Meteornotes

^That's pretty good. I like the ESPN commercials. Oh, and GO ORIOLES!!! dt

OK, time for another update. And today's update is...SIDE STREET CAFE IN COCKEYSVILLE, MD! This is one of those places that most local people probably have never seen. It is indeed on a side street, hidden behind a U-Haul rental place and other random businesses. It looks like an old house inside, and the dining area is divided into different rooms (likely because the owners never bothered to knock down any walls or anything). Despite the odd location, this place kicks ass, with totally fresh and amazing food. It's only open at lunch time, and is the perfect place to get lunch, and I highly recommend this place if you're in the area. Anyway, enough of my yammering, let's go to the visuals! dt And this is why I come here: the best chicken salad sandwich I have ever had. Seriously amazing. All the food here is very good. Thus concludes another update! Another local place tomorrow! First up, some Maryland Crab Soup! They make about six different types of soup here every day, and they're all tasty.

I think this is one of the better discussions on the board. You have to remember, a lot of us have worked or currently work at parks. Some in a management position. And there are a fair number of people here that have or do work in the entertainment industry. So some of us do have the background to take a look at plans for a park like this and make intelligent comments about them. I have always felt that there is not enough critical commentary on this industry. A lot of parks could benefit from some outside opinions from knowledgeable people. I really think this Freestyle park is the case. Robb has said the park has contacted him (and I think we can all agree that Robb knows what he's talking about when it comes to this industry), and hopefully the people managing the park will really think about who they're trying to appeal to and decide what the best way is going to be to attract those people and build their business. For me personally, I don't know that I'd pay $40 to get in the park. The place in its current state doesn't really appeal to me. I really doubt that I'd find myself in the area anyway. I have never been to the MB area, but I'm not much of a "sit on a beach full of other people" type of person. I have occasionally thought about maybe sometime taking a trip there when staying at my Outer Banks house, but since I can't really think of anything in the MB area that screams to me "must do", it just never happens. I really think that Freestyle needs to offer a lot of coupons and deals for the locals and the local visitors, as they are very unlikely to draw people from out of the area with their current attraction offerings. And some shade and water attractions would be a really good idea. I still can't believe they opened the place without some significant attractions that would allow people to cool off during the day. Did not anyone take a look at some sort of weather report when building the place. This still makes no sense to me. Anyway, this is all my dumb opinion. And I think we can all agree that I am dumb... dt

^Post Of The Day. dt

Devin Townsend - Funeral dt

Damn you woman! I thought of the "I Like Cheese" song on the way home on the plane, and was all set to post it, and then saw this. Now my thinking has been wasted. This is why all planes need wifi access! I'm sure I will be singing this to myself for hours. Damn Yo Gabba Gabba and its catchy tunes... dt

Fun fact: Wegman's cheese department is larger than my old apartment. That's a crapload of cheese on display! dt

I totally blame the Yakuza. And whoever took the crane away from USF. dt

Yeah, this is the truth. I hate these kinds of places, so I won't be eating at one. I might check out an Australian one whenever I make it over there, since it sounds like they're a higher quality place. But in general, I don't like most chain restaurants, so you'll rarely see any here. Right now, I'm in Las Vegas, and have been eating at all sorts of interesting places. So look for lots of updates next week! dt

^I had no idea they made frozen food with the Claim Jumper name on it. I eat almost no frozen stuff (other than the occasional pizza) as I find almost all of it totally horrible. So I guess I'm not missing anything. But yes, I think the food at Claim Jumper is quite tasty. dt

OK, time for an update! Actually, there should have been a number of updates, as I went to the LA area last month, mainly to torture Elissa (haha!), and I did eat at a number of restaurants. But I also made an important discovery while there: MY CAMERA WORKS BETTER IF YOU PUT THE MEMORY CARD IN. Yes, I am this dumb. No memory card means no pictures that I thought I was taking. So I ended up only having a photo from one restaurant. Which sucks, as there should have been some really good ones, including one of KidTums licking the garlic off a breadstick at the Olive Garden! Anyway, the one place where I did photograph my meal was CLAIM JUMPER. I'm not sure of the exact location, but it was pretty close to the TPR headquarters in Valencia. This is a chain that I used to eat at fairly often when I lived in the Bay Area, but there are none near me now. Known for their steaks and the giant portions of food (including the insane giant chocolate cake of death they always have on display in the lobby of the place), CJ has some excellent food. On this particular day we were there for lunch, and I had a bowl of their tasty chili (which I ate before photographing), and a BBQ chicken salad, which was really good but giant-sized, and probably too large. Anyway, I've been out at some local places lately (again, when at home, I eat exciting things like toast and steamed vegetables, so there's no point in photographing that!), so there will be updates. And Ice Bat and I are on the road again soon, so there will be some new and exciting updates! dt Claim Jumper's BBQ Chicken Salad. Giant scary sized, but really good!

I have none. I haven't gotten a CF pass since 2003, and did not get a SF pass this year. I highly doubt I'll be visiting any parks outside of TPR trips this year, so it didn't make any sense to buy one. I do have my 10 Day WDW park hopper which I will use at some point. I still think those are a great deal. dt

^^My visit to Green Bay to watch a Packers game is probably the most fun I've ever had at a pro sports event. The stadium and the crowd were great. I'd love to go back there some day. dt

I personally would like to visit "Pencil Shavings World". Which just from the name sounds like a lot more fun than HRP. This place will fail so spectacularly that it will amaze. Is it possible that the new owners are even more clueless than the last bunch?!? dt

This is one of my most favorite coasters ever. Any ride that features UFOs and getting swallowed by some sort of dinosaur is just awesome. dt

Joey, this thread rocks. Keep updating! That is an amazing story. I'd love to visit that place if that's the sort of thing that goes on during tailgating. dt

While I agree with Elissa that these would likely not be used, I must say I'm excited that someone mentioned Elissa Bingo. You made my day! I'm working on the 2009 Elissa Bingo Instructional Video as we speak. Hopefully it will amuse. As far as items go, I still think the single greatest thing I've gotten from the site is the TPR hoodie. I love that thing, and wear it all the time. I really need to get a black one... dt

This really is not an appropriate discussion for this board. dt

Five Guys is the best "fast food" burger. Nothing else comes close. dt

^Norm crushes the souls of those other cars without even trying. dt

Jeff Johnson did some really good analysis of this "company" earlier in this thread. If you haven't read those posts, you really should, as it really gives a bunch of evidence why this is so not going to happen. dt

Mr. Chicken, Mr. Shrimp & Mr. Fish would be great characters for a TV commercial! dt

Cool photos. More planes need to have those seat-back TVs installed with on demand programming. Though I think I'd end up watching the Tail Cam the entire flight if that was available. Have fun on your trip! Try not to be eaten by all the sharks that are apparently currently surrounding Australia (this was on the news yesterday, squeezed into a few seconds between all-important OctoMom updates). dt

This made me happy. And Big Mike was the only person to ask to have his photo taken with the world-traveling Ice Bat. Clearly he needs a better PR firm to represent him... dt

I'm back home after an overnight flight followed by a long nap. The whole week I spent out in CA was awesome fun, and I'll have to try to attend WCB next year, as it was some of the most fun I've ever had at SFMM. Thank you Robb, Elissa, and everyone else involved. You people rule. I met a ton of new people over the weekend, but have no idea who and/or can't remember their names (remember, I AM DUMB!). But it was cool to meet all you new people. Hopefully I was somewhat amusing or something. I do think I need to hire a new PR agency, as no one except Big Mike asked to have their picture taken with Ice Bat. But I did take some awesome photos of him in action in and around the park, and might eventually post a PTR when I'm not totally distracted. Given my usual posting speed, this will likely occur around WCB 10... dt