Sgt. Fox

Castles n' Coasters in Phoenix. A great experience I had there was while waiting in the Desert Storm Coaster. The coaster can't run unless they have a certain number of people in it, so you have to just sit there in the train and wait for more guests to come. While waiting, the ride op kept trying to sell me some weed. After I declined several times, he started asking me for money. When I declined that, he started getting aggressive with his pan-handling until I just got up and exited the station. I think they must hire homeless people there or something!

Recently got back from a short business trip that allowed me to divert to WDW. It rained several of the days I was there, but I still managed to get some video and have a good time. Here's my trip video: HD WDW Trip Video - February 2010 on Vimeo Sorry it's in link form, but I don't think I can embed Vimeo videos here. If I'm wrong, let me know and I'd be happy to edit my post to embed. Video is in 1080i and was shot with my Sony HDR-CX520.

I have a similar question. I'm planning on going to SFOT for the first time ever on the day after Thanksgiving. They're only open for a few days and only in the evening for some reason. Does anyone know if most of the attractions would normally be open on a day like that, or is it some kind of special event/festival that would generally see most of the attractions closed? Thanks in advance for any tips you have. You guys are a great source of info!

I hate when the people in line behind me don't control their kids and I'm getting my heels/ankles stomped and kicked every time the line creeps forward. I have no idea why, but it often seems to be little Asian kids when it happens. Maybe there's a smaller personal space envelope in their culture or something? I don't know... I also have to second that peeve about the people who let a 20' gap form ahead of them in line because they're not paying attention. I get that the line doesn't move any faster when they don't, but with all of the rampant line-cutting these days, I'd rather they not maximize my chances of getting cut. It seems that over half the time someone ahead of me allows the gap, some tool in the next switchback decides to take advantage of it and sneak across to cut in line.

I highly recommend the XTi. It's treated me well. The XSi is nicer, but pricier. Amazon has a body + lens kit on sale for $540 right now. I think you can get a body only for around $420.

Thanks for the kind words. I shoot a Canon Rebel XTi. The lenses used for these photos were a 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS, a 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5, and a 50mm f/1.4. That fast f/1.4 lens is good for shooting in the rides where it's dark. HDR is a technique where you take multiple photos of a subject at different exposures, then combine them using software. You can do it with any camera. I have a very short tutorial here: http://www.arizonasteve.com/2008/07/hdr-photography-fun.html If you'd like to see more HDR, I recently took a bunch of HDR photos at Disneyland, which can be seen here: http://www.arizonasteve.com/2008/09/disneyland-in-hdr.html

Thanks Guys. Yeah, the HDR photos are High Dynamic Range. They're all 3 exposure HDRs.

Hey All! Just got back from celebrating my 5th Anniversary at WDW. We were married there back in 2004, and couldn't help but go back to celebrate our 5th. We stayed on the Atrium Club level of the Contemporary, and I would highly recommend it. Free food, snacks, drinks and booze more than make up for the extra price. Not to mention just having your own private lounge to unwind in at the end of the day. Way cool. Here are a few of my favorite photos from the trip. If you want to view them all, they're on my blog at http://www.arizonasteve.com WDW Was All Decked Out For Christmas View From the Atrium Club Lounge Grand Floridian As Seen From the Lounge View From Our Room (In HDR) DVC Under Construction Brer Rabbit Brer Bear and Fox YEEOOOW! Mansion! Anniversary You Say? The Food In Mexico was BAD Lucky For Me, It Didn't Have To Stay Down Long! TOWER!!! (In HDR) They're Heeeeeeeere! Bye Tower! (In HDR) Expedition Everest is AWESOME Think He's Scared of Dinosaurs? Go Eat at T-Rex. It's Cool! (Har Har) It's Japan! It's EPCOT! It's (in HDR)! I Found a Hidden Mickey In Nemo! Thank God That Giant Wand is Gone! (In HDR) Giant Mickey Hat is Cool at Night! (In HDR) And It's Bright! (In HDR) Cinderella Castle And We Finish with Fireworks From the Atrium Club Lounge! Hope you all enjoyed my trip report. Thanks for reading!

Thanks for all the compliments guys! To answer your questions, I'm shooing a Canon Digital Rebel XTi. All of the photos were taken with either a Canon 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS lens or a Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 lens. I use a cheap-o travel tripod for the long exposures since it can fit in my backpack. The sky looks murky in some of the shots as a side-effect of the HDR. HDR also creates a halo effect where the ground meets the sky that I try to get rid of, but it's pretty tough. Here's a quick tutorial on HDR if you want more details: HDR Explanaiton I'm also glad you liked the panoramas. You can get larger versions of them here: Panorama 1 And here: Panorama 2

My wife threw a surprise party for my for my 30th birthday last weekend, with the culmination of the party being a surprise trip to Disneyland, THAT DAY!!! Crowds were light for a holiday weekend, the weather was perfect, and despite all my doubts, Midway Mania was actually really, really fun! I took a whole bunch of photos, including a lot of HDR (High Dynamic Range) photos. I hope you enjoy them! There are a lot of photos, and they're pretty large files so I picked out and put most of my favorites in my trip report for you. In order to prevent bogging you down on the forum, the rest are on my blog at www.arizonasteve.com Welcome to Disneyland! Main Street USA The Hub Partners Castle... So... SMALL No Matterhorn Line! We Must Ride! Mark Twain Best Ride EVAR No Line Here Either! We Got SOAKED On Splash For Some Reason Heh. They're Still Defacing It Eight Years Later... GRRizzly Rapids You Can Almost FEEL The Mist Sunset At The Pier Panorama Of The Pier At Night Panorama Of The Pier With The Sun Setting Tower of Terror at Night Go Star Trader! Still Kickin' Space Is Soooo Nice With the Redone Track

Reminds me so much of this guy...

Here's a press release about the signing: http://www.decadesusa.com/in-the-media/GovernorSignsBill.php They haven't started building anything, so there's nothing to see out there yet.

My guess: The family will file a wrongful death suit seeking unspecified damages with Six Flags, B&M and the Christian Church/Group responsible for the trip all named as co-defendants. Six Flags' insurance carrier will settle for nuisance value just to avoid trying the case ($30k?), B&M will get dismissed out or win on a motion for summary judgment, but that Christian Group has some serious liability for not supervising the kids. Remember, he was a 17yo minor in their custody for a trip. Oops, that's about a $1M mistake. Of course, if it turns out there was inadequate fencing or it was left open (which it doesn't sound like so far), then Six Flags could have much greater liability.

Fox News is still insisting he was decapitated. No source on that detail though. And yes, decapitation is the head. Limbs get severed, your head gets decapitated. Not to be too grisly in the details, but often when someone is decapitated, their head isn't actually removed from their body. People often suffer what's known as 'internal decapitation'. This is when your head stays on firm, but the inner workings are detached inside the neck, causing the same result even though you stay in one piece. (Spent too many years as a criminal prosecutor! )

Well, since they are now deciding and dictating what "fun" is for me and my family, why don't they just tether us all together so we can't separate at all? That should make for some more "fun" during bathroom breaks. (And I agree, it's just a temporary marketing gimmick to get free press.)

Fun Fact: Part of the movie Star Trek: First Contact was filmed in the missle silo. The missle doubles as the first warp drive vehicle built by Zephyr Cochran in the movie.

^ Yeah, I shoot a Canon Rebel XTi and take quite a few photos. Do you do photography? I'm thinking about trying out HDR photography, since it looks pretty cool. My web gallery is at http://www.arizonasteve.com I have a BUNCH of Disneyland and WDW photos on there accessable from the pull down topic menu if you're looking for theme park photos.

So you're the guy who I want to avoid during my career! Heh, see you real soon... MUAHAHAHA!!!

No color filters, but I did adjust the curves in Photoshop to pop the colors and contrast.

I'm an Attorney. More specifically, I do lawyer regulation and discipline for the State Bar. I'm the guy that takes away other attorneys' law licenses for misconduct.

I recently traveled waaay out into the middle of nowhere for a tour of the Titan II Missile Base. The Titan II Missile Base, more formally known as Titan II ICBM Site 571-7, is located in the Arizona desert about 20km south of Tucson, and is what would be commonly referred to as a "Nuclear missile base." The complex is a massive 8 level facility located 140ft underground, hardened against potential nuclear attack, and protected at ground level by Doppler ground intrusion radar installations. The Titan II missile inside the launch silo is 103ft tall, uses hypergolic propellant for immediate launch, and was equipped with a W53 warhead yielding 9 Megatons. I say "was" equipped, as the warhead has been deactivated pursuant to the 1981 SALT Treaty. Not a Good Place to Trespass. Use of Deadly Force Authorized Doesn't Look Like Much from the Surface Spare Re-Entry Vehicle For the Top of the Missile Looking Down at the Missile From the Top of the Silo Let's Head Down Into the Complex For Security Reasons, Everybody is Armed and Nobody can be Alone at Any Time. You Watch Me, I Watch You... This is the Launch Control Center The Red Safe is Where the Launch Order Confirmation Codes are Kept /> Two Keys on Opposite Sides of the Room Must be Turned at the Same Time to Initiate Launch. There is No Stopping the Launch After That... Missiles Away. You'll Need Something to Read While You Wait for Incoming It Must Have Served Its Purpose... The Flag is Still Flying The Titan II Missile Base was definitely built with bad intentions. Everything gives off that vibe, from the massive blast doors and reinforced concrete walls to the rooms that are entirely suspended on massive spring coils to absorb shock waves. However, we lived in a different world back then and were facing some very real threats to our security and way of life. I hope the Titan II Missile Base is kept up and continues to offer tours to the public so today's and tomorrow's kids can get a glimpse of what the Cold War was like for us.

I actually got into a fistfight at Disneyland once, allthough it was pretty quick and one-sided. We had gotten our food at Rancho Zocalo, and were searching for a table to eat at. The place was packed, and after about 5-8 minutes of searching, we were starting to get desperate. Suddenly, I see this empty table in the outdoor eating area. When we get to it, I see it's empty, but there's this tiny gift shop bag sitting on it. Really tiny, like one that just holds a keychain. I look around, and don't see anyone that seems to be laying claim to the bag, so I start to wonder if it's there to save a table or somebody left and forgot it. I figure, it would be strange and foolish for someone to purposely leave their gift shop purchase unattended at Disneyland where it could be stolen, so it must have been left behind on accident. (I suppose my desire for a table probably also played into my thought process as well.) I picked up the bag and took it to the nearest cashier, telling her someone left it behind on a table. She put it under her kiosk for lost and found, and I returned to the table. About 10 minutes into our meal, this famly (husband wife, 2 pre-teen kids) shows up and starts screaming "what did you do!?! Where's our stuff!?!" I asked, "the gift bag?" and they just kept screaming, "our stuff, what did you do with our stuff?!" Everyone around stopped eating and started watching the circus unfolding. I told them, "I figured you had forgotten it and I gave it to the cashier as lost and found." They just stood there staring at me, as if they expected me to pack up my family and leave, so I said, "listen, the table was empty and we're just trying to accommodate everyone." The husband then moved up to me, grabbed my food tray with one hand, and my arm with the other in an attempt to physically remove me from the table. At that point, I was pissed, and figured he had initiated physical contact, so it was on. As he pulled me up, I threw two quick punches. One caught him in the mouth, and one on the cheek. He stumbled back and seemed genuinely shocked that I had punched him. He and his family retreated, with the wife screaming, "you people have no class! No class!" the entire time in this nasty Wisconsin -like accent. I can still hear that shrieking to this day. Ugh. The rest of the meal, I was expecting security or Anaheim PD to show up, but nobody ever did. Nobody at the tables around us seemed to say or do anything either. I guess they were as annoying to them as they were to us.

I know they're perfectly safe, but the restraints on the flying coasters like Batwing at Six Flags America (I assume Tatsu is the same) have always scared the bejeesus out of me. Something just bothers me about that harness being the only thing between me an a big stain on the ground. I suppose there's some psychological comfort to knowing that even if the restraint somehow failed in a standard coaster, I'd still sitting in the car clinging for life.

It looks like they very wisely and quickly pull their restraints back down as the train pulls away. They should automatically re-lock without the operator holding down the release foot-pedal.

You think those restraints are scary? Try riding a looping coaster after the operator has accidentally unlocked your restraints at the top of the lift! http://youtube.com/watch?v=rA5XmpL6VCk