Magenta Lizard

In the wait to re-enter The Racer station one day this season, a trashy guy behind me was complaining loudly about losing his cigarette on the ride. I don't know for sure he was talking about a lit cigarette, but I believe it was. He was mostly complaining about not being able to smoke while "stuck" on the ride. He was a real winner, let me tell you. A woman in her fifties behind me in line for Adventure Express was smoking last time I was at the park. It is a particularly bad line to have a smoker in because it is so enclosed. I didn't feel like finding security because I was fairly sure they wouldn't do anything anyway. Fortunately there does seem to be a lot less smoking outside the designated areas than in the past.

That they aren't sure what direction they're going with this and were hoping you knew?

The only thing I can figure is he thought you were laughing at him and it was an all-too-typical case of a little man with a little power.

The main thing our system has that isn't readily available at the moment is intelligent recording. So you don't waste storage on hours of unchanging images. We can set up areas of the image to "watch" and others to ignore, so it doesn't pick up street traffic but does start recording any time someone walks onto our property, etc. It makes searching for relevant data a lot easier as well. It's not the perfect solution for everywhere, but it would be a way for many small businesses to protect their property with a relatively small investment on storage and camera equipment.

We have home security cameras my techy husband set up, and a couple times we have had thefts we needed to bring the police in for (see badthief.com from when we were still living in Cali and a punk from our apartment building was stealing from us). They have been highly impressed with the video quality, because usually they see the same grainy footage that makes the news programs. Being able to actually identify an individual seems rare. There's a real need for a easy to set up version of what we run, but so far it doesn't exist- my husband had to write his own software for our system. It is one of the things he would like to create and market if he didn't already have one full time business.

I was taught in middle school that a fact was an item of information capable of being proven to be true or false. My name is John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt, as a fact (according to that definition). It's also untrue. I don't know how widespread that definition is used. For all I know, it is isolated to that particular teacher.

Yep, exactly. Never liked that guy until I saw his handling of that incident. Then I realized he has a sense of humor about himself.

When I was a kid, I went to KI with Girl Scouts. On a ride of Vortex, one of the girls lost her purse on a loop. When we got off the ride, she was frantic over its loss. Then one of the other girls, who had been sitting farther back in the train said "oh, was this yours?" and handed her the purse, which she had caught. One of my pet peeves is getting hit in the face, particularly the mouth, with liquid during a ride. If it's been raining recently, at least I can suppose it was a drip from the structure. Other times, I worry it is spit from farther up the train. It really takes the enjoyment out of a ride when you're thinking "what the heck was that?" Bugs are also not nice, especially in the mouth. At least I haven't been hit by a bird on a coaster yet.

I've ridden Firehawk three times now. The most recent time I finally kind of enjoyed myself a little. I will keep giving it another chance occasionally. And, if you smelled fine at the beginning of the day, you probably won't be a stinky rider people complain about. There is a big difference between a "my deodorant failed" hint of ripeness and the worn-in stench that comes from continual lack of hygiene.

Very enjoyable read. I like a lot of your ideas.

I also think Coke Zero is nearly undrinkable from the fountain. I love it in cans, so much so that Cherry Coke Zero was what finally got me to entirely give up sugared soft drinks. I was ok with diet fruit-flavored sodas, but diet cola just tasted nasty to me, so I occasionally would still drink Coca-Cola Classic. Once I found the Cherry Zero I switched to it. I was so excited the first time I saw Zero instead of Diet at a fountain, until I tasted it. I don't mind diet colas from the fountain these days. I refuse to get Zero from a fountain again though, it just tastes awful. I haven't noticed much difference between 20 oz bottles or cans. It is rare I get 20 oz bottles though. I've become so used to diet and Zero drinks at this point that regular corn syrup or sugar soda tastes weird to me, whether in cans, bottles, or from the fountain.

What kind of food is it? I wish I could have made it there tonight but it wasn't in the cards.

I think Shazam keeps a log of things you've used it to ID... Just sayin' I don't know why it hadn't occurred to me it wasn't music written specifically for the show. I've woken up with one of the songs in my head and had it follow me through the day, on more than one occasion. I definitely will be buying some myself. Maybe I'll sit in the back row so I don't bug anyone and Shazam during a show next time I go.

It sounds to me like he was in shock at the time.

Got info on pricing at the other parks?

It would be funny if they simply started using drinks coasters (the little printed paperboard things) that say "King James!" in all of their restaurants. I prefer to think however it is used, the exclamation point inside the quotes in the tweet really will be part of the name. A coaster named "King James" just doesn't have the oomph of "King James!"

Didn't Phantom Theater have a suit of armor with a projected face, or am I misremembering? I seem to remember it talking about centurions. It could have been a different park, but it seems to me like it was at KI.

So you didn't like to ride backwards when that was an option? Interesting.

"What kind of person would try to start a fight in the parking lot after a great day at the park?" A person incapable of having a great day in the park, or anywhere, because their ego needs too much attention.

Well, congrats to Grant Pedersen of Lexington, KY! https://twitter.com/kingsislandpr/status/487381098541101057 Not a kid, tho.

You're absolutely right, there. I forgot what day it is. That makes me want to go even more, just to watch!

That would be absolutely amazing!

Well, they just tweeted it will happen tonight. It is absolutely killing me not to just get up and head to the park. Anyone there now, head to Banshee. Take pics. Good luck! If someone from KIC wins, that would be the coolest thing ever. https://twitter.com/kingsislandpr/status/487367148726013952

The real question is if anyone wearing neckties or pantyhose have begun lurking near Banshee yet. Edit: must have, they just tweeted that "it will happen tonight" https://twitter.com/kingsislandpr/status/487367148726013952

The benefit of Phantom Theater over a branded theme like Peanuts is that it would be added value to the park if it were to be sold again. It wouldn't have to be changed by the new owners. Also, the Great Pumpkin is very autumn-specific AND already in use as a theme for one of the rides. Phantom Theater makes as much sense no matter what time of year. Other than that, though, I absolutely love the Great Pumpkin, and am sincere in my desire to see a great dark ride of any theme.