Ghostrider the pattern is full. Today we spent most of the day exploring the CVN-41 Midway, a US aircraft carrier built during the height of WW2. She went servere restructuring following the war and served until the end of Vietnam before being decomissioned and turned into a floating museum in the 90's. As most people know I like military hardware and an aircraft carrier is about as big as they come, a virtual city afloat packed with aircraft and helicopters if the ship isn't enough for you.
We were able to go through all the decks of the carrier and see all the insides like engineering, kitchens, sleeping quarters, dining rooms (there were more than I expected), armouries, flightspace, ready rooms and even the island itself. The island being the tower on the deck that holds all the navigation, aircraft control equipment for the officers to do their jobs. My favourite of course
was the flight deck which was crammed with all US aircraft from WW2 to the late 80's which have been painstakingly restored. It was a little disappointment we couldn't actually climb into them but they did have real cockpits that had been removed from other aircraft that you could sit in, which I did. It was pretty much me and little kids competing too sit in them but I didn't care.
The biggest thrill of the day however was down on the mid deck where all the aircraft are stored where they had a number of actual US Navy flight simulators that used to be used before upgrading to the new models. In addition you also sat in actual cockpits from the plane you were to be using and I got to use the pride and joy of the RAAF, the F-18 Hornet. The control surfaces, aerodynamics
and conditions were not fully military but close enough with a full instrument suite and functional manual controls so you had to fight to stay in the air. I was in line as soon as I laid eyes on it all. There were 4 simulators in all and I was surprised that one of the other people I would be flying with was an ex Navy aviator, of course he was well into his 60's. Still watching him perform he
still had it.
The first thing we did was basic flight, tracking of targets and use of the instrumentation. Being a computer nerd I was able to acclimatise very quickly and soon after came dogfighting against generated opponents and each other. The missiles had been handicapped to only work at short range and had very little actual guidance so they were little more than dumb rockets so I decided to only do my handiwork with guns and scored 4 kills even with the flight leader screaming in
my ear to use a missile. Myself and the navy pilot came out even in those regards with the other people only scoring 1 or 2 respectively.
Following that came landings on a runway, this was fairly easy to be honest as the physics were nowhere near as harsh as some of the flight sims I have played and brought it in several times without issue. I never doubted the pilot would have any problems either but the others had to give it a few goes before we moved onto the final challenge, an aircraft carrier trap. The difference here was that an aircraft carrier is very short compared to a runway, aircraft carriers are also moving
both forwards and sideways meaning you have to change your headings to compensate and you also have to catch the trap which is a cable across the deck. You can very easilly hit the deck and miss the trap and have to fly around and try again which means you also have to keep a good airspeed, not too much you'll shear the tailhook off on the trap and not too slow you can't recover from a missed trap.
The flight leader also acted as the deck flight officer guiding you in, telling you if you were too high or low, too slow or fast. I listened to his instructions, watched my instruments carefully and used my own judgements of distance honed from years of gameplay and trapped succesfully the first time aroound which I then repeated twice more. My other squadron mates however had a lot of difficulty with trapping and if I recall correctly no-one else actually made a successful
trap because they either came in too high and overshit the carrier or the trap or too low and hit the carrier itself. It wasn't easy I'll say and it was only a simulation, I have a lot of respect for the people who can do it consistently for real.
At the end of the simulation (about 30 minutes in total) I was awarded a TopGun patch for scoring the highest (highest score of the day apparently) but I wasn't asked to enlist however. Either way it was a good day and I have so many photos of the occasion I wish I could have gotten a recording of the mission though.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Sunday, May 31, 2009
San Deigo Day 1
This really wasn't a day where much was accomplished to be honest. We woke up just before checkout time and then headed over to the Atomic Testing museum to learn about American nuclear history. It was very informative but they wouldn't allow me to take any pictures dammit! It did give me a lot to think about during the entire trip however, was the nuclear genie a good thing in the long run consideringa ll the happened and the costs? Perhaps if we start using nuclear engines to take us into the solar system the benefits might start swaying back into the pro column but right now what has been the cost I feel has been greater than any benefits.
The trip to San Deigo was long and not very interesting but againn quite quick considering the distance travelled and the legal speed at doing so. We got to San Deigo about 6pm and the biggest problem was parking as the Gaslamp quarter is where all the clubs and resturants are so it was crowded, even more than normal because it was Friday night. Finally we found a place and did a little scouting for food which really wasn't that hard. I also found a late night Borders store which stocked World War Z (score) so I hurridly bought a copy because no Borders in Australia stocks it. I checked.
That night I went out and hit a few of the clubs and pubs around and got aquainted with a few of the locals. It was a good night of dancing and talking which set the mood for the next few days even if I was too damn tired after staying up late and getting relatively little sleep.
The trip to San Deigo was long and not very interesting but againn quite quick considering the distance travelled and the legal speed at doing so. We got to San Deigo about 6pm and the biggest problem was parking as the Gaslamp quarter is where all the clubs and resturants are so it was crowded, even more than normal because it was Friday night. Finally we found a place and did a little scouting for food which really wasn't that hard. I also found a late night Borders store which stocked World War Z (score) so I hurridly bought a copy because no Borders in Australia stocks it. I checked.
That night I went out and hit a few of the clubs and pubs around and got aquainted with a few of the locals. It was a good night of dancing and talking which set the mood for the next few days even if I was too damn tired after staying up late and getting relatively little sleep.
Las Vegas Day 3
The Grand Canyon, symbol of the American southwest, the site that put Arizona on the map of the world, example of the power nature and one giant fricken chasim. This was the main reason for even coming to Las Vegas in the first place, through going there I learned many things. Most of the canyon you see today was formed only 6 million years ago thanks to the wildness of the Colorado river although the process of destruction and reformation has been going on for around 2 billion years. However the most imporant thing about the canyon I learned is; do NOT take a tour there, go on your own means and stay theare. Even just to walk around the rim because the canyon is 5hrs from Vegas that means even if you start at 6am you aren't making it back to Vegas until 10pm because of traffic and that includes a very short (for me) 3hr stay at the canyon.
The trip out there is quite boring but you can drop off the interstate and travel along the historic route 66 which was the first almost trans-contiental road to be paved across the US (being it only went from Chicago to Santa Monica that isn't fully east - west). You can get some great shots of the desert but the main attraction is of course the canyon itself which does run around 900 miles long and can be as wide as 10 miles across in some places. Where most tourists and tours get off is the main rim area which has 2 walks which total about 3 miles. You are about 8000 feet above the canyon floor at this point and really the scenery on a clear day looks like it was painted off in the distance, it is a spectacular view.
The problem with being on the clock at beautiful place like the Grand Canyon means fighting without multitudes of people all vying for the best shot and massive queues to get the shot. Being I biologically had to get these shots I waited and that ate up a lot of time setting up shots. Another problem was a rainstorm had swept in and drenched the entire area but I wasn't going to let some damn skyjuice stop me from getting the shots I wanted! I kept going while everyone else scampered back to the visitors centre while I forged on in my slouched hat. The problem was the haze that the raiin made messed up the long distance shots but fortunately it meant got ahead of everyone and was able to setup all the shots I wanted once the rain passed and things cleared up just as rapidly as they had clouded.
The next problem was the clock as walking the 3 mile stretch while setting up the shots took a lot of time and the last mile was pretty much done on the run and I missed some good shots of the Condors and the village near the canyon itself. We just made it back to the bus before it got underway for its 5 hour trip back to Vegas. To all those who intend to visit the canyon I offer this advice. STAY THE NIGHT! That way you can do things at your own pace and the canyon itself is entertaining enough for the entire time. I would even start thinking well ahead of time to schedule a hike or a mule ride down into the canyon because they fill up months and months ahead of spring/summer. I know I will be doing that next time I visit Southern California.
The trip out there is quite boring but you can drop off the interstate and travel along the historic route 66 which was the first almost trans-contiental road to be paved across the US (being it only went from Chicago to Santa Monica that isn't fully east - west). You can get some great shots of the desert but the main attraction is of course the canyon itself which does run around 900 miles long and can be as wide as 10 miles across in some places. Where most tourists and tours get off is the main rim area which has 2 walks which total about 3 miles. You are about 8000 feet above the canyon floor at this point and really the scenery on a clear day looks like it was painted off in the distance, it is a spectacular view.
The problem with being on the clock at beautiful place like the Grand Canyon means fighting without multitudes of people all vying for the best shot and massive queues to get the shot. Being I biologically had to get these shots I waited and that ate up a lot of time setting up shots. Another problem was a rainstorm had swept in and drenched the entire area but I wasn't going to let some damn skyjuice stop me from getting the shots I wanted! I kept going while everyone else scampered back to the visitors centre while I forged on in my slouched hat. The problem was the haze that the raiin made messed up the long distance shots but fortunately it meant got ahead of everyone and was able to setup all the shots I wanted once the rain passed and things cleared up just as rapidly as they had clouded.
The next problem was the clock as walking the 3 mile stretch while setting up the shots took a lot of time and the last mile was pretty much done on the run and I missed some good shots of the Condors and the village near the canyon itself. We just made it back to the bus before it got underway for its 5 hour trip back to Vegas. To all those who intend to visit the canyon I offer this advice. STAY THE NIGHT! That way you can do things at your own pace and the canyon itself is entertaining enough for the entire time. I would even start thinking well ahead of time to schedule a hike or a mule ride down into the canyon because they fill up months and months ahead of spring/summer. I know I will be doing that next time I visit Southern California.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Las Vegas Day 2
Load and lock! Wait... let me try that again. Screw it. My mate Fubo wanted to goto a gun store and shoot a real firearm for an authentic American experience. Being Las Vegas is a place where you can do a lot of stuff it was VERY easy to find a rifle range, it even offered discounts. If I haven't made it apparent to people in the past guns make me very nervous, I don't think anyone deserves to have a gun because human beings just haven't proven to me they are responsible enough at all times to own one. I will not deny that people are of course attracted to the feeling of security and power that a gun can provide. Of course I base all these feelings off my own readings on guns, warfare and human psychology, I have never even held a gun. Being I had the opportunity to try I thought it might be prudent to try.
I selected an M4 Carbine (special operations assault rifle) and a Desert Eagle (large calibre sidearm). I would have used a P90 submachine-gun but that was not available to use. The weapons were heavy as I expected they would be and the Desert Eagle had a very large kickback, again as I expected but still there was no way to really prepare for how much power is there. I put 7 shots into a target at a range of 5 metres, 6 of them on target. The M4 had more of a kick than I was expecting, they wouldn't let me use single shot mode so I fired 25 rounds in 3 shot bursts. The M4 however has a very handy red dot sight making the shooting at the target at 10 metres a lot easier. About 22 of my shots landed in the areas I wanted them with one burst going astray on the target in which all up was apparently pretty good for someone who never fired a weapon in their life. I also have the targets to prove it.
After that experience I have gathered a bit of a new insight into the use of weaponry and appreciation for the training of marksmen to actually hit anything, especially something that is moving. I never thought it was going to be easy but actually experiencing it gives you a better appreciation for the activity. In case you are wondering it didn't awaken any specific bloodlust in me either, I was very happy to hand the weapons back once I finished. My feelings for the weapons haven't changed at all but that doesn't mean I can't be interested in weapons of war but it is the appreciation of the weapon or machine, not its application. However I acknowledge that unless there was a need or desire for it the weapon wouldn't exist which makes me hypocritical on a certain level but if I had to choose I would
rather there be no weapons than having cool things to look at and read about.
From there we went to one of the great engineering feats of the last century, the Boulder Dam (although officially renamed Hoover Dam in 1937 I don't like Hoover so it will always be Boulder Dam to me). Of course there are Dam's much larger in size, grander in scale and importance but this one has something that captures the imagination of people and I am hard pressed to describe it (not just because it was in Transformers but that is also awesome). It is only one in a long series of Dams and reservoirs that channel the Colorado river to provide constant irrigation water and as a side effect a mass amount of hydroelectric power as side benefit.
The Dam was constructed by a combined team of over 3000 workers in some extremely harsh climactic conditions. The Dam was actually finished ahead of schedule and under budget but this was rather synonymous with great depression construction where things were done cheaply at the cost of safety. Officially over 70 people died, unofficially it was more like 700. Their sacrifices created a monumental human achievement in harnessing a out of control river and providing food and power to a growing nation. If I had to guess at the worth of the Dam it would be that testament too humankind's ability to harness nature effectively and efficiently while also preserving as much as possible. Also that it look pretty cool too.
I spent the rest of the day there just exploring every inch that I could. I am not an engineer or an architect but I can greatly appreciate human construction achievements. The Earth shifts and chances imperceptibly all the time and eventually all of our structures will be gone. It sounds like a futile gesture at best but the fact that we keep building, creating and improving means that humankind has a future, we aren't meant to be static and our construction should be like this as well. The Boulder Dam will be gone one day but replaced by something else if we are still around and I don't think that is futile at all.
That evening we decided to try eating at a Denny's and it was an experience in itself. I still haven't learned the lesson that large in American equals massive. I ordered an appetiser that turned out to be the size of a main meal in Australia and my main... well I didn't finish it. The waitress would also keep coming over an topping up your drinks, I love to drink more than eating so I think I put away over a liter of soft drink. It's a good thing I am doing a lot of walking otherwise I would be gaining weight instead of losing it. I honestly started to feel sick at the end and had to stop despite my principles of cleaning my plate. Now I know why the doggie bag was invented by these guys. Lesson learned.
I selected an M4 Carbine (special operations assault rifle) and a Desert Eagle (large calibre sidearm). I would have used a P90 submachine-gun but that was not available to use. The weapons were heavy as I expected they would be and the Desert Eagle had a very large kickback, again as I expected but still there was no way to really prepare for how much power is there. I put 7 shots into a target at a range of 5 metres, 6 of them on target. The M4 had more of a kick than I was expecting, they wouldn't let me use single shot mode so I fired 25 rounds in 3 shot bursts. The M4 however has a very handy red dot sight making the shooting at the target at 10 metres a lot easier. About 22 of my shots landed in the areas I wanted them with one burst going astray on the target in which all up was apparently pretty good for someone who never fired a weapon in their life. I also have the targets to prove it.
After that experience I have gathered a bit of a new insight into the use of weaponry and appreciation for the training of marksmen to actually hit anything, especially something that is moving. I never thought it was going to be easy but actually experiencing it gives you a better appreciation for the activity. In case you are wondering it didn't awaken any specific bloodlust in me either, I was very happy to hand the weapons back once I finished. My feelings for the weapons haven't changed at all but that doesn't mean I can't be interested in weapons of war but it is the appreciation of the weapon or machine, not its application. However I acknowledge that unless there was a need or desire for it the weapon wouldn't exist which makes me hypocritical on a certain level but if I had to choose I would
rather there be no weapons than having cool things to look at and read about.
From there we went to one of the great engineering feats of the last century, the Boulder Dam (although officially renamed Hoover Dam in 1937 I don't like Hoover so it will always be Boulder Dam to me). Of course there are Dam's much larger in size, grander in scale and importance but this one has something that captures the imagination of people and I am hard pressed to describe it (not just because it was in Transformers but that is also awesome). It is only one in a long series of Dams and reservoirs that channel the Colorado river to provide constant irrigation water and as a side effect a mass amount of hydroelectric power as side benefit.
The Dam was constructed by a combined team of over 3000 workers in some extremely harsh climactic conditions. The Dam was actually finished ahead of schedule and under budget but this was rather synonymous with great depression construction where things were done cheaply at the cost of safety. Officially over 70 people died, unofficially it was more like 700. Their sacrifices created a monumental human achievement in harnessing a out of control river and providing food and power to a growing nation. If I had to guess at the worth of the Dam it would be that testament too humankind's ability to harness nature effectively and efficiently while also preserving as much as possible. Also that it look pretty cool too.
I spent the rest of the day there just exploring every inch that I could. I am not an engineer or an architect but I can greatly appreciate human construction achievements. The Earth shifts and chances imperceptibly all the time and eventually all of our structures will be gone. It sounds like a futile gesture at best but the fact that we keep building, creating and improving means that humankind has a future, we aren't meant to be static and our construction should be like this as well. The Boulder Dam will be gone one day but replaced by something else if we are still around and I don't think that is futile at all.
That evening we decided to try eating at a Denny's and it was an experience in itself. I still haven't learned the lesson that large in American equals massive. I ordered an appetiser that turned out to be the size of a main meal in Australia and my main... well I didn't finish it. The waitress would also keep coming over an topping up your drinks, I love to drink more than eating so I think I put away over a liter of soft drink. It's a good thing I am doing a lot of walking otherwise I would be gaining weight instead of losing it. I honestly started to feel sick at the end and had to stop despite my principles of cleaning my plate. Now I know why the doggie bag was invented by these guys. Lesson learned.
Las Vegas Day 1
Vegas is about 280 miles outside of LA which seems like a bit of a trip but thanks toludicrous American speed limits we reached Vegas in less than 5 hours with a 1hr stop for lunch. The trip through the desert was very reminiscent of any Hollywood movie with the 4-5 lanes (each side so 8 lanes or more in total) interstate stretching in one long line into a hazy distance. The roads were clogged with convertibles, SUV's and Hummers all tearing along at 70+ mph.
Vegas just in regards to the strip is pretty massive where if you want to actually have a good look at everything could take you a day to walk up and down, to which I attempted but could not complete before it all started taking a horrible toll on my available energy reserves and more importantly my feet. I spent a good 5 hours on the strip taking photos in both day/night shots. Turns out the MGM grand doesn't just have a giant gold Lion but several real ones inside which was pretty cool. Sure they don't eat tourists but they are still real Lions damit!
As impressive as the strip is in full light it is amazing at night with everything lit up and I mean everything, I have seen nothing like it and I have been to Tokyo and Osaka. Of course just like when Homer said it about New York it is true for Vegas; 'when the sun goes down all the weirdos turn crazy'. Random people walking up the strip mumbling nonsense, public drunkenness (you are allowed to walk the strip with alcohol - there's a bad idea), guys in hotted up cars revving their engines (and stalling) and just random events of nonsense and screaming. However most of the pedestrian traffic is tourists taking photos which means waiting patiently to get a shot you're after.
We indulged in American decadence with the buffet at the Luxor (the giant pyramid which had a Transformers ad on it - awesome) which put anything we had in Australia to shame and the Luxor is one of the smaller major strip hotels. I wanted to stay at Caesars Palace because I am just a massive Roman fan but the place is too expensive to justify the cost when there were luxurious enough suites at much more reasonable prices. Maybe next time. Also the fountain show at the Bellagio is indeed a sight to behold and pictures cannot really capture the awesomeness that is 20+ metre geysers of water shooting in a highly choreographed routine to rock music.
The only downside to staying in a giant Pyramid. No free wireless and I am not paying $15 US for a connection I'd only use for an hour or two. So it is true, reasonable room rates but you will pay for everything else.
Vegas just in regards to the strip is pretty massive where if you want to actually have a good look at everything could take you a day to walk up and down, to which I attempted but could not complete before it all started taking a horrible toll on my available energy reserves and more importantly my feet. I spent a good 5 hours on the strip taking photos in both day/night shots. Turns out the MGM grand doesn't just have a giant gold Lion but several real ones inside which was pretty cool. Sure they don't eat tourists but they are still real Lions damit!
As impressive as the strip is in full light it is amazing at night with everything lit up and I mean everything, I have seen nothing like it and I have been to Tokyo and Osaka. Of course just like when Homer said it about New York it is true for Vegas; 'when the sun goes down all the weirdos turn crazy'. Random people walking up the strip mumbling nonsense, public drunkenness (you are allowed to walk the strip with alcohol - there's a bad idea), guys in hotted up cars revving their engines (and stalling) and just random events of nonsense and screaming. However most of the pedestrian traffic is tourists taking photos which means waiting patiently to get a shot you're after.
We indulged in American decadence with the buffet at the Luxor (the giant pyramid which had a Transformers ad on it - awesome) which put anything we had in Australia to shame and the Luxor is one of the smaller major strip hotels. I wanted to stay at Caesars Palace because I am just a massive Roman fan but the place is too expensive to justify the cost when there were luxurious enough suites at much more reasonable prices. Maybe next time. Also the fountain show at the Bellagio is indeed a sight to behold and pictures cannot really capture the awesomeness that is 20+ metre geysers of water shooting in a highly choreographed routine to rock music.
The only downside to staying in a giant Pyramid. No free wireless and I am not paying $15 US for a connection I'd only use for an hour or two. So it is true, reasonable room rates but you will pay for everything else.
LA Day 4
Also known as Disneyland!11! Bolstered by the good experiences that were had at Universal Studios and the iconic nature of the place we decided to deviate and try our luck at the Happiest place on Earth. Getting up early I have noted that most Americans don't seem to like getting up of a morning as theme parks open late (eg. Universal opens at 10) and stay open even later. I would have to say were were probably in the first hundred or so through the gates at 8am.
The first stop was the Matterhorn which was easy to find because it was the largest structure in the entire park, we were in line for about 20 minutes after the park had just opened. Now Disneyland is a fairly large place and they do not have preferred ticket lines meaning you will spend most of your time either walking from place to place or spend your time in a line waiting for a ride. What they do have is a system called Fastpass which allows you to get a ticket for a ride between a particular time where you then go into a priority queue and can skip over 3/4th of the line. However on super popular rides like the Indiana Jones Ride or Splash Mountain that still means a line wait of up to 20 minutes.
We spent the entire day at Disneylannd from 8am to 9:30pm (although it stayed open until midnight) and I think we walked the entire park at least twice over. We covered the rides Autopia (driving cars on rails - we were tricked), Star Tours (Star Wars diving in Death Star canyon), Buzz Astro Blasters (A massive laser shooting gallery - got a high score yay), Space Mountain (a completely indoor rollercoaster in the dark), Big Thunder (fast train coaster around a mountain setting), The Haunted mansion (an automated horror tour that has some very creative sets) Splash Mountain (a log ride where the first 2 will not just get wet
but soaked), Indiana Jones (a coaster of sorts with very elaborate and detailed sets).
There were other rides besides the big name ones like listed but a lot of these are the classic rides as I like to call them, like the Mad Hatters teacup ride, the Dumbo Ride, the large carousel and soforth. These rides were very children based and I steered clear of them. In pure action rides there were very few that appealed to me but then Disneyland isn't about action. I will say that the entire park is very well presented with very creative designs in all of it's sections and it was a sight worth seeing at least once in your life.
I admit I got a real charge out of the Tom Sawyer's pirate island which had dozens of
tunnels, jailcells, tree houses and other little nooks and crannies to explore. I think I was more enthusiastic about the place than the kids playing there, running about with my pirate accent. At least two people mistook me for a park actor because of my enthusiasm for the place. Of all the rides I went on I am hard pressed to pick a favorite as Space Mountain, Splash Mountain and the Indiana Jones rides all appealed to some other aspect of myself.
I will say probably the most fun from a purely sadistic viewpoint is Splash Mountain
because I got to be up front as the log came barrelling down into a pool of water soaking myself from head to toe as well as a lot of other people. As I understand it that shouldn't happen on that massive a scale. Foolish peoples allowing a 120kg Australian with a penchant for water based rides into the front seat.
The day was capped off with a spectacular fireworks show that lasted almost twenty minutes with music and voice acting form all the big name Disney and Lucas movies which was a real delight for me and was probably even moreso for the children in the audience. I don't know if I'll go as far to agree with Disneyland being the happiest place on Earth in regards to myself but it was very entertaining and nostalgic and it's worth going at least once even if half of it is built specifically for kids under 10.
The first stop was the Matterhorn which was easy to find because it was the largest structure in the entire park, we were in line for about 20 minutes after the park had just opened. Now Disneyland is a fairly large place and they do not have preferred ticket lines meaning you will spend most of your time either walking from place to place or spend your time in a line waiting for a ride. What they do have is a system called Fastpass which allows you to get a ticket for a ride between a particular time where you then go into a priority queue and can skip over 3/4th of the line. However on super popular rides like the Indiana Jones Ride or Splash Mountain that still means a line wait of up to 20 minutes.
We spent the entire day at Disneylannd from 8am to 9:30pm (although it stayed open until midnight) and I think we walked the entire park at least twice over. We covered the rides Autopia (driving cars on rails - we were tricked), Star Tours (Star Wars diving in Death Star canyon), Buzz Astro Blasters (A massive laser shooting gallery - got a high score yay), Space Mountain (a completely indoor rollercoaster in the dark), Big Thunder (fast train coaster around a mountain setting), The Haunted mansion (an automated horror tour that has some very creative sets) Splash Mountain (a log ride where the first 2 will not just get wet
but soaked), Indiana Jones (a coaster of sorts with very elaborate and detailed sets).
There were other rides besides the big name ones like listed but a lot of these are the classic rides as I like to call them, like the Mad Hatters teacup ride, the Dumbo Ride, the large carousel and soforth. These rides were very children based and I steered clear of them. In pure action rides there were very few that appealed to me but then Disneyland isn't about action. I will say that the entire park is very well presented with very creative designs in all of it's sections and it was a sight worth seeing at least once in your life.
I admit I got a real charge out of the Tom Sawyer's pirate island which had dozens of
tunnels, jailcells, tree houses and other little nooks and crannies to explore. I think I was more enthusiastic about the place than the kids playing there, running about with my pirate accent. At least two people mistook me for a park actor because of my enthusiasm for the place. Of all the rides I went on I am hard pressed to pick a favorite as Space Mountain, Splash Mountain and the Indiana Jones rides all appealed to some other aspect of myself.
I will say probably the most fun from a purely sadistic viewpoint is Splash Mountain
because I got to be up front as the log came barrelling down into a pool of water soaking myself from head to toe as well as a lot of other people. As I understand it that shouldn't happen on that massive a scale. Foolish peoples allowing a 120kg Australian with a penchant for water based rides into the front seat.
The day was capped off with a spectacular fireworks show that lasted almost twenty minutes with music and voice acting form all the big name Disney and Lucas movies which was a real delight for me and was probably even moreso for the children in the audience. I don't know if I'll go as far to agree with Disneyland being the happiest place on Earth in regards to myself but it was very entertaining and nostalgic and it's worth going at least once even if half of it is built specifically for kids under 10.
LA Day 3
It looked a bit dodgy at the outset for the day's excursion out into the larger area of LA. Fortunately the skies cleared and it was a nice sunny day. What ratio of fog/smog was part of the haze I am not sure. We started at the La Brea tar pits and unfortunately there really wasn't any tar pits to look at that were still being extracted. The pit out the front is more ground water than tar and was man made but still made for a nice photo. The history of the tar pits and how they came to be was also very informative while also being
able to examine specimens of the sabretooth cat (not tiger) as well as dire wolves (turns out they aren't just from DnD).
From there we made for the beach and did the walk from Santa Monica, including the massive pier with a carnival on it all the way down to Venice beach. Venice of course is famous for the muscle beach section where the likes of the Governator trained out for everyone to be able to watch. You also had the sidewalks choked with rollerbladers, cyclists, stalls, performers and shops making the going a little harder because of all the crowds but it added to the festive air. When we showed up (it was a very long walk) there was boxing displays and powerlifting. Basketball also featured prominently but the players spent more time arguing than actually playing.
As the sun started going down we made our way into downtown LA to have a look at the
skyscrapers and public buildings. Some of these were very impressive but with the failing light it was hard to capture all the details. I personally liked city hall with its Greco-Roman influences. From there it was well and truly dark as we walked into Chinatown for dinner where the cooks also spent more time arguing so loud the whole restaurant could hear than actually cooking.
A very full day in all with about 20km covered on foot. My jeans have already gotten loose despite a high sugar/fat intake at places like Jack in the Box and Taco Bell (we won't stop till we try them all at least once).
able to examine specimens of the sabretooth cat (not tiger) as well as dire wolves (turns out they aren't just from DnD).
From there we made for the beach and did the walk from Santa Monica, including the massive pier with a carnival on it all the way down to Venice beach. Venice of course is famous for the muscle beach section where the likes of the Governator trained out for everyone to be able to watch. You also had the sidewalks choked with rollerbladers, cyclists, stalls, performers and shops making the going a little harder because of all the crowds but it added to the festive air. When we showed up (it was a very long walk) there was boxing displays and powerlifting. Basketball also featured prominently but the players spent more time arguing than actually playing.
As the sun started going down we made our way into downtown LA to have a look at the
skyscrapers and public buildings. Some of these were very impressive but with the failing light it was hard to capture all the details. I personally liked city hall with its Greco-Roman influences. From there it was well and truly dark as we walked into Chinatown for dinner where the cooks also spent more time arguing so loud the whole restaurant could hear than actually cooking.
A very full day in all with about 20km covered on foot. My jeans have already gotten loose despite a high sugar/fat intake at places like Jack in the Box and Taco Bell (we won't stop till we try them all at least once).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
