harper83087

Those pics are awesome!! Arguably the best construction pics to date, of any coaster, ever?

FAYGO!!!!! Mmmmm nothing like an ice cold Faygo and some Better Made potato chips, Detroit staples for sure. I'm surprised at how far away from home I find Faygo now.

Between B&M's massive track, the heavy trains, and the speed at which the trains will be traveling the footers need to be huge to compensate for the forces being applied. Leviathan will truly be leviathan heh "punny"

That brings back memories! Back in elementary school I used to ride a bike in the same "layout" everyday for a long time....and I'd make up a speil or recite a Disney speil the whole time while doing it. I used to also make "rides" with pushing my siblings in a wagon and do the same. Man, I wish being younger that was fun! Oh that reminds me, my brother had a huge lot at his old house and I mowed the lawn for a few bucks. After I finished my chore I'd do a Universal Backlot type tour around the yard stopping at certain places for the "events" and driving over logs for the hazards etc. Oh what a nerd I was/am

I usually dont care for anything that has to do with haunts but this TR is fantastic. It actually made me wonder how I could make it to CW to check it out haha.

This thing looks fantastic!!! I'd love to get into Knex coasters but I simply do not have the money to buy a bunch of kits to do something like this.

Out of curiosity, did anyone manage to get pictures of the grave yard to support the discussion a few pages back about SoB?

This is the makings of some good coaster porn . Nothing like watching a coaster go vertical and how else can they do that without prepping the site like these pics are showing?

I only started paying attention to contracts and legalities of the league this year. Going back and thinking about it I guess it's not that long. Zetterburg and Datsyuk signed 15 years with the Wings or something close to that when they signed their contracts.

Both ideas are the next logical step for B&M in my opinion. The launches aren't that far away as far as I'm concerned, at least magnetic launches. Sure they won't be the Intamin hydraulic insanity but they will be thrilling for sure. The 4d could go either way I think. A 3rd rail system would be primarily fail safe but a computerized system would be cool as well. The only issue I see with the computerized system would be cost, they'd have to load the track with sensors telling the seats to spin.

Ok, I feel I should let you know that music is one of my “Chatty Kathy” buttons, along with coasters and hockey. I can talk for days, weeks, and maybe even years about music and never get tired of it. So if you have a minute please read this rant since I’m bored and have nothing better to do today haha. Being a poet/lyricist myself I can’t pick just one favorite lyric, but I can say a few of the writers that truly inspire me. First is Corey Taylor of Stone Sour and Slipknot (and true fans know he formed Audacious P, a Tenacious D cover band ). His style perfectly co-mingles anger and happiness, hate and love, envy and lust. He pours every last bit of emotion and then some into the words he spills onto the paper, and usually goes to that emotion when singing it. Those of you familiar with Slipknot’s “Snuff” know what an emotional song that is, and if you’ve seen the making of for that video you see Corey literally break down crying after filming the scene where he shatters the glass in his hands. Slipknot – “Snuff” So break yourself against my stones And spit your pity in my soul You never needed any help You sold me out to save yourself And I won't listen to your shame You ran away - you're all the same Angels lie to keep control... My love was punished long ago If you still care, don't ever let me know If you still care, don't ever let me know... Another good example of Corey’s writing is Stone Sour’s “Miracles”, which is a back and forth between himself and his inner self trying to understand why this un-named person is gone. What he did, what they did, to get to this point of needing a miracle to fix things. These two examples only show the sadder side of his writings, he has many more examples of anger, confusion, love, etc. but I don’t want to ramble on too much. Stone Sour – “Miracles” I've seen it all and I know better - I've felt the bitterness and pain My soul keeps changing like the weather - the only constant is the rain I've known your black and white intentions and there's no room for shades of gray I never asked you to conform to me... I only begged for you to stay My next major influence is going to have to be Neil Peart of Rush. This man has literally been to hell and back and managed to find ways to document his travels. For those of you who don’t know, Neil had a very tragic few years in the mid to late 90’s. His daughter, his only child, was on her way to her first year of college and was in a car accident resulting in a tragic end to her very young life. This took a toll on both he and his wife obviously, but it seemed to hit his wife more. She went into a severe depression and never returned. Six months after the loss of his daughter, his wife passed from cancer. To this day he believes her passing wasn’t the cancer spreading throughout her body, but the depression devouring everything she knew and loved leaving her not wanting any reason to live. This sent Neil spiraling out of control, questioning why he was still on this Earth and searching for a reason to live. He spent 14 months travelling North America by motorcycle in search of this reason. Music was one of the reasons he found. I HIGHLY suggest reading his book about these travels (or any of his books for that matter, they are all very, very good) called “Ghost Rider”, and my first set of lyrics comes from the song of the same name off of the Vapor Trails album. Rush – “Ghost Rider” Just an escape artist Racing against the night A wandering hermit Racing toward the light Neil has a way of describing things in ways that shouldn’t fit into songs. His vocabulary is so vast that I find myself learning new words almost every time I study his material. The way he can explain things that many people take for granted with words that nobody uses fascinates me. But he also has a way of making things so simple it’s almost moronic. His outlook on life is simple, we are here because we are here and we just need to take the chances and learn from the mistakes. “Roll the Bones” is one of my favorite songs by Rush. Rush – “Roll the Bones” Why are we here? Because we're here Roll the bones Why does it happen? Because it happens Roll the bones I’m a huge fan of “New Rush”, as I’ve heard it described. The newer, more rock n’ roll, style of albums like “Test for Echo” and “Vapor Trails” catches my interest every time I listen. This of course is breaking away from the progressive rock that brought them fame with albums like “A Farewell to Kings” and the infamous “2112” with epic 10+ minute songs and long stories told over the course of the album. My favorite of the older lyrics is “Discovery” from 2112. What can this strange device be? When I touch it, it gives forth a sound It's got wires that vibrate and give music What can this thing be that I found? See how it sings like a sad heart And joyously screams out its pain Sounds that build high like a mountain Or notes that fall gently like rain I can't wait to share this new wonder The people will all see its light Let them all make their own music The Priests praise my name on this night This to me is what true music and writing should be about. To me you shouldn’t be able to get fame and fortune because you have a pretty face and can play a catchy song somebody else wrote. You should have to earn respect by pouring your heart and soul into every song you write and allowing people to see your emotions, both in your writing and in the notes you put together in song. Now I understand the idea behind pop music and admittedly I’m a sucker for some good radio rock but music can be so much more. Sully Erna, singer/guitarist/lyricist for Godsmack, describes it best on his solo album “Avalon”. On the inside cover of the album is a few paragraphs of his description of what music means to him. To paraphrase it, music is unknown. We don’t know why it affects us the way it does. We don’t know why the minor chords sound sad and the major chords sound happy. We simply do not know. What is known is the emotion felt with every note. Music has a way of describing things that cannot be put into words. This is why classical music like Bach, Beethoven, Wagner, and the rest are able to take you on this journey of every emotion possible. You’re not sure why you’re feeling a certain way when listening to a certain song but you know you feel it. Lyrics have the ability add to this emotion leaving you with 2+ minutes of sheer musical bliss. My love of lyrics, if done correctly, is they can be so specific yet so broad at the same time. To me if somebody can relate to my lyrics then I’ve done my job. 99% of what I’ve written comes from personal experience and situations I’ve been in, but I like to word them so that hopefully everyone can relate to them in one way or another. Music to me is beautiful. Lyrics and poems to me are beautiful. Personally I believe that if more people took a moment to actually look into what music truly is then the world would be a happier place. Music is the one thing that can tie any race, religion, ethnicity, country, state, gender, and so many more categories together simply because we all feel it the same way. Thanks for reading my rant

Wow that's quite a chunk of time for a hockey contract.

Noted! Thanks I was just thinking out loud yesterday, this makes more sense. That way I can stay by Knotts Saturday then drive home Sunday.

Awesome! Thanks Shawn! Say I wanted to add a day at Knotts, does anybody know a good cheap hotel between the two parks? I'm thinking I may do this now and it will most likely be Turkey day at SFMM, friday at Knotts and Saturday back and SFMM.

So crazy thoughts are running through my head after the release of the 2012 trips. Unfortunately I don't think I'll be able to make it on any of the trips this year but I'm planning a few on my own. I'd like to get back to SFMM before the end of the year and was curious what the park's been like Thanksgiving week in previous years. I noticed they're open Wednesday 11/23 to Sunday 11/27 this year. Seeing as I have a four day weekend I thought it would work out quite nicely. Anybody have thoughts on crowds?

^agreed!! Of course I'm speaking as of my last lap a couple of years ago.

Oh right, didn't put 2 and 2 together...bummer...Sunset is just as fun

Personally I'd follow DJeXeL's plan of attack simply because X2 at night is INSANE

oOoOoh that's a goodun'!! It has one of my favorite lyrics, “We’re just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year.” I prefer "Comfortably Numb" myself, which I think has one of the best guitar solos ever written. But you can NEVER go wrong with Floyd. I highly suggest checking out their Pulse show, great live concert dvd. Pendulum Immersion is one of my favorite albums currently, "Watercolour" and "Self Vs Self" Ft In Flames just flat out rock my socks off I listen to "scary" halloween music all year. Nothing like pulling into the gas station windows down blaring some heavy a$$ death metal , get some really good "ZOMG LYKE ITS TEH DEVIL" looks. Recently though, my metal side has been very very satisfied with Powerwolf's newest album "Blood of the Saints". Has great Iron Maiden, Metallica, and Diamond/Fate influence and is mostly about vampires and werewolves. Currently I’m taking Ace of Spades influence and listening to some Pink Floyd, haven’t listened to them in a long time. Great stuff.

Ooh funny storry about these. I was at my girlfriends place the other day and her mom got a pic from a friend of her and her son on a coaster (it was a pic of the monitor for the on-ride camera). All you could see was the seat backs, the restraints. The idea was to show the sons hilarious expression but I knew instantly that it was Goliath at SFMM and pointed it out. My girlfriends mom looked at me with this confused/concerned look and asked "how do you know that?", almost as if it was like I was stalking her friend. My response was simple, pointed both thumbs to my chest and said "nerd".

Happieness this morning, woke up with enough time to stop at starbucks and get a Salted Carmel Mocha Frappacino and a blueberry muffin...deeeelish

^^Am I the only one who tried to read that in one breath? Not only are facts wrong but I see that person jacked up on red bulls talking at a million miles an hour.

^I don't really want to see DT go, it's a fun "Weeeee!! That was fun" type ride that never has a line when I want to go for a spin. This is just rumblings I've heard from a few friends who work there.

Blue Streak is an awesome classic imo and I love the massive structure of Mean Streak. I hear DT is gone after next season anyway, but I believe Screamscape posted that as well.

^What's the fun if we can't boil things down to every minute detail? haha