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SPEAKER_04
I m David Farrier, a New Zealander accidentally marooned in America, and I want to figure out what makes this country tick.
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Now as soon as I started to settle in the United States, I found a few bars that I liked.
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SPEAKER_04
I love bars in America, mainly because you can go on your own like a total loser and just sit up at the bar and do your thing and that s normal.
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You don t need friends.
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There might be sports on that you can watch, or you can just strike up a conversation with someone random next to you.
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The last time I was at a bar I met Rhonda, who was in a reminiscing kind of mood.
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SPEAKER_00
We live on the boulevard so there s been gruesome moments.
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I watched a guy get hit on a motorcycle and I watched him fly up in the air and his shoes and his helmet went everywhere.
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SPEAKER_04
In New Zealand, going out solo isn t really done.
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SPEAKER_04
You have to be with friends, and friends are great, but sometimes you just want to have some time to yourself.
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Or meet someone like Rhonda.
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The other thing I like about some of the bars in America is that they have pinball machines that you can play.
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SPEAKER_04
I m not sure when I started really noticing this, but they re an extra thing to do, and like drinking they can be done solo, or with friends.
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SPEAKER_04
And so today, we turn to pinball, a game America turned into a phenomenon, one that s currently booming here in the US.
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SPEAKER_04
I wanted to explore the origins of the game, and where it fits into American culture in 2023.
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So, hold onto that table and make sure your reaction times are up to speed, because this is the pinball episode.
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SPEAKER_04
Probably one of the more wild transitions in an intro.
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SPEAKER_04
I sort of just was thinking about bars a lot and then I met Rhonda and then it s sort of, oh, there are pinball machines, but that listening back to that introduction, that was rough.
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SPEAKER_04
That was a rough transition to the topic.
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SPEAKER_02
It was a ride.
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SPEAKER_02
I like it.
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SPEAKER_02
It s a mystery.
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SPEAKER_02
We don t have that many mysteries.
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SPEAKER_04
No, we don t, do we?
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SPEAKER_02
No, I would actually like it if you would include a couple more mysteries as we move forward.
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SPEAKER_02
I can work on that.
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SPEAKER_04
Instead of the intro, you just have no idea what s about to happen, ever.
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SPEAKER_02
Yeah.
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SPEAKER_04
But you do have a lot of pinball machines and bars here.
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SPEAKER_04
It s not something you really have in New Zealand, but I ve just noticed in a lot of bars, there will be a little pinball machine.
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SPEAKER_04
And I got intrigued, and then I started playing a little bit, and I just realized how fun pinball can be.
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SPEAKER_04
When was the last time you played?
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SPEAKER_04
Have you played pinball recently or ever?
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SPEAKER_02
I have played it, definitely not recently.
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SPEAKER_02
Must ve been like October 17th, 2002.
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SPEAKER_04
So specific.
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SPEAKER_04
What was that date?
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SPEAKER_04
What happened on that date that that memory s burned into your skull?
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SPEAKER_02
I m just kidding.
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SPEAKER_02
I have no idea.
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SPEAKER_02
I have no idea.
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SPEAKER_02
I mean, I know I ve played it.
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Well, we did have in my hometown, where I am currently, there was a place called Bogies, and it was a sports bar.
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And they also had trivia every week.
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And my best friend s dad had a trivia team.
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So we would go with him while him and his friends did trivia, and we would hang around there.
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SPEAKER_02
And I think there were games like pinball and stuff that we would play.
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SPEAKER_02
And also there was a lava cake.
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SPEAKER_04
What s a lava cake?
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SPEAKER_02
Oh my gosh, chocolate lava cake?
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SPEAKER_02
You would love this because it s so childlike.
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SPEAKER_02
It s a cake and then you like get into it and then it oozes of chocolate.
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SPEAKER_04
Is it like sauce, like chocolate sauce?
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SPEAKER_02
Yeah, like molten chocolate.
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SPEAKER_02
It s so good.
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SPEAKER_04
Oh, I love this.
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SPEAKER_04
This is amazing.
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SPEAKER_04
And you sort of just guzzle it up.
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SPEAKER_04
You sort of scoop it up with a spoon.
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SPEAKER_04
How are you having the lava?
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SPEAKER_02
Well, it s good if you have ice cream, so you can make it into a little soupy, but then you have the hard pieces of cake, still moist cake, but you know, it s delicious.
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SPEAKER_04
Oh, this sounds so, ah, I m really excited about this.
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SPEAKER_02
It s not in New Zealand.
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SPEAKER_02
Wow, we gotta do, maybe we should do an episode on lava cake.
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SPEAKER_04
Oh no, we re definitely doing an episode on lava cake.
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SPEAKER_04
And also trivia, that s another very American thing.
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SPEAKER_04
Yes, and we should go.
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SPEAKER_04
Oh no, a hundred percent trivia team down.
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SPEAKER_02
I m so bad at it.
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SPEAKER_02
Rob will be so good.
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SPEAKER_02
I can t wait.
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SPEAKER_04
Rob will be amazing.
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I get so intimidated when I m put on the spot to say a random fact about a thing.
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SPEAKER_04
It s a panic place for me.
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So we ll be great.
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It s all going to be on Rob s shoulders.
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Oh, it ll be really fun.
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SPEAKER_04
Just quickly, I forgot about this.
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SPEAKER_04
A headline here just came in.
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SPEAKER_04
Whisper Audio unveils ultra quiet electric leaf blower powered by aerospace tech.
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So here we go.
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SPEAKER_04
Just there s a leaf blower out the window right now as well.
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SPEAKER_04
So this is great news.
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SPEAKER_01
What s the price point on it?
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SPEAKER_04
It doesn t have a price point.
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SPEAKER_04
It sort of looks like something NASA s built.
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SPEAKER_04
So I imagine it s going to be quite expensive.
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SPEAKER_04
So the local gardeners will all have it quickly.
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SPEAKER_04
Look, I live in hope.
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SPEAKER_04
Very exciting news.
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SPEAKER_04
Probably the most exciting news I ve read in a long time.
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SPEAKER_02
I think what will happen is that you are going to be so excited, then the world is gonna convert and you re gonna miss that sound.
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SPEAKER_02
You re gonna feel untethered.
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SPEAKER_02
It s like when they say they could remove mosquitoes.
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SPEAKER_02
We fucking hate mosquitoes.
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SPEAKER_02
But if they were gone... What?
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SPEAKER_02
It could have impacts we don t know.
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I m just saying.
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SPEAKER_04
It s an incredible theory.
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SPEAKER_02
I m not one to stick up for mosquitoes.
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SPEAKER_02
I do hate them.
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SPEAKER_02
I just thought it was a good analogy.
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SPEAKER_04
No, there s a day here where there s nothing but leaf blowers and also people chainsawing down or cutting down branches.
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SPEAKER_04
It s like the war on nature day.
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SPEAKER_04
It s like a Wednesday in my neighborhood.
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And it s so loud.
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SPEAKER_04
It s like, there s a chainsaw over here.
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SPEAKER_04
There s a hedge trimmer over there.
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SPEAKER_04
There s a leaf blower over there.
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SPEAKER_04
I m just sort of forming a theory about how America is just trying to really push back against mother nature and sort of slowly cut it and blow it back into oblivion because it s getting out of hand.
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SPEAKER_01
That s because it s the day before garbage day and they re getting the trimmings ready for garbage day.
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SPEAKER_04
Is that what it is?
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SPEAKER_04
In LA, garbage day is crazy.
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SPEAKER_02
No, you don t have garbage day in New Zealand.
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SPEAKER_02
Where does the garbage go?
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SPEAKER_04
No, we have garbage day, but I think there s more garbage, at least on my street in LA, there s more garbage than I ve ever seen before.
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SPEAKER_04
So there s these big skips, right?
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SPEAKER_04
It s not just the little wheelie bins that you wheel out to the curb.
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SPEAKER_04
There s these giant skips outside the apartments.
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And when the truck comes and lifts those up and puts out the trash, it s the loudest thing I ve ever heard in my life.
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SPEAKER_04
It s crazy.
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SPEAKER_04
And when that combines with leaf blower day and chainsaw day and hedge trimmer day, it s crazy out there.
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SPEAKER_02
Oh my God.
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SPEAKER_02
Well, okay.
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SPEAKER_02
This is for another day, I guess, or a previous day that we already did.
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SPEAKER_02
But in an apartment, there s a lot of people who have garbage.
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SPEAKER_02
Single bins are for one house, and those still exist.
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SPEAKER_02
If you own a house here, you have single bins.
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SPEAKER_02
Rob, do you have single bins?
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SPEAKER_02
Yeah.
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SPEAKER_02
Yeah.
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SPEAKER_02
And my apartment has the same thing you re referring to as a skip.
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SPEAKER_04
Do you not call it a skip, yeah?
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SPEAKER_02
I don t know what that s called actually.
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SPEAKER_04
That s a dumpster.
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SPEAKER_04
That s a dumpster.
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SPEAKER_04
Yeah, dumpster fire.
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SPEAKER_02
Oh, I thought a dumpster was a place you went to.
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SPEAKER_04
That s the tip.
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SPEAKER_02
What?
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SPEAKER_02
Now you re just fucking with us.
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SPEAKER_04
Now you go to the tip, that s like the big hole in the ground where you, so environmentally friendly, where you just bury all the rubbish.
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SPEAKER_04
Or trash.
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SPEAKER_01
Well, David, you re talking about the dumpster that gets wheeled out on garbage day, but that s normally in an alleyway where people are bringing their trash from the apartment.
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SPEAKER_04
Yeah, one of those things.
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SPEAKER_04
And they need it, obviously, but it s just so loud, and it s right, my window right next to me here, it s, because we re recording this remotely, it s, and also, Monica, I should point out, you re in a sort of a, where are you right now?
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SPEAKER_04
I m looking at you on Zoom and you re in sort of a cupboard.
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SPEAKER_02
Yeah, I am.
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SPEAKER_02
I m in a basement, ding, ding, ding, a small, small storage closet in the basement with carpet.
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SPEAKER_04
It looks hectic.
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SPEAKER_04
The shelf behind you looks like the trunk of your car.
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SPEAKER_04
It s just a massive mess.
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SPEAKER_04
The shelves there, but it s like someone s gone in and just throwing things on these shelves.
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SPEAKER_02
See, I come by it honestly.
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SPEAKER_04
It s a mess.
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SPEAKER_02
Hold on.
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SPEAKER_02
Let s see if I can lift this and I can give you a little tour.
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SPEAKER_04
It s just like upside down cups and saucers and different items.
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SPEAKER_02
Part of it is the angle, maybe a little, well, that part s bad, because that s a mess, but yeah, there s like extra, it s her cooking stuff that she can t fit in the kitchen.
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SPEAKER_04
Oh, big pots and pans and things, yeah.
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SPEAKER_02
Yeah, and then like that.
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SPEAKER_04
Oh my God.
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SPEAKER_02
All my dad s old files, there s so many, I don t know what those fucking envelopes are, and this is my childhood desk.
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SPEAKER_04
Oh, that s cute, that s like a really beautiful wooden,
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SPEAKER_04
Little love hearts and everything.
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SPEAKER_02
This is so beautiful.
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SPEAKER_02
And that s my ABCs at the top in that weird string.
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SPEAKER_04
That s really, really endearing.
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SPEAKER_04
That s really, really great.
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SPEAKER_04
This is your old childhood room.
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SPEAKER_02
Yeah, that s why I love Harry Potter so much.
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SPEAKER_02
I can really relate.
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SPEAKER_02
This desk has such a history.
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SPEAKER_02
When I was five, I was climbing on it to get something from the top.
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SPEAKER_02
And I fell.
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SPEAKER_02
I got this huge... Like a gash.
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SPEAKER_02
Yeah.
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SPEAKER_02
But in my mind, I was climbing the Eiffel Tower or something.
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SPEAKER_02
It was so high up and such a big drop.
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SPEAKER_02
And now I see it s just regular.
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SPEAKER_04
Yeah, it s funny your memories as a kid are so so different to reality.
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SPEAKER_02
Yeah.
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SPEAKER_02
Yeah.
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SPEAKER_02
I know it s funny
1
SPEAKER_02
Okay.
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SPEAKER_02
Pinball.
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SPEAKER_02
Okay.
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SPEAKER_04
Pinball.
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SPEAKER_04
Yeah.
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SPEAKER_04
So pinball, I recently become interested in it because my friends had their child s birthday party.
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SPEAKER_04
And so they rented a pinball sort of repair shop, but out the front, they had a lot of pinball machines you could actually use, but the kids were not really that into it.
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SPEAKER_04
They just wanted to chase each other around and play tag and that kind of thing.
1
SPEAKER_04
And basically walked into this kid s party and all it was, was just the adults concentrating so hard on these pinball machines while the kids were just being ignored.
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SPEAKER_04
And it was the best.
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SPEAKER_04
You could see it tapped into something in an adult brain.
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SPEAKER_04
And then I started playing.
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SPEAKER_04
There s something about all the lights and the sounds, and it s so hands-on, so mechanical moving parts you can see.
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SPEAKER_04
And there s something really sort of hypnotizing about it.
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SPEAKER_04
I guess it reminded me a bit of being in a casino as well, where you re pulling, you know, levers and there s lights and there s sounds and something about that really activates something in your brain that just really wants to play.
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SPEAKER_02
Yeah, it s also nostalgic for people.
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SPEAKER_02
I think arcade games make a certain generation very nostalgic.
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SPEAKER_04
Yeah, absolutely.
1
SPEAKER_04
I ve also noticed a few people in LA have bought them.
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SPEAKER_04
You can buy them for your home now.
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SPEAKER_04
So people are forking out thousands to have them.
1
SPEAKER_04
There s vintage ones, and then they re still making brand new machines you can buy for like $7,000, which is a lot.
1
SPEAKER_04
I should be clear, no, we definitely have them and I ve definitely played before, but I ve sort of been reminded of them in America because they re just
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SPEAKER_04
Much more prevalent here, as we re going to learn in this documentary a bit later on.
1
SPEAKER_04
Pinball had its boom here.
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SPEAKER_04
This is where machines we play today became realized and nothing s really changed since then.
1
SPEAKER_04
Like America s the one that s sort of innovating and making all the new tech.
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SPEAKER_04
And so I would say, I would argue very American.
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SPEAKER_02
All right.
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SPEAKER_02
I m excited.
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SPEAKER_02
Let s hear it.
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SPEAKER_04
It s 7.30pm on a Tuesday night and I ve driven out to Long Beach, California for a meeting of the Long Beach Pinball League.
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SPEAKER_04
It was their pre-season meet-up and a chance for new players to practice and existing players to bring friends along.
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SPEAKER_04
Walking into the Long Beach Beer Lab, the brewery and pizza place where they meet, the first person I bump into is Les.
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SPEAKER_04
He s in his 50s, wearing a t-shirt with the sleeves cut off, revealing a lot of tattoos.
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SPEAKER_04
He fills me in on what Long Beach is all about.
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SPEAKER_03
It s very diverse.
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SPEAKER_03
You have millionaires and homeless people live right next to each other.
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SPEAKER_03
And then sometimes I m like, oh, I live in such a bad place.
1
SPEAKER_03
And then I see tourists here from Europe, right on my beach, all like speaking their language like you.
1
SPEAKER_03
And they re like, oh, they spent lots of money to come here.
1
SPEAKER_03
I should be happy that I live here.
1
SPEAKER_03
And then you always hear them, Disneyland.
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SPEAKER_03
So we take for granted a lot of it.
1
SPEAKER_04
Les says this pinball league is like a social club.
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SPEAKER_04
Looking around, I inhale the smell of beer and pizza.
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SPEAKER_04
Some people are here just for that.
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SPEAKER_04
But then along one wall is a line of pinball machines, and a crowd starting to gather for the night s activities.
1
SPEAKER_04
The head of the league, Tom Walker, is pulling out a bunch of t-shirts he s designed for the league.
1
SPEAKER_04
He says they just had their finals for the last season.
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SPEAKER_01
So what happens is we break them up into two divisions so the top eight players play each other in like an elimination bracket and then everybody else plays like a strikes tournament.
1
SPEAKER_04
Do you have players that are just absolutely just so far ahead of others or is it pretty even at that point?
1
SPEAKER_01
So the top eight, it could have been anybody s game.
1
SPEAKER_01
Sometimes someone sneaks into the top eight and I feel sorry for them because they re really good at that level.
1
SPEAKER_01
But with our league, it s different in that we really just cater to all levels of players.
1
SPEAKER_04
Looking around, the thing that strikes me is that I would never ever picture these people all together in the same room.
1
SPEAKER_04
There are different sexes and ethnicities and fashion.
1
SPEAKER_04
Some here are teenagers, some are olds.
1
SPEAKER_04
Going on some of the tans and wrinkles, some players have been living at Long Beach for a long time.
1
SPEAKER_04
This is your first time?
1
SPEAKER_04
Yes.
1
SPEAKER_04
What brought you here?
1
SPEAKER_07
My friends.
1
SPEAKER_07
Maybe trying to not let them look so bad.
1
SPEAKER_07
How s it been?
1
SPEAKER_07
It s wonderful.
1
SPEAKER_07
Everybody s so nice.
1
SPEAKER_04
Tom runs this league with his wife of 17 years, Jessica.
1
SPEAKER_04
They both adore pinball.
1
SPEAKER_06
It s universal.
1
SPEAKER_06
If you re somewhere, you can play it by yourself.
1
SPEAKER_06
You can play it with one other person.
1
SPEAKER_06
You can play it with four.
1
SPEAKER_06
And it s something you can do drinking, non-drinking, I mean, depending on your crowd of people that you re hanging out with.
1
SPEAKER_06
That s why it brings the community together so fiercely, especially here in Long Beach.
1
SPEAKER_06
Long Beach is a very community-driven place.
1
SPEAKER_04
This league is part of the International Flipper Pinball Association, the IFPA for short.
1
SPEAKER_04
Formed in America 17 years ago, it s now made up of 96,000 players from 45 countries, including the players in this room tonight.
1
SPEAKER_04
While some leagues in America are more hardcore, this one at Long Beach is a little more laid back.
1
SPEAKER_04
That s not to say they don t have amazing players, they just keep it more low-key.
1
SPEAKER_04
You re at Long Beach.
1
SPEAKER_04
It feels like things should be more chill out here, right?
1
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, definitely.
1
SPEAKER_01
We ve got a good vibe in Long Beach.
1
SPEAKER_01
I grew up in Southern California, moved to Oregon for about 15 years, and that s where I kind of got into the, like, bar arcade, because it s really popular up there.
1
SPEAKER_04
Staring around the room, I see a few different eras of pinball machines in their collection.
1
SPEAKER_04
A Jurassic Park one takes my eye.
1
SPEAKER_04
That was released by Stern back in 2019.
1
SPEAKER_04
It reminds me that pinball was tied so strongly to American pop culture.
1
SPEAKER_04
What makes a good pinball game?
1
SPEAKER_04
Is it the gameplay?
1
SPEAKER_04
Is it how complicated it gets?
1
SPEAKER_04
What do people want?
1
SPEAKER_01
I think it depends on what you prefer.
1
SPEAKER_01
I ve talked to some designers, we were just down in San Diego Comic Con, and there was a designer down there I was talking to, he really likes flow, if you can just get the ball kind of moving.
1
SPEAKER_01
Some people like really challenging shots, some people like objectives, but for instance, like this game,
1
SPEAKER_01
It s a new game, it s called Total Nuclear Annihilation, it s by Spooky Pinball, and it was a throwback game.
1
SPEAKER_01
So if you look at it, it looks like an old game, but it was made like a couple years ago.
1
SPEAKER_01
And the whole object of it is that you ve got to dial in the keypad up there, then hit it in the reactor, then your shots become lit.
1
SPEAKER_01
I ve heard a few people saying this, that a good pinball table should be easy to understand, but really tough to master.
1
SPEAKER_01
I bump back into Les, who s been watching me talk to Tom and Jessica with curiosity.
1
SPEAKER_01
Turns out he had a big weekend, he just saw Metallica play not once, but twice.
1
SPEAKER_03
Yeah, it was so great.
1
SPEAKER_03
Both nights, Friday and Sunday.
1
SPEAKER_03
You went both nights?
1
SPEAKER_03
Both nights.
1
SPEAKER_03
Yeah, of course.
1
SPEAKER_03
Cheers, of course.
1
SPEAKER_03
Cheers.
1
SPEAKER_03
Why wouldn t we, right?
1
SPEAKER_03
I m jealous.
1
SPEAKER_03
It s Metallica.
1
SPEAKER_03
Two nights, no repeats.
1
SPEAKER_03
What?
1
SPEAKER_04
Tonight though, it s all about pinball.
1
SPEAKER_04
Les often comes down here with his son, but tonight he s solo.
1
SPEAKER_04
He s been part of this league for only three months, and he loves it.
1
SPEAKER_03
They ll explain everything to you, the beer s good, right?
1
SPEAKER_03
And you don t have to be good, you just have fun.
1
SPEAKER_04
He introduces me to Precious, who s been playing a little longer.
1
SPEAKER_04
I think this is my third season.
1
SPEAKER_04
Have you always played pinball since you were a kid or is it a new thing?
1
SPEAKER_05
So growing up I played like the Windows computer version of pinball and so... Same.
1
SPEAKER_05
Exactly.
1
SPEAKER_05
Always a good time and then when I heard about this via Reddit actually I was like I need to be here and that s when I actually started to play pinball.
1
SPEAKER_05
The greatest thing about pinball is the community here.
1
SPEAKER_05
Everyone is just so friendly and ready to help.
1
SPEAKER_05
We re all here for a good time.
1
SPEAKER_05
Everyone from all walks of life shows up here.
1
SPEAKER_05
Everyone here is just so amazing, which I love.
1
SPEAKER_04
Suddenly, I hear my name over the speakers.
1
SPEAKER_04
Someone signed me up for a pinball team.
1
SPEAKER_01
I heard my name.
1
SPEAKER_01
You re on Scooby-Doo.
1
SPEAKER_01
You re player three.
1
SPEAKER_01
I ll introduce you to your group.
1
SPEAKER_04
I m excited to play, but there s immediately a problem.
1
SPEAKER_04
Tom sorts me out.
1
SPEAKER_04
I ve encountered my first problem.
1
SPEAKER_04
I don t have quarters, so I should have bought some with me.
1
SPEAKER_04
That is a truly rookie mistake, not bringing quarters to a pinball tournament.
1
SPEAKER_04
Everybody does it once.
1
SPEAKER_04
He lets me borrow some quarters, and loaded up with the small silver coins America seems to love so much, I hand my sound gear to Bethany, who s a teacher by day, pinball player by night.
1
SPEAKER_00
I like the mechanical aspect.
1
SPEAKER_00
You can really physically see everything moving.
1
SPEAKER_00
And some machines have parts that all move around and stuff, which is cool.
1
SPEAKER_00
Versus like a video game on a screen, it s so flat.
1
SPEAKER_04
She agrees to narrate my game.
1
SPEAKER_00
He s choosing a character.
1
SPEAKER_00
He chose Daphne, everybody.
1
SPEAKER_00
Daphne.
1
SPEAKER_04
It was all downhill from there, really.
1
SPEAKER_04
And I learned that when the steel ball falls down between those two flippers, it s called a drain.
1
SPEAKER_04
A depressing drain.
1
SPEAKER_00
He drained, but it s okay.
1
SPEAKER_00
It should come back around.
1
SPEAKER_00
There it is.
1
SPEAKER_00
Ooh.
1
SPEAKER_00
The hand-eye coordination is almost there.
1
SPEAKER_00
That was...
2
SPEAKER_00
what happened and I m truly embarrassed by that.
2
SPEAKER_00
How was your first pinball?
2
SPEAKER_00
It was really good.
2
SPEAKER_00
It was fun, but I m deeply embarrassed by using the incorrect hand.
2
SPEAKER_00
The right one was meant to go, but the left hand fired.
2
SPEAKER_02
You know what?
2
SPEAKER_02
You have another round.
2
SPEAKER_02
There s three.
2
SPEAKER_02
It s great.
2
SPEAKER_00
The other rounds didn t go much better for me.
2
SPEAKER_00
I think you need a few different things to be a good pinball player.
2
SPEAKER_00
You need some strategy, some good reaction times.
2
SPEAKER_00
You need to know the game and you need to stay calm.
2
SPEAKER_00
I wasn t very good at any of those things.
2
SPEAKER_00
So close.
2
SPEAKER_00
I found anger there and I hit the machine.
2
SPEAKER_02
It happens.
2
SPEAKER_00
My hand hurt from hitting the table.
2
SPEAKER_00
I go and watch other people play.
2
SPEAKER_00
And there are some amazing players here.
2
SPEAKER_00
I wonder if my technique was just bad.
2
SPEAKER_00
Maybe I need to do that thing where you tap the table to make the ball do what you want.
2
SPEAKER_00
It s called nudging.
2
SPEAKER_00
Is that allowed or not allowed?
2
SPEAKER_02
You can nudge it as long as like most machines have a thing called danger and tilt.
2
SPEAKER_02
So if you nudge too hard, you get a tilt and it turns the whole thing black.
2
SPEAKER_02
And then the ball like automatically, you can t do anything.
2
SPEAKER_00
I order some pizza, and it s delicious.
2
SPEAKER_00
One of the players, Mika, shouts me an IPA.
2
SPEAKER_00
I m feeling better, even in my failure.
2
SPEAKER_00
Tom brings over a tablet to show me how everyone s ranked tonight as the night comes to an end.
2
SPEAKER_00
I realize that because I ve played, I am now officially in the system of the International Pinball Flipper Association.
2
SPEAKER_00
It now has 96,001 players.
2
SPEAKER_03
And so here s where we re at now.
2
SPEAKER_03
And then you can track the standings.
2
SPEAKER_03
So Billy Ralph, Dennis Eichhorn, Mitch and Joe are the top players tonight.
2
SPEAKER_00
And we would... Where s my name on that list?
2
SPEAKER_00
Let s scroll down to find me.
2
SPEAKER_00
I m not at the bottom.
2
28.
2
SPEAKER_00
28.
2
SPEAKER_00
There you go.
2
SPEAKER_00
31 s the bottom.
2
SPEAKER_00
I m fourth from the bottom.
2
SPEAKER_00
Fourth from the bottom.
2
SPEAKER_00
Not bad.
2
SPEAKER_00
I ll take it.
2
SPEAKER_00
So yeah, that was my first pinball tournament.
2
SPEAKER_00
And I had a really good time.
2
SPEAKER_00
Everyone out there would always laugh at the end of a sentence.
2
SPEAKER_00
It was like this really jolly vibe, which I really got into.
2
SPEAKER_01
They do seem like really fun people.
2
SPEAKER_01
And you did lash out as what is now a pattern.
2
SPEAKER_01
You lashed out in pickleball.
2
SPEAKER_01
Now you lashed out here.
2
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, I felt like how I felt when I slammed the laptop on my therapist that time.
2
SPEAKER_00
It was like a sudden anger.
2
SPEAKER_00
It doesn t happen that often.
2
SPEAKER_00
But when it does, it does really shock me.
2
SPEAKER_00
And I got it quite a few times.
2
SPEAKER_00
I think I was angry at myself because my body would react in the wrong way.
2
SPEAKER_00
Like I d just clearly do something too slow or stupid.
2
SPEAKER_00
And I really hit the machine.
2
SPEAKER_00
I whacked the side of it and made a noise like a big grunt.
2
SPEAKER_00
It felt good to do.
2
SPEAKER_01
Was that before or after you ve reentered therapy?
2
SPEAKER_00
No, I ve been doing therapy.
2
SPEAKER_00
So I didn t actually bring it up with my therapist.
2
SPEAKER_00
A therapist always says, how s the week been?
2
SPEAKER_00
I m like, it s been fine.
2
SPEAKER_01
Oh my God, what do you guys talk about?
2
SPEAKER_01
Tell us about your therapy.
2
SPEAKER_00
I try and always turn it back on the therapist because I always think it s a bit of an uneven relationship because they know so much about you.
2
SPEAKER_00
So I m always trying to learn more about them.
2
SPEAKER_00
So I sort of try and like find out how their morning was and then like try and find out what else is going on in their life.
2
SPEAKER_00
And it s hard to do because it s not the way therapy is meant to work, but I try and flip it on its head.
2
SPEAKER_01
No.
2
SPEAKER_01
Oh my God.
2
SPEAKER_01
Okay.
2
SPEAKER_00
We re not going to go down that wormhole.
2
SPEAKER_00
Did that make you want to have a bit of a flipper pinball time?
2
SPEAKER_01
It did make me feel nostalgic for that vibe and bogeys.
2
SPEAKER_01
There s much more to it than I thought.
2
SPEAKER_01
I didn t know about all the rules and the going dark.
2
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, no, that s amazing.
2
SPEAKER_00
I didn t realize a lot of things about Pinball.
2
SPEAKER_00
So if you get too abusive towards the machine, like if I d kept whacking it, it would have just turned off and gone dark.
2
SPEAKER_00
Another thing that was really amazing to watch good players play is that they re suddenly just doing things that you don t even, I didn t even know was possible on the table.
2
SPEAKER_00
Like mostly when I play it, just you hit a few things and the ball disappears.
2
SPEAKER_00
But, you know, suddenly these players had three different balls in play and they were playing one ball up on a top level, one further down.
2
SPEAKER_00
So I always thought pinball was a bit, you know, pretty random, but no, if you re a good pinball player, holy shit, it s really impressive and really fun to watch.
2
SPEAKER_01
That s really cool.
2
SPEAKER_01
I would like to watch an expert at it because that does sound fun.
2
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, what we re going to do, and I know often we do this, we ll do that, and we just have too many things to do, but we should go to Walt s because they ve got, I know you re not drinking at the moment, but they ve got some yummy wine or some root beer or something or water or whatever you have when you re not drinking.
2
SPEAKER_01
Great.
2
SPEAKER_00
And it s a really cute atmosphere and the pinball machines are really fun.
2
SPEAKER_00
So I think we should do one Walt s round.
2
SPEAKER_01
I love that.
2
SPEAKER_01
Let s do it when I m back.
2
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, that sounds really fun.
2
SPEAKER_01
I also do love the different themes of the tables.
2
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
2
SPEAKER_00
That s the other thing, because as I said, there s new machines coming out.
2
SPEAKER_00
So, you know, there are like two Foo Fighters pinball machines at the moment that you can get.
2
SPEAKER_00
Oh, wow.
2
SPEAKER_00
And they re really amazing.
2
SPEAKER_00
So there s like pinball machines based around big bands.
2
SPEAKER_00
And then there s obviously around movies like Jurassic Park.
2
SPEAKER_01
Do you think there s a Goodwill hunting one?
2
SPEAKER_00
I don t know.
2
SPEAKER_01
That d be so great.
2
SPEAKER_00
I feel like the pace of pinball might not suit that particular theme.
2
SPEAKER_00
It might be like need to be a bit more like slow and reserved would be beautiful though.
2
SPEAKER_01
It d be beautiful.
2
SPEAKER_01
It d be beautiful.
2
SPEAKER_01
They should try it and send me one and I m happy to promote it.
2
SPEAKER_01
I do think what s interesting though, is they kind of hacked the brain, like the algorithm before computers did.
2
SPEAKER_01
Keep it simple, but have quick bursts of validation.
2
SPEAKER_01
So you keep going.
2
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
2
SPEAKER_00
The next part of the doc is going to go a bit into the history of how this stuff kind of came to be, but they put enough in there where you do get that little, even if you re failing miserably, you get enough wins that just makes you want to keep feeding those quarters in and that becomes incredibly addictive.
2
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, the original dopamine boost that you don t know is happening.
2
SPEAKER_01
They invented that.
2
SPEAKER_00
As a kid, did you ever play any, I don t know, video games or pinball machines or arcades?
2
SPEAKER_00
Did you have any of those that you kind of got into a little bit or not at all?
2
SPEAKER_01
A little bit Mario Kart and Mario World and a little bit of Tetris, all on 64.
2
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
2
SPEAKER_00
I remember the first time I ever left New Zealand was to go to Canada.
2
SPEAKER_00
It was our family s first overseas trip.
2
SPEAKER_00
And I just remember I spent so much of that trip just glued to Super Mario Brothers, just playing video games.
2
SPEAKER_00
And it was the first video game I ever played.
2
SPEAKER_00
And it s just so funny.
2
SPEAKER_00
It just shows how I m in this new country.
2
SPEAKER_00
There s all this exciting stuff around me.
2
SPEAKER_00
But me and my brother, we re just glued to a video game most of the time, which is so funny in hindsight.
2
SPEAKER_00
Stay tuned for more Flightless Bird.
2
SPEAKER_00
We ll be right back after a word from our sponsors.
2
SPEAKER_00
Flightless Bird is brought to you by BetterHelp.
2
SPEAKER_00
Now, I don t know about you, Monica, but I m finding daylight savings and it getting dark early so depressing and horrible.
2
SPEAKER_01
It is awful.
2
SPEAKER_00
It is, right?
2
SPEAKER_01
I think it s maybe worse than other years.
2
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, something s going on.
2
SPEAKER_00
I ve felt low and things aren t going well this week.
2
SPEAKER_00
And I think it is something to do with this whole daylight saving thing.
2
SPEAKER_00
Look, it is entirely normal to feel some sadness and anxiety about this kind of stuff, because they re not going to take daylight savings away and we re stuck with it.
2
SPEAKER_00
So you can do something else and try some therapy.
2
SPEAKER_00
It can be a bright spot amid all the stress and change and weirdness of the year.
2
SPEAKER_01
Even if you go in with something you feel like can t be changed, like the daylight savings situation, you can talk about it to your therapist and they actually might have some tools for how to combat it.
2
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, I sometimes when I go into a therapy session, I will think I have nothing to talk about and then holy shit, there s stuff to talk about.
2
SPEAKER_00
If you re thinking of starting therapy, give BetterHelp a try.
2
SPEAKER_00
It s entirely online, it s designed to be convenient, fixable, and suited to your schedule.
2
SPEAKER_00
So find your bright spot this season with BetterHelp.
2
SPEAKER_00
Visit betterhelp.com slash bird today and get 10% off your first month.
2
SPEAKER_00
That s betterhelp, H-E-L-P dot com slash bird.
2
SPEAKER_00
Okay.
2
SPEAKER_00
Next part of the doc, I am going to explore my theory that pinball is as American as apple pie.
2
SPEAKER_00
It s American as beavers.
2
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, that was a bit rough.
2
SPEAKER_00
Wasn t it?
2
SPEAKER_00
All right.
2
SPEAKER_01
No, I liked it.
2
SPEAKER_01
I liked it.
2
SPEAKER_00
As I spent time with the Long Beach Pinball League, I found myself becoming curious about where pinball even came from.
2
SPEAKER_00
This idea of ricocheting balls off things to hit other things.
2
SPEAKER_00
I mean, I imagine hundreds of thousands of years ago cavemen were busy bouncing rocks off the cave walls, but it s generally agreed that the basic concept of pinball didn t start in America, but in Europe in the 1600s.
2
SPEAKER_00
The Europeans loved various games that involved rolling balls around on the grass, and so they wanted to move things indoors.
2
SPEAKER_00
The French came up with bagatelle tables, wooden boxes that looked a bit like a pinball table.
2
SPEAKER_00
Using a stick, you d fire a ball into the table, and there d be various obstacles and things to try and hit.
2
SPEAKER_00
Then around 1870, British inventor Montag Redgrave moved to Ohio and took out US patent number 115357, adding a coiled spring to the mix which would fire marbles onto the table.
2
SPEAKER_00
Things were getting more American and way more pinball-y.
2
SPEAKER_00
By the 30s, things had evolved to coin-operated machines.
2
SPEAKER_00
American David Gottlieb coming up
3
SPEAKER_01
with Baffle Ball, which sold 50,000 units.
3
SPEAKER_01
Other names floated around, Wiffle Board and Ballyhoo, but eventually America just landed on calling it Pinball.
3
SPEAKER_01
Pinball popped off in the 30s.
3
SPEAKER_01
Dozens and dozens of manufacturers, mostly based out of Chicago.
3
SPEAKER_01
They were closely aligned with gambling machines, and at one point the mob was heavily controlling their distribution around America.
3
SPEAKER_01
For reasons like that, it wasn t smooth sailing.
3
SPEAKER_01
In the 40s, the mayor of New York went after slot machines, and pinball machines.
3
SPEAKER_01
They became either outlawed, or really heavily regulated.
3
SPEAKER_01
Pinball also took hit during World War II, when manufacturers had to shut down, or switch to making more important things like parachute harnesses, or bits of weapons.
3
SPEAKER_01
After World War 2, pinball got big again.
3
SPEAKER_01
Flippers were added to pinball machines.
3
SPEAKER_01
The game became less about chance and more about skill.
3
SPEAKER_01
In the 60s, multiplayer pinball machines were invented, and designs kept being refined and changed.
3
SPEAKER_01
It was still banned in places like New York, but in other parts of America, pinball was booming.
3
SPEAKER_01
I wanted to talk to someone who experienced pinball during this time, while pinball was still controversial.
3
SPEAKER_01
I m a pinball addict.
3
SPEAKER_01
It s been a long time.
3
SPEAKER_01
I knew Tom Rader loved pinball because the name on his email wasn t Tom Rader.
3
SPEAKER_01
It was Tom Pinball.
3
SPEAKER_02
My dad got me addicted indirectly when he was going for his teacher s master s degree back in Aberdeen, South Dakota.
3
SPEAKER_02
He was going to college getting his master s and he had a part-time job at a tavern and they had pinball machines and bingos.
3
SPEAKER_02
Instead of getting a babysitter, he d bring me along.
3
SPEAKER_02
I was maybe five years old.
3
SPEAKER_02
This is the early 60s.
3
SPEAKER_02
And he just sat me on a bar stool in front of a row of pinball machines with an ashtray full of nickels and just, you know, let me have it.
3
SPEAKER_01
During the 60s in America, pinball wasn t always easy to play.
3
SPEAKER_02
And obviously it was outlawed in a lot of places in LA and New York and Chicago.
3
SPEAKER_02
And so pinball wasn t around everywhere.
3
SPEAKER_02
but there was various times at bowling alleys, you d come across it.
3
SPEAKER_02
When I really got re-hooked was in high school.
3
SPEAKER_01
That s because in the seventies, pinball bands were finally being lifted in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles.
3
SPEAKER_01
Journalist and pro-American pinball player Roger Sharp had a lot to do with that.
3
SPEAKER_01
In 1976, he did a big pinball demonstration showing the New York City Council that pinball was a game of skill, not gambling.
3
SPEAKER_01
There s a film about it from a few years ago called Pinball, the man who saved the game.
3
SPEAKER_01
It s worth a watch.
3
SPEAKER_05
This probably sounds weird, but I play pinball all the time.
3
SPEAKER_05
Helps me focus.
3
SPEAKER_05
Are you any good?
3
SPEAKER_05
It may be the thing that I am best at.
3
SPEAKER_01
As a side note, I do wonder how many movies they re gonna make about old bits of American pop culture.
3
SPEAKER_01
Nostalgia porn.
3
SPEAKER_01
There s a pinball one.
3
SPEAKER_01
The Beanie Bubble.
3
SPEAKER_01
Tetris.
3
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, Flamin  Hot Barbie.
3
SPEAKER_01
America is on a roll.
3
SPEAKER_01
Anyway, pinball.
3
SPEAKER_01
With bands lifted in 76, pinball got even bigger.
3
SPEAKER_01
Here s Roger Sharp and his colleague on the news in 1990.
3
SPEAKER_03
It s an interactive game, it s physical, it s mental, in a lot of ways it s a mystical experience as well.
3
SPEAKER_03
Mystical experience?
3
SPEAKER_03
Well yeah, let me amend that a lot like sex statement to say that it s a special kind of thing, let s just put it that way.
3
SPEAKER_01
Yes, in the 90s, they were comparing pinball to sex.
3
SPEAKER_01
And there is a sort of horniness associated with pinball, just take the scene from Days in Confuse where a sexy Matthew McConaughey strolls through an arcade filled with pinball machines.
3
SPEAKER_01
And the artwork on the machines has become almost as iconic as the games themselves.
3
SPEAKER_01
And I might be wrong here, but for a while, it did seem to target a more male audience.
3
SPEAKER_01
Pinball was in pizza joints and bowling alleys.
3
SPEAKER_01
7-11s in bars.
3
SPEAKER_01
It was ingrained in American culture.
3
SPEAKER_01
A game where guys got to show off in front of the opposite sex, impressing them with their reaction times and skill.
3
SPEAKER_01
And Tom Rader, who got hooked on pinball age 5, well, he got into it big as an adult.
3
SPEAKER_01
Not content with pinball machines at a local arcade, he wanted them at his house.
3
SPEAKER_01
Like many Americans who love pinball, he got interested in the home market.
3
SPEAKER_02
I had no idea how much it would cost, whether it be like $300 or $3,000.
3
SPEAKER_02
I ended up buying one for about $600.
3
SPEAKER_02
It was a Williams Laser Q. This was about $92, $93 and the game was probably a buck.
3
SPEAKER_02
the mid-80s, 82, 83, 10 years old.
3
SPEAKER_02
Right there, I was hooked, and then I needed to get another one.
3
SPEAKER_02
You get bored with playing one, so then I found out about this place called Super Auctions in Orange County, California, and they had an auction every last Saturday of the month where operators that had old equipment that they no longer wanted or wasn t making money for them, they d bring it to the auction to sell it off to whoever wanted to buy it.
3
SPEAKER_02
And they d had hundreds of pinball games and hundreds of video games, so these auctions would go on all day.
3
SPEAKER_02
And through that, I bought several more games and then networked with other people there, got other contacts and found out about this or that.
3
SPEAKER_02
this publication, Pinball Classifieds, and it started out slow, but then it just kept growing and growing where it became the hunt was more exciting than the actual playing of pinball.
3
SPEAKER_02
Finding a game across country, making a deal, then arranging shipping, and that wasn t cheap either.
3
SPEAKER_02
Sometimes that almost cost as much as the pinball game.
3
SPEAKER_01
How much money do you think you sunk into collecting so far?
3
SPEAKER_02
Over the years I bought over 350 pinball games.
3
SPEAKER_02
I was maybe spending about $500 per game.
3
SPEAKER_02
Now this is back mostly in the 1990s and the early 2000s.
3
SPEAKER_02
That s a lot of money to be dropping.
3
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, yeah.
3
SPEAKER_01
350 pinball machines at $500 each, that s $175,000.
3
SPEAKER_01
He could afford this because he was doing something else very American, working on oil fields for 36 years.
3
SPEAKER_01
He moved around a lot, could visit a lot of sellers, and he was earning enough money to buy what he wanted.
3
SPEAKER_01
And luckily for him, his other half was into it.
3
SPEAKER_02
Well, I met my wife through pinball.
3
SPEAKER_02
She had a pinball machine on eBay and I bid on it, I won it.
3
SPEAKER_02
So I went up to pick it up and we got to talking and seven, eight months later, we were married.
3
SPEAKER_02
That s really beautiful.
3
SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
3
SPEAKER_01
What s the difference in the market for collecting authentic old games that are around and new creations that are being made?
3
SPEAKER_02
Okay.
3
SPEAKER_02
There s kind of two different school groups.
3
SPEAKER_02
There s the electromechanical classic pinball from, you know,
3
SPEAKER_02
50s, 60s, and 70s.
3
SPEAKER_02
That s when it was just purely electromechanical.
3
SPEAKER_02
But then in the late 70s, solid state, the circuit ICs and whatnot came around.
3
SPEAKER_02
And from about 78 on up to today is all solid state electronics.
3
SPEAKER_02
But now the new games, I don t really enjoy the new games for two reasons.
3
SPEAKER_02
They cost a lot and there s just so much going on.
3
SPEAKER_02
You don t know where the ball is.
3
SPEAKER_02
I like the simpler games of the, you know, 50s, 60s, and 70s.
3
SPEAKER_02
where it s a simple objective, you know what to shoot for, some of the modern games, but what s revived the pinball industry, instead of selling to route operators, they re selling to the home game market.
3
SPEAKER_02
Dentists and doctors and engineers that have money to burn, so they re buying these machines, which are now about maybe $6,000 or $7,000.
3
SPEAKER_01
I think back to that Jurassic Park machine I d been eyeing up at Long Beach.
3
SPEAKER_01
I looked online, and yeah, it s $6,999 to buy new.
3
SPEAKER_01
Collectors with a bit of money have given pinball an extra lease on life.
3
SPEAKER_01
It strikes me as something constantly in flux, pinball.
3
SPEAKER_01
Banned and not banned.
3
SPEAKER_01
Popular, then unpopular.
3
SPEAKER_01
The pinball industry has been a leader in pushing new tech, at the forefront of using microchips and circuit boards to power its games, and that s helped it keep coming back.
3
SPEAKER_01
But maybe the main reason Pinball keeps coming back is simple.
3
SPEAKER_01
I think of Mika, the guy in the tie-dye shirt who bought me that beer out at Long Beach.
3
SPEAKER_01
He had a really good point.
3
SPEAKER_00
So I think people like things that they can hold in their hands that feel real.
3
SPEAKER_00
Because so much of our lives, you pay your bills on the internet, you have to double-factor authenticate on your iPhone or whatever, then you want a metal ball against metal planks, you know?
3
SPEAKER_00
It feels good.
3
SPEAKER_01
In increasingly unsettled times, as things slip from between our fingers, or we worry that they re about to, a pinball machine is something you can grab onto, and then you look around you and see all the people doing the same thing, and the world feels a bit less lonely, and a bit more real.
3
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So as you can tell, Monica, I love pinball.
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I fall in love with pinball.
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I think I m going to stay in the league.
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I m going to keep playing.
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You know, Rob can play his fantasy football.
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I m going to be out there in my pinball league.
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You re with my pinball buddies, you know, trying to get up from place 9,000.
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Wow.
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That s fun.
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I like this for you.
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It s on brand.
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It s on brand.
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I could be a pinball addict, couldn t I?
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You totally, totally could.
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I forgot to bring up something that we know everyone has thought that you have also in this episode referred to somebody s arms.
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Yeah, I just think maybe it s the time of the season at the moment, but just, I don t know, you see, when you see a pair of arms sticking out, I don t know, I like, maybe I just like arms.
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You notice arms.
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Yeah, I don t know, big manly arms, I just find them, that s interesting, I hadn t really thought about it, I have been pointing out arms a lot lately.
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You have, and especially when they re rugged or tattooed or something like that.
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By the way, I love a masculine arm as well.
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I mean, there s something about them.
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If you go into the effort of displaying them, they re probably going to be good.
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And often when they come paired with a tattoo and a bit of a tan, boy, it just really gets me, obviously gets me going.
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I mean, you should have seen this Metallica fan.
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I mean, he d been to two shows and he just had great tattoos, great skin tone, good muscle bulk.
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What a guy, Liz, loved him, loved him.
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Oh, I really loved what he said about two shows, no repeats.
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That s impressive.
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Yeah, that s something Metallica does to sort of, I guess, show off their back catalogue.
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Fans that do go multiple times, they just get a completely different show.
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That s kind of magical.
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Yes, it is.
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That s so cool.
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And that s a great way.
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That s the way to get me.
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Speaking of addict, if I was going to a show, someone I really liked and I knew that I would go to everyone.
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Like if Taylor did a different show every night, I would have had to be down.
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And she s probably made her show like a little bit shorter.
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She could very easily do two completely unique shows because she s got too much stuff.
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I m going to her movie today.
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I ve booked in the front row.
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When I booked the front row, the first two rows were empty and all the other seats were sold.
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I just checked the seating map out of the Grove and it s now entirely full.
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And I also realized that in sitting in the front row, I kind of wanted to give myself like a very visceral, obnoxious, kind of like immersive, like the screen s right there.
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I m going to be craning my head up.
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But I also realized now that being in the front row means that I m going to be directly in front of the dance pit.
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And then I panicked and then I panicked because I was like, Oh my God, I can t just be a 40 year old man on my own sat in the front row is like children like dance in front of me and I m surrounded by them.
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So I got another ticket and I m inviting my friend Alvi.
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Oh my God, that s hilarious.
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Yes, you posted.
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I did feel the need to comment on your post because you were very negative and I had to tell you to stop.
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Yeah, and that s fair.
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I did bait people a little bit because I posted a screenshot of the fact I was going and said, essentially, this is going to be just horrific.
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I knew that would elicit some negative responses,
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Yeah, why d you do that?
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Why did you do that?
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You are so funny.
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You are so provocative in your social media slash written work, but- Yeah, I don t know what it is.
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Then you are so not in life.
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Yeah, it s a sickness I think I have.
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It s not a good thing, but obviously a lot of people are like laughing along and being like, oh, this will be tough for you.
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There s two things, right?
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That make this screening so crazy for me.
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I like metal music.
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I like really pretentious stuff.
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Like I m a snob.
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You know, I want to like the band that no one else knows about.
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There s all that stuff.
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Plus I really like the idea of a cinema being a really quiet, beautiful space.
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And so the idea of just being crazy down there.
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I know.
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I m so excited to hear about this.
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I m genuinely looking forward to it.
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I m going to sort of interview people down there.
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But then a very angry group came on to Instagram who basically said, I hate women.
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Very angry at me.
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And then, so that was like a big thing.
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I m a misogynist.
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And I just sort of pointed out, like, I m pretty confident I m not a misogynist.
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I m definitely a snob.
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But, you know, I d argue if Ed Sheeran was doing the same thing and I was sitting front row at an Ed Sheeran IMAX surrounded by people dancing and singing, I d be sort of equally as worried.
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But no, it got intense.
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But I deserved it all because I was a provocative little shit when I posted it.
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Yeah, your beef is not with women.
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It s with the mainstream.
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And I also think it s funny, though, because do you think that the music you listen to is pretentious?
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No, I don t.
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I think some of it is.
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My default is metal because there s so many subgenres and you want to discover things first and find out things that maybe you haven t heard before.
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You re always trying to push how extreme something can be.
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Sure.
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And there s elements of being a bit pretentious in that.
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I definitely have elements of that.
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But then I also like really popular stuff.
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I mean, I ll go to a Metallica show in the metal world.
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That s as populous as you can get.
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And I ve been to a Taylor Swift show as well.
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She came to New Zealand and the show was, it was amazing.
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I had 1989 on CD.
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I think that s actually a really good record.
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So no, I support Taylor.
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I just am a bit scared about being a, you know, I mean, think about I m a 40 year old man sitting front row in the theater surrounded by like,
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Screaming people.
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It s going to be something else.
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It will be.
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I ll FaceTime you.
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You re in a different time zone, but maybe I can FaceTime you from inside the theater because I m curious how much it translates to the experience of actually being at the live show.
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It s a Thursday at 7 p.m.
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and that show is booked.
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She is the most powerful person on earth.
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I love it.
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I love it.
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Yeah, I just saw a headline and they re two very different things.
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And this headline is sort of made to cause controversy as well.
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But, you know, Martin Scorsese has this incredible format like Killers of Thou Moon.
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It s been crushed by the Taylor Swift film in the box office.
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She s such a big phenomenon.
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A lot of people are making that comparison.
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I saw it and I do think that s a false comparison because part of the reason that movie is not doing well is because there s a strike and no one can promote anything and people don t even know that movie s out.
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Taylor can promote her movie and is, as she should, that has nothing to do with SAG or actors or anything.
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But I knew a year ago about the Scorsese movie coming out and then all of a sudden
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I saw this article comparing it to Taylor Swift, but I didn t know it was out in theaters and stuff.
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That s a strike issue.
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Would love for that to be over.
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Yeah.
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And Taylor is just, yeah, I mean, anything she does is going to pop off.
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There was a very funny, I have a very sort of personal anger against Taylor Swift because
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My very niche doc, Mr. Organ is playing in some little theaters and her film was playing.
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I heard from a few people that went and obviously the Taylor Swift film was playing next door.
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And they said the noise that bled through the wall.
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the base of the music mixed with screams of fans and like them jumping up and down.
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And Mr. Organ is like a very quiet, slow film.
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And they just said it was so like, it really changed the tone of Mr. Organ.
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I kind of love that though.
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Like it s just, Taylor is just like so big.
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She s like encroaching on other cinemas around her.
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It s kind of amazing.
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Wow.
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But yes, pinball, have a game.
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If you see one in your local bar, chuck some quarters in, have a jam.
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It might sort of bring back some nostalgia and you might also find a new hobby like me that maybe you fall in love with.
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I wonder if they re going to allow Apple Pay.
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That s a huge hurdle at this point with those games.
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No one s carrying around change.
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Yeah, change is kind of crazy.
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And yeah, I made the mistake at the tournament of just having no quarters on me.
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That is a big thing.
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And it s like our Laundromats episode as well.
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Obviously with Laundromats, they re updating things so they can take card and tokens, but
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I m not sure.
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I think some pinball machines take cards, but generally, yeah, it s a quarters thing, and that is something that defines its original kind of time that they were popular in, right?
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I like it.
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It s a little bit like, we don t care if you play.
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Yeah, no, totally.
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You got quarters, you can play, you can do your thing.
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And it is such a social thing because it was really amazing.
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At Long Beach, it was just such an assortment of ages and people that were just clearly very different from each other.
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Most of them weren t amazing, some of them were, and they were just teaching each other different things, and it just became this instant leveler where everyone had something to talk about.
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That s really nice.
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And that s sort of hard to find, I think, and that s what I really liked about it.
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Anything that elicits community, we re pro, including Taylor.
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Including Taylor?
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Yeah, oh my God, I ve just got a little shiver thinking about tonight.
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It s gonna be so, so unusual, but no, I can t wait.
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It s also long, it s about three hours.
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I think I might go at the beginning and then duck out for dinner at a P.F.
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Chang s and then duck back.
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Absolutely, no!
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For the end.
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Three hours, I think?
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That s how long the concert is.
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You are to stay.
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Also, I have to stand, don t I?
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Like, I can t be sitting in a front row as there s a dance pit in front of me.
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I ve sort of got to get up and probably move my bod around a little bit, don t I?
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I m not so sure about that.
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I don t know.
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I don t know.
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You ll feel it out, I guess.
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Oh, God.
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Yeah, I mean, how it goes.
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Anyway.
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All right.
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Well, this was fun.
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You got to see my childhood desk.
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Oh, there is an important sticker.
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I want to show you.
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Oh, please.
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I love the love heart.
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I m curious what was around the love heart at the time.
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There probably be some images of boys around there back in the day.
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This was like kindergarten.
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I mean, I was, I was.
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Yeah, right.
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See, that just had my name on it.
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It s so cute.
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But look at this one.
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Can you read it?
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I want the world drug-free.
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Yeah, I want the world drug-free, just like me!
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Such a big statement from a child.
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Oh, they were really on top of us with that D.A.R.E.
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program.
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Yeah, we had D.A.R.E.
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in New Zealand as well.
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Yeah, I remember being very, very, very scared of drugs, but they really get in there early.
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That sticker was so important that I not only stuck it on here, I put tape over it.
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Oh, that s, you really believed in that.
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Did you have the life education trust?
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Did you have that?
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No.
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A truck that would turn up at your school and Harold the giraffe was the mascot.
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And you d all be like ushered into this little sort of trailer, which is a stunk because it was like a bunch of like 14 year olds being like shoved in such a small place.
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And Harold s would come out, who is this giraffe, like a puppet, and he would educate you about life, things, drugs and science.
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And I don t know if he did sex ed as well.
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Science.
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Oh my God.
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Oh my God.
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Yeah.
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And one year, cause I was quite a suck up as a student.
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I was always trying to be like the goody good and get in the teacher s good books, but I volunteered one holidays to be Harold, to raise money for the life education trust.
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And so I had to put on this big giraffe suit and the head, the head Harold s head went up.
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Like my head was in the neck and it went up like another meter and a half.
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And I was quite a tall kid, because I got tall quite young.
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I mean, this was maybe when I was, I don t know, 16 or something, and not that young.
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But I just remember walking down the main street of Tauranga, where I went to school, and just bumping my giraffe head on all the overhead signs that were hanging outside the stores, and just making a real fool of myself.
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Oh my God, this is so embarrassing.
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And then, were you walking around telling people, don t believe in science?
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No, no, no, sorry, I should clarify, no, they taught us about science.
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Although it was a Christian school, so they did teach a lot of non-scientific shit there as well.
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But no, the giraffe was pro-science, so he had that going for him.
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He was a good giraffe, but yeah, that would be amazing.
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Don t believe in science.
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That s what I thought.
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It s really good.
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But yeah, it had a fan in the head because it got so hot in there, and there was a little electric fan that would go.
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But yeah, that was me for one summer, Harold the giraffe.
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How much money did you raise?
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Not much.
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I wasn t great at it.
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I wasn t great.
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Well, when they see this big gangly draft bumping into signs and stuff, hard to take that seriously.
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Yeah, I wasn t good at that particular job, but I tried.
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And look, you got to try, don t you?
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That s all you need to do in life.
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Got to try pinball.
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Got to try it in life.
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Yeah, that s a good motivational message to end on.
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It is.
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I ll FaceTime you from Taylor tonight.
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OK.
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And I ll let you know how I m feeling.
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Can t wait.
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All right.
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All right.
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Bye.