Sure. Yeah, of course. I'm just curious.
    61:52
    You're going to be bringing back this award show. Are you going to be going out of your way to make sure you do the most important... And I've watched every award show. It's got to be funny and fun. Are you guys going to add humor to it?
    62:06
    We're going to try. Humor is hard. but we'll see what we can do to at least keep it fun and lighthearted well that's the important part and I think that I would like to ask everybody listening, especially the hardcore pinball nerds this will be your first year bringing it back, so if there's a minor flaw or two that's expected, you're not getting paid a billion dollars to organize this you're doing this because you want to help bring something fun back to the pinball community just like me. Exactly. Sometimes I get some naughty little kids and they don't say thank you to me after I deliver Christmas gifts to them. Oh, that's kind of rude. Yes. We want less rudeness in pinball and we want less rudeness when someone is doing something fun. I'm not going to say there's no, you know, Santa understands economics. That's why I give the elves a happy one. But at the same time, you know, I hope that people, rather than being necessarily judgmental are trying to judge this Twippies against the different Twippies. Let's all just celebrate and be positive and joyful this happy time of year that it's coming back, because that's what we all asked for originally. And from all the content I've seen, sorry, I forgot about my voice. From all the content I've seen at Wormhole, the live streaming is very, very good. Oh, it's excellent. And they've got a super passionate team. They all love them all there. They're working super hard. I've already seen some previews of some of the video assets that they're creating, and just awesome work. Could you tell us who the hosts are?
    63:46
    Yeah, the hosts, we have Retro Ralph, we have Aaron Winnick Anthony, and Ian Jacoby from Nudge Magazine. We're calling him our sideline reporter.
    63:59
    Ian's going to be doing the color commentary. Jamie Burchill, too, is also a host. That's how you need to overlook that. Now, the other three you mentioned, Colin, they're all on my nice list. But that Yin-Jakadabidibidi, he's on the I don't know list. Yin can go either way. Yes, most of the time. He's well behaved. But someone passed 9 to 12 drinks. He gets a little degeneratized.
    64:28
    9 to 12, that's very specific. It depends if they're malorts or not. Only Nye Mallorca. And he is this man. I'll tell you what. No, Orby has not met him yet, but he's very excited to meet him. And Retro Ralph. Orbital Albert has been watching Retro Ralph for three, maybe four years before he even came over to Pinball Contents. Four years? Yes. Wow. Yes. So very excited for Retro Ralph. You're a super fan. Super fan. And he just started watching Aaron's science content recently and also enjoys that. and also her on the podcast and Wormhole. She's really good, yeah. Very professional, very talented. I know he told me that Erica's pinball journey is also helping behind the scenes with some of the sponsorships and such, and just such a great team you've got around you there. I'll say even Santa's impressed, and I've got some of the top elves in the world working here. So you've done a great job. Does an elf want to join the committee?
    65:26
    Which elf would that be? whoever your most talented elf is. Sure. Bring them on. Now, he's a little short, so you've got to be careful with those type of jokes. When he plays pinball, he prefers to have a two- to four-foot ladder there that you hold stable for him.
    65:44
    And he does like to only... So he can't use a marker as a tool. No, it would not be tall enough for him. He prefers you to get him into Grandpa's lair in the basement of the Munsters and let him play with the little ball. They make him feel larger. so that's what he really likes you know Stewie Pinball the little balls you know Avatar no wait Avatar has a full size this could be going into some dangerous territory I know I feel like it's not I want it to be they're beautiful people they're wonderful at pinball they love pinball I love pinball you love pinball and oh my gosh Orville Albert is waking up in the corner I better go he doesn't want to have his mic Merry Christmas Colin and to the kineticists to give a quick shout-out to the Kineticist and This Week in Pinball and the newsletter and all the other things besides the Twippies, my friend. Thank you. Thank you very much. You're welcome, Colin. And to you and your family, Merry Christmas! And have all your pinball modes get to wizard mode. Oh, yes, indeed. Have a wonderful Christmas, happy holidays, and Beth to your family of elves and reindeer and snowmen. Well, now you've offended me, and I'm going to hang up because you forgot about Mrs. Claus, and she is perhaps the most important. She has to sit on the couch here and listen to this conversation.
    67:14
    Well, thank you, Colin, and Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas, everybody. Oh, that was fun. I think I have to urinate a lot.
    67:25
    Should I interview somebody while I'm doing that? I'm supposed to call Rachel Risto near the end. Yes.
    67:36
    Oh, okay. Donald Garrison lets me know it was very fun being on the... Oh, excuse me, Santa's got the hiccups. It was very fun being on Awkward, and my wife got mad at me. well Donald Garrison or if he told me anytime he can make your wife Monica mad at you it was a good day so there we go no I'm just kidding the last Don I'm sorry Don the last thing you want to do before you get onto a 23 hour flight is upset your wife and the last thing you want to do before you go to the bathroom is upset your wife and that's why I'm not going to upset my wife I'm going to ask Mrs. Claus to take over and ramble on maybe if you don't mind, Mrs. Claus. You could probably still sit here and go that way, but it's totally up to you. Maybe if you could just tell everybody some of your favorite pinball moments this year. Or just pop while I have to pee. Oh my God, I don't know where it is. Just say hello. Just say hello. You don't have to be like Claus. Hello. This is some time for you to say, or I don't even know what's going on. Anyway, I'm here. Santa will be right back. Hang tight. I hope you guys are enjoying the show. Congratulations to Orbital Albert on his 600th episode. We're all really proud of him. And I hope you look forward to listening to the rest of this conversation as soon as he returns. I have no idea who is next on his list, but it It seems like he has quite the list going, and it seems like he's having quite the conversations. So, he is coming down the stairs right now, and I will leave him to it. And I don't know who your next guest is, but I'm sure everyone is super excited to find out. Ho, ho, ho. Thank you so much, Mrs. Claus. For people don't like dead air, and because of Don's early podcast, I'll already need to do the maximum editing I understand how to do. so I can't edit more and I'm sorry to all of you but I did just run up nine flights of stairs there's only one bathroom here at the North Pole and it's on the very top floor okay all right let's get Santa's pipe reloaded here make sure that I don't know where it is I hope that you can find it there it is ho ho ho Merry Christmas let's try Graham again No, let's try Retro Ralph. I don't know if he'll answer. I'm assuming Retro Ralph will not answer Orby's call, for he's never talked to him before, and it was a little brazen for him to even send him a message to ask him to come on the show, so, Ralph, I will not be upset if you don't answer, my friend.
    70:25
    I think that's the maximum rings. We don't know each other. I'm not calling you back, Ralph. Okay, Ralph, next Christmas, Ralph, we'll get to know each other better, and maybe you'll want to be on the show with Orbital Santa.
    70:37
    Okay, here we go. I'm still a little out of breath. I've got to get back into doing cardio. You guys know my last run that I ran pre-COVID, the last time when I still was a bit of a runner,
    70:48
    was 50 freaking kilometers. Kilometers. Okay, here's Ian. I've got to try to call Ian. He was active nine minutes ago. He did mention it would be hard for him to get the call without calling on the cell phone. Here's the thing, Ian. I can't call your cell phone. dear lordy dear lordy look who's 40 i'm calling ian from nudge magazine he's also co-hosting the twimmies there's your shout out i love you bro um by the way and oh i had that funny thought the other day and i almost typed it but i didn't ian shared on facebook a picture he's like that one year we let a whole bunch of random christmas carolers come into our house and party and he had the tenacity to say he'd never give me his address, and you gave random carolers on the street you invited in to hang out, and you wouldn't let a pinball nerd like Orby hang out with you? Just because I said I might upper-decker. It was a Canadian fantasy. It was a joke. I did tell Ray Day I would call him. I believe he is on the list. Rachel Risto asked for the end. Josh Roop. Okay. Oh my gosh. I got a message here. Okay. I cannot read this message out loud. Yeah. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh my gosh. Okay, okay, okay. I might give Josh a call. If Josh isn't available, that's totally cool. I think he was one of the people who mentioned he might have plans for tonight. Josh, of course. Josh Rupp of the Loser Kid Pinball Podcast. Shout out to them. Go listen to them if you don't already.
    72:23
    Ho, ho, ho. Merry Christmas, Josh. What's going on, Albert? Well, I'm Santa. Orby's asleep in the corner. He's had a little bit too much eggnog with Rudolph.
    72:40
    How's it going, Santa? Well, my night is going very well. Orbital Albert brought me up some new type of alcohol that I'm not too fond of called Malort. And I may have had a couple, one or ten of them, and apparently Orby can't hold his liquor. So now I've got to call everybody on his podcasting list as if I care about pinball. I've been around for thousands of years and made every toy on earth and just because pinball is the best toy of them all, does that mean that I need to have my elves upset because they have nothing to do? Because all the pinball nerds want a pinball machine from Stern or Jersey Jack or one of the other makers? Is it my fault, Josh?
    73:28
    No, not at all. Thank you. I appreciate that. You're welcome. Well, I did want to ask you a quick question. Could you maybe perhaps tell me about a fond memory you have of the pinball community in 2024?
    73:46
    You know, the fond memory is just seeing the community come together. It was amazing to see Expo go off. the way it did in Chicago.
    73:57
    It's great to get out to those shows. It's like family coming back together, and everyone just has fun, and even if somehow Orby gets a hold of Malort and brings it all the way up to you from the show, which is a crime,
    74:14
    you know, just the shows themselves. He's not one for the law, Josh. No. He's a bit of a rule breaker. He's on the naughty list. Well, it sounds like Expo was a very, very, very good time and from what I've been told Orby says he went to something called a Pinberg many years ago and was sort of similar to Expo in that he saw a whole bunch of his old pinball friends and it was even more rad, he said than qualifying for A-Division just to see everybody he loved and missed so, could you tell us maybe one thing you'd love for. It does not have to be a pinball theme. Some of the other pinball nerds I've called have said, Oh, Santa, I want this theme, right? I am Santa. I make toys made of wood. I do not work at Stern. I do not work at Jersey Jack. I do not work at American Pinball. And neither does Steve Bowden. Probably too soon, but you did announce that news. But I love Steve. I do love Steve. Now, here's the thing. Santa, Santa. I love Steve and I hope that they hire him back. I would love American Pinball to work, but Orby tells me that it is possible, after you spoke with Mr. David Fix, that it's not only possible, but that it is partially likely that American Pinball may need to find a new purchaser, or they're really going to have to step up their game and sell more pins. At this point, Orby is very curious what Josh thinks, since he's interviewed Mr. Fix multiple times now. Do you believe it would be better for American Pinball to be sold, say perhaps to a spooky pinball who does very well, or maybe a Jersey Jack? Or would it be better for maybe them to, you know, re-kind of like do a bit of a pivot and come back and be better? Because Orby told me personally he thinks it might be better at this point for them to be bought by a bigger company. But he's curious what you think this festive time of the year.
    76:17
    It's funny you ask this. My wife showed me a video last night about how Nissan has been struggling for years, and Honda's actually buying them out, and they're making this one big super company there in Japan. And it got me thinking, I think that it'd be wise for someone to buy American and all that building capacity and whatnot, and make a super team like a Spooky because Spooky does their own thing in their own lane and it could be a great way to expand into a new market without really overstraining the bottom line. So I think that would be a wonderful idea.
    76:58
    Wow. I don't know if it's the Malort speaking here, but that was a very smart answer. Thank you. I agree, and I have hundreds of years of business experience. I've seen practically, to be honest, every company go in and out of business since Jesus has been here, of course. The year of the birth, a thousand years ago. So, you know, as me being a fan of pinball, I want to see American pinball thrive.
    77:24
    Some people might think that someone like Orby likes to see a pinball company fail, but he doesn't. He wants them to thrive and make more pins and get more pinball nerds into pinball. And he also agrees with you that it might at this point be time for maybe even like a CGC or possibly perhaps another small to medium-sized pinball company to collab together, put their strengths together, hire Steve Bowden back, get him doing your code, hire back anyone that you can. And I personally would love, I mean, Orby. Orby has told me he would personally love to see Cuphead, even though not many other people like Cuphead. He said he loves Cuphead and thinks that it'd be great to see a new pinball designer's work. So, of course, we all want American pinball to survive. But let's change gears to something more positive and festive this time of year. Orby specifically says here in brackets, He's curious to know what is coming in the future for the Loser Kid Pinball Podcast.
    78:25
    Yourself and Scott, of course, over there. What does it look like coming into 2025 for you guys? Because right now in 2024, he tells me you guys have been killing it with the interviews. Same type of thing? Anything different happening? Anything new?
    78:42
    So right now, just focus on those interviews. I feel like that's one of our strongest suits is our interviews. 100%. I also feel like the banter between Scott and I, people love it.
    78:57
    You're going to see we are trying to do our best to capitalize on our content. I'll put it that way. Not necessarily monetize, but to make it more available to the masses. and so that's kind of our goal for 2025 what year are we going into? it's the year 2000 uh oh that's the game plan that's what we have on the horizon for Loser Kid well uh Orville Albert has always loved the Loser Kid Pinball Podcast but he said he truly believes in 2024 y'all came into your own because it's possible even maybe your first Dave Fix interview there was some softballs in there but he tells me this year you guys are more hard hitting than Walter Cronkite so honestly legitimately I mean Santa Orby of course asked me to call many pinball content creators tonight and thank them so much for all their hard work as well as saying Merry Christmas to you and your family Josh, before I let you go to call another pinball nerd, did you have a final message or a shout out or anything else that you would like to say perhaps before I let you go?
    80:19
    Just say thanks for calling Sansa I'm a big fan of the work you've done some amazing things over this last 2000 years and your new movie, The Red One, was pretty amazing I hope your elf The Rock is keeping you safe away from the Wicked Witch now and yeah, hope everything goes well for you. Josh I don't go off topic as often as Orby but I'll tell you what can I tell you one fact about our mutual friend The Rock before you go yes go for it The Rock's father was a wrestler from Amherst, Nova Scotia 20 minutes from where I am and where my orbital I mean I'm in the North Pole it's 20 minutes from where orbital is sorry it's the Malort again but that is a funny fact about The Rock and, well, have yourself a wonderful night and make sure you say Merry Christmas to Scott for Orbital Albert as well as Santa and wish him and his family a very Merry Christmas. I can't wait to hear the next Loser Kid Pinball Podcast.
    81:22
    Sounds great and a very Merry Christmas to you, Santa. Ho, ho, ho. And remember to eat, sleep, and breathe. Loser Kid Pinball Podcast. Have a good night, Josh.
    81:34
    Will do, you too. what a nice guy he's such a nice guy like seriously oh my god if you can't get along with Josh like Josh is maybe I know I had Steve Bowden at the top of that yes I'm still recording should I call now Ryan Barry I just peed I can call you now mate oh no you might oh my god sorry guys I just cock burped can I fuck with him guys I'm going to mess with Ryan I'm going to prank him hello hey mate what's going on I don't know I just had like a I had a really bad night I don't think I'm going to record tonight anymore oh shit oh man Franchi wrecked a second laptop of mine our new dog he's awesome No, right. He wrecked the second laptop, and then Danielle was going to the bathroom, and the freaking toilet she broke, and she fell in, and I had to bring her to the hospital with a broken bum.
    82:43
    You're joking. Holy shit. I didn't even know you could break your bum. Did you know that? Yeah. Yeah, you can.
    82:54
    Oh, yeah. Yes, I can. I'm totally just kidding, Ryan. And Orbital Albert's here. He's drank way too much beer, and he's in the corner asleep. So it's just me sat there here. Ho, ho, ho. Merry Christmas. We are recording. Did Orby get you? You're killing me. Oh, yeah, definitely. Oh, you can't break your bum, bro. That doesn't even happen. It's not even real. Maybe you can. It's highly buttoned. Oh. Well, she didn't fall in the toilet, and Orbital Albert... But Orbital Albert is asleep in the corner, and that's why I, Santa, am here to ask you some questions for the Pinball Nerds podcast. Now, I ask you this, Brian. Why the hell would a toy like a pinball machine need a podcast? That's ridiculous. Do you think there's the Etch-A-Sketch podcast? Probably not. Do you think that there is the Mr. Potato Head podcast? I doubt it. There might be, like, an air hockey podcast. Oh, wait, hold on. But air hockey is our national sport here in the North Pole, so I respect that. I respect that. Now, before Orby fell asleep, he did want me to start with a very simple question.
    84:11
    He was curious how you and Kimba are doing over there at the Phantom Tilt Pinball Podcast. He knows you've moved into a new house, and he's wondering, how is the new house, and how are you all doing? it's great yeah just um i was just standing at the front watering my plants when you called me actually because it's uh it's pretty hot over here now and um yeah we're getting ready for christmas which means the plants start dying if you're not watering them every day so yeah we're going good we're going good mate but it's uh it's been a um very busy few months and uh yeah yeah getting ready for Christmas, getting geared up.
    84:52
    Now, our American listeners like Don of Don's Pinball Podcast probably won't understand the words I'm about to ask you, so we're about to speak in code, okay? I'm sorry. Me being about an hour north of the most northern Nunavut, okay, in Canada, I understand Celsius like the rest of the world, but the Americans, they'll have to Google this. So just so they don't know how hot it is, in Celsius, approximately how hot would it be on a day like today when you're watering your plants?
    85:26
    It's getting up around the 37 degrees mark today, I think. Without the Humidex? Without the what? The Humidex, the humidity. Does it feel like 37 or it actually is 37?
    85:39
    Oh, it feels like 37. No, no, it is 37, yes. Damn, damn. Are you living in the desert? no no not anymore not far from our major city purse here but yeah it sort of hangs around that high 30s early 40s most of the summertime around here yeah now I did hear earlier I was calling some other pinball nerds for Orby who was passed out from too much Malort in the corner with Rudol but I spoke to Don and he said he was on his way to perhaps visit Australia he is, yes that's wild will the two of you be attempting to meet up or, I mean Australia is a big place no matter what people say I have to drop off 500 million presents there every Christmas Eve, I know from one side to the other is huge it's not quite as big as Canada but it's like traveling from one side of Europe to the other It's like a day or a day and a half, right? So how far does Ron Howell's problem come to you?
    86:49
    Australia is the same size as the United States. It is? Okay, okay. Yeah. Wow. So, yes, he's going to be coming over here.
    87:00
    We'll be celebrating Christmas here. No way. And you might even see a special broadcast in your house.
    87:12
    Oh, well, Orby was on the naughty list, so he got cancelled from the international pinball podcast. However, it sounds like the two of the three of you will be non-internationally together in Australia, so that is allowed. Orby will allow it this one time. But he's very excited to hear any content that you do together, especially a live stream. And I would also like to, I mean, Orby would like to hear about you kicking his butt on many pinball machines. But, you know, that's neither here or there. You can message him later with those screen captures, of course.
    87:51
    We'll have to see. We'll have to see, guys. Because I'm sure there'll be a lot of pinball happening while he's over here.
    87:58
    Orby did tell me he got five million recently on Metallica. Or, sorry, not five million, five billion. So he must be getting a little bit better now because that's an incredible score. Yeah, I think it was Star Wars. Five billion on Metallica. Now, that would be something. I have seen two and a half, maybe, by some of the top players, I think. And even then, that could be the wrong game. But certainly, that makes a lot more sense. On Star Wars, especially if you get those, especially if you get the multipliers up to times 30. That's often what I do with my L2, to make sure they work 24-7 leading up to it. I have them on streamlined on Monster Energy with no sugar so they don't crash. And I have them on the peach drink that I used to have. Orby and you both like this one. Oh, yeah, that's good stuff. What is it called? Mango Tango?
    88:54
    No. Peachy Cane. We actually... Angry Alpaca had a tea called that. Mrs. Claus, it sounds as if it's possible Christopher Franchi may be awaking from his slumber.
    89:08
    And if it possible he itching himself in the crate and may need to go for a bath Thank you Mrs Sorry Draco Frenchy is needing to go outside and he sick of listening to me talk in this weird voice Ryan, I've talked to like nine people in this weird voice already. I can't do it anymore. How long have you been? I don't know. Maybe it was eight. That's crazy. I started with a 9% beer. It's all been blurry. But I got to talk to Josh Rose. That was great. I got to talk to Paul. I'm not. I was a kid. Yes. Joe Chervino, the dote, Mike of Pinball Shenanigans.
    89:42
    I don't know. It's been great. And, you know, I got to talk to you, which is great. We're international. Now, what time is it over there?
    89:51
    It is. Hang on. It's just before 8 a.m. Jesus Christ. Okay. Oh, 12 hours exactly. Okay. Yes. Mrs. Claus tells me it's 12 hours precisely from the North Pole official time.
    90:08
    Well, that's great. Now, I don't want to say anything negative or rude around this time of the year, but Orbital Albert was very firm before he passed out in the corner, yooking everywhere. He's asked me when could we or if we will ever hear from another Phantom Tilt Pinball podcast. He misses it dearly.
    90:29
    You will. You'll hear it. you're not over yet I started a new job when we moved out here oh no no not over good we started a new job when we moved out here so it's been a big learning curve for me that's where all my efforts have been going but yeah I think very shortly you know getting this kicked off over Christmas and moving into the new year you'll be hearing a little bit more well I can tell you this Orbital Albert was very excited when you came on the show and dropped that news about Haggis because he doesn't get a lot of people on the show dropping news. He's not really... He considers it more of a pinball blog, not really, like, a news... He's not the Walter Cronkite of, you know... You probably didn't have him in Australia. He's not a news person, put it that way. Yeah, I'm not a news person. Yeah, okay, you've heard of him. Good. Yeah, why would you not? Well, Ryan, before I let you go, I've got a couple more pinball nerds to call, and I think people will probably be already very mad at me because I'm at an hour and 23 minutes, and people seem to get angry if it's past an hour 30, so I will probably call the next person, but before I go, the floor is yours. Do you have a shout-out or anything you'd like to say, or perhaps even like a wish for 2025 for the pinball community, or really anything? Orby will listen tomorrow. Go ahead.
    91:52
    My wish for 2025 is to get lots more Back to Pinball podcast skits from the boys Nut and Don and Glenn Westra. That's what I want, because those things make me crack up, all of those. Those guys are so good.
    92:08
    And other than that, I just wish, my Christmas wish would be for Kaneda to get one of his 100% confirms right. That's the only thing I wish for, just so that he can get one right. I'll tell you what, he's on my naughty list. he gets 100% of the rumors none of the time no I'm just kidding if you throw enough darts at a dart board one will hit what do they say a broken clock is right twice a day something like that that's a saying I hear up here at the North Pole all the time but you know what even this time of year I've been trying very hard I mean Orbital Elbert has been trying very hard in this year to be non-confrontational, even though the Upper Decker incident set him back a little, perhaps. But, you know, he's trying to be more positive all the time, and he's attempted to be drama-free since episode 493. That would be, what, 107 episodes ago, and other than that one minor kerfuffle, I could call it, he's done better. So his goal for 2025, he's told me has continued to be a positive force in pinball. The toughest part is not to be funny. It's to be funny while being positive. Because it's easy to, like, be negative and be funny. It's hard to be positive and funny. That's what he tells me, anyways. I'm Santa. I have a naughty list. I can be negative whenever I want. And I'll tell you what, that Kaneda, he is a negative Nancy, a Debbie Downer, because he told us all that he couldn't ever put a pinball machine in front of a window and belittled and made fun of everyone who did it, and then the man put his pinball machine in front of a window. And the thing that I'm the most offended about is that he made fun of people who have above-ground pools. My dogs, Elwin and Franchie, love to go in the above-ground pool. I'm not going to let them go in an expensive pool and wreck the liner. I'm sorry. Like, I'm sorry. I want my pool to hold its value. Don't we all want our hobbies to hold their value? But no, I think this time of year, I could agree with you, he might be on the naughty list. But that being said, I wish him the best. Merry Christmas to even some of the pinball nerds that I disagree with the most. And to the rest, go to hell. No, I'm just kidding. No, to the rest, Merry Christmas. And from Santa here all the way to Australia and to Rordon and, yes, even to Marty over there, Merry Christmas. And please say hello to Kimba for us and tell her to keep up the ice skating. She's doing up here in the North Pole. If you guys ever come to visit us, the ice skating will come in very handy. well yep it's been a pleasure chatting to you mate and congratulations on 600 episodes oh tell Orby in the morning but thank you so much Ryan and have yourself a wonderful night ho ho ho merry Christmas Australia I don't know why I'm waiting to like hit the goodbye button when I'm talking yes I'm still recording mate I just called you oh no that was from before I don't mind I'm losing my voice a little, which happens when you do some weird effed up voice in between.
    95:25
    Ryan, I'm sorry for tricking you. I'm a trickster. I like to trick a little. I thought that was kind of funny. I tried to see how far I could push it.
    95:33
    Hayden is leaving Amherst now, which means he can be on the show soon. Who's left? Okay, I tried Ian. Who have I not tried? Ralph, Colin, Mark, Sidon. Oh my God, I'm so nervous to call Mark. David Dennis. I said David Dennis, but he didn't reply. I could try David Dennis. Okay, David Dennis of the Silver Ball Chronicles with Ron Howlett. Now, why didn't I try Ron Howlett? I'd love to talk to Ron, but I'm so afraid that maybe Bruce would say something. I'd have to edit or could get more cancelled works. They already got half cancelled this year. I'm trying not to get full cancelled. But I love you, Bruce, and in person when I can edit, I will. I will interview you, Bruce. Don't worry. David Dennis was... Oh, you know what? David Dennis wrote back, and he said he's flying to Orlando. Okay, well, David Dennis, have a wonderful flight, my friend. Thank you for not answering in the line like Donald Garrison. Oh, my God, we're going to go to two hours with Donald. Okay, I tried Drew. I haven't called Rachel yet. I tried, okay, Ralph. Yes, Mark Seiden. Oh, I'm so nervous to call Mike. We've never talked. We've never talked. Okay, well, if I get Mark on here, I'm going to just keep it positive, guys, because it's Christmas. I appreciate Mark, everything he's done. I did get to meet him at Pembroke back in the day. And Mark, if we don't chat tonight, you know what? I'm going to call Mark in January, and I'd love to do an interview with just Mark. That would be great. Mr. Seiden, if you're listening, I'd love to chat with you personally. I am going to get a better microphone, and I am going to try to take the podcast slightly, guys slightly, slightly more serious in the future. And who else can I call? This is good. I was very, I'll tell you the two fellows I was the most nervous for calling was Ian of Doc Monday of Nudge, because I've never talked to him before. Pretty much everyone here I've talked to. Drew, Drew I've talked to multiple times. Ian, I told Ian I would try to call him. So guys, Ian did not write me back. Oh, Jeff did. Oh, Jeff Teolis. Okay, we could call this guy. Nope. No answer from Jeff. I was going to maybe possibly perhaps play a little bit of a trick on Jeff, but no, I wouldn't do that. I would not do that. Jeff, just kidding. I will say this. I was, you know, I thought my chances were very, very low, but when Final Round put up a post about looking for new talent for the show, I did slowly, quietly raise my hand because I do think it'd be great for Jeff to have someone on the show, like both him and Marty are like, especially if Marty lived in the USA, they'd be like top 250 in the world. I hover around like three to 6,000 for the last five years. Maybe if I lived in Chicago, I'd get back to like 1500th. I don't even know if I could get that. I think my top ranking ever, like when there was like half the people, there's only maybe 55, 60,000 people. My top ranking ever was like around 10,000. I don't know what it says on FBA. Who cares? You can check if you want to, but why would you want to? But, um, who else? We don't have too many people to call. My buddy, Eric. I can't wait to call Eric. Okay. my buddy Eric, I could surprise call my dad as a joke Eric, let's call my buddy Eric so some of you guys who have been listening for years would know Eric, he came on the video game episode oh wow, what a pitcher, I want that pitcher okay, let me message Eric oh my god guys, I said between 6 and 7 Atlantic Standard Time, it's now 8 o'clock I'm an hour late.
    99:33
    Hello. Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas, Eric! And how are you doing on this fine evening, my friend? Pretty good. Well, I am very glad that the evening finds you well. Now, I was just mentioning our past before I called you. unfortunately your friend Orbital Albert has had one too many screwdrivers and is fast asleep in the corner cuddling with Mrs. Claus I might add, a little suspicious so he's asked me to go through the list of pinball nerds to call and well just give them a quick season's greetings so from Orbital Albert and all of us here at the North Pole Merry Christmas Eric Merry Christmas to you oh thank you so much Now, since you've last been on Orby's show, I've heard that you have purchased your first pinball machine. Could you tell us what you've got?
    100:35
    Solaride. Okay, okay. That was Mr. Jeff Teolas trying to call us back, but I will call you back in a moment. Oh, my God. Eric, can I call you back?
    100:46
    Sure. Eric, I will call you right back. Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas, Jeff! Hey, buddy, how you doing? Well, I'm doing very well. Our friend Orby, on the other hand, he had one or too many eggnogs, and he's fast asleep in the corner, all snuggled up with Mrs. Claus, I might add.
    101:19
    Whoa! I know! Who needs a full... Who needs a pool of gold when you've got Mrs. Claus at your fingertips? Well done. It is funny that you mention that, because that is the one thing Orbital Albert mentioned that he wanted for his above-ground pool. And an above-ground pool costs much less to fill with gold than a large one, as you might expect. So, I think he wants that and a tattoo that says, Never leave your passport at home when you're flying on an airplane. Oh dude, that sucks that you couldn't come out to Ontario for the Maple event But we've got one in March and I'm sure you'll be back to see your good buddies In London, in Toronto, in Ontario And we miss you man Well I appreciate the sentiment Jeff But believe it or not I've been watching pinball tournaments for the past 2000 years And I'm sort of bored of them now But this Maple pinball you speak of Tell me a little bit more about it I'm so close to Canada, maybe I should come to it.
    102:22
    Well, Santa. Pardon the slip when I said Orby. Of course it's Santa. Of course. Yeah. It's run by Shane Jackson, and it's kind of a Toronto pinball repair. Years ago, it was the Church of the Silver Ball. But every Friday night, they have a big pinball tournament. They get about 30, 40 people come out. A couple times a year, we have big, massive events, including the Ontario Open. and also the Spring Spectacular, in which we give away tickets at Pinberg. So big events at Maple Pinball just west of Toronto in Mississauga.
    102:58
    Oh, yes, it's funny you should mention that. One of Orby's good friends, Mike Dimas, won his Pinberg ticket at Maple last year just for going.
    103:10
    Shenanigans were had by all, no question about it. Dimas was very, very excited, and he did well at Pinberg, in fact. He's a little bit of a liar, though, for he calls himself a shenanigander, but he's on my nice list, actually. Unlike you, Jeff, you're on the naughty list.
    103:27
    I expect nothing less. Well, I'm not going to lie. I haven't got to hear as many of my favorite pinball podcasts recently from the final round, but that last episode with the good Canadian himself, Mr. Ed Robertson, And I giggled at that, as so did Mrs. Claus. And Mrs. Claus does not enjoy many pinball podcasts. So I did want to thank you for that one.
    103:54
    Well, she's enjoying Orby right now. I know she likes some podcasts. But anyway, we just recorded a final round last night, so there'll be one out before Christmas. So there you go. Well, Jeff, Orby's passed out in the corner, so he won't even hear about this. So go ahead. I won't tell anyone. Could you maybe give us a hint of who the co-host may or may not be?
    104:19
    We had a final two kind of babble it out on final round, and I hope we made the right decision, but we'll find out when people hear the podcast. So it came down to two people. Orby was actually in the running, believe it or not. He was probably top four. I thought you said he was your fifth favorite backup.
    104:46
    He made it all the way to number four, so he has really done well this year. By the way, that podcast about Stern Pinball, which sadly was deleted, is always going to be the funniest pinball podcast I have ever heard in my life, and don't you think I don't have it downloaded, because I do. well Orbea told me he's never actually listened to it but when you reminded him of that one scene it kind of gave him some post-traumatic stress however he's honestly never listened to it and never will but that being said possibly perhaps it was either his best podcast or his worst it's the only one that got a thousand listens in 72 hours so it obviously must have been his best I'll tell you that I heard it 15 of those a thousand times for sure because it was gold. And, you know, I took a little bit of tongue-in-cheek and stuff. And anyway, Orby, please pass along to Orby. He is a unique unicorn in the podcast world, and the pinball community is better for him.
    105:56
    Well, I certainly hope that that's true. like I said I only listen to you and Ed Robertson but you know Orby likes to think some days the podcasts are okay and other days they're not just like you know a regular person you might meet at work and you're talking at the water cooler some days you're like that's an interesting story and other days you're like dude could you shut up so you know a little bit of both he's never worked for a radio station like many of the other excellent podcasters out there that's what he's told me anyways But, well, Jeff, it looks like I'm getting up to the two-hour time limit, so I should probably go. But could you maybe just, on the way out the door, give us maybe, like, a fun thing that you'd like to see happen in the year 2025 in the pinball community? Not necessarily a theme that you'd like to see come out, but just maybe an event you're excited for or something you'd like to see either change or maybe... It can be tournament pinball or not. I know you're a big tourney guy, Orby tells me. But do you have anything kind of like that to give us and all the pinball nerds on the way out the door today?
    107:06
    Absolutely. So here in the great white north in Canada, we are the second biggest country as far as number of players in the world. Hear, hear. And my hope is that we actually hold a true Canadian championship as early as 2026. and I have a feeling, Santa, that could happen.
    107:28
    Merry Christmas. Merry, Merry Christmas. Mr. Teolis. Ho, ho, ho. Merry Christmas to you, your family, and all of the, I'll say, Tri-Cities Pinball Nerds. So have yourself a wonderful night and make sure to listen to Pinball Profile as well if you pinball nerds already don't because there's good stuff happening there too. thank you Santa please give my best to Mrs. Claus and Orby all the best to you on the holidays bye bye Merry Christmas you naughty naughty boy no I'm just kidding Jeff is not naughty Jeff is a hottie toddy a hottie patottie I don't even mean that in like any type of non platonic way I just mean he's cool he's fun he's honestly like as a tournament director goes pretty awesome. And it's kind of weird because he's also like the voice of Pinball as well as, right? So... Eric.
    108:30
    I mean, uh, hello, Eric. How are you? Great. Well, I, Santa, am so sorry that I had to go speak to the voice of Pinball himself, Jeffrey Teolis. I shouldn't have dumped you for him, but he was busy and in the car or something like that. So I suspect had I not answered his call, I may not have got him.
    108:56
    That's fine. Well, Mr. Teolis of The Final Round, thank you for saying I was top four. And when number two or number three or number four tap out in the year 2030, I'm taking over. No, the gentleman I just talked to, Eric, he co-hosts a really cool pinball podcast called The Final Round. And for one reason or several, we're not necessarily sure, his co-host Marty is no longer hosting, I mean, we know why, but he's no longer hosting the show. So he was kind of looking for new talent, and look, I'm not talent. So look further than me. You know some people say, look no further?
    109:34
    I say look further, you know what I mean? Like if you're trying to, and the other thing is too, the one time I got to go on the final round with Jeff, I completely ruined it by over-talking him and getting too drunk for the show.
    109:50
    It's my fault. It's the same thing with missing the flight. Now, many of the people here listening do not know, but you weren't actually coming to the pinball tournament. I was going back to go at Maple, but I was going to hang out with you on probably perhaps the Wednesday at Forked River and the Thursday at... I was going to hang out with you for a couple days, you, Matt, my family, before I actually went to the pinball tournament, which is part of the reason why I didn't get on a later flight. because when I found out I couldn't hang out, like, you and Matt are basically my two best buds in the whole wide world, right? So, like, if I couldn't really get to hang out with you, I couldn't see my dad, I couldn't see my sisters. Yes, I did want to see all the other pinball people at Maple, but if I couldn't see, like, you know, you, my bestie, my dad, my, you know, my family, then it was like, why am I, I'm, like, this close to hang out with everybody, but I'm not there. I'm an hour away in Toronto. so that's part of the reason why it would have killed me to come back if I came back but didn't get to hang out with you guys because I had to hop on a flight like 8 hours after the last tournament ended and I wouldn't have got back to London to hang out with you all but have you managed to forgive me and Eric before Santa comes back on the mic will you forgive me for Christmas it's all I'm asking from you will you forgive me for being a moron and not making it back to London yes round of applause everybody round of applause that's great thank you I appreciate that. I asked Matt for forgiveness as well. I think I asked Mike Dimas, but I was only going to see Mike Dimas at the tournament. I wasn't staying in the hotel room with him and seeing him multiple days before that.
    111:19
    We were talking about how you got Solar Ride and you played that for a long time, which is so meaningful because that was literally the same pinball machine that was my second machine ever.
    111:31
    And your experience of owning it was obviously pretty good, but you have at this point now sold it and moved on. Chance of you buying another pinball machine, not sure, probably not for now, maybe in the future. Like, would you buy an EM again, or would you get a solid state, would you get a more modern one, you're not sure.
    111:50
    Well, you know I want Star Trek, but that's out of my price range. Yeah, but, first of all, as you know. And you're constantly fixing it. Well, okay, I have heard that. I think Bruce and Ron actually from Sam Tilt Pinball Podcast mentioned that. Multiple times. It's one of the trickier ones.
    112:12
    There is... I'm trying to remember, is there an older solid state or an EM? There's at least... Is there one or is there two? Is there three altogether or four? Do you remember?
    112:25
    What, Star Trek machines? Yeah, there's the modern Steve Ritchie Stern one that's, like, incredible, that has more frickin' flow than Niagara Falls' like, de-thaws. Wait, no. My wife taught me... I mean, Mrs. Claus taught me, as Niagara Falls thaws, there's no D.
    112:44
    But, yeah, so, like, ideally you would get Star Trek The Next Generation, because, A, that was your favorite Star Trek of all of them, and, B, like, it's just the theme is pretty... The call-outs are incredible in that. The shots are super fun. But it has what, like... Well, they got, like, two-thirds of the cast to do the call-outs. Like, wow. and they were the real people they weren't like fake actors brought in many times back then they were fake actors brought in they were the real cast yeah Patrick Stewart's voice is on there prepare for multiball yeah you can tell when Patrick Stewart is talking you can tell like without a doubt 100% that is him yeah okay wait can you give us a famous call out from her you can't remember any right now Well, I just said that all hands prepare for multiball. All hands prepare for multiball! There's no, like, beam-me-up Scotty or anything, probably.
    113:45
    No, but I mean, there is a replicator in it that replicates the ball. Okay. I mean, there is a lot of moving parts, but Eric, I will say this. For people who don't know you that well that are listening right now, you are kind of like a mechanical genius slash god slash techno. So, like, I even know my son, I think in grade 9 or grade 10, he wanted to make a hoverboard because he had just watched Back to the Future and he loved it. And honestly, within, like, two hours, you looked up how to make it. We went and got all the supplies. And you helped me make the coolest hoverboard ever. And, like, everybody at my son's school was wowed by how awesome his project was.
    114:22
    I'm just saying, if anyone can fix Star Trek The Next Generation, you, I'm sure, with online forums, Pinside, Facebook help groups. I'm sure you can figure it out. So don't let that discourage you. Obviously, saving up some of the money is maybe the more tricky part. Am I right?
    114:37
    Yeah. Okay. Well, who knows? Maybe Danielle and I, I mean, maybe Mrs. Claus and I will sell the farm someday. And maybe Orbital Albert could buy up your Buffy collection of comics. No, I wouldn't. I mean, he would not do that.
    114:55
    Orby is just starting to wake up, though, from the corner from his eggnog sleep. He can hear that his son has got back to River Hibbert from Halifax, and he should probably leave soon. But he woke up long enough to ask me if you'd like to play Fortnite, perhaps, in like half an hour.
    115:13
    Sure. Okay, well that is Luna Tuna, Elowen Agar, letting us know that Hurry Up Hayden is now home from Halifax, and I suspect that we're going to hear from Draco Franchi very soon. That being said, I want you to have a very Merry Christmas, Eric, and a Happy New Year. And Orby also wanted to say thank you so much for all your help with setting up the Pinball Nerds podcast Twitch channel back in the day when he ran it full time.
    115:42
    Dead or come. Well, to you and yours, and also say hello to Kyle there, please make sure to set out some brownies. Everyone leaves me cookies, and all I want is some special space brownies, okay? It's very hard having to be, you know, it's very tricky. People only think about how cold it is or the temperature that night. They don't realize when you're in the sleigh it doesn't have a windscreen or any type of windshield. And with the windshield, it's very cold up there. So if you could leave me some warm space brownies while I'm traveling in outer space on the sleigh, I would appreciate it.
    116:22
    There you go. Ho, ho, ho. Merry Christmas. And as Orby would say, cheers times three, sir. Cheers times four.
    116:33
    Merry Christmas. And we'll play Fortnite soon. Oh my God, excuse me. Okay, pinball nerds, I've probably gone way too long. I think I called everybody.
    116:46
    I think, I think I did actually call everybody. I might have done everybody. You know what? Maybe later in the year, guys, I might come back with another show. I'm not asking for any donations at this point. I haven't asked since way back on my birthday. All I would ask is that if you enjoyed the show, you got some fun out of it, maybe share it on Pinside, send a link to your friend or family member. And if you're really courageous, like calling Mark Seiden, who you've never talked to. Well, I had a talk. I interviewed Mark Seiden, but it was the night before Pemburg, and he, well, he was a pinball designer, but he was a homebrew pinball designer. He wasn't working at JJP, JJP making perhaps the most beautiful pinball machine of the year. And no matter what you say about Avatar, it is perhaps the most beautiful pinball machine we've seen this year. I can't say it's prettier. I can't do it. Sorry, Franchi. Sorry. But Elton John was a grand slam. I don't know if they'll beat Elton John ever, because Avatar is pretty. Not to say X-Men isn't gorgeous, because it's right up there. Don't worry, Jeremy Packer. I love you. All you pinball nerds listening, Ian, Jakabadadadi that I missed talking to and who else is in this? Drew from the Poor Man's Pinball Podcast if you ever like to chat Ian, Ian never responded oh wait, Tim Lee, Tim Lee said he would be out okay guys, my nightcap is Tim Lee what about Ian? Ian, I don't even know if Ian saw it he didn't respond at all, I don't want to call him bug him, I know Ian doesn't do a lot of pinball podcasts anymore, Ian or Ian and Drew if you ever want to come on the show, open invite love to chat with you, gonna finish up here with Tim the Lion Man Lee there's some type of like lion man joke and pimple that I don't understand but uh you know what Tim I love you I've probably had too many beers I shouldn't be podcasting anymore from me and mine all the way here from the North Pole in the studio nine stories under the ground thank you so much for listening everybody until next time remember to eat sleep and breathe wait should I sing on the way out O little town of Bethlehem