STR8FXXXINEDGE

I threw this picture together to post on my Instagram and I really liked it, so I thought I'd share it here. The left is before I trimmed my beard. The right is after, with my new hockey helmet, which is the main reason that I trimmed my beard.

I'm "brianxraymond" on there... I've also been tagging my coaster pics with #themeparkreview. Well, coaster pics that I've taken on TPR trips or at TPR Bashes, anyway.

I have a bunch of records. I've got crates full of old Country and Jazz that you can find at every garage sale and thrift store, and I probably have 150+ Hip Hop, Hardcore, Indie, and Metal records (Old & New) including first pressings and test presses. There are some LP's and even 7" out there that are worth a butt-load of money, including some newer limited pressings. What do you have that you're selling? I'm interested in all of the above genres, minus House.

^ I did!

I mostly use Firefox, but I do have Chrome as well. I just can't get into Chrome, though. No idea what it is, but here's something that I just don't like about it.

Happy New Year to all my TPR family! Love this place! Be safe out there tonight, people! Here's to an amazing 2013!

Snowboarding is actually easy to do, it's just very unnatural and scary feeling when learning. The way to keep yourself up doesn't feel normal and makes it feel like you're going to tip over, so most people just fall over naturally. The main thing to keep in mind when learning, is to never keep your board flat on the snow! That's what causes you to catch an edge and makes the sudden slams to the snow happen. You should always be on an edge. Really, all you need to do is keep rocking from heel edge to toe edge, heel edge to toe edge, heel edge to toe edge..... it's that simple. If you ask me, speed is the name of the game, and not being afraid. I try to explain it to people as being the same as riding a bike. The faster you go, the easier it is to balance. The same applies for snowboarding. I've taught quite a few people to snowboard and I always steer them away from the bunny hills. Those slow things are the secret nemesis of beginners.

Rut-roh...

I can't wait to get back to this park! This new ride looks like it's going to be amazing! Plus, I could use another 25 or so non-stop laps on Black Mamba!

along with riding coasters and traveling, snowboarding is another passion of mine. I've been riding for about 16 years. It's one of my favorite things to do to just get away from everything. There's nothing better than riding chairlifts up the mountain when it's dead silent, especially at night. So peaceful. I used to love riding park; half-pipe in particular. But, after many years of skateboarding and being an idiot on my snowboard, I can no longer do that stuff, as my knees are shot! Now, I just cruise around and have a good time, maybe bump off a few hips here and there. I used to manage a skate shop that sold snowboard gear, so I used to get hooked up with stuff all of the time. Reps would hook me up, I'd get things at cost, and I used to go to this thing called Test Fest, where you would test out all of the new products for the next year to see if you want to carry them at your shop or not, and could ride with some pros. It was awesome! But the best thing about working at the shop was that we got free lift passes to every place in the state, every season. I used to ride every single weekend in the winter, and some weekdays. The shop closed about 9 years ago, and I've only been able to go a handful of times since then (Maybe once or twice a season). I definitely miss it! Plus, I'm still using my old gear that I got when I worked at the shop. It may be old and out of style, but it still works, haha. I would LOVE to do one of the TPR winter trips out west one of these years. Here's a pic of me from a few years ago, riding the chairlift.

^ That hoodie! I need it!!!

2 pillows. Welcome to the poor life.

I'm drinking a Mt. Dew Slurpee right now. Mmmm...

Bummed that I missed the cutoff for a Bag-O-Crap, but I obviously did, and would've done this anyway. The top 20 or so are accurate, as well as the last 5 or so. The middle stuff always gets a little wishy-washy for me. --Generator: Jordan's Ballot Helper 2012 (wood)-- --Ballot: 12f20819683-- --STR8FXXXINEDGE@yahoo.com------ LOCATION FOLLOWS THIS LINE (LEAVE THIS LINE AS IS) ~"Saginaw, MI" NAME FOLLOWS THIS LINE (LEAVE THIS LINE AS IS IN Ballot) ~"Brian Raymond" RANK THE FOLLOWING RIDING SENSATIONS <-LEAVE THIS LINE AS IS Abrupt Airtime_____________________________,y,y,1 Floating Airtime___________________________,y,y,2 Sensation of Speed_________________________,y,y,3 Out of Control Feeling/Directional Changes_,y,y,4 Positive G's/Loops_________________________,y,y,5 Lateral Forces_____________________________,y,y,6 COASTER NAME PARK LOC <--Please leave this El Toro SFGAd NJ,y,n,1 My Favorite Steel Anypark Anywhere **,y,n,2 The Voyage Holiday World IN,y,n,3 Boulder Dash Lake Compounce CT,y,n,4 Ravine Flyer II Waldameer PA,y,n,5 Thunderhead Dollywood TN,y,n,6 Ozark Wildcat(SBNO) Celebration City MO,y,n,7 Kentucky Rumbler Beech Bend KY,y,n,8 HellCat Timber Falls WI,y,n,9 Lightning Racer - L Hersheypark PA,y,n,10 Lightning Racer - T Hersheypark PA,y,n,11 Cornball Express Indiana Beach IN,y,n,12 Renegade Valleyfair! MN,y,n,13 Phoenix Knoebel's PA,y,n,14 Raven Holiday World IN,y,n,15 Comet Great Escape NY,y,n,16 Viper SFGAm IL,y,n,17 Wooden Warrior Quassy CT,y,n,18 The Beast Kings Island OH,y,n,19 Blue Streak Cedar Point OH,y,n,20 The Legend Holiday World IN,y,n,21 Joris en de Draak V de Efteling NL,y,n,22 Joris en de Draak W de Efteling NL,y,n,23 Cyclone Luna Park NY,y,n,24 Hades Mount Olympus WI,y,n,25 American Eagle SFGAm IL,y,n,26 Big Dipper Camden Park WV,y,n,27 Skyliner Lakemont PA,y,n,28 Roar SF America MD,y,n,29 Shivering Timbers Michigan's Adventure MI,y,n,30 Wolverine Wildcat Michigan's Adventure MI,y,n,31 Hoosier Hurricane Indiana Beach IN,y,n,32 Georgia Cyclone SFoG GA,y,n,33 Tornado Stricker's Grove OH,y,n,34 Racer Kings Island OH,y,n,35 Grt Am Scrm Mach SFoG GA,y,n,36 The Grizzly Kings Dominion VA,y,n,37 Thunderbolt Kennywood PA,y,n,38 Jack Rabbit Kennywood PA,y,n,39 Wildcat Hersheypark PA,y,n,40 Lost Coaster of SM Indiana Beach IN,y,n,41 Racer Kennywood PA,y,n,42 Excalibur Funtown USA ME,y,n,43 Thunderbolt SF New England MA,y,n,44 Cyclone SF New England MA,y,n,45 Teddy Bear Stricker's Grove OH,y,n,46 Twisted Twins-L (S) Kentucky Kingdom KY,y,n,47 Twisted Twins-S (S) Kentucky Kingdom KY,y,n,48 Wild One SF America MD,y,n,49 Zach's Zoomer Michigan's Adventure MI,y,n,50 Gwazi-Lion Busch Gardens-Tampa FL,y,n,51 Timber Wolf Worlds of Fun MO,y,n,52 Wildcat Lake Compounce CT,y,n,53 Thunder Run Kentucky Kingdom KY,y,n,54 Rolling Thunder SFGAd NJ,y,n,55 Mean Streak Cedar Point OH,y,n,56 Woodstock Express Kings Island OH,y,n,57 Comet Hersheypark PA,y,n,58 Comet Waldameer PA,y,n,59 Twister Knoebel's PA,y,n,60 Woodstock Express Carowinds NC,y,n,61 High Roller Valleyfair! MN,y,n,62 Ghoster Coaster Kings Dominion VA,y,n,63 Ghoster Coaster Canada's Wonderland ON,y,n,64 Zeus Mount Olympus WI,y,n,65 Thunderhawk Dorney Park PA,y,n,66 Pegasus Mount Olympus WI,y,n,67 Cyclops Mount Olympus WI,y,n,68 Rollo Coaster Idlewild PA,y,n,69 Meteor Little Amerricka WI,y,n,70 Lil' Dipper Camden Park WV,y,n,71 Leap the Dips Lakemont PA,y,n,72 Hurler Carowinds NC,y,n,73 Hurler Kings Dominion VA,y,n,74 Rebel Yell Kings Dominion VA,y,n,75 Big Dipper (SBNO) Geauga Lake OH,y,n,76 Wild Beast Canada's Wonderland ON,y,y,77 Thunder Road Carowinds NC,y,n,78 Robin Hood Walibi Holland NL,y,n,79 M.Can.Mine Buster Canada's Wonderland ON,y,y,80 Le Monstre La Ronde QU,y,n,81 Son of Beast (SBNO) Kings Island OH,y,n,82

I'd say the coaster with the most hangtime that I've ridden is Sequoia Adventure at Gardaland, and I really expected to hate it, but it ended up being not bad. Kind of pointless, but not bad. Then there is Déjà Vu that used to be at SFOG. The first time I rode it, when they take you up backwards, my restraint clicked and loosened on me. I panicked and put my hands on the back of the seat that was in front of me to try and keep pressure off of the restraint. My friend who was riding next to me thought it was the funniest thing ever, and I really thought it was the end of my life. I've ridden all but one of the models multiple times, and that was the only time it happened. When I was little, I rode the Ring of Fire/Super Loop at a little carnival. They held it upside down and the big puffy restraint that is supposed to be across your waist/stomach, ended up across my lower shins. If the ride trains didn't have the cage, my butt would have plummeted to the ground below. Last time I ever rode one of those!

My first coaster with inversions was Corkscrew at Cedar Point back in 1987!

I voted Coaster Expedition. They are just so much fun to watch with all of the people, different rides and attractions, antics, and fun music in them. Coasters are my favorite thing in parks, but it'd be a nice change-up from the RAW videos to get an updated overview of some of the parks visited. I still watch the older Coaster Expedition videos cause I'm so hungry for fun, lol. Don't get me wrong though, I love the RAW videos, too. I buy them all... Coaster Expedition and RAW!

Not sure how extreme these actually are, but there's some options if nothing else comes up. www.rioxtreme.com/XtremeTours

These are incredible! I'd definitely use that BTMR photo as a desktop wallpaper. Can't wait to see more of your work!

I just bought myself Season 5 of The Big Bang Theory. Got a set that came with DVD, Blu-Ray, and Ultra Violet (Whatever the hell that is, haha!). It was originally $39.99, and I got it for $8.99 from Best Buy. The best part, I ordered it online and did store pick-up. I was literally there for like 5 minutes max! Cha-Ching!

^ That's my dream! I've always said that I was going to live in an RV and make payments on it, instead of payments on a house or apartment. Of course, this is more of a dream than reality.

Just ordered Roller Coasters in the Raw Volume 7! It's an early Birthday gift to myself. Can't wait to check it out!

Well, I started out going for Mechanical Engineering for obvious reasons, but then I remembered how much I HATE math! Now... Associate: Fine Arts Bachelors: Graphic Design Graphic Design is what I love. I've been doing it for years and can sit at the computer and get lost in what I'm doing. I can sit here all day and it feels like it's been an hour.

Even though the coasters weren't good, it's still a sad site to see. Glad I was able to snag the credits last year! There's no doubt in my mind that they will rebuild and improve. Can't wait to see how they bounce back!

Thanks again for everything, Big Mike! I'm happy to see that the video turned out. Still not sure where I'm gonna head off to with my certificate, but I've definitely got some ideas. Glad you were able to make it up here, and that I was able to show you Kokomo's and ride the Serpent with you. It was a blast hanging out and I can't wait 'till we meet up again, wherever that may be. Thanks again for everything that you do, and for being a great friend. You're the best! Also, thanks to everyone else for the congratulations! It was a lot of fun and I'm glad that I was not only able to be surprised by Big Mike, but had opportunity to surprise him as well, lol. P.S. I also enjoyed Megan's cartwheels. Thanks for sharing! While we're at it here, I might as well post these. I took a short drive this morning to find this little guy... There he is, in his little hiding spot. There he is in his new home, with me!