Fallen Heretic

That nun was very odd. Much more entertaining that the two keep fit type blokes who were also working the crowds. Im sure there was a website for that man-nun. Musicalruth or something. Cant quite remember. It was funny when he/she/it would drive her piano up and manouver it to repeatedly block folks from the hotel getting by, shouting "Hotel Blaggers!!" at them. Made us all feel just a little bit better. Seriously though, 10am opening? Im sure it was 9:30 on previous visits. Am I just remembering it wrong? EDIT: Damn, if I had known this I would have begged for an extra day off work and been in Blackpool on Thursday 24th as well. Derren Brown was performing there. I love that guys shows.

What I love most about Nemesis is that it just gets faster and faster as the day goes on. The late rides are better than the early rides, which are awesome to begin with. Ive got mixed feelings of Air. Its good as long as you dont expect too much from it. Air is a good name for it, as it does have a swooshy flying feel to it. Spinball is pretty fun for me considering I really dont like spinners much. Ive always enjoyed Rita more than alot of people I know. Some say its too dull but I think its a good launch and it does have plenty of air. Corckscrew. Hmmm...yes, well...the only good thing I can say is that its not as bad as Tornado at M&Ds. I dread to see pictures appearing of me 'walking like an egytptian'. It was a rather awesome day, and cool that Steven could join us too.

Ah, thanks. I havent gotten round to reading the manual yet. Its a shame though. Im sure I saw one of the rides spinning away in the background of one of the trailers. Still, its only now finding time to really get into the game. Im finding the novelty of all the little extras wear of quickly, but I still find the Euphoria thing awesome. I do like that the cars feel big and heavy now, and dont handle like little RC cars.

Im so sad I missed Hooters. I believe I was stuck in a contraflow in the M6 at the time. Looked like a good time was had by all.

I always found the Faller models take alot of work to get looking good, but then no-one else really does this many carnival and theme park models. Still, looks like a cool model. If its not a nightmare to put together, it may end up on my shopping list. I just havent the time for a difficult build right now.

The hidden packages in this game take the form of pidgeons (refered to as flying rats in the game) which you must shoot. I dont think they fly around, but do have an eerie red glow around them so its easier to find them at night. I havent been looking but I have found two so far. Does anyone know if Funland opens up later in the game, or is it just dead scenery?

Im on PS3 with this, and I havent had any freezing issues yet. (Ive got the 40GB model). I havent played that much of it, but I do like how the Euphoria engine works. The first time I shunted a cab, the driver got out, and attempted to open my door just as I hit the gas. The little git held on with one hand, body bouncing along the ground, until I sideswiped a cab and knocked him off. Hilarious. And my first headshot, the guy was on a balcony type thing, and had a spectacular dead mans fall down two stories, bouncing off things on the way. Much better that the ragdoll system, I reckon. Has anyone noticed the nice splatter of blood that apprears on the hood when you knock into someone and their head hits it?

I missed this race as I was busy having fun in Alton Towers IF anyone wants to see what happened with the Kovy incident, ITV have their official highlingt videos up... www.itv-f1.com/VideoHighlights.aspx That Le Mans crash...wow. Just wow. Lucky the driver didnt come away alot worse. Thats the issue with the flat bottomed LeMans racers. Too much air under the car, and it takes off. Anyone remember this one? Here a Porche doing the same thing. http://youtube.com/watch?v=_fQGm81x0EY

I dont think the GTA games have ever used Havok. Im sure it was Renderware they used for the PS2 games. I happily have a day off on Tuesday. Guess I know what I will be doing.

Yeah, I was one of those odd peole that sometimes liked to just cruise around, driving normaly, or just walking up a pavement. Not sure why I did it though. Then all it would take was for someone to insult my hair or something, Id give them abuse (this is in SA) and a fight would start, a cop would spot it, and it would all escalate from there. For some reason I liked just cruising around in driver. The night time screenshots do look quite cool. I imagine crusing quietly along a waterfront , with lights of the skyscrapers on the otherside of the river reflecting in the water, will be rather cool and tranquil. Until that git in the banshee cuts me up....I'll show him...and so on.

Ricky Gervais is supposed to have recorded some material for the game. I heard there is a misson based round him as well. I have to laugh at all the 'reviews' that have popped up since OXM did one. People are going on various reviewing and shopping sites and giving the game marks out of ten for graphics, playability, addiction, sound and longevity. They talk about the features, how fun it is, etc etc. Then finish off the review by saying that they cant wait to actually get a chance to play it. What the hell? These sites shouldnt really accept pre-release customer reviews. Its scary how many folks are so taken up by the hype machine. What I have also heard is that the cops are much more efficient in the new game.

It is sad to see it go, as it is with any old ride. I remember riding this when I was a kid. It was a classic but really, Im not sure if I will miss it. Its been standing there rotting for so long now that Im already way past the 'missing it' stage. In fact Ive been kind of hoping they would remove it so it wasnt sitting there as a constant, rusting reminder. Even the last couple of years I saw it operating, there was rarely anyone riding it. The ride op told me they just kept running it empty every now and then to stop it ceasing up, and make sure folks passing new it was actually still running. EDIT: I made a coment about Dreamland getting rides, but I was beaten to it. Blackpool actually do more than alot of parks to preserve their old rides. I dont even want to imagine what that must cost. Look at the Virginia Reel. That was a really rare, classic ride that was removed in the early 80s, yet you never hear it mentioned. No-one seems to really miss it. Lots of people know about it, some remeber it, many are fond of it. But now its just accepted that its gone, and not a tear is shed. I think it will eventualy be the same for the whip. And the turtles. Gone but not forgotten, and thats just how the world works.

^ Doesn't he still do Braniacs?

I havent heard any details about whether you can ride or not, but I would be willing to put money on there being a mission involving blowing it up/setting fire to it.

The spooky picture on the page Ive linked below was apparently taken at SFGA. Thought it might interest some of you. www.ghostresearch.org/ghostpics/ghost4.html

....You slide down the stairs on a tea tray to get your fix in the winter. Actually, I used to do that even before I was into coasters, but you really had to make your own fun around here back in those days.

I agree about the Orbs thing, its just dust. Thats why these haunted photo tour things always has the psychic walking around and picking things up. It disturbs the dust up into the air. I saw a classic nere on TPR once. It was a report of one of those psychic things round a ship. A couple of the photos taken by the psychic apparently showed a large orb which was behind the folks in the photo, changing shape in each photo. Really, it was very clearly a lightbulb. Now, I am open minded about this sort of thing, but I believe that for every genuine article, there are ten thousand fakes. As for the ghost of the little kid haunting X:/No way out, I havent found anything official, but what I did find said a kid fell from it and broke his legs. He didnt die, so couldnt be haunting it, could he? As for the mechanic, I think thats just chinese whispers of the same story. I can find no refrence in any news archive or anything that anyone has been killed on a ride at Thorpe. Any ghost story that gives you conditions, like you have to say someones name three times or something, just reeks of urban ledgend. I would like to hear more of these though, whether they are true or not, they are still fascinating.

This is so sad. That coaster was going to be central to the heretage park thing that I had heard about. I wonder what that means for the future of that plan? Its deffinately suspicious, and its not been operating so no electrics would be active to catch fire. Also, its not hot enough here to suddenly start fires like that.

I usualy sleep in on a Sunday, but I got up to watch this and missed the middle hour or so cos I fell back asleep again.

Yeah, I remember seeing that. It wouldnt have been such a bad one if the car hadn't been airborne and hit halfway up the wall. He has just gotten Pole today. He might be running light on fuel, but he did the last three right-handers with a big flatspot on the loaded tyre, so its still a very impressive performance.

Looks like he just overcooked it on the kerb. He shows his inexperiance though, keeping his hands on the wheel at impact. Most of the guys who have been racing for years will take their hands off the wheel to prevent them from breaking their wrist. Im glad its looking like a 3 team championship so far.

A quote lifted from wikipedia "Scottish banknotes are unusual in that they are technically not legal tender anywhere in the UK – not even in Scotland – they are in fact promissory notes. Indeed, no banknotes (even Bank of England notes) are now legal tender in Scotland. Nevertheless, like debit cards and credit cards, they are used as money because they are commonly understood and agreed to be money. Despite this, Scottish-issued notes are sometimes refused in England and Wales and are not always accepted by banks and exchange bureaus outside of the United Kingdom. This is particularly true in the case of the Royal Bank of Scotland £1 note, which is the only £1 note to remain in circulation within the UK" So, technically, only coins are legal in Scotland.

Well, thanks Louise for moving it. My thinking was that it might be helpful for anyone coming over on a trip to know, and since all the trip type stuff is on the other board I thought that would be a better place for it. If I had thought it would actually spark a conversation, I would have plopped it in here. Guess my logic is somewhat messed up. You really dont want to see how my files are organised, but it works for me. Anyway, I think the notes being different sizes is to help blind people find the correct one. Ive seen these little plastic things that they can hold the notes against to feel which note it is. Its probably the same with coins now I think about it. No two are the same shape. Two thin circular ones with smooth sides, two thin circular ones with rough sides, two with 7 sides, and two thick ones.

The UK never signed up to the Euro, so its never been used here. Though there are some stores around which do accept Euros, mostly in airports or ferry terminals, but its not officially legal tender. Ive never quite understood the size and shape of the current coins either. Maybe its just the different decades that they were introduced, some being kept traditional, and some being more modern in design.

I figured this would suit better in here rather than in random... The Royal Mint has revealed the new designs for the tail sides of UK coins. They will be introduced gradualy over the year. The old coins will remain legal tender for the forseeable future. The head sides will remain the same, so you shouldn't get confused. They are still the same size, shape and colour, but just in case, here is a link showing the new coins so you know what you can expect. www.royalmint.com/newdesigns/designsRevealed.aspx