Gilligan's Sludge

For a pinball blog, I have a bit of a blind spot when it comes to the metal genre. It’s not that I don’t like thrashing guitars, guttural yelling, and stomping around my office like a madman, but it’s just not something I’m always seeking out. This week was different. This week, I wanted to yell, scream, and blast my skull with sludge.

As luck would have it, I found Pop Punk Anthem (Sorry for the Delay) and Throw Yourself to the Sword by Austin’s Die Spitz. I liked them both so much I couldn’t really decide which one to feature here, so I’m putting them both in. Both tracks are off Spitz’s debut album, Something to Consume, which was released September 12.

Die Spitz is a group of early 20-somethings that really wail. Is wail a metal term? I only know it from Wayne’s World. Like I said—it’s a blind spot. Still, if you need to get some stuff out there and tap your toes at the same time, Die Spitz might be for you.

Spoiler, it goes here!

As part of the September Back Indie Media Drive, I’m shedding some light on how I think about Kineticist in the long term, what it takes to run a publication like this, and why it needs your support to continue.

In our last update, I wrote about the identity crisis of calling myself a journalist and what it means to do journalistic work in this space. This time, I’m getting practical and talking dollars, cents, and the tools we use to produce our work every week.

If you ever wanted to know the full tech stack we use to run our site, and how much it all costs, this is the post for you!

And if none of that matters, and you’d just like to support our work, you can do that too. Subscriptions start at $25/year, but most people join at $60/year.

Paid subscribers received another update in our Moving Units series earlier this week, where we break down the performance of Stern Pinball in what we’re calling the “Post-Godzilla” era prior to Star Wars FoTE shipping. Is King Kong selling? Does Stern need Star Wars to be a hit? Find these things out and more!

I’m falling behind on publishing our Noah Crable tutorials. Sorry Noah. He writes fast, and I like to get out and take photos of the games myself before editing and sharing with you. That’s always easier said than done with my current schedule, so these tend to back up. Fortunately, however, I was able to make a trip to Pop’s Pinball in Somerville, MA, to take some photos of Bally’s Gilligan’s Island for one of Noah’s latest. Enjoy!

Caught an update this week from one of the PAPA 22 tournament organizers, Penni Epstein, and I wanted to share here because the results of the newly revived annual charity tournament (which Kineticist was proud to sponsor) are staggering.

Over the course of the event, they:

Wow! Phenomenal job, Penni and the rest of the PAPA team.

HEXA Pinball, the French manufacturer behind 2023’s Space Hunt launched a new pinball app this week called Plungr. It’s being positioned as a relaunch of the dedicated app, which was initially built for Space Hunt buyers. This version is broader in scope, with a focus on letting people use the app for more than just HEXA games.

I signed up for an account to demo the app myself, and it’s pretty basic at this point, which is to be expected. I would also caution people from signing up for a new account straight away. As of the time of publication, I was unable to use a secure password with my account, as the password field would not accept special characters. I’ve been told this is a bug that the team is working on addressing in a future update, but it’s something to know going in.

Multimorphic founder Gerry Stellenberg sent an update to customers, noting that Portal modules are almost ready to ship. Batch one customers will need to finalize their orders within the next 1-2 weeks, after which games should be sent out. Gerry also hinted at the end of the update that a new game announcement may be coming soon as well (though whether that’s a core P3 module or a 3rd party game is anyone’s guess).

Alright, so we’re still in tease mode here, but we can announce that we’re excited to partner with Scorbit for the Mixer this year, and we’ve got some great plans to make this year a ton of fun for all who attend. If all goes according to schedule, we’ll be sharing more with you next week. If you partied with us last year, are a paid subscriber here, or if you’re a creator that I have contact info for (which I do for a lot of the people in our Promoters Database), be on the lookout for an email with a brief exclusive registration window before we open things up to the general public.

Media Mixer 3 will be held on 10/16 from 6pm-9pm at Enterrium in Schaumburg, IL. Last year was a blast!

Ryan and Scott from Pinball Map run a regular series that highlights one new or interesting pinball location each week. This week, Scott writes about SchwonkSoundStead.

Nestled on the easternmost point of Michigan, on the tip of the thumb, lies the city of Port Huron. It is most famous for looking like a place Joe Pera would spend time, but it also houses a single Pinball Map location that might make a trip up there worth your precious time. How have you been spending your time lately anyway? Do you feel comfortable with the decisions you’ve made in the last couple years? Are they bearing fruit? Anyway, you aren’t on trial here, let’s discuss about a place called SchwonkSoundStead.

SchwonkSoundStead is primarily an arts and music venue. It is also a place with pinball machines that you are allowed to play. The lineup is small but deliberate. Five machines, rotated with some care, and set to free play. You will not find the latest Stern here. You will find classics that ask you to play without an LCD telling you what to do. Depending on when you visit, you might find a live band, an art show, or a pinball tournament. The building feels improvised. A band may be setting up. Someone may be hanging paintings. The pinball machines are not decorations, but they also are not the main attraction. They simply exist, waiting for you to notice them.

If I went to SchwonkSoundStead, I’d line it up with a live show and then spend the whole set on the pinball machines. When I was 19, I went to an Atom and His Package concert and played Ms. Pac-Man on a Game Boy Color in the back. Was this an affectation? Maybe. Really, I’ve just always needed something to keep my hands busy during live events, and smoking cigarettes never stuck. SchwonkSoundStead feels like it understands that about me.

SchwonkSoundStead is located at 1521 7th St. It just looks like a plain old house, possibly a punk house to the discerning eye. Be sure to arrange your visit via Facebook, or time it with a live event. I don’t think you can just show up.

SchwonkSoundStead
1521 7th St, Port Huron, MI 48060
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