Journalist Tool

Kineticist

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

v0.1.0

← Back to items

Melissa Lummus - Pinball in 2026 - Episode 81

JBS Show·podcast_episode·1h 6m·held·Jan 6, 2026
View original

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.032

TL;DR

Melissa Reese discusses new pinball content strategy and competitive goals for 2026.

Summary

Jamie Burchell interviews Melissa Reese, a content creator, former Netflix reality TV contestant, and pinball enthusiast launching a new 'Mel Plays Pinball' channel focused on story-driven tutorials and beginner-friendly content. They discuss her film/TV work, pinball resolutions including qualifying for Tennessee women's state championship with aspirations for the open division, and community building strategies to recruit new players to competitive pinball.

Key Claims

  • Melissa has qualified for the women's state championship every year since starting to play pinball, but has never qualified for the open division in Tennessee.

    high confidence · Melissa speaking about her tournament history: 'I've qualified for the women's state championship and I have done that every year since I started playing. Um, I have never qualified for the open.'

  • Tennessee has broken 600 unique players competing in pinball tournaments.

    high confidence · Melissa: 'we broke 600 unique players this year' when discussing Tennessee's player base

  • Melissa believes she may be the first female to potentially qualify for the open state championship in Tennessee if she achieves her 2026 resolution.

    medium confidence · Melissa: 'as far as I know, and I need to go back and double check this, but I don't think we've actually had a female qualify for the open in Tennessee yet'

  • Jamie Burchell is reducing his competitive pinball play in 2026 to focus on fun rather than points and rankings.

    high confidence · Jamie: 'my goal is to play less pinball. I know that sounds crazy, but I'm going to play less competitive pinball and more fun pinball because I got caught up in the shit where I'm thinking at 3,800 that I could be any good.'

  • Melissa is launching a content series called 'Storytelling and Pinball Machines' focusing on the narrative elements within games rather than tournament strategy or history.

    high confidence · Melissa: 'I'm doing a series called Storytelling and Pinball Machines... It is what is the story within this game? So for instance, I did one on Creature from the Black Lagoon.'

Notable Quotes

  • “I want to add into the mix of pinball content the stuff I'm looking for and more rarely finding... I'm not trying to be Bowen Kerins. We already have Bowen Kerins. I'm really trying to create a spot, especially in the TikTok space and these spaces that are really bringing in like Gen Z and millennials.”

    Melissa Reese @ N/A — Explains her content strategy and positioning: filling a gap in accessible, beginner-friendly pinball education on social media platforms, not duplicating existing expert content.

  • “I've been playing better when I'm just like, you know what, I want to walk the high wire in Circus today... not like if I don't beat this guy's score, then my IFPA points are going to be less.”

    Melissa Reese @ N/A — Articulates how focusing on game objectives and fun rather than points/rankings improves her actual play performance, supporting a key mental/competitive insight.

  • “We are willing to make fools of ourselves for your enjoyment. Total fools. Total fools.”

    Jamie Burchell @ N/A — Expresses the community's commitment to recruiting new players despite social awkwardness, highlighting the culture of welcoming newcomers to pinball.

  • “How do you know someone plays pinball? They won't shut up about it, right?”

    Melissa Reese @ N/A — Characterizes the passionate, evangelistic nature of pinball enthusiasts and their tendency to recruit others.

  • “I think there's something very much to what you're saying about the anxiety management and the mental approach of how we play because I'm playing better when I'm just like, you know, focused on the task rather than the stakes.”

    Melissa Reese @ N/A — Validates the psychological observation that task-focused play improves performance compared to pressure-driven/points-driven play.

Entities

Melissa ReesepersonJamie BurchellpersonEricapersonBowen KerinspersonZach Sharpeperson[name withheld pending review]personMartha StewartpersonWill Levis

Signals

  • ?

    content_signal: Melissa Lummus launching dedicated pinball content channel with story-first, beginner-friendly approach on short-form platforms (TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts), filling perceived gap between long-form expert tutorials and accessible entry-level content for Gen Z/millennials.

    high · Melissa: 'I want to add into the mix of pinball content the stuff I'm looking for and more rarely finding... I'm not trying to be Bowen Kurtz. We already have Bowen Kurtz.'

  • ?

    community_signal: Active effort by established community members (Jamie, Melissa) to recruit new players at venues and tournaments using informal social approaches; focus on retention beyond first tournament attendance.

    high · Jamie: 'when there's someone new, we all gravitate... I want them to stay. I want them to have a second tournament, not the first.' Melissa recruited actual new tournament player via TikTok filming stunt.

  • ?

    competitive_signal: Both hosts reporting that anxiety-driven, points-focused competitive play degrades actual performance; task-focused, fun-oriented play improves results. Jamie reducing competitive play load; Melissa finding personal high scores during casual, story-focused filming.

    high · Jamie: 'I'm not going to take it as seriously as I have in years past because I think it just brought too much undue stress.' Melissa: 'I've gotten my personal high score on all of the ones where I'm doing that because I'm just focusing on actually playing the game.'

  • ?

    competitive_signal: Tennessee women's pinball showing competitive depth (600+ total players state-wide, consistent women's state championship division, monthly women's tournaments); potential gender barrier in open division qualification unbreached to date.

    medium · Melissa: 'I have never qualified for the open... as far as I know... I don't think we've actually had a female qualify for the open in Tennessee yet.'

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.200

0:00
🎵 Hello and welcome to another edition of the JBS show. Today, I'm excited that my guest is a repeat guest, Melissa Loomis. You guys might know her from YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Rising Star, but really also a former contestant on Netflix season two of The Mole. I'm talking with Melissa Loomis. Hi, Melissa, all the way from Nashville. Hi, Jamie. How you doing? I am great. I'm great. So good to see you again. And so we share a love, the two of us, for pinball and reality TV. Yes. Yes, we do. We really do. And since you started this new channel, I was like, you know what? I got to get her on. So I've been bugging her for a couple of months, ladies and gentlemen, and she finally agreed to say yes the day before my birthday. This is going to be out on my birthday. Yeah, tomorrow, January 6th. Oh, happy birthday. Thank you. It's always weird having a birthday right near the holidays, but, you know, I get through it. And I'm going to be 53. Hurts feelings.
1:37
Like a fine wine. Do you get your birthday, like, packaged in with Christmas? No, you know, Jean does a really good job with that. My mom always did a really good job with that. So they make the, you know, they'll make tomorrow real special, and it's sweet. God bless them. That is sweet. But, you know, when you get a grandkid, your birthday doesn't mean anything compared to what they. holidays and everything. You take a way back seat. Oh, it's the little champion in training. He plays the shit out of this machine. I see him on your posts and stuff, and I'm like, he is locked in. He comes in, and he's like, ball, ball, and he just comes in, he grabs a chair, and he wants to play. He doesn't know what the hell he's doing. Obviously, he's two years old, but he goes, get it. He's a Texan Of course he says get it Get it And he loves it He'll play for hours But you can't see over his little head So Janine is the one that plays with him the most Because of the height She can kind of squeeze in At least do something So let's talk reality TV We're going to get to the pinball But I haven't seen her And I need to catch up with Melissa How bad was Big Brother This year It was so bad that I didn't actually watch every episode. Usually when Big Brother comes on, I am glued. I'm like, as soon as it comes out, I am there. I did a lot of recaps this year. I did a lot of like what happened this week kind of stuff. Yeah. I am always going on Big Brother Underground or any of these spoilers to see who won Vito, who won this, who won Head of Household. This year could care less. Same. To the point where I think me and you should go on the show. Let's try to get on the show. Don't you think we would be really good at Big Brother, one of us? But I think me or you should go and try to be on Big Brother. First of all, the pinball, it would be Jamie Birchall, pinball player, right? We know that that would be up there, right? Yeah. And the fact that we're pinball content creators, we have an extra edge. We know how it works. We know how to find the angles. Oh, God. I don't know if that would be good. I think maybe that's why I loved the cast so much of the season before this one. I felt like they were all so interesting and funny and charismatic. And maybe I'm biased as well because that season came out around when our mole season came out. And there's this world and reality where everyone's kind of hyping each other up and reaching out, being like, hey, you good? That was crazy, wasn't it? So even though only some of them I've met in person, I have friends from Survivor, friends from Big Brother. And I think I was just partial to that season because that felt like our class. It's like class of class of 2025 or whatever it was. Yeah. So maybe I had a tiny chip on my shoulder going into this one going, wait, these aren't my I don't know these people. But, you know, they just weren't my people. I just couldn't I couldn't get into them. But, you know, hey, look, it's a great show. if you don't watch Big Brother, I know there's a huge pinball contingent because every time I go to a tournament, we'll sit in the corner and there'll be seven to ten of us talking Big Brother. Zach Sharp's a Big Brother fan as well.
person
Joshua Clayperson
Harrisonperson
Ralphperson
Joelperson
Mel Plays Pinballproduct
The Moleproduct
Big Brotherproduct
Insider Connectedproduct
Creature from the Black Lagoongame
Jurassic Parkgame
Iron Maidengame
Circusgame
Eastside Bowlvenue
[name withheld pending review]organization
IFPAorganization
  • ?

    design_philosophy: Melissa articulating kinesthetic and story-based learning preferences over technical instruction-first approaches; referencing cognitive science research on sex-based learning differences to justify narrative-first pinball education strategy.

    medium · Melissa: 'I'm a very kinesthetic learner... if someone's like, oh, it's time to rescue Forky. Here's where you do it. That sticks with me a lot better' and references study on children's STEM learning via character/story.

  • ?

    product_strategy: Jamie reporting disconnect between short-form video views (1500-2000 per video) and subscription/like conversion rates; AI verse video garnered 20,000 views but limited channel growth.

    high · Jamie: 'I get like 1500 2000 views on a tiktok or on a short and I won't get the uh the subscriptions to it... I got like 20,000 views on that dumb thing' (AI video) but low subscriptions.

  • ?

    personnel_signal: Melissa Lummus emerging as new dedicated pinball content creator in ecosystem; active support network with Erica's Pinball Journey; positioning herself as complement to existing creators rather than competitor.

    high · Melissa reached out by Erica, acknowledged need for diverse content creators: 'We need all of it, you know?... we need more people in pinball, right?'

  • $

    market_signal: Tennessee pinball showing significant participation growth (600+ unique players competing) with established monthly women's tournament structure and state championship divisions.

    high · Melissa: 'we broke 600 unique players this year' in Tennessee; monthly women's tournament at Eastside Bowl mentioned as regular event.

  • ?

    rumor_hype: Jamie and Melissa joking about potential Big Brother casting; both considering reality competition show appearances. The Mole season 3 currently not in development per Melissa's official statement.

    low · Jamie/Melissa discussing potential Big Brother appearance; Melissa: 'There is no official answer on that [Mole season 3]... they are not currently... there's not one currently in the works.'

  • ?

    content_signal: Emerging content creator preference for glass-off/objective-focused tutorials (Joel's approach referenced positively) over technical rule explanation; story-narrative framing of mode objectives generating strong audience engagement.

    medium · Melissa: 'Joel from Triple Drain... takes the glass off and he's showing you the objective... Now I can figure it out.' Her storytelling series 'has been the thing that most people have been reacting to.'

    • 4:58
    Uh-huh. If you've ever read Zach, he shares our affinity for reality television. That's awesome. I love it. I told the story last time, I won't tell it again, how I almost got on The Apprentice. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, it was a great story. If you haven't heard that episode, I highly recommend going back to listen. You might clip that one day because it is a long story, and I'm making an ass out of myself. But I got invited to California, so I almost got there, but I pulled the plug on it. But Big Brother, I think I would do.
    5:34
    Yeah. I think you'd be good at it. I need to lose like 30 LBs because you know you've got to stand on the wall.
    5:42
    True. No, you're standing on the wall with slime and shit getting on you. And so I think I need to start. We'll get back on the Peloton for that. So we'll see. I mean, I did the role and I have not a muscle in my entire body. You did great. Nelson Witt.
    5:58
    Are they coming back with season three? There is no official answer on that. Okay. That is public. Like what I can say is they are not currently, there's not one currently in the works. In development. But that's not me saying it's dead. It's me saying it's right now. That's a bummer because I love that show. Me too. I really love it. No, it's a lot to pull off. It's a lot to pull off. Like you look at Big Brother, for the most part, you're in one location.
    6:34
    You know, we're moving around every day doing like Hollywood level blitzing. stunts and that is not cheap so i think for the reasons we love it um are the same reasons that you do the mall house just come in a house yeah yeah that's yeah travel to dubai just come in a house all right so you've worked on a lot of films if anyone doesn't know melissa does a lot of film work and can we talk about that for a minute before we get into pinball yeah absolutely Give some plugs on some of the things that you've worked on. ESPN, right? And NFL films? A lot of ESPN. So I am a freelance, mostly producer. I do a little bit of directing, a little bit of writing, but mostly story producing. So my actual job is kind of taking something going, what is the main story of this and how do we pull that off? So I've done a lot with ESPN. We did a sports betting show called Better Days. That's a lot of fun. You can watch that whole thing on ESPN Plus right now. And then this past year, I did a lot of like partnerships with different like athletes and brands. So Will Levis, who's the quarterback or last year was the quarterback for the Tennessee Titans, had a partnership with Hellman's Mayonnaise. So we made a bunch of just like ridiculous mayonnaise commercials um with him i did some work with martha stewart this year which was really exciting how is she is she lovely she is an icon she's so cool and i gotta say like so lovely to work with um you never know what these you never know with people you never know right they could be a diva they can and like she's she's not an asshole she's specific but she's also martha stewart like she didn't get to be where she was without having really dialed in opinions and process and her time is really valuable but she's she's absolutely wonderful she just gets it done she like had she was so much fun on set um spoke to everyone And like I was like, what was it? So we were doing she does a partnership with Knorr, like K-N-O-R-R, like Beyond Cubes and stuff. So she did a whole campaign with them where we duped fast food products. So like the McRib, things that have come out that have a big following and she would make a recipe for it using a Knorr product. So we went to New York and like filmed a bunch of like comedy bits of her doing that. But the best part was that we had to keep numbers down on set. And I learned this year, speaking of LBs, I'm the same height and weight as Martha Stewart.
    9:27
    So I doubled as her stand in because I was already had to be there. So she would get done and I would be standing there as we framed up the shot looking at monitor. and she would come back in and just like tease me in like the funniest, greatest way. And I was like, I can't believe this. This is ridiculous. Just being in her presence. So that was a big highlight.
    9:54
    But yeah, a lot of ESPN, a lot of NFL work, which, you know, you would never know because I don't have a competitive bone in my body. No, you don't. I've seen you play pinball and you're pretty good. We'll talk about that later. She's going to the state finals, ladies and gentlemen.
    10:10
    She's pretty VA. So you just started this Instagram, TikTok, reels, shorts thing called Mel Plays Pinball, right? Yes, correct. What kind of content do you want to put out there? Yeah, so, I mean, the thing, well, here's, I guess, the one-sentence answer. I want to add into the mix of pinball content the stuff I'm looking for and more rarely finding. because we have a lot of really, really wonderful information.
    10:41
    And but what I would find is like we have a lot of great long form and that is getting more like clipped and clipped into short form. But I also came into this, you know, this is my fifth year playing, but there's a learning curve. And I think that in those beginning years, I was really looking for content that was giving me more of the one on one.
    11:06
    And so that's really what I'm trying to build. I'm trying to build a space for people that are interested and may have a little bit of knowledge, but that maybe aren't quite yet to the levels that are going to benefit the same way as these really in-depth tutorials and things that are fantastic. And the better I get and the more I practice, the more I utilize those. But I'm really, really trying to just focus in on things that like get people into the hobby, can push them in those first couple of steps to go like, well, I already I always see those games and they look fun. But today I learned that there's a skill shot at the beginning of Jurassic Park and I'm just going to go and I'm going to try to do that. because the fact is we have so much wonderful media in this space, but I'm like, we don't need, I'm not trying to be Bowen Kurtz. We already have Bowen Kurtz. You know, like I'm really trying to create a spot, especially in, you know, the TikTok space and these spaces that are really bringing in like Gen Z and millennials to go, all right, well, maybe you stumble across a video that's 60 seconds long. It has one good little tidbit and it's going to get you to put a quarter in a game.
    12:22
    Love it. So that is really right now what I'm trying to do with it. But I also want – I've really gone into this first couple months, and part of Jamie too, when you first brought this up, I so appreciate it because you were like, let's go on the podcast. And I loved it because it was like week one, but I was like, I want to kind of give this channel a space to take the feedback of like what people are resonating with as well.
    12:53
    I have a big passion for storytelling. Like I love, and this is like a whole longer thing, but like, no, but I love the story of the games.
    13:04
    And when I did my first, I'm doing a series. Okay. I'm doing, I'm just rambling, Jamie. Oh, Melissa. jump in with questions. But so I'm doing this series called Storytelling and Pinball Machines, which is like my baby. It's like my favorite stuff to do. And I'm trying to keep it under two minutes and I'm featuring a game. And instead of, it's not how to get the most points. It's not here's the history of the game itself. It is what is the story within this game? So for instance, I did one on Creature from the Black Lagoon. It's like, all right, we're going to enter the drive in theater we're gonna start the film reel here's how we do it we kiss our date we pay for our ticket it is not me going here's the tournament strategy it is not me going you're not gonna move your car 200 times and do this okay if like from the best of my experience and what i've been able to gather like this is the story within the game i thought that was going to be the one that's like I'm going to do this on the side and maybe someone will like it. And that's honestly been the thing that most people have been reacting to. So I'm really building that series out as well. And that is an example of something that could eventually grow a little more long form. But, but right now I'm, I'm still sticking to that like two minute tops. Yeah. I love, I love what you're doing. uh so it's so funny because i was a streamer first right at the old place and then got into the podcasting in around 2020 20 and then now i'm doing short form more so it's just it keeps changing for me what i need help is i'm constantly need help on ideas for short form right because i run out of ideas and then i i'll text erica from erica's pinball journey i'm like i'm having brain fog help me out and she's been absolutely wonderful but what i really suck at is asking people to like and subscribe i can't get myself to do it like yeah i want to get to these numbers and my people are the views are fantastic on my stuff but the the likes and subscribes aren't there so it's like what do i do do i beg them how do i get them to yeah what are um is is that specific to one platform or is that youtube i have like 897 subscribers i really want to get to a thousand right or 1500 is really where i want to get to but um but i'll get like 1500 2000 views on a tiktok or on a short and i won't get the uh the subscriptions to it like i put this ai verse jamie versus shark did you see that thing let's see that where it eats the bowl yeah you I got like 20,000 views on that dumb thing. That's great. And I got a lot of crap for using AI. So I promised Chris Granchi that I would only do one AI video a month. Perfect. That's the deal.
    16:12
    I think that's fair. Yeah. Go ahead. I was going to say you also mentioned Erica. I've never met Erica in person, but she is lovely and has been so helpful when I started this channel, which I've been doing pinball on my personal channel for a while. I was like, I really want a dedicated space where I can spam it as much as I want Right And not like everyone I working with in the film space and my family just really like let my freak flag fly as much as i want and within the first week she reached out to me um she sent me a dm and um has just been really really supportive and them you know when you get these down they just want to help everything like she's awesome and i can't wait to meet her in person eventually well we'll talk about some traveling later because there might be some chances for for you guys to hook up especially at like expo or tpf or something but um do you have any uh new year's resolutions pinball related do you have any pinball related new year's I do so in addition to the broad one of just like I started one early one of my new year's resolutions was going to be like start a dedicated space for your pinball. Okay. But then I just got excited and I did it and like around Halloween.
    17:37
    So obviously I just want to grow that to, and we'll talk about the state championship coming up. I am qualified. You can talk about it right now. Let's talk about it right now. That's that, that had to be a pinball resolution, right? Yeah. So I've, I qualified for the women's state championship and I have, done that every year since I started playing. Um, I have never qualified for the open. Um, we got a lot of good players in Tennessee. Um, I think we broke 600 unique players this year, but I do, and this isn't me trying to pat myself on the back, but I think I've really put in the work out of just obsession in the last year or so. And like the back half of last year, I found myself like getting a lot of like second places and finals like in the open. I was like, if I could play like this for a full year, I do think I stand a chance to make the state championship in the open side. And as far as I know, and I need to go back and double check this, but I don't think we've actually had a female qualify for the open in Tennessee yet. So I that's one of my resolutions. I know the points are changing and getting a little funky with IFPA, but that's across the whole state. It's across everywhere. I really, really want to try to make states on the open side this year.
    19:09
    That's a good resolution. That's a good goal. Good goal, 2026. Yeah. I don't have any. I was thinking about this question for me, and my goal is to play less pinball. I know that sounds crazy, but I'm going to play less competitive pinball and more fun pinball because I got caught up in the shit where I'm thinking at 3,800 that I could be any good. And I realized my – I've been playing Call of Duty against 18-year-olds, and they're kicking my ass, right? and I'm watching these young kids, even my son Harrison, who barely plays, the reflexes are just so much far superior than me that I could find every shot known to man, and I'm still going to lose. And so I've come to the realization that I'm just going to play for fun, and if I sneak up into the top finals, if I get into the finals, I'm going to try my best, damn it. But I'm not going to take it as seriously as I have in years past because I think it just brought too much undue stress for me. And then I started getting nervous. I started having anxiety, all this ridiculousness that I just need to move on. I'm not going to play as much. What do you think of that? Well, it sounds like you're just going to play serious pinball less. I'm just going to play serious pinball less. I'm going to keep playing pinball. It's not supposed to be fun. You know, like I've been really trying to keep that. space on the Mel plays pinball stuff, like about the fun of it. And I've been having more fun too. And you know, it's strange also, like, so specifically when I'm filming these storytelling ones, um, you know, and I'm filming all of that myself, it is collaborative and different people in different forms for different things. But so far, all the storytelling ones have just been me knocking out. So I'm playing while I'm filming. And I think I've gotten my like personal high score on all of the ones where I'm doing that because I'm not one, I'm just focusing on actually playing the game. I'm not thinking about the points. I'm going, okay, I'm going to turn on Creature from the Black Lagoon and I need to make sure I like hit each of the film letters. and I'm like kind of checking the shot and I'm doing that. And I'm like, oh, I just did it. Cool.
    21:39
    It's been a big learning curve for me and my mental state going into these tournaments where I'm like, if I am just having fun or if I'm focusing on actually playing the game with the knowledge, there has to be a tab open with what to do. You know, not a blind guess, but if I'm not going, oh my gosh, I have to do this. It's just like, thinking through the tasks i've been playing a lot better um so i think there's something very much to what you're saying about like the anxiety management and um the mental approach of how we play because i'm i'm like i'm playing better when i'm just like you know what i want to do i want to walk the high wire and circus folder today and not like if i don't if i don't beat this guy's score, then my IFBA points are going to be less. That's not as motivating as I want to walk up on the high wire. We had 10 minutes, ladies and gentlemen, before this podcast, and I was already set up, and so I played Iron Maiden. I'm like, let me throw a quick game. And, of course, I blew it up, right? Now it's 628, and you're coming on, and I'm in Cyborg Multiball. Like, I'm blowing this thing up. And then I got nervous, right? But before that, it was just like my goal was always to get to Cyborg. I don't know. It's a fun little mode, and I dig it. And I got to it. Of course I got to it when I didn't have time to get to it, and then I had to drain. But I still love Lion. I love the task thing of pinball machines. I think the newer pinball machines just do a brilliant job of that, don't they? They really do. and, you know, there's a couple, I was playing with a friend the other day, and we were like, you know what would be fun to do for some of these? And this is kind of, like, Insider Connect is kind of a version of this, but we're like, it would be fun to make little punch cards for each of these games, especially, like, some of the, you know, some of the more, like, mid to classics, and just have, like, a little personal punch card. So each time you achieve a mode that you haven't done on a game, you get to like punch it and get a little that's pretty cool yeah um but you know it's it's interesting too i this is a bit of a tangent but it's about like the tasks and the story so a couple years back i read this article about a line of children's toys and they were studying the different ways that brains work and um for this they were talking about like biological sex you were born they were like biologically men and women um their brains learn different ways when they're like little kids and where like male born brains are a little more like engineering based um the female ones learned more through character and story and this whole study on it was because they were coming out with a line of stem toys that were like story first to really promote like women in STEM and get like little girls because they're like there. We just need different ways of getting this information to sear into brains. And because variety is the spice of life and that's how you excel. So I think about that a lot in pinball because I'm going to be honest, like a lot of, you know, when I watch some tutorials, I have to really, really focus in even when they're good because. I'm a very kinesthetic learner. If someone's like, oh, well, walk up to that game. All you need to do is hit the scoop four times and then you're going to hit the ramp twice and then your target's three times. I have to really, really focus to retain that information that way and learn it that way.
    25:41
    Whereas if someone's like, oh, it's time to rescue Forky. Here's where you do it. Here's how you do it. For some reason, like that sticks with me a lot better. And so I find it really interesting, all these studies they're doing on like how information is retained long-term. And that was another reason I was like, I really want to kind of lead out with this story-based tutorials in the pinball space for other brains like mine that can be a little less to the technical parts first. Ralph makes fun of me that I leave my body during these things. It's like when I'm on the round table and they start talking about fixing a machine, I'm gone. My head is gone. And sometimes when I watch these tutorials, they're so good, right? They're like, hit this five times and hit this and hit this. and you're watching Carl D'Angelo and you're like, Carl, I can't do that. So, you know, I watch a lot. Not that I don't watch them. I watch Joel from Triple Drain. He has his own flipping out channel where he takes the glass off.
    26:57
    That's smart. Yeah. Or he just takes the glass off and he's showing you the objective. It's just like, okay, now I can figure it out. Yeah. Yeah, totally. And we need all of it, you know? like I think I was intimidated for a while to start my own like space in the pinball world because I'm not one of the top ranked players, you know, like there I'm still very much in my journey of getting used to that. And I think there was a level of intimidation to go like, well, what do I have to add that isn't already out there? And I think the more of us that can create things, like someone's going to resonate with, with this and not this or this. We need more people in pinball, right? We need more of us. You look at the crowd when you go to a tournament and it's the same people. And when there's someone new, we all gravitate. I don't know. I gravitate towards the new people and I'm like, what brought you in? What do you need help with? Because I want them to stay. I want them to have a second tournament, not the first, right? I want them to keep coming. So, yeah, I love that. I've been trying to recruit in the wild. Yeah, I played a lot of pinball over the break, me and some of the buds. Yeah, it's been a lot of time at game terminal. And we have our our monthly women's tournament tomorrow at Eastside Bowl. And I was keeping I felt like such a creeper because we'd be playing and I would notice other women like playing pinball and enjoying it. And I would like I felt like I was like hitting on them or something. I'd go over and like see you playing pinball over here. You know those progressive commercials where how to be like your parents, you walk up to them and you're like, hey, if you really want to be good, you should hit the scope. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm like, you know, we got a club for this. My friend was like, you know, you remind me of is like Gordon Bombay from the Mighty Ducks, like the first Mighty Ducks where he's like driving around. There's a kid like banging at the trash can. Like he's like, you look fast. You ever thought about playing hockey? Like that's what I'm doing right now at our arcades. Always be closing It's good Because it's like You know they're going to have a great time Because you know it's such a safe place for them Right So you're not bringing them into something that's dangerous It's so harmless and fun So You're not selling drugs You're not doing anything bad It's a good thing If you're excited about it That's awesome Yeah I always feel like a creeper too You know Especially when it's a guy and his girlfriend or a couple. And I walk up and I'm like, hey, guys, you know we have a league. You know we have a league. I'm like, y'all are pretty good at this. And then it's like I'm trying to give them so much information at once. I'm like, so what tournaments are these days? Women's are these days. But you could come. You just have to, like, hang out at the bar. I'm like, God, I am really up in their business. It's okay. I have this idea for real. Real quick. let's hear it clay does this okay where he's he's older now and people don't really recognize him so he comes up to people random in the streets and he goes are you here for the meet and greet right so i thought it would be really funny if i walked up to people at eureka heights and just pinball bars and i'm like are you here for the pinball content creator meet and greet and they'll be like no we're like oh okay and then just film myself sitting in a corner by myself so i just says meet and greet i don't know if it'll work but if i ever get to do it i think i could recruit some people too because you know people are gonna go pinball content creator and they're like you just need an open you just every time i bring that rig out right because it's a monster rig now and i had the two rigs at the old joint and now i've got this one monster rig people come up and go what are you doing every time and i so it's so many people came up that we made a qr code to bring them to the to the jbs show youtube channel because it was just anyway i love pinball i love recruiting pinball yeah we're creepers and if you're listening to this and you're new to pinball we don't mean to be creepers we just we know a secret yeah we We have so much fun. It's secret. And it's so fun that we want you to come and play. Okay? We are willing to make fools of ourselves for your enjoyment. Total fools. I did one. I made one TikTok that was like a Hamilton. I used a Hamilton song. And the whole joke is, well, I'll send it to you. You'll have to watch it. But it's this part in Hamilton where she's like, I stopped wasting time on years on tears. I live another 50 years. It's not enough. So you sing that part. But then when she says I live another 50 years, you make a confession of something you do too much of. So mine was I stopped wasting time on tears. I play 187 pinball tournaments. It's not enough.
    32:10
    It was like a whole little trend. But the thing is, I could film the part of myself singing alone. And then I was like, I really want a shot of me like spinning around dramatically between pinball machines, but I'm here playing and I'm by myself. So I was like, well, this will be good exposure therapy.
    32:32
    And I saw this group of like three people that had been playing for a while and looked like they were just really into pinball. And I was like, I'm going to go ask them to hold my phone and film me spinning between machines. and they did they were not assholes about it they probably made fun of me later and that's totally okay yeah they're telling stories at dinner hey can y'all uh can y'all help me with something and i told them what i was doing all they had to do was hold the phone for a minute i was like i am sufficiently humiliated but they were great sports we got it awesome but then it opened a conversation because they were like wait what are you doing it was like i have a pinball channel which they followed and then one of them so they all like to play but one of them was like this is blowing my mind that there are tournaments and we recruited him and he plays now with us and it's always funny because they're like how did you find out about us and he was like that crazy woman was spinning around between pinball machines by herself in public and asked us to film her doing it but you know it's like that's the kind of thing I'm just like, we're all weirdos. We're all the same lunch table. We're pinball nerds. We're pinball nerds, and we want to spread that love. And when you meet another pinball nerd, you know, again, how do you know someone plays pinball? They won't shut up about it, right? That, that, that, that. They have to film you at an arcade.
    34:04
    Exactly. But it worked. It worked, and he's playing. That's awesome. Yeah, they're playing. All right, before we look to 2026, I'm going to take you through 2025, and we're going to go through these games, right? Because I didn't do an end-of-year JBS show, okay? Okay. So you're going to do it with me, and we're going to talk about these games. We'll start with Stern, right? Yes. So D&D, Kong, Star Wars, Fall of the Empire, and Walking Dead rematch. Have you played them all? I have.
    34:35
    You want to – okay. So what do we do? What if we just go – have you played Harry Potter? I have played Harry Potter. Evil Dead? Yes. Dune or Winchester? Dune, not Winchester. Okay, Winchester. No one's really played Winchester. I have not. Have you played Portal? I have not. And Predator.
    34:57
    Okay, so we're just going to rank what you think out of what you've played, knowing that Portal and Predator and Winchester are not there for you. Give me your top three games of 2025. Okay, I'm going to start with King Kong. It's number one? Or three?
    35:14
    It's my number one right now. Okay. And I'll say, it's not me. I'm ranking them based on, like, what do I enjoy playing the most? You rank them any way the hell you want. I'm not going to do this. For everyone listening at home, this is not my technical review. I'm going to do the same thing. When I go to Eureka Heights, this is my place. These are the three that I gravitate towards the most. These are the three. Yep. My number one is going to be King Kong. I love the flow of that game. I think it's really easy to get into a flow. I think the shots are really interesting. It shoots well. The theme is great. The new code update is fun. It's fun. I think it's, you know, it came out in the mix of a lot of others, and I haven't heard as much chatter about it, but that is where my quarters are going to go. Now I know. So you're dropping quarters in King Kong number one? Number one. Okay. What's your number one? Or do you want me to go one, two, three, and then you go one, two, three? I don't know. I don't care. What do you want to do?
    36:18
    I'll do my number one. Give it, give it, give it. Okay. So right now my number two is Dune. I have not gotten to spend as much time on it, but I think it is gorgeous. It's really aesthetically pleasing. but the way they integrated the modes just like scratches all my edges. Have you, have you played it a good bit? I played a lot. Yeah. Like the mode integration from the movie is so much better from launch day that I was there. Cause I got to go to launch cause it's, you know, it's down the street. And it just got so much better and better and better and better. They probably shouldn't have launched when they did. Hindsight's a whatever, but it's, a great game. Yeah, it's cool. I'm excited to spend more time with it, but I keep going back to that one. And then my number three, I want to say was Metallica remastered on the list? Was that this year?
    37:23
    Was that last year? That was last year. I don't remember. You can put Metallica remastered on there. I don't care. Because it came out in Expo 2024.
    37:40
    I'm going to count it. I'm going to roll it in. Whatever it was, your award show. It doesn't matter. We're going to go Metallica Remastered. You put a lot of quarters in that? I do. And the OG is, like, one of my favorites. I always loved that game. But this one just. Right on the code, right? They change the code enough where it's really cool. It's still very hard for me. I would need you to give me a tutorial on Relash. Maybe I'll make a storytelling.
    38:11
    You should. Maybe that will be my next storytelling video. That's the game I need help with because I'm always banging Sparky and it's a mistake, right? And so it's so dangerous. It's terrible. It's so sad. It is, though, when you get it going. and the concert footage and everything they've done on it. It's just a great game. They made it better. It really is a remaster. So congrats to them. I agree. And on that, you know, you mentioned Walking Dead.
    38:38
    You know, I hear a lot. It's like, well, it's the same game. It is the same game, but I like the original Walking Dead. And so when I played this one, I was like, I like this one too. It feels the same. It just feels better.
    38:51
    It does feel better, yeah. It does feel better. So I am a fan of that one as well. In the theme of me fighting every Star Wars game that ever comes out, I also am having just awkward dates with that one, still trying to find the giant. Yeah, I've gone on a lot of awkward dates with every Star Wars machine, even the Hankin one.
    39:16
    I can't play Star Wars. No chemistry between me and the Star Wars games. And I love Star Wars, but I can't play the 2017 version. I can't play this version, Fall of the Empire. I think it's too hard to be truthful with you. I think they made that game too hard. I had to play – It's not earning at Eureka that well because people walk up to it and it's hard.
    39:43
    Yeah, it really is. I haven't tried the new – I know they made, like, the ramp wider and a couple tweaks like that. I have not tried those yet, so we'll see. But before we hear it, it's like a reject fest up there. Yeah, reject and it just hurts feelings.
    40:01
    And then the horse thing doesn't work all the time. I hate to say it's a mess, but it's somewhat of a mess for me. I think it's just too hard. And with that license being so awesome sauce that you think let's make it a little easier for because it's a fan layout and fan layouts are hard. Yeah. It's just difficult. I don't think it's a bad game. It's just not the one that makes my heart sing. It's not the one I dump quarters in. But here's what I'm dumping my quarters in. Here's my three. Let's hear it.
    40:35
    So I'll go three. Do you want me to go one, two, three? Harry Potter is my number one. I'm spending a lot of money on Harry Potter. I could single-handedly be keeping it at Eureka Heights because I'm putting a lot. It is a lot of fun. And it's, you know, the scoring, JTP scoring is a little weird, especially at the end if you're playing a four-man player group, and then all of a sudden I get that Quidditch bonus at the end and I kick your ass. That could hurt feelings. But I really love it. I love that game. I'm playing Evil Dead number two. I'm pumping a lot of cord in Evil Dead. Evil Dead would be number one for me if it had some sort of insider connect. Well, interesting. Okay. Yeah. Because I'm addicted to Xbox getting badges and shit. So if they had some badges, and I know they'll come in. It's probably coming for Spooky. But that's the only reason it's not number one for me. And then number three is King Kong.
    41:34
    Really? I'm playing a lot of King Kong. Yeah. I think King Kong is fantastic. I think once you learn, if you step up to King Kong and you're a brand new player, you're going to brick fest it. Yeah. Because it's tight. it's not. But once you show someone and you really can start finding these shots and the mode and the gong shot and all these things, it's brilliant and Elwyn did it again. I really think that's a great machine. I agree. Those are my top three. That's where you'll find me, is camping out at King Kong. Did you play the Beat My Score badges that Insider Connect put out? Where you can go.
    42:19
    I saw that. Yeah. How did, how was your experience with that? Any, any one that Eureka had, I tried to beat it. I tried to get that badge and then I lost interest because it went too many weeks. They should have just done like two weeks of, and pumped up two weeks of beat my score. I think once they got to the fourth week, I had kind of lost interest. Lost interest a little bit. Yeah. Ralph and Kale had badges and I wanted to get their badge. I wanted to beat their schools. You know? Yeah. It's fun to have an objective. Yeah, that's what Insider Connect is so good at, isn't it? It is. You know, that little thing.
    42:59
    It feels so good. And especially it's like sometimes it will give you something. I'm like, I didn't even know that was a thing you could get, and I just had a bad game, but I got a little punch on the punch card.
    43:10
    It really feels good. It is. Okay. We're going to pivot to 2026 now. Are you ready? I'm ready. We've been listening to rumors. I know all the rumors. I wrote all the rumors down for each machine. So let's just take them one at a time and see, is this something you're going to pump a lot of quarters in, or is it something that you're not that interested in? How about that? Cool. Into it. Okay.
    43:35
    Stern, we're hearing Pokemon is next. I hope so. Really? So you're into Pokemon? I'm pumped about it. I am. A couple of reasons.
    43:47
    Admittedly, I still play Pokemon Go. I am a 37-year-old woman, and I play Pokemon Go. And I have no shame about that. And there are other pinball players in our scene that do as well.
    44:00
    But I think it's just something different. It's something new. You know, kind of almost to our critique of Star Wars, it's like variety is the spice of life. And I think it's a really fun theme. I think it could appeal to families, the teams.
    44:17
    You know, I think there's – and it's a battle-based game. There's so much they could do with story. I don't know. But it's like anything where you have this kind of battle and team element, I think, is really ripe. So I'm – We're hearing four versions, Melissa. We're hearing – this is what we're hearing. We're hearing four versions. All right. I don't know. So a Costco version? and the Pro Premium LE. It'll be like the first time they release four at once is the rumor. But I don't know. They've got to get some Stern Insider Connect, like, badges when you go to Nashville and you can get a special, right? They've got to do that. Yeah. We'll see. I hope so. That's a no-brainer, right? And you can get badges for, like, the electric bat. Like, how could you not want an electric bat Pokemon? So cool. That would be really cool. Well, I hope they could do it. I'm sure. The problem is all these things that I wish for cost money. And programmers and any coders to do all this shit. So, you know. But there's no harm in throwing ideas out there, you know. Not at all. We're allowed to wish. Yeah, we're content creators. We don't have any skin in the game, but we'd like to show them what we love. And all right, Transformers is next for Stern. We're hearing that next. Any interest in that?
    45:44
    Neutral. I think it would completely depend on the game. You know, I'm not a Transformers girly by heart. Like, I don't have any affinity necessarily to the franchise, but I do like the Transformers game that exists. I like that you can pick your teams. You know, I like that game.
    46:02
    Whereas Pokemon is a theme that would get quarters from me. Transformers, it's going to just complete. It's not going to turn me off, but it's not going to draw me in. No, like in that year, in the 80s, I'm not going to lie to you. I was rocking Transformers, right? I mean, I was kicking some ass in G.I. Joe and Transformers. So it's just the theme that really resonates with my age group because everyone loves the movie, which was like the M1 movie that they did. And they're all hoping that that's going to be it, but they've got to get Optimus Prime's voice, because his voice is so epic that he's got to do the call-outs. So if you don't know it, he's got this really distinct, badass voice. The cartoon as much. I'm familiar, but they use the same guy's voice in the movies for Optimus. Whatever. It should be really good. And then we're hearing Fallout. I think Fallout would be really smart.
    47:05
    I think it would be really smart. Yeah. And I think draw in some people in a very parallel hobby to us that maybe aren't dabbling as much yet in pinball.
    47:17
    I mean, I admittedly, I haven't watched the show. I'm familiar with the video game. I am more of like a world building gamer Than necessarily like the through line Say hi, come and say hi This is Christine and Janine and they're doing their hair Hi Christine and Janine And this is Janine, get over here Janine Oh my god You guys can't hear her but she's doing very nice things because I got the headset on. They can't hear. Yeah. Sorry for that interruption, but no worries. No, not at all. I'm glad I got to say hi.
    48:01
    Fallout is awesome. My 23-year-old was just home for Christmas, and what was the first thing he did? He's like, Dad, are you watching season two of Fallout? Which I hadn't. He made me sit down and watch that with him, and then he played another version of Fallout 4, and he just started playing it. And that open world, if they can nail that open world aspect of it and do it, because each of these fallouts are different stories of the same universe. So I don't know what they're going to do with it, but I trust Keith Elwin. He's pretty damn good. Like, to be honest, anytime a new game's coming out, there's rarely a moment where I'm like, oh, man, that makes me bummed. It's either like, oh, I'm so excited about this theme or neutral until the game is played because the game is going to make it. So that's kind of where Fallout and Transformers are for me. I'm like, if it's a great game, I don't care if the theme is pile of rocks.
    49:03
    But that'd be an interesting game. Maybe a homebrew. Velma would be. Velma would. You're like, did you get to those rocks? It's really badass. Elwynn knows his rocks.
    49:18
    ACDC remaster from Stern. Any interest in that? Yeah, yeah. I mean, I like that game. I played that a good bit this week, actually, at Game Terminal. All the remasters I'm going to play. They've got to get concert footage in that, though. ACDC concert footage, don't you think? And they've got to use the big screen. If they use the big screen and ACDC concert footage, And when you're thunderstruck, and although it's not a good mode to take the thunderstruck, by the way, you should always take night train, right? Or tournament unless you playing for fun like you will be in 2026 Oh that right In 2026 I should go TNT because it doesn matter You a TNT guy I a TNT guy Forget the night train and war What the war machine Those are the two in tournaments you need is war machine and the train, but I never take those at home.
    50:15
    You should now. I will because you're right. Fun Jamie does. That's right. okay uh jjp we're hearing sonic steve richie that would be does sonic resonate with you she's young ladies and gentlemen so she's you know did she play sonic on the sega genesis i'm not very young but i'm not quite so old um yeah i mean i grew up in sonic era for sure yeah they gotta have the ring sound so you know when you're rocking sonic and you're getting there terrible sound effect later, John. I'm sorry, but you gotta have the rings, and then when your ball drains the ring, will you lose the rings? Huh? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That could be something. Like, you lose rings some parts? Could be a punishing game in the scoring. There's also some really good villains in the Sonic world. Yeah. I don't know that guy's name. I never knew his name. I don't remember. I never watched the Sonic movies either, because I couldn't be arsed. I'm not going to ruin it it's not the same that game but yeah Sonic I would be pumped for I would put a lot of quarters in the Sonic and if they did the same move like the arcade version it would change the wizard maybe they make it premium and then the collectors because the arcades my shout out to JJP keep the arcade versions okay I know you're not selling as many as the collectors but for us to get a chance to play them, arcade owners need a $10,000 machine, okay? Yeah. And they can't get their ROI back on a $15,000 machine. They just can't do it, all right? And if you want people to play your machines, you've got to keep dumping them in arcades. Yeah, totally agree. All right, thank you. That was my public service.
    52:06
    Don't dump the arcade version. Dear J.J.P., we want to play your games. We want to play them, okay? We want to play them, please. Yeah. Let us play them. What a value, though, to get the same play field, the same everything, right, of Harry Potter from the collector's version to the arcade. It's just brilliant, and I hope they keep doing it. Everybody wins.
    52:28
    Spooky, we're hearing Goonies. We're also possibly hearing Gremlins. I would be so pumped for some Gremlins, first of all. Me too. Gremlins over Goonies to me. gremlins over goonies to me although like they're both great i think both of them would be really fun fun games and there could be like a midnight mode where you you know it's the clock and you gotta feed the fucking gremlin but you can't do it before the spin line i mean there's so much that spooky does that is so brilliant yeah little music i want to hear that music blasting while we play i do too there she goes see we could use sound effects but you know with beetlejuice the only i'm excited for beetlejuice too right yeah i'm nervous though how come what are you nervous about well no one's played it right and it sold out a thousand units like right off the bat And what if it sucks? Yeah, it might.
    53:35
    We don't know. I know. Yeah, so you're nervous for them. I'm a little nervous for them. Like, if it sucks, it's just going to taste me money. I don't drop quarters on it. You're nervous for them. Because at Eureka, they got a spooky row. Oh. They have an entire row of spooky machines. They have eight of them now. I will say I adore the themes that they are putting out. I just, yeah, they're nailing it. What a great job for Spooky Pinball. Congratulations to Bug Luke and the whole team over there. Shout out from the JBS show and Melissa Loomis. But, you know, it wasn't too long ago that they were doing America's Most Haunted Jetsons, Dominoes, and Thing, and now they're doing Evil Dead of Beetlejuice. So that's a huge transition. So I'm just a little nervous for them. That's okay. We'll see. When are those supposed to be rolling out?
    54:29
    Well, I think they're training. I was listening to Don's pinball podcast the other day, and he says they're training their line right now for Beetlejuice. So I know that they're coming to TPF, and that's in March. So they're going to be rolling off the floor. Yeah. Yeah, that's going to be fun. We have one coming to Nashville, at least one purchased. Yeah, we got one coming to Eureka. So I'm beyond pumped to put a lot of money in it. Can't wait. We'll have to follow up with them. We're hearing CGC Halo.
    55:02
    Any interest? Neutral. She's just sweet. She wouldn't even grab on. No, I mean, it's just, well, there's so many games that I love that the theme does nothing for me, and I love the game. Like, I'm about to just, like, on all the bands. I'm like almost every Metallica song I know and all my brothers their favorite bands are Metallica bunch of my friends the favorite bands are Metallica I like Metallica it's not what I listen to on my own most of what I know is from the pinball machine because I love that machine I'm like I can sing six first 60 seconds or whatever it is in the loop of she knows give you fire give you that one yeah you know but like that's that's why I always like say neutral is because like i truly genuinely never feel like turned off by a theme like halo could be my favorite game of next year right like dnd is a good example of this right i never rolled a single die seven side or whatever the side of the die is i've never played it in my entire life I really liked D&D. I enjoyed it. Now, it's different. It's a totally different game.
    56:19
    You know, the progress portion, I could see that being a game that I would buy and try to complete at my house. Totally. Okay. But, yeah, D&D doesn't do anything for me, but it's really cool, and the dragon's badass. So I'm going to put some quarters on it. My kids, Bonnie and Daniel, have one at their house that we've been playing through a lot, and I feel like that's like – It makes sense, right? Yeah, because it's a console. That game, it's got it. It's really got a mode. I mean, Dwight and Brian did a really good job with that. So it's just different. Yeah, it's really, really deep. I feel like you could just. Yeah, I agree. That's one I would really like to have at home. Yeah. So we'll see with CGC and Halo. Good luck to them. It's not a really good secret.
    57:00
    We got Dutch back to the future. Just back to the future. Do anything for you? Yeah, that hits a spot. That scratches an itch for sure. Yeah, this would be really good. Although people make fun of my hair. They say I got Doc Brown hair, which I don't find. They're not wrong.
    57:18
    I do. It's just great. It's a lot curlier, Doc Brown, but that kind of pisses me off. They're like, oh, I like your Doc Brown hair. I'm like, what the hell is that?
    57:29
    That's a bold. Sometimes they're good friends. Sometimes they're not. So back to the future. The only issue I have with Dutch is, is it going to take 10 years? Are we going to be waiting for, you know, the big Lebowski? Can they make the machines? Because there's going to be a huge demand on that game. Yeah. And, again, will we be able to play them? You know, like how accessible are they going to be to us?
    57:54
    All right. Last one. Barrels of Fun. We have no idea what's – they're like the most secretive company on the planet, and they're 15 minutes from my house. and I know everybody over there almost and they don't tell me a thing. Like they didn't tell me Winchester to the night before it launched.
    58:12
    Yeah. But there's one in the works. Yeah, we're hearing Neverending Story, which does nothing for me. You know, that giant dog. What's a dog? Yeah, yeah. I just don't. It just doesn't do anything for me. Now, if you've got a giant dog and I've got to bash the dog, I don't know. Yeah, the horse. There's a lot of sad animal stuff in a never-ending story. So I guess it depends on how they play it. I would say no to that theme. But, you know, I'm going to play it. Yeah. I'm going to put some quarters in it. Give it a chance and see. I am excited to play Winchester Mystery House. I've not gotten to do that yet. It's really good. It's got that Batman 66 spinner in the middle. You know how it turns? Yeah. So it's got a lot. that. Carl D'Angelo knows what he's doing. And for them to grab him and to make his first machine with them is pretty incredible. And I think his name alone with the Haunted sold the 525. I think people were like, Carl D'Angelo? Holy cow. They want to see what's up.
    59:25
    That is our 2026 looking forward to. Thanks for delving into that with me. I appreciate it. Of course, it was fun. I'm excited. I can't wait to revisit this. It's a good time to be in pinball. And so we're real excited. What do you have? Any pinball travel coming up? What do you got coming up? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I'm hoping to do a lot more even in addition to this, but a couple of things on the books. Next weekend or two weekends from now is the state championship. So I will be in Knoxville for that. It's their first year hosting. And then I am in February returning to pinball at the beach. So you're going to go. I haven't gone. I went last year and it was the best week of my life. Really? No, it's so fun, Jamie. I got to say, like, last year was the first year. And they do a really good job of, like, they kept it small and intimate enough. Like, that's where I got to play D&D for the first time. I got to play Evil Dead. I got to play Avatar. You know, there aren't as many of the panels and things, but I think that's fine because like them keeping the show small allows you to really do what they're doing well. I did play the tournament last year. I did not sign up in time to get into the tournament this year, but they also have other things that are crossing over on top of that. So I'm excited to go back. The lineup there of who goes is just ridiculous. yeah you're gonna see a ton of content creators and a ton of everyone goes really uh except me and my dumb friends we haven't gone yet and i'm because it's like i've got expo and then i've got tpf so yeah that's the rub i don't know if i can get away from work to do pinball at the beach and tpf to do both yeah it's a lot um tpf is actively on my radar i'm trying to figure that out. Get it on there. Yeah, well, as someone that does work project to project, I've been spending a lot of my time on free projects for myself playing Pit Moment. So that's what I'm kind of trying to figure out. So if you're listening to this and you want to hire me to come make you stuff at DBF, do it.
    61:56
    No, but I am going to try to get down there. It's going to be... I'll probably know next month. But then there's a few... In between, they're a little bit like that, but I do have something I have not told anybody yet, if you want to hear it. Yeah.
    62:13
    I did get reached out to by Chicago Expo and Rob Burke, and they did invite me to come do a seminar there this year. Awesome. What seminar are you doing? Do you know? Huh? Do you know the seminar or you can't tell yet? I am going to hold on saying exactly what it's going to be for now. But I haven't told anyone that yet, but I am going to be at Expo in Chicago. I'll definitely see you there. I'm really excited. And I can promise that the seminar is going to be very quirky and whimsical and fun and interactive. Good. Just tell Rob, last year they had the Women in Pinball seminar, but they had it after the Pin Up Women seminar.
    63:06
    Maybe, Rob, you might want to, you know, piece those out a little bit. Piece them out. You know, since you've got his ear, maybe you could tell him that. Yeah, no, but I'm excited and I can tell you the energy of it is going to be, you know, what I'm building in that space specifically, which is really focusing in on the joy of this hobby and different ways to incorporate that. So, well, I've taken enough of your time, young lady, and I had an absolute blast. I have an absolute blast talking to you. I got to meet you at the old joint years and years ago. It feels like and I know you're a native Texan, but we don't get you in Texas enough because I haven't seen you in years. So let's you know, next time you're in, you know, you've got my number. Call me and let's let's go hang out because I love playing pinball with you. I love talking pinball with you. Where can people find you on the Instagram, YouTube, TikTok? Yes. I am at MelPlaysPinball, M-E-L. And that is on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. So any of those platforms. Not YouTube yet. We'll see. But I'm watching on YouTube all the time. So if you're making things on YouTube, you're probably seeing me lurking. But, yeah, at MelPlaysPinball. And if you're going to be at Pinball at the Beach or Chicago Expo, be sure to hit me up and let me know. I'd love to connect and agree. Jamie, I always love hanging out. You're like second family to me down in Texas.
    64:47
    We're bummed at the place that I moved on, but still, it's just been fantastic. I love this hobby, and you're the best. Thank you so much for your time today. I appreciate it. Anything else? Did I miss anything? I don't think so. Thanks. I mean, this is a blast. Like, I'm just really grateful for you having me on again. And as I said, you're one of my few repeat guests.
    65:14
    You and Erin Winnick-Anthony, who is one of my absolute favorites. Don't you love her? And her learning to flip. Check that out, guys, if you don't. She posts so much in STEM, though. She's so popular in the STEM world that this pinball thing, she's like, why do I waste my time? It's fascinating, though. You know, I'm like, I follow her for the pinball, but I watch everything she does because she's so great at what she does and making the content. And it's just so interesting that, yeah, definitely. Well, that's my mentor there. Without her, I don't have any reels or anything. She is my mentor and she's the best. Well, I'm excited to see the reels come from a fun Jamie in 2026 playing pinball. Less stress, right? Less stress. Let's dress. My can Jamie play pinball will be a lot more fun this year and I won't get so fired up and have to do the rally caps and all that crap that I do. So Mel, thanks so much. I appreciate it so, so much. Mel plays pinball. Appreciate it. See you next time. Bye Jamie.
    66:29
    Bye.