Scaparri

Read the entire page, Chief. I feel like we've hit one of those periods in music such as the mid 80's and various periods in the 90's where people are just going to look back on it one day and say "what the hell were they thinking?" Pop/radio music just continues to dig to lower and lower levels.

I have to disagree. I've never seen pictures that make a park looker cleaner and nicer in the seventies than they do now. Sure, the coasters look newer, but that's a given. Other than that, I can't think of a single example. I'm sure the Cali people will probably say SFMM, but I don't have any personal examples. I really like SFGAm and feel like it's gone on to bigger and better things. It is definitely one of the nicer and better themed parks in the chain, so I don't really see the correlation with that one. Again, I can't speak for KGA.

So today, I found a place in Cincinnati (Jungle Jim's) that carries tons of microbrewery beers and international beers. Most of them are even sold as individual bottles, so I picked up a few. I was pretty psyched to find Victory HopDevil, but that'll have to wait, as will my Avery New World Porter. Today, I decided to take down a Bison Chocolate Stout that I picked up. The beer had a very strong flavor with a bit of bite, but I was slightly disappointed in the chocolate flavor. I didn't really notice it. It seemed more like a coffee taste than anything. Murphy's Irish Stout has more of a chocolate after taste than the Bison. I can't complain too much though. All in all, it was still a very tasty stout. Stronger in flavor and bite than Murphy's, but not quite the intensity of a Guinness. Good stuff. Can't wait to have my Victory HopDevil and see what the rage is all about. I love a good stout. Just wish the chocolate flavor was a little stronger. Bison Chocolate Stout. Probably the darkest beer I've ever had.

I'll put in another vote for Git-r-dun Also can't stand: -tools that feel the need to drop the f-bomb in between every other word of their already poor English: "Yeah, we was effin' goin' down the effin' roadin, and effin', the effin' car just effin' shut off. I was so effin' pissed at the effin' excrement" -People that say "warsh" instead of "wash." -When people say "stoked" in the Midwest in the middle of winter. Sorry champ, but this isn't SoCal. Its Indiana and its 5 below outside. -Most urban slang.

I have two home parks, Kings Island and SFKK, and while I do love Kings Island and I have an unusual appreciation for the Krapdom, neither are my favorite. The favorite honors go to IOA, Dollywood, and Kennywood.

Cool video, but doesn't have anything on half of Michael Jackson's videos. Granted, I might like it a little more if the song didn't feature one of the most annoying chorus' I have ever heard.

I have a brilliant solution to this. Just give each of the five people that are suing $10,000, a bottle of lighter fluid, and a torch and let them burn the POS down. I think I'd rather see that than see the thing open again with Gerstlauer trains.

I was there on Sunday the 6th. It was crazy how unpacked it was. Sundays usually aren't too bad though. I actually really like the Boss, its just a shame its as rough as it is. Yeah, it could be much worse, but it used to be so much better. Maybe I'm just becoming spoiled. I don't know. I agree though, its a great ride. And yeah, I guess I'll have to give the backseat of Ninja a try next time.

^Its on. I vote nay, it won't be. Pretty disappointing news, but not that big of a deal. I'll just have to push back my trip to July or August.

I saw The Format last night in St. Louis! Best show I've ever seen, and I've seen quite a few. Nate and I after the show. Nate Ruess of The Format. The Format

So, this past week was finals week at Butler University, and to cap off the year, my girlfriend and I thought we hit up a Six Flags. The original plan was to go to Kentucky Krapdom, but I found out two weeks ago that our favorite band was playing a last minute scheduled show in St. Louis, so I surprised my girlfriend with tickets and we quickly changed plans to go to SFStL instead (which by the way, because we were from an "outer market", we got our season passes for $44.95!!). It turned out to be a weekend nothing short of amazing! Six Flags St. Louis I hadn't been to the park in five years, so I was looking forward to seeing how it has changed, and of course, getting some Mr. Freeze action. The park was dead!!! We walked on pretty much everything our first time around. The second time around (and we strolled the park pretty leisurely), the waits were about 5 minutes for everything, with about a 20 minute wait for Tony Hawk. One thing that was weird was that the park definitely didn't seem as large as it used to. It was very nice though. I enjoyed it much more than my last visit. As for the rides: Tony Hawk- I love these Gerstlauer spinners. I loved Timberland Twister at MOA and I loved this one. These things are just so much fun. They kick the crap out of any wild mouse or spinning mouse. I was pretty surprised where they put it though. Not where I was expecting. Screamin' Eagle- Running fairly well. A little bumpy, but it's a 31 year old wooden coaster. Always a classic. Ninja- The first ride we had in the front was pretty enjoyable, though still a little jerky. Later we gave the middle a shot and that sucked balls pretty hard. Lots of neck shots. I enjoy the ride, but I won't be too upset if they ever take it out. Batman- It really felt super intense this time around... like more super intense than it usually is. I haven't been that disoriented on a ride in a really long time. Boss- This ride makes me fairly sad. It was so amazing it's opening year, and though the ride is still crazy, its just become so rough. I'm going to put my foot down and say that if this coaster had Millennium Flyer style trains, it'd be an easy top ten woodie. Probably a top three or five for me. Its so long and so fast and so wild, but so rough. Mr. Freeze- I can't get enough of this ride. I think its just the top hat. Sweetest inversion ever? Its up there with the zero-g roll. Superman- One of the things about this ride that I had never seen before, was that they drop the cars at different times, about a second or two apart from each other in a circular motion. I really liked this freefall. If you are lucky enough to get on of the sides that faces out at the park, its sort of like a miniature Pitt Fall, in that, you feel like you're really high up, but obviously not quite like Pitt Fall. The next day, we checked out downtown St. Louis, and then went to the most amazing concert I've ever seen!! Listen to The Format!! They are incredible!! And to cap off the trip, we got to chat with Nate, the lead singer for a few minutes. This trip was an amazing end to the school year. These guys are amazing! Check them out!! Oh yeah, and we were front row and center for our favorite band, The Format!!! Laura is all, "Eh, the Arch isn't THAT big." I might have been a little overly excited for Lee's. I used to get this stuff all the time during my season of slavery at CP. Best fried chicken EVER! What!? They have Lee's in St. Louis?? Jackpot!!! Overall, it was an awesome day at Six Poles St. Louis. I love beer as much as the next person (well, maybe not Wally or Derek), but why hasn't Shapiro gotten rid of crap like this if he's trying to make Six Flags more family oriented? One more THBS shot for you Gerstlauer fanboys. Sylvester and I. Like my shirt BeemerBoy? People were freaking out because Bruce Springstein- The Ride decided to take an intermission. Rides that weren't there last time I was here. Bruce Springstein- The Ride Hot Mr. Freeze action and hot ferris wheel action going on at the same time! I bet you guys have never seen this pic before. That is what I am talking about... Heck yes. You could possibly say that I'm sort of a closet Premier fanboy. Marvin had the hots for Laura. He tried to get a feelsky. I'm going to throw this out there... Marvin the Martian is the coolest looking Looney Toon there is. This is the part where you make Homer Simpson drooling noises because you are going through such insane intenseness. "Hi, I'm Batman, and I actually have a fitting paint job instead of yellow and purple or purple and blue." The expression on Robin's face is actually his natural expression. Yeah, Robin isn't intimidating anybody. As you can see, the park was mad packed today. Its a fun looking ride! Too bad its only fun to ride in the front. Yeah...I don't know. Laura shows the Ninja her karate moves. It was time for some Vekoma goodness. Screamin' Eagle... yeah, its an old wooden coaster. Umm...its white. Umm... its old. And yeah, its fairly good. Up, up, and away I go... this was one of the better freefalls I've been on. My girlfriend, Laura, doesn't particularly like freefalls, so I did Superman on my own. On our way to Britannia, I ran into Foghorn Leghorn. He caught wind I was a TPR member, and suddenly it was on as I was avenging Robb. Mr. Freeze *Through a crapload of trees* Right across the way was this bizarre monstrosity that wasn't operating yet. Some hot helix action... For all you lift hill enthusiasts... They weren't processing season passes yet so we went ahead and jumped on Tony Hawk! Six Poles St. Louis In case you were wondering, the speed limit at SFStL is 14.9 mph. Again, that's 14.9 mph. St. Louie! Too bad the park is still another half hour away. The giant effing cross. What? Its the giant cross in Effingham, IL. Just a friendly reminder that everything in Michigan sucks... except Shivering Timbers. The new Colts stadium is going to be freakin' sweet! Though I'm a Bears fan. Good ole Indianapolis at 6:30 in the morning.

^Ha, that's pretty cool. My picks sucked!!! I picked 18th and 19th!! I am definitely going to this next year. I kind of wish I could have gone this year. Finals ruin everything.

I'm from Bloomington, though I go to school at Butler University in Indianapolis.

I'm going with Scat Daddy. He has pretty good odds, which for whatever reason, I don't normally go for. I generally like to pick a middle of the pack horse. I'm going to go with you Ross, and make my second pick Stormello. I'm so going to this thing next year. I have to experience the Derby.

^Oh yeah, good call. I just now noticed that there aren't even any brakes in the section of track the train is at.

^I think by guardrail, they mean the railing on the brake run. That's my interpretation at least. This is all pretty crazy. Really sad. The couple in the first row of the third car really tell the story of what the scene was probably like.

Ha, that's hilarious. I'm impressed though. The pov looks like it's pretty smooth. The reporter's head didn't move too much.

Yeah, but if they slowly build themselves toward what they want to become, then they will slowly build a reputation, which will slowly build profit, and slowly get rid of debt as they slowly become more family friendly. For what they are wanting to do, it seems like they are doing things the right way, and maybe that is the reason for your coaster shirts disappearing. Who knows.

Riverview Park would be number one, followed by Crystal Beach, Palisades, Idora, and Long Beach Pike.

So you're going by your personal experience, which is how many people that make up your family and friends? You can't tell me that when you go to parks, you never see people with food, never see people waiting in line to get food, or when you do, it's always teens. THAT, is real BS. The truth is, it's not profitable to focus on teens. If families are coming, whether you believe it or not, they DO spend tons of money at the park on food and merch, and they generally have more people to buy for. Not just you and your best friend. I don't know about you, but I sure as heck don't and didn't know many teens that had "100% disposable income." Those of us that aren't spoiled have insurance, cars, gas, and school functions to pay for on a minimal income. I'll just leave it at that. I could go on, but there isn't much point. It's all been covered. I'm sorry about your coaster shirts that just aren't that profitable.

I'm the Xtreme Bumper Car World Champ, as well as an extreme jaywalker and a stuffed horse jockey in my spare time. Me on top of my thoroughbred just after winning the Target Stakes. This is the look you receive prior to getting your pooper handed to you in bumper cars.

^I really wish the Strat would have kept that bungee platform they had for the Real World/Road Rules challenge 7 or 8 years ago. I'm sure they would have had to charge a fortune, but I'd shell out the money to jump off a 900 ft tall building.

My guess would be that not many people buy coaster shirts. I don't know about you, but I pretty rarely see somebody wearing a coaster shirt that isn't an enthusiast. People are probably more likely to buy a more subtle shirt of the park than they are a shirt with a bunch of artwork and often cheesy lines.

Thanks, but no thanks. Maybe if they paid ME the $16.50.

Wow Dude. I've always kind of written Canobie Lake off, but it really looks pretty nice. I'm impressed. I'm kind of stunned that they spent the money on those nice wooden benches.