Meteornotes

Thank you, Cedar Fair, for my laugh of the day. dt

Do you have a seperate video card, or are you using motherboard video? If it's the latter, that's likely the problem. Motherboard video shares its memory with system memory, and will often run out of memory that it needs and will cause problems like you describe. Here's a way for you to check your available video memory: Go to Start Select Run At the prompt, type "dxdiag" (without the quotes). This should bring up the Direct X diagnostic tool. Go to the display tab, and look for the field labeled Approx. Total Memory. That shows you the video memory available to you. Compare this number to the video memory number required to correctly operate the applications you're having trouble running (this information should be on the product box or manual), and if this number is lower than the video memory required, you'll either need to add more system memory or buy a dedicated graphics card. Let us know if this helps you track down your problem. dt

Anyone that does not understand the difference between and out of control ride and one that just injures people really needs to re-examine their priorities. I don't think anyone here is against a ride that is out of control, with lots of forces/airtime or whatever. But I think pretty much everyone would agree that a ride that is rough to the point of causing pain, and offers no interesting forces other than the ones that re-align your spine every second or so to be a waste of time and space and will not be missed. That was Psyclone. When it opened, yes, it did deliver a quality ride. But time, the Northridge earthquake, and SFMM's policy of only doing the minimal amount of upkeep on their coasters to keep on the right side of the state inspectors turned a decent ride into an absolute pile of crap with zero redeeming values. Sadly, most parks refuse to take good care of their wood coasters. You only need to travel south a bit in CA to see another fine example of a once great coaster that has fallen into disrepair because the corporate owner is too preoccupied with paving everything in sight and filling every empty spot with a trash can rather than making sure their rides are of the highest quality. Wood coasters at smaller parks seem to do better, so if you're looking for a great wood coaster experience, perhaps a visit to a small park is a good idea. In any event, the removal of Psyclone is a good idea, and let's hope it starts a trend of parks taking a serious look at their rides, and fixing/removing those that are not delivering a quality ride experience. dt

Last year at one of the Orioles games, they had all the Miss USA or America (I don't know which contest it was) working as ticket takers before the game. Mary and I both wondered why the stadium attendants suddenly got a lot younger and hotter. Sadly this was only for one game, and they went right back to their massive staff of cranky old people... dt

That was easily the best episode of the season. It was especially good after the worst episode of Lost ever the week before. Maybe the show is going to turn itself around. dt

Probably none of you remember this, but Paul Haggis (show creator) was responsible for a show called EZ Streets that ran on CBS back in the '90's. It was a very dark, complex crime drama, that predated a lot of shows like The Shield and The Sopranos, which I think EZ Streets was a major influence on. The show wasn't on long, as it was far too complex for the average TV viewer who like all their murders solved in 45 minutes, plus CBS has alway stood for "Cancel our Best Show" (American Gothic, anyone?), but it was widely hailed as one of the best TV shows of the time, and to this day makes it upon many critcal lists when discussing great/influential TV shows. Anyway, after watching TBD the other night, I sort of compared as a 'lite" version of EZ Streets. There are a lot of the same themes (two warring mob factions, one character's dad killed by the other faction when he was a kid, a character that is relating the story that knows more than he's telling), though the show is nowhere near as dark and mysterious. I didn't love TBD right away, but I liked it enough that I'll watch it again next week. dt

Quote Of The Week. I totally expect to hate both of these things when I experience them soon. And the word "rockin" should not be associated with the RHCP any more than it should be associated with Dick Clark... dt

Edguy - Vain Glory Opera dt

Dreamscape - Unvoiced dt

I'm in agreement with Elissa that so far the challenges have been very lame. Putting bolts on a tire?!? Wow, way to strain your teams to the breaking point, show producers. You would think an all-star version of the show would have much harder challenges, since all of the teams have participated before and know what to expect. I honestly don't like any of these teams, so at this point I really don't care how wins. The guys that were eliminated last night would probably have died if they had continued on the race (that one guy seemed more injury prone than me!), so it's probably a good thing they got sent home. dt

Circle II Circle - Into The Wind dt

Enchant - Nighttime Sky dt

Wastefall - Soulrain dt

Event - Human Condition dt

I say if Rob & Amber were lowered slowly into an active volcano, the show would get the highest ratings in TV history. They are beyond annoying. I'm "meh" about this whole concept. I don't care about any of the teams, there's too many from last season, and in general I think the picks are poor. I think a much more interesting idea might have been to get all the past winners together and have them race for a five million dollar prize or something. Oh well, it's still better than the Family Edition... dt

Peter Gabriel - Big Time dt

Bruce Dickinson - Starchildren dt

Enchant - Below Zero (live version) dt

Edguy - Falling Down dt

^I'd swear it was Cthulhu. Which would be kind of cool if the people on cruise ships would make towel mythos creatures. dt

Alice In Chains - We Die Young dt

Psyclone was actually a really good ride before the earthquake. Yeah, it was never as good as some of the other clones, but it was still way better than it was the last couple of years. My last ride on it was in 2000, and that was brutal. I can't imagine how bad it got after that. dt

Thank you! dt

Rain - Light And Magic dt

OK, cleared by the doctor to drink again yesterday meant that today was the day to go to DuClaw's and check out the Naked Fish Chocolate Raspberry Stout. AND IT WAS GODLY! Seriously one of the best beers I've ever had. We are already planning another trip there before the month is over to sample more, though I think we'll go to the Fells Point location this time, as the parking at Arundul Mills was insane. I have no idea why that mall is that popular... dt