Lou's Year In Review: 2007

[Wes]

6a) What happened to that awesome picture of all of us in front of Jurassic Park with our ponchos? That was hysterical if memory serves?

[arrowfanman]

^ I totally forgot about that! That was so awesome!

 

 

 

 

Oh, and I almost forgot!...

 

Colossus needs to be burned to the ground (and if any of you feel like trying to recover my left nipple from somewhere underneath the track, please do),

 

I happen to know for a fact that SFMM employees are not allowed to retrieve lost items from beneath Colossus, so....Lou the mononippled woman it is.

 

 

-Jahan

[Guy T. Koepp]

6a) What happened to that awesome picture of all of us in front of Jurassic Park with our ponchos? That was hysterical if memory serves?

 

That's one of em. Is Jimmy doing a velaciraptor impression?

 

Awesome!

 

Thanks Wes.

[TheRapidsNerd]

4b) Why am I only now hearing about this mysterious photo you and Robb took up my shorts? Was I asleep? Are you not sharing because it will make all the other men here on the site jealous of me?

 

Oh we've gotta hear this story.

 

Guy T. Koepp > Tommy Lee?

[Louise]

I just *cried* laughing at that poncho picture, I had completely forgotten about Wes taking that, that's put the ride in context for me now, Wes didn't ride, he took that picture on his iPhone before we all did, and I do recall more now. I did too freaking much this summer, all my memories are all confused!

 

Guy, how can I respond to all that!! I wasn't "afraid" to meet you, I was just a little concerned that you would be too full on, as you do come across as slightly manic online. In person you were a joy to be around, and I enjoyed being your co-parent over Moons Over My Hammy and All-American Slams. For anybody who cares, number 3) on Guy's list of responses may just explain what I didn't have anything to do with in the installment that included Chris and Jimmy playing with dry ice... And oh my GOD how could I forget the Queso. That stuff was goooood. I actually was in a supermarket before Christmas that had all kinds of weird processed cheese and I was looking for that stuff but couldn't remember the name... Began with V, right?

 

I only didn't post the up-the-shorts picture because I didn't think people needed to see Guy's red panties!! But seeing as there's demand...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Incidentally, a shameless plea: I don't remember if anybody else had a camera at Universal or if it was just Wes with his camera phone... Anyways, I really regret not taking pictures there, so if anybody has any at all they'd be willing to send... I'd appreciate it muchly, my collection has a giant gap!! Thanks!!

[Guy T. Koepp]

That's Awesome!

 

And Damn it! Their manties! Not panties!

 

I have no recollection of that event at all. When did you take it? I must have sacked out pretty hard. Generally I don't sleep that soundly. I am pretty cognicent of things going on around me. (Ask Robb about the Tatsu campout.)

 

Anyway, you have my permission to blow it up, and pin it to your roof. That way it will be the first thing you see when you wake up.

 

Oh, the cheese is Velveeta. It's basically procesed crap. However, it's great for cooking. I hope to make more Queso for The DVD release party in Colins honor.

 

Mmmmmmmmmmm! Queso! It's like a party in my mouth, and everone's invited.

 

You are already missed Lou.

 

Guy "Who me? Full on? Awwwwwwright! " Koepp

[gisco]

Hey, there is nothing up Guy's pant leg. I knew he was all talk!

[Ed]

That upskirt beats anything Britney or Lohan can do!

[Wes]

Lou, here's the only other pics I have from USH.

Post JP 2

Post JP

Ryan's car.

MARTY!!!!

[cfc]

Nacho cheese dip is the best (perhaps only) use for Velveeta; but if you're a migraine sufferer, it's not likely to bring on a headache because it isn't aged.

 

"Dr. Science" (an old comedy show on National Public Radio) made the interesting claim that SPAM (or "Scientifically Produced Animal Matter") was closely related to a "synthetic jellyfish" called "the Velveeta." And if you doubt this, remember, that he's Dr. Science, so "he knows more than you."

 

"He has a master's degree . . . in SCIENCE!"

 

Getting back on topic, I'm looking forward to the DL segment, Lou.

[Louise]

LOL Guy!! In my recollection you weren't even asleep when we took the picture, I thought you were just chilling out!! It was after the fair before we started carting stuff over to the clubhouse!!

 

Thanks *so* much Wes!! Even having a few is so much better than not having ANY!! I'm used to being on the trips where almost everybody has a camera, not being the only photographer! I liked the post-JP one muchly, and LOL at "Countdown to Ryan Crying".

[TheRapidsNerd]

Manties, eh? Well now we've been briefed...

 

Sure there's a short story or or so on that guy pic that's worthy of a later date. On behalf of the other curious souls, thank you. Hey, I love a good/wierd story/prank. 8)

[RCFreak]

Come on Lou I need more pics of me... er... I mean to see what happens next in your wondefully grand adventure!

[pagemaster_b]

Lou, I think it's funny that I was in SoCal at the same time as you visiting my brother in Santa Clarita (over the hill from the Alveys) and visiting the same parks. I'm surprised we didn't bump into each other!

 

 

Of course, I wouldn't have recognized you and you didn't know what I looked like before the Japan trip. (I thought I saw Chris on one of those nights at Disneyland, but I'm not sure.)

[Louise]

^ Really?! I knew from us talking in Japan that you had been in California, but didn't realise our schedules had coincided particularly closely!! We were at Disney Mon/Tues 27th/28th so if you were there those nights you may well have seen Chris, we were there til closing both days.

 

^^ Alright alright, don't get your knickers in a twist, I'm working on it!!

[rllrcster]

Holding...

[Louise]

So after a few hours sleep (but not many, because Chris, Dane and I were up half the night talking about feet and the Midwest trip), I FINALLY got to go to Disneyland!! After a slightly eventful journey (Chris, Elissa would not be impressed... ), we arrived to meet up with Jimmy, Jon, Guy and Jahan. And I was handed a 1st Time Visitor badge, which made me ridiculously happy for some reason. I was all excited on the first ride of the day (Indy) when a CM was all "Hi there, welcome to Disneyland, have a great day!!", but then nobody else spoke to me all day and I was sad. LOL.

 

 

Anyway. This was an amazing day, definitely what I would consider to be a perfect first visit to Disneyland, so I'll just shut the heck up and get on with posting pictures.

 

 

Chris, Dane... It's Nada Bus.

I think it says a lot about my excitement levels that this was REALLY funny to me this morning.

 

 

Boys on the tram.

 

 

SQUEEEEEEEE!!!!!

 

 

I adore the letters. Not heading in yet, but we'll be back!!

 

 

I consciously don't do much research or reading about Disney parks until I've been to them, as I'm all about the magic and love to be surprised... Despite reading bits and bobs about Indy over the years I was essentially clueless about the ride system which made the ride all the more awesome. So good. Oh, and I think at this point Jahan was still in stress-mode. That smile is so fake. LOL!!

 

 

I love Disney.

 

 

Guy and I were confused by the point of the photo spot. Seriously, if people need directing to take pictures in particular spots... Then they shouldn't be allowed to own cameras. Or lungs.

 

 

The boys took me on a detour.... to show me boobs. I was thrilled. I'm not really sure what it says about Jahan that all the others are reaching for the titties and Jahan is grabbing Guy's arse...

 

 

I was attempting for this to be a candid shot, but half of them looked away, and Chris and Guy looked right at me. Fail.

 

 

Seriously, I find this hysterical. Don't even ask why, I just do. So freaking funny.

 

 

I've ridden two Dumbos previously but don't remember ever being given a feather before! Much excitement. And Chris is pulling that face, because this Dumbo, unlike Tokyo's, has a climax. Right Chris?!

 

 

I wanted an orange Dumbo and I got one. This makes me happy. And Jim too, apparently. Check out my awesome badge!!

 

 

Jahan had got us Blue Bayou reservations, and the staff there very helpfully allowed us to up our reservation from four people to nine. As awesome as I thought he was for sorting out lunch, Jahan cancelled out any brownie points by spoiling one of the first "we're being normal and smiling" TPR pictures in history.

 

 

Such a lovely restaurant, and very cool to be so close to the river!! I liked the atmosphere very much, and the food was great... Unfortunately a bottomless bread basket plus some AWESOME gumbo meant I could eat barely a third of the gorgeous Monte Cristo. Oh, and Jahan took this photo. Thanks J-Boy.

 

 

"L is for Lou". If "California" had a U in it I would totally have posed in all three letters of my name and then had the three pictures put in a frame. But it doesn't.

 

 

I slightly embarrassed myself and jumped up and down when I spotted Pluto... I love him. I've already started a Pluto pin collection, I'm determined to get more pins and memorabilia than that lame Pluto Guy who insulted me on camera on one of Robb's last visits to DLR!!

 

 

One of the standard Paradise Pier pictures that everybody takes. I gotta say, I really REALLY liked DCA, way more than I expected to!! And I looooooved Screamin'.

 

 

Jimmy and Hector swig Margaritas. I passed on the alcohol this day and stuck with the strawberry. Very nice it was too!

 

 

Probably the biggest highlight of the day, we got to meet Mickey! This is one of my favourite pictures from the whole trip, I never thought I'd really get into something like this, but it's such a great memory looking back, and I really can't emphasise enough how much fun I had this day. From left to right: Hector, Guy, Jahan, Jimmy, Mr. Mouse, me, Dane, Jon, Chris, Linda, Carl. Jahan clearly once again didn't get the memo.

 

 

I kissed the mouse.

 

 

Fulfilling a promise I made about six months before my trip. And for anybody who cares, I much prefer the LEFT side of the Matterhorn (can never remember which is which).

 

 

Aaaaaaand, back at DCA, we (well, most of us) decided to tackle the Sun Wheel.... I believe it was Jahan, Mike, and TJ (who had joined us later on) who got in the "We Are Not Swingers" line...

 

 

Cramming eight of us in there was fairly amusing... Guy, Sam and Dane don't seem to mind so much, though Hector looks slightly concerned... Or nauseous.

 

 

See, I *look* scared, but I'm crammed in a confined space with seven hot guys, so really I'm jumping for joy inside.

 

 

Sooooo pretty. And I adore parks (and particularly Disney) at night. By this point I was already itching to get back to Disneyland and get ready for fireworks time.

 

 

After another ride on Space (I think somebody else has the on-ride from that, I need to dig it out, I have it somewhere...) and a quick dinner, we set up camp for Believe! I think Hector was tired by this point.

 

 

Me with Chuck, who met up with us after work that evening. Chuck, honestly, you're one of the few people who really gets how important this day was to me, I had SO much fun. Thank you all for being there and helping out so much, I really did have an amazing day and appreciate it all more than I could tell you!!

 

I decided we looked way too happy on our Matterhorn shot (which was rushed and messy) and I needed a pouty one. This was right before we watched a movie... I must have been tired at this point because I remember nothing about that movie except that it featured Donald Duck, who I want to kill.

 

 

An instruction everybody should follow.

 

 

The next morning, unfortunately some of the group had to go back to work, school, etc. Myself, Chris, Jim and Jon were all still on "vacation" though, and Dane managed to skive his shift (LOL), so we slept in a little bit, then headed to Knott's for a couple of hours before going to spend the rest of the day at Disney again. We'd planned to do this little side-trip at some point, but this seemed a good time seeing as on Disney Day One we had pretty much done the whole of both parks. Seriously. I think we had five attractions left to do on the second day. This is the view of Knott's from IHOP, by the way.

 

 

Hee hee, it's a giant cock. I was actually gonna pose ON it, but it was hot.

 

 

I LOOOOOOOOVE Lucy!!!!!

 

 

Sierra Sidewinder was Jim's 300th! And check out his AWESOME sign, which is made from a pancake house napkin and some eyeliner! Not at all ghetto!! Sidewinder was fun, but not worth the wait (which was around half an hour or so apparently but it felt like over an hour to me because there was NO SHADE), and didn't quite live up to what we were expecting from watching so long whilst in line. I had fun though.

 

 

Hi Cameron, Clint, and Richard!!

 

 

Guy had crippled Jimmy earlier in the week so he wasn't riding as much as usual, so he was our lovely photographer. We would be the group in the back seats with arms up. Montezooma's was great!!

 

 

Oh my GOD this felt good. Soooo worth the wait to get drenched on such an uncomfortable day.

 

 

Just to cover some other stuff at Knott's... Ghostrider seriously kicked the crap out of me. That piece of crap needs burning to the ground, and I don't say that about many coasters. Our onride picture would have been hysterical, I was grabbing Chris's shirt and shouting "MAKE IT STOP!". Silver Bullet was really good, and I adored Xcelerator, we got a couple of re-rides on that with no line. Great coaster. I didn't have a BAD time at Knott's, but... It made me sad to hear Chris and the others telling me what it used to be like, and looking around I could totally see the potential for it to be a much better park, but it just... wasn't. And that kinda made me sad.

 

 

We didn't want to spend too much of our day there, so... Back to Disney!!

 

 

The first obvious priority was to head over to DCA for Margaritas.

 

 

I'm pathetic and couldn't finish mine. Jim shockingly volunteered to help!

 

 

This might have been an entertaining picture of Jon and I if Chris hadn't spoiled it with his giant thumb of doom! Grrrrr!

 

 

But I got my revenge. (Don't ask how because I'm really not sure.)

 

 

So apparently Screamin' scares Chris...

 

 

Me trying to make the Bug's Life (best 4D movie ever!) glasses look good.. Jon seems to think I succeeded, but he's on his own.

 

 

I like this picture very much. DCA is awesome.

 

 

Back over at Disneyland, time to say goodbye to Jimmy and Carl. Chris, Dane and myself consoled ourselves by heading for the Carrousel. Jon consoled himself by filming Nemo subs!

 

 

Such nostalgia from when I was a kid, seriously.

 

 

After the fireworks that evening, we ran straight over to Nemo and managed to get on in around half an hour, or a few minutes over. I actually kinda liked it! Half an hour is about right though, I would've been disappointed if we'd waited an hour for it. Definitely a fun (and long) journey though, and the projections impressed me. I only really cared about seeing the seagulls though, I freaking love those things. "MINE! MINE! MINE!"

 

 

I really don't know what else to say about DLR, it would be pointless me talking about specific attractions as I honestly loved everything (well, except Buzz Lightyear, duh). Besides, I have another day at this place in about four weeks (of trip time, not update time), so I can talk then!

 

 

Kyle had met up with us for Nemo and for he and I to drive to Venice, ready for a day of being tourists the next morning! It was sad to say some goodbyes this night, but I was hyped up to catch up properly with Kyle, see all the Hollywood stuff I've been itching to get to since I was about 12, and then head to Japan the day after that! Yay!

[gisco]

OMG!!! It's an update

 

Love you Lou

[RaptorBoyASU]

Woot woot for Venice.

 

Though the drug dealers weren't on the corner, and there was a lack of bums or street performers. Eventually you'll see it properly.

 

BTW, I haven't been on the subs since your visit.

[RIP Psyclone]

Not at all surprised you didn't care for GhostRider. I consider it to be rough and unbearable. Colossus on the other hand I think is rough, but bearable...just be glad you missed Psyclone!

[gotdane]

Best. TR Update. Ever!

 

For obvious reasons! Chuck seriously hooked you up for your visit! I was happy to be able to tag along!

[Louise]

Thanks guys. Oh, and screw you Bob (love you too though!!).

 

Yeah, Colossus wasn't fun but I didn't have any arsonistic urges towards it either. Ghostrider had me reaching for the matches.

 

^ I was glad you were able to come along too!! Chris had said you were really nice and cool so I was obviously expecting you to be an idiot who I would hate, and I was pleasantly surprised that Chris was actually right for once!!

 

Kyle, there were crazy people who thought we were married (which I totally forgave because the phrase "your beautiful wife" was used), a guy with a sign saying he'd tell jokes and give abuse for beer, and at Santa Monica the week before I got to see a guy doing tricks (NOT turning tricks) to make money because he "just got out of jail"... I at least got a little bit of a taster. Besides, I live in Stockport, I've probably seen far worse than what you can be exposed to in Venice.

 

Will try and catch up this weekend, sorry I got behind and left big gaps!!

[Guy T. Koepp]

Jahan, what were you doing grabbing my butt. That's cool dude, the first ones free. After that it's $5 a squeeze.

 

I love this TR. This was such a great group of people to hang with. Thanks for providing these memmories Lou. So, when are you coming back so we can all do it again?

[RCFreak]

^ What he said to you Lou!

[Louise]

I figure late this year (I'm definitely planning to be NOT in this country for Christmas this year) or else sometime in the next few months of 2009. I'll keep you posted.

 

It really was a great group, I need to quit being so repetitive but I had such a great time!! So many laughs. There were definitely a few much-loved people missing, but I think this trip definitely proved for me that TPR people in any combination pretty much works!!