Who are You and What did you do With Matt?

Okay I did something wayyyy outside my usual way of doing things tonight... I actually ORDERED an audio cd.

That's right, paid for it, fair and square, out of my very own account.

Why the reason for this madness? Well, it suddenly occurred to me as I was thinking today, that since the Cirque Du Soleil shows I saw in Las Vegas have left such a lasting impression on me, that part of that was because of the music, and that I could easily snag a copy of that music for myself in order to relive the show whenever I please. Soundtracks are basically the only audio CDs I've ever bought, largely because they're the one type of CD with which I tend to enjoy ALL of the music. CDs put out by most artists or bands tend to have a couple good songs, and a lot of space fillers (in my opinion anyway). Rare is the CD where I like everything, but when it comes to musical soundtracks or instrumental pieces such as those found on the CDs I bought, that tends to be the case. Nothing like a good piece of instrumental music when you're studying, writing a paper, doing homework, or just basically sitting around thinking about things.

So yeah, instead of trying to download all the individual mp3s to both soundtracks, I just went ahead and ordered them, one for 15.97 after shipping at Amazon, another from a reseller on eBay for 13.99 after shipping. Not too bad, I doubt I would have been able to find them in stores, especially the Live version of the Mystere soundtrack, and this way I don't have to move! ;) The guy I bought from on eBay had like 4,000 positive feedback and only 6 negative, no idea how that can happen, usually like 1% at least have to be negative due to idiots who retract their bids because they don't want to buy it anymore and then leave a negative feedback for the seller as if it was their fault. They also had like 500 auctions in progress, quite impressive. So in a few days I should be chillin to both soundtracks quite happily.

Ah yes, and I did end up at Six Flags again yesterday... Had the usual blast, even though lines were probably the biggest I've seen, due to Memorial Day crowds. We got there a bit later than planned and into the park even later unfortunately. Post 9/11 security has been stepped up everywhere, including amusement parks. The parking toll booth, ticket window, metal detector, and finally the gate lines were all pretty long, and we had waited probably an hour in lines before actually getting into the park. By the time we got over to X the newest ride it was already a four hour wait. We discovered later it was because they were only running one train the entire day, meaning that the train would go through the ride, stop, be unloaded, move forward, be loaded, and go through the ride again. The whole process took about 5 minutes per cycle at least, and given the train only holds 28 people, when you have several hundred people in line, you're talking about a REALLY long wait. We heard from others throughout the day that they had waited SIX hours even though they'd gotten in line at about noon. Unbelievable, that's like half the day gone just for one ride. We decided to skip it and ended up using a pretty good strategy that allowed us to get on basically all of the big roller coasters. This was a good thing, since the person I was with hadn't been on any of them. She tried to talk me out of Freefall, but other than that was pretty good about not chickening out of things, other than being a bit reluctant at times. We had a blast, and even took home some stuffed animals from the carnival games. I tried to win a Gameboy Advance at the basketball one, which requires you to make three shots in a row from about a free throw distance. Nothing but net on the first one, but slightly off to the right on the second due to rushing it, and after getting flustered missed the third in about the same spot. Alas, I could have won a scooby doo flower covered basketball for making two. Darn.

Set a new personal record for amount of time waited in one line for one ride at an amusement park... We got in line for X right as the park closed, using the strategy where you wait on the park's time rather than your own since they only close off the end of the lines at closing time and guarantee everyone in the line will get on the ride eventually. It was at about the same spot it was the last time I came, so I was thinking about an hour and forty five minute wait. Then we found out they were still only running one train. So, three hours and thirty minutes later, we walked out of the ride in agreement that it's the most fun ride in the park. It was pretty friggin cold while we were waiting later on and especially going up the lift hill, and the adrenaline had me shaking pretty much uncontrollably. The lame part was I kept getting cramps in my thighs and the seating has you basically halfway spreadeagled so you can't really straighten your legs. This made it possible to un tighten them, and the fact I closed the butterfly harness down one too many clicks making it nearly impossible to breath didn't help things either. Hands were up the whole time though, and its still an experience I'd love to have on a regular basis.

Every time I think about awesome experiences though, my mind drifts back to Vegas, and the incredible amount I had there. I know its not my last trip, but man is it a wonderful place. I guess its sort of an old-people's Disneyland. Not that I've grown out of Disneyland, I'll see you there on New Years, as usual. ;)