I have to admit, that is a bad ss[/member] username. I thought it had some deeper meaning, then I did a Google search and discovered it's a new ride at Kings Island. Still a cool username though and a great name for a coaster.

When I type "ss[/member]" (obviously because without the @ symbol, it's a bad word) and I have a foul mouth like most people with a high IQ, it appears that I'm actually sending a notification to an actual user by the name of "SS" who registered in 2007 but hasn't ever posted. That would be pretty funny if 'SS' were an active poster. It could easily be someone's initials, you know. He or she literally gets tagged like every day in posts by numerous people and if that person were active, would have to sift through so much stuff that doesn't actually apply to him/her.

Oh Christ, the forum hipsters love the name.  I gotta change it ASAP and I ain't talkin' Rocky!

Whaaaat? Hipsters? The only thing that I know me and Taestell have in common is Computer Programming. Programming = Hipster? There's a huge difference between a hipster and a nerd and everyone on this forum by default, including you, is a nerd.

Whaaaat? Hipsters? The only thing that I know me and Taestell have in common is Computer Programming. Programming = Hipster? There's a huge difference between a hipster and a nerd and everyone on this forum by default, including you, is a nerd.

 

Your face is a nerd!

King Cobra sucked. I used to have season passes to Kings Island when I was a teenager and the only reason my friends and I rode it was because it had no line. It had no line because there was absolutely nothing notable or unique about the ride. Generic as sh!t.

...except it being the first stand-up roller coaster built.

 

...and thus, if David didn't like King Cobra...then the new screen-name is amazing!

Long live the Vortex!

Luxury Tae!!!

The King Cobra was the first real roller coaster at KI with a loop.  Before that was the Screamin' Demon, which was just a loop.  The line cued up 100 feet of stairs so there was no lift hill.  You dropped into the loop and I think rotating rubber tires made sure that the car got to the other side, where the car hung out for 10 seconds or so.  Then a worker released a button and you came back through that same loop backwards.  I only rode it once, and vividly recall some guy needing to get out of the car to yak over the side into the lake. 

 

 

Wow, I'm no expert on video editing but that was pretty horrible.

 

Last time I went to Kings Island, the Banshee just opened. We went during Halloween and I rode it at night. I thought it was really good.

 

It sucks that Paramount no longer owns the park. The fact that they could use movie references, soundtracks and sets all over the place at least actually made it a "theme" park instead of just an amusement park which gave it some sort of advantage over Cedar Point. I can't believe Top Gun is now "The Bat." What a stupid name for a ride.

I can't believe Top Gun is now "The Bat." What a stupid name for a ride.

 

This would be why...

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bat_%28Kings_Island;_opened_1981%29

Should have gone with Son of Bat.

Or Daughter of Bat, so Hillary would've won...

 

My god, that logo is as Early '80s as it gets.

...but still better than this!

 

I bet the old Bat logo was trying to cash in on Ozzy Osbourne, considering the time frame

the bat?

 

bah!

 

a cheap magician's trick!

 

where is your moses now?

 

Are any of you guys tech nerds? I'm not sure if I'll be available or not but assuming I am, would anyone want to go to this with me? It looks really cool.

 

Field trip! Perspectives VR exhibit @ the Cleveland International Film Fest

 

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

4:00 PM to 7:00 PM

 

CIFF @ Tower City Cinemas

230 W. Huron Road, Cleveland 44113, OH (map)

 

We'll meet at Tower City Center Level M2 (near the top of the Grand Staircase).

Join us as we visit the 41st annual Cleveland International Film Festival's Perspectives VR exhibit.

The group will be led by a member of the VR Meetup, Jean Robinson.  Jean is an award winning producer and has traveled all over the world producing documentaries.  She's also one of the original members of this meetup and loves VR! 

 

From the CIFF website:

Perspectives is back and bigger than ever! We’re delighted to present year two of our immersive storytelling exhibition, where we’ll be continuing to showcase interactive media, virtual reality, and more. As technology evolves, so too does the way we tell stories. With a new generation of creators, comes innovative collaboration and the capacity to envision multiple perspectives within a single story. We invite you to navigate this new and exciting terrain with us and experience how immersive storytelling continues to evolve.

 

http://www.clevelandfilm.org/festival/special-programs/perspectives

 

Location: Tower City, 230 W. Huron Road, Cleveland, OH 44113

The group will meet at Tower City Center Level M2 (near the top of the Grand Staircase).

This meetup begins at 4pm, but feel free to show up whenever you can make it.  The Perspectives exhibit closes at 7pm, but feel free to stick around afterwards for dinner and drinks at the Lincoln Tap house with the rest of the group. 

http://lincolntaphouse.com/

Hope to see everyone there!

 

first pizza rat, now taco squirrel?

 

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/tree-inhabiting-tortilla-taster-named-taco-squirrel-nyc-article-1.3024968

 

Microdosing: The people taking  LSD with their breakfast

 

There is a small community of people in the UK who "microdose" - or take small amounts of psychedelic drugs as part of their daily lives. They say it boosts creativity and can have medicinal benefits, despite a lack of scientific research.

 

On a table in his house in Durham, Simpa shows me a tab of LSD he has cut into about 10 pieces.

 

The whole thing would be enough for a trip he says, but today he's taking just a tiny dose of it.

 

On the days he does this, Simpa says it's just part of his morning routine.

 

"I take it with a cup of tea, my toast and my vitamins," he tells the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme.

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-39516345

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_%28PPP%29_per_capita

 

This is fascinating. Here it is ten years later from the first time I ever looked at a list of the countries with the highest GDP per capita and apparently not much has changed in ten years. The countries with the highest GDP per capita seem to either be oil-rich countries or off-shore tax havens and places where very rich folks can effectively and safely hide their wealth. Most people would expect the U.S. to be near number 1 (because we're just always number one!) but you simply can't expect any of the large, dynamic and economically diverse countries to be near number one on a list like this. 

 

The country with BY FAR the highest GDP per capita (Qatar) is ruled by a monarchy and enforces Sharia Law which sadly includes flogging as a common punishment, homosexuality punishable by death and a woman's testimony being worth half of that of a man's and other ridiculous nonsense. So weird.

 

Most people haven't even heard of a lot of these top GDP per capita countries, yet they do tend to provide an extremely high quality of life. GDP per capita isn't a perfect measure but it does give you an idea.

 

I'd love to go to Qatar or Luxembourg to see this phenomenon first hand! Have any of you guys ever been to countries like these? If so, what was it like?

 

 

 

The country with BY FAR the highest GDP per capita (Qatar) is ruled by a monarchy and enforces Sharia Law which sadly includes flogging as a common punishment, homosexuality punishable by death and a woman's testimony being worth half of that of a man's and other ridiculous nonsense. So weird.

 

 

Not very weird at all.  This is common throughout the Middle East, to keep a small minority in control of most of the wealth.  It worked mostly until the 20th century when the Western powers got involved.

I just noticed this morning that the water coming out of my faucet in the upstairs bathroom, is green. I never noticed until I refilled an Aquafina bottle and in the light, saw that it had a dark tint to it (before spitting it out.) I then went back inside and tested the downstairs kitchen water and that looked pretty normal in the Aquafina bottle.

 

I've been refilling my water bottles and brushing my teeth with that green water a lot the past few days.

 

I'm assuming the color comes from corrosion and I've basically been ingesting a lot of copper from the pipe, which is disgusting. I'm sort of worried though that it could be caused by something else that is harmful or if ingesting too much copper can be detrimental to health. I'm pretty sure most vitamins and minerals in large amounts are extremely harmful to your body. It makes sense. Copper is a trace mineral but for it to turn water a different color, that's gotta be a heck of a lot of copper.

 

Since I moved in this house a few months ago, I've broken out in hives twice - mostly on my left foot, which is weird. The second time I broke out was just yesterday. Both times it has happened, I also had really puffy eyes. I wonder if there's a connection. Copper Toxicity or Copper allergy? 

 

 

^you'll probably be okay unless your skin is turning green.

My landlord lives in Arizona. He'll be over here in 2 weeks to check out some of the issues we're having (including a broken toilet) :roll:

 

Hell, I'm just assuming they're copper pipes. I haven't even noticed or bothered to look, yet. Maybe I've just been ingesting a bunch of lead!  :lol:

 

I think I'm about done with renting raggedy old places around Hts and Shaker. It's been a while since I've lived in a nice, newer, clean place. I used to think old houses were charming but there's a lot of comfort in knowing that when you open your bedroom door after a long day of work, the damn door handle isn't going to fall out when you go to turn it. So many annoyances with old houses. Half of them actually involve doors lol! They creek like crazy, it's hard to actually shut them all the way, especially if it's foundation-related. The damn handles fall apart when you turn them. I have to pull upwards on the front entrance door and then push, to get it to open from the inside.

 

Aren't newer homes generally much better insulated? With gas and electric split 3 ways, my portion was $150 last month! That's not even including the other utilities. Granted, it's a 5 bedroom house but that still doesn't seem right. I figured that keeping the door to the basement shut all the time would save on utilities... then one night I was in the kitchen and realized that I left the light on in the basement and knew that because I was looking down and saw light penetrating from the basement through a crap ton of holes in the wood floors... Termites? I don't know much about architecture but it seems like there should be insulation between the basement and first floor or do too many pipes get in the way of that. I'm basically paying to heat and cool a giant, 4 room unfinished basement that doesn't really get utilized anyway.

 

The charm of old houses are mostly in their exterior architecture and matured trees and such unless the entire interior has recently been gutted out and remodeled or very well preserved. I'm not a homeowner yet but it seems like a major headache to keep everything up to standard if you truly want it to be as nice as new residential construction.

 

 

The biggest issue you have is your landlord lives in Arizona and owns a single family or duplex rental in Cleveland. Out of town owners are never able to properly or timely take care of their tenants.

The biggest issue you have is your landlord lives in Arizona and owns a single family or duplex rental in Cleveland. Out of town owners are never able to properly or timely take care of their tenants.

 

Or they don't have any tenants and have their "cousin" keep an eye on it, and he and his buddies hang in the front yard drinking, peeing and doing other things in the back.  :o

The biggest issue you have is your landlord lives in Arizona and owns a single family or duplex rental in Cleveland. Out of town owners are never able to properly or timely take care of their tenants.

 

Or they don't have any tenants and have their "cousin" keep an eye on it, and he and his buddies hang in the front yard drinking, peeing and doing other things in the back.  :o

 

Where did that come from? :-o

The biggest issue you have is your landlord lives in Arizona and owns a single family or duplex rental in Cleveland. Out of town owners are never able to properly or timely take care of their tenants.

 

Or they don't have any tenants and have their "cousin" keep an eye on it, and he and his buddies hang in the front yard drinking, peeing and doing other things in the back.  :o

 

Where did that come from? :-o

 

About 100 feet ENE from my front door.

this is disgusting. What's the matter with this woman? (aside from the fact that she's a lawyer? lol) On a couple of occasions a pigeon flew through a little window in my bathroom that faces an airshaft. Needless to say it was an unpleasant experience to remove them. I had to ensnare them in a plastic bag and release them back outside. You'd be surprised how strong pigeons are!

 

Pigeon turned woman’s strainer into a nest

By Elizabeth Rosner and Ruth Brown April 20, 2017 | 2:58pm | Updated

 

http://nypost.com/2017/04/20/pigeon-turned-womans-strainer-into-a-nest/

this is disgusting. What's the matter with this woman? (aside from the fact that she's a lawyer? lol)

 

Wow...lol. There's obviously different kinds of lawyers and many who do a lot of good and pro-bono work but I do wonder how a lot of them are able to sleep at night - not only working hard to get people off the hook for things they're clearly guilty of but using a lot of rhetoric and manipulative tactics. Jim Carrey in Liar Liar" or Bill O'Reilly's attorney for example. Even if I could make it through that much schooling, I don't think I could do litigation and defend half of the people who need representation. I'd end up going out like Al Pacino did in that court scene in "And Justice For All."

 

Having a pigeon probably isn't that bad. What's far worse IMO is the crazy cat people. I've had enough room mates w/ pets to know that it's a myth that cats are low maintenance and always do their business in the litter box. They pee on everything and it's often times really unpredictable where they're going to do it. At least a dog will try to hold it in and wait for you to let them outside. Cats will pee on your couch, your carpet, your clothes, towels/rugs, inside your shoes, etc. I've heard of cats somehow peeing on people's walls and having to rent a steamer to peel their wallpaper off and re-do it. It also penetrates through wood and to get the smell out you have somehow just seal it in. They claw at your furniture and curtains. Climb everywhere and knock sh!t over. Hair and dander everywhere. They do way more damage than any other pet and when you go to someone's house, where someone has two or more cats, it tends to be pretty disgusting as the owner over time just stops caring about keeping up their place.

 

God I hate cats. I can't believe I ranted that long about it. I'd take a pigeon over a cat, any day!

the libertarian way to leave a restaurant tip:

 

http://www.grubstreet.com/2017/04/tax-protester-leaves-server-personal-gift-instead-of-tip.html

 

As if most people who receive tips accurately report their income anyway...

i know, that article mentions that 40% don't report their tips. i bet its higher than that.

 

its a good idea though. apparantly you can gift up to $14k before taxes kick in. i did not know this.

I only claim 5% of my tips from stripping.  It keeps me in the lowest tax bracket.

 

Curious Cbus: Seriously, What's The Deal With Pee Pee Township?

I remember the Pee Pee gas station in the article. It was on US 23 in Waverly. I made sure to urinate there at least once.

First of all, it's amazing how many holidays we have in this country. It seems like every other Monday is a national holiday and it always occurs when I need to go to the bank or otherwise conduct some kind of business, especially when I need to have something over-night delivered. I pay all that money for shipping gand it still ends up taking 2-3 days instead of one. Then there's the fact that we take on holidays that have nothing to do with our culture and history. I had a couple co-workers today take shots of Cuervo Gold and even brought in a Taco Bar for everyone, complete with carne esada, guacamole, salsa, sour cream, cheddar, etc. Today, I basically concluded that Americans will adopt any holiday that gives them an excuse to get drunk. I thought it was particularly funny after, today, in the Donald Trump thread, finding out that Mexicans don't even really celebrate Cinco de Mayo. It's just an excuse to grill out and get wasted.  It's the same with St. Patrick's Day and others. Somehow, everyone is an honorary Irish-person on St. Patrick's day and most people don't even know what the holiday is about. They just know that it's a day that you get drunk and that's reason enough to celebrate it. People will call shinannigans on 'hallmark' holidays like Sweetest Day but any holiday that gives you the green light to get drunk is absolutely taken seriously and never questioned.

First of all, it's amazing how many holidays we have in this country. It seems like every other Monday is a national holiday and it always occurs when I need to go to the bank or otherwise conduct some kind of business, especially when I need to have something over-night delivered. I pay all that money and it still ends up taking 2-3 days instead of one. Then there's the fact that we take on holidays that have nothing to do with our culture and history. I had a couple co-workers today take shots of Cuervo Gold and even brought in a Taco Bar for everyone, complete with carne esada, guacamole, salsa, sour cream, cheddar, etc. Today, I basically concluded that Americans will adopt any holiday that gives them an excuse to get drunk. I thought it was particularly funny after, today, in the Donald Trump thread, finding out that Mexicans don't even really celebrate Cinco de Mayo. It's just an excuse to grill out and get wasted.  It's the same with St. Patrick's Day. Somehow, everyone is an honorary Irish-person on St. Patrick's day and most people don't even know what the holiday is about. They just know that it's a day that you get drunk and that's reason enough to celebrate it. People will call shinannigans on 'hallmark' holidays like Sweetest Day but any holiday that gives you the green light to get drunk is absolutely taken seriously and never questioned.

 

It could be worse.  The Germans could have decided every day they beat the French in a battle was a holiday..... :evil:

 

Curious Cbus: Seriously, What's The Deal With Pee Pee Township?

 

First of all, it's amazing how many holidays we have in this country. It seems like every other Monday is a national holiday and it always occurs when I need to go to the bank or otherwise conduct some kind of business, especially when I need to have something over-night delivered. I pay all that money for shipping gand it still ends up taking 2-3 days instead of one. Then there's the fact that we take on holidays that have nothing to do with our culture and history. I had a couple co-workers today take shots of Cuervo Gold and even brought in a Taco Bar for everyone, complete with carne esada, guacamole, salsa, sour cream, cheddar, etc. Today, I basically concluded that Americans will adopt any holiday that gives them an excuse to get drunk. I thought it was particularly funny after, today, in the Donald Trump thread, finding out that Mexicans don't even really celebrate Cinco de Mayo. It's just an excuse to grill out and get wasted.  It's the same with St. Patrick's Day and others. Somehow, everyone is an honorary Irish-person on St. Patrick's day and most people don't even know what the holiday is about. They just know that it's a day that you get drunk and that's reason enough to celebrate it. People will call shinannigans on 'hallmark' holidays like Sweetest Day but any holiday that gives you the green light to get drunk is absolutely taken seriously and never questioned.

 

Huh?! Since when do banks & Post Offices close for Cinco De Mayo or St. Patricks Day?

I was talking about national holidays at first, then later, the less official holidays that Americans take so seriously. Thank God banks and post offices aren't closed on those days too!

 

Recent observation: Everyone criticizes grocery stores for not having fresh produce. Everyone speaks of this place or that place having the freshest produce and it's deemed as a good quality. I hate when grocery stores have produce that is TOO fresh! When I go to the store and buy bananas, I usually want to eat one that day. When I go to Zagara's (very expensive place, overall) the bananas are as green as a leprechaun's hat :( I have to wait 2-3 days until they're ripe.

 

Bananas have magical healing powers, btw. I had a swollen canker sore one time and did an experiment; I ate 3 bananas in a row and my canker sore went away 2 hours later to the point where it was no longer noticeable. I'm thinking maybe it was a potassium deficiency that caused it.

 

Have you heard of the 30 Bananas a Day guy from Australia?  One of the most obnoxious youtube celebrities going.  I ran across his diet videos through his bicycling videos.  He's a pretty damn strong bicyclist but then again he lives in a good climate right next to mountains and doesn't have a job so he can train every day. 

 

Actually this is his girlfriend eating 51 bananas in one day:

First of all, it's amazing how many holidays we have in this country. It seems like every other Monday is a national holiday and it always occurs when I need to go to the bank or otherwise conduct some kind of business, especially when I need to have something over-night delivered. I pay all that money for shipping gand it still ends up taking 2-3 days instead of one. Then there's the fact that we take on holidays that have nothing to do with our culture and history. I had a couple co-workers today take shots of Cuervo Gold and even brought in a Taco Bar for everyone, complete with carne esada, guacamole, salsa, sour cream, cheddar, etc. Today, I basically concluded that Americans will adopt any holiday that gives them an excuse to get drunk. I thought it was particularly funny after, today, in the Donald Trump thread, finding out that Mexicans don't even really celebrate Cinco de Mayo. It's just an excuse to grill out and get wasted.  It's the same with St. Patrick's Day and others. Somehow, everyone is an honorary Irish-person on St. Patrick's day and most people don't even know what the holiday is about. They just know that it's a day that you get drunk and that's reason enough to celebrate it. People will call shinannigans on 'hallmark' holidays like Sweetest Day but any holiday that gives you the green light to get drunk is absolutely taken seriously and never questioned.

Nobody I know over the age of about 25 observes Cinco de Mayo or St. Patrick's Day.

Good lord, has anyone seen this:

 

It looks like anywhere USA to me LOL!

Middletown

I'm a lucky man  :-D

 

I can't believe I have a girlfriend who I can talk about urban policy and design-related stuff with. When I met her almost exactly 4 years ago, her life had absolutely no direction. She went back to school for marketing (the major of lost souls.) While we hung out and explored the city though the years, I'd always talk about certain re-development projects that we were passing. I'd give her a socio-economic, physical analysis or history of interesting neighborhoods we walked or drove  through. I'd talk about architecture. At first, I know she figured I was just praddling on but wondering why I made it a point to bring it all and I really figured that I was just boring her and knew she would humor me.

 

There was a pivotal point, a few years ago. I took her to Cincinnati (she's from Cleveland but we met in Columbus) and showed her around Mt. Adams, Clifton, Hyde Park, Downtown and Over The Rhine - my old stomping grounds. I noticed she was taking tons of pictures but not the typical pictures people take. Only one or two of them actually included 'us'  :-o She was taking pictures highlighting the urban density in OTR, the fire escapes with scenic hills in the background. I told her, 'you're taking pictures like an urban planner.'

 

Fast forward a couple more years and she's graduating from CSU with minors in accounting and marketing with a major in Urban Studies. At the end of the summer, she's starting her Masters in Urban Planning at CSU - and despite CSU being one of the best Urban Planning programs and hardest to get into, her grades are so high that she won't even have to take the GRE; she'll automatically be accepted. On top of that, she's about to take an internship with Cleveland Neighborhood Progress and was just voted to be the APA (American Planning Association) president for the CSU chapter and on the subcommittee for APA in Cleveland and just got back from the big Planning conference in Manhattan.  I'd like to think I had a little (a lot, to do with it  :wink: )

 

For our 4th anniversary, I just took her out to eat and got her what she said is the best anniversary present ever - a copy of "Death and Life of Great American Cities" by Jane Jacobs. This is still surreal for me  :-P

 

It's so weird how life transpires.