City Pinball

04/06/2022

Big news for all your Sunday pinball fans, Robyn will be open at 4pm starting this Sunday!

Squeaky clean games for league tonight! I’ve also decided to bring back Sunday opening at 4pm starting this week, so you will have a few extra hours of pinball

04/06/2022

First off, if you'd like to hire me for graphic design work please let me know.

Secondly, it's time for Week 2 of City Pinball's 16th Season! Join us tonight, tomorrow or Sunday night to get your games in. Format of six chosen games for the league week, one official league try on each of them and then see how you stack up against everyone else in the league!

If you're new to leagues and want to try it out, your first week is free. If you decide you'd like to join, dues for the season are $25. Best part is you haven't missed out on a full season yet! We drop our worst two results out of the six weeks, so starting in Week 2 or 3 will mean you can get a full season in.

Last weeks standings and scores can be found here http://city.league.papa.org/meetResults/39/1, please message me with any questions you might have!

Duncan

03/24/2022

Season 16 has started! You can submit your scores tonight, tomorrow or Sunday for what hopefully is the largest season yet!

03/23/2022

Hello all! I'm writing this on a train so let's get right on track.

Season 16 of City Pinball starts tonight! We play six weeks, biweekly and then have divisional finals after that.

Our scoring period days for this season are Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday. We play six different games, once each and your score is ranked against everyone else who played that week. First on a game gets 100 points, second gets 98 and so on.

If you're new and would like to try it all out, your first week is free of league dues (just have to pay the $10 for the all you can play) and then if you decide to join league dues are $25 for the season.

If you have any questions, please send me a message!

-League Director Duncan

03/10/2022

Looking to get your name next to these illustrious City Pinball players as champion? The league starts back up March 23rd! If you need details or would like to be added to our e-mail list, please send us a message.

In addition to this, if you'd like to warm up for the season, Robyn is having a flipper frenzy at Cabin on March 16th! Message her through the Cabin Fever FB (or however you like) to secure your spot!

It took 16 seasons but the winners of all previous seasons of are finally on display! Next Wednesday I’m hosting a flipper frenzy tournament, and that should get you warmed up for the Mar.23rd return of City! Message me if you want a spot in the flipper frenzy 👌

02/16/2022

Howdy everyone!

Being of a certain age I had to be reminded what Facebook even was, but here is your information for Season 16 of City Pinball!

Normally I write a whole bunch of stuff before we get to the real information, but let me just get out in front of the cart here.

City Pinball will be returning for it's sixteenth season Wednesday, March 23rd 2022. This is to give your City officials enough time to assess case count, venue restrictions and to formulate new jokes about Johnny Z and Hamilton Damian.

For this season the official league nights will be Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday.

Your tentative schedule would look like this;
WEEK 1 - March 23rd-24th & 27th
WEEK 2 - April 6-7th & 10th
WEEK 3 - April 20th-21st & 24th
WEEK 4 - May 4-5th & 8th
WEEK 5 - May 18-19th & 22nd
WEEK 6 - June 1st-2nd & 5th

B DIVISION - June 15th
A DIVISION - June 22nd

In addition, the league dues will finally be rising with inflation to $25 this season. For full transparency, this change is to benefit Robyn and Cabin Fever. This will allow the league to give Robyn better compensation for the amount of players we have at the A and B Division tournaments.

As always, if you have friends/pals/well wishers who are interested in trying out the league with you, great! New players have the option of playing a week for free in City to see if it's something they would enjoy before committing to the league dues.

City Pinball does not accept Crypto or NFTs as league dues, no matter how poorly drawn your picture of an ape is.

09/11/2021

Hi all-

First, please note our new start date of September 22. This gives us two weeks between last season ending and next season beginning and aligns the league start date with Ontario proof of vax requirements.

Second, I am handing off my league duties to Duncan McFarlane. To commemorate, I have painted "The Creation of Duncan" on the ceiling of Cabin Fever. Robyn will remain the person actually in charge of City Pinball. As part of the conditions of the hand-off, Duncan ([email protected]) has agreed to be available to answer any questions 24/7/364 (he requested April 23rd off to celebrate the anniversary of "Me at the zoo" being released). Duncan did a great job streaming and announcing yesterday!

Third, the "A" Division playoffs came down to the final game (Harlem Globetrotters). 3 of the 4 finalists had a chance to win. Ultimately a costly ball 3 tilt from John Zaharatos was the difference. Kudos also to Joe Ciaravino for winning his first two rounds and being one game away from making his first City Pinball final 4. Congrats Joe!

Results are available at https://www.ifpapinball.com/tournaments/view.php?t=39382.

Top 4:

1. Jack Tadman
2. John Zaharatos
3. Jason McKay
4. Duncan McFarlane.

Finally, here is how we anticipate next season playing out (we may make changes/improvements) based on how it goes.

1. Ontario is requiring all persons attending bars to show proof of vaccination as of September 22. If you are not vaccinated, Robyn will not be able to legally allow you into her bar.

2. We will try running Wednesday league nights the same way as we have in the past (i.e., no advance sign up). Ideally we have people showing up for an early shift around 630 pm and a late shift around 9 pm (or later) so the bar doesn't get too crowded.

3. If you don't want to deal with crowds, you will be able to submit your league scores anytime Cabin is open between league night on Wednesday until Wednesday of the following week. E.g., league night #1 is September 22. You can show up to Cabin on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday or the following Wednesday (September 29), let Robyn know you are playing your league games, and submit your scores to her. If a game is not working on that day you may lose the opportunity to submit your score on that game but we will do our best to accommodate.

See you on the 22nd!

04/01/2021

*Passing along some merch info for two of our favorite places, North Star Machines à Piastres and Cabin Fever.*

North Star is doing pre-orders for t-shirts as a fundraiser...deadline is April 5. Info is at https://fundraiser.northstarpinball.com/. The shirts were designed by Montreal street art legend and Jurassic Park pinball art contributor Johnny Crap (https://www.johnnycrap.com/).

I think the shirts look amazing! Yes my fashion sense is "Middle Aged Guy Still Wearing T-Shirts and Hoodies Chic," but if that doesn't perfectly capture a key segment of the pinball aesthetic I don't know what does. Well actually I do...socks and sandals, cargo shorts, and a cell phone holder that you clip on to your belt loop.

Cabin is also doing another merch run. You know those will look good. Merch will be available for purchase at https://cabinfeverco.ca/. Existing merch and take-out beers are available for sale every Friday from 5-9.

09/28/2020

Apologies in advance for sincere posting. Not a big fan of it but life is full of unexpected surprises...e.g., I never thought I'd be part of an Alesse guerilla marketing campaign but here we are.

Some of you may have seen (and donated!) to the Cabin Fever gofundme at https://www.gofundme.com/f/save-cabin-fever. Thanks to Jeremy Wilson for starting the gofundme, because if you know Robyn you know that she would rather shut down than ask for help. Cabin (Robyn) needs our support!

If your favorite restaurant or bar hasn't closed yet, it is probably in danger of closing. Cabin Fever is my favorite place, and I suspect for many of you it is your favorite place too. And it is in danger.

Objectively, the reasons for supporting Cabin Fever are easy to understand:

-It is the best location pinball in the GTA (one of the best in Canada);
-Supporting Cabin Fever = supporting Robyn...who has been supporting us all (in a different way) for years;
-Supporting a community hub (for more than just pinball);
-Supporting small businesses during a difficult time - in particular a female-run small business.

Subjectively, you all have your own valid reasons for Cabin being your favorite place or one of your favorite places. There is a reason that Cabin is 80-90% regulars. I will share why it is my favorite place (at the risk of posting "cringe").

I started coming to Cabin regularly when my son was a baby. There were two pinball machines - Kiss & AC/DC. I would wear him in a carrier and play, or Robyn would feed him oranges and yogurt drinks to keep him quiet while he sat in the stroller. As he has grown up, he knows her only as Aunty Robyn. As Cabin has grown up, it has become a hub for a community who (speaking only for myself of course), isn't that comfortable in public spaces. Yes, the quality of the location pinball is amazing (thanks Dan!) but that is only part of the story. Robyn has been there to share in our happiness, to laugh (v rarely) at our jokes, to listen when we have problems, and most important to tolerate us when we're drunk. Robyn has been there because she is always there. She is always there...always tolerating us.

Robyn jokes that Cabin is a "safe space for nerds". What Robyn has really done is built a community. It is a community that I am proud to be a part of. It is a community with no shortage of characters. It is a community that she is at the heart of...and we'd to keep it that way.

So what now? Robyn is not the only person impacted by the pandemic. Many of you have lost jobs or have reduced hours. If you are able to donate, great! If you are not able to donate and you want to help, please share the gofundme link with others: https://www.gofundme.com/f/save-cabin-fever. If you are struggling to prioritize your donations in a time where so many people need help, send me an email with a screenshot of your donation and I will match* any donation to the organization of your choice**

*You know there will be fine print. Donations will be capped/ matched proportionally if the cap is exceeded.
**Obviously there are certain organizations to which I will not donate. In that situation, we will work out alternative arrangements.

Feel free to share any fun Cabin stories below.

20 years ago, there was barely a couple of pinball machines on location around Toronto. Pinball was ef… Jeremy Wilson needs your support for Save Cabin Fever

03/16/2020

Yes this is another "Our Response to COVID-19" email. We'll keep this brief since we know that every brand you have ever interacted with has sent you an "Our Response to COVID-19" related email and you are determined to read them all.

City Pinball News & Notes

1. City Pinball is postponed until further notice.

2. I am once again asking you to check out this week's movie poster.

3. Cabin has been there for us in our time of pinball need, and we are happy to be there for Cabin as it closes for at least a week. This season's league fees $800 will be used to buy $800 worth of Cabin Fever gift certificates. We have a league surplus so this won't affect "A" Division and "B" Division prizes. These gift certificates will be given out by me, City Pinball's benevolent dictator, in my absolute discretion.

4. Updated scores and standings are here: http://city.league.papa.org/meetResults/35/5

03/04/2020

Hi all-

Hope you are having a Super Tuesday!

The first movie collaboration between John "Greek" Zaharatos and Chris Tew has been released and it looks like an instant classic.

Practice starts @6 and league starts @7. John Zaharatos continues to lead the league in points, hugs, and shoulder massages (consensually of course).

Updated scores and standings here...and top 5 below:

Player Total Points

John Zaharatos 1722
Dan Beeson 1605
Duncan McFarlane 1584
Bryce Moore 1571
The Liam Kearney Show 1565

Most Improved:

Player Improvement Points
Joshua Tomkins 348
Bryce Moore 260
Robyn Harrison 231
Howard Pressburger 193
Joe Ciaravino 193

City Pinball News & Notes:

Cheer on City Pinball's Adam Becker as he represents Ontario at the National Pinball Championships this weekend. The tournament will be streamed by Inland Empire Pinball Association (https://www.twitch.tv/iepinball) and the bracket is available at https://challonge.com/2020nacs.

"B" Playoffs will be held on Wednesday, April 1, and "A" Playoffs will be held on April 8th. We will also be holding an IFPA Sanctioned (worth 4% TGP) Escape Nublar Tournament that night for some great prizes.

See you tomorrow!