Ryan & Amanda Keefer's Personal Site: Cycling, Family, Tech, Music, Software & Game Reviews, etc.
// December 20th, 2007 // No Comments » // Apple, Internet / Web
Crap. One of the better Apple rumor sites is down for the count. It’s a TKO via an Apple lawsuit settlement.
I had no idea the site was run by a college kid. It would have been expensive and probably not worth the effort, but if it had gone to trial, I wonder if Think Secret would have won. Either way, they’re walking a thin line between censorship and revealing corporate secrets.
// December 19th, 2007 // No Comments » // Sports Stuff
Damn. JC pulled out of going to the Carolina game tonight, and Amanda is still too sick to go. (plus a 9pm start time is definitely a bit late for her). No biggie – I’ll just TiVo it and timeshift it a bit, drum a few songs in Rock Band and then watch the game. Great plan, eh? It would have been but just found out that the game is blacked out on ESPNU. Sucks! I’ve got free lunch riding on this game. Anyway, go Heels!
// December 18th, 2007 // No Comments » // General Posts
I haven’t been back to Kings Dominion in a year or two. Looks like next time we make it up (hoping for a spring road trip up there with JC, Bret, etc.), we’ll have two new coasters to check out – last year’s addition of the Italian Job coaster, and the late Spring 2008 addition of Kings Dominion’s 14th coaster. It’s great to see them continue to innovate and add onto their coaster lineup. Plus, it helps spread out the thrill seekers and thin the lines out at the older coasters.
They’ll need to be adding land onto the park soon. I wonder if that is going to stunt their growth in future seasons?
Record Breaking Roller Coaster Planned for Kings Dominion in 2008
Looks like Paramount sold the park at some point too. (Paramount bought the park in ’92) I noticed the site looks different, and the footer lists Cedar Fair Entertainment Company. Hmmm Will rides loose their movie name sakes like Wayne’s World, Sponge Bob, etc?
Wow, I somehow missed this. Paramount sold the park in 2006: Kings Dominion, formerly Paramount’s Kings Dominion
A bit of a rambling post going on here, but oh well. It’s good to have some verbose content on Keefer Madness. The link below answers my question about the retention of the Wayne’s World theme, etc.:
The coasters originally borrowed their theme from the 1992 Paramount motion picture Wayne’s World, whose main characters frequently used the word “hurl.” While Paramount sold both parks in 2006, the new owners have retained the name as fitting for a roller coaster but removed all references to Wayne’s World.
The Hurler at Kings Dominion was closed at the start of the 2006 season in order to be re-tracked. It has since reopened.
// December 17th, 2007 // No Comments » // Cycling, Tech
This is pretty cool. I have not tried it out yet, but should be able to check it out soon. It sounds like it has a lot of potential, converting your GPS’s files into map data for Google maps, etc. Can’t wait to give it a try.
// December 17th, 2007 // No Comments » // Kelly Clarkson, Music
I swear I’ve never been to Belgium.. ever!
// December 13th, 2007 // No Comments » // Cycling
I was wondering what was going to happen with Trek. Prior to Discovery Channel’s disappearance from the professional peloton, they were the sole team utilizing Trek’s great bike hardware. Looks like Trek will still be around in 2008, with Discovery’s former leader’s new team, Astana, Johan Bruyneel.
// December 12th, 2007 // No Comments » // Cycling
It’s every cyclist’s worst nightmare. We’re relatively unprotected on the road, especially when compared to the multi-ton vehicles zipping by. Many drivers see us as a hinderance (if they see us at all). The list below is a good break down of the most likely ways cyclists are to be hit and ways to minimize your risk and maximize your safety.
How to Not Get Hit by Cars: Important Lessons on Bicycle Safety
// December 11th, 2007 // No Comments » // TV Talk
Man, it did seem like the Heroes season was short, but they did kind wrap it up. Were there supposed to be more episodes in the second chapter. Sucks about 24, but 24 kind of needed a reboot anyway. Maybe this will give them time to retool. Jack Bauer’s, I mean Kiefer Sutherland’s incarceration probably didn’t help matters on that show either. But yeah, we’re already starting the see the tumbleweeds blowing on the Now Playing lists of our TiVos. It’s about time to start up our Netflix account again, albeit a bit earlier this year.
// December 10th, 2007 // No Comments » // Game Reviews, Gaming, Reviews, Xbox 360 Review
So last Monday when I was working from home, I also took the time to call around to see if any of the local Game Stops had any of the Rock Band Special Editions in for the Xbox 360 (Special Edition is just the game, the drum kit, guitar and mic). None did initially, but I’m glad I called around, as a couple just said no, while others informed me that they expected some via UPS later that day.
Late that afternoon, I snagged one from the closest Game Stop and since I had sold my PS2 hardware and all the games back, I had a massive store credit. Brought it home and did a little drum and guitar playing solo. Lots of fun!
But the real fun came yesterday when Bret, Tina and JC came and we had a full band. It really rocks with a group of people, and there’s a good variety of tasks in the career mode. We really were rocking out on a lot of tracks and had the most success and fun when Bret was on drums, Tina on bass, JC on vocals and me on guitar.
The only downer came toward the end of our extended session. Reports have been widespread about faulty hardware (EA Acknowledges Rock Band Guitar Defect, Promises Replacements, Rock Band Users Discovering Hardware Issues).
I was hoping since I didn’t get a box from the initial release batches, I’d be fine. But by the end of Sunday’s extended jam session, only upstrums were working on the Fender Rock Band Guitar. My guitar strum bar is slightly limp, hanging down from its usual centered home position. Luckily, EA is doing a two day turnaround on the faulty equipment, so a new guitar should be here Wednesday or Thursday this week – plenty of time before the next D’ Bagz jam session commences this weekend.
Local play was great, but is greatly enhanced by having a few friends in the room with you. I have yet to play online. I tried late Saturday night to, but gave up on trying to hook up with people to play with. I kept getting kicked out of the initial join “lobby.” I’m thinking I didn’t have enough experience. Maybe I’ll make it through on a couple of instruments solo and with the D’ Bagz before any further foray.
Despite the hardware issues, I highly recommend this game, especially if you have a few buddies that will be into it with you. The price tag is steep, but oh so much fun. I feel that I’ve already got my money’s worth, but there’s still a lot of fun, achievements, content and songs yet to unlock and/or tackle.
// December 7th, 2007 // No Comments » // Sports Stuff
These clauses are *almost* as interesting and amusing as some of the musicians’ concert riders. In the baseball ones, you can see some of the superstition come into play (Charlie Kerfeld’s).
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