Joel is on location recording a live interview with Lane from Silverwood Theme Park. Home to two cool wooden coasters, the first coaster with a Corkscrew loop, and a Vekoma Giant Inverted Boomerang ride, Silverwood sits in northern Idaho. One coasters has four tunnels and passes underground and right through the gift shop!
CoasterGallery.com now has lots of new pictures and videos of Silverwood Theme Park! Here are a couple little previews:
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In this special episode of the CoasterGallery.com podcast, Joel talks about Disney purchasing Lucas Arts from George Lucas. The Mouse now owns ILM, Skywalker Sound, and the Star Wars franchise. This gives Disney a ton of possibilities in the futures. Besides three new Star Wars movies, Joel talks about possible Star Wars impacts on Disney parks in the future.
Hurricane Sandy (or Superstorm Sandy depending on how picky you are) recently slammed into the East Coast of the United States. Several amusement parks were greatly effected, but Casino Pier and Funtown Pier here hit hardest. A few roller coasters were completely destroyed, most notably the Star Jet and Looping Coaster were both destroyed.
Fortunately, the Coney Island and Morey’s Piers parks emerged with only minor damage.
Joel wished the people dealing with this disaster and asked for listeners to help donate to help with the cleanup efforts.
Joel also gave a live hint of the next park he will discuss… Listen and see if you can tell where he is!
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Since the last podcast was covering roller coasters, this week we only quickly mention roller coasters. CoasterGallery.com was updated with pictures from the TusenFryd amusement park in Oslo, Norway.
Joel then moves on to his photography rant. He gets really mad at camera noises in quiet environments like in a church. He urges everyone to silence their digital camera since the shutter noises drive him crazy. Joel gives a photography tip that can be used by any modern digital camera to make you look, and sound, more professional.
Joel has another photography rant… He talks about the new Mars Science Laboratory , the Curiosity rover, and the 17 cameras on board. Some people have badmouthed the rover for only having 2 megapixel cameras, but he brought out the fact that the cameras are incredibly advanced despite the 2meg title. Don’t let the guy in the blue shirt at the store tell you that a camera with a larger megapixel rating is better than one with less pixels. He mentioned the Canon PowerShot G9 12.1MP Digital Camera
Joel then switches to music. This week he talks about Effington by Ben Folds. There is the original Effington
track where Ben does all of the sounds himself. (As usual, these links allow you to purchase the songs with CoasterGallery.com getting a little of the proceeds to help fund this podcast. Thanks in advance!)
Today’s Podcast comes live from a mountaintop amusement park in Colorado. Listen as I get to interview the owner of the one of the coolest amusement parks I have been to! The Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park started when the Fairy Caves opened to the public in 1895 but were closed in 1917. The caves reopened in 1998 and now cave tours are available year-round. The only way into the park is the Iron Mountain Tramway, a nearly mile-long ride which carries guests from the floor of the Roaring Fork Valley to the top of Iron Mountain. About 10 years ago, the park started adding rides to keep people entertained while waiting to tour the cave.
The park added two new coasters, Cliffhanger and Wild West Express, in 2012. The park also has an amazing Alpine Coaster that is open all year! Glenwood Springs, Colorado is also home to one of the scariest rides I have ever been on… The Giant Canyon Swing. The S&S Swing takes is literally built on the side of the mountain and swings riders out over a 1,300 foot drop off. I didn’t tape my rides on the swing since my language was a little too colorful to broadcast, but I can say that it is one of the most intense experiences I have been through!
I also added three videos of Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park:
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Joel visited a dozen amusement parks in July and gives a quick summary of the places he codumented. He also announced the arrival of more Australian pictures… Luna Park in Sydney. The park, which opened originally in the 1930s but has been closed for various years during its history, is home to one cool old wooden Wild Mouse roller coaster. It sits right next to the amazing Sydney Harbour Bridge, which Joel actually climbed to its peak during his trip to Australia.
At 4:00, Joel switches to photography talk and goes into more details on his JPG versus RAW debate. He talked about how programs like Lightroom don’t change the original RAW file, while if you Open, edit, and Save a JPG file, data is lost forever.
At 7:00, a new CoasterGallery.com Contest is opened up! He recently visited a park with the scariest ride he has ever been on, and he want to see if you know what ride he is talking about. Listen to the podcast for some big clues. If you can guess the amusement park he is talking about, email him and you will get a prize!!! (Listen to the podcast for details.)
Even if you don’t know which park he is talking about, he will give the answer and release the pictures from that park in the future.
At 11:00 minutes, he talks about two versions of one song. He like both the original The Boy In The Bubble
And as usual, there is a little hidden “Easter Egg” at the end of the show… another helpful appearance by my voice-over artist.
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Today marks my first interview from inside an amusement park. Carrie Basta, Public Relations Director of Dorney Park, talks about the park’s history and its new coasters. With this new podcast, CosaterGallery.com released new pictures of Hydra, Stinger, Possessed, Steel Force, Thunderhawk, Talon, and more.
Joel and Jeff then talk about photography, specifically the difference between JPG files and RAW files. Joel likes RAW files because they are uncompressed and have a lot more data, but he has to do some post-processing. On the other hand, everyone can open a JPG file without any additional work or processing.
Joel ends the episode with a preview of the amusement parks he will be visiting later this summer.
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The music at the beginning and ending of the podcast is Joel’s music pick of the week: Tonight Is The Night I Fell Asleep At The Wheel (Album Version) by Barenaked Ladies:
Joel gives a quick report about his trip to Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure. He loved Harry Potter’s Forbidden Journey ride, but was a little bothered by the crowds and small stores. Joel also drops the news that Dueling Dragons, which is now called Dragon Challenge, doesn’t duel any more.
At 6:00, he goes on a rant about people who use the pop-up flash when they don’t need to. He invokes the “Inverse Square” rule to show why it is a waste to use flash at long distances. It’s another chance for him to tell people to move their cameras off the “AUTO” or “Green Square” modes.
At 9:50, he starts eating Humble Pie. He admits that he had no idea that Canon EOS camera straps all have a built-it eye piece cover. He has been carrying around a cover for years and didn’t even know it!
At 10:30, he talks about the music pick of the week. It is either the happiest sad song or the saddest happy song he has ever heard. There is also a shameless plug asking people to use the Amazon.com links listed here.
At 12:40, Joel describes his delema this week. He has a chance to go to HersheyPark this week, but the new coaster isn’t open yet. Should he go, or should he save his visit for later? Please let me your thoughts by clicking on the bubble to the right of the podcast’s title!
And be sure to listen to the end of the track… You never know what you will find. Just like the hidden song at the end of Tonight Is The Night I Fell Asleep At The Wheel (Album Version).
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Check out the professional introduction by our new voice-over artist.
This week, Jeff and Joel talk about the controversial topic of ways to avoiding long lines at amusement parks. The discussion was prompted by Cedar Fair announcing the new “Fast Lane” program at a number of parks including Cedar Point and Kings Dominion. Disney has “Fast Pass” options for free while most other parks have fee-based programs… Universal has “Universal Express” and Six Flags has “The Flash Pass”, but most places have expensive VIP programs.
So is one system better than another? Is it fair to charge people to skip the lines? Is it fair to non-payers when people cut in front of them. We can’t reach a decision in this show, but we do list a few of the pros and cons of these systems.
At the 16 minute mark, Joel tries to get Jeff to step away from the AUTO functions of his camera. We discuss what is Exposure Compensation and when it should be used. (Check back for some examples!)
At 22 minutes, each brother picks music they enjoyed this week. Jeff chose anything recorded by Animals As Leaders. Joel chose “Question” by the Moody Blues. He also unveils one of his deep, dark secrets.
At the end, Joel admits that he has no idea what to talk about for next week, but with some coaster trips planned and his first public Art Show happening soon, there are lots of possible topics… Please post below what you would like to hear!
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Joel quizzes Jeff about how he takes pictures. He promises to get him off the Auto or “Green Square” program mode! He also mentions White Balance, Exposure Compensation, Flash, Flash Exposure Compensation, and Focus and says that all of these will be addressed in future podcasts.
At the 3:00 mark, Jeff and Joel discuss the new Wing Coaster models built by Bollinger and Mabillard. (Joel also goes on a quick couple about other roller coaster podcasts where people don’t know what they are talking about and tells why he and Jeff are coaster nerds, but won’t get into too many details about amusement parks.) They each try to figure out if the new coaster design is great new frontier or a passing fad. A couple Wing Coasters are being built now, so check CoasterGallery.com later this summer to see pictures of the new rides in action.
At 13:00, Joel and Jeff talk about musical time signatures. A lot of music is in 4/4 or 3/4 time, but Joel loves a song in seven beats per measure, and Jeff picks a song with 104 time changes! How can they have a song written in 7/8 and 13/16 and 6/8?
So broaden your musical horizon and listen to some music you have never heard before:
Lightning Strikes by Yes
The Dance of Eternity by Dream Theater
Solsbury Hill by Peter Gabriel
Back in N.Y.C. by Genesis
As usual, music for this podcast is provided by Jeff Rogers… it is cool even if it is written in 4/4 time!
What is your favorite song in an unusual time signature? Please post below!
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Joel starts by giving a photography tip that works on EVERY camera… Make sure that the horizon is level! Don’t have crooked vertical or horizontal lines. Or if you want to copy a modern photograph fad and want a ‘slanty’ image, make sure to skew the shot a long way from vertical. It is better to get this right in camera, but Joel mentions that you can fix it in post-production with Apature, Lightroom, Photoshop, etc.
Which picture looks better?
At the 4-minute mark, Joel interviews his brother Jeff the possible future of Disneyworld. In a move that might be meant to counter Universal Studio’s new Harry Potter expansion, Disney recently announced a partnership with James Cameron to bring Avatar to Disney parks and Animal Kingdom. But with a lack of details, and a recent silence about the project, is the deal dead? Joel and Jeff both give their opinions about possible ways Disney should proceed with modernizing their Florida parks.
What do you think Disney should add to Florida? Star Wars, Cars land, Avatar? Please post your thoughts below!
The musical discussion starts at the 23-minute mark. In music picks, Jeff chooses Van Halen’s new album A Different Kind of Truth
At the end of the episode,
Joel mentions that members of the CoasterGallery.com Facebok page have seen previews of Denmark’s Tivoli Friheden amusement park.
Thanks Jeff for the background music on this episode!
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