ParkTrips

I think I just defecated

1. You make it sound like South Georgia is bad...? 2. I remember Shannon posting a status about goats and wondering wtf she was talking about. Even after seeing the pics, I'm in the same position of confusion 3. If we can name all of the cars on the lot, what is the organization that we should seek help from? 4. Primanti's owns. 5. What on earth does this have to do with Theme Parks, Roller Coasters & Donkeys? 6. If words fail, you've been in the country too long! That's something I see everyday in East Atlanta 7. You suck. and since you posted your EPCOT pics as I posted this, I suppose #5 is dismissible now. Andy why didn't I know there was a tequila bar there? =(

Wes has an awesome sinister-jew look on his face!

I agree - the Star Flyers really get "scary" when the wind is blowing, since the seats will rotate left-right and vice-versa as you rotate around the tower. I don't think the ripoff version with the fixed arms will do that, I imagine the ride will be the same regardless of wind conditions. Throw in a chain versus a rigid arm and I agree, the original Funtime rides will be better. Hooray for Six Flags for buying the better version!

dude, censor your f!@#$ photos! crop out half that pic and its suddenly AWESOME!

I'd be inclined to vote for SFMM's GCI just for the simple fact that it killed Psyclone

yeah, by doing that, they are basically guaranteeing one of the 8 or so choices will win I only have 1 coaster from my home park in either top 10, and it isn't deserving of any other award (other than maybe hottest blacktop). I do sometimes wonder if I over-valued Dollywood by voting for it in multiple categories (best food, best shows, friendliest staff, and this year's best park train ride) I'm doing my part - I've voted it my favorite steel in pretty much every coaster poll I've done in the past five years!

^ I was speaking, more specifically, about the regular beer halls in the city - not the tents at Oktoberfest. Places like Weisses Brauhaus, Hackerhaus, Augustiner Bräustuben, Andescher am Dom, Ayinger am Platzl, and others. I figured the tents would be good, but I'd love to visit some other places to get more of a variety of beer!

that's awesome

^ Yeah, I knew you did that, which was why I kinda expected Joe to already be getting one

Email the editor (I forgot his name) He responds asking "you'd consider yourself a well-traveled enthusiast, right?" You reply yes, give him your address, and you get one in the mail next time

I think I just came. That has been the rumor for a while now, and is probably a big reason why they chose to do the Oktoberfest trip this year. MaBi - how well do the people at the other beer halls in Munich speak English? I know Hofbrauhaus will be full of English-speakers, but what about some of the smaller, lesser-visited halls? I know enough German to order a beer, but would love if I could fall back on English

That's just typical Jacory

eh, I still feel ok. Passing game killed us today - when we hit the target, the receiver dropped it. When the receiver was open, he didn't make the right move. When he was wide open, we threw a bad pass. They just couldn't put it together and execute, but I really can't see the team being that bad all year

^ Yeah, this has worked much better in the past when I was able to start with pre-made dough. They actually looked like pretzels then What was wrong with the presentation? Like, the pretzels looking like crap, or my report being bad? =/

^ I'll buy some tickets for the GT game

Hi All Cooking with Joe was essentially retired a while ago, but I recently promised Elissa I would document the next time I made soft, Bavarian-style pretzels (link). Well, with the Oktoberfest trip coming up, I've been fairly 'festive' lately, and figured now would be a good time. I decided to go for a full 3-course meal: pretzels for a first dish, wurst for the second, and a dessert dish of kaiserschmarn. I went to the grocery store with a list of ingredients and came back ready to get cookin... I'll let the pictures tell the tale (note: I had to use my camera phone because I couldn't find my charger for my regular camera. The pictures are mostly ok, not bad, but not all that great either) First, we need to make the dough for the pretzels. In the past, I would just buy a 1lb bag of dough from the deli at Publix. However, I haven't seen that in a while, so I'm going to have to make it from scratch - meaning more danger =/ Pour the yeast and some hot water into a bowl, and mix Add a bit of warm water .. stir well... .. then dump in several cups of flour beat it around until you get a big ol ball of dough sprinkle some flour on a board.. .. and knead it out break off small chunks, and roll them into thin, long strings (they need to be thinner than you see here, as you'll see later!) once you have your strings, you can knot them like pretzels.. or, anything you'd like, really... .. like that! Really, what's more German than a swastika-shaped pretzel? Bring a bit of water to a slight boil in a frying pan, and add baking soda I didn't have any baking soda, but I figured salt would do. I mean, NaCl is close enough to NaHCO3, right? drop the dough into the pan, and leave it for about 30 seconds unfortunately, getting them out was no easy task, I kind of mangled them a bit. Also, you're supposed to put them on a greased and salted cookie sheet, but I don't have a cookie sheed, and figured a stove-top grilling pan would suffice bake them at 475 degrees for about 10 minutes meanwhile, I have some water boiling for the sausage. I had to settle for turkey sausage since Publix didn't have any "wurst" available I would cook in beer, but that's a waste of perfectly good beer to me. Instead, I just boil them for a while The pretzels are starting to get slightly hard on the outside, time to pull them out! I remember doing this once and coating the dough with something to get that classic "golden brown" look on the outside, but can't remember what it was (butter, I think?) And finally, throw the sausage on some rolls, drip a bit of mustard on them and add the pretzels on the side. That's it! The finished product came out ok, not too bad considering I didn't have all the necessary ingredients/utensils, nor any real knowledge of wtf I was doing. It was edible, and that's all that counts for me! However, after narrowly avoiding disaster several times, I decided against making the dessert dish!! Anywho, thanks for reading, now back to drinking my beer and watching Beerfest

And I don't think you need to be inside a tent to get a beer, at least I hope not!

Way to trip off the Venetian!

Awesome!! What's that rocket ride?

That was lame until the dude said "what if I killed a star quarterback, a super model and a baby"

^ I agree, a fancy dSLR sounded like a great idea, until I had to carry it around. I ended up buying a nice point-n-shoot and it did a good job

What's your budget? I think you can get an entry-level dSLR for around $500 now. Much better than the early models which started around $1000 Consider taking a photography class or two, you can probably find them at a local community college (or, if you're in school, check there)

I know the thread isn't needed any more, but for future reference, New York allows rentals under 21, and I think Michigan does too. Use a corporate code, and you don't need to pay the u-25 fee! The key is to fly into JFK or DTW They won't let you rent anything above an economy car, but hey, a tin box runs better than amtrack

you're fucking retarded. kill yourself. love, Joe