April 2008
Looking Back... April 2008
30 April 2008 - 1:04pm
Smile and say "cheese pizza"
Those who stop by the park this afternoon to get their Season Pass photos taken will probably chuckle when they look at their photos all season long.
It's quite chilly out again today, so no doubt we'll have photos of folks in turtlenecks, sweaters and hoodies.
Let's try to draw the line at fur-trimmed parkas, though.
My mother-in-law, Rita (rest her soul), used to call this late-spring cold snap The Ice Man. And she was right. Once you get out the shorts and the sunscreen, there is always a nasty cold front to remind us who is really in charge.
Two days ago, I saw an Icee truck in the park.
It gave me a chill.
But I guess The Ice Man has to get around somehow...
29 April 2008 - 6:00pm
Blogging with an international flair
Here's a new website for you: BlooLoop.com.
What the heck kind of a name is that?
I asked Charlie at BlooLoop for an explanation, but I still don't really understand (and I don't think it was the English accent, but it did make it hard to concentrate).
He told me they were trying to come up with a truly original name and when Blue Loop was already taken (go figure) they opted for BlooLoop.
It's an industry site, so if you're really into learning everything there is to know about parks worldwide, you might enjoy taking a look.
They even have a blog.
Charlie and his mates (remember they're in England) were brilliant (ditto) in assembling a group of industry stars to blog for them.
Including Will.
Here's his first post.
I'll be sure to post a link here whenever Will posts there (he's committed to once a month).
27 April 2008 - 2:13pm
Mea gulpa
Have you ever made a teeny, tiny error -- and gotten clobbered for it?
Happened the other day.
Around here, we take our hard hats seriously.
When construction is ongoing, the hats are on. And the swath is wide.
Heck, even the Big Guy wears one.
(You thought I meant Will, didn't you? Well, he wears one, too.)
The other day Lisa and Rachel took a walk down to Kima Bay to take some photos of Kima Bay's final construction days.
When they delivered the memory card to me, I remember thinking that all the shots were taken from very far away.
But not quite far enough, apparently.
When they got to the construction site, they suddenly remembered that they'd forgotten to bring hard hats.
So they stayed very far away.
But not quite far enough.
Out came the shout: "Hey! Where are your hard hats?!"
Apparently the "hard hat area" had just been breached.
The photo session was over.
Our Safety Director (you remember Craig) came for a visit the next day.
Wanting to support his efforts, I blurted out, "We should make cookies for your crew ... and deliver them in hard hats!"
And so a batch of chocolate chip cookies was baked and delivered a few days later.
I tried to get everyone to pose holding a cookie, but by the time I'd retrieved the left-behind camera battery, it was too late. Nary a crumb remained.
25 April 2008 - 1:35pm
Just add water
25 April 2008 - 12:32pm
Who you callin' cheap?!
Cheap is not usually meant as a compliment.
No wonder your shoes wore out fast -- they're cheap.
That cheap so-and-so made me pay for half the gas money on our date last night. (Which will be, by the way, our last date!)
Oh, she's so cheap.
Okay, you know what I mean.
But when USA Today calls you "cheap," it's a good thing.
If you read this today (Friday, Christmas in April), you can head over to their website and scroll down a bit to see a picture of The Raven.
You can call me a lot more than "cheap" if you put a Raven photo on the front page of USA Today's website.
If you are one of the 2.3 million people who have a copy of the actual paper, turn to page 2 of section D for a gander. To see the article online, click here.
The budget-minded travel expert who mentioned us is Tim Leffel. He and his family visited us last summer on assignment with a national magazine.
We emailed each other a month or so ago and he broke the news that the magazine had cut way back on the article and several parks ended up on the cutting-room floor.
Including us.
So when he got another chance to mention us, he did.
But we won't mention that particular magazine here ... or the name of the woman whose face and name are on the cover.
... but I bet she's cheap.
