the sound

Really awful tragedy, quite a shock to everyone here. I'd usually agree, but in the context of the Gold Coast Bulletin I think it's relatively merited. The Theme Parks are a massive part of the Gold Coast's economy and consciousness, the whole city has a genuine vested interest in what's happened so it's probably reasonable that the town's only serious local newspaper reflect that. And to be fair, that paper is mostly pictures anyway. They've also had some of the relatively more accurate reporting over the past two days, I'd recommend them as a source if anyone wants to keep close tabs on what's happened. Also four deaths at once in any context in Australia is pretty rare, it's important to keep that in perspective; we're a small population after all.

Any person / activist group / corporation / what have you with a vested interest in any side of a debate or issue will manipulate in order to gain support. That goes as much for Seaworld's PR department and any other group decrying the film as 'propaganda' as it goes for the actual film itself. My point is more that people have been questioning the treatment of animals used for entertainment purposes for a longtime now, well before Blackfish came out. I feel like most people would be uncomfortable seeing an elephant or a bear in a circus in 2015, irrespective of how well looked after the circus can claim them to be. What I can't comprehend is how that's not the same for an Orca or any other large sea mammal. But I could be completely wrong about attitudes to circus animals to begin with. From scrolling through this thread its pretty clear my opinion is in the minority, so i'll butt-out. I came to have a look because a mate asked me what rollercoaster fans thought of the whole thing so I've got my answer for him now. But it's been an intriguing read nonetheless.

Why does it have to be the 'blackfish' kool-aid and not the Sea World kool-aid that has allowed people to accept such a questionable practice as the norm for so many years? I seriously struggle to comprehend how this is even a debate in 2015, excluding how you feel about the particular manipulations of the film which has brought this whole issue to the fore.

Thank god.

Heh, first time in about 5 years that this tiny list has changed for me. --Generator: Jordan's Ballot Helper 2012 (wood)-- --Ballot: 6ef3acfcfd6-- LOCATION FOLLOWS THIS LINE (LEAVE THIS LINE AS IS) ~"Melbourne, Australia" NAME FOLLOWS THIS LINE (LEAVE THIS LINE AS IS IN Ballot) ~"Ryan Graham" RANK THE FOLLOWING RIDING SENSATIONS <-LEAVE THIS LINE AS IS Sensation of Speed_________________________,y,y,1 Floating Airtime___________________________,y,y,2 Out of Control Feeling/Directional Changes_,y,y,3 Abrupt Airtime_____________________________,y,y,4 Positive G's/Loops_________________________,y,y,5 Lateral Forces_____________________________,y,y,6 COASTER NAME PARK LOC <--Please leave this My Favorite Steel Anypark Anywhere **,y,n,1 Tonnerre de Zeus Parc Asterix FR,y,n,2 GhostRider Knott's Berry Farm CA,y,y,3 Stampida Port Aventura ES,y,n,4 Scenic Railway Luna Park-Melbourne AU,y,n,5 Tomahawk Port Aventura ES,y,n,6

^Sage.

6/10: Also, this thread is ridiculous. Rating usernames? Seriously?

I maintain that DP are one of the more overrated bands of the last 20 years. Don't get me wrong, the first five or so tracks off of Discovery are amazing and create great feeling - likewise with a select few from Homework but outside of that it's fairly generic French house music without much innovation or variation. Much prefer Air tbh if we're going down that genre/era.

It's un-australian to hate on Lethal Weapon mate.

Nah not interested in meeting up or going to SFMM, we only have three and a half days so and I kinda want to do some other things in LA. Keeping that in mind, would Knotts be better on the Monday?

Hey, I haven't posted here for a long time. I'm on holiday from Australia an i'm in LA over the Luther King holiday weekend, and we're planning a visit to KBF. I'm wondering which of Saturday, Sunday or Monday would have the shortest waiting times/ be less crowded etc. From what i've read, Disney is ridiculously busy on the Monday but SFMM isn't, so i'm curious as to what the situation is with KBF. Any replies are very appreciated.

Boyfriend - Best Coast, a new favorite song.

^ No, it wasn't lol. It's only rated MA in Australia unedited ( ie, 15 years and over) so yeah, we watched it.

The Reader We watched The Reader in history class last week, quite a thought provoking film. It is adapted well from the novel, and supports the rather general view of the holocaust, in that it's perpetrators were mostly indifferent to their actions. Kate Winslet does an excellent, although not fantastic job as Hana, the same with David Kross who has made a living from portraying the holocaust. Some aesthetically beautiful scenes contrasting the bleakness of reality and the beauty of innocence between when Michael (the main character) sees Hana as his lover, and when he sees her as his obligation towards the conclusion of the film. However, i think in terms of content the film makes a vital error, in that it lets Hana off to easily as a holocaust perpetrator, almost using her illiteracy as an excuse to kill time and time again. Overall however, a great film.

Melbourne has no fairs. What is annoying me? I have my year 12 International Studies exams a day before the rest of my normal year 11 exams, meaning I'm probably going to fail math's methods as a result of hardcore studying solely for IS. Stupid VCE.