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Maybe on the stripped side, they're going to put .... (Cedar Fair) up there? Just a guess, really.

Oakwood was where my #100 coaster happened (Clown Coaster, lol). And (I believe) SPEED had just opened (2006) and I think I rode it nearly 10 times, only finally stopping because I was getting a small headache. And it double helixed in what I called the "Toilet Bowl"element of it. And HYDRO was a truly wet/scary ride. The water splashing in/on the face/body was drenching the whole boat, before we even went down the drop! Great visit Bert, for an awesome park.

For those of us, myself included, who can't make it to New York and BROADWAY any time soon.... we collect Cast Recordings of the musicals, that open every season. The GRAMMY nominations just came out, and although they usually don't include that category on the televised show itself, but announce the winner anyway. They GRAMMYS take place on February 2, 2025. And here's the list of nominated shows... Best Musical Theater Album Hell's Kitchen Merrily We Roll Along The Notebook The Outsiders Suffs The Wiz

And now that Hallowe'en is done... the PNE is now selling tickets for their annual Winter Fair. The Fair runs from beginning of December, to the 23rd. Lots of stuff to do, see, eat, drink! https://www.pne.ca/winter-fair/

A new video that Universal has released, shows a few of the the AA figures for the "Monsters Unchained" attraction. But I noticed at :35 of the video, the Wolfman is in a crouched position, looking down and taking a swipe at ....? It made me think that this AA is for the "Curse of The Werewolf" spinning coaster, in that barn where the back-and-forth goes through it twice. I forget the name of that coaster element. Sorry. But in the barn, it would be at the end of it, where the train is shot back through it and up into that banked curve, IMhO.

I looked it up and .... "ELLIS-BURG"

^ Makes me sad that many families will put themself into that position of income (i.e. poor house), once they start planning and paying for their WDW trips.

So, this is a baking question to all. I was planning to make/bake, what's called a Dump Cake. Pretty basic. Two can of pie filling first layer, followed by a "yellow" cake mix sprinkled all over the filling, then pats of butter added on top, DO NOT STIR TOGETHER. Bake and voila! Dump Cake. But .... Instead of what they call 'yellow' cake mix, I got the Duncan Hines 'Golden' cake mix. Now could somebody puhleeeeze tell me "any difference" between these two .... uh ....flavours of cake? Or are they just vanilla cake mixes, w/colouring? Thanks in advance.

Dame Maggie Smith. Known for (on film) the "Harry Potter" series, and (on TV) "Downton Abbey" recently, and so many, many movies in her career. Won the Oscar for "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" in 1969.

I don't remember what #2 is/was. Help?

For those of us that live close to Playland (and/or visitors!), they have their info. pages up for Fright Nights in October...... http://www.pne.ca

James Earl Jones. 93.

Sergio Mendes RIP to a Boss Nova Beat, man!

For my last visit to The Fair (and it's Closing Day), I decided to bus to the Playland Gate, get my last (for this season) $1 popcorn, then work my way up through all - those - food trucks, get ribs from the other spot that was selling them (called what else? Truckin' BBQ!), and then make a real total 'tour' through the entire Market building. Easy! And I even bought something(s) there, too. Back at my 'usual' Playland Entry Gate Doesn't look too crowded, here... ...But the queue for Coaster must have been 2-3 hours' wait, since they still were using only one train. Eek. And I didn't even bother, to check on ThuderVOLT's queue, knowing it only runs one train, too. All in all, it was a VERY CROWDED (slammed?) day, there. So I was very glad I wasn't doing a lot of stuff. Whew! Both towers operating against a cloud covered sky. Last look at the midway, before it closes up, not to re-open till 2025. The Last $1 One for this season. It's still a great deal after all these years of having and using this bucket.. Up it goes! Up it goes #2. Up it tilts! Last look at the Amphitheatre site, from this angle. Not to be seen again, from here, till next year's Fair. An Arcade Prize winner's stuffie. I would not enjoy carting this around The Fair. Nope. Still not for me. Here we are. And I ordered a half-rack. With a side of coleslaw. Then got my last beer in Festival Park. And it was just as good as the other ribs we had. And I enjoyed the creamy coleslaw as well. While consuming my ribs, this big-ass band was playing on the "Music In the Park" stage. And they were great! And now ... Another great clothing stall. More Bling. Something for the kids to do. I see Princess Peaches and the Mario Brothers. And it's got a short line up, so that's good. For those with a passion for musical bowls, etc. Ooooooooo. These were the first 'variety' of candy apples I'd seen at The Fair. But... THIS Is what I wanted. And I picked up a slice of Black Forest fudge. Chocolate w/cherries. Yum! Dogs on Socks. Many many pairs of socks. But they did have a (pitiful) section for cats, too. Hats of all styles, shapes, colours, etc. It was basically an All-Leather Clothing stall. We glanced at this booth, last Thursday. But I wanted to see more of it. So I came back. These are LEGO Figures. And Lots - Of - Keychains! And .... and .... Mystery Boxes. That tempted me, and I bought one. A Pikachu Terrarium collection box. Of six. These are all for grating garlic cloves. Pretty. Back to where we started last Thursday. Sign says ADULTS ONLY. And then I headed for the Exit. I think it was a Well Fair. But with so much themed exhibits left out this season (and a LOT of food trucks), I wonder how many will return to next year's fair, knowing the Amphitheatre still won't finished until '26. Here's what $15 Cdn got me. #5 of the collection - with Kimori, a tree stump, and some weeds, lol. Bit of a better look at Kimori. So, I will go to next year's Fair, regardless of what's less and what's more, there.

Not that this house plant (?) needs much attention, except watering from time to time, I still figured this would be the best Thread to post it in. One of our small "all sorts" stores off The Drive (like a mini department store), also has house plants on racks in front of the store. This one immediately caught my eye. But the owner couldn't name it, or tell me, how long 'the fruit' stays on top. But I bought it anyway. Nearly $10 Cdn. Am going to try and find the name of this, online. Stay tuned .... It's so cute! Probably not edible, though.

This past Thursday was our annual PNE visit, me and David. After having gone there a few times already, I told him what to miss and what we should look into .... and the BBQ RIBS meal, of course. So this visit took only a few hours. The ribs were great, the drag show was a repeat (for myself) but David really got a kick out of it, and started thinking back to when we used to do shows at a very well known Vancouver Drag/Show bar called BJ's ! (Now that's another story thread, heh.) I enjoyed this show, just as well as the first time. And then we just went for it, and bought a six-pack box of .... cannolis! a raspberry pair, a lemon pair, and an 'original' pair, being vanilla and chocolate bits. And that was it for us! David spent a good 1/2 hour in The Market, I took a few photos inside, but planned to go there again, tomorrow. Maybe there will be a "PNE Final Day Sale" for me to check out...... Back to the front of The Fair, again. And where we immediately went to - for a five o'clock meal of RIBS! We looked at the portion of ribs, and thought we were getting more than the 1/2 rack we ordered. V But then, I had this photo from last year's Fair, I showed it around and most of the staff freaked! V This is that photo. And this is Steve. I made a joke about "Santa working part time in the off-season", lol. Unfortunately, he wasn't there this year. But I hope some of the staff let him know, he was missed. So we figured we got some 'extra ribs' due to us showing that photo of Steve. Or not, lol. This rack of ribs was really nice and juicy. I might buy it again (1/3 rack) tomorrow. Hmmmm. Almost finished. We didn't pack any leftovers for home. Corn bread and coleslaw were both great, too. I find this fascinating, don't know why. After eating, we headed over to the last show of the day, of .... Would have liked to see and hear the pianos. but it never happened. Maybe next year if they're here again. Not for this show. It's used for the Rollerland Building's (that is it's name) weekend skating, there. This is 'Joan Jett'. And here's 'Jon Bon Jovi'. Definitely having a great time, here. This a fuzzy 'Pat Benatar'. At least 'Prince' wore a different coat for this show. First time I saw 'him,' it was all blue spangles. The 'Heart' sisters, Ann and Nancy. Inside The Market. What we first see. Vibrating ...thing-a-ma-jigs. Lots of different clothing stalls. Bling. This was all for kids, but I have to check exactly what there was there. I need some close-ups here! YOU WANT WOODEN ANYTHING? WE HAVE WOODEN EVERYTHING! We have enough "wooden things" at home, so we passed on this. Big open space. Very rare for the annual Market. Maybe the rental space costs too much for some, since covid? Where a lot of us 'elders' ended up. Back massage, comfy chair .... mmmmm, Happy old people. So much stuff in this set up. I know nothing, about any of it. I thought of buying a 'mystery bag' for the heck of it. But ... I didn't. Of all of these display towers at this stall, this is the one I liked the best. Not sure why. Maybe it has to do with alllll those mushrooms. Hmmm. After leaving The Market, we wanted some kind of dessert. Then we saw this. It was a good decision. We ate the Original Cannoli there, and took the other four home. Two lemon, two raspberry, and my Original, yet to be eaten. Cost $40 Cdn. for all six. And our visit ended, for the day.

^ Heh heh, I agree with the 'church carnival problem.' At least they got a few extra rides for The Fair, rather than avoiding it altogether. Still. I expect next year's PNE will be much of the same, as this past season was. Hopefully, they'll make it a bit different i.e. shows etc. And I'm pretty sure that the PNE told the rides owner(s) in advance, that the new Amphitheatre construction would take some of their rides' space. So they probably still have a contract with the PNE. But in the mean time, we wait, till then.

Yeah, but that was only this Fair, with the normal space (where extra rides used to be placed) completely gutted for the construction of the new Amphitheatre. That removal was also paired with removal of the entire north row of arcade games, and my very special on-site bar, The Ride Side Bar, too. Which I guess, is why there are so many Drink Huts this year onsite, as well as some larger bars that offer mixed drinks/cocktails, too. Still, I was surprised that only four extra rides made it to the Fair. I expected a few more. But, what can ya do? This may also lead to lower attendance next year, since the new outdoor stage won't be finished till 2026. And they seemed to cut down on themed displays, compared to previous pre-covid years. Taken during the 2023 PNE ~ R.I.P. Ride Side Bar.

^ Thanks, I'll check that. (And....) Woo hoo! Did it! Now why the heck didn't I check my loaded photos, before? We'll call it an "age thing", and leave it at that , mmmm'k? Hugs.

My visit yesterday to The Fair, was mainly to check out the gardens and Sanctuary that reside on the PNE site. AND to get myself some chicken from Henry's BBQ! Unfortunately, the chicken I got turned out to be somewhat dry, and not very juicy. No matter. The order of fries was f-ing HUGE! So much so, I had nothing to take the extra fries home with me. The container was too greasy, so sadly, I dumped about 1/3 that was left, into the compost bin. The first garden I visited was The MOMIJI Japanese Garden which was located beside the Garden Auditorium, where a (usual) themed display was installed. Past ones include, Game of Thrones; Hockey; The Beatles; Dungeons and Dragons, etc. But not since covid has there been anything there, except an ongoing circus school for young kids and teenagers. Which is great, all the same. Anyway, this garden has been around for several decades. Not very many stone lanterns and/or stone statues to be seen. But it's a quiet place, with running water into the small lake the garden surrounds. It's amazing how The Fair sounds fall away, when you're here or in the Sanctuary. The Italian Gardens, not so much. ^ The un-used Garden Auditorium looming over the Garden. Fun Trivia: This is where David and I attended Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of The Moon Tour". In the centre of the building , we all sat on the floor. And then I remember this lemon-scented smoke coming from the stage, and 'wafting' (wafting?) over everybody! It was trippy. What I remember..... Not exactly a Sacred Temple. But good enough, for sudden (and ongoing) rainfall. The Italian Gardens are more out in the open space of the fairgrounds. And a somewhat orderly presentation of walkways and fountains, etc. They also share space with two 'attractions' for the kids. One is the Discovery Farm, which was usually found in the Barns. The outdoor setting looks much nicer, to me. Also, a performance space called Toon City to entertain the young ones. The Discovery Farm looks great outdoors, and in this setting. The Toon City stage. Then it was time to get my BBQ chicken! This is what 1/4 BBQ Chicken, looked like. I bought fries as well. And a beer <g>. Too ~ many ~ fries! I couldn't eat them all. And as I said before, the chicken was more dry than juicy. (Flower)Pot-heads. After this, it was on to The Sanctuary. And instead of walking around the whole place, for $2 I took the PNE Express train to circle the green space. Which reminds me. This whole area used to be the row of three separate buildings, side by side, joined together by overhead walkways between buildings. Several decades later, all three buildings were removed, to create a massive green space on the fairgrounds, including a lake, and several spots to just chill out and enjoy the greenery. The train didn't get that close to the centre lake and other pathways. But it was a nice casual way to enjoy this as part of the PNE, with a lot of the noise from The Fair being muffled by all the trees, etc. We all agreed (on our train) that "This was the best ride at the PNE - and cheaper too!" The train. And look! It's a TRACKLESS ride! Got a pic of myself (finally) at The Fair, on The Train. The rest of our train load. The lake is there, once you look past all that greenery! Very woodsy here. Noted. A better look at the lake in The Sanctuary. On my way out of The Fair I saw this. Coming back tomorrow (Thursday) with David.

^ Maybe the deal with doing the Candy Collection, might be the price of buying "the bag", itself? No reservations needed? And they may just sell a set # of bags, so that there's not a stampede on a particular night, etc. That's just what I think, but I hope you get some info. soon. And, so sorry to hear about your dog's passing. Our cat Stella is 13+ years old, and we're hoping she'll hang around with us for a few more years, etc.

"Easy" from the Original Broadway Cast Album... Water for Elephants. Starring wonderful, sexy Grant Gustin (he of GLEE, and "The Flash," filmed here in Vancouver!).

^ Um, I think they did (see above your post?) with the add-in of a Indiana Jones Adventure using the same track layout, as it is in Disneyland. But it's a whole new ride adventure and not a copy of DL's or TokyoDL's either, I have found out.

I took a short 30 second 'movie' of the 'constantly moving' ceiling of the Agrodome. Pretty trippy. MVI_5607.MOV

Thursday I went back to The Fair, this time taking in the dog show "Super Dogs", and an annual fave for a lot of visitors - "For The Love of Drag." Really. The 1/2 hour Rock Icons show, complete with ~air~ guitar playing and lip syncing, was pretty good, and not only had drag queens in the show but a couple of drag kings, too! One played 'Prince' and the other did 'Jon Bon Jovi' It was fast, quick, and less microphone talk. I think David will enjoy this, too. However...... "Super Dogs" was a lot of introduction of the dogs, explanation of the course, and challenges ..... it was a lot of talk. The "action" of the dogs charging through the setups was great. I think the audience especially enjoyed it, when two dogs were pitted against each other. Made for fun, loud cheering them on. But I really think that this may be the last time I see this show. It's always a themed variation on the usual challenges, and the only big difference here, was that the show was moved to the small Agrodome, as the Summer Nights Concerts were moved to the Coliseum, where Super Dogs used to be. And the dogs being in the Agrodome, eliminated a number of horse showings, and a great knights on horses show. And I think the setup won't change too much, since the Amphitheatre will still be being built, But hey - the dogs really worked their ....um .....behinds of! And the races are really intense for what they are, to and for the dogs. But I think I'll pass on next year's at least. Then, when the Amphitheatre opens in 2026, I'll maybe give the doggies another look-see. And coming out of the drag show at 6:30pm, it was mobbed at nearly every food truck, so I didn't get my Henry's BBQ Chicken <sad>. But when I return on Tuesday, I'll sure to get my Henry's earlier in the afternoon. Back to the fair we go.... I'll be visiting this garden and another one on Tuesday. And the Sanctuary as well. Today's corn dog comes from .... Another foot long. It was good. Add a beer, and it's a perfect snack! A lot of seating, including picnic tables all over the fair. This bar also served mixed drinks and cocktails. Must remember this. The bar inside the Roadhouse, where .... ^ .... is playing. (o: The main stage. After the "Love of Drag's" last show of the day, "Dueling Piano Kings" schedules shows into the evening. This was 'Jon Bon Jovi'. And this was Pat Benetar. I think this was .... 'Prince' ? The guitar playing sister, (Nancy Wilson) of 'Heart.' 'Dolly' singing "Rock Star." Coming out for bows. That's 'Prince' in blue, back there. They also did photo shots with the gp. I declined to do that. Since I couldn't get Henry's chicken, I went to Lil' Cocos for (guess what?) another corn dog. But I got this one with a green Ranch dressing on it. Fancy, eh? Now to the dog show. The 7:30 one. Souvenir "Doggies for Sale" in all shapes, sizes, and furriness. The ceiling of the Agrodome was this moving, artsy creation. Most of these photos turned out very fuzzy. Got to figure out my camera, more. So these are the best ones out of the bunch. Yay! A clear shot of the setup. And a dog is entering that tube, upper right of the shot. There were three pugs that just went crazy all over the place, while one of the three actually did the course. Conga! This was a game of "Musical Chair Stars-On-Spots." Had it's moments of fun. The Bow(-Wow)s. <sighs> This is Henry's Quarter and Half BBQ chickens. I could just stand there, inhaling for a while. Soon... A mariachi band playing for the public. They were great! Amphitheatre Construction carries on... Good on the PNE! Not exactly totally dark. But overcast enough for all the lights of Playland to turn on. Two of the 'four extra rides' at The Fair. The other two of the 'four extra rides' in Playland(PNE). Hellevator's signage is so neon and retro (to me). Undersides of Gladiator. I didn't notice that the Break Dance middle orb tower wasn't lit. Too bad. Skybender Shot #1 The statue at the right is very nice to see. Skybender Shot #2 All the AtmosFEAR seats have white lights under their butts! A blurred Wheeee! The Merry-Go-Round Carousel all in white lights. Enterprise on full tilt. Explorer (Lit Up) Balloons. Another Wheeee! on The Beast. This was about the only thing lit at night, at this kids' coaster. I figured this could be a mildly scary kids' coaster, with all the darkness around the coaster itself. Blazing White Lights on the Swings Sea-to-Sky Swinger. That's it. Another beer, and I exited The Fair. Till Tuesday, then.