scooterdoug

^Don't you mean Gipple? CTU Agent, there's some good advice here. Like everyone else says, just be yourself. Don't try to impress her, just focus on having a good time in whatever the next step is. And don't stress, just relax (yeah yeah, I know, easier said than done). -Doug

I went to SFDK (when it was still SFMW) on a Sunday in September 2005. We got there around 11, and the crowds were really low. Most of the rides were walk-ons, with the exception of Kong and its 1 train operation. Roar had us waiting about 5 minutes, but Medusa, V2, and Boomerang were bona fide walk-ons. -Doug

^^Way to catch that reference. I was wondering if anyone would notice that. I just love the evil alien newscaster...and his vapid, giggling sidekick. Bigsteve07, Big Boned BBQ was not one among the cookers this year. However, I will keep my eyes peeled for them next year. Thank you all for the nice comments. We've definitely got some good BBQ happening in Reno. Now, if we could only get some coasters. I mean, I'd even be happy with an SLC...something...ANYTHING! -Doug

Hello all of you out there in TPR-land, Well, a couple of weekends ago, we had the annual rib cook-off here in Reno (well, Sparks, technically...which is right next to Reno), hosted by The Nugget (a hotel/casino). As the title suggests, it's the biggest rib cook-off in the west. Restaurants from all over the country come to compete. This was my second year going, and I made sure to bring my camera. My friend Joel and I sampled many wonderful (and not so wonderful) ribs. By the end of the night, Joel had 12 total, while my utter lack of self control led me to consume 16 ribs. I was definitely uncomfortably full, but it was soooo worth it. I also learned that I'm not a huge fan of the midwest style of rib cooking (no offense to you midwesterners), but down south...yum! It was a sinful evening of many 3-rib samplers from all over. So, on to the photos. Enjoy the journey. -Doug To finish, I leave you with a happy picture of open flame carnivorous happiness. Thank you for joining me on my decadent journey! Watch out for the hot sauce. No, I didn't try it. Yes, I'm a wimp. Once again, midwest ribs disappoint me. The "Sweet & Smokey Sauce" was to die for. But I wasn't very impressed with the ribs. The meat was fatty and kinda tough, but had a nice, clear pork flavor (ugh, if only my rabbi heard me saying this). Back up north, Desperado's (which won second place last year) is based in Cleveland, Ohio. More distractors. I still won't be fooled! I have just enough room for one more sampling. An interesting style of rib cooking. Not too heavy on the sauce, which was very sweet. The rub was VERY savory, even a little spicy. Left my lips warm for a little while afterwards. Moving west from Florida, our next sampling hails from Louisville, Kentucky. This is what I call a "distractor". Deep fried carbs, designed to fill you up so you can't enjoy any more ribs. You're not fooling me, on to more ribs! Doug to rib: "I WILL DESTROY YOU!!!" The best all around ribs of the evening. Tender, falling off the bone meat, perfectly seasoned rub, sinfully rich BBQ sauce. I could have eaten just those all night. Back down south again, this time it's Florida. I decided to go there simply because the girl working behind the counter was hot. Ended up being a good decision, as the ribs were outstanding. Joel and I pigging out. Joel has already made a mess of himself, I'm about to start. Honestly, there's no neat way to eat ribs. I was pretty underwhelmed with these. The sauce was tasty enough, but the meat wasn't all that great. Too fatty and alot stayed stuck on the bone. Now we move up north for our first taste of midwest ribs. The best ribs of the night! I wasn't very impressed with the sauce, but the ribs themselves were amazing. A savory rub and the best, tastiest, most succulent meat. Our first sample comes from Texas. This was my favorite of last year. Though they didn't win (such an outrage!). ...the rib cook-off! Now we're talking. My stomach is empty, and I'm ready to get down to some serious gluttony. We start off with a view of the hotel that hosts this annual event and a shopping bazaar in the foreground. We don't care about shopping...just ribs. So, we make our way through the vendors to...

A solid year for me. I live in Reno, Nevada...where there are NO coasters. So, since riding them involves a sizeable amount of travel, I don't get to ride much. Sucks, but it feels sooooo good to take that first ride after the hiatus... -Doug

This is true that corkscrews can produce significant airtime. With regards to the "Twisted Horseshoe Roll" on Maverick, I'm saying that it looks (to me) far more like a Camelback Zero-G Roll than a corkscrew. While it certainly is wider than a B&M Zero-G, it is far narrower than any corkscrew I can think of. Also, it simply FEELS (to me) far more like a Camelback Zero-G than a corkscrew...the way it lifts you up, flips you, then you descend back to ground level. I definitely agree with coolhandluke...this is about as ambiguous as the overbank vs. inversion debate. Clear as mud, but fun nonetheless. -Doug

^Cedar Point says that the inversion is two back to back corkscrews. However, I have ridden Maverick, and those are Zero-G Rolls if I've ever seen them. They are a little bit wider than B&M Zero-G Rolls, but they seem to essentially be Zero-G Rolls, not corkscrews. BTW, there is lovely floater airtime on both of those inversions. Again, the definition of a Zero-G Roll. -Doug

Viper & Scream! (SFMM) Medusa (SFDK) GASM (SFGAdv) Kumba & Montu (BGT) All have 7 inversions. Between all of them, they contain 11 Vertical Loops, 3 Dive Loops, 1 Immelmann, 4 Zero-G Rolls, 2 Cobra Rolls, 1 Sea Serpent, 3 Batwings, and 11 Corkscrews. Unless you go by the Guinness Book of World Records, in which case the most inversions I have been through on one coaster is 14 on Eejanaika. However, anyone who has been on that ride can tell you without any doubt that Eejanaika does not go upsidedown 14 times. I would say 5 times...maybe...and that's being generous, as several of the "inversions" are questionable. And yet, there's the Guinness plaque at the entrance. Weird... -Doug

I remember the infamous gum wall at Magic Mountain. It was on Gold Rusher, on a support post about half way up the first lift hill, just to the left. People would reach out and stick their gum on it as their train slowly went by the post. Not sure if it's still there though, as I haven't ridden that ride in many years. -Doug

It's a perfectly fine hotel. Clean, modern, comfortable, economical. No fridges or microwaves in the rooms, however. For that (and I'm all for in-room mini-fridges so that I can eat breakfast and lunch in the room), you have to stay at Hotel Breakers. I have stayed at both, and personally prefer Hotel Breakers (2 minute walk from your room to the Magnum entrance). With Breakers Express, you have to drive 5 minutes up the causeway to the park. But, you still get that 1 hour ERT in the morning (which is a VERY good thing). -Doug

Dude, there's no shame in getting the heck outta there. I would have done the same thing. No need to fight unless it is ABSOLUTELY necessary. I've been training in Aikido for a number of years, and I hope I never have to use it in my life. My dojo's motto is "Why fight when you can flow?" (also my signature). I would add to that: "Why flow when you can run?" Physical violence should only be used as a very last resort, when all other options (including running) are exhausted. You totally did the smart thing. -Doug P.S. - ^^"Kitty, Dollars, Hemp"...that's got to be one of the most clever things I've seen written in these forums. Gave me a good chuckle!

We've got some cheap personalized plates here in Nevada, so I decided to broadcast my coaster-dorkiness to the world! -Doug "AIRTIME" was already taken.

I haven't been to SFGAdv since 1992, so I can't speak for that park. I have been to SFMM and CP multiple times and love them both. Like others have said, what do you want in your coaster selection? Do you want tons of inversions and lots of positive Gs? If so, go to the Mountain. However, the park has a dreadful lack of airtime. So, if it's airtime you crave, Cedar Point has an abundance of the negative Gs. Of course, SFMM has X2 (such a trip), but CP has MF (which I adore, my favorite coaster). So, long story short, it all depends on what you want in your coaster selection. In my opinion, you can't really go wrong with either one. Have fun! -Doug

^I've noticed that on many coasters, not just Vekoma SLCs. Arrows do that as well. B&M and Intamin wheels are (correct me if I'm wrong) "spring loaded", so that the wheels maintain constant contact with the track. Other manufacturers, like Vekoma, have fixed wheels with a tiny bit of extra space. Hence the rough rides on SLCs compared to smooth rides on B&M and Intamin. -Doug P.S. - 100th post!

I really don't care what the name or theme of the ride is, I'll simply be grateful that SFMM gets a quality woodie. I mean, I have yet to ride a woodie that really wowed me (though Ghostrider did back in the day...and Psyclone when it first opened...but my woodie count is kinda low). In any event, Colossus just doesn't cut it (what happened to that ride?), and a solid woodie makes the most sense for the park's next coaster. -Doug

^^The wooden trains are completely static. They are for display only, not for actually running on a working model. So, these won't work on the Comet: http://www.coasterdynamix.com/storeitem.aspx?item=62. If you already knew that, sorry for the extraneous info. -Doug

Yeah, it does seem (slightly) easier to navigate...not that the old site was complex and confusing. But, I really do miss the animated banner at the top of the page. That thing was so cool, especially how they changed it from day to night depending on the time of day. Oh well, at least all the pertinent information is still there. -Doug

Your artistic skills are awe-inspiring. I mean, I can't believe you drew all that amazingly accurate (and proportional) detail by hand. I would totally try contacting Hershey Park, who knows what that could lead to. Well done! -Doug

The last coaster I rode was Maverick in the front seat on 5/22. Such a giggle inducer...

F5 rocks my world! If only it existed in real life...

I'm not sure as to current park policy. However, every time I have ridden Tatsu, I have had my glasses (without strap) on and never had any problem nor been told to remove them. Go figure...

Mad all the way! I've been a subscriber since I was 12, and they haven't lost their edge one bit. The one thing they have taught me is that nothing and nobody is above ridicule. -Doug

My wife and I use store-sold reusable bags. However, on those rare occasions where we forget to bring them, we use paper (we shop at Trader Joe's, and they only offer paper) and use the bags to contain all our home paper recycling. If I'm shopping and only get a few items, then I'll just forgo the bag and carry it out in my hands. -Doug

^Yeah, lack of protein is a common problem for new vegetarians. However, my wife's friend was eating plenty of protein...she's quite health conscious. It just seems that certain people need meat in their diet. Not quite sure why, but that does seem to happen with some people. Every now and then (very rarely), my wife will eat meat. About a year and a half ago, my wife was sick. She came home, and I had just cooked up some chicken sausage. It smelled really good to her (usually doesn't), and she figured that her body needed that. So, she ate one and enjoyed it. Once she was healthy again, she had absolutely no desire for any sort of meat product. Clearly, her body was telling her something, so she listened. I thought that was interesting.

An interesting fact I learned from my wife (who happens to be a vegetarian) is that some people literally cannot be vegetarians. As in, their bodies require meat to survive. One of her friends was a vegetarian for a while. However, she (the friend) kept getting sick. It was as if her immune system was just shutting down. So, she went to the doctor and was told that the culprit was her diet. Her doctor told her that she needed to start eating meat again. So, she resumed eating meat, and she stopped getting sick. So, not everyone can be a vegetarian. Just an interesting little fact I thought I'd share. -Doug