Real

St Mary Axe looks more like an elongated faberge egg than a missle. Just because of the patterns/colors and general bulging shape. Its cool but thats about where it stops for me. FLW has always intrigued me for slightly older designs. But for the newer designs, there are so many incredible designs. Technology has allowed that field to produce some spectacular buildings. Hard to pick favourites from the new stuff.

What a tool. it may be global business but no one needs twitter to survive. Especially for just a day. Same for Facebook. At any rate, Im glad some of the largest websites out there are making their point. I find it courageous and well spoke, not foolish. It would only be foolish if say, your business were VISA and you shut down your servers. People will still use wikipedia just as much tomorrow. No ones going to stop using it because of this. I sent letters to all 3 politicians here in Ohio today.

Without turning this into a car thread, you would need the GT-R Premium package, not the standard car. Standard GT-R is nice but not going to give you the same feel that a Gallardo or 458 gives you. Then again, all of these cars are on a track thats way too small to really show you what its capable of. Which is probably good. Im going on a supercar drive in Jersey where I get to drive 6 different cars for 20-30min a peice. all of the cars at Disney are in this drive including a Bentley and a few others to choose from. They have said we will be in some areas where you can push the throttle...but still public roads. I think some of the larger tracks with infield courses (like a 1.5mi track) should do this. At any rate, Im looking forward to the next time Im at Disney. I know where youll find me.

^ If I remember correctly, the whole goal (and part of the wait for Timberliners) was they needed to retrack the ride because the tolerances on the trains were even tighter. If they did end up running the PTC's on it for more than, 3-4 weeks I would be surprised because indeed, most of the hard work and money would be completely undone. I do not believe the guys at TGG would let that happen without unforseen circumstances though. Heres to hoping!

No one should be surprised. If you did get to ride it early in its inagural season (I was there for opening day) you saw how smooth it could be. But also, it didnt get its speed till later once it broke in. But even then, I knew those heavy, crappy tracking PTC trains (relative to other trains) would destroy it. Theres no process in the world of laying down wood like that to keep it smooth for long. Im hoping the Timberliners are on before Holiwood Nights but Im sort of doubting it. This ride has a way of throwing kinks into the plans lately. But once those things are on there and the tracking is where they want it, I have no doubt it recaptures many peoples hearts. It was scary smooth (imo) for how intense it was those first few days of operation.

Awesome, good to hear. Dialing it down in and out of pit road is a GREAT idea. People have no idea how easy it is under power or under intense braking it is to lose control of a car. Guess Id have to do some extra convincing to let me open it up a bit. Nice Monza 1993 reference He has more claim to fame than that but thats a pretty good one to live by. Shame he always drove for the lesser teams. He comes from racing heritage though with Emerson as his Uncle who won the Indy 500 twice. Thats quite a catch they landed getting Christian in there. Good deal. Glad to see Disney undertake something like this. I know the next time Im there, Im doing it. 458 - here I come.

Didnt get to mention on here yet, few weeks back I went down to Dayton OH and on I-75 heading North as I was traveling south (obviously) I spotted 2 pieces of track heading via flat-bed to the park. Gorgeous color, very bright in person.

It looked like he took it very cautiously through the Esses. I was a bit disappointed. Christian Fittipaldi is more known for his work in IndyCar/CART than F1. He was only in F1 for a few years, mostly because he wasnt quite up to the insane standards there. But he was very good in CART. Good driver. I know a lot about him, he raced on the same team as my favourite drive through the mid to late 90s. Now Im thinking of doing my Gotham Driving Experience and then next time Im in Disney, grabbing the Italia and taking it as hard as they will let you. Elissa, with you as driver, how hard would they let you push it? I know its a SMALL course, so that helps keep speeds down but I feel like the Esses could be navigated way faster (and as he said, he took it at 50% of cars capabilities) Is there a guideline about how fast you can and cant go? The website isnt as descriptive as Id like. I drive karts (actual racing karts) whenever I get the chance, I'd be willing to go at the turns as hard as they let me.

Yea, if you have a strobe, you can do all sorts of amazing time lapse stuff. Heres an example: If you had an external flash (I think preferably the Canon kind) you can use whats called the second curtain and what happens is instead of the flash popping when the shutter first opens, it flashes as the shutter closes. So you can get motion blur and then stop the image dead. This is second curtain: I have yet to work with it, but will soon.

Frank Lloyd Wright - Fallingwater http://blog.modernica.net/?p=5053

Do it again, but flash a stobe in the middle of the spin a few times. Dont have a strobe, you might be able to flick a light or something with the reflective metal. Which actually on second look, looks like you did that. What kind of camera?

What everyone else said. The only person who couldnt have watched it was me because I dont have cable. Oh but wait, I have Xbox 360 and it was broadcast on ESPN3 - AKA OVER MY XBOX! Im wondering if they factored in every single person who has access to the ESPN app with a carrier who supports it (Which is SEVERAL big networks, like ATT UVerse (which I have))? This game was available to way more than you think. As said, Im not knocking the teams themselves, congrats to the Tide but it wasnt nearly the matchup the rest of the country wanted. Playoffs.

So do I. Once I saw on my facebook that they were out for viewing, I had to run out and get as many as I could while they are still cubs. I figure theyll grow out of this phase pretty fast.

The teams aside - This game had the lowest BCS TV rating ever. Which I think is code for "We dont want to see a rematch - even if it is the best two teams" More proof we need a new system. I watched zero games because nothing interested me at all. Playoff? Id be watching every single game. Would be riveting to see who went where after each win. This system is flawed and worthless. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2012/01/bcs-championship-game-draws-lowest-ratings-ever.html That and the NCAA needs to be overthrown by someone who will do the investigations into school problems (or NCAA problems) separatly. Investigating the very schools that make up the NCAA (by the NCAA) is clearly a conflict of interest. Especially when each decision has the power to either help or cripple the NCAA's profits. Lots of changes before I invest into college football again.

This past Saturday I hit up my local zoo (Toledo Zoo) as 3 months ago we had a pair of Amur Tiger cubs born. A male and female, Viktor and Talya, are now 38 and 35lbs resepectively and more or less - large, but dangerous kittens. Heres some shots I got. Enjoy! Talya biting Viktor who is taking mental notes...go ahead, Ill get you later sis... Talya analyzing the crowd Viktor was able to get on top of this rock while Talya could not. No doubt that hes gloating at her in this shot. Viktor enjoying the high ground. Mom giving some love to her boy Remember when I said Viktor had his revenge? Yea, he bit and pulled on Talya's neck so hard she screamed - which was the first sound I heard from either of them. Talya is a beautiful animal. Lighter in color than her brother. Viktor though, he is gorgeous. He will no doubt be a stunning adult Amur Tiger.

coasterlover - MineRide is a transitional ride. Its there to transition that younger generation into bigger rides - thats why it wont go anywhere. Voyage is rougher but it actually thrills. It has airtime. It has everything (And lately, a dose of pain to go with it sadly) But Mean Streak doesnt give you anything to take away the pain. No great moments of airtime. No thrilling tunnels, etc. Again, Dorney tore down one maintenance/eyesore and installed something that costs less to maintain and brings in more people. Cedar Point could do this easily. They could install a GCI that would last 5-6 years without replacing a single board, be smooth as silk, thrilling and fun and still have reasonable cost and increase ticket sales and people to the back of the park. No one said theyd tear one down because its on the same level. Its all money related. You tear it down to install a ride that brings in more money, costs less to maintain (makes more money) and leaves your guests enjoying your park even more (again, makes more money).

this makes me laugh. 1 full year to dismantle a ride? Why would you dismantle it? You think someone else is going to buy it? Demolition of a ride like that would be easy and a lot quicker than you think. Its called a few big pieces of machinery and possibly a wrecking ball if needed. It would only take a long time if you intended to resell it. Good luck finding someone to relocate that thing. And we know that a ride in its place takes 1 winter to complete. I also really, really doubt that the ride draws people. I am there 15-20 times a year, all seasons, weekdays and weekends and Ive even been there on some of the busiest days and the ride will have a 15min wait. It has literally zero ridership. Someone who op's it needs to verify my belief here with some numbers but I am almost 99% sure the ridership on that ride has plummeted in recent years. I dont look at this from an enthusiast perspective. The only reason anyone is back in that part of the park is Maverick. Before that, no one was back there. Even then, Mean Streak didnt draw anyone. Financially, yes its a bit of money up front. But I still see the long term gain by installing something like a GCI or a TGG with Timberliners being far better for the park. It would mean the back area gets a new look. Fresh paint, fresh design. New, more realiable coaster. Saves money on maintenance. Draw more people and get more people to walk all the way around the park, spending more money on souveniers and food. I look at it from the perspective of money. What is there to be gained. In this case - a lot. Right now, its a rotting shell of its former self. Most people do not like it, nor do they go out of their way to ride it. The reputation it has spans all peoples, enthusiast and once a year park goer. They destroyed Hercules in about a years time and that had a whole section over water. Mean Streak being somewhat compact layout - thats an easy demo. Collapse on itself, bring in haulers, truck it away. Clean area, prep it and it could sit for a year and the new ride could be installed the next year. I really dont think at this point the "most coasters" race is as focused on. If it were, Cedar Fair would have kept up with SFMM. Right now, with this economy, its about making PROFITS and securing long term cash flow. Capital expenditures that generate money (like water park additions/expansions) and quality rides. MS is not a quality ride. No one goes there specifically to ride it. I can however name people who specifically go to ride Raptor, TTD, MF, Magnum, Maverick, even Mantis. MS doesnt have that appeal.

Apparently you didn't ride Mean Streak last season then because where they did the re-tracking for last year is really noticeable. If they keep this up, the whole coaster should be pretty smooth. lol like all of the 1000ft they did? Then it was rough by end of year? Yea, I noticed it was better. It still is braked heavily and thus, loses the ONLY thing it had going for it, speed. That ride has no airtime and little lats. It was meant to be big and go fast. The fast has been taken away and as a result, its not only slow but pretty rough. The maintenance done is usually only enough to fix a few rough areas. But soon as those are fixed, new ones pop up. This design is flawed and failed. It needs to be torn down or redesigned (like NTG)

After several rough calculations, about 50 deceleration G's. Car Accident, 55mph to 0 almost instantly.

Yea but any good photo op is ruined by a scaffolding used so people can go up and look into cockpit. These pictures look very dark on my monitor here. At home, much brighter. But its all natural light. Flash was just too harsh with all the reflective surfaces on many of the planes.

Some pics of my trip to the National Museum of the Air Force Im sure someone has heard someone called this before. The ever famous P51D Mustang German WW2 V2 Rocket Korean War Mig F22 Raptor and Drone Douglas C-124 Globemaster Bomb bay area MK-17 Thermonuclear Bomb (Hydrogen Bomb) This was one of the first created - hence the insane size. 44,000lb device - 33ft long SR-71 / YF-12A - I believe the plaques said SR-71 but website says YF-12. F-16 Thunderbird - one of the first produced and painted for the Thunderbirds Other than the SR71 and F22, this is one of the most beautiful modern planes I have seen. Something about the lines and curves on this. Russian Mig-29

I couldnt think of a tactful way to say what you just did. Thank you. I was thinking the same thing. Maybe acid would work too along with LSD.

Who knew the Aventador would end up being RIDICULOUSLY fast despire being so heavy? Im a lightweight car nerd. But the Aventador is simply awesome in every way. Things move fast in the car world. /endcheesypun

Last one is what we call "Creamy Bokeh" haha.