QueerRudie

gay joke, gay joke, gay joke.... Just kidding I'll totally agree about Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. Creepy as %$&^. Momie Dearest scared the crap out of me when I was a kid - now it is just two heaping scoops of awesome! NO WIRE HANGARS!! NO WIRE HANGARS!! Joan Crawford: Inspiration for drag queens everywhere... complete with a wire hangar.

Update #6: An X-tra fun Adventure In this update, we're going to take a look at two of the most controversial coaster desgins ever made: The Arrow/S&S 4th Dimension coaster, and the Thrust Air 2000 coasters. Arrow/S&S's 4th Dimension: Arrow Dynamics was well known for pushing the envelope with new ride technology- and in the past had featured some truly innovative designs, including the suspended coaster, the multi-inversion coaster, and later on developing the flawed Pipeline coaster design. Keeping with this tradition, Arrow developed the 4th Dimension coaster in 2002, with great fanfare opening the prototype at SixFlags Magic Mountain The ride suffered immense difficulties- and drove Six Flags to sue Arrow- sending Arrow into bankruptcy. S&S Power, out of Logan, UT, bought the assets of Arrow and has since begun to build coasters again, using a combination of their own technology (See below!) and refining the Arrow systems to new levels. This also includes a much-needed overhaul of the trains, which led to the ride's rebirth as X2 a few years after it's opening. A look at the rail design for the 4th Dimension coaster. A look at X2. (Photo Courtesy Hanno H) TAKE THE TURN!!! (Photo Courtesy Hanno H) For a look behind the scenes at the X2 through Robb Alvey's eyes: [coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=x2_mediaday_frhm[/coastertube] Here's a custom-built recreation of a 4th Dimension coaster (As I'd like to see it!) SCR29.BMP A re-creation of an Arrow/S&S 4th Dimension coaster in RCT II Download the track HERE! And now for the patent: The patent you find here is from 2003- and is the original base Arrow patent by Alan Shilke. You might know Mr. Shilke's name from another recent development- Rocky Mountain Coasters, and their re-birth of the New Texas Giant (NTag). He is credited as the primary holder of the patent for this train design. Arrow-S&S 4D coaster (X).pdf The Alan Shilke/Arrow Dynamics patent for the 4th Dimension coaster THRUST AIR 2000 On a related theme, S&S was the creation of Stan Checketts, whos use of compressed air threw everybody up in the air with the debut of the Power Tower ride systems, featuring air launches and powered drops. In the late 90s, experimentation began with combining the compressed air launch of a Power Tower with that of a roller-coaster design. A tower was modified, a test-vehicle was made- and the Thrust Air 2000 was born. After a few years of testing, the first production coasters were assembled: The first, Kings Dominion's Hypersonic XLC debuted in 2001, followed by Dondonopa in Japan. Both rides were plagued with serious mechanical difficulties in their first years- to the point where Kings Dominion rebuilt and redesigned their trains to handle the stress of constant launching. The ride itself chewed through tires quickly, had problems with the cable smoking (I personally saw that happen more than once!- ed.) and had long lines due to very low capacity. The ride itself went the way of obsolete in 2007. An overview of Hypersonic XLC (Photo Credit: Joel Rogers) Up and OVER: This moment delivered some of the best negative G's on any coaster on earth. Here's a great POV of Hypersonic XLC from PKDCoaster [coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=HypersonicXLC[/coastertube] For our RCT II/III players: Here's a few minor recreations of the ThrustAir 2000 concept coasters: SCR24.BMP RCT II Recreation of ThrustAir 2000 For RCT II Players: Download the track HERE! RCT III Recreation of ThrustAir 2000 And for our RCT II Players: Download the track HERE! Onto the patent: The patent design comes from Stan Checketts himself- and shows the original design for the ThrustAir 2000- complete with the plain-oval design. Later variations evolved into different layouts- and then later on into using the tubular steel designs that evolved from Arrow Dynamics technology. Hypersonic Patent.pdf The Thrust Air 2000 patent from Stan Checketts **************************** So that concludes the Patent Thread update for the week. Let me know what you think- and I'll be back next week with more bizarre and obscure goodness! R.D. Patent Thread Author

GOOD ANSWER! (Perhaps that was the lost answer that Douglas Adams was going to write in the eighth book of the trilogy!)

OK- that's good to know; I had checked the database first before doing anything- and when I looked at it, it appeared normal... (Which is why I didn't see it!)

MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!! My EEEEEVVVILL plan is working... (I'll be posting my park up most likely on Thursday afternoon)

WOW! Two people already in line- and one has their 100 point bonus already IN their points bin... How many others will take the challenge up??? R.D. Games Forum Moderating Team

Yup- that fixed it, Robb- And thanks! R.D.

Hey all- I split this off as I tried it- and it doesn't work for me either: I checked the file extentions in the exchange, and it threw up on me with the same error- Any clues?

Hmmm- Let me check that out! R.D. Games Forum Moderating Team

Hoosier Hurricane, Indiana Beach

A bit of clarification from C.P.M.: You can use the scenery that is IN the scenario itself (The trees, gardens, etc.) BUT you may not import your own scenery into the challenge itself! R.D. Games Forum Moderating Team

YES!!! That would be great if we could get the Moderator's own parks up as well as the other players- but we need to note: The moderators are playing this 'against the other mods' rather than against the general public members- as a certain Moderator here is well known for his RCT II Parks (NUDGE NUDGE DEREK!)- I'm quite pleased so far with the first day of release counts: As of my last check, we had 27 downloads (Not including the 'multiple' downloads) so far- last RCT II challenge, we had 13 at this same point. My 'ideal' goal is 25-30 people to enter this time around- and with the 'scenery restrictions' in place, that is doable.

Disturbing? "The Eyes of Tammye Faye" (About Tammye Faye Bakker- and her lifelong struggle) "Gods and Monsters" (Nuff said.) "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane" (A truly terrifying and disturbing movie with Bette Davis and Joan Crawford). Please reserve any gay jokes to the other threads. Thank you.

^ You COULD always do your own terrain... there's no law against re-terraforming as you go! R.D.

being done now- R.D.

That's OK... Hanno got it!

YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!

The answer is 42. Deep thought told us that YEAAAARS ago. Now what was the question? (Yes, I just mega-geeked out. Get over it.)

You rule!

Sacrilige! Sacrilige! It might be a Wildcat... but it's still an Anton Schwarzkopf gem. Tearing one down is worthy, in my humble opinion, of execution at the hands of 100 screaming babies with colic and gas.

Thanks Hanno, Robb and Matt- Stickies now are there- but no 'annoucnements' are part of that- but so long as I can sticky, I'll be happy- R.D.

Actually- this is what I get... (BTW: Thanks hanno!)

Test for stickiness- this is what I see with the 'options' tab at the bottom of the screen... Am I doing this right, or am I really just plain dumb???

OK: It's up and ready to go- and cross-fed into both a Photo TR (My own perusings of the Big Dipper Coaster on 'tour') as well as the exchange. In addition, I'm sending out the requisite 'tweets/fb updates' to the appropriate people tonight, so they can be sent out tommorow morning for all to see. Have fun- I'm really hoping to drive this challenge hard! R.D. (Matt or Robb- I'm still not finding how to 'sticky' or 'announcement' these things- how do I do so, or if I'm not able to in my current 'powers' could one of you do so? Thanks!)

Well, folks, here it is. My very first formal TR of Teh Big Dipper Coaster, and a journey throughout the western parts of the USA: Arizona, California and Oregon. I decided, as the new TPR Challenge is starting today, to post up a 'journey' of how Teh Big Dipper coaster is looking for a new home- and the different places it has been 'spotted' in the past few weeks. SATURDAY: 21 May 2011: An early morning departure puts me and TBD at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, for a trip to LAX and onto San Francisco. It was warm. REALLY WARM, as at 8:00 in the morning it was already 82 degrees. I was happy to get out, as we all know, too much heat can cause a coaster to warp and dry out! Boarding Pass, Check. TBD, Check. Breakfast from PHX to LAX- I hope this is an Elissa-Approved Breakfast! LAX showed me the best, as usual. Having to change planes, I found that Southwest Airlines did a marvelous job of placing my connecting gates AS FAR AS POSSIBLE APART. I don't blame Southwest, though. I blame LAX. It sucks that much that it forces good airlines to do bad things. Welcome to LAX. We've turned off the sun today. Sorry for the inconvienience. Perhaps taking a private plane would have been better! The 'Escape from LA' Plane- and look! More clouds! Some kinky airplane porn. Arriving early at SFO, a trip to the wine country was not only wanted- but needed, too. So, leaving SFO, we drove up to Sonoma, and to the Benziger winery therein. Tasting many wonderful wines in some of the best weather I've ever had was a great way to unwind from the travails of travel. A short side trip then took us to the Imagery Winery- where I found some of the niftiest wines- as did TBD! Benziger's beauty knows no bounds. Imagery Winery, Sonoma, CA. RECCOMMENDED HIGHLY! YOU MUST GO (So long as you're over 21, that is!) Wow OUI! from Imagery Winery. If you go there, ask for Carolyn in the tasting room. She's a hoot! SUNDAY, MAY 22: Off to San Jose, and to see a good friend of mine in a stage play there. The weather was, once again, flawless- in the 70s and low 80s with lovely breezes. A nice lunch in San Jose (across from where the nasty, evil Sharks were getting their butts kicked by Vancouver) and then off to see Much Ado About Nothing. Following the show, it was time for a nice evening food-fest at Fernando's in San Mateo, CA- where one can have their eardrums blown out by a Mariachi band so loud you can hear them... In Havana. Peggy Sue's is a -phenominal- place to have a burger, fries and soda- and at some of the best prices in the Bay area. Highly reccommended by TBD and myself. TBD gets to see Much Ado About Nothing- and liked it! After a great show, Fernandos in San Mateo is our next stop- for some great food and a mariachi band so loud you could hear it... in Cuba. THURSDAY, MAY 26: After a time warp opened up and ate up three days (Sorry, folks, those days aren't interesting!) we were off to Oregon- and the Shakespeare Festival therein. It's about a 7 hour drive from SF to Oregon, so one tends to leave mid-day for an evening arrival in Ashland, OR. Along the way, we meet up with some interesting things... I see a StarFlyer and a mutated Impluse coaster... Oh, and one of those B&M thingies. Teh Big Dipper does look good amongst trees... TBD is also Pet Friendly... perhaps for a Wild Cat or a Wild Mouse? For a hotel, their food was actually quite good- and reasonable, too! FRIDAY, MAY 27: A wet, chilly and generally gray morning awaits us in Ashland, as we begin a tax-free shopping trip to Medford. Along the way, we see some interesting sights- including the weirdest car in the world. That evening, we opened up our show odyssey with a few plays at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival- which much like a good theme park, there's some winners... and some losers. I keep waiting for this car to squeak at me. TBD looks GOOD on it, though! WHeeek! WHeeeek! WhEEEEEEEEK!!! SATURDAY, MAY 28: This Morning started out bitterly cold- and rainy. A nice breakfast of Carbs, Carbs and more Carbs started out our day, followed by some lovely scenery in Lithia Park. Plays abounded, seeing "The Language Archive" followed by "Julia Caesar (Yes, they DID do a gender-inversion for this one..) MMMMMmmmmm Waffles! Perhaps Teh Big Dipper would look good next to a creek? The Dam weather was rather gloomy and wet. I wanted to cross over a bridge to the other side of the creek... but this sign was posted. I wondered WHY? A few yards away, there was THIS sign... and I decided to not cross the bridge. Seeing yet another show. Teh Big Dipper coaster did NOT like it; it was very bland! SUNDAY, MAY 29: Today was our last day in Ashland, so I wanted to go and see some things. I keep on forgetting that Ashland is 'crunchier' than even my beloved Bay Area home, and that you will find strange signs and postings everywhere... Ummm.. Poor Kitty! The reason she's trying to escape is that she HATES THAT NAME! Thank you, I prefer chicken, beef or pork. Hair is too hard to eat. And when I'd thought the weirdness had ended, I found these... Confused? And we wonder why there's gender confusion in this world??? Our final play was a rendition of "To Kill A mockingbird" to which TBD coaster went to sleep... soundly. Fortunatly, escape from the land of the 'crunchy' wasn't too far behind- to which I found something truly, TRULY bizarre... Last to see... and was a good nap, too! It's Robb's Restroom! Hell, even TBD Coaster got into the act! MONDAY, MAY 30: After a late night arrival, It was time to go out and search for... DOMO! I had not yet been able to find a Domo I was happy with, so it was off to JapanTown (A small-sub city of San Francisco) to find a Domo. What I failed to realize was this: THERE IS THE MOST EPIC DOMO STORE ON EARTH THERE. We're talking Domo up to SIX FEET TALL. Domo Hats. Domo Shoes. Domo Plushies. Domo Shirts. Domo Mugs. Domo Money Clips. Domo Wallets. Domo Stationary. It was -amazing. It was there that Domo came home with me. "Is this Japantown or are you happy to see me. Oh wait. It's Japantown." A new friend is met... and over danish pastries in Japantown, too. Domo likes seeing Teh Big Dipper Coaster alongside the beach... WEDNSDAY, JUNE 1: Time to go back to work in the deserts of Arizona. THe three of us headed out to SFO, obtained our boarding pass, and headed down to the gate, leaving on a Jet Plane. TBD, Domo, and my boarding cards wait for me while I get a soda. "We just happened to catch this MD-90-30, NUDE, getting serviced at SFO" The typical Southwest Airlines 'Dinner' Service from SFO to PHX- Nuts, nuts and more nuts. Oh, and there's peanuts there, too. Domo already knew to have his seatbelt fastened at all times for takeoff and landing. So, has this trip report left you STUMPED??? You soon won't be! IF you play RCT II, you could win a set of Teh Big Dipper Coasters- and a HUGE TPR Bag of Crap- as well as the pride and glory of knowing how great an RCT II player you are! See the TPR Challenge HERE! If you DON'T play RCT II, you can get your own set of Teh Big Dipper Coasters- click on the link HERE! (No, the plugs weren't planned in, but I thought it might be nice to do so- The TR really was to try making a Photo TR for the masses to enjoy along the way!) R.D.