Ridiculous Tightrope Walker

Click the title for a link to the article.

I apparently chose the wrong day to be at Cedar Point this summer because I would have loved to be there for this. Somehow it is slightly more impressive to me than the already impressive tightrope walking I used to see in the circus at MHS's Gym. Perhaps the lack of netting, the extra length, or the fact that it is actually slightly scary just to ride in those things. I invite you to read up on the family and some of Nik himself's latest accomplishments. Some of the images you can find of these people are pretty crazy.

Question of the day:

What's the location that you have been to which would be the scariest to do a tightrope walk across? (I.E. the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, building to building in a major city, etc.) State your reasoning.

Recognition

I recognize the amazingness of the feat...pitching a perfect game and all, but why couldn't that be a player for a team other than the Yankees, Red Sox, or White Sox. I mean, honestly? I could handle pretty much any other team and I'd be happy for the Indians or Cardinals. That being said, I understand it was quite an impressive display as per the usual. So I wish I'd not been working at the time and had been around as my father watched a few innings of it. I did get to witness an unassisted triple play last summer though, so that's my claim to history. That and Mark McGuire's 35th home run during his then historic, and now disputed season.

On another sports related note, I'm beginning to take a bit of an interest in soccer, for the first time in my life. It is a much more interesting sport than I had ever given it credit for.

Finally, anyone know of a good quality jazz trumpeter in my area? I'd like to take some lessons from a quality studio instructor for the first time in my musical life.

Question for the day:

What, in your opinion, is the most impressive feat a professional athlete can acheive in a single game of his/her respective sport?

Quick

How does one get cuts on one's hand without realizing that they are bleeding or in pain? This cardboard cut(I'm presuming that's what it is because it hurts more than any papercut I've had, and cardboard cuts hurt like heck) hurts quite a bit right now and yet I didn't even realize that it had happened until the blood had dried entirely. I don't understand how that works, but it happens fairly frequently. I'll also injure myself playing some sport and wake up the next morning realizing it for the first time.

Question for the day:

Worst injury you've sustained that you weren't aware of until a later point.

(I'd have to go with some back pain that came up weeks later from a car accident.)

Spontaneity

I see that my request for a must ride list at Cedar Point did not garner many results...hm...could that be because of poor readership? Why yes it could! That's ok though as my blog usually just winds up being a catch up on Dave's life with a side of humor.

I would have to say for my top 10...

1.Raptor

Millenium (it's a tie, i honestly can't choose)

3. Maverick (this was only determined on my most recent visit...prior to that i hadn't been impressed)

4. Dragster

5. MaxAir

6. Magnum (old and rickety, but still a great ride)

7 Gemini (only if both trains are running)

8. Thunder Canyon...is that at Cedar Point (the get drenched ride is a must on a really really hot day)

9. Skyhawk

10. A surpise member for me as the last on the must ride list...Wicked Twister

and now to the title of this post...

I've determined that spontaneity is the key to having some fantastic evenings. Take Sunday night for example...Wimpout pictures taken for the future blog and then random driving with a stop at Giant Eagle...the same Giant Eagle, mind you, which has resulted in two tie dying experiences. Travel across the entire United States, with an imaginary voyage into Canada and Mexico, also occurred. None of it was planned, nor was any of it a typical "fun" activity. Tonight can be an example as well...a spontaneous trip to MelonHead country resulted in finding an extremely creepy road on a foggy/rainy night and my fourth run in with police with no negative consequences. My list could continue, but I'll save you the details about things which have ocurred prior to my previous post.

Poll question for the day:

How many of you readers have had a run in with the police? If you have, how many...?

Kicking the Sky

Cedar Point on Friday was amazing! We definitely didn't wait in a line of more than 45 minutes and therefore rode everything I view to be important and hit most of them twice and the Raptor a third. What a day! 22 full inversions on coasters alone, who knows how many when other thrill rides are included. The scrambler even got hit. Definitely watched a country show with dinner (a taco salad which, btw, was an excellent choice. Wouldn't have left an hour before the park closed if it was up to me, but that was pretty much the only negative on the day for this guy. And who can complain about riding in the party bus to and from the park either?

The rest of my weekend wasn't too shabby either. After sleeping in to make up for an extremely long day in the sun, I went up to church for the youth group's camping retreat on Saturday and did the camping thing that day and night...playing lots of Cosmic Wimpout along the way, including a 2-4am game. Sunday included washing cars and a trip to the Drive-in to see Ice Age 3 and the second Night at the Museum movie. Quite the double feature, I might add. Neither was as good as its predecessor, but both were hilarious and multiple tubs of self-buttered popcorn helped to create a wonderful experience. Oh yeah, and of course the party bus and those who ride in the party bus tend to make most anything hilarious as well. I'm thinking a trip to the drive-in for every new double feature will be necessary from here on out.

Along with all the aforementioned amazingness came the idea for a blog relating to the greatness that is cosmic wimpout and the wonderful locations at which we will play it. Check in here to eventually find a link to this blog, once it comes to fruition.

Cedar Point

Definitely going to Cedar Point tomorrow which eats up a good portion of a small paycheck, but I'm looking forward to it This prompts a few basic questions to be asked of my few readers.

Which coaster do you start with on your visits? (I'm very partial to starting with Millenium)

Which non-coaster thrill ride is worth targeting on your visits? (I'm partial to both MaxAir and Power Tower)

and...to finish off the brief questionare...

Produce a top 10 must ride list.

late

Yeah, I realize I'm way late on getting a blog update rolling, but here it is now.

I went to Rachel Defassio and Sam Bowerman's wedding last weekend with Kristin...who was in town by the way. The wedding was a full mass and therefore way too long for the unairconditioned church. Didn't help that I had to be there four extra hours for the rehearsal and then Kristin's quintet's rehearsals. The reception was open bar though, which is always a plus. It was fun to see old faces and party it up in PA with Kristin. Dinner overlooking the city from the top of the Duquesne Incline may have been the highlight outside of wedding festivities.

With the rest of Kristin's visit we caught up on visiting my family, seeing my best friend who is also currently in town, and a trip to my bar of choice...The Winking Lizard ('tis a great name for a bar...I know). A trip to see a pretty sweet waterfall in Cuyahoga National Park was one of the keys to our last day before her flight back.

The weekend of the fourth has been quite enjoyable as it is now wrapping up. I celebrated my birthday on the 2nd so that I could celebrate my niece Kristin's bday on the 3rd...my real birthday. This is ironic, because her actually birthday is the day I celebrated mine. I'm not quite sure why my sister and bro-in-law thought this was the way to do things, but I don't make the decisions, I just roll with the punches. My celebration capped off with a trip to see the Cleveland Orchestra perform at Public Square in downtown Cleveland. We sat in lawn chairs on one of the biggest and busiest roads in Cleveland to hear great music. Yesterday we celebrated the fourth by grilling out and playing outdoor games such as cornhole, croquet, horseshoes, and hillbilly golf...all classics. In the evening we hit up the fireworks as usual and now tonight I just got back from hitting up another set of fireworks. My niece and nephew came with me to sit on the breakwall and view Fairport Harbor's fireworks from across the harbor itself. The delay from light reaching us and sound reaching us was cause for much laughter. We avoided falling in the lake off of the breakwall despite it being dark for the trek back.

My apologies for the merely informational blog post, but I suppose I tend to get this way when I've not updated for quite some time. Hopefully my next post will be more prompt and therefore resume my usual style. Hope everyone's celebrations were up to par and above.