Meteornotes

It's my domain name. If I use my regular name, I get all sorts of Wendy's complaint mail... Dave "loves getting email about bringing back the pepperjack sandwich" Thomas

The Shield or The Wire for current shows, Homicide and NYPD Blue for shows that are no longer on the air. If you've never seen The Wire, you need to at least rent the DVDs. Excellent show... dt

Sites I look at on a regular basis: Blue's News - Game news CGTalk - Computer graphics discussion Spinquad - Lightwave 3D discussion Jinxworld - Brian Michael Bendis forum (comic book writer) Shocklines - horror fiction discussion Portnoy forum - music discussion (forum owner is Dream Theater's drummer) Perpetual Motion - music discussion AVS Forum - Home theater/television (especially HDTV) discussion Digital Bits - DVD news Cubase Forum - music software KVR - music software Westcoaster - coaster talk Theme Park Review - Donkey Talk dt

Recently, it would be either one of the Charlie's Angels movies, or Scooby Doo. I attempted to watch these on various late nights on HBO and chose infomercials instead pretty quickly... Dave "would watch a 30 minute Ronco presentation over many modern movies" Thomas

I do know that Giant (local grocery store chain) used to sell discount tickets for Hersheypark, so you might want to stop at one before you go to the park. There's one pretty close to the park (use mapquest to find it as I suck at giving directions!). dt

We were thinking of going to SFA, but we're supposed to have crap weather, so I think we'll just hang out at home instead. Mother's/Father's Day used to be great days to go to parks, but it seems in the last five years or so a lot of parks have caught on to these being "dead" days and have started having promotions like Buy One/Get One Free Admission, or Season Pass Bring A Friend Free or something similar. I'd check to see if the park you're going to is running this sort of promotion, as you'll likely encounter higher than average crowds... dt

Dark Tranquility In Flames Opeth Strapping Young Lad Ocean Machine I'm thinking that my suggestions probably won't happen... dt

I read a lot of SF, Fantasy, Horror and Suspense/Thriller stuff. For non-fiction, I read a lot of animation and technical books. Right now I'm reading 1001 Tips & Tricks For Lightwave 3D, and The Ice Limit. Dave "reading rules!" Thomas

Well, I don't have a migrain, but reading that post did make me dizzy! Just my opinion, but I think this site is pretty damn cool. Sure, it would be cooler if there was a button to press that would make a guy show up at the front door with free food, but I'm not sure that technology is quite there yet... Dave "mmm...food!" Thomas

It must have been a REALLY slow newsday here since it was on the Baltimore news last night! I was hoping for footage of some C&C smoking ride operators, but no such luck... dt

As far as hotels, I wouldn't stay anywhere around Santa Cruz or SFMW. I recall the area around both of these places being creepy, and wouldn't feel comfortable staying around there with a family. Someone that still lives in the area might have a better idea. Driving along the coast is a MUST, as there is lots of cool scenery. Staying in the city can be exceptionally expensive, and hotel quality can be questionable. You might want to stay outside of the city and take the BART into town, and use public transportation to get around. I personally HATE driving in SF, and find using buses and such to get around to be about a billion times easier. I'm not a huge fan of Fisherman's Wharf, but that might be because we had to take people down there every time we had visitors. GG Park and the bridge are must see attractions, and I'm a huge fan of Muir Woods on the other side of the bridge, but that might a little too much out of your way. I'm thinking that you'll be fine at PGA that Saturday. The park isn't that big, and there really isn't anything there you're going to want to ride more than once, other than Top Gun. Get there at opening and get the Invertigo out of the way, as it probably has the worst capacity of the coasters. On an unrelated matter, if you like sushi, you must go to Tokie's in Foster City. Most amazing Japanese restaurant ever!!! Have fun! dt

I have the 365 Day Cat Calender on my desk, so the answer is, um, a cat! Dave "cats rule" Thomas

The only thing we want to do for sure this month is a visit to Knoebel's. If Hydra is open, we'll also stop at Dorney on our way to Philadelphia to see Porcupine Tree and get our credit. Other than that, it's pretty much a park-free schedule for us until Europe... dt

Many years ago, my ex-wife and I went to SFMM on Cinco De Mayo, and the place was a tomb. In fact, we left like at 4 because we had ridden everything so many times we were sort of bored. I have no idea if it's like that now, and I'd certainly steer clear of the park if there's some sort of event or promotion that day, but we found that was a good time to visit. I've been to other parks on Memorial/Labor day, and they do usually seem less busy than normal, especially later in the day when people leave to make their journey home from the weekend. Might be worth a shot... dt

Knoebel's is not only the best park in PA, it is perhaps the best park anywhere. And it has the best wooden coaster ever with The Phoenix. Hersheypark and Kennywood are also both excellent parks, among the best in the US. Dorney is OK, probably not as nice as it used to be with a fairly "eh" collection of rides. It does have a kick-ass waterpark, though... dt

Steel: Superman (SFNE) Wood: Wild One (SFA) dt

Those were really good pics. I'm thinking that something would burst into flames if I attempted to walk through the gates, though... dt

No go with XP's built in winzip, unzipped fine with WinRar. I'll try on some other machines later to see if it will work there... dt

^You can play that if I get equal time to play a CD from my collection... Dave "hope you're in the mood for some Dark Tranquility" Thomas

This seems like an odd marketing move, as usually pop acts like this are not recycled for the next generation by the record company, since they're considered "old" by the new generation. And it's far too soon for a reunion tour, as they haven't been away that long. I guess someone at a record company is really desperate for a hit record... dt

My favorite is still Dorney's. Going to try and get there on a warm day this year. I remember Holiday World as having a pretty good one, but I haven't been to that one in over five years, so I don't know what it's like now. My favorite things at a water park are lazy rivers and the wave pool. I know that runs against everyone else's preference for slides, but I am a contrary bastard... dt

That Jesus/Lightning sign was near Dorney. I really need a picture of it as it really makes no sense! I was sort of bummed to miss openening day, but we were in North Carolina, so we were a bit far away to drive up. I'll check the park out next month. You're absolutely right, Knoebel's is a park you can have fun at no matter what the weather conditions are. I think I could have fun there if I just went and walked around and didn't ride anything. It is indeed one of the best parks ever! And yes, it looks REALLY odd to not see the Whirlwind there! I will miss it's constant cry of pain echoing throughout the park. It's a shame it didn't "accidentally" fall on the High Stirker when they were removing it, though. Feel free to contact me about the weather any time. My view out the window can be no less accurate than the stuff the guys come up with on TV... dt

Most of the ones I've seen recently have been done with 3D Studio Max, but in the past I've seen ones also created with Maya and Lightwave. Pretty much any of the higher-end 3D animation packages can be used to create those animations. I have an old coaster model I should dig out and re-animate using the better rendering technology that's available now. Perhaps when I get some of the other animation stuff I'm doing out of the way... dt

Nah, not going there next week. I probably won't get a chance to go up there until later in May, hopefully when it's warmer!!! Good to know there was some good weather there yesterday. We were driving back from North Carolina yesterday, and I remarked during the rainstorm, "This is a good day not to be at Knoebel's!" I guess that wasn't the case at all. And yes, Knoebel's is among the greatest parks EVER! Anyone that's never been there really needs to visit... Dave "East Coast Rules" Thomas

PS2, XBox, Sega Genesis (that one is packed away), and various PCs. I do most of my gaming on PCs... dt