DerekRx

Kumba at BGT on Saturday afternoon before the rain hit, still my favorite sitdown looper.

Busch Gardens Tampa on Saturday if the rain holds out. Otherwise I'll hit up Food and Wine at Epcot.

I just won 2 tickets to a beer pairing dinner this weekend in Orlando!

Wow, this is more impressive than I was expecting it would be based off of how little was discussed when the park was first announced. Happy to see Merlin seems to have more of a plan regarding drawing people to this park other than "hey, it's Legoland, you know you wanna go." I really look forward to seeing the transformation myself and hope it continues to grow.

On Wednesdays I now have the chance to work double shifts at work, which are pretty tiring, but the first part of my day is spent in the operating room, which I freakin' love!

I'm fairly certain I'm going to be dead or majorly harmed very soon. While nothing attacked my head today while running (which I did not do since I'm working a double shift at the hospital) one of those plastic ceiling light covers randomly cracked and came crashing down on me while on the job! I'm sure it would have tried to cause more damage, but then I'd end up with workman's comp so my luck wouldn't allow that. Perhaps I should just stay in bed tomorrow, or watch those Final Destination movies and see exactly how I can get Death to leave me alone for a while.

I love a good, well-themed haunt this time of year and try to get to at least one or two new ones every season. Amongst the best ones I've done would be: 1 Bates Motel located just outside of West Chester, PA. Besides a haunted house it also has a hayride and an awesome corn maze (which isn't just corn but also has scare scenes throughout). Best of all it is opened pretty much every day in October, unlike a lot of haunts that are only opened on Fridays and Saturdays. 2 Headless Horseman located between Albany and Poughkeepsie, this one seems to change its main theme every year and consists of a hayride followed by several highly themed haunted houses and a corn maze. 3 Pennhurst Asylum is pretty close by Pottstown PA in Spring City and is actually a former state hospital that is haunted. Run by the same people that do Bates Motel and is going into its second season adding a second haunt as well as what they're calling a "ghost hunt". Not sure if it's like the real thing like Ghost Adventures or Ghost Hunters but they do stick you in the most haunted place there armed with only a flashlight. If it was actorless that would be pretty scary! In the coming weeks I'll be checking out Bennett's Curse between Washington and Baltimore so we'll see how that one is. I'd also really like to get to Netherworld in Atlanta one of these years.

Yesterday while doing my daily run a bird flew into the side of my head. Today while running a walnut fell off a tree and hit me on the head. I either need to start wearing a helmet when I run or find a less dangerous form of exercise like base jumping or jumping out of a plane and snowboarding down a mountain.

Last: "Lie to Me"- Red Now: "No Matter What"- Papa Roach Next: "Say You'll Haunt Me"- Stone Sour

If the weather cooperates I'll try to get to Dorney Park on Friday, otherwise it'll be Busch Gardens Tampa the following weekend.

Goliath at SFOG last weekend during TPR's Deep South Bash nighttime ERT.

I was thinking about going last night but knew the rain would really ruin the atmosphere along with my attitude. Hopefully next Friday will be better

Definites: Hersheypark Knoebels Dorney Park Six Flags Great Adventure Busch Gardens Williamsburg Busch Gardens Tampa Sea World Orlando Universal Orlando Walt Disney World (many many times after acquiring FL resident status) Legoland Florida Likely: Dollywood Canada's Wonderland Waldameer Europa Park Parc Asterix Other parks on Europe Trip Disneyland Paris Six Flags America Kings Dominion Six Flags Over Georgia Wild Adventures Possible: Sea World San Diego Disneyland/DCA Knotts Six Flags Magic Mountain Plopsaland Bobbejaanland Walibi Belgium Walibi Holland Toverland de Efteling Drievliet Duinrell Gardaland

Hopefully it fades faster for you than the one I picked up did for me, which is closing in on 2 weeks now without fully leaving my chest. I blame the sporadic change in the weather!

Crap, now I guess I have to give in and watch that movie if I want to have any idea what's going on in the park. At least I can still be proud to say I never saw Titanic!

In addition to Dogfish Head Punkin, Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin is a really good one, as is Southern Tier PumKing. Shipyard makes 2 pretty decent ones, Pumpkinhead and Smashed Pumpkin. Then there is New Holland Ichabod and Heavy Seas Great Pumpkin, which should also be available in your area. I didn't really care for the Saranac Pumpkin when I had it a few years ago and don't believe I've ever had the Schlafy, but that one is probably good.

I know I say this too often when it comes to TPR events, but I had such an incredible time and so much fun! I love all the special things Robb and the park managed to set up for us and just how enjoyable the entire day was. Even with only getting 3 hours of sleep the night before, not once did I feel tired or that time was dragging, it all went by so fast and there was just so much packed into the day. The Monster Mansion walk-thru was definitely a highlight and I don't think there was anyone anywhere in the world happier than I was when I discovered Sweetwater 420 Extra Pale Ale was one of the free beer offerings during EBT. Such a great time was had and it is definitely one of the highlights of the year. Thanks to Robb, Elissa, park management, and all the ride ops for putting together this great experience. It was great seeing so many old friends, many that it's been years since I've seen, as well as meet new ones. Don't worry, I won't forget about you, Deep South Bash and every time I hear that song by Simple Minds I'll most likely think about this event before I think about Molly Ringwald, Judd Nelson, and the rest of The Breakfast Club!

It was only a matter of time that this happened, though I pretty much expected Cedar Fair to take out a few more rides for its other parks first. Looks like there will be a bunch of coasters and other rides for Six Flags and other parks to buy up cheap within the next couple of years!

Some firkin of Southern Tier's PumKing at Canal Street Pub tonight. Tomorrow we get Dirty in ATL!

They were incredible live. Some bands with operatic female vocals don't sound nearly as good live as on the album (like Evanescence) but she did a fantastic job and was hitting all the notes.

Finally got the chance to see the Dutch rock/symphonic metal band Within Temptation tonight during their world tour which only included 4 USA dates (6 North American total), and it was definitely worth it! What's hotter than a kickass Dutch chick in leather, a corset, and fluffy white coat with an angelic voice being backed up by a rock band? You can remove the coat and show more skin, that always makes the concert more entertaining, though the music itself was incredible Sharon and crew really rocked Rams Head Live. That girl's got some pipes on her, and the band sure knows how to play! Hopefully next time they do more dates in North America, but if anyone has the chance to see them, I recommend it (as will Dave Thomas). SEE THEM!!!

I can't believe how cruel people can be. Your efforts are amazing, simply amazing. I wish there was more I could do for these poor hippos, they're just gentle giants. Curse you, Disney!

"Iron"- Within Temptation Getting excited for the concert tomorrow!

Thanks again for letting me kick you out of your seat for one ride before I had to go return the Qbots! Hey, if not for you guys I probably wouldn't have even gone to Great Adventure this year, so I'll gladly wait out 1 train, especially for someone who loves Intamin just a wee bit more than I do

Last: "Your Betrayal"- Bullet for My Valentine Now: "Everlong"- Foo Fighters Next: "Die Trying"- Art of Dying