Hail to the king

Kingda Ka that is, I normally post coasters I have been on, however this one I haven't.... yet. Located at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey, this is the Tallest and 2nd Fastest coaster in the world. From a standstill, launching you from 0-128 mph up a 456 ft tall Tophat to come down a 418 ft spiraling drop. It is only a 17 second ride, but looks like one hell of a thrill. I have already purchased a six flags season pass for 2011 and come hell or high water I WILL ride this beast!

The Spaghetti Bowl....

This is an interesting style of coaster. It has been named a Spaghetti Bowl coaster because of it's track layout. There are multiple outdoor versions, and 2 enclosed versions. I have ridden one of each. Flight Of Fear at Kings Dominion and Jokers Jinx at Six Flags America. When these coasters first opened I didn't really care for them at all. They had shoulder restraints and you spent the whole ride with your head banging against them. However after too many complaints, they finally took out those restraints and replaced them with a lap bar making it a much more comfortable and fun ride. The enclosed version (Flight Of Fear) is pretty cool. The line area is set up like an Area 51 type deal. While on the ride, it is mostly dark with some colored lights. It's interesting because there are times where you cant tell if you are upside down or not. However, I prefer the outdoor version, the dark effect on the indoor is cool, but I think its more fun to see whats going on.

More bear night fun

Over the last 2 weekends we went to 2 bear nights. The monthly one in PA, at Altlands Ranch, and our Local bar, The Lodge, which is going to make theirs a monthly thing as well. I really enjoy bear nights, and honestly, thats the only time the husbear and I ever go out.

Let's Get Wild!

Originally the Giant Coaster at Paragon Park in Massachusetts built in 1917, The Wild One appeared here in Maryland in 1985 after being moved. When it first arrived the park was mostly a water park called 'Wild World', it then became 'Adventure World' until it was bought out by Six Flags in 1999 being renames Six Flags America. The Wild One is definitely a wild ride, It holds the record so far as my favorite wooden coaster.

Here is a video of me and my best friend on it in October 2010

Reckless Abandon

So I came across this online, its an abandoned amusement park in Japan. Being the coaster geek I am I thought it was amazing. I would love to be able to see something like this. It's visually stunning, yet haunting at the same time.

Fort Carroll....

A big hobby of mine is photography. Mostly black and white. I love photographing abandoned places. Here is one I just found out about, and would love to be able to check out. Fort Carroll is just outside Baltimore City. It was a man made island for a military base. It has been abandoned for a long time now. From the pictures I've seen, it would be really cool to visit and take some of my own. All I need is permission and a boat lol.

Tidal Wave/Sidewinder

There is really nothing special about these coasters in general. There are multiple clones of this coaster around the world. It's actually the most cloned coaster ever. It is the Vekoma Boomerang. These two in particular are the ones I have been on. The Sidewinder at Hersheypark (Black) and the Tidal Wave at Ocean City. It is a shuttle coaster, for those of you who don't know, a shuttle coaster is one that is not a complete circuit (goes forward, then backward). It's a fun ride, and packs a decent punch in a small area. The reason why it is so significant to me, is because when I was about 7 years old is the first time I saw one. Even though I was tall enough to ride, something about going forward and backward kinda freaked me out, so I was too afraid to ride. Then about a year or 2 later, when I got the opportunity again, I finally rode it. I couldn't believe I was so scared of it, I ended up loving it. This was the coaster that broke my fear, I was no longer afraid to ride any coaster after this one. I still enjoy the ride, however age doesn't treat these well, and they can be a little rough on the head.

Reflecting.....

This year has been a year of a lot of reflecting on my life. Mostly right after high school when I was coming out. It's interesting to look back and see how differently I viewed things, and how things that were important to me at the time, are now replaced by other things. Also looking back at how I have physically changed over time. Growing out of my baby face. Life seemed so stressful back then, with being closeted, worrying about my parents finding out and how they would react. Wondering how friends would react. Going to college (even tho I didn't graduate) really helped with that. It really helped to meet other people my age who were gay, since I felt so alone in high school and was too afraid to tell anyone. It took pretty much my whole freshman year of college for me to finally come out to everyone. It was very rough year for me, but as most of you know, things are a lot easier once you come out.

Roller Coaster.... The movie

I finally got to see this suspense thriller from 1977. I first heard about it a few months ago, and being a Roller Coaster geek I REALLY wanted to see it. For the time it was made it was a great movie. It was really cool for me personally to see the scenes at Kings Dominion and see what the park looked like in 1977. The Rebel Yell was my first coaster ever, so seeing that with its original paint job was awesome. It was also interesting to see the lack of now existing rides. The movie also features the Ocean View Park Rocket... a now defunct coaster, and it features the grand opening of the Revolution at Six Flags Magic Mountain. It was definitely cool to see that part. I've never been there, but I have watched pov videos of the coaster and it is all overgrown by trees now, but in the movie there is hardly anything around it. A pretty cool movie and a must see for coaster fans.

Ki Ki Ki Ma Ma Ma

I realized I haven't done any posts on my passion for horror movies, so I dedicate my first one to the Friday The 13th series. A story about a boy and his mother. This is my favorite series in horror. I love every movie in the series except for the 2009 remake, which I thought was terrible. The think I love about the Friday The 13th movies is that they are simple, yet not stupid. The epitome of 80s horror. These are great movies to relax and watch, you don't have to think much, just sit back and watch a bunch of teenagers getting picked off one by one, and in different, sometimes creative ways. The first 4 films are definitely must see movies for horror fans. They are the best in the series. You have to love Mrs Voorhees in the first movie, "Kill her mommy, kill her". Betsy Palmer was amazing in this role. These movies have also held a special place for me, since my name is Jason and I have had multiple birthdays fall on a Friday The 13th.

Are You Intimidated?

"GENTLEMEN, START YOUR ENGINES!!!"

Here's another AMAZING coaster from Kings Dominion. Intimidator 305. With a massive 305 ft drop and top speed of 80 mph it is a fast paced coaster with many twists and turns. Hell of a ride. Only downside is, originally it topped out at 94 mph, but because people complained about having 'grey outs' or brief tunnel vision on the first helix, they added trim brakes on the drop to slow it down. I never got to ride at full speed, but at 80 mph it's still a great coaster!

Bear City

So last night I finally got to see 'Bear City', and I was very pleased. I thought it was a great movie. Good cast, good story, and some good looking men. It was nice to see a gay movie, hell, a movie in general where the characters don't have to be perfectly muscled or toned to be the object of another character's affection. I hate how in most movies anyone with some weight to them is considered fat and is usually part of someone's joke. I also really enjoyed seeing a gay movie that centered around bears. Most gay movies tend to ignore the bear community. I really related to the main character, Tyler, as well. When I was 18 and just coming out, the first gay friends I made were my age as well, and they were all clean cut, twinky boys who dressed in clothes from stores like A&F and The Gap. Even though I tried to fit into that group for a while, I knew it wasn't me, and was afraid to come out of the so called "2nd closet" and tell them I liked older men, with body and facial hair, and dressed more down to earth. This was a great movie and I definitely recommend it!