I ain't afraid of no rolly-coaster!

[vovat]

Yesterday, bethje and I went to Clementon Park for Hallo-Screams. They had a haunted train ride and mansion, and we went to both. There was a long wait for the train, and I'm not entirely sure why, since there were a lot of seats that they didn't bother using. I guess they figured it would be too hard for the people in costumes to scare an entire long train of people. There was also a part where the passengers got off the train to walk down a haunted trail, and that might have been too difficult to manage with more than a few people. The haunted mansion had a lot of disorienting flashing lights, and one room where it felt like cobwebs were getting in your hair. I always admire the artistry that goes into haunted attractions. Incidentally, it seems to be an official rule that every haunted hayride or walk has to have at least one guy with a chainsaw. I guess The Texas Chainsaw Massacre set a trend in this respect, or something.

Clementon Park also has a new roller coaster, the Tsunami. This is a wooden coaster, with a large drop and a lot of parts where the track runs sideways. It's kind of rough, but a lot of fun. We ended up riding it three times with hardly any waiting. Indeed, only the haunted attractions really had any wait at all. We were able to get on pretty much every other ride almost immediately.

All the amusement park visits I've made as of late remind me how, when I was a kid, I used to design my own theme parks. I'm sure they weren't actually practical by real standards, but I tended to go into detail, drawing maps and even going so far as naming the parking lots and picnic groves. I remember coming up with ideas for parks based on Alice in Wonderland, mythology, computer games, and (as you might have guessed) the Oz books. Actually, there were plans for an Oz theme park at one point, but it would have been based more on the MGM movie than on the books. That would probably have made it a bigger draw than my park would have been. On the other hand, I don't know that their idea to build it in Kansas would have made it much of a draw. I think the idea for the Oz park has been pretty much abandoned anyway, for several reasons. There's some information on it here, if anyone's interested. (I doubt anyone is, but it doesn't hurt to put in the link, does it?)

Anyway, after Beth and I got back from Clementon Park, we watched Halloween 4. It was pretty good, but the second one is my favorite out of the ones I've seen. (For what it's worth, I've seen the first four, but the third one doesn't really count, since it's not part of the Michael Myers storyline. Since there are eight of them now, I've actually seen less than half of the movies with Myers, so I guess my opinion doesn't really count for much.) The fourth one really didn't show that much actual violence on screen.

Last night, I had an Oz-related dream, somehow involving Ojo's family. I don't remember much about that, though. The part I do remember was when there were two rhinoceroses on the lawn, and then a black rhino came along and drove the other two away. At second glance, though, the rhino became an elephant, and then was revealed to actually be a Shlagamore, a giant with two bodies, two heads, and a lot of arms. Even in the dream I thought this monster would be good to incorporate into a story. I'm a lot better at coming up with ideas than at actually sitting down and writing stories, though. I really do need to finish my Oz manuscript at some point, although I don't think the Shlagamore is going to show up in that one.

Finally, on my drive back from Beth's, I was flipping through the radio channels, and I came across a This American Life piece where Sarah Vowell talked about a Fastbacks superfan named Scott Lee. This guy knew obscure details about the songs that the band members themselves didn't know, which really doesn't surprise me much. That was pretty cool to hear. Incidentally, Ms. Vowell pronounced Kurt Bloch's last name like "block," which I guess makes sense, although I always mentally pronounced it in the German fashion. I guess five years of German classes will do that to you.

Comments

[bethje.livejournal.com]

There was also a part where the passengers got off the train to walk down a haunted trail, and that might have been too difficult to manage with more than a few people.

I think that's definitely the reason for the smaller groups. When we were waiting in line, we didn't know we were going to have to get off, so it seemed stupid at the time not to fill the train.

Incidentally, Ms. Vowell pronounced Kurt Bloch's last name like "block,"

I have no idea who that guy is, but I'd say "block," too.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Kurt is the lead guitarist for the Young Fresh Fellows and the Fastbacks.

[revme.livejournal.com]

Yep -- it's "block". Some of the earlier sleeves/reviews actually spelled it "Kurt Block", but I'm not sure if it's a typo (K and H look similar) or if he was just, y'know, sorta unimaginative when coming up with his Rock Star Name.

Man, too bad I missed that TAL piece, though, that would have been cool. Man, Sarah Vowell and Kurt. That's awesome.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

It looks like there's a stream of it here (http://www.thislife.org/pages/descriptions/96/31.html).

[revme.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I just listened to it -- that was pretty awesome, although it sorta threw me when she mentioned their New Album "New Mansions In Sound", heh. (Also, that she was talking about them as still a going concern, since they just broke up not too long ago -- Kim wanted to spend time with Visqueen, since the Fastbacks was just Kurt writing, not anyone else. Which is too bad. But The Way Of The World, I Guess. (And, tell you the truth, I think I like Sgt. Major a bit better anyway.))

[vovat.livejournal.com]

When did New Mansions in Sound come out, then?

[revme.livejournal.com]

1996.

[aliste.livejournal.com]

I love wooden coasters, they're my favorite. I think it's 'cause they're extra-scary because of the rattly feeling that it's going to fall apart at any moment.