downunder

I've signed, though that damn exchange rate is cracking my coconuts in a big way.

Purple People Movement - I think it has something to do with Prince, the one from Minneapolis not England.

Is a Vegas add-on a definite after the Cali trip?

A name change would be good, so coaster geeks don't have to say Medusa east and Medusa west anymore. I thought it was good ride, the new theming probably isn't a drawcard for me because the coaster will be the same just maybe a riding a little better, unless coaster counter lists it as a new credit. I'm more passionate about the SROS makeover, that will make a huge difference IMO.

^I've only ridden Apollo on the tour and I thought it was pretty average that day, mainly due to the trims - it seemed very forceless, maybe it got better at night but I didn't ride it after dark. ^^PKI ManJZ, I have Caramello Koalas and Violet Crumbles in the fridge right now - mmmm, Australia has so much good indigenous chocolate. I think Hershey has a Microsoft like stranglehold on chocolate market in the USA and robs you of having great chococlate. ^^^Adam, Ravine Flyer II was #6, the top 5 are on the previous page, Phoenix was # 1, Dash was # 2, Toro #3. With the videos, I still need something to edit them with, I think they are a bit over the streaming limit, and I don't know if saying s*** is allowable but I'll see what I can do.

Is Beverly like a really bitter cola? Wish I could have come to Orlando but a new job and 10,000 miles got in the way. I'd love to check out Halloween in LA and Orlando.

I think that Viper running backwards thing may have started from the movie Encino Man where they go to Magic Mountain, I think Pauly Shore say - I hear they are running the Vapor backwards at Mega Mountain. I wish they had put in an Intamin megalite they look like a lot of fun, and might handle an earthquake better than a woodie.

I'm also hoping they mainatain Terminator and don't let it get awful like wood coasters can get. Wasn't Psychlone actually good at first and just went downhill, or is that an urban legend?

Good point, who cares what it's called as long as it's a great coaster. They could called this the Hannah Montana coaster and I'd still want to ride it. If it's as good or better than Kentucky Rumbler, then it's going to be a blast. Damn, the TPR west coast trip got a whole lot more attractive.

I fear normal people might find out I like coasters - just kidding I think. I recommend seeing Undercover Brother to truly understand the evil that is mayonnaise, poor Eddie Griffen being forced to drown his food in it while posing as a white guy therefore having to pretend to like it. I think mayonnaise is worse than the devil's poison, it's the devil's something else...think about the resemblance. It pisses me off that KFC absolutely drown their chicken fillet burgers (do you have them in the USA?) in gallons of mayo. In case you weren't sure I hate mayo and think it should be outlawed.

^Good observation, coasters don't have to be big to be thrilling. I've been on 300 coasters, and 3 of my top 5 (including my top 2) are barely over 100 foot. I think Maverick is a great pointer in that direction, and the mega-lite hypers look like just as much fun as their bigger brothers.

In reality (what's probable), I don't think there will too many innovations because parks don't want to spend big money on coasters, Dick Kinzel, for example, thought Dragster was a big mistake as an investment. What I think is possible in the next 10 years, I'd love to see terrain used in an extreme way. Something like Furious Baco where it launches from a flat and then disappears straight down a big drop (unlike Baco's small drop), something like that starting at the top of Magic Mountain's hill would be cool. I also hope they refine the wing rider / X style trains because it is an awesome feeling having nothing around you. That hovering stuff sounds awesome, I'm sure if it ever became financially viable for a park to do it you never know.

Someone does that and next season, no more buzz bars, it will be El Toro like, cut my circulation off below the waist restraints, maybe they'll throw the leg irons from SROS at SFNe as well. If you think that's bad, this guy is genuinely psychotic (it looks like he is actually standing up), having ridden this coaster in August I would not be doing what he's doing. "Yippeee, my penis enlargement operation just got approved!"

I have a heights phobia to the point that I experience physical symptoms, I even get if I was watching TV and someone looks over a ledge. But still, I haven't let it stop me doing anything, I just push myself, climbing Half Dome at Yosemite was pure terror but I did it.

Top Ten Coasters continued: 6. Ravine Flyer II - woodies really do come out when it gets dark, positively limp in the afternoon but come nighfall it was a case of unleash the fury. This was like an out of control go-kart ride to hell and back. 7. Ride of Steel (Darien Lake) - this maybe the poor cousin to the New England one, but it's like Steve Jobs being Bill Gates poor cousin, still a great ride. Plenty of airtime, though the both helix sections seemed uneccessary. 8. Nitro - another poor relative, this time to Behemoth, if I recall correctly at least this one wasn't trimmed on the camel backs though the mid course slows things down a bit. 9. Vortex (Canadas Wonderland) - sometimes it isn't just wood that comes out at night, mild one in daylight and a total werewolf like transformation at night. Really shows what a good Arrow suspended can do when completely out of control - the cars were still swinging like crazy when we hit the brake run. 10. Griffon - my first dive machine, was a lot of fun but not mind blowing, I think they should do more. Great looking but lacks personality, damn, why can't I keep my love life out of this. Next up - Waldameer PTR.

It's all over now SOS Andy Symonds.

I was hoping for a ride with animatronics, especially a Megan Fox one. Seriously, it sounds more interesting than Backdraft.

I do a few volunteer things: I do work with homless people one night a week, like giving them food and hanging out with them. I do youthwork. I also work for an organisation that lobbies politicians about increasing foreign aid and doing something about social justice issues, so I visit MP's now and then, and start co-ordinated campaigns like letter writing.

I agree on Haydos, Jaques should move up from work experience boy to permanent fixture. I think the recalcitrant Andy Symonds may need to be forgiven, we need him.

I'd say 450+ would be a good lead for the Aussies to chase, mostly impossible but enticing enough to make them go for it instead of playing for a draw.

Ahh, Kings Dominion, it is better than Disney if you only like riding coasters. KD was my 4th Eiffel Tower and I've never been to Paris (for the record KI, Vegas, Epcot and KD). I thought Volcano was great until it went out the top, then it was kind of blah for me. It will be interesting to see what attraction KD gets next, better than Behemoth or Diamondback?

^To clarify the Indians are whiny bitches because they talk tough but the Aussies would kill them in a fight. I found it particularly funny that it was Sreesanth who cried after Harbijan slapped him because he was the one sledging Andrew Symonds like he wanted to fight him. Our team - are a bunch of total a***holes who can play cricket, though less so these days. Warney was the Sultan of Sleaze but he was a great cricketer. McGrath is an ill-tempered bully but he got wickets. The rest, well I think our era is coming to a close, as long as we beat the Kiwis and the Poms.

^Matt's Mom was awesome, she was the nicest. My top ten coasters from the trip - part 1: 1. Phoenix - think the last drop of Cyclops (Mt O) in the back row, for the entire ride. This is what coasters should be like, a near death expereience with a buzz bar a foot above your legs barely keeping you in - 10/10. 2. Boulder Dash - the terrain, the darkness, an intense ride from start to finish. The flat trajectory of the bunny hops means you are flying the whole time - 10/10. 3. El Toro - the first drop, 2 camel backs and the crossover hill are possibly the most intense moments on a coaster. Though the rest of the ride paled by comparison, has the best WTF bits but at #3 because it doesn't deliver for the entire ride like the top 2 - 9.5/10. 4. Superman Ride of Steel - The New England one, was a bit more like Clark Kent during our visit, still great but has been better. Hopefully the makeover will arrest this great ride's decline - 9/10. 5.Behemoth - well behind Intamin but still a great ride, tons of floater air though the trims toned things down a little. If only an Intamin had this coasters layout - 8.5/10. Continued on page 3...

I'm from Australia, so of course I love cricket, though India is well on top in the second test in India at the moment. We don't like India. In an Indian domestic 20/20 game, one of the Indian test players, slapped another Indian test player in the face and he cried, what a bunch of whiny bitches.

Marineland - what can I say about this place? If you want to go there, start training now, and train hard. I'm talking scoff a half dozen raw eggs at 5am in the morning (Rocky style) and run to the other end of your city and back, every day (do it twice if you live a small city). Sponsored by Kodak film you may have noticed, either Canadians haven't discovered digital cameras or that sponsorship is the least lucrative in history. The bears seemed happy that someone made the effort to walk the 20 miles to come see them. They were also disappointed that we were now all too skinny to make a decent meal. Architecturally, this place was all castles and dragons, like a recurring theme park. I can assure you this ride wasn't worth the ten mile hike. Marineland has a double meaning, aquatic and military. The vast expanses of emptiness are used for Marine training after close, "I don't know what I've been told, I can't believe Marineland doesn't fold". Finding the Killer Whale exhibit was like trying to find a patch of concrete in the middle of the Sahara. In the winter offseason, the whales are loaned to the eskimo's theme park Six Flags Over Igloos. The whales provide the marine equivalent of pony rides for the kids, the lack of lawyers in those parts mean the whales can get away with eating some of the kids without getting sued. After Dragon Mountain, there's S & S hill, to some less fit members of the group - this was their Iwo Jima. One of the funniest things about TPR trips is the complete and utter disregard for anything, however spectacular (like Niagara Falls), that doesn't involve coasters. It's like "f*** the falls, there's 2 credits dead ahead". On the flipside, regular tours wouldn't even acknowlegdge the existence of parks, but there's lots more girls and if you don't mention coasters you might go alright. Dragon Mountain according to the Marineland website is the largest steel coaster in the world. I don't think their PR department gets out that much. Dragon Mountain is a funny ride, not the greatest coaster but one hell of an adventure. I came back with a headache, a smile, and a mouthful of tree branches. Behind the dragon's yawn, there was coaster porn in the making, with master pornographer Robb orchestrating proceedings. This is a set from the new movie by Ang Lee "Exhausted Geeks, Yawning Dragon" - a combined sequel to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Brokeback Mountain. So what's behind the yawn? They should have a caption writing comp for this one, my interpretation of this sign was, if you are not Robin Hood, the Pied Piper or the lead singer of Jethro Tull - climb all you want. This place is like an Orienteering Wet Dream, 5 miles ESE Killer Whales, 10 miles WNW Kiddie coaster, and so on. Now it was time to find Dragon Mountain, which was a quest so epic it would make the Crusades look like a trip to the local fish and chips shop. More Canadian pleasantness, I bet even the muggers are polite - "you were such a nice victim, I'll only shoot you in one kneecap" gunshot "Have a nice day, hope you have speedy recovery".