Ed Farmer

You're at the top of the vertical spike on a Vekoma GIB in short order.

is all sorts of awesome.

That's impressive. That's actually a genuinely helpful gesture with substance. I wonder about the guy, though. In recent months, he's been reaching out very publicly to a few people, Lindsay Lohan and the recently departed ex-LAPD officer that killed 4 people and was the subject of an extensive manhunt, among several others. It kind of reminds me of people who are everyone's best friend when they're sloshed. If that means actually helping people who could use the help (and not just showing up at a children's hospital with photographers and a camera crew for 15 minutes and then booking it once they're done taking pictures as "evidence" of what a great person they are- as too often happens with athletes or celebrities) - then that's great, no harm in that.

Python at Busch Tampa. I hate to see Arrow coasters taken out for good, but I'm indifferent when it comes to the most basic Corkscrew production model.

You could probably find people waiting in line for Freeze- probably even a handful that have already ridden Freeze- that would be surprised if you told them it does just that.

Has anyone actually experienced wait times that would warrant the addition of a transfer track and purchase of an extra train? I don't think I've ever waited more than 30 minutes for anything at Mt. O.

Any of Vekoma's Flying Dutchmen come to mind.

I've always thought that this ride has a great layout. If they can solve comfort issues with this refurb, then it's a great idea.

40% of Twitter's function is fake celebrity accounts. No doubt, but John Wardley?

Probably the most memorable time on a roller coaster I've had were on Iron Wolf at Great America during a year that the park stayed open during the first week of November for Last Blast. Conditions were wintery, and at the end of the day we started seeing a mix of freezing rain and some snowflakes. The ride itself was probably running it's course slower than usual, but the blast of frigid air we were subjected to in the front row made it seem faster than I ever remembered it. Great stuff.

Power Tower is only slightly less intense and has better ridership than Space Spiral. No dirty as sin glass to obstruct the breathtaking view of north central Ohio, 'Murica either.

That actually sounds like something you could touch on- Hype/Rider reaction then (I'm assuming there was buzz/fair amount of hype for the world's first looper) vs. Hype/Rider reaction now (Virtually nonexistent).

Nice to know that someone took the time to create a fake John Wardley account on Twitter.Wow.

A Sally product integrating IMAX highlights of Sanctions announcements in 3D will certainly be something to behold. Maybe they can borrow a page out of Six Flags' book and add fire and onboard audio of random movie quotes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxlzH65ywtg Step aside, winners of Mitch's poll and Golden Ticket awards. Step aside.

These things are pretty much the new Ferris Wheel. I wasn't around for the heyday of the Intamin Triple Wheel, only the end- but I recall often reading that those would be the ones to take that designation. I live near Great America. Since one of these is bound to sprout here any day now, hopefully they name it Sky Whirl and deck it with red/white/blue instead of the day-glo we've seen thus far.

Brilliant idea. I hope it kindly stays confined to within Disney.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yj2tNbhS_ko

I thought Reverse Blast took what was my favorite part of the ride (shooting up the vertical spike and falling back) and turned it into a mundane stretch of track. Took the oomph out of a launch which didn't have much to begin with as well.

Glad it's only for the upcoming season. Too bad they're doing this- if it ain't broke, don't fix it. The ride is fine as it is.

WTF kind of a name is Kekua? It sounds like something you would name your pet if it was a tropical bird. Big warning flag right there. But this is sad. By 'this', I mean the sick TMZ hyena-like nature of our society nowadays. Who cares if he's diddling an imaginary girlfriend? He probably has mental or emotional instabilities. I was stunned that this was the topic of conversation on my sports radio station the entire 25 minute drive home after work.

I'm curious about the solo album. I have two of Jim James' non-MMJ albums- Tribute To (6 George Harrison covers he recorded shortly after Harrison died) and Monsters of Folk (collaboration between him and a few other vocalists). I dig Tribute To, but haven't been able to get into Monsters of Folk despite making an effort to. Purely speculating- I get the feeling it may go more along the lines of what Radiohead does, for example. Something that dabbles a bit in electronic stuff(samples/loops/drum machines). I know there is a track floating around out there, but I'm going to hold off until the full album is released. If it's as good as Eddie Vedder's solo stuff, which is excellent while (importantly) being different enough from his day job in Pearl Jam- that's the best case scenario. Either way, that means that he's hitting the road again in the not too distant future. I'll be there.

Flew out to New York at the end of the year to catch My Morning Jacket play three shows at Capitol Theatre in Port Chester. My Morning Jacket does this cool thing called Spontaneous Curation, where they won't repeat songs during events like this, so no song was played twice over the course of the three shows- we were treated to roughly seventy songs over the course of these three nights. 12/27 Heartbreakin Man X-Mas Curtain Outta My System Evelyn Is Not Real Octoplasm The Way That He Sings Off The Record Steam Engine Sooner Thank You Too! You Wanna Freak Out Nashville to Kentucky Strangulation! Smokin From Shootin Tyrone (Erykah Badu cover) It's About Twilight Now Mahgeetah Encore: Butch Cassidy Bermuda Highway Welcome Home The Day Is Coming Cobra Gideon 12/28 Wonderful (The Way I Feel) Golden Tonite I Want To Celebrate With You The Dark It Beats For You First Light The Bear Rocket Man (Elton John cover) Lowdown I'm Amazed Old September Blues Carried Away (Carl Broemel song) It Makes No Difference (The Band cover) Dondante Librarian I Think I'm Going to Hell Phone Went West Encore: At Dawn Highly Suspicious Dancefloors Holdin On To Black Metal Touch Me I'm Going To Scream Pt. 2 12/29 Circuital Evil Urges Lay Low Anytime War Begun I Will Sing You Songs Honest Man Aluminum Park Slow Slow Tune Where to Begin I Will Be There When You Die Master Plan O Is the One That Is Real What A Wonderful Man Easy Morning Run Thru Movin Away Encore: I Will Be There When You Die Victory Dance Touch Me I'm Going To Scream Pt. 1 Wordless Chorus All Night Long (Lionel Richie cover) One Big Holiday Too many highlights to choose from- they're such a great band to see live. I think it might have been the 25 minute long version of Dodante during the second show if I had to choose. They have a knack for stretching songs out live- something I'm usually not a fan of- but it works nicely for them. Coming into 2012 I had no idea about this band. I had heard of them, but not their material. I went to go see them at Pritzker Pavilion back in August, so I made an attempt to familiarize myself with their material leading up to that show. I was surprised, because it was nothing like what I was expecting it to be. I would say they're among my favorites at this point. If you haven't given them a listen yet, I suggest The Tennessee Fire, At Dawn, and It Still Moves as starting points. I don't think there is one filler song between those three albums. Lowlight of the three nights was the Lionel Richie cover towards the end of night three- it's an f'ing terrible song and Lionel Richie is an awful human being. I left my seat to position myself closer to an exit for the finale as this was going on. Lastly, Capitol Theatre was a really cool venue. Kindly, we were told that the barcodes on the ticket can be redeemed for soundboard recording of all three shows. Lay Low - War Begun/I Will Sing You Songs - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6x0lWMsI9

This. Not sure why people keep saying a giant frisbee type ride when we have quite a few of those in the US already. You're right, but a park can just as easily plunk a Giant Frisbee not made by HUSS or Zamperla and call it "one of a kind". I think the only North American Mondial Giant Frisbee is in Canada, for example. Not saying they're likely to do that, just saying it's happened before.

...and it's wretched commercial- "Ty-Ty-Typhoon is fan-fan-fantastic!" Actually, if it means that we're all treated to that cinematic art again, bring it back- OTSRs and all. Good to see the park starting to grow.

Wow. Looks like it'll be a thing. RCDB pegs it at 165 ft. and 68 mph.