DC’s International Amusement Park Newsletter, Vol. 7: Coming soonish to a theme park or vacant lot nearish you

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2019: Wanda City Chengdu Theme Park (Chengdu, China)
At a total investment of 55 billion yuan, Chengdu Wanda Cultural Tourism City, situated at Binjiang New District, Dujiangyan City, Chengdu, occupies a 310-hectare site with gross floor area of 5 million square meters. The project will include a Wanda Mall, outdoor theme park, stage show, a hotel cluster and a Binjiang bar street, among others. The Chengdu Wanda Theme Park will feature a ski park, a horror park, a movie park, a shopping mall and much more.

 

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2019: Whirligig Woods (Saxapahaw, North Carolina)
A former designer for Disney parks and Busch Gardens has officially announced plans to bring an all new family entertainment experience, Whirligig Woods Amusement Park and Treehouse Resort, to Saxapahaw, North Carolina, to include an entire section dedicated to Halloween.

Theme park designer and Raleigh resident Bob Baranick, who has worked on projects around the world including Disney World, Disney Land, and Busch Gardens, is turning his dream for a North Carolina theme park into a reality with his proposed Whirligig Woods, which he plans to build on a 21-acre site in Saxapahaw, located in Alamance County on the Haw River less than 20 miles west of Chapel Hill.

The new theme park would include thrill rides, a tree house resort, and, most exciting, a Halloween-themed haunted land that Baranick tells us will be called Spooky Hollow. According to the report, Baranick plans to break ground in 2018, with the first phase of Whirligig Woods opening in 2019.

 

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2019: The Sketch (Orlando)
As you can see, this coaster is CRAZY, and very compact, which is completely understandable, as the new theme park it’s destined for will open within only 7.7 acres.

 

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2018: The Electric Eel (SeaWorld, San Diego)
Making good on SeaWorld’s promise to add more thrill-oriented rides, the San Diego theme park is announcing plans today for what it is calling its tallest and fastest roller coaster yet. The Electric Eel, which would make its debut in early summer of 2018, proposes a combination of loops, twists and a nearly 150-foot high ascent followed by an inverted roll that will offer riders an upside-down view of Mission Bay.

 

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2018: The Titanic Experience (20th Century Fox World, Dubai)
James Cameron’s classic film Titanic will be depicted from beginning to end in the new ride Titanic Experience to allow fans of the film to feel as if they are really on the sinking ship, from their first board to final goodbye. The ride will feature “an immersive experience that includes motion theater simulators and will allow you to experience what it was like to be on the Titanic in an exciting way.”

 

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2018: Polercoaster (Atlantic City Boardwalk)
The Polercoaster, a proposed vertical roller coaster to be built on the site of the old Sands casino, has received approval from the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, The Press of Atlantic City reports. The envisioned coaster will sit on one acre of land and tower 350 feet high. It will be located on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Mount Vernon and Kentucky Avenues. Florida developer Joshua Wallack, who is building a similar amusement complex in the Sunshine State, has big plans for the Jersey site. “We’re obviously going to have a bar there,” he said.

 

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2018: Cirque du Soleil Theme Park (Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico)
Have you ever found yourself sitting in the back row under the blue-and-yellow Cirque du Soleil big top and thought to yourself: “The only thing that could make this better would be a three-hour line and $14 hamburgers!” Well, your wait may finally be over in 2018, when the first-ever Cirque de Soleil theme park opens at the Vidanta resort in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico.

The Park will fuse Cirque’s immersive entertainment with Vidanta’s luxury vacationing, creating a fantasyland where families can explore and get away from it all. It will have three hotels feature a range of components — a mix of interactive theater with water features, VIP hydrotherapy circuit for adults, experiential and interactive entertainment experiences, and embedded CDS actors. The park is meant to look like it sprouted up from the ground and will be overwhelmingly lush and green. What you won’t find: plastic tubing, slides, stanchions, etc.

 

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2018: Valkyria (Liseberg, Gothenburg)
In the mighty shadow of the valkyrie you are chosen for the ultimate challenge. Summon up all your courage and strength, because in order to rise you must first fall. Straight down! Europe’s longest Dive Coaster, with a vertical 50-metre-drop. Just as you are about to go over the edge the ride suddenly pauses. Before you plunge vertically into an underground tunnel at a speed of 105 kph!

 

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2018: ErotikaLand (Piracicaba, Brazil)
A new theme park in Brazil called Erotikaland will open in 2018. It’s pretty much similar to Disneyland, minus the cutesy characters and only more sex. There are countless plans underway for the park, one of them being genitalia-shaped amusement rides. All of the elements of the park will be related to sexual organs or activities.

Don’t expect to walk around with a tub of popcorn or a stick of cotton candy. The park will only offer aphrodisiac snacks and the restaurants will only offer meals with aphrodisiac foods. Despite being sex-themed, guests aren’t allowed to have sex inside Erotikaland. There’s going to be a hotel within the park itself for those who can’t hold it any longer. If they prefer, park officials will also be operating motels outside of the park for a fee.

A 7D cinema will be erected within the park. It will include vibrating seats that will surely tittilate the senses of those who want to watch something inside the theatre. You won’t be able to find mouse ears inside Erotikaland’s souvenir shop. You can probably get vibrators, plugs, clamps, and sex dolls for sale, along with some souvenir items emblazoned with the park’s logo. There’s a huge possibility that those who are under 18 won’t be allowed inside.

 

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2018: Unnamed Hyper Coaster (Energylandia, Poland)
You may remember Polish amusement park Energylandia announcing that it will be adding either an Intamin or a Vekoma hyper coaster for the 2018 season. The winner has been decided! Energylandia will be adding an Intamin hyper coaster for the 2018 season. It will be the world’s tallest (262 ft), fastest (86 mph) hyper coaster. The ride also features multiple airtime moments, a panoramic wave turn, and a water feature.

 

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2019: Grand Texas (New Casey, Texas)
Building a theme park from scratch is like riding a roller coaster. Monty Galland knows. He’s developing Grand Texas. “Things are going well,” said Galland from the construction site near the intersection of Highways 242 and 59 in New Caney. “They’re moving along much faster now. There’s a lot of activity.” Grand Texas will eventually be a more than 600 acre complex with a theme park, a water park, sports fields, hotels, restaurants and more.

 

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2019: The Pearl of Dubai
The Pearl of Dubai, set in the shallow waters of The World Islands development off the coast of Dubai, has been modelled after the mythical lost city of Atlantis and inspired by the look of the Hollywood films Pirates of the Caribbean and Avatar, according to Reef Worlds, the Los Angeles-based underwater tourism design company developing the project.

The five-acre park, billed as the largest sustainable underwater tourism site, will be accessible to swimmers and divers of all ages and levels who can view the site near the surface of the sea by snorkelling or explore it deeper underwater by scuba diving. The company hopes to create a park where “everybody can be satisfied”, with children able to snorkel, while parents go diving and teenagers explore the waters in a semi-submersible. “Ideally, we would be looking for somebody to be able to walk down the sand and right into the structure”, said David Taylor, director of development.

 

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2018: Time Traveler (Silver Dollar City, Missouri)
Silver Dollar City fans are buzzing with excitement over the recent construction taking place at the park. Footers are being poured and a building, presumably the ride’s station, is being erected. The ride is rumored to be the first Xtreme Spinning Coaster model from Mack Rides, meaning it could feature a launch and one or more inversions. Considering that the construction is taking place on a hillside, the coaster’s layout is likely to closely follow the terrain. In terms of theme, Herschend Family Entertainment, the chain owning Silver Dollar City, recently filed a trademark for the name Time Traveler. In a guest survey, the park revealed that a potential theme for the coaster would be a time machine that launches riders back in time to the Roman Empire.

 

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2018: Six Flags Las Vegas
The world-renowned Theme Park chain will be adding the city of sin to their roster come Summer 2018! This new attraction is said to be located at the edge of town, off of Blue Diamond road. The park will take up around 262 acres, and the attractions will be themed with some familiar characters, along with some new characters that will be revealed in cinemas shortly.

 

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2019: Six Flags Dubai
Six Flags has released new details about its Six Flags Dubai project, which is scheduled to open in late 2019 as part of the second phase of the Dubai Parks and Resorts development initiative. Six Flags Dubai will feature 27 rides and attractions. The park will include “world-record breaking roller coasters, water slides, shows and a variety of food offerings.” Guests will enter and exit the park through an impressive, state-of-the-art (and fully air-conditioned!) promenade which will offer a VIP mezzanine, space for private and catered events, as well as retail and dining. The area will be home to three attractions including the park’s signature roller coaster that will encircle the promenade.

 

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2019: Gold Nugget Theme Park (Deadwood, South Dakota)
With no other major theme park or large-scale family entertainment center in the region, principals of the proposed $40 million to $80 million Gold Nugget Theme Park revealed their plans at a public meeting Monday in Deadwood. Ideas for the park include The Lost Mine Sluice, a themed water park attraction; The Hickok House, a dinner theater with live entertainment along with dining and cocktails, with a seating capacity of 1,100 to 1,500; The Winchester-Remington Lodge, an upscale Lodge and Restaurant; The Miners Camp, 100 log cabins; Conestoga Campground, 240 RV parking spots; The Great Sioux Powwow Grounds, 50 teepees for camping; and The Deadwood and Gold Nugget Railroad, an 1870s steam train through the Gold Nugget property with a final destination in downtown Deadwood through Whitewood Canyon.

 

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2018: Toy Story Land (Walt Disney Studios, Orlando)
In Toy Story Land, you’ll find yourself shrunk to the size of a toy to explore the world of Andy’s backyard with your favorite Toy Story characters, including Woody and Buzz. There are two new themed attractions being developed for Toy Story Land.

The first – Slinky Dog Dash – will be a family coaster attraction you’ll want to ride again and again. The attraction features a coaster track that Andy has built all over his backyard using his Mega Coaster Play Kit, but as you know, he has a pretty amazing imagination, so he’s combined it with some of his other toys, according to Imagineer Kathy Mangum. On Slinky Dog Dash, you will zip, dodge and dash around many turns and drops that Andy has created to really make Slinky and his coils stretch to his limits.

The second all-new attraction in Toy Story Land will be Alien Swirling Saucers. This attraction is designed as a toy play set that Andy got from Pizza Planet, inspired by the first Toy Story film. Aliens are flying around in their toy flying saucers and trying to capture your rocket toy vehicle with “The Claw.” As you rotate around the toy planets and satellites as part of the game, you’ll swirl to the beat of fun “Space Jazz” music developed just for this experience, Mangum said. The music, the lighting, and the sound effects will add to the flurry of your adventure while “The Claw” looms ominously over you.

 

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2018: Ocean Park (Hong Kong)
Hong Kong is set to welcome a new water park in July 2018, almost two decades after a previous one was closed. A ceremony to mark the beginning of the construction of Tai Shue Wan Water World was held at Ocean Park on Thursday. Ocean Park Chairman Leo Kung Lin-cheng said that the new water park will be able to host 1.5 million visitors a year. It will feature multiple outdoor and indoor swimming pools as well as water slides and a sea turtle exhibit area, according to a government planning document.

 

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2018/2019: Metsä (Japan)
A brand new theme park based around Tove Jansson’s much-loved Moomin characters is to open in Japan in 2018. ‘Metsä’, meaning ‘forest’ in Finnish, is a joint venture between Tokyo’s FinTech Global Incorporated (FGI) and Moomin Monogatari Ltd. Its wooded location on the shores of Lake Miyazawa in Hanno is intended to evoke the Moomins’ Finnish homeland. The new theme park will incorporate two zones. Metsä Village is scheduled to open in Autumn 2018, and MOOMINVALLEY PARK will open in Spring the following year.

Metsä Village is being designed as a Northern European lifestyle country park. With no admission fee, visitors can relax or pursue outdoor activities in the park’s natural setting. Additionally, there will also be a covered European style market selling fresh local produce as well as arts and crafts. Accommodation will be offered in the form of lakeside glamping and a hotel with en-suite saunas.

At MOOMINVALLEY PARK, guests will be able to immerse themselves in the unique world of the Moomins. Landmark buildings recreated from the original stories will include the family’s Moomin House, the lighthouse and the bathing hut. The park will also feature a number of attractions, plus a restaurant and a Moomin store selling original park products. Japan’s new Moomin attraction is being designed to deliver ‘Six Experience Values and 3 Guidelines that Lead to a True Sense of Contentment’:

1. The experience of adventure, of discovery, of learning new things.
2. Natural experiences – a gentle breeze at the lakeside, soft grass under foot, the changing seasons.
3. The satisfaction of achieving goals through one’s own effort.

 

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2018: Asgard Viking Adventure Park (Haugesund, Norway)
Prepare to embark on a fun-filled adventure at Asgard, where the Age of the Vikings comes roaring back to life. Celebrate the Viking spirit with thrilling rides, dazzling shows, extraordinary dining, and marvelous shopping opportunities. You’ll be immersed in an amazing world of heroes, monsters, and magic…action and adventure…gods and giants…high courage and low treachery…strange beings and wondrous places…primeval creation and cataclysmic destruction. It’s a one-of-a-kind, year-round destination with indoor and outdoor experiences that will engage every member of your family as it triggers the imagination and inspires participation. And it’s all presented on authentic Viking land.

 

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2018: Koma (Walibi, Belgium)
Walibi Belgium, the famous Belgian amusement park of the Compagnie des Alpes, will offer in the summer of 2018 a new sensational attraction to its public, a brand new roller coaster Bolliger & Mabillard. Walibi chose a name for the less original, since it will be called “Koma”, in reference to the clinical state of abolition of consciousness and vigilance. Without inversion, type “Hyper Coaster”, this one proposes a course of 1450 meters full of surprises, of which 9 points of airtimes. Built by the well-known Swiss manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard, “Koma” will culminate from the top of its lift at 61 meters, which will allow its 3 trains composed of 7 cars each for a total of 28 passengers per convoy, Speed ​​of 117 km / h. The “Koma” circuit will be largely above the lake, integrated into a new area that will cover 2 hectares encompassing the Radja River and including shops, as well as a food court. The “Cobra” you will take the road to France, the redemption by the Parc du Bocasse for 4 million euros should be signed in the week. A soundtrack will also be specially created for the attraction and will be broadcast in the train station, in the waiting line as well as in the lift. Sound and visual effects are also provided and will be activated during the passage of the trains. Lights will also be visible at night on the sides of these. With “Koma”, Walibi Belgium will thus hold the highest, and the longest roller coaster in the Benelux.

 

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2018: RMC Mean Steak (Cedar Point)
So what’s going on with Mean Streak? I posed the question ten days ago and The Point has been completely silent on the issue. Meanwhile construction continues on site at the park with new RMC style track being set into place, and some interesting new changes being made that promise that whatever is happening to Mean Streak will truly be something special when it does open.

 

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2019: Nagatino Theme Park ‘Dream Island’ (Moscow)
Construction has recently begun at our project Nagatino Theme Park ‘Dream Island’ which is set to be a new world class amusement park and “Moscow’s version of Disneyland”. The territory of the new theme park covers 100 hectares and will include the world’s biggest theme amusement park, multifunctional concert hall, multiplex, 4 star hotel, yacht club and children’s yacht school. Much of this territory will be developed as a public park, including a pedestrian zone along the bank of the Moscow River. “Dream Island” is currently one of the largest social projects in Moscow and its development is highly supported and welcomed by the government and citizens. The architectural concept for the park was initially developed and designed by Chapman Taylor. Nagatino Theme Park is expected to be visited by up to 4 million people annually.

 

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2018: International Space Center (Ashdod, Israel)
Israel isn’t known for its amusement parks, but that could change soon as a new space-themed park is set to open in Ashdod. The International Space Center will feature displays, movies and activities all connected to space travel, with special shows and events featuring space industry personnel and astronauts from Israel and abroad.

Among those activities will be the 3D space experience, in which participants will have the opportunity to participate in a simulated space flight, with interactive displays to help visitors learn about the planets and the future of space travel. There will also be space-themed rides, games, snack bars – and, of course, a gift shop – to provide visitors with an “out of this world” experience.

Besides fun space stuff, the park will feature a more serious side, hosting an incubator for early-stage start-ups working on space-related technology. The site will also be home to the Israel Space Cadet Training Center, designed to be Israel’s premier academy for astronautics, aeronautics and space science.

 

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2018: Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi
Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi, an indoor theme park spanning 1.65 million square feet, will feature 29 rides, shows and interactive attractions. Currently, theming is underway throughout the park. The park will feature characters from its portfolio of DC Comics Super Heroes universe including Batman, Superman and Wonder Women and cartoons such as Bugs Bunny, Scooby-Doo and Tom and Jerry. Factory acceptance testing for all rides is nearly done, and delivery and installation of rides has already started. Warner Bros World Abu Dhabi will be situated alongside other theme parks in Yas Island including Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, Yas Waterworld, CLYMB, and the recently announced SeaWorld Abu Dhabi – which is set to open in 2022.

 

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2018: SW8 (Alton Towers, UK)
Alton Towers has submitted a planning application for a wooden rollercoaster, scheduled to open in 2018. According to Ride Rater fan page the project is currently dubbed SW8 and will be built by American manufacturers Great Coasters International (GCI).

 

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2018: Ferrari Land (Port Aventura, Spain)
Ferrari Land, about an hour southwest of Barcelona, will feature five rides based on the sports car brand when it opens next door to the PortAventura theme park. The 19-acre Ferrari Land will be about a third the size of the original Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi and about as big as a single themed land at PortAventura. The $140-million budget for the entire park is less than Disney or Universal spends on some individual attractions.

Visitors will enter Ferrari Land by way of a checkered flag plaza with a fountain sporting a statue based on the carmaker’s prancing horse logo. Display models of the Spider, Italia, Berlinetta, California and Speciale sports cars in Ferrari’s signature red will ring the entry plaza. The park will feature five rides: a launched roller coaster, a pair of drop towers, a miniature motorway, a race car simulator and a whip ride.

The Vertical Accelerator coaster will rocket riders from 0 to 112 mph in 5 seconds up a 368-foot-tall top hat spike. The ride is billed as the tallest coaster in Europe, besting the 249-foot-tall Shambhala next door at PortAventura. The Ferrari Land coaster won’t be as tall (456 feet) or fast (128 mph) as the similar Kingda Ka at New Jersey’s Six Flags Great Adventure.

 

 

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p.s. Hey. ** Steevee, Hi. Well, there you go. If it’s gotten to the point where Malick’s critics are so divided that a place like the Voice runs dueling reviews, then that only speaks to his work’s admirably confusing power as far as I’m concerned. I’m not sure about Dominowe’s influences. Is there not an interview with him out there somewhere? Very cool about the ‘Scum’ release and even more about your piece on Clarke! Congrats, I can’t wait to read it! ** David Ehrenstein, Hi. Well, you were speaking a while back about current queer film having lost its daring, and Reinke is a good example of queer film, or video in his case, really going for it. ** Dóra Grőber, Hi! Me too. We really need to have that big problem behind us asap. We’re swamped. Like I think we’ve talked about, ‘Trainspotting’s’ language in the original is tough even for an English speaker, or at least a non-Scottish person, but just go with the music of it, is my suggestion, and let it make sense when it does and be garbled-seeming when it doesn’t. Great novel. My guess is that ‘PGL’ will ultimately be a little longer than ‘Cattle’, but it’s really hard to tell until we get into the editing. That’s when you figure out what the movie is or needs to be. That’s my very favorite part, no surprise. I hope you’re feeling less irritated today. The good thing about irritation is that a decent night’s sleep can sweep that kind of circumstantial stress away. Hope it did. Kate Monica: the name seems kind of familiar me, but I don’t think I’ve read her. Of course I’ll go see what I can find about her today. Thank you! My apartment is warm! And my showers will now be hot! It’s weird how exciting that feels, ha ha. Yesterday involved mostly just starting to unpack boxes and conferring with Zac about the film stuff progress. It seemed to just kind of happen and eventually end uneventfully. How did Wednesday turn out for you? ** Alistair, Hi, A! Very lovely to see you, my friend! I’m so happy you liked ‘Cattle’ so much! That really is so great to hear and means so much coming from you! I’ll copy and paste your comment and zip it to Zac. The music in scene 2 is ‘Get Out 3’ by Pita (aka Peter Rehberg). It’s on his album ‘Get Out’. That scene changed a lot between the original plan and what we ended up shooting. Originally, it was going to be the singer of a noisy rock band (initially I planned to ask Sonic Youth to be band, but then they broke up) playing a gig in a club. He was going to be singing a song rather than doing spoken word. The same thing was going to happen — audience members attacking him sexually and dragging him into the audience to molest him. But in that version, the rest of the band going to enter the audience, surround the assault, watch, and spontaneously score the assault by playing improvised, noisy music while the singer contiunued to try to sing the song while being attacked. But it was just too logistically ambitious and costly to do it that way, so we had to shift it into an electronic/spoken word performance, and we slotted the ‘The Worst’ text in for the obvious reason — the creepiness and volatility of a guy being assaulted as he recounts the most horrible things that have happened to him in his life — which worked out okay. Really, thank you so much, Alistair! That’s really, really great to hear! How are you? What’s up with your novel’s path to us? Big love, me. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi, Ben. I’m glad you liked the Reinkes. I thought you might, so that’s cool that you did. How’s stuff? ** Jeff Coleman, Hi, Jeff! Wow, it’s already available? I’ll see if New Juche is up for pushing the ‘welcome’ post’s timing up to asap. New Juche, If you see this, should we do the ‘welcome’ post for your book soon? I’m way into it, if so. Everyone, New Juche’s new book ‘Mountainhead’, which is amazing, is already available to order now even though it technically won’t be out for a while. I’m going to do a welcoming post for the book soon, but, if you can’t wait, Jeff Coleman has alerted us that you can order the book right now by using this link. Thanks a bunch, Jeff! ** Misanthrope, Hi. ‘Good different’, yep, aren’t we all hopefully, ha ha. Thanks about the title. Yeah, not bad, right? And it does cool things re: the film and its story, I think. Pass along the G word on ‘Closet Monster’ please? Bon day! ** S., Hi, man. The move was a success, I guess, although until I unpack everything, it still feels like it’s happening, which isn’t a terribly good thing, although not bad either. New Cantrell? I’ll go hear that. I guess life is always weird, but we only notice that once in a while? Strange. ** Bill, Hi. I’m happy my post did its appointed job then, cool. The good thing about pokes is that they function at almost any speed, I think. Jesus, what the hell was I just trying to say? More coffee for me. ** Right. Today you are being subjected to my amusement park fascination/fetish as you occasionally are, and I guess that’s that. See you tomorrow.