Corkscrewed

Keep on forgetting this is an El Nino year. And probably the most impactful since the one ten or twelve years ago. I was at a Los Angeles Branch Library on Santa Monica Blvd earlier today (site visit; I'm an architecture major), and it started HAILING!! No joke! HAIL!! It doesn't quite snow down at this elevation, but hail is pretty rare too. In fact, it was probably the fourth time I've ever seen hail in LA. Hail baby!! Hail in motion! Car. Meet hail. No, it's not snow, but in LA proper, it's close enough! Everyone in the library was amazed. And I must admit, it was pretty cool.

Basically, the forum disclaimer should say this: Don't Post Stoopid.

That's a lie. What really happens is a purple monkey comes out of a closet and performs a voodoo dance, thus capturing every rider's soul. That is then displayed on the magical pixie soul-o-tron that shows up on the ride.

Actually, my web site has always been accessible by clicking my sig. However, with my impending entry into the professional world, I thought I'd give my web site a redesign to reflect a cleaner, neater aesthetic. The *NEW* CSDi web site is simple but stylish. It's not meant to be flashy or in your face. It's just nice (IMO). I was inspired a bit by Pixar's web site, and I wanted something that could impress a potential employer. My web site is and probably will always remain an online portfolio, and it showcases my interests as well as my designs. Right now, the only thing not yet completed are the architecture pages themselves, but I've got portfolios of eight of my nine semesters posted, so you can look at those. The lone missing one seems to have mysteriously vanished, so I'm going to have to find a computer lab with Adobe Pagemaker to make another PDF for it. There are also tons more photos added, particuarly in the 'art + ambiance' section. My favorite page might be this one. And I still haven't even touched the photos I've taken from Europe, so the 'architecture + city' section is sure to grow with tons more photos as well! If you find any dead links or errors on the site, please let me know. I've done my best to cross reference and check everything, but with an HTML-based site, I might not have been comprehensive enough in my checking. Enjoy!

I'd give you $100 but I don't want to be confused for a high ranking senator.

:rofl: I need to stay on top of these so I can get every reference. I love how there's a name for The Crying Chair.

No! Fifty two times!!

Don't let one troll ruin the fun! BTW, I was surprised no one mentioned 2012 as the end of the Mayan calendar. Or I think it was the Mayan calendar. As for how coasters would be on the moon? Well, since gravity is three times less, we could build them three times as tall!!! And they'd be three times awesomer! And the height restrictions would be three times less! All because you paid three dollars to ride. Or something? Either way, a roller coaster on the moon, properly engineered, would be very gouda. *rimshot* *crickets*

Canon Powershot G3. I've had it for about four years now and have taken over 20,000 photos with it, and it still functions quite well. I love Canon cameras. Thanks for the comments!

Cheers, Elissa! Please change my title to: Full Fledged [uSC] Song Girl Enthusiast! Gracious!

So my friend, Chris (I think he goes by radikal on these forums), and I were the only ones to make it to Disneyland on New Year's Eve, but that makes sense, since I decided to go all of two days beforehand. Long story short: it was crowded. EXTREMELY crowded. A definite sellout and probably the busiest I've ever personally seen the park (although I've seen close). It was okay, though, for me, since I was perfectly expecting a crowded day and didn't anticipate getting much done. Well, we still did all the major e-tickets, though: Space Mountain twice, Indy twice, Jungle Cruise three times (all with amazing spielers), Matterhorn, Haunted Mansion Holiday (which keeps on getting better and better; or maybe I just keep noticing new things), Pirates, Splash Mountain (gotta love that single rider line), and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. We could have done more if we were in the "rush to do everything" mode, but we actually took it pretty easy during the day. And we never waited more than 45 minutes for anything--and the 45 minutes was for food! We also met up with our friend, Brent, (goldrusherrocks, aka resident Clipper fan, from WC), who was working Indy, when we went on after midnight. We had tried earlier before around 7, but he was on break. It was good catching him the second time, though. So all in all, a pretty fun day. Of course, the countdown at night was what everyone was here for, and that didn't disappoint. It was a fantastic fireworks show that suddenly made me remember that this was the way fireworks shows at Disneyland were before the most recent barrage of Anaheim resident bitching about smoke and crap like that. I can see their point about the smoke, because the fireworks were INTENSE. However, they moved around the park knowing it put on shows, so they have no right to complain. I still think the Remember... show is better from an overall production standpoint, but if that show had been able to get more intense fireworks sequences like the older but shorter shows used to, then it could have very well been the best fireworks show ever put on. Not that I'm biased or anything. Jungle Cruise was really fun too. We did two rides in the morning, and the second one was with Chris's friend, Jason. Jason was hilarious, and I get the feeling he might have gone a little extra for us, just because his friend was in the boat. But he played the disgruntled skipper (my favorite type) perfectly down to a tee, and it was hilarious. Even if some of the jokes might have been a risque and not Disney-approved. (*passing the lost safari being threatened by the rhino* "And here's why it's called the Happiest Place on Earth..." *pauses as the joke dawns on the boat and a lot of riders go OHHHHHH!!! and start laughing hysterically at the joke* "Yup, you don't argue with a rhino. He always gets his point across... in the end.") Great stuff. Although our night ride might have been better. Taking advantage of three boat operation (meaning they're spaced pretty far apart), our skipper went past the attacking natives part saying they were going to ambush on the right. They're on the left of course, so he stopped the boat, yelled at them for being unprofessional, told them to go back to hiding and go on the other side, and then REVERSED THE BOAT to do it again! And of course, they attacked from the left again, to which he promptly apologized for their unprofessionalism. I don't think Chris and I have ever laughed harder on the Jungle Cruise than during that sequence. The only down point was that Chris lost his phone (apparently on the Matterhorn) during the afternoon, and when we went to City Hall Guest Relations to report it, the overweight b***h behind the counter rudely told Chris "The Lost and Found is in the other park. NEXT!!" Yeah, way to have good guest service. Apparently, she was rude to several other people too, as we found out later in a conversation with another guest. But seriously... that's just messed up. I don't expect Disneyland employees to be that rude, because the company still holds high standards. And of course, we couldn't really file a complaint, since she would have simply tossed it away, being the person who handles it. Despite that negative, it was a really fun time, and our only regret was that Ed wasn't there. I might very well do it next year. $63 admission price or not, it was definitely worth it. And now... pictures. Disneyland was still decked out for Christmas as we entered. It was, of course, still the Holiday season, which I think stretches from November 1st into May now or something... I was trying to take a nice horse photo. Oh well. Onride photo from our first ride on Space Mountain. I'm trying to do the "rock on" sign. I'm NOT flicking the camera off. Of course, no trip to Disneyland is complete without a little DDR. Random atmospheric shot of Tomorrowland. They had turkeys at Big Thunder Ranch. Really showy, billowy birds too. Quite ugly. They'd look better roasted. Or in my stomach. "Come 'ere, Jessie!" "No, Woody! I'm not Dakota Fanning in Hound Dog!!!" Random nice atmospheric shot of the Rivers of America. This one's for Chris. "WHAT'S THAT? I CAN'T HERE YOU BECAUSE MY PANTS ARE TOO LOUD!!!" We found proof that Disneyland is evil. Or at least cinammon buns are evil, because this is the cost when you buy one with a YooHoo. Did I mention it was crowded at the park? Mad crowded. Total sellout. They DID end up shutting the gates probably a few hours before midnight. Haunted Mansion Holiday. Jack says Happy Christmaskahkwanzaa. This has got to be the best photo I've ever taken on Pirates of the Caribbean. It's effing hard to take a good shot on the ride, since even when the boats back up, they're still drifting ever so slightly on the water. Second on-ride photo of Space Mountain. Despite what it looks like, I am NOT heiling Hitler.... :unsure: Waiting for the countdown. Main Street was decked out in all its festive holiday cheer. We were stationed by the Photo Supply Co. store, right at the end of Main Street. Chris poses for a photo as we wait. Lots of people waiting as well. LOTS. Did I mention it was crowded? I can't believe I this picture to come through, since I zoomed in as far as my optical zoom went to take it. I almost never get crisp night shots when I use zoom, and I've definitely never gotten a good shot when maxing out my zoom. Yay me. After the fireworks show, we hit Indy, then Haunted Mansion, then Jungle Cruise. Here's me in between two of those rides. Haunted Mansion Holiday at night. I've always enjoyed the holiday version, but now I'm starting to really love it. SCARY JACK-O-LANTERN-CROW!!! Within an hour after midnight, the park had emptied out dramatically. I love Disneyland when it's near deserted at night though. It's good for photos, and it's just very tranquil and lovely. And as promised, here's the full fireworks show I filmed, hosted on YouTube: Enjoy!

Fantastic night photos! They're absolutely gorgeous! Too bad I can't make it back to DLP for another trip before I return to the U.S.

Being an ACE landmark gives you nothing. If it's on the Smithsonian list of historic places, however, then the coaster should be safe. I remember seeing an architectural competition for redeveloping the Coney Island waterfront area a year or two ago, though, if that means anything. That competition seemed to suggest preserving the amusement area. *shrug*

Samantha Alvey Erica Alvey Jennifer Alvey Rebecca Alvey Paulina-Ruben Alvey *shudder* Or you could always name her after a city. Paris Alvey? (just kidding; please don't do that either)

Random, but I skimmed your post and noticed your avatar and the first thing that hit my mind was a potential new ad campaign for McDonalds: QUARTER POUND IT!!

More proof that PETA = morons. They're so caught up in the viligante-ness of it all they don't even care about the actual. It's more about complaining and getting attention than about the animals these days.

In terms of safety, both rides should by fine. Indy could be jostly, and I'd only worry about that slight discomfort if I were to worry about anything. As far as scariness... if he wants to ride them, then he can. If he doesn't, he shouldn't. That's all. Although you already knew that.

Stealth. The coaster that fights back!

It's human nature to laugh at others' misfortune. That being said, that was effing hilarious. :rofl:

Whoa, totally missed the footers in the water. I was at the park last Sunday (the 20th), utilizing a free day on our Spain trip. Port Aventura is gorgeous, by the way. Kind of the European IOA, although I make that statement having never been to IOA... Anyway, yeah. There's a launch and part of an inline twist... it looks pretty cool.

*hops on the late news wagon* A third Alvey child! Although this one will probably adore rodents as well. And pasta. And... yeah... I will echo everyone else and extend my very belated congratulations as well. Although I'm highly amused over how the child was literally planned around roller coasters. Years from now, you can tell him or her that. And the kid will look at you blankly and go "*sigh* parents!" And anyone who's wondering how the kid will turn out can probably get a clue from... well, I guess Dallas and Bethany or something. Speaking of which--dayam, is Dallas really 11 already? Scary how time flies. I remember when Robb posted that vid of Dallas's first California Screamin' ride. And now I sound like some weird stalker. This is what happens when it's 3 AM and you've been working on architecture for about 12 hours. Congratulations, Robb and Elissa!!

Wow, that is absolutely amazing and mammoth! Amazing job, you guys! And I love your other KNEX coaster vids. You've got a lot of patience and heart... and time. That's something I'd do if I had the time, but since I don't, watching these amazing videos will more than suffice!

LOL! I love the punchline! :rofl:

Lets try to catch up on the trip reports, shall we? This happened about a month ago, and I've got a Spain report as well. VOLUME 8: WHIRLWIND 6 CITIES IN 4 DAYS UK TRIP Day 1 - Thursday, October 26, 2006 Our friend, Ellen, would be turning 23 on Saturday the 28th. That was also the same weekend our first guest instructor was leaving, giving us a chance to make a trip without worrying about having something due on the following Monday. So to celebrate her birthday, we concocted a turbulent whirlwind trip to Dublin and London, spanning six cities over the course of four days. It was a gastronomical spendorama, as my friend Greg put it. Bright and early on Thursday morning, before the sun was even out, we were walking on our way to the train station in Saintes. It was weird to be awake while it was still dark--weirder when I realized that since we were right before the end of Daylight Savings Time, sunrise wasn't until after 8:00. Quite bizarre. Our train left Saintes at 7:02 and arrived in Bordeaux about an hour later. Our flight to Dublin would fly out of Bordeaux, connecting at Birmingham, where we'd have five hours between flights. Bordeaux is sort of like a mix between Paris and Saintes; there's a lot of Haussmannian architecture, but there are also winding, narrow streets that show the medieval development of the city. Once in a while, a plaza opens up, like this one, which features an "Arc de Triumph" (these are littered everywhere in Europe, it seems) and a random column thingy. There were also some weird complexes, like this parking structure with a car that is "crashing out" of it. That's part of the facade design, by the way, so don't think cars randomly fly out of buildings in Bordeaux. The city is situated on the Garonne River. It's brown and dirty looking. And very wide. The dreary sky did nothing to lesson the relative ugliness of the river. At around noon, we arrived at Bordeaux Airport after taking a bus shuttle. Our flight left about an hour later, and it took about an hour. However, because we were going to Britain, we lost an hour, so it was about 3:00 in the afternoon when we arrived. I just realized I used the word "hour" about sixty times in that sentence. Oh well, this is just an email anyway. We expected Birmingham to be rainy. In fact, the weather reports said that all of our stops would be rainy. So imagine our delighted surprise when we got off the plane to find it... SUNNY! Fantastic stuff! And with five hours to kill, we certainly weren't going stay indoors, so we headed to a new shopping area in the city center that I'd heard about called the Bullring. Here it is here. Notice how even the British are USC fans. =D Our main reason for visiting this mall was the Selfridges Department Store Building, a funky, amorphous blob that was pretty interesting and extremely photogenic, although slightly less interesting in real person. The dots cover the entire facade and are actually pretty big. But the building was pretty cool. Here's another view. St Martin's Cathedral is right next door, so from certain angles, pedestrians can see old juxtaposed with new. The Cathedral is the city's oldest, I believe, and was a lot smaller than I thought. We took a break to finally each lunch... at 4:00. We had gotten through the day only on snacks, so we were starving. This restaurant, Wagamama, was awesome. Fantastic food, with an Asian-Euro fusion twist, and a great decor. And the prices weren't bad either! Here's another view at the Selfridges Building. Totally groovy man! Ellen and I walked through the store and went out to the skywalk that spanned over the street. From here, I took this gorgeous shot of the building at dusk. The Bullring Shopping Center is very stylish and modern in retail design. There's lots of glass, trusses, steel, and that sort of thing. Very contemporary looking. The mall at dusk. It's a mix of indoor and outdoor retail, and pretty cool. Overall, Birmingham was a very pleasant city, and I'd love to visit it again. But we had a flight to catch at 7, so we returned to the airport and took a one hour flight across the sea to Dublin, where we checked into our hostel, then went out for a quick drink at a nearby bar before retiring for the night. The River Liffey runs through the middle of Dublin on its way to the ocean. Here it is at night. And we close with a nifty shot I took of myself at the bar we were at. I messed up and moved the camera before the long exposure finished, but the result was pretty cool. Tomorrow, we'd get a full day in Dublin. And wouldn't you know it.. the weather would continue to be excellent! Friday, October 27, 2006 This day was spent basically walking all around the city, visiting various sites. Dublin's a bustling place, but not so big that we couldn't get anywhere we wanted by foot. It helped that our hostel was located rather centrally. This cafe was totally badass. And if you disagree, it'll totally kick your ass. Our first stop was Dublin Castle, a large complex encompassing... basically the castle around which the original medieval city was built! In the back, we see the castle is complete with "authentic" Irish Disneylandish multicolored castle wall painting! There's a big lawn as well, so we had a couple that we met take a picture of us. Oddly enough, we would keep running into the same couple over and over again. They were a student studying abroad in Italy and her boyfriend, who was from upstate new York. Very nice people, but it was hilarious how many times we kept on running into them. After the first three times, we basically parted with "see you later" rather than "good bye," because chances were that we would see them later. Our first meeting was on the bus the previous night. We'd find them again at several other places we'd visit. I just thought that was odd enough to be worth mentioning. Later on, we stumbled upon the filming of a BBC miniseries featuring Sherlock Holmes, famous detective of Scotland Yard. We chatted briefly with the very nice actor playing Sherlock, then took turns posing with him. It's Sherlock Holmes! Brilliant! Another picture of the Dublin Castle complex. The castle also included a chapel that we went into. It's quite nice inside, showing the elegant and decorative British Gothic style. On our way to St Patrick's Cathedral, we stopped at Christ Church Cathedral, the oldest church in the city, founded all the way back in the 1000s! It was certainly quite beautiful, with the weighty gray stone and verdant green lawn making up a great view. Here's me. A five minute walk from there led us to St. Patrick's Cathedral, named after Ireland's patron saint. It's a beautiful building, to be sure. The same goes for the front. We wanted to tour the interior, but they were charging for it, and they'd converted part of it into a gift shop. A bit callous, if you ask me. We decided it wasn't worth it. After lunch, we decided to head over to the Guiness Store House, Dublin's most popular attraction. On the way, we ran into a random church. I thought it was nice, plus the streetscape is pretty. After a 15 minute walk, we were at the entrance of the Guiness Store House. Inside, we learned how Guiness ale was made through a series of exhibits. It seems that this museum also features the incredible... the spectacular... the BACKSIDE OF WATER!!!! That's a Jungle Cruise reference for those who don't understand it, but maybe Guiness as Disneyland beat, because it also features the magnificent, the unbelievable... THE UNDERSIDE OF WATER!!!! Okay, so that was a little overdramatic. The building also has a central atrium that's supposed to represent a big ale mug. Literally, on the brochure, there's a diagram showing a building section with an ale mug in the middle! The conclusion to the tour was a lift up to the Gravity Bar, seven stories above ground, which offered some spectacular views of Dublin. Another view at the bar, where we got complementary Guiness and a free gift. And here's a shot of the view. This one looks toward the sea, which you can barely see on the horizon. Another view, aimed at the Dublin Mountains (which looked more like hills to me). The night was spent out with the gang, clubbing and drinking. But not in excess, at least not for me. Saturday, October 28, 2006 Ellen's birthday celebration continued the following day, most of which was spent in Dublin. After drinking the night and early morning before (birthday shots must be done, you know), some of my friends had hangovers. Not me of course, because I'm responsible (that's more for reassurance to my family...). However, what better to cure a hangover than to... take a tour at a whiskey distillery!! Here we are at the Old Jameson Distillery, which used to make the famous Jameson Irish Whiskey but now stands as a museum. Here's me waiting. (FAR) EAST SIDE!!! The interior had a rustic themed feel to it, with a lot of timber to give it a nice 19th century atmosphere. Here we learned how whiskey was made. It's pretty similar to how most alcohol is made. Prime ingredients are selected, barley is turned to mash, stuff ferments, alcohol forms, stuff gets distilled. Basically, it's a lot of sugar processing. Afterwards, we had lunch at the Distillery Cafe, then went out to stroll around and find some shopping. We stumbled onto a very nice pedestrian shopping promenade on our way back to the area of our hostel. Later on, we found another shopping street, this one on Grafton Street. I found it very charming how much it resembled a Disneyland Main Street (only this one's authentic!). It featured mostly retail clothing and jewelry stores, with a few fast food restaurants and Starbucks scattered in. Another view. Nearby was hte Stephens Green Shopping Center, a Victorian-style mall. At around six or seven, we took a taxi to the airport to catch our 9:00 flight to London. The airport features super amazing space age industrial airport spoons. So after waiting two hours because we got through security in all of about five minutes because no one was at the airport, we finally got onto the plane. Here's me on the plane. We arrived in London about an hour later and made our way to the subway system to find a metro line to take us by our hostel. This is The Tube. London's subway system is pretty efficient too, rivaled, in my opinion, only by Paris' (which is the best in Europe, methinks). We emerged after a few stops and walked the remaining ten minutes to our hostel. On the way, I took a nifty long exposure of a church we passed by. We dropped out stuff at the hostel (which turned out to be very, very nice. Linden Lane Hostel, if you're ever in London. Pretty cheap--except when you realize that 22 pounds is more like $45. Stupid weak American dollar), and went out to celebrate the remainder of Ellen's birthday. And why not? With Daylight Savings Time ending, we'd get an extra hour of going out! This is what London looks like on a Saturday night. Pretty nice looking. After a few hours out, it was time to return to the hostel and get some sleep. Tomorrow, we'd have all of about three hours to tour London. Could we do it? Find out the thrilling conclusion to Ellen's Gastronimical UK Birthday Celebration and Spendorama in the next report! Sunday, October 29, 2006 Sunday morning. Checkout at 10:00 AM. Flight at 3:00 PM Three hours to tour London... Cue the clock, and we're off! We started on a gorgeous blue-sky morning, making our way to the nearest Tube stop to purchase a day pass before heading in the direction of the Thames River. Coming out of the Tube, we got a glimpse of the Millennium Eye ferris wheel, set up for the year 2000 celebration. The wheel was behind London County Hall, which also featured a Picasso Museum. We walked through the museum. Count that as two credits! The Millennium Eye was pretty big, and the line to ride it was huge. We were pushed for time, so we merely passed it (another tourist credit), making our way along the Thames waterfront, which was quite beautiful. We crossed the bridge over the river, and lo and behold, what do we see on the other side? Indeed, none other than Big Ben and Buckingham Palace (credits 4 and 5). Both were pretty neat, although Big Ben is certainly not as big as it must have seemed when it was first built. It's okay. Our next stop was Westminister Abbey (#6). Unfortunately, I somehow lost my photos of that building (we couldn't enter it due to ongoing mass inside). However, we stopped for about ten minutes and took photos, then skipped right back to the Tube stop across from Buckingham. Upon entering, we were greeted by the Tower of London castle (#7). Again, my photos somehow got deleted here, but it was pretty interesting. There was no actual tower... at least not in the castle. There's also the Tower Dungeon museum here as well, but we didn't have the time to visited. Those interested in torture and creepy ways of imprisoning people would love it though. And since it was Halloween, the museum gift shop was pretty packed as well! We crossed the Thames again, this time over the Tower Bridge (#8 )... the famous one that raises for boats to pass. It's got two towers (perhaps to make up for the castle?). On the other side, we came the new City Hall building by Norman Foster. It's an egg, really. I'm standing in front of a huge egg. But it's got a lot of ecological features, low energy use, and the like. Quite a unique building, right along the waterfron. A gaze over the waterfront also reveals another Norman Foster building, a huge cigar shaped skyscraper (#10) that looks like... um... a phallus. But it was a great view! So all in all, ten attractions "seen" in three hours. That includes transportation time. And frankly, it was actually two and a half hours. We overdid it. Hooray us! Around 1, we got on the Tube to go to the train station to take an express train that would take us to Stanstead Airport, outside of the city. Arriving an hour before the flight left, we trudged through a much busier security stop and got on the plane. An hour or two later, we were in La Rochelle, whose airport is a field. No literally! It's a field! But the good thing was that we arrived just in time for one of the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen. I'll have to do a separate email on this later, but Europe has featured some incredible skies, and this was one of the most magnificent. The blazing oranges, violents, and reds painted a passionate scene across the heavens during this hour of twilight, and it was a breathtaking panorama! La Rochelle would be our last stop, with a couple of hours to kill before our train back to Saintes. Fortunately, it's got a gorgeous waterfront. Here's the waterfront at night. Here's some boats on the water. And here's the famous fortress towers along the Old Port. Although we didn't have a lot of time in La Rochelle, the time we did spend was quite enjoyable. Hopefully, I can make it there again (they've got a nice aquarium) before I leave France. So there you have it. Six cities in four days, and a lot of money. Not a bad way to spend a weekend!

Too bad I won't be in Europe next year.