Angry_Gumball

Some of the funniest experiences happened this saturday while at SFMW. One wasn't so much being on the ride, but looking at the photos afterwards...some lady yelled at me because I had my camcorder recording the screens. She said "Uh, sir, you can't do that...you can't do that..." After, I looked at the sign and it simply said "No Flash Photography." Anyway, the photo looked like I was taking a huge gulp of water from my waterbottle while riding Roar. Another funny experience was riding Kong, SFMW's hang'n bang coaster with Man. We both overexaggerated our screams of pain and 'ows'. The last experience was riding the new Rock 'n Tug as we were all exaggerating and pretending to be afraid while riding it.

I've been debating whether to buy a DS or not...mostlikely, I will end up getting one to get Mario Kart DS, maybe Nintendogs, and the new Mario Bros. game. As mentioned, many DS games let you switch to 'leftys' as I am also a lefty myself.

No, they corrected their signs...and yes, we suddenly found the word "Blow-Holes" to be funny when petting the dolphins. Also, I did forget to mention that a key water ride ran out of water. As of right now, I'm still chuckling at the whole Blow Hole thing.

I forgot to add: We got a peice of a Zonga bolt and a Zonga nut. As for onrides, I had better luck in Tava's Jungle Land than the rest of the rides in the park. I was real close to POVing Tazmanian Devil and one of the ride ops were gonna let it slide as she was new but the guy said my least favorite 2-letter word: no. Oh well, offride footage can sometimes come out more funny than onride footage. You guys will kinda see when I get pix posted.

Second theme park TR now that I have posted...Anyway, I just want to say it was HOT...very hot. Starting off, we hit the park at opening time. Our first choice was to ride Medusa. Just a 5-train station wait seemed like an eternity as they were stacking trains left and right. Finally, we got on. Great ride as usual...possibly the best 3 minutes ever in the park. Ran smooth. I went and did some off-ride footage as they were strict about onride stuff. Off to Ocean Discovery, I got to pet some slimey stingrays and was the only one from our group lucky enough to touch a dolphin...and then some stupid guy kept aggrivating one of the dolphins by lightly slapping it. The dolphin was ready to take a nip at him that he would have deserved. I headed over to Roar and sure enough, I met "Man." (Member of TPR and WWS) All of us hung out together for the day. Roar ran good as usual as well...they trip out about taking cameras on rides but they let a waterbottle slip. During the ride, I got to watch H2O-airtime as water floated up in the bottle. Roar's wait was a walk-on...no wait at all. From there, we rode V2 and I did some off-ride filming of that. Finally, the moment we were waiting for: Vekoma Bashing! We rode Kong and got a nice rough bangy ride on it. It actually got rid of my headache that I had. I got the brainy idea to ride the Tazmanian Devil (Frisbee) but it was down...We checked out the new Tava's Jungle-land instead and got to ride the rock 'n tug they had. Even got a pov of it and a 'face cam' of all of us on it. We also rode the top spin which was more like a top rock...didn't even flip much. And sure enough, it broke down. First Huss ride to die on us. I wanted to ride Hammerhead so we went to that direction. After being seated and everything, my brother decided to do a "Knotts Berry Farm Crusher" maneuver on me be slamming my restraints down...that hurt like crazy during the ride. It was finally lunch time as this was a company picnic. After that, "Man" gave me a call and told me that Medusa was empty. We headed over to that and sure enough, one more train to wait for and it broke down. We then ditched Medusa after 10 minutes or so of waiting. We then decided to do our second try on the Tazmanian Devil (Huss Frisbee ride) and was finally working until we got there...then it broke down again. We got th watch the "Human-Powered Huss Frisbee" in action..quite funny if you ask me. In a few minutes, it was up again. Stupid ops wouldn't even let me POV a flat ride so I had to stuff my camera into my pockets...(restraints covered my pouch, so I couldn't put it in there.) Back over to Tava's once again and rode the Look-out balloons. I got a POV on that one as well as we were spinning pretty fast. Back over to Roar again but to my non surprise, it was down for the remainder of the day. Finally, "Man" had to leave and we were getting ready to head out. Usual visit to the giftshop and I picked up some shirts that were marked down. I'll post pix probably sometime during the week as most pix will be screen grabs of what I taped.

Lightning & Thunder are awesome...I still have yet to photograph lightning as it's rare around here. On the other hand, tornadoes would freak me out. A funnel cloud did enough for me. I was standing in a McDonalds parking lot watching the thunderstorm when I see this cloud with a pointy tip point downward...It did that for a few minutes and kinda ripped apart, which I felt relieved. Every once in a while, I do get dreams that there's a twister going and I'm grabbing on for dear life as my legs are off the ground being sucked into the tornado.

Giant Dipper at SCBB.

Being as this topic's about waterslides, I found this link while over at WWS.com. No, I do not promote doing this as it is trespassing but I thought it looked kinda cool...especially the Tornado. Water Slide Skating!

I got one better...TPR on GBA! There's a ton of steps to go through to put a video clip on your GBA and you need the flashcard thingy as well. Elissa on GBA

It's still hot here. I hear it's supposed to be worse this weekend (I'm going to SFMW and it's gonna be hotter in Vallejo). Are parks typically less crowded in high heat? I'm expecting a lot of breakdowns as computers crash in heat.

I'm still learning how to ride a skimboard which is basically "Diet Surfing." Basically, things I like to do (which I don't always get the chance) are Paintball, Skateboarding, Skimboarding, and the most extreme sport of all: Driving in CA.

Try working inside a room that's 100 degrees. Let's say I was working in a room that's the size of a 1-car garage full of over 100 computers and all of them were running. AC was maxed out and was still around 100ish. Talk about stuffy, I had to periodically step out of the room. Several co-workers stuck signs up at the door (which faces a security camera) that says "It's very hot in here," "Welcome to the oven," and so on. It was quite funny to see the signs on the door while looking on the security monitors.

Found another stolen video. I was randomly searching for Pee-Wee Herman (Don't ask why) and found the TPR Segway video.

I actually got Mr. Park Inspecter stuck on the park's boundaries using the James Hunt cheat (Dune Buggie). I rammed him into the fencing and he was stuck laying on his side, moving one of his legs like he's riding a skateboard but stuck on the railing.

On the avatar contests, which avatar won the RatTums on a coaster and what did the avatar consist of?

Several POVs have been added: Cave Train Giant Dipper Sea Serpent Kiddie Coaster I just need to get Haunted Castle captured...which came out kinda dark.

I think I may add into the contest. I already have some track completed and need to do some custom supportwork.

Busted collar bone when jumping on a bed when I was 3 years old. My sister was also jumping as well and accidently gave me a shove off the bed. I slammed hard on the floor and that's all I remember.

I have a capturing question for you video editing buffs out there. I'm trying to capture my POVs I took the other day at SCBB but for some reason, the endresult on the computer looks like Venetian blinds...I was told that it has something to do with it being interlaced, meaning that it's set for a TV's framerate instead of the computer...It played fine on the TV with no streaks/blinds. It's just when it's on the computer it comes out like that. I'm capturing the video using firewire and am using Pinnacle Studio 10. Are there any options on there to de-interlace the video? Is there some other software out there that can de-interlace the video when it's capturing? The sooner I get an answer, the sooner I can post 4 POVs that I shot at SCBB. (2 coasters, 2 darkrides) This is the Venetian blind effect I'm talking about.

Ok, here's the pictures from my regular camera. As a sidenote, I'm the guy in the Medusa shirt. Enjoy! I'll end it with a California-style traffic jam on the traditional bumper cars they have. No Heather, the ride's not edible! Round 2 on DoubleShot... The future of flying saucer rides...these were quite fun and unique. T3h C4v3 Tr41n!11!one! (I POV'd this as well.) Closest to flying I'll ever get to... My brother and his buddy are flipping it up on the Rock-O-Plane. Try to see if you can find us... Wheeee!!! (Sorry for the bad quality on this...I did a print screen on the POV video) Finally, a few rides on the Dipper. We're in the train where the hands are sticking up. I'm the only one daring enough to have hands up on this ride...again, to get some decent floater time on high swings. The DoubleShot also takes your photos upon the main blast-off. I'm on the left, bro is next to me, cousin next to bro, and bro's friend on the other side. Wiiiiiii! I'm riding a DS! Finally, the park opens. As a true enthusiast, I demonstrate casual riders how to achieve airtime on a Double Shot. "Step 1: Place arms out..." And even more interesting info about the woman. Some history of the Laffing Sal The LOLing Sal. Inside the "Beach Shack" I hear a loud rumble...which was the 82-year-old coaster going it's daily test run. Yes...What the WTF happened to Doubleshot? It sat up there for 10 minutes with the restraints open. I think my camera may have broken it. Signature shot of Doubleshot through another roller coaster! Wait a sec...wtf? Here's whats left of the original Boardwalk boards. They look quite old. The dreaded Space Diver element on Hurricane. Testing, 1...2...3... Yay! We made it safely to SCBB! Traffic was really light.

Sounds like an interesting night at the Mountain. Stupid drunks always have to mess things up.

I'll have pix up this weekend as I have a ton of pictures to sort through and resize.. (Is there a program that can resize a set of pictures all at once? May speed up the process.) Anyway, me and the rest of the family (and friend) decided to hit up SCBB for the Fourth. We were amazed at how fast we got there. There was no traffic or idiots on the road to deal with. So, we left the house around 8:30 or so and arrived around 9:40 or so...takes about an hour to get there. The rides didn't open until 11:00 so we walked around, snagged a few photos of rides testing and checked out the shops. 10:50-Ticket booths open. We purchased our all day wristbands before the lines got too long. First ride of the day was Double Shot, in which I must add, we were the first riders of the day. Double Shot was actually a fun ride (Personally found it better than PGA's Drop Zone). I had my parents videotape us 4 on it (Me, brother, bro's friend, and cousin). After that, we all split off our own ways...My cousin (Squirmy Wormy who never shows up here anymore) and I buddied up and my bro and his best friend buddied up. After 9 years, I had to take a ride on the Giant Dipper. I also now make it official that my camcorder's no longer a coaster-virgin! I shot my first POV which came out quite decent. Next up on our hit-list was Fireball, a KMG Afterburner/Fireball. This thing had a good spinning program and gave everyone many "High Ends" on the swing. The ride would then slow down making us think it was coming to and end and then it kicks into high gear...fast spinning and full swings. Very fun/intense ride....still feeling the after effects of Fireball right now. We then decided to say 'hi' to Flash Back Jr. or Hurricane (An SDC Windstorm coaster). I was going to POV this one but the ride op said No and for a very good reason...I could have sworn Vekoma had some idea behind this death contraption. I would have lost my camera. Still a fun ride with forceful helices. Few more flatrides such as Cliffhanger (Hang Gliders), Wipe Out (A Breakdance 4, themed to a crazy light show and surfing), and Crazy Surf (Mini Magic Carpet ride that delivers painful airtime.) You can see Wipeout in action here: (I threw this quick clip together tonight) Finally...Credit! I went Elissa-style and rode the kiddie coaster, Sea Serpent. Theming (Or landscaping) was really good for this kiddie coaster. I also got a POV on this as well. Ok, time to get something to eat after a few dark rides (And POVs as well). We stopped at a small corner store for some soda and chips to save a few dollars. Sure enough, a fight breaks out inside the shop. (See SFOG Shooting topic for details that I posted). EDIT: Details quoted from SFOG Shooting topic Back to SCBB, we rode the S&S Double Shot again. As we got off, the ride op accused us of spitting on it when none of us would even do such a thing...we're not that stupid. Few more rides on the Giant dipper and Hurricane/Flashback Jr. and one last ride on Fireball and it was time to leave. All in all, this day couldn't have been any better. Giant Dipper was in 2-train operation all day with 5-minute waits at the longest. Longest wait I had was for Double Shot (Second ride) which was 15 minutes if even that. Yet, the boardwalk was full of people. I was quite amazed at how fast the lines went by. Had I gone to SFMW or PGA on the fourth, I would have been lucky to get 1 coaster in. Here's a few teaser pix for now until this weekend. (These were taken on my camcorder and I have high quality pictures of us on the rides.) Fried Twinkies anyone?? 82 years young and still running good! Cave Lady! (AKA, the spit target!) Wow...what's Robb doing here? Hey SFMM, our mini-Flashback works! Now what? Run! There's a giant on the boardwalk! Panic, everyone! Beginning of the day crowds...kinda like ants swarming to a peice of candy.

Not as bad but I saw a fight almost brew up today at SCBB. We decided to stop at the little corner market to save some money on sodas and sure enough, a group of guys comes in, one drunker than ever...(He looked like he rode one-to-many rides on the tea cups) and he couldn't walk. Another group of guys come in and the drunk dude's running his mouth...shoving is going on and I actually walked (Or plowed) my way through the middle of the fight. A few minutes later, the police had a hold of the guy and was finding out what was going on.

Confirmed, I'm heading to SCBB tomorrow for the day. I'll have a TR posted sometime this week. BTW, has anyone heard the "LOL" firework go off? I heard that it actually makes a laughing noise. If someone has one, take a video of it so I could hear it...fireworks are illegal here and I don't feel like shelling out $5000 to hear a firework laugh.

Ok guys, wish me luck. Tomorrow, (Not the 16th) I'm off to SCBB and plan on doing my first POVs of Giant Dipper and some of their dizzying flats. For storage on my camera, I'm using a fanny pack so things should be secure when I'm not filming. Not trying to be lazy (I tried searching) what tips would you recommend when doing a POV? (Such as holding the camera and keeping it secure) Again, wish me luck and I'll get videos posted ASAP.