What have I been up to? The Friday of Labor Day weekend I went to the
Woodstock Fair and saw
Weird Al in concert. The viewing area was packed, as it was a general admission AND "free with admission" show. There were two shows, but by the time I got there, it was SRO. I planned to see both shows, but I was so tired and hungry from standing that I bugged out after the first. Al was fun, as always, but he neglected the best songs on his new album (Genius in France, Bob, Why Does This Always Happen to Me?). I was really hoping he'd dip into these obscure gems. It would also appear that he's retired his unreleased Chicken Pot Pie parody of Live and Let Die...the pizza delivery parody of that song from Titanic is still in. He also did include Theme from Rocky XIII (or whatever preposterous number it is) in the medley, a rare treat from "In 3-D". Would still love to see Nature Trail to Hell live, though. :) All in all, I've had less fun on a Friday night. Trying to find an open pizza place after I left was an adventure unto itself. I'll decline to annoy you with that story.
The next weekend, I took off to PA for some coasterin' traditional park style. It started with an impossibly long drive on Friday morning to Altoona, where I visited the only open park that day en route,
Lakemont. With the
Altoona Curve in the playoffs and Lakemont playing host to a local fair, parking was, um, interesting. Once in the gate for a paltry $3, it was unlimted rides from 5p-10p. I rode Skyliner 10 or 11 times, Leap the Dips a couple of times, and their Twister ride once. I was outta there by 7 or 8p having got my monies worth and then some. How this park makes money I'll never know. Hope they stick around for a long time to come, though. I did see Barry, their manager, but he looked busy so I didn't bug him.
Next day was the
GOCC event at
Kennywood. Got about 11 rides on
Phantom's Revenge during morning ERT. Park was dead for the first hour or two of public operation. On a tight schedule, I managed to do everything I set out to do except get a Thunderbolt ride this year. I wanted to, but even more, I wanted to get to
Conneaut Lake before the Blue Streak Challenge wrapped. Took me a little while to get there...construction on the Interstate was excessive--no backups, but reduced speed limit. It got to the point where I just found the fastest person, set my cruise control a few mph slower than him, and went, keeping my fingers crossed. Made it to the park without incident or accident. Was almost denied an opportunity to ride Blue Streak in the Vettel trains for the second consecutive year. Luckily, money talked. Blue Streak tracks much more smoothly in these trains than in the NADs. Compression is much less pronounced in the back seat, where I spent all 22 of my circuits (I would have preferred to ride more seats, but that would have been impractical in the midst of a marathon). These trains most resemble those on the Jack Rabbit at Kennywood, FYI.
Finished off the weekend at
Knoebels where I saw B. Derek Shaw, Todd Long, and several others. Apparently, some
RRC folks who I don't know particularly well got married the Saturday before. Park was crowded, but running two trains on both woodies. POP was basically a suckers bet. I went with tickets and used less in the course of the day than I would have spent on a POP with coaster option. Yay to me for being fiscally sound. :) POP ended at 7pm. By 7:30pm, everything had soft-closed. Got several near-walk-on rides on Phoenix and Flyers using my tickets during the last hour or so. A good day at Knoebels. Last one before Phunfest there next weekend.
The next weekend, I trekked to Jersey for Coaster Celebration where my friends Marc and Jill put me up for the weekend. I only spent about eight hours on Saturday at
Great Adventure for the event. Spent the rest of the time hanging at Marc's house shooting the breeze, watching
Game Show Network and coaster videos. I felt like such a sponge on Sunday...apparently there was some family stuff and a disagreement of sorts, so I didn't know whether to skeedaddle or stick around. Eventually, it was decided that I should stay for dinner. I have to admit that my own laziness on Sunday morning was probably a liability. It didn't likely help that Marc lost his cell phone while with me. I hope I didn't inadvertantly cause any undue strife. We were having a blast, though...at least I was. Marc and Jill have a relationship that involves a lot of affectionate psuedo-fighting. This is profoundly amusing for an unwitting observer to watch from the sidelines, unless, of course the arguement turns out to be real. In those cases, once realized, one is best off to just shut up and play with the dog, thus evading the line of fire. :) In all seriousness, though, it was great seeing them, and Great Adventure was dead on that Saturday to boot, so it was a wonderful weekend. Only low point was that my other friend down there, Dan, kinda stood me up. It's understandable, though. He has a demanding new job and a (possibly demanding, for all I know) new girlfriend. I suspect they take a lot out of him...no, I won't make any naughty comments or speculate as to in which order of priority they, um, come. :P
The next weekend saw Oc-Boulder-Fest at
Lake Compounce on Saturday, an event I cannot officially endorse for purely political reasons beyond my control, but have no qualms in attending anyways. :) The day just didn't go the way I wanted it to. The friend I had told about the event a few days before showed up, but left early (i.e. before we could meet up) due to a member of his party not feeling well. I also continue to worry about the status of my friendship with certain people I could name who were in attendance. I think it's all OK, but sometimes I feel like they don't want me around. I just want everything back the way it was before, but I've already said all I need to say about that. Add to this that I was sometimes thinking about someone who I wish had been able to join me, the humidity of the day, and my general tiredness from lack of sleep the last night, and I just didn't feel the magic. The only bright spots were: 1) Getting to see Spatch again after lo these many moons and 2) How incredibly great Boulder Dash was running. These two things nearly saved the day. I still must thank Rus for giving me an opportunity to attend an event at The Lake that I don't have to worry about running.
That pretty much brings us up to the present. I have been exchanging emails with someone the last couple of weeks that I think I could have a future with, but I'm not going to elaborate, lest I jinx it. Long story short, she'll likely make a Guster fan out of me and I'll make a coaster fan out of her. That seems a fair trade, don't you think? Here's hoping for more good things to discreetly report about this here in the future.
Weekend outlook: Not sure where I'll be yet. Game Show Network preview starts Friday, so I may be glued to the TV as much as possible for the next week or so. I only get a chance to see it on the road or the two or three times a year they have the free digital preview. Considering a trek to
The Great Escape Sunday. Looks like it could rain a little, meaning best possible Comet experience, plus I'll get to catch
Dr. Demento on the way home on
WPYX 106 out of Albany. Next weekend
Phall Phunfest at Knoebels!!! Best event of the year! Happy happy joy joy.
In honor of the late, great
Warren Zevon, I leave you with this from Lawyers, Guns, and Money: "I'm an innocent bystander...and I'm down on my luck."
