Pintastic NE 2026 Videos of the Day The Last Day and Gabe

Posted: April 30, 2026 by datechguy in fun, pinball, special events
Tags: , , , ,
0

Well as the old saying goes all good things must come to an end and thus my run of Pintastic NE 2026 videos end on the final day of April with a pair of videos from Sunday morning.

In the old days of Pintastic I would generally stay till the very last pinball game was packed up and wrapped up and the main hall would usually be open till about twelve with a few paid people coming in to play some games on the cheep.

Not so much these days:

Of course in those days the machines from the extra ball lounge would be moved into the main room for the final day. Now they remain where they are and people go there to play while the woman’s tournament continues on.

But if there is one constant it’s that my interviews close with Gabe D’Annunzio the founder of the Pintastic feast.

This festival is the reason why there are now so many pinball options in the area that it’s no longer necessary to stay till the final game is packed up. A lot of people in New England have a lot of fun together because of this man and I hope folks remember this. I hope folks say a prayer or two for him in gratitude for all the joy he has brought so many.

And that concludes our Pintastic NE 2026 coverage. God willing and new job willing I’ll be back for Pintastic 2027.

The Pintastic NE 2026 Video roundup

Pintastic NE 2026 Videos of the Day: My Interview with Pinball Game Designer Steve Ritchie

Posted: April 29, 2026 by datechguy in business, entertainment, fun, pinball, special events
Tags: , , , , , ,
0

I was very fortunate that the great Steve Ritchie one of the greatest design minds in Pinball & Games and one of the most beloved members of the Pinball community was kind enough to give me time for a sit down interview on Saturday at Pintastic NE 2026.

Part 1

part 2

Some of you might be wondering why I break these into two parts. The primary reason is that my old Cannon Camera doesn’t record beyond 19 minutes at a time.

The logical question is why I don’t get a new one it’s because I like the thing and have been using it for over a decade and produces excellent video.

The 2nd logical question is why don’t I just edit the video into one, part of it is when I had the reputation as being “The hardest working man in the blogosphere” I would shoot so much video & attempt to get it up fast editing would take too much time but the other part is more basic. Back when I was reporting for money I made it a rule not to edit videos so that people who watched my material knew it was a true representation of what was said.

Given the choice of an edited interview or no interview the latter.is my choice. Given the choice of an edited video or no video give me no video.

Only broke the rule once for a catholic religious lady who let something slip for 2 seconds.

Bottom line, what you see is what was said.

Previously:

Pintastic NE 2026 Videos of the Day: Tuckey, Tuckey and more Todd Tuckey

Posted: April 27, 2026 by datechguy in business, fun, pinball, special events
Tags: , , , , , ,
1

If you have to point a finger at who is responsible for the rise in popularity of Pinball in the 21st century in general and over the last decade in particular you won’t go too wrong wagging a finger at Todd Tuckey of TNT amusements whose video promotions of his business and unique style predates youtube.

I’ve interviewed him several times over the last decade but at this year’s pintastic I did something different and interviewed him with a couple of his many fans.

I had intended only the one interview but he recorded a special video for their children about the pinball machine they were buying and my coverage of it turned into a 2nd interview and a shameless plug for myself:

Their kids will be watching that video long after we are dead and gone and say: “My parents knew Todd Tuckey!”

I also shot some of his seminar, because of limited battery and limited space on my camera I only managed part of it but on his own TNT Amusements site they have the full thing:

Part 1 of 2

Part 2 of 2

For those unaware these seminars run on Friday and Saturday and include all kinds of interesting pinball stuff.

His youtube channel is here.

His site is here.

And since we had a shameless plug on the video let me add one more. I’m currently 13 subscribers away from being able to monetize youtube. Normally this wouldn’t be a big deal but I lose my job in ten days. If you want to help soften the blow please consider subscribing to my youtube channel.

Of course if you choose to hit DaTipJar I won’t complain either.

Previously:

Share this:

Five Quick: 0-3 Trying to Kill Trump Thoughts Under the Fedora: Methinks the Left Objects too much, Who Moi?, Trump Now 2nd on the All Time List, Don’t know much about the “Teacher of the Month” from CA, A class closing act

Posted: April 26, 2026 by datechguy in media, Uncomfortable Truths, under the fedora, Always look at the bright side of Trump
Tags: , , , , ,
0

I was in a middle of a full screen game when DaWife told me about the attempt to kill Trump and when I checked my feed on the subject the first things I saw was the left either

  1. Claiming Trump had faked this
  2. Objecting to the right being blaming them for trying to kill him a 3rd time

I’m sorry but if you want people to not think these things perhaps go lighter on the whole “Trump is Hitler” thing, but in fairness given what we’re seeing these days in Maine if Trump WAS Hitler the left would likely support him.

Speaking of what we’ve been seeing

Here is the right response from someone who doesn’t like Trump

The summit of this nonsense was this:

Although the best answer was of course this:

Let’s go to the video

Grok’s Pointed gun standard which doesn’t count Palm Springs not withstanding this puts Trump two behind Lincoln for 2nd place on the attempted assassinations all time for Presidents.

It would be nice if he doesn’t get a chance to break the record but given the left being the left and that we’re not even half way into this 2nd term I think he might do so

Of course in fairness the idea that at an event full of people who would privately cheer him being killed someone would try to do so isn’t all that odd. BTW can you imagine if the assassin succeeded yesterday how difficult it would have been for the assembled press to feign public outrage with all those camera running?

It was interesting enough to see the general silence since the attempt took place with them there and nobody had a chance to establish the left’s desired narrative nor feed it to those in attendance.

We don’t know much about the teacher of the month who has been arrested except that:

  • He’s fast
  • He shot a Secret Service agent who fortunately had body armor
  • He managed not to be shot and killed, how I haven’t figured out
  • If this guy was “Teacher of the Month” it’s more proof you need your kids out of public school

Given the use of AI these days I’m going to be a bit more careful about what gets spread today about him as the technology to manufacture a narrative has exploded but I must say I think this take is pretty good:

.Already we are seeing people trying to say he’s Mossad or that it’s all about an excuse to start shooting in Iran again (he doesn’t need an excuse btw Actually it would be more legit if he was an Iranian agent instead of just the avg loony lefty, after all we’re fighting a war against them and in war the other side gets to shoot back.), but we can expect everything from gay fanboy of Tucker Carlson trying to impress him to fanatical Catholic upset at the clash with the Pope.

No matter how wacked some narratives are there are fools online who will buy them if it fits their worldview.

The trial will be interesting but I alas think Van Jones is right about one thing:

“I’m starting to worry about something, though, which is that the shooter survived, which means on Monday he’s going to court, which means there is a danger that people try to make him some sort of hero. You watch what happened with Luigi [Mangione], who shot a CEO to death and somehow became a hero. So, they said tonight you saw the worst of America. You saw the best of America. Tonight, you definitely saw the best of America. I hope on Monday we don’t see the worst again. 

The chances of this not happening are so zero.

Finally Trump’s press conference was both informative and gracious you can watch it here:

This was likely the best dressed news conference in the history of Presidential press conferences.

Could you imagine giving such a press conference less than an hour after someone tried to kill you? This guy has ice in his veins.

The security for the new event in 30 days should be interesting.

I’ll close with a quote from Stonewall Jackson:

He who does not see the hand of God in this is blind, sir. Blind!

Older Entries