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PNP Ep. 510- Joe Ciaravino Joins for A Degenerates Portrait LIVE Reveal & So Much MORE!

Poor Man's Pinball Podcast·podcast_episode·analyzed·Jan 12, 2023
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claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.036

TL;DR

Joe Ciaravino discusses Pinball Degenerates community, portrait art project, tournament prep, and broader interests.

Summary

Joe Ciaravino, founder of the Pinball Degenerates community group, joins Orbital Albert on the Poor Man's Pinball Podcast (Pinball Nerds) to discuss his thriving Facebook community, merchandise collaborations with artists, and a new 'Degenerate Portrait' art project featuring caricatures by Argentinian artist Hexondo. The episode also covers Joe's competitive pinball achievements, his tournament preparation for Ontario provincials, and his appreciation for Canadian player Carter Castleman as an emerging talent. Additionally, Joe discusses his movie podcast 'Overrated' and his broader passions outside pinball including photography and film criticism.

Key Claims

  • Joe Ciaravino founded the Pinball Degenerates Facebook group as a positive space for sharing pinball content within his friend group that grew organically.

    high confidence · Joe Ciaravino directly states he started the Facebook group and describes its evolution from friends sharing cool stuff to a larger community.

  • The Degenerate Portrait project features 64 total portraits lined up with about 40+ already completed by artist Hexondo, who produces approximately 6 portraits per week.

    high confidence · Joe Ciaravino explicitly states '64 total lined up' and 'over 40 degenerate portraits now' and 'he's doing about six of them per week.'

  • The portraits cost $35 USD each, with all proceeds going directly to the artist with no profit taken by Joe Ciaravino.

    high confidence · Joe states: 'It's $35 US and that literally all goes to the artist. That's how much he's charging. So I'm not really getting a cut of that.'

  • Joe Ciaravino qualified for Ontario Provincials pinball tournament on February 21st, initially ranked 21st but bumped up to approximately 19th after some withdrawals.

    high confidence · Joe states his qualification status and ranking: 'Originally I was like 21st, and then they bumped me up a few by like two or three people to like 19th or something like that.'

  • Joe placed third in the CNE pinball tournament finals but lost the main tournament final on Black Knight Sword of Rage due to a drain on the third lock of the three knights challenge multi-ball.

    high confidence · Joe describes the specific moment: 'on ball three the third lock for the three knights challenge multi-ball on ball three of Black Knight's Norgue of Rage the ball goes right into that open shield area and then just trickles out, slingshot, slingshot, out lane, drain.'

  • Carter Castleman achieved 52 consecutive whirlpool shots in a single ball on Whitewater, resulting in over 1 billion points.

    medium confidence · Joe describes witnessing this feat: 'I saw him get over 1 billion on whitewater with just the whirlpool challenge alone... It was like 52 times in a row... We were there watching him play that first ball for over an hour.'

Notable Quotes

  • “I'm the coach. I'm the degenerate of all time. I have an award now that I gave to myself last year. Publicly gave myself an award. The Dote, the degeneratist of all time.”

    Joe Ciaravino@ 2:14 — Establishes Joe's humorous self-positioning as founder and central figure of Pinball Degenerates community.

  • “Just be cool. Be awesome to each other. It's the golden rule, right? And if you can't even do that, like then, you know, usually these people, they just show themselves the door anyhow.”

    Joe Ciaravino@ 3:44 — Core philosophy of Pinball Degenerates community management and inclusivity.

  • “It's completely selfish. It's completely self-indulgent. And if I can somehow, let's just say I'm not making a profit on any of these products. I'm a terrible business person because I don't want to be charging people ridiculous amounts of money.”

    Joe Ciaravino@ 5:48 — Reveals Joe's philosophy on merchandise production—artist support over profit, authenticity over commercialization.

  • “There's no pinball celebrities like Jack Danger you go to a mall and you scream oh my god I just saw Jack Danger you think people are going to turn their heads? no nobody cares... he's a big fish within, you know, a very small pond.”

    Orbital Albert / Joe Ciaravino@ 10:18 — Humorous acknowledgment of pinball community's niche status and local fame dynamics.

  • “Carter is literally the Canadian national player. That kid is going to you're going to hear about Carter Cassman over a very long time. We're going to be seeing him in the finals for a lot of major events.”

    Joe Ciaravino@ 19:33 — Strong endorsement of emerging Canadian talent Carter Castleman as a future pinball champion.

  • “I saw him get over 1 billion on whitewater with just the whirlpool challenge alone... It was like 52 times in a row... We were there watching him play that first ball for over an hour.”

    Joe Ciaravino — Describes an exceptional competitive moment demonstrating Carter Castleman's elite skill level.

Entities

Joe CiaravinopersonOrbital AlbertpersonPinball DegeneratesorganizationHexondopersonCarter CastlemanpersonAdam BeckerpersonHaydenpersonDenisepersonMike Castlemanperson

Signals

  • ?

    community_signal: Pinball Degenerates community has grown organically from small friend group to 64+ members participating in portrait art project; described as overwhelmingly positive with effective moderation and self-filtering of negativity.

    high · Joe states 'it's been really good for the most part, extremely positive, there's been one or two ding dongs in every group' and describes surprise at 64 people signing up when he expected ~20.

  • ?

    personnel_signal: Carter Castleman identified as exceptional emerging Canadian pinball talent; Joe predicts long-term competitive success and positions him as Canadian national player.

    high · Joe states 'Carter is literally the Canadian national player. That kid is going to you're going to hear about Carter Cassman over a very long time' and describes specific elite achievements (52 consecutive whirlpool shots for 1B+ score).

  • ?

    competitive_signal: Joe Ciaravino qualified for Ontario Provincials (ranked ~19th of 24); achieved third place at CNE tournament but narrowly lost main final on Black Knight SOR due to single drain on crucial shot.

    high · Joe directly describes qualification status, ranking, and specific final-round loss moment: 'on ball three the third lock for the three knights challenge multi-ball...the ball goes right into that open shield area and then just trickles out.'

  • ?

    community_signal: Hexondo (Argentinian artist) producing high-quality caricature portraits at scale (40+ completed, 64 total planned) for Pinball Degenerates community; artist relationship described as enthusiastic and supportive.

    high · Joe describes Hexondo producing 6 portraits/week, having completed 40+ of 64 planned portraits; Hexondo's enthusiasm for project and willingness to expand beyond original scope.

Topics

Pinball Degenerates community and cultureprimaryDegenerate Portrait art project with HexondoprimaryCompetitive pinball and tournament playprimaryEmerging Canadian player talent (Carter Castleman)primaryMerchandise collaborations and artist supportsecondaryOntario provincial tournament preparationsecondaryBlack Knight Sword of Rage game design and tournament usesecondaryFamily involvement in competitive pinballsecondaryMovie podcast 'Overrated' and film criticismmentionedPinball photography and visual documentationmentioned

Sentiment

positive(0.82)— Episode is celebratory and enthusiastic throughout, with Joe and Orbital Albert sharing mutual admiration, excitement about community projects, and positive reflections on competitive experiences. Some self-deprecating humor about tournament performance and personal shortcomings. No critical negativity toward individuals or the broader community, though some games/films are discussed analytically. Strong emphasis on gratitude, humility, and community support.

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.245

0:00
All get around, he's on the rebound Hear the sound of our buddy, oh lordy, it's Orby Pinball now to rejoice He's tugging pinball, craft beer and coffee Miffed with syrup and honey Almost a laugh with his family And a random tangent Stories of his boys He's on the poor man's pod network We're gonna get more listeners for the Pinball Nerds Podcast.
0:32
Coming to you from beautiful River Hibbert's, Nova Scotia. Welcome back, Pinball Nerds, episode 510 of your fifth favorite pinball podcast. My name is Orbital Albert, and I couldn't be more excited. I almost said extoked because I'm just trembling in excitement here. I've got a pinball superfan that's possibly more of a superfan than even myself, an incredible pinball photographer, and you might just know him as the head pinball degenerate himself, Mr. Joe Cervino. Joe, welcome to the show, my friend.
1:15
Hey, R.B., how's it going, man? Good to be here. I'm your number one listener, if you remember that. Yes! You came up with that idea for listener, and I love it. And I was just thinking about this earlier. Something that we have in common is that we're both just massive, like outside of what I do with the podcast and what you would do with the Pinball Degenerates, we are both just huge, massive pinball super fans. Whenever I'm not watching you on a live stream at a tournament, I'm seeing you in chat as well.
1:51
You're posting almost daily on Pinball Degenerates, sometimes more. You're kind of just like me. You love all things pinball. I thought a good way to describe you would be a pinball superfan. What do we call the... Are you the president of the Pinball Degenerates? Are you the head? Founder. I'm the coach. I'm the degenerate of all time. I have an award now that I gave to myself last year. Publicly gave myself an award.

Joe recently won a tournament with his son Hayden placing second, competing against stronger players in finals.

high confidence · Joe states: 'I never thought in my life I'd get to win a tournament With my son getting second' and describes Hayden beating stronger competitors in earlier rounds.

  • Joe's movie podcast 'Overrated' analyzes popular films to identify their flaws and recommend alternative films with similar themes; the first episode examined Shawshank Redemption.

    high confidence · Joe describes the podcast format: 'we take a movie that's like popular like our first episode that we did was um uh shawshank redemption' and explains the replacement recommendation concept.

    • @ 20:13

  • “I never thought in my life I'd get to win a tournament With my son getting second... When I was playing in those finals I think I played well because I had no pressure Because I thought, if my son Hayden wins I'm okay with that.”

    Joe Ciaravino@ 22:02 — Personal tournament victory story demonstrating family involvement in competitive pinball and priority of son's success.

  • “Black Knight Sword of Rage... it's the modern version or a more contemporary version of Iron Man. It's such a great flow game... I think it's a masterpiece for what it is, but I I'm in definitely in the minority.”

    Orbital Albert@ 25:04 — Defense of Black Knight Sword of Rage as underrated tournament game design despite community skepticism.

  • “We take a movie that's like popular... and we try to... identify where there are certain flaws... and we recommend a movie that would be a good replacement or i guess a movie that would make a great double bill.”

    Joe Ciaravino@ 29:02 — Describes the format and purpose of his 'Overrated' movie podcast, showing his analytical approach to cultural criticism.

  • “The whole idea is to get everybody on one thing together, you know, and see all the diversity and all the different colors and all the different ways people are getting mutilated by these pinball parts.”

    Joe Ciaravino@ 13:32 — Vision for the Degenerate Portrait project as a unified community artifact celebrating diversity of pinball players.

    • Poor Man's Pinball Podcast
    organization
    Jack Dangerperson
    Jeff Teolisperson
    Escherperson
    Jared Augustperson
    Walt Woodperson
    Jeff Hewlettperson
    Lyman Sheetsperson
    Danielleperson
    Owenperson
    Alanperson
    Sidney Lumetperson
    Poor Man's Pinball Networkorganization
    Brian Allenperson
    Derek Yannagerperson
    ?

    product_strategy: Joe Ciaravino positioning Pinball Degenerates merchandise as artist-support projects rather than profit-driven; selling at minimal margins ($35 portraits, break-even hoodies/apparel); planning multi-product releases (t-shirt, poster, unspecified intimate apparel).

    high · Joe states 'I'm not making a profit on any of these products...I'm a terrible business person because I don't want to be charging people ridiculous amounts of money' and describes break-even model.

  • ?

    gameplay_signal: Orbital Albert expresses strong appreciation for Black Knight Sword of Rage as well-designed tournament game with excellent flow; defends it against community criticism about lack of upper playfield.

    medium · Albert describes game as 'masterpiece' with 'fantastic flow' and 'straightforward' ruleset; acknowledges minority opinion but defends design philosophy and comparison to Iron Man.

  • ?

    collector_signal: High-quality merchandise production evident from durability feedback; Orbital Albert's hoodie retains print quality after 36+ washes; apparel sourcing prioritizes longevity and aesthetic presentation.

    medium · Albert states about hoodie: 'I've worn that thing probably three dozen times over the past year and a half, and it still looks like the day I got it' and thanks Joe for quality.

  • ?

    content_signal: Joe Ciaravino has revitalized movie podcast 'Overrated' post-COVID; format analyzes popular films' flaws and recommends thematic alternatives; demonstrates content creation beyond pinball.

    medium · Joe describes 'Overrated' podcast format, explains Shawshank Redemption episode analysis and 'The Hill' recommendation, notes 'COVID really knocked everything apart' but project is 'being kind of revitalized.'

  • ?

    event_signal: Ontario Provincials scheduled for February 21st at Adam Becker's location; top 24 qualified players; described as well-organized with quality TD support and hospitable hosting.

    high · Joe states qualification date 'February 21st at Adam Becker's'; describes tournament organization quality and Denise's food service; references top 24 format.

  • ?

    community_signal: Multi-generational family participation in competitive pinball evident; Orbital Albert's children (Hayden, Danielle, Owen) competing in tournaments; Carter Castleman's family (Mike, wife, daughters) also tournament participants.

    high · Albert describes winning tournament with Hayden placing second; Hayden beating stronger competitors in earlier rounds; mentions wife and daughters competing in women's brackets at provincials.

  • ?

    community_signal: Acknowledgment that pinball 'celebrities' lack mainstream recognition; figures like Jack Danger are 'big fish in very small pond' with no cross-general-public recognition; community operates within insular ecosystem.

    high · Hosts joke: 'if all you're going to call me is a ding-dong, I will take that' and reference Jack Danger example: 'you go to a mall and you scream oh my god I just saw Jack Danger...nobody cares.'

  • ?

    gameplay_signal: Carter Castleman demonstrates elite pinball skill through specific achievement: 52 consecutive whirlpool shots in single ball on Whitewater yielding 1B+ score; witnessed live by Joe for 1+ hour; comparable to historical greats like Lyman Sheets on Papa 3.

    high · Joe describes: 'I saw him get over 1 billion on whitewater with just the whirlpool challenge alone...It was like 52 times in a row...We were there watching him play that first ball for over an hour.'

    • 2:22
    The Dote, the degeneratist of all time. And no one can beat that. But, yeah, I guess technically, yeah, I started this Facebook group. It's just kind of just an idea because I'm just, again, like you, I love pinball. It's fun. You know, it's just fun stuff, you know. And that was the whole idea of basically Pinball Degenerates is to share, to get everybody I know personally, and then it grew into bigger and bigger and bigger. But it started with just like my group of friends that just wanted to share all the cool stuff that we're doing in pinball and get it to just kind of one really cool, positive space.
    2:59
    just where you can just let your pinball freak flag fly and show what you're working on, what you're doing, what games you've been playing or working on or anything pinball related that's completely like nuts and it's been really good for the most part, extremely positive, there's been one or two ding dongs in every group, there's always somebody but they don't talk to me like that, come on not to my face, not to my face man, or me, or me, come on No, man, you're a dude.
    3:30
    You're great, man. I love what you do. You always try to keep it as much positive as you can. Hey, if someone calls me. You know, we all go off on a rant, but, man, you know, you just be cool. You know, like that's the whole idea. Just be cool. Be awesome to each other. It's the golden rule, right? You know, and if you can't even do that, like then, you know, usually these people, they just show themselves the door anyhow. I don't even need to, like, ban them or anything like that. They just realize that nobody's responding to their negativity, and they just kind of go somewhere else to get their internet jollies.
    4:03
    But, yeah, it's been a really great, positive group of people, and you're definitely one of the biggest partners. So thank you, Albert. I really appreciate you being such a positive part of it and very supportive. Hey, no problem, buddy. I was going to say if all you're going to call me is a ding-dong, I will take that. That's like the best name I've been called. You're not a ding-dong. But I also like ding-dongs, even though I don't think they're available anymore or something. Oh, yeah, the snack. I think you can get them someplace, maybe just in the United States.
    4:34
    I think they have ding-dongs. I think in Canada we have ho-hos, and in the States they got ding-dongs. But that's a different kind of ding-dong. Yeah, that's a whole different route of degeneracy. One thing that I really like, and I know this sounds kind of silly, but I think that you've actually done a very good job of kind of, and not even necessarily like monetizing some of the ideas that you've done, but doing it in like a cool way. So I know you did the stickers before, which you sent me some of.
    5:06
    Thank you so much for that. But they weren't just like a sticker of a logo that you made. There was a couple of those. But like, you know, you went out and you got those handmade, the art for Roger Sharp, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. You just did such a cool job coming up with fun products that people wanted to have, whether it be the T-shirts, the hoodies, the stickers, the cups. I'm probably missing some. What's some other stuff you've done?
    5:37
    Air fresheners. That's right. I forgot about the air fresheners. Socks. We did the pinball. We did the pop-a-carpet socks. Honestly, it's just stuff that I want to get made. It's completely selfish. It's completely self-indulgent. And if I can somehow, let's just say I'm not making a profit on any of these products. I'm a terrible business person because I don't want to be charging people ridiculous amounts of money. I think if I can just break even on this and I can come away with a cool shirt for myself that looks awesome,
    6:08
    that I'm really happy to wear around, and I'm very flattered that other people are very proud to wear around when they go to tournaments or even just generally walking around in public. that's very flattering to me that they're that on board and really part of the idea and the concept of Pinball Degenerates but yeah it's just honestly it's stuff that I just think is funny or cool you know that I would like to have and if everybody else can support that and help it make it happen I'm just so incredibly humbled and thankful
    6:39
    for that honestly and I'm also trying to help like just artists in general like because I'm an artist myself and, you know, like just, you know, buy some art, you know, do, do, that's one of my best recommendations for anybody, go and go out there for at least once, buy an original piece of art, go talk to an artist that you really like, or find it in a gallery, and buy an original piece of art, you know, really do, do something, just one, you know, it really will, it's, it's great for the soul, it really is, and if I can, like, you know, do this, these collaborations where,
    7:12
    I've worked with Brian Allen and a bunch of other, Derek Yannager, a bunch of other people that are pretty well known within the pinball world. They've done pinball art for either festivals and tournament art and posters and stuff. If I can help, if I can collaborate with them, I'm super stoked, man. I love it, man. And so it's just stuff for myself that I really dig. And hopefully other people dig it, too. And I'm very, very flattered that other people are on board.
    7:42
    Now, I love all your stuff. Like, obviously, you know I have the hoodie. That's probably the one I wear the most. I mean, the t-shirt. Isn't it a good quality hoodie? Isn't it like the most comfortable hoodie you've ever had? It's comfortable. It's warm. It looks incredible. And, you know, sometimes when you get those hoodies, you're worried about the design on the back not being great after it's gone through the washing machine. I've worn that thing probably three dozen times over the past year and a half, and it still looks like the day I got it. So thank you so much for that.
    8:12
    Awesome. Now, that being said, my favorite product you've ever done is actually the brand new, and product is probably the wrong term, but it is. It's a project. Degenerate portrait? Art project. Yeah. Yeah, art project. I'm more comfortable with that. Okay, let's talk about that. Sure. So, I don't know. Again, I'm just an admirer of different artists on Instagram, and I just reach out once in a while to see the feelers. and there's this Argentinian guy.
    8:45
    He's on Instagram. His Instagram is at Hex, yeah, H-E-X-Y-E-H, and his name is Hexondo. Yeah, he's Argentinian, and I just love his style. It's just like this kind of gross kind of garbage pail kids meets like a bit of Robert Crumb meets, I don't know, like Mad Magazine kind of look. Yes, yes, yep. And I love, and you know, he just does these portraits for people, and he loves doing them.
    9:16
    He's already done over 40 degenerate portraits now. We have about 64 total lined up. So if you're in line, if you've given me your photo, it's coming. I promise you, just be patient. But yeah, he's doing about six of them per week. and he's just a just he loves it he just he just he just always is so ecstatic when he sees the new pictures and i gave him your portrait your picture that you gave me orby and your portrait's all ready to go okay don't don't send it to me yet don't send it to me i do have facebook open
    9:51
    over here we are going to do a live reveal but i'm going to make the listeners and all the tribe members wait just a little bit longer i want to see it more than probably any of them do though so but I am very very excited for it tell us about a couple of the people that we might know I don't want to use the term pinball celebrities but maybe other people of pinball that we know because that's an oxymoron until you get to like there are no pinball celebrities like Jack Danger you go to a mall and you scream oh my god I just saw Jack Danger
    10:23
    you think people are going to turn their heads? no nobody cares they'll say where's the danger? is there a fire? do I have to run? exactly That's what people are going to say. You know what I mean? Like, you know, so we all got to be, you know, within our, you know, he's a big fish within, you know, a very small pond. But, yeah, I mean, there's just basically, honestly, these people are just my friends, you know, that really were very supportive. And I'm very humbled and, again, flattered that they're willing to, you know, be part of this project. And I think it's going to be amazing because ultimately the dream for this and what we're going to do, if people, again, if people want to buy into it, they can.
    10:58
    They don't want to if they don't want to. but ideally what I want to see is all these portraits all together on one thing so we're going to have most of the portraits on a t-shirt and at this point for everyone who's bought a portrait we're going to have them on a on a poster wow 64 people 64 unique portraits on a poster and uh I think it was 47 is the number for the t-shirt because if you get there's so many people it's just I couldn't cram all 64 on the t-shirt right to see everybody you know so and
    11:28
    And then if there's still more interest, there still is another product or project that I could probably put it onto. It would be absolutely hilarious. Even if I just sold one for the sake of selling one, it would be amazing. I'm not going to go into it yet. G-string underwear, right? You know, it is something that you would wrap around your body. Let's just say that. Okay. I don't want to get too specific, but it's something that you would intimately maybe wrap around your body. That's something. think about that okay now if someone hasn't ordered uh hasn't got themselves one of these
    12:03
    bad boys yet is there still time to do so and how do they get get one yeah so i mean i i'm fine you know like the artist is fine with just keep keep on he loves doing these portraits so really it's no real cut off for getting the portraits themselves done awesome and you know you can use them for whatever you want i'll uh when they're done i'll give you a high-res digital version of the portrait. I'll email it to you. It's $35 US and that literally all goes to the artist. That's how much he's charging. So I'm not really getting a cut of that.
    12:36
    So it's just, yeah, just trying to support an artist and trying to get cool stuff done. And so yeah, just get in touch with me on Facebook if you can or on the Facebook page, Pitbull Degenerates. Just send me a quick message and I'll Just kind of like get your personal information down. I'll send you a, I'll tell you how to pay. I'm usually through PayPal or if you're in Canada, I can do an e-transfer. But unfortunately I don't do Venmo or any of that because we're in Canada. We don't do that stuff, unfortunately. Cash app or anything like that.
    13:07
    So it's got to be PayPal, which kind of sucks, but it is what it is. But yeah, I mean, it's, it's amazing to see the people that have already, like I said, I'm astounded. This is literally the biggest project I've got way more experience. I was like, I'll be happy if maybe 20 people sign on for this. But it's just like people really, really love the look of this artist. And, you know, I think it's a really cool thing. So the more the merrier. I'm trying to get as many people. The whole idea is to get everybody on one thing together, you know, and see all the diversity and all the different colors
    13:38
    and all the different ways people are getting mutilated by these pinball parts and stuff. I think it's just a really fun community project that everybody can, like, you know, point their picture out and say, hey, that's me. I got on there. you know, so, yeah, that's basically it. Yeah, you're saying that, so after we get these, basically we can do whatever we want with them? Yeah, if you want, yeah. So I could throw one on a Pinball Nerds podcast trading card if I wanted to? If you want to, sure, yeah.
    14:08
    I don't think the artist had any issue with that. I told him, like, I'm just going to give this to people, and they're going to do whatever they want. He's like, yeah, that's fine, do whatever you want. Well, I would love to still give the artist credit, of course, because that's important. Yeah, so again, his name is Hex Unzio. It's an interesting name, but you can find him, again, on Hex, yeah, on Instagram. H-E-X-Y-E-H-A-H. Well, I freaking love it. The cool part is every one of these portraits, you can tell it's that person, right?
    14:41
    Like you could, like, especially if I know the person and I've seen more than just that one picture of them, which I just absolutely love. Before we do the live reveal, I'm going to do a little bit of a pivot, and I wanted to ask you, I really noticed in the last year, like 2022 especially, you actually had, I've got to guess, and I probably, if I was a good podcaster, I would have checked on IFPA first, but I think that, you know, it's probably been your best year as far as, you know, tournaments go and how well you placed.
    15:13
    Would that be correct? Within Canada, yes. I think my best year was when I broke into the top 1,000 within the first two years of starting competitive play. That's when I was really, really hungry, and I was playing really, really good pinball. I was going all over the place. But I think I've just spent most of my time within Ontario, and that's why I think I've made my best, I guess, finish so far in Ontario for provincials, which I'm going to on the 21st at Adam Becker's,
    15:43
    and I'm probably going to get crushed, At least I'll get paid $40 to be there, you know? There you go. Which is pretty cool. It's very rare that I get paid to go to play pinball as opposed to the other way around. So where did you qualify? Already. I believe a few people dropped out. Originally I was like 21st, and then they bumped me up a few by like two or three people to like 19th or something like that. You know, almost kind of like top of the bottom third kind of thing.
    16:13
    Now, the night before the tournament, you're going to be probably praying to the pinball god saying, please don't give me Jeff Teolis, Carter Castleman, or Adam Becker in the first round, right? Well, that's us. I got Adam Becker playing at his place. Oh, jeez. Okay. And I believe I won one game out of the full, like, five, best out of five, or five games total. Hey, it's better than I would do. He got five. I mean, they were on his games. He was just demolishing me constantly, and I think I got lucky on a solid state game or something like that.
    16:50
    I can't even remember. But, yeah, I don't – again, if I'm one and done, I'm in the one round and I'm out, that's fine. I'm more than happy to stick around and jump into the commentator booth if they're going to do that for the final four or eight or whatever it is. Or just hang around Adam Becker's place and play pinball until I go home. Oh, incredible collection. it's an incredible collection it's really diverse it's got a great you know a lot of really commonly found tournament games obviously and they're really they're really tuned up very very
    17:22
    well and I gotta say and you know he's very hospitable him and his partner oh my goodness I can't remember her name now I've met her also and I feel bad I can't remember her name but they're always very hospitable they bring lots of food They bring lots of food, lots of pop, lots of Coca-Colas. And there's lots of room. You're not squished in. Like, sometimes you're kind of squished in at these tournaments. Which is fine. Denise, okay. Yes, Denise. Shout out. Yeah, Denise, his partner. Yeah, shout out to Denise.
    17:52
    She really does a great job. She cooks, like, meatballs and chili and all kinds of stuff that keeps everybody going throughout the whole tournament. And, again, Adam is great at fixing games and taking time off, even though he's in the middle of, like, the finals. he'll be able to, if you ask him politely at the right time, he's there to help make a good ruling or to tweak a game or make whatever needs to be done on your game if there's a problem. So he's very, very attentive, a great TD. And, yeah, I'm very thankful and very surprised, honestly,
    18:24
    to make it into the top 24 for Ontario's 24. Well, I was going to say I think you really, really deserve it because I remember watching you play the CNE pinball tournament, and I feel like you are almost a new player. I've only been gone from Ontario for, we haven't played a tournament together maybe three and a half years or something. It's been too long. It's been too long for sure, but I remember I got to the finals with you in that, I think it's called Critical Hit?
    18:54
    Yeah. Yeah, we got to the, you and I had to play for third, and I'm pretty sure you beat me. But at the time, like you seemed kind of surprised i was surprised i made it to the finals with how many good people were there you were kind you were like whoa i made finals like you were kind of surprised i'm always surprised you know honestly i have to give credit to carter castellan because he was really supportive and that kid is just a wonder child like he is honestly uh you know i hate to make comparisons between people and put pressure on stuff but but carter is literally
    19:27
    than the Canadian. In my opinion, he's the Canadian national player. That kid is going to you're going to hear about Carter Cassman over a very long time. We're going to be seeing him in the finals for a lot of major events. His dad Mike is excellent too. The whole family is really into pinball. Two girls, I think his wife and one of his daughters and Carter and his dad Mike are going to be at the Provincials as well. The daughter and the wife are the women's, I think. and uh yeah it's they're just a whole like the von track family of pinball basically you know
    20:02
    like they're all incredibly talented and carter is just i've seen carter do things that i've only like heard a very few people in pinball do like i'd play him in whitewater and i saw him get over 1 billion on whitewater with just the whirlpool challenge alone okay do you know how Do you know how many shots he made to the whirlpool In a row In a row It was like 52 times in a row We were there watching him play that first ball for over an hour.
    20:33
    Wow. I've never heard anyone else other than maybe Lyman Sheets, who I think he won Papa using that strategy, Papa 3. It was uncanny. It was unbelievable. It was like truly – I was so happy to have been beaten by that score because it was such a legendary game that I was so happy to be privy to watch such incredible... Oh, there's Luna Elowen. There's Luna Elowen. There she is. She's awake. My boys are just coming back. Sorry, everybody's ears.
    21:04
    Oh, my gosh. Oh, yeah. Everybody's just coming back from... Owen was just at a basketball game, so she's not used to people pulling in the driveway this late once it's dark. So sorry, everybody, for your ears. It's kind of neat that you, as you were halfway through that, I thought you were going to compare him to Escher because Escher's, you know, got young, reflexes, skill. Now, I don't want to compare us to the, I don't want to say we're the East Coast Castlemans out here, but all four of us did go to a tournament in December, and Danielle did pretty good.
    21:37
    She didn't get last, which was great, and she doesn't play in tons of tournaments. And Owen almost made finals. Hayden and I made finals. Hayden managed to go against me He took out the two guys That were, I consider, way better than me In earlier rounds of finals And it was just him and I at the very last round And I somehow scraped out a win against him So I never thought in my life I'd get to win a tournament With my son getting second So when I was playing in those finals I think I played well because I had no pressure Because I thought, if my son Hayden wins
    22:08
    I'm okay with that He's going to win his first pinball tournament Or at least not a one at home Yeah, so it's like, you know, but mind you, I've seen Carter play, and I wouldn't even, you know, we're not even, it's same with when I watch Escher play, and, you know, Jared August, and all those good, young, up-and-coming players that I watch, and I just go, like, even Walt Wood, I watch, and I go, what? You know, like, my draw just drops to the floor, like one of those pinball degenerate portraits or something, like I'm getting stuck in the head with a pop bumper. It's amazing. How did you do at the, I was watching you at the CNE tournament.
    22:41
    Was that your highest placing or most whoppers of the year? Oh, yeah, that's the best I've done in a very long time, for sure. I believe I came in third in the first classics, and then I came in, I think, second in the other classics, and then I came in third in the final main tournament, which I again it's great to come in third but man I literally just beefed it on Black Knight if I had just come in anything but last
    23:13
    on Black Knight I would have won the tournament I remember watching that literally on ball three the third lock for the three knights challenge multi-ball on ball three of Black Knight's Norgue of Rage the ball goes right into that open shield area and then just trickles out, slingshot, slingshot, out lane, drain, good night, your day is done, you've lost the whole thing right there. I mean, everybody has these great stories.
    23:43
    I love hearing them. I love hearing everybody's bad breaks. It's like part of the great fun of being in a big tournament. Everybody's got these moments of joy and these moments of absolute heartbreak where it's like, oh, that one little thing would have changed my whole destiny. It's great. But, you know, honestly, like, I was so nervous. I was playing the game of my life on Harlem Globetrotters. I was just playing just lights out Harlem Globetrotters. I love that game so much. And it's a real equalizer because it's really not about any rules knowledge.
    24:16
    It's like do the thing. There's one thing you got to do. You get your bonus up, and then you get those multipliers, and then you just keep on keeping alive for as long as you can. And, you know, if you do that thing, you win. You know, if you don't do that thing, you don't win. And if you do that one thing, it's basically a layup, right? Yeah. And I was playing against Jeff Hewlett, Adam Becker, and Carter Castleman, all incredible veteran Canadian players. And it was just, it's like, again.
    24:47
    You held your own. You held your own in that tournament. I held my own. You know, I'm very happy to just take third in that. But just to know that that one last shot, I just could have got. And I love Black Knight Sword of Rage. I'm probably in the minority in thinking that game is an incredible tournament game. It's fast. It's brutal. It's like the modern version or a more contemporary version of Iron Man. It's such a great flow game. All the shots are accessible from both flippers on the pro. I think it's just as complicated as it needs to be.
    25:18
    The rule set is not too overwhelming or convoluted. It's like beat the mission, beat the mode, beat the monster. bring it into a multi-ball if you can and just get jackpots and get an add a ball. Like everything is so straightforward and color coded and simple. And the flow is fantastic. I think it's a masterpiece for what it is, but I I'm in definitely in the minority that a lot of people really just, I don't know. They just don't see it. They're got disappointed because of the, I don't know, just didn't have a proper upper play field for some people didn't like that.
    25:49
    We're not satisfied with that play field. So, and without the upper play field, it's not really black night. I get that, but man, I loved, I love the call-outs. The topper is still the best damn topper out in the world. Hey, there you go. Disney animatronic, you know, taunting you. I love it. Absolutely. That's like playing against Steve Ritchie, like head-to-head. It's fantastic. So, anyhow. The only thing I don't love about Black Knight, just because I'm half Dutch, I think I would like it playing in a home environment or in an all-you-can-play,
    26:20
    but it eats my loonies up, man. If I go over and play Jurassic Park or AIQ or something, I can play for usually 25-30 minutes, but I'm lucky to get a 10-minute game. Now, maybe the one I'm on is set up hard. It is the pro, right? It doesn't have the upper play field, but I do need more time with it. Everything you said is true. I like that it's a fast game. I do like playing Iron Man as well, just for the same reason, because if you're not good at saving the ball, play some Iron Man or Black Knight, and it'll learn you real quick.
    26:51
    Good luck. You'll start to learn slap saves or you won't, right? So my next question for you was, now I happen to know about this. Other people might not. But I know that you have some other hobbies outside of pinball, which I only wanted to touch on briefly. It is a pinball podcast. But I know that you're a bit of a foodie, kind of like me. I know you love photography, but you also love movies. And I believe you used to have, or maybe you still, do you still have a movie podcast? I do and it's right now in the process
    27:24
    of being kind of revitalized it's not dead I haven't done it COVID really knocked everything apart and just made connecting with people because I like to sit people down in studio talk to them and kind of get to know them personally a lot of people are strangers that are my guests on the show but yeah it's called the name of the movie podcast is called Overrated and you know we basically we try have to be such negative nancies as you know you like to say debbie downer sounds like a negative idea a debbie downer like we take a movie that's like popular like our first episode that we did
    27:58
    was um uh shawshank redemption which is a fine movie it's a very good crowd pleaser movie but is it number it doesn't deserve to be number one on imdb by like for like the last 20 years it's been number one the number one rated film that's a bit overrated right you you must agree that that's kind of over i agree yeah so we talk we talk about we talk about the movie and where there are certain flaws where it gets a little corny the music's a little overdone you know it's a little bit of a of a kind of a mickey mouse version of what real prison life is like there's a lot more
    28:29
    harsher prison movies out there that really deal with like how incredibly emotionally and physically demanding and stressful and power and punishing it is but you know overall it's a very it's a heartwarming movie about friendship and escape and the you know the uh the ability for the individual to overcome the system and uh you know it's a great evil versus good movie uh but you know it's flawed you know it's not the best movie right so in that we have a second part to that podcast where we uh either of us hosts myself alan or my co-host uh sorry my co-host alan or myself
    29:02
    we recommend a movie that would be a good replacement or i guess a movie that would make a great double bill for shawshank redemption so if you like shawshank redemption great that's wonderful. You might also want to hear this movie that not a lot of people have heard about. And in this case, we chose the movie The Hill, which is directed by one of the greatest American directors, Sidney Lumet. It's in black and white. It stars Sean Connery and Ozzie Davis. It's an incredible war film that's set in a war prison camp. And these guys, they're tortured by their
    29:34
    prison wardens because they've got to run up and down this giant sand hill until they basically collapse and then something tragic happens while these guys are getting disciplined and then somebody's got to be pointed somebody has to be you know fingered for the blame and you know the wardens are trying to finger the the cat the uh the the the the the prisoners and the prisoners are trying to fight against the wardens they're kind of corrupt and they're taskmasters and you know sort of kind of really uh you know immoral and it's a great fight between the individual and the institution just as shawshank redemption is the same kind of conflict you know right
    30:08
    between good and evil. So again, if you like Shawshank Redemption, great. I'm very happy for you. If you think that Shawshank Redemption isn't that great, but it's an okay, interesting movie that you see, maybe you might like this movie better. And that's the whole point. We want to bring you in with a movie that you've heard of before, and then kind of like show you, hey, there's this other movie that's kind of like that, but you've probably never heard of this movie. So check this out. And that's what I really like about movie podcasts is when I find out about movies that are similar or related to movies that I know, you know, like something like
    30:38
    Quentin Tarantino, he puts out a movie and then suddenly everybody's an expert on, you know, Sonny Chiba movies and, you know, all these Kung Fu movies. And, you know, it's like he helped revitalize the interest in those filmmakers, you know, making this big popular movie. Spaghetti Westerns. Exactly. Spaghetti Westerns, you know, all that stuff, you know. Ninjas. I also want to, yeah, ninjas. Absolutely. So I want to kind of like show people, hey, there's other movies out there than just the kind of run-of-the-mill popular movies that you've seen a million times.
    31:09
    This might be a great replacement or a double bill, you know, that would work with what. So that's the whole point of overrated. And, yeah, believe it or not, I love movies more than I love even pinball. Really? Because, you know, I love pinball. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. I mean, I could live without pinball. What about movies about pinball? It would really. that's a mixed bag I mean you're talking about Tommy and I mean I haven't seen the Roger Sharp movie when it comes to Toronto
    31:41
    I haven't seen it it's not available for Canadians it's on streaming but it's not available to Canadians streaming so that kind of stinks but I want to really see it in an audience of people that are not pinball people I want to see how they react to that movie and if they're drawn in and interested by the general narrative of Roger's life and his story with his wife, and it's a love story. I want to see if that works with an audience. I want to see, because we love Roger. All us pinball people love Roger. Even if the movie was a complete bomb,
    32:12
    we would still say it's one of the greatest movies ever made. But I want to see it with a regular audience and see if they get those reactions, those pops, as the WWE people would say. Get the pops. Get those reactions. But yeah, movies are my life. they've been through my whole life uh in a sense in essence movies are life because they're a way to live a small little snippet of someone else's life whether they're fictional or real or whatever imagined you're you're getting to have extra experiences of life that you would never have
    32:45
    the opportunity otherwise unless you saw this film so to me movies are life like they really are I agree with you.
    33:21
    It's a very low stakes achievement that you can make. You know, and if it goes wrong, it goes wrong. It's fine. But it's great if it works and you can eat it and you can share it with people you love. It's a great way to express your love to those people because you're like, here, I want you to live. Eat this. This will help you live. I care about you. You know, it's a beautiful process, cooking and eating and sharing and talking about food. I'm always watching TV, cooking shows while I'm eating. you know it's a whole culture I'm Italian so you know it's a big part of the culture is eating and
    33:55
    cooking and all that stuff so yeah that is so cool I'm very much a board gamer I'm very much a board gamer too well I'm really into like tabletop rolling dice I'm not gonna lie I like pinball way more than movies I like movies don't get me wrong I love movies but I do think that if I had to choose between you know eating like I don't know just like a nutrient dense like uh fluid for the rest of my life or having yummy food the rest of my life and not having pinball i'd probably choose the yummy food so i guess i kind of am more of a foodie than you know uh
    34:29
    than a pinball nerd but i'm yeah it's pretty damn close it's pretty there's been times where i've been starving and i've still stayed and played pinball for three more hours and not even given a shit about being hungry right so only how you can do that i'd be like wow i haven't eaten or gone to the washroom in five hours and i've just been playing five hours straight of pinball how about that like you know like it's amazing how it takes you out of your like your your your present state of consciousness and kind of brings you to another world oh time doesn't exist uh like a even this yeah this last saturday i was doing uh practicing for my provincials i made provincials
    35:04
    in new brunswick and uh i was at spin it records practicing because zeros wasn't quite open yet and um whenever we're there my wife takes the phone because so she can have navigation and stuff she doesn't have her own cell phone and um so she takes the phone so i don't have access to any clocks and i feel weird going up to people that i don't know and being like do you know what time it is and they're gonna look at me and be like yeah the year is 2023 look at your phone right so like i don't want to like ask and there's no no one puts clocks anywhere anymore so uh you know
    35:34
    and i didn't know how long she was gone and she came there and she's i see her kind of almost like walking so quickly through the door and she's normally chill and relaxed and she gets her she goes, I'm so sorry. They took an extra hour and a half. I was getting my hair done and my nails and getting the ultimate manicure. And I was like, honey, you don't have to apologize. I was just here playing pinball. You could have been gone an extra five hours. I wouldn't have noticed. You know, I didn't even, I thought it was just two o'clock and it was three 30. Right. So time can go that quickly. Now, the reason I asked you about your movie podcast is because I was curious why, you know, or, or if you've ever thought about
    36:06
    starting a pinball podcast? Yeah, you know, there's so many already. There's so many great pinball podcasts out there. I don't know what I could add. You know, and I very rarely even come on pinball podcasts because I feel like I got nothing to say. So, I mean... Oh, that's not true. No, no, but honestly, like, you know, or be like, I don't know, especially your original schedule that you were pulling up, putting out like every day a podcast. Like there's, that would be a nightmare for me. That was tough.
    36:36
    You have a full-time job, though. Yeah, yeah. You know, I mean, I just like being an observer. I love, you know, if you come up to me at a pinball show or a pinball tournament and you want to talk pinball, I'll just chat your ear off for hours. I'll chat anybody's ear off for hours if you ask me about pinball. But, you know, I mean, the whole, again, the post-production work is a lot because I'm a perfectionist, and so I'd have to be, like, a really post-heavy style kind of pinball podcast. The thing I was considering once was maybe doing sort of like a very finite pinball journal or kind of just pinball observations.
    37:12
    That would be like maybe a five-episode thing where I just talk about my own why I like pinball or why I think people like pinball, why it's relevant still. It would be kind of like a little mini memoir of pinball, and it would just be like five episodes and then done. And then that's all I have to say about pinball, and that's it. You know, I'd consider something like that. But, I mean, yeah, I'm not an insider. I don't know all the new stuff that's coming out. I'm not either. And, like, all the, you know, I rely on the big boys, the people who are in the know and in the industry and stuff to work on that.
    37:45
    I'm happy to listen to them. Now, if you were going to join, if you were going to be on a pinball podcast, would you join the pinball network or the sloppiest network in all pinball podcasting, the poor man's pinball network? I mean, you know me. I'm a degenerate. Yes. Like, you know, you're asking me who you're going to choose, the slobs or the snobs? I'm not saying that the people on that network are snobs, but it's like they're the classy people. They're the people that are professionals, right? I'm going with the slobs. Yeah.
    38:16
    Did you hear that, tribe members? You know, we're the jobbers. You know what I mean by, like, you know, in wrestling, you've got just the wrestlers that come on to make the other wrestlers look good. You know, they pin them. they knock them around but they love they love wrestling as much as anybody else they could you know hold their own in a real actual you know wrestling match but they they do what they gotta do they take the the hits they take the pin and you know they go home they get paid and you know whatever i'm a jobber when it comes to pinball man i'm not there for you know taking the star
    38:47
    the limelight i don't want that because then you get all these trolls that come out and rip you apart and i'm way too precious and i can't handle people like criticizing me and ripping me apart like that. So I don't want to be, I'm kind of trying to stay low. That's why Pinball Deterrence is not about me. It really isn't. It never was. It was about, it was inspired by actually one night I saw three amazing pinball players, and I'll drop the names because it was incredible. It was Lyman Sheets, Steve Bowden, and Greg Pavarelli.
    39:24
    Pavarelli. And these guys, earlier in the day, were playing at the IFPA World Championships at Adam Becker's place. And they were playing high-level pinball for like 15 hours straight. And, like, after that, for most people, even if you're a hardcore pinball player, after playing high-level pinball for 15 hours straight, your brain is melted. It's gone. Pinball's the last thing you probably want to do for the rest of the evening. You probably just want to go home, kick it back, have a beer, and just veg out.
    39:54
    But these guys, they came out to Tilt, which is a bar. It's in Toronto where I was working. And they came out to party, man. They came out to play more pinball just for the love and fun of pinball, you know, and to hang out and, you know, catch up as friends and just chill out. And we had an incredible time together. I'm like, you guys are degenerates, man. You guys are pinball degenerates. And that's where the idea came to me. You know, you guys just love pinball so much that it's not even about, you know, the competition or whatever.
    40:24
    It's just about getting together, having fun. Pinball is so much fun. It's not a job. It's something we do because we love it, you know. And that's what these guys were doing. And it's one of my favorite memories from that IFPA that they had in Canada a few years back. And it was great. It's a great memory. Wow. That's good people. Rest in peace, Lyman, of course. Yeah I mean it tragic You know we don need to get into that It was such a We lost a lot of really incredible people throughout the last two and a half years
    40:57
    throughout the pandemic. It's just heartbreaking. Absolutely heartbreaking. Well, I totally agree with you. And it's hard to... Life is finite. So get out there and enjoy every day, basically, right? So, I mean, that's what we try to... Yeah, I think that's a great way to do that. Yeah, if there's something we can take from it. And I will say this, and this is not written on my sheet in my notes here. This is maybe a little off topic, but I am very, very jealous of you. Some people get jealous. They see other people's collections of 100 awesome pinball machines.
    41:29
    Cool, someday I'd like to have that. Or some, you know, maybe you hear about a pinball designer or a pinball insider or, you know, maybe a really popular podcaster who gets lots of listens or, you know, just does a great job and has a phenomenal show. So, sure, I'm jealous of all those people. But I'm just jealous of how many awesome tournaments that you went to this year and how you got to connect with people. And honestly, like, for my own self, before I even fill up Orbeez Arcade with any more machines, I want to save money to go to maybe not InDisc, which is just starting today or tomorrow, I believe.
    42:03
    Not InDisc because that's, you know, to get to California, there's no cheap way to do it. That's a big jump. But, like, Pentastic, the CNE, Yagpin. I really appreciate you guys offering a room for me at Yagpin, which was so cool. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I mean, you know, take your baby steps. That's my rule of thumb. I usually take one big trip per year. I go to either Texas Pinball Festival or Chicago or, you know, something I need to take a plane to get to.
    42:34
    And then for the rest of the year, it's either local within two or three hours driving distance or maybe a little bit further out of the way. You've got to take a bus to Buffalo or Rochester or something like that. I definitely would love to go to the New York City Pinball Championships. I loved what they do there. That's a great tournament as well. There's so many. That's the thing. It's hard to pick. District 82 is like Waperville. Yeah. Oh, man. Are you kidding me, man? I'd love to check that place out. Yeah. So, I mean, that's the thing, right?
    43:05
    Like, I'm just trying to – and I'm going to a lot – I really, really want to support as many of the local, you know, tournaments and leagues as much as I can. Sometimes it's a lot, and not everybody can do it, you know, especially if you've got multiple leagues going. You know, it can be kind of overwhelming. But pick your battles. Baby steps, man. We'd love to see you come out, man. I'd miss you so much. Like, it's just – I know you want to make it out there, but it's tough, man. It is tough, you know. You've got a homestead and you've got a family. you know I don't have kids I don't have a you know I don't have a family so right now
    43:38
    I'm just kind of like solo it's a lot easier to get out there but yeah man I'd love to see you come out to something like Yagpin is amazing yes I'm going to try for that one or XO or whatever what I think is so cool is that like you know instead of you choosing I'm sure if you took the thousands of dollars you've spent over the past decade going to all these shows and going to you know leagues and stuff You could have your own, you know, like a decent collection going of pins, but you've chosen instead to go see people and meet people and have these experiences
    44:11
    rather than having an arcade full of machines, which I think is so cool. Like, I think that's such a great decision, which, you know, you kind of want to balance it, but, I mean, at the same time, good for you. It's part of the tournament experience for sure. You know, like, it's great to compete and, like, try to, you know, get some pinball respect by like coming in and you know having like getting first in b division or whatever you know like i try to go for it i'm a b division guy like again i'm a b division guy i'm not going for the a division stuff i don't even bother but it's really a lot of it and it sounds so corny but
    44:44
    it really is the people when i started doing photography for pinball i was just so obsessed like when i went to the papa facility i would just photograph every single machine they got there in great detail every little mech every little piece of art and everything and then i realized, oh man, it's really the people that are really more interesting, the moments and the, the players. And then I got to know the players because, you know, I would just like put the photographs up there for everybody to kind of tag themselves. And then I got to really kind of have a relationship with these people. And that was so much more fulfilling. And that, you know, that's the reason why literally like, I'd say like 80% of the reason why I go is just to like
    45:18
    catch up or meet so many new people. And it's, it's astounding. Like how many people you think, you know in the pinball hobby and then when you go to something like expo you're like wow i don't know anybody here and it's like it's it's it's it's true it's like you're like i i'm wow like i'm really i i it's amazing how many more people you can meet and just randomly play with and get to know it's such an incredible experience going to larger shows and uh yeah man it it's the reason to go out there that's the whole reason why i mean for the most part it's fun to compete
    45:52
    It's fun to have a great game and have people clap and like, great ball, man, great ball. Now, a large percentage of the people who do listen to my show, especially since I've moved over to the Poor Men's Pinball Network, they actually are, surprise, surprise, from the United States of America. If an American is listening to this, or even possibly someone in Europe or Australia, I have quite a few listeners there as well, if they're listening to this and they've never been out to Yagpin, which is Canada's only Stern Circuit event, of course, what like like I guess what's the one selling like how would you sell them on saying they should come
    46:29
    check it out what's the one main point or like the one main draw for people to come check out obviously Edmonton's really rad and it's cool if they haven't been to Canada before they get to hang out with a whole bunch of us uh maple syrup chugging uh Canucks of course but hosers us hosers eh but like you know we'll go out for a rip or something with them bud but you know I'm just curious like what what sell me on it i've never been to it but also just for like americans maybe who don't know too much about yagpin how would you try to get them to it next year i mean it's it's really well organized it's it i mean it's modeled after it's unabashedly modeled after
    47:04
    pinberg and i hate to use the word the p word flippantly because pinberg was a sacred like papa pinberg these are unique these were unique events that if you didn't go to them i i hate to sound like this jerk, but they were remarkably well-run events, and it's not just the amount of games, it's the people that were organizing them were what really made these events special. I just want to make that extremely clear that if somebody says it's like Pinberg, sure, yeah, it could be on the front of it, but really
    47:37
    Pinberg is special for a lot of many different reasons, and probably the main reason was the people running it that knew how to run an incredibly well-organized circus of a tournament and make it seem like it was the most extraordinary experience for everybody involved, for every player, everyone attending. I'm going to be there next year. It's growing. It has that vibe. I must admit, it has the vibe of a Pinnberg
    48:07
    because it is four-player match play. It's ten rounds divided five each day, and then a finals, you know, or it's modeled right after the gold standard that was Pembert. It's much smaller. Obviously, it's growing, but it has potential to grow because the space that they have it in really lends itself to a, I would say they could probably double the amount of attendance. It's probably around 300 originally right now, last year, just over 300 or so. And I'm sure they could, with a lot of work and a lot of cooperation, a lot of help,
    48:42
    they could definitely get to around 600 or so. And again, Pinbird was 1,000. 1,000, yeah. Pinbird was 1,000 people at its peak, which is mind-boggling still to say. Mind-boggling. But I think that it is definitely growing, and it is extremely well run and organized and on time. And the games are hard as hell. They're set up real hard, but everybody's dealing with the same stuff. So they're doing a really good job there. And we've already had a lot of Americans come over for Yagpin and some international people.
    49:18
    But it would be really great to help support that tournament. It really is worth the trip. It definitely is worth the trip. Oh, geez. Well, something else that is worth the wait, and I know you're thinking about it. I don't want you to send me the picture quite yet. We're real close, everybody. We're almost ready for the live reveal. But just one last thing we've got to talk about. Of course, everybody knows the Twippies are coming up next month, I believe in March. And then, of course, the Pinball Awards. I think they're just called, they used to be called the Pinball Awards.
    49:49
    It used to be just the industry. It used to be the Pinball Industry Awards. Now they're just the Pinball Awards. Yes, and of course, the third annual Nerdies is coming up, which, you know. Can't wait. I don't know when that's going to be, but stay tuned. It'll be probably in an episode or two because I may have a guest lined up for my next show. But more importantly, I think my favorite pinball award show is the one that has the awesomest trophies as well as the least drama.
    50:20
    Could you tell us a little bit about that particular award show? Okay. Well, again, I just – again, it's not to slight anybody else or anybody award, take anything away from any of the award shows or whatever. You know, I think what they're doing, both the Twippies and the Pinball Awards, make complete sense. And they have their own method and their own process, and it's very professional. And basically the Pinball Degenerates Awards are basically just my personal way to thank people within the pinball community for being awesome and doing awesome pinball crazy degenerate pinball stuff.
    50:56
    And it's completely biased. It's completely unorganized. It's like the complete opposite of everything. There's no voting whatsoever. Pardon me? Sorry, what was that? Oh, sorry. I was just saying there's no voting whatsoever. Like, it's completely – at least you're being honest. There's actually no voting. It's a total dictatorship. Yes. It's a total dictatorship of one. I am the sole person. It's completely biased. It's completely sycophantic and nepotimistic. You know, but anybody can win. The only sort of rule I kind of put in place is nobody can win twice for the same award.
    51:30
    That's fair enough, yeah. And I try to change up the awards, and I try to make the awards not your typical awards that you see on most of the... So we're not awarding anything to, like, manufacturers or for games or mods or commercial mods, anyhow. We're trying to award the kind of homebrew level, you know, homebrew maker, you know, best pinballs, death save, degenerate tattoos that they have. Most degenerate stance. Last year we had the most degenerate washroom award for our location, the most degenerate washrooms.
    52:04
    They're kind of silly and stupid, but I still want to personally recognize people that have been so supportive to me, to the page, to the whole community in general, that really, I think, embody the best characteristics of what the best of this community in general, not just the pinball degenerates, but just all of pinball, have contributed. And, you know, it's my idea. It's going to be a disaster. I'm telling you right now, tune in to the Facebook page on Pinball Degenerates.
    52:36
    We're going to go on Facebook Live and I think on Twitch as well. We'll go live on February 5th. February 5th, okay. Yeah, Sunday, February 5th at about 4 p.m. It might be a complete and total disaster. It probably will be a complete and total disaster. but you should check it out it's kind of like a car accident you want to see what happens just tell how badly people are injured you want to see that three-legged dog so come on in and just be cool
    53:08
    be nice, be positive in the chat and we're going to give away some trivia, we'll give away some pinball merch for anybody who can guess the trivia the fastest in the chat so stay tuned throughout the whole production. We'll be giving it throughout the whole show, the award ceremony. And, yeah, we're giving out about 17 awards, including not the Dote, because, again, I am the Dote. I'm the one and only degenerate of all time.
    53:39
    Nobody's getting that award ever. It's a one-off, okay? But we will be giving away the Lyman Sheets Pinball Degenerate of the Year Award, in which I will be donating $100 to the National Mental Health Alliance. That's awesome. Thanks for doing that. And we have other awards, one for a pinball operator that will be donated in the name of Alan Seahack, who was a great recipient of the previous year's award posthumously, apparently. But unfortunately, he passed away before he could actually receive his award. So we're now honoring him with that award.
    54:12
    and I'll be personally donating again $100 for us. Oh, my goodness. Give me a second here. No, no, no worries. Bring it up. I know what you're talking about. What I was going to say is that I'm so appreciative. For multiple sclerosis. Oh, okay, MS, yeah. He didn't pass away from MS, but it was something that was a determining factor when he got COVID. So I'll be personally donating $100 in Alan's name for multiple sclerosis.
    54:44
    And there's another one, yeah, for Norma Jennings, who was also a streamer, who did get a chance to receive the award but unfortunately passed away very soon afterward. And to honor her memory as well, I'll be making a $100 donation in her name to Cancer Research, National Cancer Foundation, basically. so yeah we're trying to do some good stuff not just like give ourselves awards and uh you know ridiculous stuff we're gonna have some fun a lot of fun hopefully there's gonna be a lot of
    55:15
    ridiculous stuff where do you where do you see my costume orby i'm gonna this or yeah it's gonna be quite a sight it'll be something to be talking about the day after i think it'll be interesting and so yeah so tune in i'm even more excited than i was before now if so is it can you still nominate people till a certain date? Yeah, absolutely. Reasonably, I think I've set the deadline to just before midnight, like 11.59pm on January 31st. The awards are on
    55:46
    February 5th, so it gives me a little time to finally kind of, again, a lot of the awards have not been decided yet. We've got Pinball Tattoo, Best Ball Save, Best Do-It-Yourself Topper, Best Pinball Troll. That's been a pretty interesting award nomination process. Pinball Vehicle, so you've got a really cool pinball car, bicycle, motorcycle, any kind of vehicle, pinball-themed vehicle, post it on the Facebook page,
    56:20
    and I will be the sole person judging all the winners of the awards. I've got the Most Degenerate Publication, Most Degenerate Homebrew, Again, Pinball Streamer, Pinball Stance, Most Degenerate Pinball Collection, Most Degenerate Pinball Score, Most Degenerate Pinball Operator, Most Degenerate Pinball Restoration, Most Degenerate Pinball Event, and Most Degenerate Pinball Commentator, as well as Most Degenerate Pinball Artist, and then Pinball Degenerate of the Year is the final big award.
    56:54
    Right, right, right. So, yeah. And new for this year is Most Degenerate Pinball Fart. Oh, that'll be for next year. Okay, okay, okay. I'm just kidding. You have to record it in some way. You have to prove who smelt it and who dealt it. Got to fart in a jar, send it in. I have some great ideas for next year. Next year we're probably going to have something like Most Degenerate Pinball Pet will be up for grabs. you know so I try to change it up and make it kind of an unconventional pinball
    57:26
    awards but yeah trying to make it fun again it's just for fun like pinball I hope you know I'm probably going to make more people upset than happy because of the people that have you know been disappointed they didn't get it you know but that's just the way it goes you know like I'm just trying to have a little bit of fun and recognize people in the community are awesome and are real degenerates. They need to be called out for their degeneracy. I really love it because it's the best of both
    57:58
    worlds. You're giving back to charity, you're giving back to the pinball community, and it's fun. It's a win-win-win. I feel like you're doing this all out of the goodness of your heart. I know that you bought the trophies last time, you shipped them. Sometimes the shipping can be almost as expensive. Someone lives in Hawaii or something. I know. The most expensive one last year was, I won't say how much it was, but I had to ship this thing to Greece. Yes.
    58:28
    And that was, wow, that was a lot more than I expected for a simple little plastic trophy that lights up. And then also one of our winners, because I didn't get a tracking number, and that's on me, I think somebody stole his award off his front porch when it got delivered. It didn't have a tracking number, so I didn't get it verified, So I had to resend that person another award. I had to get it custom made again. Oh, no. Oh, my God. And then ship it out to the person. Yeah, so that was another expense.
    59:00
    But, hey, again, I'm just trying to do it as a thank you. It's just a lot of fun to have something to look forward to every year. I really appreciate it. It's insane the amount of people on the Facebook page to me now. Originally, we started with like 300 people. there's almost 1,500 people on the page. Wow. It's wild. And I think I, if I don't mind saying myself, I think I do a pretty good job of keeping up the ding-dongs. And everybody themselves self-polices and is very respectful and very positive.
    59:32
    And we have disagreements all the time. That's fine. But as long as we don't get vicious and personal, let's just keep it about pinball. So that's all I ask. Just be awesome to each other. Now, speaking of drama, I did jokingly mention this, I think last year and this year, like, why isn't there a pinball podcasting category? And you have already told me it's because it would just be too much drama. Already? Let me ask you this. Oh, yeah. Let me ask you this. That's the most drama-rife category of all. I agree. So I don't want you to do it. But I want you to just humor me here with a turbo lightning round, okay?
    60:06
    So zero to ten. Here's a couple of the pinball podcasts I've done before, and I want you to give it a zero to 10 for how degenerate is zero being not very degenerate and 10 being like okay the the goat of degeneracy okay so zero okay okay uh doing a pinball podcast live from a roller coaster that's like a 9.5 okay thank you thank you that that might have been me that might have been i remember that episode that was amazing was that awesome well done thank you that was amazing i
    60:37
    I love that one. That's a nine five. Thank you. Okay. Just simply because there might be something more insane like you're doing a pinball podcast as you're being launched into outer space. That would be like a ten. Okay. I don't know if they're saying quite that, Rad, but while collecting maple syrup. Okay. I would say that's very esoteric and very Canadian, but degenerate. I mean, it's not the most hardcore. If it's in the wintertime, then I give you an extra couple points there. it was in the wintertime or not it was yeah it was winter it was like january february yeah okay i give it a seven i give it a seven go um i did my favorite part of that if i don know if you heard or not my favorite part as I went back and listened to it a couple times is just the sound of my feet in the mud like slopping around
    61:23
    in the mud back there. Well collecting goat poop. Yeah, that's pretty degenerate. I'll give that a 7.5. Well in the shower. Well in the shower? I did one from the shower last year. That's a 7.5. Well drinking a beer. possibly. Okay, okay, I like it. Yeah, that's pretty standard degeneracy. I'd say, again, a 7.5, maybe. You know, what kind of beer was it? That's what I want. Ah, no, it was a craft
    61:53
    beer. Like malt liquor? No, it wasn't a 40-ouncer. I wish it was a 40-ouncer of old English. If you did a 40-ouncer, you'd be an 8. You're still at a 7. You're at a 7 and doing the shower. Alright, and... Especially if you shotgunned it. If you shotgunned that bad boy and then started the show, then that's an 8 to be fair for this next one I didn't shotgun any but I definitely had 2 or 3 tall cans before I started the episode this is from last like 2 or 3 weeks ago
    62:23
    I did drunk dialing and I actually did really call on Facebook not his actual phone number or anyone's actual phone numbers but I did call Jack Danger, Keith Elwin as well as Raymond Davidson and believe it or not Raymond Davidson actually picked up and I was like oh shit I'm too drunk I didn't think he'd answer. That's great. That's an 8.5. Okay, okay. I like that. 8.5. And this is the very last one. That's gold. Thank you. I was so drunk I forgot to put my awesome theme song from Glenn the Skateboarder at the end.
    62:56
    Sorry, Glenn and Dr. John. Was it a video call? Was it a video call or just a regular audio call? No, I didn't video call like this. I did with my dad, actually, and I think. Still makes. Oh, and with Mike Dimas. Mike Dimas picked up and I got to see that guy's a degenerate with his pinball shenanigans yes such a degenerate okay this is the final one and then I'm ready for the big reveal my final one for you is when I attended my very first Pinberg and I attempted to interview 100 people
    63:26
    over the first 3 days I was there I only got to 70 that was insane I was there to witness a lot of that you were one of them yeah yeah Yeah, it was amazing. Yeah, a nine. Thank you. That's like a serious degenerate motive right there, like that nobody in their right mind would ever want to do that or have the ability to even get to 70. Honestly, that's insane. Thank you. So I give that a straight up nine. Straight up nine.
    63:56
    I don't want you to give me a nine. The roller coaster, you might actually die. Yes. There's a possibility you could drop the camera or the mic and it would go through your skull and you would get knocked out or you'd just fly out of the roller coaster. That was so hilarious. It cracked me up so much. That's probably one peak Orbeez moment. Of the top ten Orbeez moments, it's got to be in there for sure. Well, thank you for that. That was just like a last-minute thought because I was at Cedar Point.
    64:27
    No, Darien Lake. I was at Darien Lake Six Flags. and most of the roller coasters there are like so intense you just could not record but that was one of the older ones that was uh you know it was more relaxed it did have it had a loop to loop but it wasn't like a you know it was one of the ones i couldn't um enough about me let's it still cracks me up thinking about that i've never just seen your face it was amazing absolutely amazing the only way you can top that is if you do skydiving or bungee jumping that's the only way you could possibly pop that. That'd be
    64:58
    like, hey guys, how's it going? And then as you're bouncing, you're talking about dimpled playfields or something or whatever. You know, like whatever the latest controversy in pinball is. It'd be great. I'm not saying you have to do that, man. No, no, no. What I feel like you're saying is there's a possibility if, not that you're going to ever do this, but if there was an award for the most degenerate pinball podcaster I'd have to be up there maybe with Ian and Drew from the Poor Man's Pinball Podcast.
    65:31
    They might have won back in their peak. I might win now. I don't know. Those guys have really done some real degenerate stuff, and I love them for it. Yeah. It would be close. I don't want to pick favorites. No, no, no. I don't want to either. I just, I'm never going to get into the twiddlies. You would be the first, but I would probably, if it was a multiple year award, I'd probably award them as well. And maybe some other people. Yeah. Hell, I'll take a runner up. I know I'm not going to make the,
    66:02
    the dropdown list for the Twippies or anything, but you know what? It's, I just love doing this. It's more like a blog. Like I said, I'm just, I'm very happy being over here on the poor men's pinball network because I get a little bit more views, which is nice. Right. Now here's the big, like, I don't, I don't have a drum roll sound or anything cause I'm that degenerate, but did you want to maybe send me over the file through Facebook? and I can get to finally see you after much ado. All right. I've got it loaded up. Here we go. It's coming at you, Cleopatra.
    66:33
    All right. Everyone's going to be able to hear it come in. Holy shats. This is incredible. Oh, my God. I love it. This is too good. I've got a pop bumper in my forehead. Oh, my God. I freaking love that. My hair doesn't look that good in real life, but he makes it look really good. Oh, yes, it does. I'm just kidding. Your hair is good. Wow, man, look at this. It's nice and slick. Okay, so for people who can't see it, there's a pop bumper in my forehead. Now, of course, head over to Pinball Degenerates on Facebook,
    67:05
    or I'm going to share this on the Pinball Nerds Facebook as well, but this is freaking hilarious. Okay, so there's a flipper going into one of my shoulders. Is that a plunger coming out of my cheek? I think it's a stand-up target. A stand-up target? There's also a pinball. There's a stand-up target. There's a couple stand-ups. One in your neck. Yeah. Oh, yep. There it is. Yeah. And you got a pinball smack dab in your right cheek there. And my eyes are very bloodshot and red.
    67:37
    So, you know, he got that part right. Well, you're high as fuck. Well, of course. Come on. It wouldn't be our baby if it weren't high as hell. I know. Ironically today, I'm only high on caffeine. But I had to go drop my son off at the good old basketball game there before this. So days I'm driving, I make sure I'm fairly responsible. But, you know, the day is young. What are you drinking? Your own brew? Yeah, I'm drinking the good old, well, I had the Force, which is a medium roast on the dark side recently. But I did want to say thank you as well.
    68:07
    Quickly off topic, I want to say thank you so much for putting in your order. I know that you're not even a big coffee or tea drinker, but you ordered some from me. Thank you so much for that. And you gave away as gifts. Yeah, my family members are. They enjoyed it. They loved it. Awesome. I had a couple cups of football nerds with the medium roast or light roast or whatever it was there. What did you think? Yeah, it was great. I love it. Hey, man, I put so much. Here's the thing, though, Orby. I'm such a bad coffee drinker. I put so much sugar in my coffee, it doesn't matter. It could be tar, and I'm putting so much sugar that the spoon stands straight up in the coffee cup, okay?
    68:40
    It's that much sugar in there. I don't drink a lot of, because, again, I don't like bitter food, but yours was good, man. It didn't require as much sugar. Thank you. Put it that way. Thank you. And, yeah, thank you, man. I love what you do on the homestead. Thank you. You gave me the jam, the extra jam, and the honey. Oh, yeah, I forgot about that. Come on, man. Okay, all right. That was amazing. Yeah, that was very much appreciated. And, yeah, man, I love, again, I like supporting people who do their own thing, whether it's, like, drawing or, like, making their own pickles or whatever, man.
    69:12
    Like, dude, like, we just all got to kind of hang out, support each other, be cool. that's the degenerate way baby that's the degenerate way well some of the stuff I do is cool but I'm telling you this oh man you organizing this awesome art project is just incredible I love the colors I love the background even that teal is like my favorite color wow nice now this guy has got better teeth than me I unfortunately too many years of skateboarding I've like snapped off way too many teeth so this guy
    69:43
    you know he's got better teeth than me thank God which is that's a good sign and he has very little gray in his beard which I like, thank the artist for that one that was awesome this is incredible, this is blowing my mind I really think that I'm going to have to get either you're doing a t-shirt and you're doing a poster I'm going to have to get either or both yeah, the poster is going to be really epic it's going to be great to see people wearing the t-shirt I think the poster especially with 64 people
    70:13
    all different unique portraits and colors and everything it's going to be like a full size poster size so it will be really easy to find you won't have to get like a custom frame or something you can just go to like Walmart or Ikea and get like a standard size frame poster frame for those things it will be pretty easy if you want to frame it and I think it's going to look incredible not to hype it up too much but it's the whole everybody all the diversity of everybody who's part of it and all my friends and a lot of people I don't even know,
    70:47
    which is even more flattering. People I've never even met before in real life are like 100% on board. And I'm like, that is awesome. Well, it's so cool. It was great to have you on the show today. I'm probably going to wrap soon, but I wanted to know, I guess, two last things. Number one, is there anything else? I know we've thrown out, you know, we've talked about some stuff you're doing. that. Is there anyone else that you want to do a shout out to or anything you want to remind the listeners of before we go?
    71:17
    Sure. Can we talk about TEMA? Do we have time to talk about TEMA? Yes, explain the TEMA or TEMA or whatever. Come on. So I sometimes make really vague references to TEMA, which is an acronym for T-I-M-A, which stands for thematically integrated mechanical action. And I'm trying to start like a kind of a cult slash just a look, I'm trying to make it fetch.
    71:48
    I'm trying to make it the new fetch, but it's not working. It's not even happening. So, yeah. It's like my, in my opinion, okay, and again pinball is special to people for different reasons. I get it, right? People just like shots. People like great code. People like just the artwork. People love just the mechanical engineering of it or the business side of it. There's so many different ways to love pinball. But for me, okay, what makes pinball special and a unique art form and a unique medium of entertainment than any other art form like movies or books or music or anything like that and other kind of like arcade games especially,
    72:32
    is that pinball has thematically integrated mechanical action. And by that, yeah, you generally could call it like toys or mechs, but it has to like really sell that world under glass idea, right? Like when you think of a pinball machine, as an example, when you think of a pinball machine, what is the first thing you think about when I say medieval madness? Or The Tracks. Or The Addams Family. Exactly. Or a theater of magic. The hand in Adam's family.
    73:05
    There are these things that happen. There are magical moments that happen in pinball that are mechanical. They're not digital. They're things that a person designed physically to happen and interact with the pinball, specifically with the pinball. And it's like this amazing thing that you want to see happen again and again and again. And, yes, it's great to have flow and shots and deep code and art and music and all these amazing things. That all adds to the thematic aspect, but it's nothing without that mechanical magic.
    73:37
    That's the reason why we play pinball as opposed to a video game or something digital that's completely, you know, you can have back-to-the-future pinball and the pinball gets into the DeLorean and drives off and disappears. You can't do that in a pinball machine. But it would be cool if you could shoot in a back-to-the-future game and you lock a ball in the gull wing of one of the DeLoreans and you lock ball two on the other side. And then, you know, boom, you start Delorean multiball or something, whatever, you know. That is the thematic integration with the mechanical that makes it its own voice as a pinball.
    74:13
    So TEMA is the acronym of that, thematically integrated mechanical action. And that's all I'm going to say about it. I'm not going to stop mentioning it throughout the Facebook page, but I will stop talking about it now, okay? People are sick to death of it. I'm guessing that's also part of the reason why you love the Black Knight Sword of Rage topper so much. Absolutely. Yeah, that's part of it. But I love, like, can you think of any other game that has that Black Knight toy in the middle? It would not work in any other game. It wouldn't make sense in, like, any other themed game.
    74:45
    It has to be in a Black Knight game, right? The flail with the two things. I've never seen that in any other pinball machine. It's unique. It's interesting. It interacts with the ball in unique ways. in unpredictable ways, in exciting ways. And the shield, part two, is awesome. It bounces around. It's a complete piece of Tima. It's fantastic. It's the only real one. It's the only real piece of Tima in the game, and that's fine. You don't have to have it swimming with her. Also, the game gets so bogged down in slow stuff that happens.
    75:16
    But you've got to have that magical stuff, that Tima. That's the magic that people are talking about when they're collapsing and building and Godzilla. You know, that's Tima. That's Tima, okay? Well, I don't know how... It's great that it interacts with the shots. I don't know how... No, that's okay. I don't know how, like, words actually make it into Steve Bowden's, like, pinball dictionary, but if Tima is not in there, I vote it gets in, because I love it. Okay.
    75:46
    Thank you for the vote of confidence. There you go. I appreciate it. It's really, it's not going to be a thing. It'll never be a thing, but I always try to push it. and I just don't talk about pinball, you know? Yeah. Anyhow. Joe. In terms of, yeah, shout-outs. Hey, man, like, I appreciate so much what you do, Orby, man, and as a friend, as a personal friend, I miss you, man, and I hope that we can play some pinball and hang out or even just have a beer, like, honestly. Yeah. I just miss you, buddy. And everybody else here in Toronto area, we miss you like crazy.
    76:16
    So take care of yourself, man. All the best to you and the family. Yeah, man. This is my last question for you. This is my very last question for you. For people who, you know, I would say probably 90% of the people who listen to my show have never ever met me in real life. So on the show, I play a little bit of a character. I go a little crazy. You know what I mean? I am a little bit, I am weird, eccentric, you know, strange dude for real. But you've met me and hung out with me in real life.
    76:48
    and you know you can probably tell more than most people i play a little bit of a character on the podcast from time to time you've met me in real life in real life am i a little bit more easy going or at least a little like am i that awkward to hang out with in real life as i am in the podcast or do you think i just play a good role on the podcast just it's just the smell the body odor smell sometimes i think no just kidding buddy i'm just kidding no no man like you know i mean you're just a normal person playing pinball you know like uh yeah sure we all have our
    77:24
    sort of amplified personalities sometimes when we go on the mic uh but yeah man you're just one of the regular pinball enthusiasts like the rest of us in real life at a tournament though i'm not like uh probably as off the wall crazy as i think that uh perhaps my persona would be through coming through someone who'd only heard me and never actually played with me. I guess that's where I was kind of going. Sure. I mean, you're pretty quiet. I mean, there's a reason why my fellow league players call me Quiet Joe, ironically.
    77:56
    You know, like I'm probably the most insane, like really hyped up insane person while I'm playing, ironically. But no, man, you're low key. You're, you know, you're a great player. You're respectful of other people and their space while they play. you understand the the protocol of a tournament and uh you're a damn good player and it's always a pleasure to play with you man thanks buddy just wish you could do more often just wish you do more often it will it will happen honestly like my whole goal when i moved out here
    78:26
    was to come back for at least two three tournaments a year between swoop and flare and all these discount airlines like honestly i can fly home from halifax for to hamilton for like 63 dollars on any random like Monday through Thursday over the next three months. So I'm going to start doing that more often because I do have friends and family with the stay in London. And, you know, it's just a matter of now that we, the goats are no longer here, that frees me up a lot more, of course. And my kids are getting older, like Hayden's probably moving out in the next year. You know, Owen's very, you know, he's 14, but he's very, very mature for his age.
    78:58
    So I can now feel much more comfortable, even more so than a couple years ago. I feel more comfortable coming back for three, four, five days at a time. and visiting and that sort of thing. And it doesn't cost that much. So you will see me more this year. The pandemic held me back for a bit, but I plan on getting down there. And it's weird because I do miss my friends, my non-pinball friends and my non-family member friends, or sorry, my family members. Hopefully they don't listen to this. But the weird part is like, it's because I miss my pinball friends
    79:29
    more than I thought I would coming out here. It's very strange because like, I didn't even realize how big of a deal it was that like, you know, every Saturday I was going to Toronto to play. And I had these people that maybe I didn't consider like my friends, but now that I haven't seen them for years, I'm really, really, really, really missing. And it's, you know, the Monday night pinball people that I saw every night, every Monday at call the office. And then Thursdays I went for all you can play. And then, you know, I was even going to Kitchener Waterloo to go play at the all you can play place there that Che has. Right. And so I, it's crazy.
    80:01
    I thought coming out here, Oh, I would miss family the most for sure, which I do. I miss my sisters, my dad, my nieces, nephews. But they call. They call. They keep in touch. They call. I talk to them. But I still get to play pinball with my pinball buds out here, which is great, even though it's far less often. There's way less tournaments. But I just can't wait for the very first time I get to. And I don't even care if it's during a tournament, but I just want to go out, have a craft beer, play some pinball, and just hang out with, like, all my Ontario buds. And I can't wait to do that when I come down. So I love you, man. I miss you. Drop target down there.
    80:32
    bring your target down the hill while you're at it it's tricky to leave the whole homestead with nobody here but the kids are old enough so as long as I had Hayden or Owen to be able to be home and make sure the stupid stuff like the sump pump has to run when you live out in the country the chickens have to get fed the dog needs to go I think Hayden would probably be able to do that for us if he wasn't gone away to school or working or something like that I'll be back remind everybody the Djenny's is March no
    81:03
    February 5th at 4pm eastern time 4pm eastern on Sunday February 5th and tune in because you're going to see Joe wearing something funny maybe a complete meltdown but it'll be great to watch regardless so make no guarantees of professional anything for anybody so it'll be fun to watch I hope well Joe hang on the line here I'm going to end the podcast but say it with me if you know it until next time pinball nerds
    81:34
    remember to eat sleep and breathe pinball