Sidders

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wH70oczxqOUThe audio video for Snow Patrol's new single, which I'm currently loving alongside 'Fire In The House', which was posted by Mark further up the page. I post the audio video because it suits the song better than the real video.

... is very awkward indeed.

'Bloody Mary'

Sorry to change the subject but it's only just struck me how Thorpe have been marketing this ride... Apart from "UK's first winged coaster", we, and the general public, have heard very little about the ride in any promotional campaign. It seems that up to now Thorpe have concentrated on more implicit promotional schemes á la Oblivion. There's Les Coogan, the mini-site and the tank - none of it ties together and leaves many holes in the plot-line thus far, but what if that's a good thing? We're not being spoon-fed that The Swarm will be "the scariest", "the fastest", "the tallest" or "the most intense", and instead we're getting little nuggets of information that, to non-enthusiasts, suggest little more than the notion that something is going to happen at Thorpe - but there's no explicit detail as to what (except that it's a coaster, obviously), but the back story is only very gradually taking precedence. They're made to piece it together themselves - warnings from a crackpot nerdy guy, the tank, the biohazard symbol - it means that imagination, expectation and anticipation are factored in; this mystery shrouding just what the hell The Swarm is is all part of the hype and wonderment, and is a far more exciting promotional scheme for any coaster we've seen built in the UK for over a decade.

This is why the Desire HD is better.

Oh, Geordie Shore as well. Their attitudes to life, themselves and others makes me want to mace them.

My Super Sweet Sixteen US... that really has to be up there, doesn't it? Those obnoxious little $h!ts don't know how spoiled they are.

They could sort that by doing a PR opening and go for a "What will be, will be" approach, so long as they don't invite Jonathan Ross.

Sure there are some crap HTCs (Wildfire, Hero, HD7), but mine is lovely. And having owned both an iPhone 4 and an HTC Desire HD, I can safely say the Desire HD is far superior. And it has flash content.

Which plans state that the gap is eight metres?

Goodness me, what brain fog does to me... I must apologise I barely even remember writing that, because if I did I wouldn't have written it... Vair confusehhhd.

American music will never have the sheer passion, wittiness, and freshness UK artists are adorned with. That said, there are a lot of over-hyped British artists at the moment.Case in point: Lady GaGa's new song, 'You & I' is okay. Only 'okay. Put a lovely British spin on it from Mark Taylor (of Quite A Lot Of Things fame) and it's amazing. Besides, now you can line-dance to it. THIS IS V IMPORTANT TO POP LOVERS. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6lkPvnienYLady GaGa loved it so much it is part of the 'You & I' iTunes bundle and a B-side for the physical release.

Yeah, if we're going by my calculations The Swarm will reach 60-61mph at the base of the drop. Best guess for the Zero-G roll is about 49-50mph, picking up speed on the exit, but as you say, it's the inclined loop that'll kill a lot of the speed (another reason why there should ABSOLUTELY no trims ). I'd imagine your guestimate is pretty accurate at 30mph, with speed increasing to about 35mph during the helix and being sustained for the majority of the rest of the ride. That's nothing to complain about - Colossus' top speed is only 45mph and because it's very consistent with it's speed, during it's inline twist Colossus' train is moving at about 30mph and they're wonderfully drawn out, so the same will be for The Swarm's latter section.

Ha! Brilliant observation/fanboy-ism there, Josh. And people were saying a mere inline twist was a poor end to the ride! And overall that's ten interactions? 1) the plane, 2) the helicopter, 3) the entry to the corkscrew is above the "Rickety Jetty", which is partially accessible to guests, 4) the corkscrew through the inclined loop, 5) the fire engine (right wing only), 6) the tower, 7) the overturned car, 8) the queueline staircase, 9) the station building and 10) the "box support" acting as a head and foot-chopper.And all that before we consider pyrotechnics/water effects! Thought there'll undoubtedly be one in the "controlled pond area" about the helix.I'm liking each new attention to detail we spot in these plans. Initially my only gripes with the coaster was that it was quite short and that the themeing seemed quite sporadic; where there was themeing it was good, but it appeared too thinly spread over the area and didn't like like an immersive experience, being on the island. This is changing now.

iPhone over BlackBerry...But iPhone vs. my HTC however....

Urgh... enthusiasts...

I don't see why people's main issue with Storm Surge is an uncomely bit of framework at the top. There are far better things to criticise Storm Surge with. Namely it's location, the ride experience, the ride appearance and poor throughput figures resulting in large queues for what is essentially, a waste of time when the best thing for anyone with a penchant for water rides would be better advised to ride either Logger's Leap, Tidal Wave or Rumba Rapids.For me though, the worst thing about it is it's location. So no amount of canopy or extra themeing at the top is ever going to remedy the fact it's a complete waste of space; the park don't need four water rides when the first three were sufficient.

If you believe everything you read, stop reading.No doubt they initially tried, but something tells me that because no such themeing ever appeared on the plans, Thorpe had already given up and saw it as a valid opportunity to skimp more money.

Unlikely Kevin. Looking at the rest of the plans, yes, it may be bits of rusty metal but they include a plane, a helicopter, a fire truck, an over-turned lorry and numerous other interactive features. Besides, if the building was planned with stairs I'm pretty sure they'd keep something like stairs - they're needed to cross to the other side of the station.And yes Adam, that illustrates it perfectly - certainly looks to be a good bit of interaction between guests and riders, but that's not all. We also spoke about the inline twist and how it will extend over the queueline (which will, in part, be open-top as the roof has been burnt away/collapsed) so the tower interaction all the way to the end of the ride will look absolutely brilliant for one and for seconds will provide a great interactive experience with head-foot choppers and guests. The best part being none of these features need maintaining - they just need to be put there in the first place.

Third

Oh it's open to guests, yes, and as far as I'm aware it's never been known by any other name; "Sunken Gardens" always appeared on the Thorpe Park maps and such.But this is off-topic. Please keep on topic and post any irrelevant concerns in the appropriate threads. :closedeyes:In other news, I bear more late-night findings... A member of TTF and numerous sources from CF have mentioned that amongst other crack-pot warnings from Les Coogan, he came out with a rather lovely nugget of information recently; has said the following with regard to the coaster's name": As always, food for thought but it's very Oblivion-esque, isn't it? And at least now we have some grasp of what The Swarm actually is. Something tells me bees are out the window though. Damn bees. They get it so hard.