Kevin Unger Is A Pinball Wizard.

Boy did I love to play pinball machines when I was a kid.

I loved the sounds, the lights, the compressed excitement -- the straightforward mechanics and technology.  I found the larger than life themes to be intoxicating, the idea that an entire game could be based, for example, on BJ and the Bear or ELO's Discovery album.

Bizarre, really, when you think of it.

I guess me and Plantation ticket attorney Kevin Unger think alike:

At the Florida Arcade and Pinball Expo, which runs through Sunday, a near-extinct pastime is enjoying a rousing resurrection. Dozens of aficionados, or pinheads, prowled the hall Thursday, doling out $12 for unlimited free play on about 320 pinball machines ranging from 1970s mechanical models to high-tech electronic gizmos.

There was Fort Lauderdale attorney Kevin Unger, 44, in tie and starched shirt, working the flippers with dexterous fingers. "It's a piece of my childhood," he said. "They're a lost form of entertainment."

Ok, this sounds like a hoot.

Kev, bring some quarters dude, I'm ducking out of a conference call and I'll see you around lunchtime?