Friday, September 28, 2007

Tork Picks Week 4

I'll take:

Hou over Atl
Buf over NYJ
Bal over Cle
Dal over StL
Det over Chi
Mia over Oak
GB over Minn
-
Sea over SF
TB over Car
Ind over Den
Pit over Ari
SD over KC
-
Phi over NYG
-
NE over Cin



Notes:

The Giants have the opportunity from being an awful 0-2 to being second place in the division. Not that I'm bitter, dammit.

I know his team has looked really good lately, but I can't take Farve and the Packers seriously. To me, he's just padding his stats. It's too bad he can't get the TD record versus the Giants. You know what I mean.

I was surprised when I heard Brian Griese's name this week. When was the last time he's been employed? Not a good time to be Grossman.

I'm only picking Buffalo because I don't think they have a chance and therefore they must win! Reverse logic at work here, because the team stinks.

Huh, that's all I can think of right now. Good thing I get to rest from the Redskins this week. The Giants/Philly game is the most intriguing.






Last week: 13-3
Season: 33-15

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

King's Dominion 2007: Part 8

Last time on King's Dominion 2007: I stood in front of the Eiffel Tower.







Look, I made it to the top of the tower! The sun was pushed back by some clouds, so it wasn't horribly hot, either. I decided to take quite a few pictures up here. I still had "140/999" on my camera, so I felt I had to pick up the pace here.

Here's a shot of the parking lot. When I was a kid, they had those signs that told you where you are. You know, like the Yogi area and the Boo Boo area and the Quick Draw area. I'm not sure if the parking lot is smaller or bigger than in the 80s and 90s.

Now that I can see the parking in the distance, I guess it wasn't as crowded as it could have been, even though it was the Sunday before Labor Day.




Here's the fountains in the International Street area. I'd say I had a water fetish, but that would imply something different than what I intend.

I like those trees. I've found a photo website where someone posted all their King's Dominion trips from the seventies to a few years ago, and during the first year the trees weren't there.




Ow, my neck! Oh, the picture is just sideways. By the way, are there still people outside the gate? Latebies!





This...I'm not sure where this is. I think it's just a secluded area of the park.





I would have said that that's the Paramount Theater in the distance, but I don't see the tunnel, so it's not. Let's skip this photo because the quality sucks. I guess I wasn't in the shade when I took it.





In this picture I was most interested in that thing way back there next to the horizon. Is that some sort of factory in the distance?





Oh, great picture! That certainly cleared my previous question up!






On your left you can see the vertical drop ride that I mentioned earlier. If you look to the left below it, you can see the sign from a few updates ago. At the bottom you can see the Triple Spin that I went on between a couple roller coasters.

The big white roller coaster is the Rebel Yell, I think. That ride has been with the park since the beginning and was actually featured in a movie called Rollercoaster. It's one of those dumb all-star disaster movies from the seventies. If I had netflix I would watch it as soon as I could.





This is a nice look at a kids version of a ride where you sort of control how you glide by tilting the thing in front of you left or right. I'm not sure what it's called but I can tell that it has the Nickelodeon logo.





Here's a look at the cage they have on top of the tower. I don't think I could go up if this wasn't there.





Back to a look at the parking lot. That's a lot of trees in the horizon.

See anything interesting? Well, I don't. Let's move on.





This is a top view of another kids ride. This lets children ride around a fake set of streets with Nick logos everywhere. I'm not sure how free they are to go where they want and to hit whatever.





Here's a top view of the carousel. I didn't go on this one, probably because I felt too old. It's listed as being in the area known as The Grove, but I think it was still next to the kids section. I walked by it several times but never thought about getting in line.

I think the blue roller coaster here is the Shockwave, but don't quote me on that.




This blurry picture is where the Smurfs used to live. It's Volcano: The Blast Coaster. You can see the start of the Avalanche to the right, and the Tomb Raider ride at the bottom.





If I had a better idea of which roller coasters are which, I would be doing a better job of explaining these things. Is that the Avalanche on the right?

That might be the Scooby Doo roller coaster in the center, since it looks so wimpy. Can you believe that there was a year or two where I couldn't even go on that? I didn't go on it this year, but at least I can just say that it's too kiddy for me. Besides, I already went on the Avalanche so there.





I tried to get a picture of some hawk or whatever it was but failed. That could be a speck of dirt or a scratch if you weren't looking for a bird.





Here's the Water Works area of the park, which we went to when we were looking for lockers. You can see the sign to the vertical drop sign at the bottom right. That giant code ride looked awesome. You get this raft that's sort of shaped like a honeycomb which seats four people. You then go into a series of tubes and come out at the cone where a lot of water is pumped out so you end up sliding back and forth. If I wasn't so self-conscious, I would have gone on a ride like that.

If you look hard you can see a small river where the lazier types can just float down. I've never done that but I should do that one day. In fact, it's officially on my list of things to do before I die.

There's also some slides, but I think they got rid of the slides you can get on without getting wet. My dad and I used to always go on a water slide where you sat on a raft and didn't worry about getting wet, but I couldn't find it. If I missed it, that would be my biggest regret of the day.




The slides here are definitely the kind where you end up in a pool. By the way, that big roller coaster? You have to go under that and take a right to get to even more water rides. More on that later.




Here's another look at the Triple Spin and what should be part of the Shockwave.

I wish I could tell what those shops were in the distance. They probably sold food or caricatures or something. The one on the right looks like a prize game.





I hate to end on this picture, but we'll just have to blame the sun for messing it up. These are two rides you would have problems getting me on, by the way. The roller coaster is the Hypersonic XLC. I have a hard time getting on roller coasters in the first place, and this one has a 90 degree vertical drop. Yeesh. We'll get to the other scary ride later.



Next up:

Will I have anything to say about more aerial pictures?
Will I bore my audience with more aerial pictures?
Will I get on more than a few rides? We'll see.

King's Dominion 2007: Part 7

Last time on King's Dominion 2007: I got thirsty.




I started wandering again. I found this ride based on some movie that I don't think anybody remembers.





It's the Italian Job roller coaster! I couldn't see the whole ride but as far as I could tell, one of the gimmicks is that you burst through this 'poster' somewhere near the end.





I think part of the reason why this ride attracted me was because I found some shade while gawking at it. I actually thought about getting on the ride, but didn't when I couldn't tell how the whole ride went. Not that I wanted to be in this line.





Here's the cars they use for this roller coaster. Too bad I couldn't get them while they burst out, but I wasn't going to wait for that to happen.





Still hungry, I took a picture at the place where I thought I was going to finally eat. I like the Tomb Raider series so it seemed natural that I was going to do something Tomb Raidery.





Wow, it even has cold beverages! Still, as I got close to the door I saw how crowded it looked, and decided to go elsewhere.





At this poin I was just plain lost. Here's a sign next to the picnic area.





Yep, they have schedules for each picnic area. And that's about all I know about this place.





I think I was holding the camera above the fence here.





Now where the heck am I? Hello, food? Stomach?





Getting dizzy from not eating!





Hey, is this where I think it is? Specifically, that house in the background.





FOOOOOOOD! I need fooooooooood!





Hey, this IS where I think it is! These last five pictures show that I'm in the line for the White Water Canyon! Cool! That doesn't solve my hunger problem, but I'm going to go on the coolest ride in the world!

It's a little blurry, but the sign isn't kidding about how soaked you can get.





I should have gotten a picture of the fence that bordered both sides of the line. Graffiti City. I was surprise that most of the graffiti that I saw was from this year.

While in line, I was behind some college students who claimed to be from California. Bored, I started listening to their conversations. There wasn't much else to do for about 20 or so minutes.





From a distance we can see the rafts or big boat on a tire or whatever you call the things you get on to ride through the White Water Canyon. About five or six people strap themselves in and there's a wheel in the middle for no reason. You don't have to hold onto it and people unfamiliar to the ride assume they can steer with it. I'm sure I gushed about the ride before so I'll just move on after a couple more memories.

I got on a raft with some people who weren't the California college kids. They were behind me. Good bye girls that sorta entertained me when the graffiti turned out to be boring!

The ride was as I remembered it, except I forgot how wet you can get from just going down suddenly steep turns. I had remembered this as being a relatively dry ride until the end where you go indoors. There the raft can go under the walls that occasionally had water pouring like a waterfall, but this time it wasn't a problem. I mostly got wet from a couple quick down turns and a well-timed geyser. At least our group didn't get it as bad as the college girls after us. Haw!

Afterwards, I went to the bathroom to dry my socks.





FOOD! I finally found a place to eat after the White Water Canyon. This place wasn't so far from where I just was. I got in line and ordered a bacon cheeseburger, fries, and a drink. Unfortunately for me, my order took about as long as the line for the White Water Canyon took. Just my luck. I also got a King's Dominion plastic souvenier cup, but declined to buy the free refill wristband.





I wish I had remembered to take this picture before I took a bite. This is a bit gross.

While I was eating I saw a really pregnant woman who was really ticked off at her two sons who were goofing off while she was trying to eat.





Where should I go now? I've already checked the White Water Canyon and the log flume ride off my list, and I'm no longer hungry. Even better, the clouds were finally starting to have some luck against the sun. My choice was now clear.






It's time to ascend the Eiffel Tower!



Next time:

Will I ascend the Eiffel Tower?
Will I take a million pictures just to artificially inflate my post count?
Will I wimp out? Will I drop my camera, accidentally killing someone? I hope not.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

King's Dominion 2007: Part 6

Last time on King's Dominion 2007 - I was in a cave.



One more wasted picture for the road before I leave the "pirate" cave.





After wandering through the cave, I was starting to get hungry. You see, before I found the cave, I wandered through the park several times trying to find it. I found the map to be not so helpful. Also, it was nearing noon and I had skipped breakfast. So I started to look for restaurants. I went to a place that sold hotdogs and got in line, but realized that I was suppose to get a tray, so feeling stupid I just got out of line and left to find another restaurant. It was also here that I saw the free refill wristbands that all restaurants sold. Four bucks for a wristband wasn't bad, especially as we'll see later.

Anyway, if you're wondering about why I have this sign and not a restaurant sign, it's because I ran into my sister and her fiance while looking for another place to eat.





Yep, this is the next ride I went on, and the first ride I had to wait a few minutes to get on. I'm a wimp when it comes to getting on roller coasters.





Oh wait, according to this wiki entry, this is a type of roller coaster. That's neat. Here's a look at part of the track.





When you get on the Avalanche, you get in a cart that can seat two people. Luckily, I was sweaty at the time so I got one to myself. Each cart has a country listed on them for some reason. I think I got France, darn it.




You can see the carts or whatever they're called in the center of this picture. I think I took these track pictures after I was done. Part of our group was way behind us in the line so my sister and her fiance were also trying to take pictures of them.




The mountain behind the Avalanche is another roller coaster known as The Volcano. More on that later.





Speak of the devils, luckily they're not facing the camera or I would have to pull this picture. I can't stand the fact that my sister has short hair.





One last picture of the Avalanche. Fun ride that I can get on again. My sister said it was similar to a ride called the Toboggin that we used to go on at Ocean City. Which will hopefully be the subject of a future blog entry.





This is a ride I should have gone on but didn't. This is Tomb Raider: The Ride. I like the Tomb Raider games but I don't like rides where they strap you down and lift you in the air. This one didn't seem too bad, but I forget if it goes upside down or not. That would be a deal breaker for me. Interestingly, besides the fog you see here, another effect this ride has is fire belching out of columns on either side. Well, I find that interesting.




Is that a woman's face in front of the big eye behind the people? I wish I paid attention to what kind of tomb was being raided.





I don't really care about The Volcano itself. The reason why I took this picture is because when I was a kid, this mountain used to have the Smurf Mountain ride. I can't believe it's gone. I was joking to my sister that maybe one day Smurfs will get popular again and they'll take back the mountain.





After I left the group again, I was still hungry but I didn't have a clue where to go. I started wandering. I wander a lot. Here I found this secret building cleverly hidden in an amusement park. What have I stumbled on to?





This ride was a little secluded, so it was a bit intriguing. I'm sure it was inspired by Men In Black.




FEAR US! Even though we don't exist.





You know, it doesn't surprise me that a super secret government place has a press area. It really doesn't.





"We don't exist! We don't exist! We don't exist!..."

A picture that I should have taken but didn't is one of the sign for the ride. King's Dominion has a rating system for rides, five being the most EXTREEEME and one being for everybody. I saw the five, and the fact that they would reject you from the ride if you were too fat(!), and ran away. By walking.





Here was one of the highlights of the day. It was hot. Not overbearingly hot, but it was still hot. I forget where this is, but it was heavenly. This area provided shade, drinks, and mist that came out of this Coke statue. As much as I didn't want to get wet, I spent a few minutes here.




I wish I was there right now.

No, I'm not a shill for Coca-Cola. I was just really hot and thirsty at this poin.




These machines had an interesting function that I wish we had at the university where I work. They had a slot where you can slide a credit card. I decided to buy a Coke even though it was over three and a half dollars. Best drink I had for a while, at least until I started gulping the drink down so I could move on.




Next up:

Will it reach noon?
Will my wimpiness prevent me from ascending the Eiffel Tower?
Will blogger recognize wimpiness as a word? Apparently not.




Edit: Fixed some dumb spelling errors that a third of my readers poined out.