mwm1444

^^ If I find that there's time, I'll probably try and make the effort, just out of interest. ^ I highly enjoyed both the novel and the show, and see them as two seperate entities - Wicked, by Gregory Maguire, is the prequel to the Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, whereas Wicked, the musical, is the prequel to MGM's film - at least, in my opinion. The more I see the show, the more I notice the problems, and there are many things I'd change about Wicked - but I still get a rush from What Is This Feeling? and Defying Gravity, so it's worth it for me in the end. As for substance over style and all that, I have to admit to being a fan of traditionally-structured (if not necessarily written) musical comedies. I think the 'darkest' show I'm a fan of is probably Rent, Evita or Billy Elliot, and I've honestly never enjoyed anything Sondheim (I know you didn't mention him specifically, but he's the darling of the 'serious' MT crowd) beyond the headliner songs: Send in the Clowns, Being Alive, etc. Neither do I have any real desire to see Next to Normal or Parade; to each their own, and my own is enjoying my night in the theatre. Of course, my favourite shows are split between Cats, Hairspray and Billy Elliot, so you can't really take much I say seriously.

Although the copy I have (from Facebook) has me with a pretty good expression. I guess Yankee Candle and an overdose of pink brings out the 'fey' in me.

I spent the last two days showing Len Testa (of touringplans.com) around Chessington WoA, and I'm going to get some preliminary touring plans to test there in a couple of weeks, with travel and food paid for. It's pretty fabulous.

After over a year (since May last year) of my self-enforced Wicked hiatus - 20 times was enough by that point - I finally saw the bloody thing again, for the 21st time, last night. And it was probably the best London company performance I've seen since Idina left. So there we go. Bill, on the Universal Osaka day on Japan next year, you're my Wicked Condensed buddy - unless you saw it last time you were there, and it was too rubbish, in which case I'll probably see it anyway.

We didn't see any Ramsden's on the trip, IIRC, and besides, I did get Jason to an actual chippie later on. It was my main aim of the trip - especially since most of the Americans spent 10 days complaining about our, admittedly slightly dry theme park chips - and I wouldn't have squandered an opportunity in Harry Ramsden's - all kidding aside, they're available in the UK pavillion at Epcot, which says much about their authenticity. But you will be pretty chuffed with where I actually found good fish 'n' chips. Just wait another few months 'til Jason gets to that update. (Jason, that's payback for the 'Oh, Mike's just being a geek again.' comment near the end of the trip )

Despite now being featured in this thread 3 times, each gayer than the last - I still have nothing to say except 'wow'.

^ It hadn't. Mike 'There are good-rubbish dark rides, and that was a bad-rubbish one' Moody

Finally managed to get all my stuff, including RCT3 save games and custom content, from the old hard drive, onto the shiny new PC..and Windows 7 (mostly) behaved itself!

Jo, I hope you enjoyed yours as much as I enjoyed mine. Mike 'Alabama retards do it the best' Moody

Umm - Scritti Politti

Bolded were new this year, poor Georgia is also italicised, because I only had a layover at ATL.

Mike, Neil showed me the Bohemian Rhapsody video - it looked amazing. Mega kudos.

Woo, namecheck! And I avoided being in the way of your camera lens all day somehow, so double win. Seriously, it was great spending the day with you - Japan, and indeed 2011 itself, won't be the same without the epic geek pairing of Mike & Jason. Even though I was quite physically uncomfortable that day (a week of walking, hot weather and general humidity does that to a Brit), it was all awesome anyway. And I even enjoyed Shockwave!

Same! Bearing in mind my tolerance for high-intensity rides is lower than most people's, with the trims I was able to get 5 rides in - and I didn't ride in a seat past the middle of the train, since that's the position that I ended up finally blacking out in. Had the trims not been there, it's likely that it would have just been a 'credit and out' for me.

I can only really echo Jason, here. Again, I didn't ride the Boomerang or the Frisbee; I tend to avoid shuttles/backwards inversions in general, although, after riding the super-amazing Waltzer at Skeggy the next day, I did sort of regret not experiencing Pendulus/whatever it was called. However, I still got a MASSIVE buzz, as Rosie said, from the whole experience of Pleasure Island - from noticing the Boomerang from the road, wondering whether it was actually a 'coaster, or just some boring steel structure..getting mildly excited when I realised it was actually a 'coaster..the awesomeness of the 'Now, about that toilet break..' revelation from Robb, and Erik's shining quote of the trip..then actually entering the astonishingly picturesque park, and the sunset that gave the whole thing a magical quality. I knew from the outset that I probably wouldn't ride the Boomerang - and, had I ridden it, it would've probably been the most magical Boomerang ride ever - so I was definitely content to take some 'arty' pictures, and then chase Kristen and Kathryn round the monorail footers, while the rest were on Pendulum/whatever. Really, the bonus credit I ended up getting, on the Roller Skater (?), was just that, a great bonus, because I'd already had an awesome time. So I have to thank you, Robb & Elissa, for what was a little highlight of the trip, personally. I really enjoyed the evening, and, apart from anything else, it made me want to go back to PI, and see it in operating hours - although I don't think I'd've seen the fantastic sunset otherwise, so, again, many thanks. 'A Boomerang is NOT a urinal!'

So glad you put up the Splash Landings video - and so glad I avoided the camera.. Dan, however, is a living legend purely for his dancing that night. Kudos.

TR's shaping up great as always, Jason. And before anyone says anything, yes..I am a fish 'n' chips bore.

^ I wouldn't really call either of them 'short' - I can personally say that I got brilliant value for money:time on the UK trip, and was utterly knackered (still am!) by the end of it, which I doubt I'd be after a 'short' trip.

# 100 - Green Scream, Adventure Island, Southend

^ Same, I just grabbed RDR (going through games like nobody's business this week!) - it's awesome, and probably tops GTA IV for me, in terms of recent Rockstar output that I've paid attention to. Despite my deepest desire, desperately trying to save buying Mario Galaxy 2 'til after the UK trip. And then there's Lego Harry Potter, which I'm ever worried about being as rubbish as Lego Indy 2.

Yeah, Boris has never quite had his head screwed on fully.

Finally got Batman: Arkham Asylum out of Blockbusters - it is pretty much as good as they say. Reminds me of why I loved the Metal Gear Solid series, only without the fiddly bits. Also, still playing Just Cause 2, which is starting to approach infuriating, but still good. Currently waiting on Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Lego Harry Potter.

I personally don't understand the general enthusiast obsession with intensity (my equilibrium isn't great, so that may be why) - but I love airtime. To me, the attractive thing about 'coasters I like is the sensation of flight..whether they're flying, inverted or sit-down, oddly enough. So, I generally prefer out-and-back 'coasters, since they provide the sense of a journey. I don't ride most launched 'coasters or shuttles, so that screws my attempts at building a huge credit list, but I still creho with the worst of them. However, if a 'coaster's themed, I'm probably in heaven. Mike 'a weird kind of enthusiast' Moody

^ At the moment, as far as I know, the plan is to turn it into a 'museum'. I'm not what that actually means, and a local/someone who visits more often should back this up - but, at the moment, it's just a visual weenie for the front of the park. They do still have the rocking mechanism on show, in the entrance hall. I never got to experience it as it was meant to be, sadly.

My home park is Drayton Manor. I mean, it's better than NOT having a home park, but still. I suppose if I lived actually in the village nearby, I'd probably have an AP..just so I could have popped in after school to see if Pirate Adventure was back to its former glory.