TJ Beyer works for a local Amusement Operator chain.  You can identify the locations he services on the pinball map by filtering on ‘funpinball@gmail’ in the location drop-down menu.

TJ was one of the original members of the Bay Area Pinball Association back in the early and mid ’90s.  Back then, BAPA’s roster included some truly legendary players like Bowen Kerins, Neil Shatz, Hal Erickson and Marc Conant.

TJ and his wife have a kick-ass loft in Oakland that is jam-packed with games and they offered to let us hold a league night there.  So of course we did.

Mads Kristensen on AFM

Teresa Altvater and Chris Heileg

Walter Hurwitz on AFM

TJ Beyer (left) and Andrei Massenkoff (right)

Definitely watch this one full-screen in HD.

Custom pinball art furniture from Maxwell Furniture

Hi all, DVD/Blu-ray release set for January 17th. itunes and digital stores in USA/Canada for January 31st. We’ll keep you posted!

Just announced on their Facebook page.

For those of you non-pinball people, Special When Lit is a documentary on the culture of pinball, including shows, tournaments, collectors, etc.  I saw it several months ago at a film festival in SF.  It’s a well-produced film and definitely worth a look.

However, I gotta say, I thought they pushed the “freaks and geeks” angle a little too hard. If you saw the excellent film King of Kong, you likely recall how they poke fun at the quirky personalities that still go gonzo over classic video games.  Special When Lit, not surprisingly, takes similar shots but I think maybe they were trying to one-up King of Kong.  Yet the key difference is that King of Kong ultimately has a soft spot for its protagonist, Steve Weibe, such that by the end you find yourself rooting for the guy.  He’s a reminder that there’s a part of all of us that geeks out on something.  Special When Lit, on the other hand, just sort of takes the lunch money and then goes looking for another kid to rob.

In that sense, the ultimate product winds up being a bit aimless.  Toward the end of the film they make a play for your heartstrings by posing the question “is pinball dying?”, and how awful it would be to lose such an important historical institution.  But they just spent the previous hour convincing you that only freaks and outcasts even bother with it.  I think many viewers will walk away from it, thinking: “if it’s gone, who cares?”  Which is really too bad, because ever since King of Kong there’s been a minor resurgence in classic video gaming.  I’ve even seen bars put in Donkey Kong and other classic games and people actually play them!  I don’t think the same will happen as a result of Special When Lit.

eh… but maybe I’m bitter and jaded myself.  See it and make up your own mind, but definitely see it.

(On a sidenote: SWL features two bay area players: Rick Stetta and Neil Shatz)

Did you know Denmark is a Monarchy?  By royal decree the citizens there are only allowed to eat french fries with mayonnaise.  Mads Kristensen, our visiting Danish player, will be on-hand at the Pacific Pinball Museum to answer all your Danish culture questions.  He will be wearing his traditional wooden shoes and Leiderhosen and will be singing the popular Danish pop song: “It ain’t fries without the mayo, oh no, oh no”.

Besides that there will be a pinball tournament.  The pinball tournament is FREE for everyone with regular admission to Pacific Pinball Museum.  If you have ever thought about competing in a tournament, this is a great way to give it a try.  Remember: we start at 7pm sharp, but the museum opens at 2PM that day so come as early as you like.  Traditional Danish foods will be offered, such as Little Caesar’s Pizza and Sierra Nevada beer.  All yours for free just for showing up and entering the tournament!

*Culture Festival limited to Danish Pinball Culture

Silly Details:

No cash prizes! But eternal fame – and your name on the wall of the museum. And maybe some T-shirts, PPM Club cards and cool stuff we find on the side of the road on the way there.  Also, this is IFPA-sanctioned so you can earn world pinball player ranking points.

FORMAT:

All players will play one game on three machines. Please note ONE GAME
on each.

The 9 players with the best average position on the three machines
will advance to the A-finals as will the three players with a
high score on one machine.

And since we want this to be an international event we have reserved four
spots in the finals for players holding a foreign passport. PAPERS PLEAZE.  No just kidding.

MACHINES (subject to change if conditions necessitate, such as Fire, Theft, Monsoon, mechanical breakdown, etc):

A-Bank:
El Dorado
Time Machine
Avatar

B-Bank: (if turnout is large or if a A-bank machine breaks)
Volley
High Speed
Iron Man

GETTING THERE:

To get to PPM via public trans from SF:

Take the BART to 12th street station.

Take the 51A bus.  Get off between Lincoln and Santa Clara.  If you see a Citibank on the left, it is the next block. If you see a Nation’s Hamburgers, you just passed it.

Address is: 1510 Webster St

Here is a bus map:

Click to access 51A.pdf

Driving

Take the webster street (posey) tube.  Stay on Webster.  1510 Webster.  For parking, go left at Santa Clara ave and take your first left into the parking lot.

http://www.urbandaddy.com/sfo/leisure/11849/Lil_Ju_Ju_The_City_s_First_Mobile_Pinball_Arcade_San_Francisco_SFO_Venue

http://icecreamman.com/2010/11/fun-at-the-pacific-pinball-museum/

TAB Austria make this sleek-looking virtual pin cab.

I’ve never seen one in action until now.

In addition to pinball games, it also plays some other titles using the trackball.

Another weird video for all of you.

Photo montage of the Danish Pinball Championships. I got to meet one of the players (Mikkel Sjolin) recently at the Pacific Pinball Expo.