Christmas in July.....Well Almost
 Today, we all got a WONDERFUL suprise at work today from UPS Clause: brand new, flat panel Dell LCD monitors. The Dell™ UltraSharp™ 2007FP 20.1-inch Flat Panel LCD Monitor is crystal clear with a maximum resolution of 1600 x 1200 pixels.
It was a considerable improvement over the HUGE 20" CRT monitor I did have on my desk.
The monitor is completely adjustable - moving up and down - while swivelling on the stand left and right and is also able to tilt forward or back. And, the monitor can be turned to display in landscape or portrait settings.
Also, the monitor has two USB ports on the side for easy access as well as DVI-D (digital video input), S-Video and composite video inputs. Now all I need is a small dvd player to bring to work so I can hook it up and watch the PIP (picture-in-picture) while underwriting loans. Yeah, my boss will TOTALLY allow that! Perhaps the most amazing thing is that I hooked up practically all the monitors in the office becuase no one else knew how.
OK, maybe it's more scary than amazing. But they do trust me with a roughly $500 monitor on a daily basis now.
Roller Coaster Requests
The fourteenth installment in my Six Flags Superhero Series of roller coasters is Superman - Ultimate Flight. Here's the 3rd image of this coaster. Another GREAT picture of the ride. If you look closely at the last car on the train, you can see the riders' feet sticking past the back of the train showing how the riders are "flying" around the track.
The ride can be found at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey.
Roller Coaster Pic of the Day
June 30, 2006
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Reconstructing the Coast
Recently, my curiousity prompted me to look into what the reconstruction plans were for the Mississippi gulf coast - specifically Biloxi. Already, several casinos are open (Imperial Palace, Isle of Capri & The Palace) 2 of which are located on the city's back bay.
I also read that Beau Rivage & Treasure Bay plan on opening in within the next few months while Harrah's has announced preliminary plans to build a multi-billion dollar resort in Biloxi. All of this I had heard about previously, before going to the City's web page; however, there was one new development that I didn't know about.
Developers recently were given the "green light" to move forward with the construction of another major, $500 million resort on Biloxi's back bay: Bacaran Bay. The plans call for a 646 room, all-suite hotel, a 21-story 445-unit condo tower, a 40 lane bowling alley, seven restaraunts and a buffet, a dog hotel, 2 wedding chapels, a 6 screen stadium-seating movie theater,
a shopping esplanade, spa, salon, fitness center, multiple pool decks, 85,000 square feet of convention space, an Arnold Palmer desiged golf course less than 8 miles away, and (of course) a 75,000 square foot casino.
Although the resort was planned before Katrina hit, elevation was still an issue in approval of the project. The main entrances will be above the height of the Katrina surge (an elevation planned before the storm). Additionally, the first floor of the condo residences will be 120 feet above sea level. The project, when completed, is expected to create over 2,000 jobs.
If you have time, take a look at the site and check out the slide show on the home page. The artist rendering of the resort looks amazing. I think this is a strong indicator of what the Biloxi gulf coast will look like in the coming years.
Roller Coaster Requests
The thirteenth installment in my Six Flags Superhero Series of roller coasters is Superman - Ultimate Flight. Here's the 2nd image of this coaster. It's a GREAT photo that illustrates how riders actually ride along the track. Looks like incredible fun to me!!
The ride can be found at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey.
Roller Coaster Pic of the Day
June 29, 2006
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The New Era
LSU today announced the hiring of the school's new baseball coach: Paul Mainieri. Or as Bobby Hebert would say, "Paul Marinara. He comes to LSU from Notre Dame where he was the architect of the best program in the Big East Conference.
For those of you that aren't familiar with college baseball, it's very rare for a school north of the Mason-Dixon Line to be competitive much less make the NCAA tournament 8 consecutive years and the College World Series in 2002 - that's exactly what Coach Mainieri did.
Overall, I think it's a good decision by LSU athletic director, Skip Bertman; but I must qualify the statement. It was a good decision considering the coaches that had already withdrew their names from consideration. Not by any means do I think he was the BEST candidate for the job, but he was the best available. Only time will reveal is this was truly a decision that can bring the program back to national prominence.
Roller Coaster Requests
The twelfth installment in my Six Flags Superhero Series of roller coasters is Superman - Ultimate Flight. The coaster is a steel track flying coaster with a 100ft drop. This coaster sends riders down a 2,759ft track at 51mph, all while "flying" over the park. There are some incredible pictures of this ride, so I'm going to feature it over the next few days.
The ride can be found at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey.
Roller Coaster Pic of the Day
June 28, 2006
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The Warhawks Have Landed!
Several months back, the NCAA (the main governing body of collegiate athletics in the US) instituted a policy that would prohibit any teams with mascots, nicknames or logos deemed "offensive" and/or "abusive" from hosting NCAA sanctioned postseason events or participating in said events wearing uniforms with the nicknames or imagery.
Falling into this category was the University of Louisiana at Monroe Indians. Personally, I think it's nothing but a bunch of PC BS!
Nevertheless, the powers that be at the university made it a priority to come up with a new nickname, mascot and logos. Ladies and gentlemen, meet the ULM Warhawks.
Roller Coaster Requests
The eleventh installment in my Six Flags Superhero Series of roller coasters is Batman The Ride. This steel inverted coaster hits a top speed of 50mph and includes 2 loops, 2 corkscrews, as well as a zero-G roll (also known as a heartline spin as the track and train rotates around the riders' hearts/chests). It also includes some pretty neat theming of Gotham City around the coaster area.
The ride can be found at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey.
Roller Coaster Pic of the Day
June 26, 2006
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I Found It!
Kayla and I made our way down to Ama yesterday to visit with mom and dad about their recent trip to Walt Disney World. While we were there, I borrowed Blake's copy of LOST: Season 1 dvd set. She and I watched the first disc last night (consisting of 3 episodes: the 2 hour pilot and the next 2 episodes). This morning, we have watched 3 more episodes
and are noe giving the dvd player a rest for a while (so I can update the website and check out the Portugal/Netherlands World Cup match).
After watching only six episodes, I must say that I can easily see what all the hype is about. I'm hooked and will probably get through the first season in just a few weeks. Oh yeah, Aunt Moe, I didn't have to give Blake his dvds of Looney Tunes or The Village so maybe you and I can make a trade for something else. THANKS BLAKE!
Roller Coaster Requests
The tenth installment in my Six Flags Superhero Series of roller coasters is Batman and Robin: The Chiller. The coaster consists of 2 separate, but unique tracks that begin side by side and are accelerated from 0-70mph in 4 seconds. Looking at the image, the loading station can be found in the brown building behind the coaster.
Both trains are sent off at the same time, forwards first; then they are brought up the lift at the end of the track and released, sending the riders backwards to the station.
The ride can be found at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey.
Roller Coaster Pic of the Day
June 25, 2006
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Unique Comparison
Sometimes I feel like I don't have enough time in the day or week to do everything I want to do. I came across a blog in which the author has probably way TOO much time on their hands! To me, however, it is a very interesting look on something that is near and dear to my heart: College Football
The blog compares NCAA Division I-A football programs (that's schools like LSU, Tulane, Alabama, Notre Dame, etc...) to a specific character or group of characters from the Simpsons. Here's a link to the blog. People that like the Simpsons will enjoy it, people that like football will too. But I think the people that will get the most out of it are people that follow college football religiously.
Roller Coaster Requests
The ninth installment in my Six Flags Superhero Series of roller coasters is Joker's Revenge that operated from 1996-2001. The ride was a traditional steel sit down coaster with one twist....it went through the whole track backwards.
The ride was originally found at Six Flags Fiesta Texas in Texas. After the ride closed, it was moved to a little park known as Six Flags - New Orleans where it was reincarnated as Jester.
Roller Coaster Pic of the Day
June 23, 2006
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Ho Hum...
Nothing really going on tonight. I'm just trying to wind down from a long day's work. Also, I'm watching CBS's Gameshow Marathon! We can't help it, we're addicted to this show. I just love seeing all the old gameshows. This week, Match Game and they actually have Betty White sitting in her old seat!
Roller Coaster Requests
The eighth installment in my Six Flags Superhero Series of roller coasters is Superman Krypton Coaster. The cool thing about the park is that it is in an old rock quarry which you can see in the photo below. In fact, two parts of the ride - the top of the lift hill and the crest of the helix after the vertical loop extend over the top of the cliffs.
The ride can be found at Six Flags Fiesta Texas in Texas.
Roller Coaster Pic of the Day
June 22, 2006
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Evolution of Football
The game of football is by no means a static sport. Improvements to the game, new strategies and improved equipment technology are some of the main (and most obvious) changes. However, there comes a time where certain things have "evolved" too far. In college football, many schools pride themselves on tradition. Whether it be in the context of
tailgating, performance or the look of the team, tradition plays a HUGE role in college athletics. It has become apparent over the more recent years that one institution in particular doesn't value traditional uniforms - the University of Oregon. Many people now associate the Ducks football team with horrendous uniforms. This year is no different.
I am....NOT....pleased to introduce to you the 2006 University of Oregon uniforms.
Roller Coaster Requests
The seventh installment in my Six Flags Superhero Series of roller coasters is Superman - Ride of Steel which shares a name with a similar ride featured earlier (see my post on June 18). This is a typical sit down steel coaster with a 208' lift hill and a 205' initial drop reaching 73mph.
The ride can be found at Six Flags Darien Lake in New York.
Roller Coaster Pic of the Day
June 21, 2006
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A Tale of Two Cities
Nothing really to speak about today. I had a pretty busy day at work so I didn't have time to research anything for today's post. Also, I recently decided to reinstall Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 on the laptop.
To my suprise, however, I had NEVER installed the game. I did so last night and will be enjoying that later.
Roller Coaster Requests
The sixth installment in my Six Flags Superhero Series of roller coasters is Batman The Escape, the first in the series that is permanently closed. This is a stand up steel coaster opened in 1993 and closed October 2005. Riders would stand in place with an over the shoulder harness.
The ride was operational last at Six Flags Astroworld in Texas. The ride is now in storage at Six Flags Darien Lake.
Roller Coaster Pic of the Day
June 20, 2006
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A Tale of Two Cities
I read an interesting article today on BBC.com about the construction of one of the newest US Navy ships: The USS New York. What's interesting is that the ship is being partially constructed using steel from the World Trade Center. Oh, yeah, did I mention that the ship is
being built in Avondale, Louisiana? The article talks of the eerie but definite connection between the two cities after suffering devastating disasters. It's a very interesting read.
Buried Treasure
Kayla and I watched the series premiere of NBC's new reality show Treasure Hunters. The game pits 10 teams of three people each against each other in a global search to uncover clues that lead to an incredible treasure. The show began with 5 teams starting on a large ship off of the Hawai'ian cost and the other 5 teams in an Alaskan mining town.
The teams at both locations had to solve a clue in order to determine their next destination. Only then could they leave their respective starting points and begin their journey. But what they don't know is that there are 5 other teams at another location.
The teams finish their tasks and make their way to the state capital building in Lincoln, Nebraska - but on opposite sides of the building. The game then slams the two groups together completely changing their impressions of the game so far. That's only HALF of the premiere. If it sounds at all interesting, check out the encore presentations of the show Friday AND Saturday at 7pm CDT.
Roller Coaster Requests
The fifth installment in my Superhero Series of roller coasters is Two Face - The Flip Side. This is an inverted steel coaster, with a twist. Riders sit back to back and face each other (as you can clearly see from the picture) while aboard the train. On a side note, if they ride track looks familiar, they have sit-down coasters using the exact same track at both Six Flags - New Orleans and Dixie Landin' in Baton Rouge.
The ride can be found at Six Flags America in Maryland.
Roller Coaster Pic of the Day
June 19, 2006
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Father's Day
Happy Father's Day to all the dad's out there, especially my dad! You've always set a great example for Blake, Heather and I (except for your jokes - those are just AWFUL). Kayla and I will be joined in Baton Rouge by her parents and her brother and our niece for lunch and a visit this afternoon.
Weekend
I know, I know. I haven't posted since Thursday afternoon. But here's why:
Friday: Heather and Will drove up to Baton Rouge and we went out for dinner. They came back to the apartment where we enjoyed a few hours of Playstation 2 entertainment, and they spent the night.
Saturday: Kayla and I were joined by her cousins Erin and Greg for our third consecutive weekend at Blue Bayou Waterpark. We got lucky and avoided the predicted rain for the entire day. We also rode a few of the amusement rides in the Dixie Landin' part of the part and caught country singer, Chris Cagle in concert. Erin and Greg also spent the night.
Roller Coaster Requests
The fourth installment in my Superhero Series of roller coasters is Superman - Ride of Steel. This is a traditional steel sit-down coaster with a large lift-hill and and "out and back" design.
The ride can be found at Six Flags America in Maryland.
Roller Coaster Pic of the Day
June 15, 2006
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Movie Night
Kayla and I are going to head on out to the movie theater this evening and take is Cars. I just hope it lives up to the hype that you all have created!
Roller Coaster Requests
The third installment in my Superhero Series of roller coasters is Joker's Jinx. This sit-down coaster rockets riders from 0-60mph in just under 4 seconds. From there, the track twists and turns around itself in order to disorient riders. From the pictures, it looks as though they designers DEFINITELY accomplished their goal.
The ride can be found at Six Flags America in Maryland.
Roller Coaster Pic of the Day
June 15, 2006
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Evaluation
I'm sure those of you working in the corporate world have had to do the dreaded Self-Evaluation. I had to do that this week as I recently passed my first employment anniversary. Does anyone else think these things are BS like I do?! I would be completely OK with my supervisor giving me a normal evaluation so I know where I stand with him. Instead, I have to take time out of my day to complete this BS!!!
Roller Coaster Requests
The second installment in my Superhero Series of roller coasters is Batwing. This is classified as a "flying" coaster. Riders are loaded into the ride vehicle laying on their backs - that's right, their BACKS. The coaster then leaves the station and goes up the lift hill. Then, after the train goes over the hill's crest, the track flips riders over so that they hang below the track as if they were
"flying" above the park. Not a design for everyone, but BOY do I need to find me a flying coaster!!! Sounds like a GREAT TImE!
The ride can be found at Six Flags America in Maryland.
Roller Coaster Pic of the Day
June 14, 2006
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There's No Place Like....Dubai?
I caught an extremely interesting show last night on the National Geographic Network last night. It's subject? The Palm Jumeirah development in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. This "Eight Wonder of the World" is the brainchild of Duabai's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum comprised of
residential and commercial developments including 32 beachfront hotels namely: The Trump Hotel & Tower and Atlantis luxury resort. The show focused on the unique problems facing the project engineers ranging from geology and hydrology to global terrorism.
I had heard of the project before, but never have I seen a show that covered the project as greatly as this one. Also, the show mentioned 2 other sister "Palm" projects (which I had not heard of), as well as a development known simply as The World.
Have you ever wanted to own Florida? Or England or Tasmania? Now is your chance!
Roller Coaster Requests
Shocking developments here at kpJR.net!!! PROOF that Blake reads my website....he sent me an e-mail today. Blake made a request that I feature the Batman roller coaster as my Roller Coaster Pic of the Day for the benefit of Erin. What he didn't know is that there are numerous Batman rides around the country.
So, for the next week or so, I will feature not only the Batman rides, but also many Superhero/Supervillain inspired coasters. So get ready folks!!!!
The initial photo in the Superhero Series is a local ride found at Six Flags New Orleans.
Roller Coaster Pic of the Day
June 13, 2006
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Riverfront Development
For years, Baton Rouge has been looking for ways to revitalize the City's downtown and riverfront. Recently, numerous projects have been announced to renovate existing buildings as well as constructing new office & residential buildings. Within the past three months, the City has announced a very ambitious
Riverfront revitalization project. The design combines plans to improve roads and existing structures as well as the creation of an above-river park built on a pier. Slated for inclusion on the pier are an observation tower, amphitheater, playground and park among other things.
Planners focused on various riverfront revitalization and downtown development projects around the country, most notably Chattanooga, TN and Austin, TX. Also, the project aims at combining the Old State Capital grounds and the adjacent park into sort of a "town square" similar to what New Orleans has in Jackson Square.
The project is extremely ambitious and potentially extremely costly. Personally, I wonder whether the funds that will be spent on this could be put to greater use (i.e. improving the City's public schools and infrastructure). Working downtown, I can tell you first hand that after 5:30pm, nearly EVERYTHING is closed except for a few bars. While I would like to be
optimistic about the proposed development, I find it extremely difficult to believe the people in this City will be drawn to the downtown area.
Luke Pie-Rocker
Are you one of the many that believe superheros like Superman and Batman don't exist? Well, don't tell that to the people of Minneapolis. Luke Pie-Rocker, aka Cameron Evans, makes a living as a pizza delivery man, but his true place on this earth is fighting crime.
Don't believe me? Go here for the whole story.
Roller Coaster Pic of the Day
June 12, 2006
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Lazy Sunday
Not much going on worth talking about. It look as though Tropical Depression #1 will hit Florida (possibly as Tropical Storm Alberto) and give the penninsula some much needed rain. Other than that, we're going to hang out here, maybe get out and about for a little while and then do a little apartment cleaning.
Roller Coaster Pic of the Day
June 11, 2006
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Randomness
Ever get the feeling that, while you're sitting at your desk at work, EVERYONE else is leaving early and you will be one of the last people out of the office? That's how today is. Whoever decided that the weekend would be only 2 days needs to be drug out into the streets and SHOT!
It seems as though there is already a weather system out there with the potential for tropical development. The Weather Channel stated that the system in the extreme southern Gulf of Mexico and northwestern Carribean Sea could develop into a depression as it moves off of the Yucatan Penninsula over open water. So much for June being a relatively dead period in the Hurricane Season, huh?
The World Cup started today with the host Germany defeating Costa Rica 4-2 in the opening match. I saw a report on ESPN last night talking about the security efforts surrounding the American team. The US is the only team that does NOT have the country's flag painted on the exterior of the bus, and the team drives around Germany with a significant police escort.
Tomorrow, Kayla and I will be joining her brother and our niece at Blue Bayou Waterpark for another Saturday of trying to stay cool. It seems as though our decision to purchase season passes last week was a good idea. They cost as much as two individual day tickets, include a coupon booklet with nearly $2,000 in savings and we are already planning to go back at least one more time.
Roller Coaster Pic of the Day
June 9, 2006
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GOAALLLLLL!!!!!!!!
Tomorrow marks the start of the most highly anticipated sporting competition in the world - the 2006 FIFA World Cup. For those of you not in the know, the World Cup pits country against country after several years of qualifying soccer - or football
as it is called in the rest of the world - matches. This year, the the tournament takes place in various cities throughout Germany. The US (5th) has qualified and is in Group E with the national teams from Italy (12th), Ghana (50th) and the Czech Republic (2nd) - the number in parenthesis is the world ranking. It is widely thought that the US was put in the toughest group in the tournament - possibly on purpose. I watched the groupings live on ESPN.com
a few months ago; there's no method to the madness. I'm definitely in the camp of people thinking the US was intentionally grouped this way.
For those of you who care, the US plays three games in the first round:
June 12 - Czech Republic - 11am CDT | June 17 - Italy - 2pm CDT | June 22 - Ghana - 9am CDT
Here's how the tournament works:
- 32 teams qualify for the World Cup "Finals" as they are referred to.
- Europe - 51 nations were put into 8 groups with the winners of each group and the top 2 second place teams automatically qualifying for the World Cup Finals. The second place teams from the other 6 groups were paired off into 3 "mini-playoffs" with the winners of each playoff qualifying for the Finals. Overall, 13 European teams qualify.
- South America - 10 nations play each other home and away in a "league" over a 2 year period with the top 4 teams automatically qualifying for the Finals.
- Central/North America - the nations competed for 12 "semi-final" spots. The 12 teams were then put into 3 groups: the top 2 in each group advanced to a final group with the top 3 teams advancing to the World Cup Finals.
- Africa - 42 nations competed in an opening round for 21 positions in the 2nd round. Added to these 21 teams were: Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia. These 30 nations were split into 5 groups with each group winner qualifying for the World Cup finals.
- Asia - 12 teams faced off in a preliminary round with the 6 winners advancing to the first round with 26 other teams. The 32 teams were put into 8 groups with the 8 group winners advancing to a final round. The 8 teams were put into 2 groups with the top 2 teams in each group qualifying for the World Cup Finals.
- Oceania - 10 minor nations compete in 2 groups with the top 2 teams in each group advancing to the next round. Those 4 teams are put into one group with Australia and New Zealand and a round-robin tournament is played. The top 2 teams play against each other for a chance to face the 5th place South American team for a spot in the World Cup Finals
- A few other playoff games are played adding a few teams to the Finals
- Group Round - The 32 teams are split into 8 groups with the top 2 teams from each group advancing to the Round of 16.
- Round of 16 - The 16 remaining teams are paired off into a single-elimination tournament. The teams play until a World Champion is crowned.
Now you know about the World Cup. Even if you don't care for soccer, I think the US team could use all the support possible. They face unprecedented hostilities wherever they go (ie Mexican fans booing during the Star Spangled Banner while facing the US in California). So, cheer hard for the US and support our boys in the red, white and blue!
Roller Coaster Pic of the Day
June 8, 2006
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Plea for Forgiveness
I'm sure all of the 2 regular readers of kpJR.net realized that I failed to post yesterday. I am here begging for forgiveness as I was at work until 8pm last night. After roughly a 12 hour work day, I wanted to get home, eat and relax.
Additionally, by failing to post yesterday - 6/6/06 - I have absolved myself from any possible responsibility of the emergence of the anti-Christ.
The FEMA Chronicles
In today's post, I pose a "hypothetical" scenario to my readers:
A 15 year oldgirl walks into a bank and presents the teller with a check. The check, from FEMA, is written for $12,000 - that'right, $-1-2-THOUSAND - in the name of the girl. She requests that the teller cashes the check.
Now think to yourself....what would you do in this situation? What is your initial thought when a 15 year old girl presents you with a $12,000 check? Personally, I would think that there is something wrong with this picture. The girl is 15, surely she doesn't own a house or a car, right? Let's see what the teller does, shall we?
Being such a large sum of money, the teller must get approval to cash the check. The bank Vice-President suspects something and calls the FEMA hotline setup to prevent fraud. After informing the FEMA representative of the situation, the rep asks her if the child's mother is with her.
The VP replies that there is an older woman with the child, but she does not know if that is her mother - the woman does not speak English. The FEMA representative replies that the check is legitimate - the mother does not speak English and has no Social Security Number - therefore, the check was issued to the daughter
So basically, FEMA issued the check to a potential ILLEGAL ALIEN without any hesitation. So now we have the failure of 2 government entities at the same time: FEMA and INS. Oh, and by the way....this is a TRUE story called in to a morning radio show. And people don't think that illegal aliens are IN ANY WAY hurting the economy and country.
June 7, 2006
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No "Smoke"-ing
It's official. LSU parted ways with 5 year baseball coach Smoke Laval, who replaced the living legend, Skip Bertman. Bertman, the current Athletic Director at LSU, won 5 National Championships in a span of 10 years at LSU during the '90s.
Some say that this success spoiled LSU fans and led to the early departure of Laval. While this is probably true to a certain extent, let me point out a few things:
- Laval went 0-4 in 2 consecutive trips to the College World Series(CWS) using players that Skip recruited.
- Laval failed to reach the CWS the following year after being ranked in the top 5 and returning almost every player from a CWS team the year before.
- Laval's teams won just 1 of the last 7 games played at the SEC tournament.
- Consistently the national leader in attendance for at least the last 15 years, LSU saw crowds shrink to only fractions of the normal size (this at a time when the program is looking to build a brand new, state-of-the-art stadium).
- Finally, LSU failed to make a regional for the first time since 1988!
In my opinion, he should have been gone. Maybe LSU fans do have too high of expectations, but I think that most LSU fans want the team to be competitive nationally. As of now, it's not even the best program in the state - that distinction belongs to Tulane.
Sunday Fun
Kayla and I went to Houma yesterday and spent the day with her extended family to celebrate her cousin's birthday. Her uncle cooked some excellent, HUGE steaks on the grill. They were perfect. As always, we had a great time and came back with full stomachs.
June 5, 2006
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Saturday
Kayla and I made our way out to Blue Bayou Waterpark Saturday to meet her brother Ryan and our niece, Rhyan-Grace, for a fun-filled day of waterslides and wavepools. The weather was perfect - sunny with a few clouds, not as humid as normal and a nice, stiff breeze blowing all day long. The park was definitely a great choice to cool off.
The highlight of the day for us was the chance to ride the park's newest waterslide called Azuka. Up to 4 riders hop on a "+" shaped inner-tube and head into a pitch black tunnel for a few twists and turns before large drop into a giant funnel laying on its side. Riders then go up each side of the funnel, eventually making their way to the "bottom" of the funnel for splashdown into a pool. Our impression of the ride - A+++. It's a GREAT addition to the park.
Sunday
Kayla and I are making our way down to Houma today to have lunch with her family to celebrate her cousin Greg's birthday. We'll be gone pretty much all day, so, this is the extent of today's post.
June 3 & 4, 2006
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Snakes on a Plane
No, this is NOT a post promoting the new Samuel L. Jackson movie Snakes on a Plane, this is REAL LIFE. Monty Coles found himself staring back at a 4 1/2ft blake snake that came out of his instrument panel. While flying 3,000 feet over West Virginia in his Piper Cherokee prop plane
The blake snake came out and a tussle ensued. Here's a great quote from the pilot telling what happenned when he radioed in for an emergency landing:
"They came back and asked what my problem was. I told them I had one hand full of snake and the other hand full of plane. They cleared me in."
I wonder what changed their mind? Hmmmmm. Anyhow, that has to be a scary situation.
Reflections: Gameshow Marathon
Kayla and I watched the first 2 episodes of CBS's Gameshow Marathon. I have to admit, I had reservations regarding Ricki Lake replacing the legendary hosts of all the GREAT gameshows featured on the series, but, for the most part, she has done a pretty good job. Although it's sorta weird to watch a gameshow with celebrities as contestants, KNOWING that they won't personally win the prizes
they're competing for, it's still pretty fun. I plan on watching the rest of the series, and I hope they make it a regular show after this initial run.
June 2, 2006
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~kpJR.net NEWSFLASH~
The New Orleans hurricane protection system "Did not perform" according to the US Army Corps of Engineers.
NO SHIT SHERLOCK!! The Corps released a 6,000 page report today detailing the failures of the levee system. You mean to tell me that all the engineering minds employed by the Corps needed a 6,000 page report to tell them that? Give me a break. EVERYONE knew that. And now the Corps is claming that
the New Orleans hurricane protection system is Better and Stronger than before Hurricane Katrina. Uh, yeah....OK! I think you would be very hard-pressed to find a single native New Orleanian that would agree with the Corps. Seems that it's back to the usual sugar-coating of everything instead of telling the truth. Sigh.
The Office
Tonight, NBC is showing a mini-marathon of The Office tonight showing 4 shows from 7pm to 9pm. If you haven't seen the show before, I HIGHLY recommend checking it out. If you work in an office setting, ESPECIALLY a corporate office, I think you will find that many of the jokes and situations could be modified to fit your office.
You will DEFINITELY feel connected to the show. That's what makes that show so good.
June 1, 2006
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