Congratulations Graduates

To all the folks on the A.S. Revenger crew finishing high school and celebrating at Clockwork Cotillion this weekend, I'm proud of you and your accomplishments. May the future be bright with good things to come in all you do. Otto :)

A Walk In The Park Podcast Creator Pat McCabe Steps Down From Podcast, Blog, and In The Loop

The full story can be read here.

Pat is living the dream of many a park enthusiast, and that is being in Orlando close to Disney and having a happy independent life. As tough as it is, livelyhood does come first. Even so, A Walk In The Park, and his co-host talent will sorely be missed.

I'm grateful to Pat for not only letting me contribute to his podcast, but encouraging me to start TheRapidsBlog, join Facebook, AND tune in to In The Loop. Yes, in essence, he helped me get started with quite a lot in the theme park world.

His taking time to get Rapids ride pictures during his travels or a the shout-outs on his blog and podcast will always be greatly appreciated. He was also kind enough to kick off 2009 with footage from my family's Dollywood/Gatlinburg trip from Thanksgiving 2008.

It's a safe bet that if Pat uses the same tenacity, gusto, and heart, he'll make great strides in the private sector. My gut says there are good things ahead for him and I wish him well.

Pat, as a fan, contributor, and friend, I wish you all the best and happily keep in touch.

Kungaloosh!!!

Hitting The Road

Headed to Memphis this weekend to see my girlfriend and document what's left of Libertyland. Also taking in the sites.

Appologies on the lack of updates. More adventures coming soon. Also reworking the Information and Projects section. It will be back soon.

Thank you to folks for kind words about the blog and for thinking of me during their park travels. Much appreciated!

Have a great weekend! :)

And So Closes Another Chapter

Due to blog and future theme park commitments, I will not be able to continue with the Steampunk crew of the A.S. Revenger. I wish them all well in thier future endeavors.

Virtual Travel with Flight Simulator X

Lately, I've been getting back into Microsoft Flight Simulator. 2002 and X are both in the software collection, with X taking up residence on the rebuilt laptop. Granted, the accrued flight hours and awards are gone, but the pleasure was in joy riding with a Jetranger vs. building anykind of real flight training. Even so, it's fun to see how long you've spent at the controls.

Needless to say, I forgot how eye-opening the scenery is and how much fun it is to travel the simulated world. Seeing little things like The Queen Mary near Los Angeles (something I've been to in Real Life) or Disneyland is a unique thrill. Not surprisingly, it inspires one to go back to those places, or visit new ones after seeing them ingame. Downloading Service Pack 1 makes the experience even better.

Shifting into dork mode, I really enjoy the real-time weather feature. For those that don't know, X will tap the global weather net for conditions and then feed that info into whatever location you set up. Translation: If it's rainy in Orlando Florida, then it'll be rainy in simulated Orlando Florida, plus or minus 15 minutes. This feature really adds a lot to the game. It's a wild feeling to take off from gate 69 G at Orlando International, in the rain, and know that's exactly what's going on, at about the same moment, down in Florida.

The Xbox 360 controller integration is also a winner. All the important features are well layed out, including rudders! X has over 2002 in that the rudders are mapped to the trigger buttons, not the acceleration. Big help if you're making a tight turn or landing adjustment. In some ways, I almost like that control scheme better than a throttle and stick combo. No, it's not accurate to the air craft, but it is easy to use. Oh don't kid yourself, I'd still love a high end throttle and stick combo as part of a bigger simulator, but, that's theme park and travel money and I want a Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit pick magnet. ;)

Yep, I'm having fun and have yet to delve into the free downloads and add ons. For the previous installments, I've seen everything from UFOs to Naboo Star Fighters as plug-ins. Hopefully I can find either a Goodyear Blimp or similar Steampunk airship to fly. That would be sweetness. Until then, sorry Goose, but it's time to buzz the castle. The Disney World castle, that is. ;)

Second Life_Chapter 28_New Beginnings

What started out as a really rough week has gotten much better. My old laptop miraculously booted up after I plugged in my Blackberry to charge it. I get a free copy of Learning Visual J++ 6.0 Now at work (complete with companion disk). And, I found a new apartment on Second Life. Yes, I'm back roaming around again thanks to Zombiputer and that means more inworld tourism and shenanigans.

To back track a little, part of my childhood was spent in Niceville and Destin Florida, so it's no surprise I enjoy the beach. The salt air, gentle breezes, and the waves rolling in are like old friends, whom I miss from time to time.

As I get older, the idea of a little beach condo is very appealing, and I've slowly but surely roughed this notion out during my time in Second Life. As luck and circumstances would have it, I found just the right style of apartment this week.

Nukonono Beach is a tranquil seaside community, and it's a nice one at that. To keep things in order, they have a home-owners type agreement you have to read over before renting. This was a new experience, and glad to comply. Begonia Lamourfou, the CEO of the development was very personable and even had a spring special running which gave me an extra week.

Incidentally, even though you can rent several places in Second Life by the week, if budgets allow, paying by the month is much easier on you and leaves a good impression with any land lord.

Thursday night was spent moving in and figuring out what fits the new space. There's a decent size walk in living room, with stairs leading up to a second floor loft bedroom, and cantilevered patio. Since it's a contempo concrete square building with wood floors and floor to ceiling windows, it'll match almost anything. Yep, the Bombo bar stools and Aarnio ball chairs fit right in. Now it just needs a different set of rugs and some wall art (just like my Real Life pad).

Outside, the front yard is sand, palm trees, and the occasional rock. Very Zen and tranquil. The view to the ocean is very pretty and relaxing. I enjoyed taking a break and standing on the deck, watching the waves roll in.

Simply put, it's good to be back in SL, and it's good to have the mod beach getaway of my dreams. Think I'm gonna like it here. :)