AllenA07

I saw Saving Abel last Saturday. It was a decent show, not really into the whole southern rock thing, but it was free so all was good.

I'm pretty sure I could drive a ball from Lidge this year.

Personally I don't think you need to sit up at night worrying about this, I simply don't see it happening.

I drove by the new Cowboy stadium about a year ago when going to a Rangers game. I was taken back by the sheer size of it, the thing really is massive.

We had a joke in a class I took years ago that you can tie all European history (after 732 that is, before that it is Roman history) back to the Battle of Tours. So you could always throw that down for all your answers.

Stay out of the designated scare zones, easy as that. Also if you're a guy they're not really going to focus much on you anyway. As a side story, one of my favorite moments working at the park came during Fright Fest. I worked a show up on Samurai Summit near Ninja. I ran a sound system which we kept right behind a wall (the stone wall that lines the area up there), so unless you went looking for it, you were not going to see it. As part of the entire thing they dressed me in a black t-shirt and black slacks, so at night I was basically impossible to see. Anyway when night would fall and they would begin doing their scaring thing up there. For some reason when people get scared they'd tend to retreat to a wall, often that same stone wall I was working behind. Now I was under strict instructions that I was not allowed to scare people, yet at the same time I was told to always be friendly. No problem! After the person had been scared they'd retreat back to that wall where I was working. I would (quietly) come up behind them, and then simply say "hi." Let me tell you, people never expected the guy hiding out behind the wall. Now there were times where I would just give in and go all out for the scare. After listening to a bunch of teenage girls basically talking about how it wasn't at all scary and making fun of everything going on I decided that I just had to praticipate. On that one I got as low as I could and snuck around down the hill just a little bit. I layed low for a second, and then basically sprinted up the hill screaming. Needless to say, they didn't see me coming, and I ensured that they got the scare they they had paid for. Not that any of you cared about my stories, but I enjoyed reminiscing and really that's all that matters.

This does seem like a step towards the end for SFKK. What it does almost sound like is that SFKK is going to become a water park with a small amusement park to go along with it, rather than a amusement park with a water park to go along with it.

First off lets not call an entire profession sleazy. Are there bad lawyers? Yes. Are all lawyers bad? No. Now as far as punitive damages, I don't think that this is a situation where punitive damages would really come up. Unless it is discovered that Knott's has a large book of records showing that they knew that the cable had problems and was at the breaking point for the last few months, punitive damages are not likely to be awarded. What Cedar Fair is likely to do here is pay a small amount (medical fees plus maybe a little bit more) of money, My guess is that it's going to be between $10,000-$20,000 total. Keep in mind that the plaintiffs don't have to agree to anything if they want they can try and push this all the way to trial. Also we don't know that these people are going to sue! Maybe they're just so happy that they are safe and maybe they're not looking to make a quick buck. I think if I was hurt I would sue to recover medical fees (assuming that I was hurt enough to incur medical fees) but from the video I just don't think there is much of a case here. They did not appear to be that badly hurt. And besides not everybody likes to sue over every little thing, it's expensive to sue and for a lot of people much more stress then they want. If they do sue it'll be some nominal settlement simply because it's expensive and time consuming to go to court.

That is one of those draw backs, it is cheaper to settle then to bother with litigation. Not to mention that if this were to somehow become a big deal (which I'm sure isn't going to happen) it is terrible press for the park. Better to pay out some incidental sum (My guess is Knott's will offer between $10,000 and $25000 total) to make the situation go away.

For the record I'm not saying that I personally think that they deserve to get any compensation! However I would be shocked if they didn't at least try to sue and make some quick money, that's just how people do things. Even if they're not injured a lot of people see these as opportunities to make some money. We read cases where people recover for slipping on banana peels in train stations. If you can recover from that I'm pretty sure that you can find some way to recover something for having a steel cable explode on you.

As far as people talking about their reaction I agree that it would be difficult if you were not in the situation. It does appear from the video that the kid is freaking out, and it is very possible that the father was unaware of how badly his child was injured. Not to mention that they were on the ride, they know something serious occurred, and they know that they're hurt. A few months ago I shattered a large glass candle holder, right after it happened I was a bit freaked out (it broke behind me and glass rained over where I was sitting) and found myself trying to franticly brush glass off me and figure out my injuries. In the end I only had a scratch on my hand, but still when you've got a foreign material all over you, it's natural to want to get it off, not to mention that the fragments were likely hot from friction. I am very interested in why the seat popped loose, I'm pretty sure that's not meant to happen in any circumstance. It'll be interesting to see if that is looked into in more depth and see what the cause was. It does appear that the train did slam to a stop, and I'm sure the partial seat failure is a result of that. If the train can't actually by physically stopped by the brake fins, then we have to assume that something was there that physically forced the train to stop, this would be a good bet to be the cause of the smoke. As always I'm interested in the legal ramifications of this incident. The roller coaster enthusiast inside of me says that if you are going to the park you take on inherent responsibilities of danger and so on and so forth. However the lawyer side of me (which ultimately is the bigger side) tells me that if it were me I'd sue both Knott's and Intamin for the incident. Always the best strategy is to sue as many parties as possible in order to increase your chances of recovery.

My guess is that the cable is decently hot just from friction. I imagine that it would burn if it hit you.

During undergrad the hardest class I took had to either be Russian History, or The History of Jews in Europe 1939-1945. The Russian History course was hard simply because there was so much to learn and I didn't have any background in Russian history. The class on Jewish people in Europe was hard largely due to the complex structure of the holocaust and how it was implemented. In Law School hardest classes go either to Civil Procedure or Wills and Trusts. Civ Pro was nightmarish in every way, all the way up to our 12 hour final exam. Wills and Trusts was hard because I'm not really much of a property law person.

The problem with Colossus is that it could be so much more then it is. I've heard stories of what it used to be like, and now it's nothing more then a family coaster. I personally have always enjoyed the ride, but I'll admit that if there is a wait of more then about 10 minutes (which there seldom is) I'm going to skip it and move on.

I like SFOT, it has a lot of charm for a Six Flags park. It reminds me a little bit of what Knott's Berry Farm used to be like. I still need to get down and ride the rides in Kemah. I went there a few months back while in Houston but the coaster was closed for much of the afternoon and frankly the heat (actually more the humidity) convinced me that it wasn't worth waiting around for the credit.

I think this is a person to person thing. I've known some people to get it done and have no pain at all. When I got it done I had a lot of swelling and was out of the game for a while. I actually ended up going in twice because my first wisdom tooth was removed when I ended up getting an infection and the Dr. refused to take the other 3 teeth. I had the rest out later. Want a fun time? When I had the infection they gave me what may have been the largest pills on Earth. Trying to swallowing something the size of Shaq's fist right after having some teeth ripped out is not a good time.

I disagree with this statement right now. Not to say that you don't make a point, but Cedar Fair is not as healthy as they wish they were. They did not have the explosive expansion that Six Flags has had, but I'm sure they're paying attention to how Six Flags is doing today. What would make the most sense to me would be a slow sell off over several parks (many of which I would expect not to survive) and return to a regional concept. Not saying this is going to happen, but as of right now I see the growth of Six Flags as being the last thing we should expect to see.

I can tell you that while working up on Samurai Summit, I used to direct people that they could get free water by asking at any food establishment in the park. Mind you however, up on Samurai Summit people are not always looking so chipper after walking up the hill in the middle of the summer. I can recall more than a few times when we had to call for medical help for people up there.

Wow! There is a mighty big difference between fainting and death. If I was USH I would be farily upset over this report.

For the first time in years I actually think the Kings might have a chance at the playoffs. While I'm not predicting anything much, I think we'll sneak into the playoffs this year in the west.

Well I'm not going to say much about how I think this ride is going to be, since I'm not going to be riding it anytime in the foreseeable future, and because I'm pretty sure you can't really gauge a ride from a concept video. However I do want to say that I'm happy to see another Intamin Giga getting installed. Frankly I was pretty confident that after MF, this just was one of those things that was not going to happen again. As far as the theme, colors, restraints, number of bolts per support, and anything else that might be wrong with this coaster, I'm confident that by this time next year people won't care anymore.

I'm reading 1776.

The bigger question is how popular is Pony Express. I figured out a long time ago that what we here enjoy in a coaster does not always go hand in hand with what is working for the park. If Knott's was going for a good family coaster then Pony Express may have been a hit. As far as their next coaster it would be great to see a hyper, however I don't really think there is the necessary room to fit a hyper coaster in without taking something else out. I would hate to see the park haphazardly throw a hyper in there ala Silver Bullet. My guess is that the next coaster is going to be something much smaller, that can actually fit in the park without requiring them to bulldoze half the park.

^She throws the cat at you?

This is really sad for me to hear, and frankly I am surprised by it. A lot of people considered BBW to be the best suspended coaster in operation. I never got to ride it, but still am sad to see it go.