jmicha

^Go to it, you won't be disappointed. And do the behind the scenes tour they offer every year. It shows the epic structure that was quite advanced for its time to hold up the first half-dome structure on earth. The university's website has a pretty good list of the projects and their architects/designers. http://www.uc.edu/News/NR.aspx?ID=3884 Keep in mind this is slightly outdated though and all three of the 'upcoming projects' are actually finished, and a few smaller projects have been completed since then and aren't included anywhere on that list. Next time you are in the area, try to hit the campus up. Preferably on a nice, warm weekday at around noon. The campus is so full of life and activity at those times, it's great. As for Columbus, IN, I have indeed been. it was quite impressive. The list of architects who have done work there is great and for such a small town it really has a great urban fabric to it. The city obviously cares about how it looks which is always a huge plus, especially in this day of suburban and exurban sprawl. To continue this great thread, I will post a link to my favorite Richard Meier project. The Douglas House. It's so beautiful in the way it is sited on Lake Michigan. http://www.archdaily.com/61276/ad-classics-douglas-house-richard-meier/

^Of all the starchitects, Richard Meier is my favorite. Although I do have some issues with some of his work and the reasoning he states behind his buildings, I love how they look. And yes, Apple products are fantastically designed in my opinion. They don't have a product out right now that I would consider unattractive in the slightest. As for UC's campus, yeah it is fantastic. I love being able to experience it on a daily basis. It's a who's who of the modern architectural world. And it's only getting better as the years go on and the greenery matures an the number of students keeps exploding. It felt quite urban when I started and there were 36,000 students enrolled at the time. Now with just under 43,000 students, it's even more so than ever. That along with proposals for an addition to the stadium, a new basketball arena, new law building, nearly completed practice football/polo field, and various other smaller projects helps make nearly every spot on campus inviting and well-designed.

^^Not to be picky, but a wide flange beam (more commonly called I Beams) aren't the strongest design for a beam. A circle is and without going into too much detail, the I beam design is a successful way to gain some of the benefits of a circular column/beam/etc. without the higher manufacturing costs. As for the ride, I am excited to see the lift rise. I'm assuming that it will rise quite quickly due to its design, and it will be great to see its impact on the park's skyline in what should be no time.

^From the plans/elevations/etc. shown there are at least 8. There could be some indoors brining that count higher, but there are for sure 8 outdoor inversions.

I am loving the look of this. I have yet to get the opportunity to ride a Eurofighter (that'll change in the Spring though) but they have always seemed like a ton of fun. And this seems like it has basically everything you could ask for, minus the beyond vertical drop. But the epic amount of unique inversions plus what looks to be a dueling layout should make for an awesome ride. Not to mention that Alton Towers will probably come up with some great theming interactions to give the area great character.

Haven't all of these arguments been done to death the first time around? Can we all just agree that this land will most likely be very popular due to the current popularity of the franchise and has the potential to have staying power depending on whatever the future holds for the Potter franchise as a whole. The popularity of Disney's rides and franchises is irrelevant to the success of this land. As for the leaked information, it seems to be following all of the rumors. Has there been any information as to when an official announcement detailing the land will be made?

^Lol, I hear what you are saying. I don't think any of us were saying there is any issue with the stereotypical gay. Although that description doesn't fit me very well, it fits several of my friends. I befriended a 'bitchy queen' after she helped me introduce myself to other gay men whenever I went to see her perform. I think the conversation was more about the fact that we are more often than not only portrayed in that manner. Being a group that is quite fond of diversity it would be nice to see something else in the limelight. After reading some of these comments however, it really does seem the best thing for us to do is just be ourselves around anyone we interact with. I've gotten to that point in my life where I'm comfortable talking openly about myself around others including strangers, but it took a while for me to get here. But it helps show others that we aren't all alike and we are a fantastically diverse group of people.

^Being 23 I obviously didn't see this evolution personally, but I thank you and the others that helped push for equality. I know how hard it could get for me when I was younger and I had a family that I knew wouldn't care and friends that I know didn't care. I can't imagine how tough it must have gotten before America began accepting us as a whole. It really is amazing how quickly the country and world has progressed.

^Although the majority of gay movies do portray a lot of us in that manner, there are quite a few that don't. A Beautiful Thing, Shelter, A Single Man (insanely depressing though), Get Real, Mambo Italiano, etc. There are also quite a few that try to cover the whole spectrum in order to appeal to the most people. I don't know if I'd consider gay movies to portray the stereotype quite as much as LOGO is. Many films certainly do, but there are a lot of great films out there that don't.

That's definitely an interesting point. I've never been interested much in anything other than the movies they have online but it's definitely obvious that the "bitchy queen" stereotype is being enforced ad nauseam. I've just chosen to ignore it since i never much liked the stereotypes associated with the characters/people shown in their shows due to the fact that I don't really relate to them, but it is unfortunate that there is very little diversity within their programs. Like you said, diversity is the name of the game for the gay world, and to portray us as one-track group is far from telling of the real world.

^^Logo even edits the full length movies they put online. It's disappointing at times when watching movies that may be hard to find elsewhere and they are edited for TV, but at least they have a decent selection. ^If you've seen one Eating Out movie, you've basically seen them all. But that doesn't make them any less fun to watch. Have you seen the first one or any of the later ones?

It doesn't matter how many times I watch it, The Fifth Element still entertains me more than any other movie out there. I love the acting, the corny story is great, the settings are gorgeous, it's quite creative in its direction. I just love it. And Ruby Rod is the greatest character ever

^Oh the Eating Out series. They're so poorly acted, but so fun to watch. And they ALWAYS have some sort of eye candy to keep me coming back. Scott Lunsford, Ryan Carnes, Marco Dapper, Chris Salvatore, Aaron Milo, Michael E.R. Walker. They're all fantastic

^I'm just under 6 feet tall so that's definitely something that I will have to test drive it to find out. I'd be getting the base, so the lesser headroom with the sunroof wouldn't add to the issue since there wouldn't be one. I'm quite fond of its looks and the size is just about perfect for what I want. That and it comes in some great colors. I am a huge fan of black cars but I would much rather haver some bright and bold so the colors it comes in are great for that. I would love to test one to get a better feel for it but since I'm not serious at this very time about getting a car and won't be for at least another year or so dealers probably wouldn't let me do more than sit in one. And the fact that there's only one within 50 miles of me means finding one to test is difficult. We went to check it out in person since I hadn't seen one in person yet and quite liked the way it looks. There were some oddities I was unsure about when looking at pictures, but in person none of these stood out as odd and overall the car's styling was very much my taste. And the fantastic gas mileage is just an added bonus

^I'd much rather go with a new car with a much better warranty than a GTI. We've also owned multiple Hyundai products over the years so I know what I would be getting into with that. A used GTI isn't really something I'm looking for.

As I'm home for break and have a little more time on my hands I have been researching some small cars to get a good base of what I would like whenever I actually start my search to buy a car. I am looking in the $16,000-$19,000 range. I decided that covering a good portion of the practicality-fun spectrum would be a good way to gauge where I would like to sit in that respect. I haven't test driven anything yet so that isn't coming into play beyond what I've read but I checked out the Kia Soul Plus, the Kia Forte Koup SX and the Hyundai Veloster. All manuals. These all sit nicely in this price range with the Soul being the cheapest and the Forte being the most expensive. The Soul is obviously the most functional, but is also by far the least exciting to me. The Forte Koup and the Veloster are similarly exciting aesthetically with the Forte being a higher-performing vehicle. The Veloster makes up for that with much better gas mileage and added functionality. The Forte is also the largest car in terms of length which is something for me to consider since I live in the city and street parking is basically all there is. I am currently borrowing my dad's 2009 Sonata Limited and it isn't a massive car but there have been many times where a spot is just slightly too small to fit in and having a smaller car would allow me to take advantage of the tiny spaces that most people aren't willing/able to fit in. All in all I like the Veloster the most and would like to test drive the three of these options to get a better feel for which one most suits my needs. Does anyone own any of these cars that has anything to add that would be good to know for someone interested in checking these out?

^It's definitely polarizing in terms of aesthetics which is completely understandable since that all comes down to personal taste. But what it has done for that section of downtown would be hard to argue against. It was the catalyst for some great new development and is a great asset to downtown. As are most of the new buildings/developments going up around the city. I absolutely love Cincinnati and am so excited to see it progressing and transforming every day as more and more people make the central core home. It is unfortunate that the city lost population in the most recent census, but the riverfront, downtown, Over the Rhine, Clifton, Fariview, and Clifton Heights all gained a significant population. It is really going to be great in ten years when a lot of the current projects are finished/well underway. The only thing needed to be truly successful is for Cincinnatians to realize what a great city they have and support these projects instead of blindly following the misinformed stories in the Enquirer.

^Same old boring swoops. Being an architect and living right down the road from one of her best buildings (the Contemporary Art Center in Cincinnati) I just don't understand why she has type-cast her work. There is most certainly no need for random swoopiness in the world beyond Gehry (and I really don't respect him or his work much as it is) and she seems to only want to work in that style these days. It's such a great building (with the exception of the stair ramps which were ruined due to code restrictions). It's a shame she doesn't do more work in this style. Giving a shoutout to my campus and current hometown, I've got to say that the Morphosis-designed Campus Recreation Center at the University of Cincinnati is absolutely fantastic to look at, live in, eat in, and workout in. I find very few flaws with it. If anyone is interested in architecture, check out UC's campus. It has been completely overhauled and is a who's who of modern architecture. The Rec Center is also part of the biggest change to campus, Main Street, a pedestrian pathway that is framed by the rec center and the student life center curving up the hillside to the oldest part of campus. It also serves as the gateway to Nippert Stadium and forms the northern border of the stadium which is sunken from ground level meaning it is visible from many places on campus. I absolutely love the urban places created by the interaction of old and new buildings on campus. As for older architecture, Cincinnati's Music Hall is a fantastic example of late 1800s venetian gothic architecture. It has seen some pretty rough times, but a massive renovation is underway to restore it to its former glory as well as Washington Park, the park located across the street from the building. There are thousands of buildings I love that I could post pictures of, but flooding this forum with stark white architecture would ruin its already great diversity So I will leave you all with these gems.

Very interesting indeed. Although I was hoping for something non-Potter to replace Jaws, spreading the wealth to both parks will only help the resort even more. And hey, if they were to hire Premier Rides to design an indoor Gringott's coaster with a similar/higher level of quality/thrill as Revenge of the Mummy, that would be an absolutely amazing addition. Here's hoping that is what happens

^^I made the mistake of watching that movie for the first time at 4 in the morning. Needless to say I went to bed a little confused. I have watched it multiple times since and find it interesting. Not necessarily good in the typical movie sense, but definitely interesting.

^I'm almost positive he's asking you that because of your claim of them never having done a launched coaster before this one. You may want to check out RCDB and look up S&S's coaster history.

^When it comes to affordable small cars available in the U.S., not really. When you get down into the sub $20,000 price range, the styling becomes more universal and less daring to appeal to a larger market, which I fully understand. It just doesn't do much to excite me though.

I guess my biggest issue is that the styling of the majority of the small cars on the market does very little for me. And I guess I should have been a little more specific when I said small cars I was referring to three door hatchbacks. Mechanically speaking there are plenty of great options but the styling kills most of them for me.

There's something about the styling of the Mazdaspeed 3 that I can't see myself living with. I don't dislike it, just don't see myself owning one. I actually really like the Volvo C30 but the price is a little high for something I would be looking into unless I bought used. I like the Golf mechanically speaking but I'm not a fan of how it looks. I actually liked the boxiness of the older ones, but the current generation doesn't do anything for me. This decision isn't one that will happen for a year or two anyway so it isn't like I have to make my mind up anytime soon

^I don't mind it either. The front end, however, has me confused. The lights are all competing to be the main focus and neither set is winning and then the grill just decided to eat the one set and call it a day. If the front end was revised it would be a cool looking little car. I wish there were more daring small cars for sale in the U.S. I will be looking for my first car in not all that long and would like something small and efficient but still fun to drive and exciting to look at. It's unfortunate how most small cars seem to take the vanilla route when it comes to styling.