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^But it's actually called "Throat Warbler Mangrove." EDIT: Wretched double post! "Web site not responding" my eye!

^But it's actually called "Throat Warbler Mangrove."

This clam makes me feel so . . . inadequate.

^Hmm--good thing those are stocks, not gallows. He'd be in a fine mess then! Glad you had a good time at my home park. Speaking of the gallows, did you know that Williamsburg is where they tried and hanged Blackbeard's pirate crew?

Hmm--I bet I could find my way there, somehow, that day.

I often go to my home park, BGE, alone, as well as to PKD. In fact, my first visit to WDW was a "sad and pathetic" one, because I was there working at a conference vendor show (had a great time). But if I'm making a long trek to Florida or back to California, I prefer to go with others--more fun, and you can split the room tab!

What? They got around to running two trains on Grizzly? The gods have smiled on you! I can't remember the last time PKD ran two trains on any of their woodies (at least they picked the best one).

And so my weekend of INTENSE ENVY is complete: 1. Derek gets to spend a beautiful Friday at BGEuroburg while I slave away at work not 15 minutes away. 2. The Alveys post pictures of this great-looking park in Spain. 3. My parents just wrapped up a trip to Disneyland and DCA. Oh, the agony of it all . . . But sweet revenge will be mine in June!

Yes, 80 degrees, sunny, beautiful, and I was chained to my desk at the National Center for State Courts, a mere 15 minutes away; you, sir, are an evil, evil man! Well, at least our library had cake and ice cream for National Library Week yesterday. I've been through a few DarKastle snafus--it can be a contrary beast at times, but an excellent ride when it's working (which is most of the time). I do wish they would do something about that empty room where the sleigh just spins around, though (but the new show scenes are good).

Not to mention burnt-out shells of buildings, it seems. Thanks for the update. Haven't checked out the videos, mainly because I still use dial up (but this might be a good excuse to finally switch to broadband). The "penguin standoff" sounds like it comes from "Quentin Tarantino's It's a Small World." Come to think of it, that sounds like a really cool idea.

More of a pro football fan than anything else, Jeff. Go Niners! Hey . . . anyone . . . go Niners? Please . . . Well, when ya picks a team, ya sticks by 'em, sez I.

American Standard introduces the new OSR toilet for the severely flatulent.

I didn't know that Nemesis had that alien-eyeball-and-blood themeing (shades of Great America's Demon when I was in high school, at least when it comes to the blood). But are you sure it's blood? Perhaps someone gave Nemesis a "nice Hawaiian Punch." I'm looking forward to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, actually--the book was my "Harry Potter" when I was a kid.

Thanks for the link--Kumali looks great. Looking forward to checking it out in June.

Cliff's reminds me a bit of Mickey's Grove outside of Lodi, California (only Mickey's didn't have any coasters, and I'm not sure it even exists anymore). If you're going to Santa Cruz, you might want to consider Bonfante Gardens in Gilroy. It's not too far from Santa Cruz, and it's a nice family park with one of the best car rides anywhere, I think. (There are pics posted on TPR.)

Springfield is wherever it needs to be at the moment. It's a state of mind, and an out-of-body experience. It's microcosm of a macrcosm, a will-o-the-wisp, a grating noise (oh, wait--that's Cannery Row). Well, Springfield is like Margaritaville--it's wherever you want it to be.

^^Now she is truly Wonder Woman.

Nice work, gents. It was, indeed, a good day at PKD--thanks for haging out with me, Jeff. (By the way, some of my little digital video of Ricochet did work, and although it isn't something I'd post on the boards, it's not a bad little souvenir.) And here's a few pics of my own to round out the day (I'm forming a little "Photo TR" story, that I might post later, if it pans out--sort of a "hard-boiled" mystery tale.) EDIT: Oops! Bizarre double post--can't seem to delete the first one, though. And remember kids, since smoking kills, you may as well crush your butts out in this cool ashtray. "With a Rebel Yell, she cried more, more, more . . ." And she was running both forwards and backwards today. After hacking through the treacherous jungle underbrush, we at last encounter the menacing Anaconda in its native habitat. Grizzly--one onery ol' bar that'll chew you up, spit you out, and chew you up again. My favorite of PKD's woodies. Volcano from the Eiffel Tower.

Nice work, gents. It was, indeed, a good day at PKD--thanks for haging out with me, Jeff. (By the way, some of my little digital video of Ricochet did work, and although it isn't something I post on the boards, it's not a bad little souvenir.) And here's a few pics of my own to round out the day (I'm forming a little "Photo TR" story, that I might post later, if it pans out--sort of a "hard-boiled" detective story.) Volcano from the Eiffel Tower.

Spider-Man's story is pretty easy to follow, especially if you're familiar with the comic books (and know Spidey's enemies). But DarKastle's story needs more set up because it doesn't spring from an already familiar source.

Ah, but Matter Eater Lad could eat anything and never seem to gain an ounce. (His girlfriend should've been "Laxative Lass.")

Now here's a little something to bring out the theme-park geek in us all--a change in the queuing procedure for Curse of DarKastle at BGEuroburg. DarKastle uses as a preshow a short, animated tapestry in the castle waiting room. In the past, small groups of guests would be admitted into the room for the preshow, then ushered through a "secret door" to the castle stable to board their golden sleighs for the ride itself. One cool part: at the end of the preshow, at the words "frozen in time," the room's lighting would switch to an eerie, icy blue. Not tonight, though. Busch has installed a short roped-off queue in the preshow room; so, guests now shuffle past through the room while the preshow plays in a continuous loop. I suppose this does speed up the line and shorten the wait. However, it hurts the preshow. Under the old procedure, the small groups of guests would actually become quiet and watch the preshow, thus getting the ride's backstory. But tonight, I presume because they were merely in another "line," guests talked right through the show and gave it no mind. The blue-light effect was gone, too. Although I understand why this was done (that is, to shorten the waits), from a story perspective, it's not so hot. Of course, this may just be a temporary measure that Busch is trying out.

Matter Eater Lad can so kick all their butts. (Now there's an obscure one for you--he was a member of the Legion of Super Heroes, along with Superboy.)

Well, heck, if it worked for "User A" and "User B" . . . "I was a lost soul until I upgraded to User A 1.01."

I think Hal Jordan did have the longest tenure of the Earth Green Lanterns. There was the original "golden age" Green Lantern, too--I can't remember his secret identity, but he wore a cape and his power ring had no effect on items made of wood. (Too bad his arch enemy wasn't some renegade pro ball player named the "Louisville Slugger.") Oh, my misspent youth . . .