Jonathan

Emailed you a link to my entry yesterday Robb. Let me know if you have any problems downloading it.

We didn't miss the last ride on Grizzly. In fact, we camped out on it for over an hour with a few of the Zombies, and then we were also there for the last two rides with the big group. It got dark just in time. I just didn't bring my camera back into the park when we came back from Cracker Barrel.

Glad I'm not the only one who feels like all of the G forces on Tomb Raider are directed straight into your crotch (see my TR a thread down from yours). It's funny how different our visits sound, even though they were just a day apart; thank god for the rain on Saturday I guess!

For all 78 pictures from this day, including high-res versions, go to http://www.jonathanhawkins.net/photos/thumbnails.php?album=108 Alan was excited to be on the road at 6 AM, but I can't say I was that alert. We were on our way to Kings Dominion for the Coaster Zombies' Volcanomania event. Nothing like some greasy McDonalds biscuits to get you ready for ERT on Volcano. There were 93 people registered for the event. As we gathered at the front of the park, the rain had yet to begin, but we were expecting it to rain all day. Uhh.. yeah... Volcano ERT begins! During the ERT, the rain started to come down hard. We found an older version of Phil. If you're the guy in the picture and you happen to be seeing this, I hope you're not too freaked out. After plenty of rides on Volcano, the park opened, and we headed over to Hypersonic XLC. Alan protested, but was outvoted. Poor Grizzly has had more trees removed now for the construction of some stupid go-cart track. The queue through the woods is now gone; the only good news: shorter walk for re-rides! The Flying Eagles had no wait all day, and there was a good wind going, and we had some really good snaps. This is what the queue for Grizzly looked like all day. In fact, this is basically what every queue in the park looked like all day. Grizzly was running INSANE all day. Lunch was in the picnic pavilion, and one of the maintanence guys from the park was on hand to answer questions and such. After lunch we rode Avalanche, which was running really fast; I'm assuming that was due to the rain. Why am I in line for Tomb Raider? Is this some sort of sick joke? How can you not love the theming in this family amusement park. "No! Please! Don't make me ride!" "This is really going to hurt." Let the pain begin. I've found that this ride can be quite uncomfortable for men. Construction seemed to be progressing on The Italian Job Stunt Track Turbo Track Super High Speed Submersive Extreme roller coaster thrill ride simulator. Over at Scooby Doo's Haunted Mansion, there was a contest for the highest score. Not only did I lose that, but I became probably the first person ever to lose a poncho on the ride. The height requirement for Taxi Jam was removed for the day so that all of the credit whores could get a ride in. A trip to Kings Dominion would not be complete without a visit to the Treasure Cave. I had to go on the expedition without my poncho. Alan was sad because he had never been to the top of the Eiffel Tower before. Well cheer up Alan, you're in the elevator! It was good to be out of the rain and cold for a few moments... But now we're back out in the elements 300 feet above the ground, and Alan nearly got blown away. Here's the gang at the top of the tower. The park was so dead that we even rode the Antique Cars. "Why hello-o-o-o!" Alan, Jessica, and Emily on the Ricochet exit ramp. I was surprised to see it running in the rain. I joined Alan on the backwards side of Rebel Yell, while the girls went forwards. Rebel Yell was running insane, particularly the backwards side. We had a ride on it like none before, with crazy airtime, especially on the turnaround. Here's a cool action shot of Jessica and Emily on the carousel. Apparently Alan didn't like the carousel, because he looks madder than hell. This is much better than those confounded gasoline powered contraptions. Back over at the Flying Eagles, I managed to come back with a souvenir from a tree I flew through. We took a ride on Scooby Doo, and Alan took up an entire car with his poncho. He looked like dracula riding with his cape or something. We decided we needed to warm up and dry off, so we headed down the road to Cracker Barrel. After Cracker Barrel, we went back to the park, although I didn't bring the camera back in. I rode the Flying Eagles a few times, and then we camped out on Grizzly for about an hour and a half until they finally made us go home. It was a great day at the park, and I've never seen such light crowds. Thanks to the Zombies, Susie Story, and Kings Dominion for putting on an excellent event.

On trips almost all of the time I'll go with other people, but I go to Carowinds often by myself for a couple of hours, usually to just get rides in on Top Gun, Hurler, and the Flyers. I can enjoy myself alone at parks, and it is definitely good for going at your own pace and getting a lot of rides in, but it's usually just a lot more fun to be with friends.

rofl looks like we had some issues with posts going through multiple times

Apollo's Chariot is about as out and back as you can get, IMO.

Could someone explain to me what exactly is going on there? Can you sit down in line or something?

Thanks for the report. Can't wait until Night of Thunder in September!

Awesome movie.

Hahaha... when I read the title of this thread, the first thing I thought of was the jersey Carnage posted. However, I found this little gem the other day, and I think it is up there. No, this is not a photoshop.

I just finished reading The Princess Bride, which was fantastic. I decided to start reading Lolita the other day, and have made it a ways into that. It's brilliantly written, although quite disturbing.

Oh. Snap.

Oh, I have. It's one of my favorite books, as well. As for Brazil, it just happens to be my favorite movie of all time. I guess you could say I'm a bit of a Gilliam fanatic.

I also love Election. I thought Hudson Hawk was pretty funny, too. People seem to hate Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, but it's one of my favorites of all time.

If you want to go back to the early 90's, I would say Holiday World. You're talking about a park that had been around for nearly 50 years, and then they built the Raven, and look at how that park has exploded over the last 12 years.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE------------------------------------- Jonathan Hawkins Introduces Whootahawkins Raleigh, NC -- April 1, 2006 -- More than two years after its Internet debut, Whootah.com faces big changes. Jonathan Hawkins announced Saturday at a press conference in Franklinton, North Carolina that he has purchased and assumed operational control over the popular website. The purchase is part of a large-scale website merger that will bring together JonathanHawkins.net, Carowinds Connection, and Whootah to form the ultimate extreme super mega-site Whootahawkins. Fans and users of the former three websites can expect the same great content that they have become accustomed to, as Whootahawkins plans to feature improved content, and a large community. Users can begin enjoying Whootahawkins immediately, as changes to the websites have already taken effect. For additional information about Whootahawkins, call 919-783-5552 or visit the website at http://www.whootah.com. Whootahawkins is owned and operated by Jonathan Hawkins. Originally just whootah, Whootahawkins is the brainchild of one Jonathan Hawkins. Whootah.com was a site run by Phil Hart and Alan Martin where they put up various videos and things from their outings such as going to amusement parks. The site branched off into other areas of interests, such as short films and animation. Eventually the website’s users dwindled off and not much participation was involved from the fans. Frustrated with that problem and growing costs of operating a website, Jonathan Hawkins, one of the original members of Whootah.com, purchased the site for a lump sum of $2000. At that time the name was changed to Whootahawkins.

2005-2006 Southeast Division Champions!!!

I will be there the next Saturday (the 8th) for the Coaster Zombies event.

I added Rumblefest at Beech Bend (May 28), C3 at Carowinds (Sep 16), and Night of Thunder at Dollywood (Sep 23).

Good times... good times...

The only new things they are adding are the lagoon and some sort of family slide. Somewhat disappointing, but hopefully it will look nice.

For the full gallery of photos I took on this day, including high-res versions, go here: http://www.jonathanhawkins.net/photos/thumbnails.php?album=91 Another opening day, another breakfast at IHOP. Phil, Alan, and myself left Raleigh shortly after 5 AM, and made it in time for some pancakes. We were joined at breakfast by Mark, Wes, Max, Chris, and Jay and his family. After breakfast, we headed off to Carowinds, where Scott and Natividad were kind enough to offer a construction tour of Boomerang Bay before the park opened. Jarvis was out and looking sharp, although he didn't bring the tripod along for the day. I managed to find some geese hanging out in the waterpark. We were able to climb to the top of The Abyss slide, where we got some good views of the new portion of what will become Boomerang Bay. Scott notes that when complete, it will in fact not be just a bunch of dirt. Thunder Road was warming up for its 30th anniversary season. Back down we go. Thanks to Scott and Natividad for the tour! After the tour, we made our way to the main parking lot and then into the park. Hmmm.. what should be the first ride of the day? Duh. The Phantom Flyers. Alan enjoyed his ride... As did Wes. Next up: the Dodge'Ems. Phil was excited to drive. I guess the three hour car ride there wasn't enough. Max did his best Tony Stewart impersonation. Our first coaster of the season, fittingly, was Thunder Road. We split our group in half and had some great racing action. Max and Mark bailed out early. Perhaps the cold was just too much for them. Over at Hurler, something is different. The line has been relocated to where the exit is, and the area you see here is being prepared for a new go-cart track. Here is part of our group getting ready to enjoy Hurler, which was running awesome. Some retracking in two of the turns has the coaster running faster than it has in years. Underneath the Flying Super Saturator station, we found an army of trash cans. Jay, Eric, and Alan were excited to ride the Saturator, which was thankfully running without any water on this cold day. Eric and Phil were happy to stay dry. The Ham-On-Rye virtual reality game wasn't operating, but that didn't stop Phil and Alan from playing. Drop Zone was a lot of fun as always. Not quite sure what was going on here. Ricochet is always good for a ride... As is Scooby Doo. I mean, the Fairly Odd Coaster. The finger scanning used last Fall for season passes appears to no longer be in use for people who purchase a pass this season. Phil had to have his picture taken. KO'd. We had to have one more ride on Top Gun before we left. And now, before you leave, here is a picture of Jay with his pants off. Thanks to everyone who came for a great day. It was great seeing old friends and meeting new ones. Thanks to Scott and Natividad for the tour. Here's to a great 2006!

For more of Crispin Glover, see his hilarious appearance on Letterman: http://youtube.com/watch?v=4JpZWaXFc48

No, I don't plan on filming any new videos anytime soon, but I did pull out some footage from last year for a video. I decided around 2 AM the night before the Whootah annual party that it might be a good idea for me to have a new video to show. So, with that said, I got to work, and tossed together a video featuring from parks from Fall 2005. Six Flags Over Georgia, C3 at Carowinds, and Night of Thunder at Dollywood are featured. http://www.jonathanhawkins.net/ Hope you guys enjoy it. PS: My apologies if this kind of thing isn't allowed in this forum anymore. I saw that links to external sites aren't allowed in the videographer forum, so I figured this would be the more appropriate place for it.