Sidders

Boo to Fastrack. Half the fun of the queue is being completely immersed underneath the giant black tangle of track with yellow trains soaring past you just inches above your head. Sure there's a bit of cattle-penning but Fastrack just skips all the psychological tricks the ride inherently forces onto you just by standing underneath it for an hour. I love watching the Marmaliser in action; it's screen and the other two queueline screens; the rumble and vibration of the supports as a train careers down the drop sections. I particularly loved standing in the part of the queue directly underneath the lowest point of the drops and looking up at the drop-section inversions the train rolls through. Seeing the train spin around, with that Smiler logo on the front elegantly and mockingly rotating 360 degrees as it looks as if it's going to dive straight into you is such an unnerving (probably deliberate and extremely effective) showcase of the psychological awareness of how much fear can be felt from just anticipating a ride. The face may be static but the whole ride just feels alive and that face really helps it. Never got why the TTF lot hated it on the trains. There's something very menacing about how that grinning face seems to be looking straight at you at this point.

Not sure if anyone else has noticed this, and this may just be for maintenance, but does anyone else think it's a bit weird Samurai looks like it's in half-cycle yet its in its lowered position for onload/offload? I.e. were the ride to continue rotating on its main axis, it would collide with the ground/operating booth. Given the problems with zero-ing last year, is it possible this isn't just for maintenance and the ride is set to endure a number of weeks downtime again?

I eventually came out to my mum in writing, James. Dad still doesn't know about me being gay though. Mum reacted fine but it was really hard watching her read it. I mean, really hard. I don't know how you'll feel if you go ahead with writing a letter but the best advice is that it doesn't need to be lengthy. You'll feel more comfortable talking about it than writing it once it's out in the open. The letter should really break the ice as it were. Mum hugged me and said that all she wanted for her children was for them to be happy, and that because she could never afford to give us material wealth, she tried to teach us that things like friendship, loyalty and love are much more important and that who we love doesn't matter. 'Course, I was a blubbering wreck at the time so I've paraphrased a wee bit!

Ooooh, Avicii's new song is lursh.

WINGED DEVILS.

My sister called poached eggs booby eggs. Because they look like boobies but they're eggs. Aww.

This topic.... No pictures pls. I apparently have 'Mottephobia', or so I'm told it's called.

Okay hold up. Those green properties need switching....

Banned for being a girl. How very dare you.

Pralien. Or Praline. Definitely praline they're amazing. Spoon or Sponge?

British Racing Bi-plane sorta thing going on. Beige suits.

Damn. Merlin's UK parks certainly are getting a battering of negative press this year and last...

Not quite, noob. Boneshaker was a HUSS 1001 Nights (Boneshaker's original name if I remember correctly), whilst Wipeout in that video is a Zamperla Windshear. They're often confused because they're all very similar in operation and ride experience. Not a fan of the Top-Spin but never ridden a Windshear. I doubt they're as spectacular as they look. Quite like the Topple Tower, they're much more engaging as a spectator.

Applications for the new host will be accept via PM up till a date I have not yet specified because cba. If you have already shown and interest you can apply again. I'll decide closer to the start date of the awards who gets the prestigious honour of hosting

Android. Apple or Plum?

Banned for pro-creationism. Bazinga.

Banned because you're not Lez Cougan.

Custard cream! Cats or Bats?

My guess is RideAddict.

Banned for having Ian in your signature.

Oh I'm not saying Labour or even the Lib Dems now are not to blame because you're right, but my angry rant made me overlook the scale of that cock-up. Thanks pluk!

"The UK must uphold the sanctity of marriage for the good of our future. We must become international pioneers of the new future where the marriage institution remains untainted by this bill." This vitriolic statement was released by "an unnamed Conservative" some time in the last year, since the first reading of the SSM bill was passed. A new future built on old values? Very Tory. As if they haven't destroyed the banking system; allowed Gove to single-handedly ruin the educational system; and tried to point the finger at every other nation in the world for being tax havens rather than take the blame for being the ones who put their money there in the first place, they now decide that a very real, very pissed off minority don't deserve the same rights as the majority. Jeez, Tory sure is the right name for them. It originates from the Old Irish tóraidhe, meaning "unlawful or untrustworthy, or a pursued bandit". If they want to be a part of our future they should look back ten years, when The Netherlands became the first nation to legalise same-sex marriage... in 2003, for God's sake.

Banned for not realising how sexy sheep can be.

Now see this is just a silly argument that's always really irked me. Marmaliser aside? The Marmaliser is the focal themeing point of the ride! It's like saying "Valley aside, Nemesis is poorly themed" or "Hole aside, Oblivion is just a train falling off an edge". Other than that, a very well-reasoned argument, though I do find myself disagreeing but only because what you found to be poor I found to be excellent. A simple difference of opinions - we'll have to agree to disagree!

Ste, If you "find" Detonator to be such, may I suggest you lose it?