TheRapidsNerd

^ ^What? You didn't see that coming? Next you'll tell me that Kevin Bacon doesn't figure in here somewhere. The "That's alright, cuz my body's in motion" RapidsNerd

Glad to find another who appreciates DU and Tupacs work in it. There are so few who do. Good call.

1. Boot to the head (high kick) 2. Gallager Method (watermelon used in conjunction with big hammer somehow) 3. Golf Method (teeing off with driver) Consult Calvin and Hobbs cartoon for proper snowman building, display, and destruction. Always good for a laugh.

^ Do you remember the early days with Digital Underground (Same Song from the Nothing But Trouble soundtrack)? I enjoyed his part in that song along with the hammond organ solo.

(Laughing) Yeah, I guess you're right... Guilty. Just calling em like I see em. Hey, wierdness aside, I really am happy for DCody and all the cool creative stuff going. Glad things are coming up roses. It just goes to show, that it's a good idea to be nice to everybody, because you just never know who you're talking with or who's listening. D, big congrats from one eccentric creative to another. Rock on!

Hey, I just went back and read the early part of this thread. You guys who started this thing have really put a lot of time and work and pictures into this. You have a good history here with the press releases and webcam shots. Great job at historically documenting the changes. Since Spongebob and Avatar cams are down (again) I give you the exciting color change happening on Jimmy Neutron's Atomic Collider. Yeah, somebody got a great deal on blue paint for this park.

Ok, this has just been the wierdest day. Let's review: 1. Comes home to flat rent increase. bad. 2. A favorite actor dies. bad. 3. Gets good news on some future project work. good. 4. Wakes up from freakish intense nightmare. bad. 5. Finds out one of the first people he met on TPR, who not only likes parks, but likes photography and old abandoned parks, is a smoking hot, highly witty punk chic, who's written not only a best selling book in Dave Letterman's book club, was on his show, AND is up for awards for a screenplay she wrote. AWESOME! 6. She's married. NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! Still and all, damn she's hot, but I am spoken for, and the girlfriend would kill me. Wow. Just.....wow.

My mother, of all people, mentioned tonight on the phone that he'd be traveling a lot through several time zones and may have been trying to get his sleep regulated, but just had a very bad accident. We'll all know more when the autopsy is done. Poor fellow.

That's some welcome good news on a rough day. Didn't even know DCody did any of that stuff. Very happy for her. Will keep good thoughts.

It's a good bet plans will continue forward even with Ledger's passing. In some ways, these projects will be marred. They'll still do just fine, but they won't have the same shine as before.

I just got the text from my girlfriend and little while ago and pulled it up on CNN dot com. What else can be said, short of I'm shocked and very sad at this. I suffer from chronic insomnia coupled with heavy duty, scare the crap out of you nightmares. If this is what he was experiencing, my heart really goes out to him. Wouldn't wish that on anyone, not even my worst enemy. His poor family and child. That poor man...

Tower parts are staged. Looks like it's going up tonight (monday). Pic below.

Lol! Just....wow. I got nothin...

Jess and I had been joking on the way in "Hey, you think we'll go to Disneyland, haha?" Well, when her dad picked us up at the airport and we hadn't been there over an hour he says "So what would you guys like to do?" We passed a DL billboard. "Do you guys want to go to Disney Land? Have you been there yet?" Jess and I looked at each other. Blink, Blink, Blink. On the outside "Um yeah, that sounds like fun. I've never really been." On the inside "WoooHooo and hot damn! I'm going to Disney Land! Yes!" So the day after our killer sunburns, we got up early and headed for Disney. Of all the kids in the SUV, I was the biggest and the most excited. Recently, I learned that the rocket ships used to sit here on top of this platform. This satellite dish thing was interesting, yet seemed a bit out of place. Still worthy of a picture. More pics touristy stuff coming soon. The Astro Orbiter is wicked cool sculpture to me. I love it. Would've liked a closer look at it, but we were on our way out. More contempo wall decor. I took these pictures to get some inspiration to re-decorate my apartment when we came back from the trip. I would find more inspiration later during this week. Not knowing the previous history, I thought this was just a huge restaurant with neat contemporary architecture. The pizza was good. Liked this big circle wall divider thing. Jess and I on the train. The heat and crowds were getting to both of us, so everybody opted to bail around 1pm after lunch at Red Rocket's. We caught the train to tomorrow land for lunch after milling around Frontier Land, a petting zoo, and something else. Missed out on riding or even getting a pic of Big Thunder Mountain, though did get video of Woody and a VERY pretty Pocahontus. BTM good. Pocahontus better. Beyond this arch we discovered the awesomeness that is Dole Whip. I passed right by the stand and Jess' step mom says "Aren't you going to have some Dole Whip? It's really good." Dubious was I, but now, no longer. Gooooooooood stuff! We went over to Adventureland and did the Enchanted Tiki Room (before it got new management), did the Jungle Cruise, and got fast passes for Indy. Sadly, we didn't make it back for the ride. Next time Dr. Jones! Some of the Fantasy Land Canal. After Pirates, I think we rode the Haunted Mansion and then went off to the dark rides. Winnie The Pooh, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, and the Fantasy Land Canal ride, were actually pretty fun and a first for me. Since we had little kids with us, the slower pace rides were a must, and my stomach wasn't so great after the drops on Pirates. Yes, weak, but that's the hand I was dealt. This poor guy worked his fingers to the bone and took his job to the hilt. Well, at least he took a stab at it anyway. Dead guys. Check. Sand. Check. Booty. Check. No Jack Sparrow just yet. The Johnny Depp animatronic that replaced a generic pirate in a few scenes was increadibly life like. The way it moved, you'd think it was an actor. Really impressive robotics. As soon as we got in the park, we dashed over to the newly redone Pirates for a quick ride. We waited about 10 minutes and off we went past this restaurant inside the ride. So what if it wasn't a park-hopper? I'm here! DCA is a good excuse for another visit anyway.

^Geez man! A free beer and a date set-up. You're doing well today. I'm suprised you would take the topic so seriously, what with all the humor and innuendo that flies around this board. If it sets your mind at ease, noone is encouraging or considering under-age bad stuff. We all know better. It's wrong, and the innocent should remain so as long as possible. It's like when I was called a pedophile for some innocent remarks I made about the midwest trip KI segment. People joked about that, and though I feel strongly about the topic, I can laugh at the whole situation now. Obviously, Joey you feel strongly about this subject and I respect that. Hopefully this will clear a few things up.

^ Somebody did the same for me once.

More pics from our host's neighborhood and home. This chandelier was something ridiculously expensive. During our stay, the little boy threw a parachute figure into it and the figure got stuck. Dad had to take a broom handle and VERY carefully retrieve said toy. This whole turn of events was pretty funny to watch. I got a kick out of this BMW pedal car. And this one was in the side yard. This one was on the front porch. There were several fountains scattered about. This one was also the wall along the backyard. There were a couple large mirrors and leopard print carpet going upstairs from the Kitaen era. The mirror on the landing was about 8 feet high. This was the view out the second story guest room. Pretty neighborhood...with no power or telephone poles. All that stuff is underground.

Lou's recent TR with her California adventures, brought up some great memories of my trip in July 2006. To keep it short, my girlfriend's dad and stepmom invited us out to stay for a week in Newport Beach and play tourist. Airfare, meals, accomodations, all covered. I was absolutely thrilled to visit near my hometown of Torrance and got a surprise trip to Disneyland too. This was just a great adventure and a good excuse to use my (then) new camera phone (also my first digital camera). So here we go... EDIT: I really couldn't have picked a worse description line in "Free Vacation, sight seeing and Disney Land". Sounds like spam. Description fixed, though this TR seems to have tanked even before it got out of the gate. Eh, such is life. EDIT EDIT: Since the response has been dismal, I'll just skip the updates and let this one die. If you've read this far, thank you, but save your valuable time for a better thread. This was the other community pool where one of the kids had a swim lesson and where Jess and I the value of water-proof sun screen. Ours wasn't, and we got burned pretty bad later this week. More pics to come. Jess's dad pointed out that this lot was a mere $2.8 million. That's the most expensive dirt I've ever seen. This house looked like something out of Martha's Vineyard. There were some beautiful and expensive homes. This one looked like the castle house in the old tv sitcom, the Charmings. After dinner, we took another walk around the neighborhood. Here's the huge fireplace near the entrance. Note that the smaller fireplace on the left is like what's in the average house. Beyond the spiral and fountain was this large door. I opened it, expecting to be told to have fun storming the castle. Instead, I was greeted with a culdesac. Same goes for this one. Oh well. If we visit them in the future, I'll buy an Odyssey White Hot and putt a few rounds. One of the putting greens. Humoursly, 2 years later, I enjoy a good putting green and regret not doing a few rounds here. The spiral path had a famous literary quote, but now I can't think of what it is. This was a neat topiary garden with a spiral and fountain near the putting greens Near the entrance drive was a pool, monsterous outdoor fireplace, and this trellace nearby. Jess's family lives in a gate community called One Ford in Newport Beach. They also, no joke, live in Tawny Kitaen's old vacation home (Red haired lady in Whitesnake videos dancing on the cars, you know the one.) This pic is of one the paths around the neighbor hood. Jess and I took a short walk before dinner the first night. Objects in picture are not as evil as they appear. While taking off my fleece pullover, the zipper snagged upside my head. Taxiing in to Dallas Fort Worth from Huntsville. We're already halfway to California! Strangely, I only saw 2 people wearing cowboy hats in the entire airport.

You might try this website and punch in some of the lyrics. (All I could make out at one point was "Everyone is a psycho") http://www.goldlyrics.com/song_lyrics/system_of_a_down/toxicity/psycho/ You might email SplatterHaus and just ask them. There's a contact button to the left of the video window. Not a solution, but maybe some leads. Hope they help and good hunting.

^Ah, that's right. Thank you for reminding me of that. See what happens when you get old? You forget stuff. No worries. I think he was a bit smitten with Nay as well. That'll divert his attention. If RIP and I ever meet in person, I'll have to treat him to a beer or Vault Icee or something. Seems like a good guy with a good sense of humor.

I think he's just making small talk and just excited about the ride. Doesn't seem like he's complaining. It's kinda like the Boardwalk Bullet thread. Those folks LOVE the ride and they're just talking shop for fun. That's all. BTW, you've done some great work getting video of Great Gasp and Freefall at SFoG, not to mention the other rides. Enjoyed watching them.

(grins and shakes head in that "I understand" way) Several years ago, one of my friends who was 19, started dating a 27 year old after things fell apart with her 21 year old boyfriend. Even now, one of my close friends (who is also 27) is dating a lady of 19. Translation: as long as everybody's happy and respectful, age becomes relative. Matter of fact, at 24, I dated a lady who was 37. We just hit it off. Helped me grow up some too.

Since the Mark 7 monorails are already a hit, why not do tasteful retro/future updates on the People Mover trains and rockets ride that used to sit on top of the nearby platform (buncha satellite dishes are there now)? * The subtley updated people mover trains could offer lcd screens with park info, restaurant suggestions, ride wait times, ride closures, etc. Perhaps LEDs similar to the Mark 7s that are an eyecatcher at night. *Maybe some exhibits highliting current everyday tech, and some the trends like OLEDs on the horizon. * A gadget store that sells things like Ipods and MP3 players, cameras, the high-tech vests with sewn in Ipod controls, high tech urban wear, etc. Maybe ink a deal with Best Buy or Compusa like what's been done with Ben & Jerry's at other parks. * Robot store. Yes, this has been done in the past, but with toys like Robosapien, and Lego Mindstorms, etc., it could be updated. * Kiosks that allow purchase and download of Disney movies and songs. If you have your Ipod or Zune and it has wi-fi, buy some Disney souvenir music and download it on the spot. For that matter ringtones and wall papers for cell phones are another consideration. * Robocoaster (robot arm with seats). Cleverly themed, this could lend well to the area. Think Expo Robotics show from 1980's Epcot, but with a new twist. All these things, done carefully enough, could update Future World subtley, and not ruin the retro charm and the parts we love.

I saw the rock-bottom episode, and the movie, but beyond that, not to much else. It sounds like the wall drapes behind the coaster are a generic Bikini Bottom theme verses the backdrop for Rock-Bottom. Am I close here? Goofy Goober was a ShowBiz or Chuck E Cheese type spoof from the SpongeBob Movie. It had a Mr. Peanut style mascot with a "delightful" earwig of a trademark song. That's the gist Vffreak07. Hope it helps.

^ If that's Decatur and they DO have it, it's road trip time. Speaking of road trips, did you know the Pancake Pantry is one of the premiere breakfast establishments in Gatlinburg and it is conveniently located near the Mysterious Mansion and The Village?