VinTheAttendant

You should have no problem finding sources confirming the safety of amusement park equipment. There is an entire industry that wants to reassure the public that their products meet safety standards as well as the thrills they offer. I think it would actually be harder to look up valid sources against your argument. If you find yourself in a one-way battle (because let's face it, amusement parks are very safe), look up Congressman Ed Markey; he is thoroughly convinced that amusement parks are out to murder your family. Best of luck with this paper!

I just finished I Am America (and so Can You) by Stephen Colbert. I got a number of great laughs from it. If you're a fan of the Colbert Report, than you would more or less likely enjoy this book. The sequel, America Again: Rebecoming the Greatness We Never Were'nt, is coming up on my list, but first my girlfriend wants me to try the Stephanie Plum series since I had been asking for recommendations on good comedies. While I'm at it, anybody recommend any good comedies?

Kashmir - Led Zeppelin

The piece of track on Powder Keg that brings the train to the launch is pretty unique. Most moving track segments are typically limited to one plane while this one moves both vertically and laterally.

I've got such strange luck. On any regular day, all of life's random mishaps happen to me, but I am always the one who comes off of the river rapids ride completely dry. So my friends and I took a trip to Six Flags Great Adventure on the hottest day of the summer last year; and though we are definitely a more roller coaster geared crowd, my girlfriend really wanted to go on the rapids ride to cool down. Knowing how well I handle rapids rides, I reassured everyone that the one person on our boat who would not get soaked would be me. However, in a strange turn of events, I got completely drenched, my friends were soaked down to the skin, and my girlfriend (who was sitting right next to me) barely had a drop of water on her. So while me and the others were satisfied, my girlfriend wasn't. There was barely a line, so we went again. Once again, my friends and I got cascaded upon, and my girlfriend got off completely dry. We decided to go for it one last time (because it really was freaking hot out), and we even switched up the order of who sat where. By the end of the ride, I had probably gained about ten pounds in soaked clothes, my friends' sneakers squelched every time they took a step, my girlfriend...still completely dry after a third run.

Oh...my...God.....Jurassic Park 4 has been confirmed! It's coming out June 13, 2014. It's a bit early to speculate, but I hope it's a lot more like the first movie (one of my favorites of all time) and a lot less like the third movie (one of my least favorite movies).

Maybe it's just because I'm a coaster nerd, but I find it pretty incredible how people doubt the safety of rides; though a part of me figures that the guest wants a bit of verbal reassurance that their life is in good hands when they board the ride. Needless to say, it is fun to have a little fun with them if this is the case, but I never lied to them when I was their attendant. A rather common case: Guest getting strapped in: Am I going to die? Me: Well...yeah, of course Guest: *Eyes grow huge* Me: Someday, but not on my ride.

20/26, but should have been 21/26. In smug overconfidence, I accidentally clicked the wrong option on one that I knew and clicked enter.

Flying out of Bradley International en route to Florida, we took off on the North-West runway. As the plane turned around to head South, we got a nice long glimpse at Six Flags New England from our left side. Theoretically, I could probably also see my house from where we were, but screw it! Roller coasters!

^On that note, bike riders who don't signal at all. I tend to use the hand signals, especially when I'm riding my bike through the city, but a LOT of drivers surprisingly don't understand what the signals mean and think I'm either trying to wave at them or just posing like an idiot. I have a feeling that other, more experienced bike riders who don't signal don't for this very reason. But I drive defensively and always give bikes plenty of room.

Happy New Year TPR! I look forward to another 365 days of awesome!

This is the first year in a long time where I have no clue what it will be. But, at the moment, it's looking like Gatekeeper well into the depths of summer. It's not going to be a very coaster-y year for me.

The Black Keys - "Little Black Submarine"

I've been getting back into RCT3, but it's been having a bit of trouble with the tower rides. For whatever reason, after a while, my observation towers/drop towers will refuse to let peeps off the ride; and they continue to ride it again and again until I close down the attraction. Reopening it doesn't fix it. Anyone ever get this problem?

Aside from my Secret Santa gift: Cedar Fair Platinum Pass I Am America (And So Can You) and America Again by Stephen Colbert A guitar capo/tuner A device to plug a guitar into an iPod/iPhone A Colbert Report shirt Star Wars Pajamas A geek book from Popular Mechanics A pair of gloves An emergency flashlight/charging station A multi-purpose mug shaped like an expensive camera lens About $335 in gift cards and cash And underwear The first two items were the only things on my wish list, so this was a successful Christmas!

Merry Christmas TPR, I have a HUGE smile on my face. Thank you so much Secret Santa. This package arrived at my house not long after the final shipment date. Wow, I haven't even opened the presents yet and already I'm pumped full of glee. That is a very well-written poem as well as comments and instructions for the presents. Awesome! Just awesome! I got a Mark Tremonti album as well as a Kieth Urban album. I'm not sure if my SS knows, but I actually had quite a funny encounter with Kieth Urban before. So that just made this all the more awesome. A bunch of pens shaped like guitars and basses I'm still debating whether or not I should use them. I think I'd be more focused on these amazing pens than what I'm writing. I LOVE Dr. Pepper, and now I can show it off to the world! And the stitch holding all the presents together: the poem. This was so well-written and well-presented. It may just be one of the nicest things anyone has ever made for me To my Secret Santa: Thank you thank you so much! I could have stopped at the poem and still been satisfied, this was just an overwhelmingly nice experience. I hope you had a Merry Christmas. And a thank you to Brandy and everyone else who made this exchange possible. I cannot wait to do this again next year!

For the first time in maybe five years, we finally got a white Christmas!

I made a bet that I would go through the entirety of December 21st without making a single hint or reference to the apocalypse. Mission accomplished Happy 14th b'ak'tun everyone!!

As much as I hate adding to the throwing of Westboro Baptist's Church's name on the web, it's pretty irritating knowing that the group is staying at motels in the town right next to mine. I know they're just attention whores, but what they do is still disgusting as hell, and I feel dirty at the thought that they are an 8 minutes drive away from me.

I'm back in Connecticut for winter break. I did some shopping today, and there was a rather somber mood in all the stores I was in despite the cheery holiday music playing. It completely escapes me thinking of ANY possible way to justify gunning down children, except that gunman was fully aware that what he was doing was pure evil, and he was ok with that. This is just a terrible terrible story. A parent should never have to outlive their child.

I must be dreaming! Finals are over, the semester is over, and Amtrak service is running so well that we are arriving at each stop early!?! Yup, I'm definitely in the Matrix!

48 hours prior to final exam: "No problem! I've got plenty of time!" 24 hours prior to final exam: "If I budget my time, I can ready myself for this test and still have some time to relax, maybe watch a movie." 12 hours prior to final exam: "Oh crap! Maybe I shouldn't have watched that movie!" 6 hours prior to final exam: "I NEED ANOTHER DAY!!!!"

Happy 12/12/12 everyone

I watched two movies over the weekend. The first one was The 12 Disasters of Christmas. I love watching Syfy Channel movies; the sillier, the better. But lately, Syfy has been having a trend of them taking their movies waaay too seriously. The trailer for this and even the title itself practically guaranteed this would be an enjoyably stupid movie. Well, for the first half, it was. There were ridiculous deaths complimented by the crappy effects, and it was all bound together by the premise that the "12 Days of Christmas" song was tied in with Mayan Calendar event that was tied in with Biblical end of days prophecies; and to save the world, our heroes needed to find five golden r-i-n-g-s. It was genius! But, at around the halfway point, the movie began to focus less on the disasters and more on the totally bland human antagonist. I really don't understand why Syfy feels the need to put a bad guy in every movie! Shouldn't the titular phenomenon be the designated bad guy? But I digress, the ending was as clichéd, predictable, and as boring as a Syfy movie can get. Even the 12 disaster were disappointing; some were hardly "disaster" worthy, some were off screen, and I only counted a maximum of ten! Finally, the Biblical references were PAINFUL! The parents names are Joseph and Mary, their daughter (the "chosen one") is named Jacey, the bad guy is Kane, there is a traitor named Jude, and all the disasters happen in the town of Calvary. The second movie I saw was Inglourious Basterds. I'm not too familiar with Quentin Tarantino's style of directing (I'm ashamed to say I have not seen Pulp Fiction and I've only seen bits of Kill Bill). While the plot is solid and it's an interesting take on history, what really captivated me was the storytelling, particularly the dramatic moments. Tarantino took his time with the film's tense moments, and they really felt more unnerving than if they had been rushed just to get to the next plot point. The first fifteen minutes was probably my favorite part of the whole movie. The acting choices were also really well done, particularly Mélanie Laurent as the runaway Jew. The only thing preventing me from loving this movie though is the ending. Our heroes are in a tight situation, but it really seems like it resolved itself too easily, especially for having such an intimidating antagonist. Also, some of the stylistic choices were...questionable. But overall, it's a good movie. It's not something I'd watch often, but the violence alone should guarantee a second watch from me some time in the future.

Got mine in!! RANK THE FOLLOWING RIDING SENSATIONS <-LEAVE THIS LINE AS IS Sensation of Speed_________________________,y,y,1 Abrupt Airtime_____________________________,y,y,2 Out of Control Feeling/Directional Changes_,y,y,3 Floating Airtime___________________________,y,y,4 Lateral Forces_____________________________,y,y,5 Positive G's/Loops_________________________,y,y,6 COASTER NAME PARK LOC <--Please leave this My Favorite Steel Anypark Anywhere **,y,y,1 Boulder Dash Lake Compounce CT,y,n,2 El Toro SFGAd NJ,y,y,3 Comet Great Escape NY,y,y,4 Lightning Racer - L Hersheypark PA,y,y,5 Lightning Racer - T Hersheypark PA,y,y,6 Apocalypse S. F. Magic Mountain CA,y,n,7 Cyclone Luna Park NY,y,y,8 Wooden Warrior Quassy CT,y,n,9 Cyclone SF New England MA,y,y,10 Wildcat Hersheypark PA,y,y,11 Great White Wild Wheels Pier NJ,y,n,12 Yankee Cannonball Canobie Lake Park NH,y,n,13 Grt Am Scrm Mach SFoG GA,y,n,14 Thunderbolt SF New England MA,y,y,15 The Grizzly Kings Dominion VA,y,n,16 GhostRider Knott's Berry Farm CA,y,n,17 Dragon Coaster Playland NY,y,n,18 Comet Hersheypark PA,y,y,19 Colossus S.F. Magic Mountain CA,y,n,20 Coastersaurus Legoland Florida FL,y,n,21 Blue Streak Cedar Point OH,y,n,22 Gwazi-Tiger Busch Gardens-Tampa FL,y,y,23 Rebel Yell Kings Dominion VA,y,n,24 Ghoster Coaster Kings Dominion VA,y,n,25 Georgia Cyclone SFoG GA,y,n,26 Gwazi-Lion Busch Gardens-Tampa FL,y,n,27 Wild One SF America MD,y,n,28 Predator Darien Lake NY,y,n,29 Rolling Thunder SFGAd NJ,y,n,30 Thunderhawk Dorney Park PA,y,n,31 Hurler Kings Dominion VA,y,n,32 Mean Streak Cedar Point OH,y,n,33 Wildcat Lake Compounce CT,y,n,34