Ooooh, the Flames...
People were bored tonight, so we headed out to the beaches west of here for a big ol bonfire get together... Was about ten of us, and after various excursions to beaches that were closed or didn't have available parking close enough to the pits, we eventually ended up at El Capitan, a really pretty beach, the same one I watched the meteor shower at a few months ago. S'mores were enjoyed by all, and even though it was a bit windy it still worked out pretty well.
The stars were as usual amazing, I taught one of my friends how to find the Big Dipper and via that the North Star, which is useful in case you're ever lost in the wilderness. She's from the same part of LA as I, so seeing all the stars is a somewhat unusual experience for us, having grown up in the smog.
The night before I was out on Campus Point enjoying the scenery, it was the first time I'd been down there in quite a while, its really nice to take some time to enjoy nature every once in a while, take some deep breathes away from the hustle bustle of school.
Tomorrow, er, today now, is the infamous 4/20, which means I'll spend most of the day asleep, possibly making an appearance later to inhale some food at the DC.
Thursday, April 18, 2002
Taking Risks Part 1.
So I'm in the Arbor and I'm like "crap, they're all out of Powerades cept for this weird green looking one. Oh well better than nothing." Basically the worst $1.05 I've spent in a long time. If anyone wants to find out what cough syrup tastes like without the medicine, try "Aleutian Stream" flavored Powerade LIGHT. Light being the key word, apparently they have diet sports drinks now, a third of the calories of most sports drinks, or something. I guess that means less sugar, because it just makes it taste like ass. It kept me awake during class, one swig every several minutes and I'd be dry heaving for quite some time.
People wonder why I always order the same smoothie at Jamba, or get the same food at a restaurant, and this is why. Every time you take that risk and try something new, sure you might find a new thing, but you might end up kicking yourself in the ass for it later. Sometimes I get in the mood for trying new things, and go for it, occasionally striking gold, occasionally striking the foul end of a cow.
I'm not bitter or anything.
So I'm in the Arbor and I'm like "crap, they're all out of Powerades cept for this weird green looking one. Oh well better than nothing." Basically the worst $1.05 I've spent in a long time. If anyone wants to find out what cough syrup tastes like without the medicine, try "Aleutian Stream" flavored Powerade LIGHT. Light being the key word, apparently they have diet sports drinks now, a third of the calories of most sports drinks, or something. I guess that means less sugar, because it just makes it taste like ass. It kept me awake during class, one swig every several minutes and I'd be dry heaving for quite some time.
People wonder why I always order the same smoothie at Jamba, or get the same food at a restaurant, and this is why. Every time you take that risk and try something new, sure you might find a new thing, but you might end up kicking yourself in the ass for it later. Sometimes I get in the mood for trying new things, and go for it, occasionally striking gold, occasionally striking the foul end of a cow.
I'm not bitter or anything.
Wednesday, April 17, 2002
Monday, April 15, 2002
Down The Rabbit Hole...
Seems to be a running theme lately of me taking back things I've said previously, going to have to continue with regard to American McGee's Alice. This game started slow, and I ended up getting bored and leaving it alone for a month, but I had some free time this weekend and ended up pushing on, and reaching some of the most amazing and graphically impressive levels later in the game. The Quake3 engine has been revamped to do some pretty amazing things, and I hear a movie is going to be based on the game's plot, which should be quite interesting to see. The game seemed like a combination of a first person shooter like Max Payne and Myst, there was a lot of problem solving and logic puzzles throughout that were part of the game, with the main character interacting with the environment. Its a few years old now which in computer speak is quite a long time, but I highly recommend it for those looking for a different variation on the first person shooter theme.
Got a haircut today for free thanks to those buy eight get one free cards, pretty sad given the first haircut on the card was dated in November 2000... I guess I end up getting a lot of cuts while at home, tend to average like every five weeks or so, or whenever I can't see my ears anymore.
Oh, and we have a new "most hilarious" search engine query that got someone to my page. "Pictures of cute boys gagged."
Bwahaha. One of these days I'm going to bust out a picture of something in the sidebar or something, but that's a big step, don't need to rush it. ;)
Seems to be a running theme lately of me taking back things I've said previously, going to have to continue with regard to American McGee's Alice. This game started slow, and I ended up getting bored and leaving it alone for a month, but I had some free time this weekend and ended up pushing on, and reaching some of the most amazing and graphically impressive levels later in the game. The Quake3 engine has been revamped to do some pretty amazing things, and I hear a movie is going to be based on the game's plot, which should be quite interesting to see. The game seemed like a combination of a first person shooter like Max Payne and Myst, there was a lot of problem solving and logic puzzles throughout that were part of the game, with the main character interacting with the environment. Its a few years old now which in computer speak is quite a long time, but I highly recommend it for those looking for a different variation on the first person shooter theme.
Got a haircut today for free thanks to those buy eight get one free cards, pretty sad given the first haircut on the card was dated in November 2000... I guess I end up getting a lot of cuts while at home, tend to average like every five weeks or so, or whenever I can't see my ears anymore.
Oh, and we have a new "most hilarious" search engine query that got someone to my page. "Pictures of cute boys gagged."
Bwahaha. One of these days I'm going to bust out a picture of something in the sidebar or something, but that's a big step, don't need to rush it. ;)
Sunday, April 14, 2002
OH MY GEEZ...
Okay so somewhere down below I review X, the newest roller coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain. After today's trip, I'm going to have to slightly alter that due to a few factors. The first trip I rode during the daytime, and sat in the very front. This time we ended up in the very back, and rode it at night. The difference was literally day and night. Instead of gently dipping over the top of the lift hill and gradually shifting over to your stomach before beginning to fall down the vertical first drop, you come HURLING over the top and are FLUNG onto your stomach before PLUMMETING towards earth at what seems like a BERJILLION miles an hour until just in the nick of time you're sommersaulted forward just missing the ground and spinning up into a raven turn. It was cold, and every time we flipped or dove the wind blew into our faces, I couldn't stop screamin YEAH BABY YEAH and WAHOOOOOOOO for the entire ride.
I think part of the reason the experience was so awesome this time was that I managed to properly tighten the headrest and shoulder harness so that it was perfectly snug all around, so I didn't feel a head rattle or shift at all during the ride, and my arms and legs were free to wave and pump and windmill the whole way around. We ended up waiting OVER two hours for the ride and ended up there over an hour after the park closed, but it was worth every minute. The loading situation is pretty retarded, those of you who end up going make sure to ask for the right fork at the area where the attendant shuttles people forward in groups onto the ramps, because the left one not only is much longer, but more larger and more congested, and that's where ALL the disabled people and their entire groups go, and given they always sit in the back row, if you're waiting for this you basically doubled the amount of time you'll have to wait by choosing that side. The line in general is slow, unfortunatley we got there late and so it was two+ hours for most of the day, riding it very first thing and then last thing hopping in line as the park closes is the best bet.
The other review I have is for Deja Vu, the looping reverse boomerang suspended coaster that is also new this year at Six Flags. This was a totally new sensation much like X, it is similar to the ride Invertigo at Paramount's Great America up north, except that the towers are completely vertical instead of diagonal, and the ride is about double the height and size. The sensation of being held completely vertical is a new one for me on this type of ride, and having gravity sling you down through a gigantic loop and boomerang was pretty incredible too. My favorite part was actually after you've gone up the second tower and fall to do the whole thing backwards, backwards loops just seem much more comfortable and relaxing, if that's possible. This is yet another amazing ride, and although not on the same caliber as X, is the best of its genre I've ridden, easily wiping the floor with Invertigo and such non-suspended types as Boomerang at Knott's Berry Farm, among other places.
All in all we managed to get on every single big ride during a day when the lines averaged a bit less than an hour, I was quite happy. And to think I have a season pass and will be riding X again multiple times before the end of the year, lookin forward to it already. :) For the moment at least, its catapulted itself into the top of the "Most Fun" rankings of the roller coasters I've experienced. We'll see how long it lasts, the engineers are hard at work. :)
Okay so somewhere down below I review X, the newest roller coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain. After today's trip, I'm going to have to slightly alter that due to a few factors. The first trip I rode during the daytime, and sat in the very front. This time we ended up in the very back, and rode it at night. The difference was literally day and night. Instead of gently dipping over the top of the lift hill and gradually shifting over to your stomach before beginning to fall down the vertical first drop, you come HURLING over the top and are FLUNG onto your stomach before PLUMMETING towards earth at what seems like a BERJILLION miles an hour until just in the nick of time you're sommersaulted forward just missing the ground and spinning up into a raven turn. It was cold, and every time we flipped or dove the wind blew into our faces, I couldn't stop screamin YEAH BABY YEAH and WAHOOOOOOOO for the entire ride.
I think part of the reason the experience was so awesome this time was that I managed to properly tighten the headrest and shoulder harness so that it was perfectly snug all around, so I didn't feel a head rattle or shift at all during the ride, and my arms and legs were free to wave and pump and windmill the whole way around. We ended up waiting OVER two hours for the ride and ended up there over an hour after the park closed, but it was worth every minute. The loading situation is pretty retarded, those of you who end up going make sure to ask for the right fork at the area where the attendant shuttles people forward in groups onto the ramps, because the left one not only is much longer, but more larger and more congested, and that's where ALL the disabled people and their entire groups go, and given they always sit in the back row, if you're waiting for this you basically doubled the amount of time you'll have to wait by choosing that side. The line in general is slow, unfortunatley we got there late and so it was two+ hours for most of the day, riding it very first thing and then last thing hopping in line as the park closes is the best bet.
The other review I have is for Deja Vu, the looping reverse boomerang suspended coaster that is also new this year at Six Flags. This was a totally new sensation much like X, it is similar to the ride Invertigo at Paramount's Great America up north, except that the towers are completely vertical instead of diagonal, and the ride is about double the height and size. The sensation of being held completely vertical is a new one for me on this type of ride, and having gravity sling you down through a gigantic loop and boomerang was pretty incredible too. My favorite part was actually after you've gone up the second tower and fall to do the whole thing backwards, backwards loops just seem much more comfortable and relaxing, if that's possible. This is yet another amazing ride, and although not on the same caliber as X, is the best of its genre I've ridden, easily wiping the floor with Invertigo and such non-suspended types as Boomerang at Knott's Berry Farm, among other places.
All in all we managed to get on every single big ride during a day when the lines averaged a bit less than an hour, I was quite happy. And to think I have a season pass and will be riding X again multiple times before the end of the year, lookin forward to it already. :) For the moment at least, its catapulted itself into the top of the "Most Fun" rankings of the roller coasters I've experienced. We'll see how long it lasts, the engineers are hard at work. :)
