That is the number of years as this blog has existed. It seems a little unfathomable......yet there it is.
I do not do a lot of vlogs and with good reason. More power to the people who think they should be in front of the camera. Sitting behind a keyboard is good enough for me. ....and even that might be too much....for everybody.
Now and again in these video entries my right eye seems wonky. As far as I know I haven't had a stroke, but you just never know.....and I'd probably be the last to know.
When I blogged about Spring and Indictments the other day (only one has happened so far, btw....) it wasn't until after hitting "publish" did I remember that March 20th equals by blogaversary.
I started this thing back in 2003! I think last year I said I was 20. Or starting 20? I dunno. I'm old. Me me, and blog me.
6,660 posts. Including this one. 18,501 comments. Not including the ones of praise you leave for me today.
I kid. I kid.
You can leave those anytime. It doesn't have to be today.
I was gonna write other stuff, but then realized I said it in the vlog. One in which I did in one take - right or wrong. But probably mostly wrong. I find it best not to overthink these things. One and done. Much like a trick.
We're (well, I am) already into three days of another year. Maybe this year, I'll make this thing interesting.
While we were in Florida, I considered doing a vlog. Two actually. I have footage for two. I've completed one. This one.
I have not yet decided on doing the second one. I mean, who really wants to see Blobby at the Magic Kingdom?
On the other hand who doesn't want to see Blobby at Harry Potter World? There is really only one answer to that.
Harry Potter World resides within Universal Studios. There was a lot of discarded non-Harry Potter footage, though I left a few things in just because. There was some discarded Harry Potter footage too.
I won't say the video was half-baked, but I could have tied a few things together and down a proper ending, But truth be told, I was 22,000+ steps into the day on the way out of the park. I just wanted to get back to the hotel and get a drink. It actually never occurred to me to finish the video tightly.
Still, I think there are some funny parts - and there's a theme, much to 710's annoyance (I'm guessing).
That all said - Universal was better than Disney (in lots of ways), but we were happy had we just done Harry Potter.
For note: Universal is comprised of two parks, with two admissions. There are parts of HPW in both parks - one with Diagon Ally and one with Hogsmead. This is brilliant on two levels. A. It could get you to buy to passes (we did!). B. If you can't afford the price or the time, at least you get to see part of it. Both are very well done.
This isn't my Maine video. That's still in the works. Well......in the pre-stage of 'the works'.
This last Thursday we went to our local amusement park - and by 'local' I mean 90 minutes away. Still, Cedar Point is a force with which to be reckoned.
We purposefully picked the day for low attendance and it seemed to work.
Both 710 and I found some of the rides we love to be rough. Depending on with whom I chat, it could be a variety of things: apparently it really depends on where you sit on the Magnum XL 2000 or the Gemini. If you pick the wrong area (i.e. not the front), your body is gonna feel it. .....and let's just say, for those, we didn't pick the front.
When you get to the 2:42 mark, we are about to go on the Maverick.....one of the better rides. 3/4 of up the hill they stop the ride. 710 I joked that it was only a matter of time before we got stuck on one, after all these years and all these rides.
Alas, the twat (yes......twat).....behind us (we have the front car, dontcha know) took out her phone to film. The ride folk saw her and demanded her phone and purse. On that ride especially, she not only would have lost the phone, but probably injured another passenger with it after it flew from her hands. Twat.
I won't say it is the most inspired of my Cedar Point videos......but you get what you get. ...and that's my pretty mug for all of you to see.
I'm not sure I've had a video since vacation last August!!!
This is for my 14th Bloggiversary. Oy.
I think in my blog, I state this vlog is at least take two. Take three, now that I think of it. The first one was great, if I say so myself........except that somehow the mic on this Mac is for shit all of the sudden.
So I played with iMovie to try to adjust sound, but it only marginally helped.
Then I switched to my iPhone and was in the midst of a good recording and my boss called....so the video automatically stopped.
I attempted a video from vacation. But it was vacation....so I honestly didn't try that hard.
I think with my Ogunquit videos, there was a little more continuity to them. This one is random shots kind of strung together.
Beach. Food. Hikes. Dogs. Weird Signs. Weather.
It has it all.
North Carolina has its issues of course - them with all their hate. The plan was to give them no money and not go. But honestly, we looked in P-Town, Ogunquit, Rehoboth and even the Hamptons. With our limited window of time, we had very very few choices.......and even those had the shittiest of accommodations. So yes, we went.
When we stayed there the first time it was because we thought it was gay-owned or friendly. It turns out those were just colourful beach flags at the pool, not Pride ones. This year, they did have a Pride flag. But to be fair, they also had a Jolly Roger flag too. Somewhere there is a 'butt pirate' joke just waiting to be had.
With the weather portion, you see the makings of a decent storm. What you don't see was the tornado or water spout that was about 1.5 miles away. I was so taken by it - and possibly tipsy, as it was happy hour at the inn - that I didn't grab my phone. By the time I did, it had gone away only to be replaced by lots of lightening.
I will apologize first off. The wind makes the volume all screwy. You really have to want to hear me in some parts.
It's nonsense of course - the video, that is - but that's what I'm about.
Last Friday, 710 and I went (back) up to Cedar Point.
We went three years ago - and it was ok. It was a rough start for two old men and some of the coasters, but we rebounded nicely.
This year, we planned it a little better.
Since it was late in August - and a BEAUTIFUL day - most colleges have already started, and the majority of Ohio public schools had too. So we took our chances and thought it would be a great day. And it was. I think this last Monday would have been even better as any straggling schools definitely started this week.
As it was - there were few lines. The bigger ones (one 45 min, one 33) were only that long due to malfunctions of the rides themselves. The rest were less than 10 minutes each.
There is an included video below, but I didn't set stuff up as well as I should have - or done follow-up like I should have. So I'll do some fixing of that now here.
The one ride that was bad last year - Mantis - of which I hated, is now inexplicably called the Rougarou. It's a suspended coaster, using the same track as the Mantis. It still sucks. It didn't bounce me around as bad as last time, but it did 710.
The big wooden coaster I reference which I would never ride again - I said that last year. I stuck to that this year, but didn't clarify that. Never will I ride the Mean Streak again. Horrid.
The biggest winner was the Maverick. I say it was our third attempt to ride it. This is true. What was unclear was that our third attempt in three visits to the park. The ride was closed the other two times. It was the one with the longest line this year - again, due to malfunctions and people actually hurling on it. Or peeing. Or pooping. They didn't specify what kind of "illness" they had on ride. I did notice that no one could sit in the back seat of two of the three cars. THAT can't be good.
The MagnumXL2000 (stupid stupid name) was a lot more rougher of a ride than it used to be. It may have been the second roughest ride of them all.
We only rode coasters this year. No spinney rides. Nor did we do the SlingShot ride either - first, it was $50 each (!!!!) and another $100 if you wanted the Go-Pro video of yourself. That's bullshit. Secondly - it was a sling shot that threw you 350 ft into the air.
Millennium Force is still awesome. The poor woman behind us (in late 50s) who'd never ridden a coaster before was scared shitless - with her husband, son and myself trying to tell her how great it was. I'm glad she got on (and us too) as, shortly after, the ride closed for the rest of the day.
We skipped the Mine Ride (always do), the Blue Streak and the Raptor. The latter was where someone got killed last week for climbing the fence. You'll get a very very brief reference to that in the video.
Still - a great day. Couldn't have asked for a nicer one.
As the weekend wore on, I did have some aching to my shoulders and back. It's the small price to pay for 9-10 hours of fun.
It's that time. Spring. Well, Spring and the anniversary of this blog thingy. Year 12 just wrapped up.
2003 - at the beginning, was eons ago. Since then, Martha Stewart was finally paroled. We've liberated the middle-east and now everyone is living peacefully. Somehow Sean Hayes has gotten another series.
What's next: a black man as President??? It's all so kooky!
Allegedly Spring comes at 12:57 EDT today. Not that one would truly believe that by looking or stepping outside. At least in Ohio. I can't really speak for the rest of you - but to paraphrase George Harrison - it's been a long, cold lonely Winter.
I guess that's quoting him, and not paraphrasing.
That said, the arrival of Spring (usually) coincides with my blogging anniversary. Finishing year 11. 3207 posts (including this one). Countless words. Innumerable of them spelled incorrectly. More than a few Far too many dedicated to Mike. (I just like to get that dig in a little).
With my blogiversary (is there a correct spelling for that word?) I usually do a video piece. Why should 2014 be any different?
It's not.
Sorry about the second half. The wind kicked up and you get that noise in the mic. Such are the problems of an artist working outside of his known medium.
Like the video says, or implies, thanks for sticking with me. So far it's been a fun ride - and not all in the back of police cars.
Yup. Beware. One of those definite two times per year I video blog.
You'll see in the video, I vacillate on whether to use the take or not. Clearly I do. It was the first and only take and I just decided to stay with it. The video was decent enough, and I was lazy enough.
But yes, I've completed a decade of blogging. A decade!
10 years ago we were staring the Iraq war. 10 years ago, the Dixie Chicks made headlines and sales plummeted - not for saying they hated America and soldiers. They said they were embarrassed to be from the same state as the President of the United States. That's it.
You'd have thought they aborted babies on stage with pieces of weapons of mass destruction they got on a personal visit from Gaddafi.
10 years, two elections, a Gulf oil spill, the end of the Shuttle program, same sex marriage in nine states plus DC.
Almost none of this I capture in my video post. I guess I should have, now that I type it all out - but I'm not reshooting.
Take it as it is, but as always - thanks for coming by and coming back.
It's that time of year again - wrapping up another 365. That finishes four consecutive years and possibly starting a fifth.
Well, I am starting a fifth. The question is - do I complete a fifth? Or should I? Or can I?
It's a hastily shot video - no retakes, no edits, no script. You can tell because I call the airport a 'hotel' when I meant to say 'here and hotels'. Ahhh...the best laid plans. Or the bad annunciation. Whichever.
And ugh - my right eye, what is up with that? I noticed it before in an earlier video, but I swear it looks like I've had some kind of stroke or a not so sudden on-set case of Bell's Palsy.
I'm just falling apart, I tell you - in every way, shape or form.
But I lie - I do write the sins and the tragedies....and hopefully a little fun stuff too.
As always, thanks for entertaining me, with your drop-byes and your comments. I've been told by a few people this last weekend how difficult it is to actually leave a comment on this blog. I am sorry about that. I guess I can take away the filters for a while to see what kind of spam and shit shows up - but then I might have to reinstate the hoops. Any thoughts on that?
Usually when I do a vlog, it's just the video, no text. Today is different, at least slightly.
710 and I went to Cedar Point this last weekend, alone, by ourselves!
I wasn't planning on videoing a thing until I'd say we were halfway through our day and then I started to see if I could formulate a vlog post. But it turns out, without going back to replicate a number of things - which I was not willing to do - there wasn't a lot of cohesion to the video that I did shoot.
So now, you get some set-up, some context (but only some) and then of course, the video.
This was the first time in almost 20 years where we haven't gone to CP without kids - nieces and nephews. And while I adore them, they're too timid, too short, or too impatient to ride the adult coasters. So we've missed out on a lot since then.
This time, it was just us.
It worked well - and it didn't.
Our first two coasters were a mistake. The Mantis is a stand-up coaster that warned you to take out earrings. Not an issue, but I ended up seeing why. They pull over security rack banged your head and ears so fucking hard on the ride it was no fun at all. None.
The next ride, the Mean Streak, is one of, if not the, tallest, fastest wooden coasters in the U.S. 3:10 minutes is a long time in coaster rides - and it only had a 10 minute wait. But it came at a price. 1:20 minutes the pain in my back was so jarring, I was cringing ahead of time thinking of each hill and turn. Seriously, on that pain chart they give at the doc's office, it was easily a 9. I was on the verge of tears.
When getting off, we thought we had made a mistake coming and that maybe we were too old for this.
But 710 talked me into going on the RuPaulTop Thrill Dragster! It takes off at 120 mph (not kidding) and shoots you up 400 ft and over one curve and then 400 ft down. The ride takes 17 seconds. We've seen it not be able to make it over the top and come back down - backwards. Yikes. Which is why I never wanted to go on it.
I was cursing 710 on the 45 minute wait, but I was wrong. The ride was SO worth it. And you gotta figure, you can do almost anything for 17 seconds (though my iphone timed it at 23.4 seconds!).
After that it was onto the Magnum (which you see me - avec hair - on in 1990?). And revel in it folks - that's 710 in the front right.
You can't really take pics on coasters these days. They're too fast and oh, my iPhone is considerably more expensive than a disposable camera. ...but you see me with hair. ...and thin.
The Magnum is still a blast - and Millenium Force is over the top incredible (no sides to the car and no steps down the incline if you ever got stuck - oh and 310 ft down!, but it's the second hill that is the fun one). It is totally worth a 75 minute wait.
So yeah, we ended up having fun - though for two times now, the Maverick (yes, most of the coasters start with 'M') has been so backed-up we couldn't get on. 12 seats per car - are you kidding me? Oh, and it broke down as we and waited and waited. We finally gave up.
So - that's some of the background. None of the video is in any kind of order, but it's just meant to be fun - that's all.
I'd like to say this is a good video post, and it's not horrendous, but it's a one-take kind of thing and it was done on the fly with no forethought.
...and apparently it looks like I've had some kind of stroke. What the fuck is wrong with my right eye?
The thought of this post kind of came from a post of Dr. Spo's piece on refrigerator magnets. I decided I wanted all to see my Princess Leia homemade magnet.
It doesn't video so well, but neither do I - but you'll get the idea.
