jmicha

^Well, actually there are three. 28 Weeks Later is the sequel to 28 Days Later. 28 Days is a completely different story.

I'm really liking the color scheme of this ride. Definitely a really soothing choice of colors.

^Oh, then I misunderstood his statement. I would agree with him then. But yeah, this movie is destined to be a failure unless, like you said, it is in 3D and regular format. I can't stand 3D (3D glasses plus normal glasses=discomfort and irritation) and, again, like you said, this won't be in enough theaters to remake its ridiculous budget.

^He's actually a really cool guy. He's incredibly smart from what I remember and went to school for engineering, civil or mechanical. Can't remember which. He has had a dream for at least the six years since I became a member on Coasters2k, and I think that it's good that he hasn't given up. And I'm not so sure his plan is to suddenly be in charge of his own company, but rather to have a website showing some concepts in the hopes that a major ride manufacturer will see them and team up with him to produce an actual ride.

^That may be how you feel, and I respect that, but who doesn't want to be able to listen to ALL of their music in one place. I know I do, and unless I'm going to carry around 150 CDs, I'm not going to be able to have as much music in one place. They are convenient and useful in situations such as long car rides or plane rides (I love having my Classic and being able to watch movies now) or if you're like me, in studio for 36 hours straight and need some form of entertainment when working. They aren't for everyone, obviously, but they are a good idea. It makes music much more accessible on a regular basis. They're small, easy to use, and relatively high quality, and not really all that expensive anymore. As for the new iPod line, I think that the Nano is becoming the ugly stepsister of the family. When I originally bought my 2nd generation Nano, it was for a price reason. It was cheaper than the larger counterparts, and I didn't want to spend that much money. However, the Classic line is now coming down so much in price that spending the extra hundred dollars to get 15 times as much space is a great deal. As the price gap between the Nano and the Classic shrinks, the need for the Nano becomes less and less. Personally, I think that if they were to completely remove the Nano from their lineup and focus on making the Classic thinner, then this would be the perfect iPod. Its screen is big enough to watch movies comfortably, the hard drive is massive enough to hold nearly anyone's music and movie collection, and it's a good looking piece of machinery. And, honestly, I think the new Nano is seriously ugly and the proportions are all off. The screen is oddly sized for the overall size of the iPod and the curved front and back opposed to the flat front and back of the older Nanos just doesn't fit the iPod very well. I'm not a fan. I guess it doesn't matter though since I plan on having my iPod Classic for a long time as it fulfills all my current needs for music and movies.

^I wouldn't be so sure of himself if I were him. Personally, I know a lot of people that hate James Cameron and don't enjoy his movies at all. Titanic may have been popular and liked by many (myself included, not because of the story line or writing which was awful, but more because I have a love for anything Titanic related), but I know a lot more people that hated it than loved it. I'm not so sure this concept is going to really be successful. And even if it does better than the majority of movies do in the box office, it may only break even. $300M is just a ridiculous number. For some big budget movies (The Dark Knight, Indiana Jones 4, Star Wars Episodes 1-3, etc.) this is fine since they are already loved series that are almost guaranteed to do well in the box office. This movie is a stand-alone movie and is going to be pretty much unknown until the first previews come out on TV or in theaters. This movie is a huge risk, and I hope that it does well, but I'm not so sure. Plus, the name is DEFINITELY going to confuse people and I'm sure that will stop many from going to see it since they will mistake this for a kid's movie based off the TV show. Also, 3D movies are not known to be successful. I mean, seriously, he's limiting himself to the amount of theaters to show this movie in as not all cinemas are going to be willing to install 3D projectors for a one-time use. I know the cinemas by me all have one or two theaters with 3D projectors, but that wouldn't be enough to match the demand of some of this summer's blockbusters, which will need to happen if he wants this movie to be a success and get the two sequels he would like to make for it.

Hey, he actually got around to making some physical plans. I remember when he used to post on the former Coasters2k.com boards under the name JonBKchill if any of you were members of that site about five years ago. He had always talked about this concept and wanted to make it reality, but the site was shut down before anything substantial could be shown. I also remember he made a pretty good effort to save the Whalom Park Flyer Comet, which gave him a lot of respect in my book (that was my first coaster). I'm glad to see he hasn't given up though. It's a unique idea, and if done right could actually be pretty fun.

^$300M! They better hope to god that this movie is going to be popular.

So I was looking up random sci-fi type stuff (really bored) and was reminded of one of my favorite movies THX 1138. I really need to go buy this movie. The movie is the main concept that many more recent movies, such as The Island, got their plots from. I love the depiction of the future in this movie. There's something eerily calm and quiet about everything in the movie. Even in parts such as the explosion in the nuclear production plant and the extended chase scene at the end of the movie, the mood is oddly silent. There's really something special about this movie (well, everything except the added in CGI in the recent re-release). But that's George Lucas for you. Adding CGI to classic movies that don't need it. But if you're a fan of sci-fi and dystopia films, as I am, you really should see this movie. I'd give it a 9/10.

^Yes, according to some sources. Other sources predict that there is a much larger supply of oil in North America than what you are saying. We really don't know, but any drilling in our own country will help us reduce or eventually eliminate our dependancy on foreign oil. And I understand that since the infrastructure is not there, it will take a while to do this, but if we can put efforts towards drilling in our own country, that would produce jobs in construction and opperation of all the parts involved in removing and moving said oil. And hopefully by the time we begin to produce this oil, our economy will have rebounded at least somewhat from the slump it is in now, which will help us use the money earned from the drilling of this oil to create power plants that use the boundless amounts of renewable resources that are readily available to us. My wording was poor in my last post, as I did not mean to say that it would completely eliminate our dependancy on foreign oils, but it would help reduce it, which, if used stategically, could help us further reduce this need in the future and leave us eventually being completely self-sustainable when it comes to energy.

^That's the reason I still feel that McCain's pick wasn't a completely odd move. She's for drilling in areas that are currently off-limits (to save the animals and environment despite the fact that with modern-day technology, this shouldn't be a problem) and I feel that if we can stop depending on foreign oil completely, if only for a decade or even as little as five years, we would have time to rebuild our economy and improve our energy resources to the point of not needing oil (which is entirely possible, people are just too lazy to make a move and start using renewable resources). That would hopefully keep us out of the Middle East for a long while, and would help return the world to a state of normalcy (well, as normal as it was before we f'ed up Iraq).

^Not only is it obvious there is not teleprompter in front of him on most occasions, if you have seen him in person, he rarely breaks eye contact with the audience and will often talk to the audiences on the sides of him, making using some electronic source to read his speeches impossible.

^If you're looking for a good deal, go to Craigslist.org to find an iPod. My friend just bought a brand new 160 GB iPod Classic for $175. The owner put it in a nice leather case once he bought it, and there wasn't a single scratch on it. Not only that, but it came with about 2000 songs that my friend wanted. It also came with a four hour "movie" of a certain naughty genre. It was quite entertaining watching his mom look through it and clicking on "Everyone is Doing It" and instantly turning to him and asking him what the hell it was. Wow, I went slightly off track. But yeah, Craigslist will often have some seriously good deals on electronics if you get lucky.

^^Woops, I definitely mis-worded that. But yes, I completely agree that no program or teaching is 100 percent effective for the reasons you stated. And I understand that parents are not the only people that will influence a teenager's opinion and actions, but I know in my case as well as many others that they are. And yes, abstinence does work, as I can attest to it also. But like you said, not everyone will remain abstinent until marriage. But for someone that is preaching abstinence and abstinence-only teachings in schools, etc., I feel that she should have been able to influence her own daughter enough to remain abstinent. I understand that controlling your kids is difficult, yet I know that it is not impossible. My parents taught me that sex can be dangerous and that there is no single way of protecting against pregnancy other than abstinence (not that it matters now anyways, since I'm gay, but they didn't know that when they first started teaching this idea to me) as well as other matters, such as drinking and drug use. I've remained abstinent, don't do drugs, and have never consumed alcohol (and actually don't plan on ever drinking), so I know that it's very possible if you do talk to your kids and teach them correctly. This is one of the reasons that I don't feel that she was the correct pick for VP. I'm also not sure why McCain picked her as his running mate. I know quite a few conservatives that will be upset by her daughter's pregnancy. I agree with Obama that politicians' children should be off-limits, but in the real world, that is not going to happen.

^^^I know that we have no idea what the daughter used, but his comment was directed toward her idea of abstinence, which clearly didn't work on a family basis, so why should it work on a nation-wide basis? Palin is preaching sex-until-marriage, yet it clearly didn't work. Any other circumstances are unknown, so I agree with you that we won't know anything about that, but protection isn't the problem, it's the abstinence not working that caused the problem P.S. I'm also a sarcastic person, so I know it's easy for people to misunderstand it sometimes. It's just that some of your comments that were directed towards people were a bit over the top in my opinion. I hope there's not hard feelings. I guess this is just what happens when it comes to discussing politics.

^I wasn't ignoring Supertrooper's sarcasm, I was just using him as an example. And frankly, the comment about the abstinence, although sarcastic, is a valid one. If Palin is going to preach abstinence and how it will help our world, yet her daughter got pregnant, then how is it that someone should believe that she'll be able to reduce the number of teen pregnancies in our country if she can't even keep her daughter from getting pregnant. And I agree that the statement about Republicans being equal to Jerry Springer trash was over the line, since obviously that is not even remotely the case. But as I said, I was just using him as an example.

^^I understand that you feel very strongly for the Republican party and are following McCain, but why is it necessary for you to come back with attitude and sarcasm every time someone posts something against McCain. I'm all for discussion, but you bash people for following Obama and believing he's the right choice, yet the instant someone mentions some problem with the Republican party, you come back with rude comments and make just as many assumptions as everyone else does. You assumed Supertrooper was stereotyping, and you know what assuming does, right? See, I can do it too. Doesn't make it right to make rude comments to others when they voice they're opinion. A nice discussion would be nice for once in this thread, since clearly there are strong opinions, and would make for a nice debate.

Whalom Park 1. Flyer Comet Geauga Lake 1. Raging Wolf Bobs 2. The Villain 3. Double Loop Hopefully the rest of Geauga Lake's coasters make good homes elsewhere.

To Taytig, I understand the reasoning behind the dramatic increase in the amount of living units on the Palm Islands. But, frankly, is money really that big of an issue with these islands? From what I've seen being developed (Burj Dubai, Al Burj, Dubai Waterfront, the three Palm Islands, The World, etc.) money doesn't seem to be all that important. There are quite a few projects that I've read are projected to never make any money, and if the initial plan was to have half the living units, I don't think that doubling the amount was the right answer. I'm a huge fan of nature, and these islands had SO MUCH potential. And by clicking "copy, paste" Nakheel royally screwed this potential. There are so many talented architects that would probably loved to have designed custom buildings for these islands, yet they went with sand colored mid-rises for the trunk, creating an ugly plateau of buildings, and very typical houses that vary mainly in facade, and not actual design. I still plan on visiting Dubai at some point once I'm done with school (hopefully by that time, 2014, Dubai will be successful in it's vision and will be the thriving city that it should be), but right now, the Palm Islands are quite disappointing.

^Great photo trip report. Atlantis Dubai looks like it's shaping up to be a beautiful resort. The Palm Islands, on the other hand, are extremely disappointing. I've been following them since they were announced, and they were much better looking in concept than in execution. That main stretch up the trunk looks just like Marina City in Dubai. Nothing special, just lots of the same building over and over again. The fronds are nice, yet they feel more crammed than any subdivision in the United States. I've seen pictures where some houses' pools back up against their neighbors' houses. I'm hoping that after 10 to 15 years after the foliage grows in that I will change my mind, because I really wanted to visit these palm islands.

^^Lol, I completely agree with you. Whenever I download new music, the first thing I do is go in and correct any incorrect information, and make sure it has album artwork (if the song even has album artwork that is). I know quite a few people who have around 9000 songs, and half of them are the "track 1" type songs, and when I ask them what they are, they know the instant they start listening to them. I just don't understand why some people know the name of the song and refuse to change the title to the correct name.

^Okay, but that honestly makes it worse in my opinion. Our economy is in a crap state right now, and poking jokes at the middle class of America is offensive.

I'm voting for Obama for many reasons. The main reason is that I just want change. My parents are middle class, and we live in Cleveland, which has been greatly hurt in recent years. The economy needs change, and I don't feel that McCain is capable of realizing what it's like to have to make ends meet. I applaud him for being successful in life (that's everyone's goal, isn't it), but I don't feel that someone that considers millionaires to be middle class should be in charge of our failing economy. Do I think Obama is perfect. Hell no. I went and watched him speak when he came to the University of Cincinnati, and his true character is very clearly visible when he speaks unless you're blind. I do think, however, think that he will bring change that will help our country. I find McCain to be too similar to Bush, and frankly, I hate Bush with every fiber of my being. I understand that he's not 100 percent responsible for the state of our country, but his idea of how this country should be run is quite laughable. I don't think a single person would have voted for him had we known that nearly three trillion dollars would be spent on a war chasing phantom WMDs to stop the terrorism that lead to 9/11, despite the fact that Iraq has nothing to do with that event. Bush is a moron who is spending all of our country's money being daddy's little boy and finishing a fight started by his father. So yeah, I want change, and I feel Obama can succeed in bringing that change to our country.

I currently have 1,487 songs and about 20 movies. But to be honest, the amount of songs I have will go down once I stop being lazy and listen to the 500 or so songs I've yet to listen to that I got from my friend's iPod. I took about 1,800 songs from him (his entire iTunes), and am going through his music and only keeping the songs I like. Currently, I have a playlist of songs that I like and it contains about 900 songs. I also have a few smaller playlists of songs that I really love that vary from 10 songs to 100 songs. That way I can have the correct playlist for whatever mood I'm in. On another note, some people say I listen to music too much. My top 25 played songs are all played over 150 times each, and every song in that 900 song playlist with the exception of a few has been played over 20 times. My top played is just under 600 times. Needless to say, this is one of my favorite songs, and I listen to it at least once every time I use my iPod or listen to music on my computer. There are quite a few songs on my iTunes that when added up, I've listened to for over a day's worth of time. How many times have you all listened to your top played songs?

^Not if it was only slightly beyond vertical, and did so gradually. Water will follow the curve of the track even if it goes beyond vertical if done correctly. Same concept is used in leafe-guard rain gutters. The water flows over the top and rounds the edge and follows the curve back inward into the gutter whereas the leaves fall right off. It could work if designed correctly.