Meteornotes

I thought the park was "OK". It was actually a lot nicer than I expected it to be. But is it a place I would return to? Probably not. It's really out of the way, and there's nothing there that I would ever want to ride again. And adding the Starliner is not going to bring the crowds in. Let's face it, letting anyone in the park with any other park pass is a sign of desperation, a way to quickly boost the visitor count, and maybe sell a few extra sodas. Let's not forget that this place did fail and was shut down. Someone tried to bring it back, but it does not seem to be working out. Sometimes no matter how much some people might like it, businesses fail. I hope the folks running CG have lots of luck, but they really seem to have a very large hole to climb out of... dt

^I disagree. This coaster barely drew any riders in its old location. Why on earth would it suddenly now be a "must ride" attraction that will magically make hoards of people visit this park? It won't. Any park that will let people in for free with any other park season pass is a park on its last legs. This place could maybe survive if they spent a lot of money and built some sort of major attraction or two that are not offered anywhere else nearby. But at this point I doubt they have the cash to spend on a new soda machine, let alone major attractions. The only way this place could become new condo space faster is if Six Flags already owned the property... dt

You guys are all going to be really disappointed when they announce an new extra-large churro cart... dt

^We decided last year that instead of giving each other gifts for our anniversary, we'd take a fun trip instead. The last two years we went to Charleston, SC, where we did all sorts of tourist-type stuff, and ate at all sorts of good restaurants (I had just about the best steak ever last night!). We're already scouting locations for next year... dt

^^I have plenty of axes and other implements of torture and death. Trust me on this. Dell replaced my MP3 player, so I don't have to worry about that. Our digital camera is over two years old, and considering how much it gets used, I'm not shocked that it died. Buying a new one means getting a smaller one! I had no beer since last night at the steak place. There are Stella's in our house, though. Hmmm.... dt

OK, I forgot about the festival of cake consumption at PKD. That was pretty scary. dt

Here's what I have planned: CA in Feb/March (whenever Mary has to go on some long business trip, that's when I'll go out to CA to entertain myself) TPR Spain Trip (with Mary) TPR Japan Trip (solo) Orlando at some point. Other stuff I'd like to do would be my SFOG/Dollywood/PCW trip I didn't do last summer because of eye surgery, and I might do the TPR Mid-West trip, or at least show up at some of the parks like Holiday World and Indiana Beach. I'll also try to visit some of the local places like SFGAdv and BGW that have new attractions I have not yet been on, and make it up to Knoebel's, which I missed this year (first time since '99). dt

Some people here know my ex-wife. I think they'd agree that it is a good thing that I have no contact with her. We have no reason to speak to each other ever again. I don't know what happened to any of the random women I dated after my divorce. There's only one that I had a really long relationship with that I'd still talk to, but it's probably better that we don't interact with each other. It was our 2nd anniversary today for Mary and me. I don't spend a lot of time thinking about the other ones... dt

OK, this is indeed an awesome PTR. I can't wait to see more of Yetiball's adventures... dt

OK, my alcohol consumption during our anniversary weekend in Charleston, SC was: 3 Stellas 1 Guinness 1 Amstel Light (best thing they had since they were out of Sam Adams at the wings place!) 1 Margarita No photos, as our digital camera has died... dt

This was pretty accurate, except the cake obsession is a requirement to join NAPHA. dt

Post Of The Day. I have no idea what the annoucement is, but something like "hey, remember that lame coaster that used to be at another park that almost no one ever visited?!? Well, now it's back!" is probably not going to be a real attention grabber... dt

The Halloween decorations were awesome! Way to go, Six Flags, you'll have families pouring through the gates with such attention to detail in no time... dt

I think we need to do a Photoshop Contest where we create new covers for the Robb Report magazine. I bought an issue of that at Border's and was really disappointed when there were no articles about food consumption... dt

Yeah, that's another thing to take into consideration. There are coasters on my list that I have not been on in years, like the ones at Kennywood. Stuff like this tends to move down a bit as new coasters are ridden, as sometimes what you thought kicked ass a few years ago is not as exciting to you as it is now. I also base the ranking on things like the coaster setting and the operations. A coaster that has fifteen minute dispatches due to operational laziness is going to get knocked down a few positions, perhaps. And I try to not let online hype and/or the fact that there was an event/ERT to sway my vote. I base it on my own riding experience. But that's just me... dt

I base it on the most recent ride. To me, a ride needs to be somewhat consistent. I sort of get tired of the thought that a coaster only delivers a good ride if you ride it at night, under a full moon, when the temperature has been 68 degrees for at least seven hours in a row and the local badger colony has just erected their new badger layer under the second drop...you get the idea. A great coaster should deliver a great ride under a wide variety of conditions. Sure, wood coasters are going to offer up different rides depending on conditions, but if there's such a drastic change in a ride due to the alignment of Mars and Jupiter or whatever, is it really as good as a ride that kicks your ass any time you ride it? Balder is a perfect example. I have ridden this coaster in the morning, afternoon and evening, in a variety of weather conditions (cold, hot, rain, sun). Every ride delivers the amazing air time experience, and it is always a great, fun ride. This is why it is #1 on my poll, right above my favorite steel (Expedition Ge Force) and The Phoenix. Also, basing the poll on the latest ride moved Thundercoaster at Tusenfyrd up in my poll, as I thought it ran better this year than last, especially in the afternoon. I also base it upon latest ride due to a park not maintaining the ride. A perfect example is Ghostrider. When I first rode at the first Coaster Solace, it instantly became my number 1 wood coaster. The rides throughout the day were amazing. Now, not so much. The last ride I had on it in 2004 wasn't bad, but it's nothing like it used to be, and I lay the total blame on how CF takes care of the ride. If once great coasters keep sliding down the poll, maybe parks might notice and decide to take better care of their wood coasters. Of course, I doubt most corporate parks really care about any coaster poll, but it's a nice thought... dt

^I'd show up if I'm invited and given directions and stuff. Derek and I could sing "We Built This City"! dt

Happy Birthday Casey! Go tackle Ryan now. I'm sure he deserves it! dt

^Well, the "swarm" monster did yank the pilot out of the crashed plane in the first episode, so we've known all along that it could pick people up. But yeah, I'm kind of "meh" about the show now. Bring on 24 and The Shield! dt

There's one more new episode, then the show goes off the air (no repeats) until February, when they're run the rest of the episodes straight through until May. I still think they should have held these six back and just started the show in January, but this schedule is better than the way the show ran last year. I thought last night's episode was the best one of the year so far. But do we really need two new characters? I think not. Maybe they'll get eaten by a dinosaur or something soon... dt

I only took four trips this year: CA (March), Orlando (March), UK (June) and Orlando (October). I visited no parks between the time of the UK trip and Orlando a few weeks ago, and it didn't really bother me. I think I like taking trips to new places, especially outside of the US, as opposed to visiting the local SF park over and over. I'm standing at 471 credits now. That's about 65 or so new ones, most of which were from the UK trip. I did not make it to Knoebel's for the first time since '99 ($3/gallon gas and three hours each way in the car kept me away this year), which was kind of strange. I did have a trip planned to do the SFOG/Dollywood/Carrowinds triangle, but eye surgery killed that. I'm going to try that again next spring. Even though I didn't get to too many parks, I had an awesome time on all the trips I did go on. The UK trip was the highlight of the year, with a bunch of new parks/credits for me. Plus the chance to visit Liseberg again, and sit on Balder for 2+ hours is something I'll never forget! The recent Orlando trip was an absolute blast (I love Halloween down there) and I can't wait to go back. Next year should bring a lot more new experiences, with the Spain and Japan trips, along with planned visits to some mid-west parks that I haven't been to in about five years or so... dt

When it comes to HD televisions, the best thing you can do is use your own eyes. Get out to stores, stand back a bit from all the giant TVs, and see which ones look best to you. Do this at different stores (including some higher end home theater places), as most of the TVs you'll see in a place like Best Buy are not going to be set up correctly. Use this method to narrow down the type/manufacturer of TV that you're interested in, then do some research from there. Don't be afraid of specialty stores. When we were shopping for our HD television, we visited a bunch of different places, and ended up buying the set from a local home theater store. This place ended up being cheaper than anyone else, and would actually bring the TV into the house (Best Buy, for example, told us the best they could do was set it on our front porch). The other advantage to these types of stores is they'll let you bring in DVDs you're familiar with to watch in the store. Using stuff you've listened to/watched before will help you get a better idea of the sound/picture quality. There's also the fun of blasting something like Ocean Machine in one of the showrooms of a home theater place, but perhaps this only entertains me... As far as the DLP vs Plasma vs LCD debate goes, there are pros and cons to every technology. We have a Mitsubishi Projection HD set, which I absolutely love. If I was buying a new TV today, I'd take a good, long look at DLP. Some people see a "shimmering" in the images on these sets, so it's a good idea to spend some time looking at one before purchasing (advice I'd give when shopping for ANY HD television). dt

I vote for Tor to host your next PTR. dt

I don't have either, but I do have a Mitsubishi HDTV that I absolutely love. My advice for anyone thinking of buying any sort of HD television is to head over toThe AVS Forum. This place is packed with television/home theater professionals, and there's a topic for pretty much every TV out there. You will learn a ton of information, and will get lots of good advice on the good/bad of any television or related equipment. I used this forum a lot when buying my first HD television a few years ago, and it was a big help. dt

^I'm convinced that large groups get craptacular service because the tip is included in the bill. Both of my visits there saw some really bad service. I have not been impressed... dt