Trivia (3-D)

I'm a recent fan of Disney World. One of the newest attractions is a midway style ride in 3-D, Toy Story Midway Mania. This is a revolutionary attration, but not the first at the resort to use this type of technology. Many of the show-style attractions already use 3-D (or in some cases 4-D) techniques. But, in traditional Disney fashion, nothing is called what it actually is.

Can you name the only Walt Disney World show attraction that actually calls their 3-D glasses, well, 3-D glasses?



Answers to previous questions here and the hockey quiz .

I Hit The Wall

Well, it's been just a minute since I've posted anything. Sorry about that. I just hit the wall a few days ago. This weekend with the Braves and Red Sox was brutal, both in terms of the Braves on field performance, the crowds, the heat, and my recovery.

In case you didn't have the honor of going outside in Atlanta this past weekend, it was hot. I mean like crazy hot. Brutal. We had fans and employees alike just dropping over all series long. The heat was about 95 degrees in the shade with a heat index of well over 105. Mix that with about 50,000 of your closest rivals and it makes for a very sweaty event.

They opened up several additional first aid stations to deal with the heat, but people were literally fainting all over the place. EMS crews definately had their hands full.

I was doing fine until about Friday. Then, I hit the wall. I mean I just started suffering. I did the best I could, but man was it difficult. I am glad to say I made it through the series without having to take a day off. We do have three more games against the Phillies, but I'm hoping they will be a walk in the park.

I did get to see my man-crush yesterday, Clark Howard . He was filming for his TV show. It was funny because he was out in our ticket line and a fan approached him, shook his hand, and said he was surprised to see Clark at such a premium priced game. Clark got real excited and said, "No! There's one dollar tickets! Right there!"

Of course, he's right. We have one dollars for each game. They go on sale when the gates open (generally two and a half hours prior to first pitch). And when they're gone, they are gone. There are 187 per game. Yeah, they're the worst seats in the house, but they are in the house. And actually, not terrible view of the stadium. Plus, you can view the game from other areas open to everyone with those tickets.

Sad thing is, these are normally gone in the first hour or so on a normal game. Yesterday (Sunday versus the Red Sox), we still had some at first pitch. And the gates opened three hours before that. Sad. Almost as sad as the fact my man-crush is Clark Howard.

Oh, I don't know if I mentioned this, but I totally don't have a voice. I lost it a week ago and it remains gone. It was sad when I was trying to have a conversation with Hannah (a director of Guest Relations) at the stadium because she too has lost her voice. It was pathetic. We eventually gave up. Oh well.

On a school note, I did have a conversation with the internship coordinator at Georgia State and she is going to lobby on my behalf to have me be an intern with the Braves in Spring of 2010. I don't know if I mentioned it yet in the blog, but I will have to take three classes along with the internship to graduate on time. That sucks, but I'm just ready to be done.

Cheers and a good week to you.

Trivia (Yum!)

It took a minute, but here's the new trivia question.

Yum! Brands owns six major restaurant companies across the United States, including one of my all time favorites, Taco Bell.

Can you name the other five?



Also, be sure to check out the hockey quiz and the answers to previous trivia questions.

Thrashers Pick Evander Kane with 4th Pick

The NHL Draft was tonight and Thrashers used their 1st round, 4th pick on Evander Kane. The 18 year old Kane played for the Vancouver Giants of the WHL. He's a 6'1'', 176 Center that finished 2nd in the WHL last season with 96 points in 61 games.

For more info on the Thrashers' pick and the draft, look right here .



I don't have an opinion yet. The only thing I can say about my beloved Thrashers is that if this guy IS good, they shouldn't trade him for the hot-right-now player as they've done in the past. Raise him up if he's not ready in Gwinnett or Chicago and then give him a shot on the big stage.

It seems to me that the ownership thinks the fans are unable to wait for success. We can't handle the stress of uncertainy and need instant gratification. That's why they continuously trade away all of our prospects. Have they learned nothing from the Worst-to-first Braves of 1991? And 1992. 93. So forth. Home grown talent was the key to the Braves success and the Thrashers should take a clue.

Trivia (Snakes)

In case you didn't read it below , I'm going to start posting all the trivia answers in one post so they aren't right next to the question. The questions will still come daily (or semi-daily depending on my schedule). The hockey quiz remains up with answers still to come later next week.

We do have a question for today.

You come across the following two snakes in the woods. Which one is venomous?

June Trivia Answers

After a very helpful suggestion from Stephanie, I'm going to start posting the answers in a different place than essentially right next to the question.

So, I'll still post the questions one at a time, but I'll post all the answers in one spot. One post per month.

Okay, are we all on the same page? Good.


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Q: Which city's major sports teams all have the same primary colors? (This city has at least three teams in MLB, NFL, NHL, and / or NBA)

A: Pittsburgh. The MLB, NFL and NHL teams are all colored black, white, and yellow. That's the Pirates , the Steelers , and the Stanley Cup Champion Penguins .


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Q: Which snake is venomous?



A: A. That's a coral snake. The other is a scarlet king snake. The little rhyme to help you remember is if red touches black, you're okay jack. If red touches yellow, you're a dead fellow. For more information, including first aid, click here .


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Q: Yum! Brands owns six major restaurant companies across the United States, including one of my all time favorites, Taco Bell. Can you name the other five?

A: Yum! Brands owns A&W All American Foods, Long John Silver's, KFC, Pizza Hut, and Wing Street in addition to Taco Bell and others internationally.


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Q: Can you name the only Walt Disney World show attraction that actually calls their 3-D glasses, well, 3-D glasses?

A: Muppet Vision 3D . Other shows, such as It's Tough To Be A Bug or Mickey's Philharmagic call their glasses "Bug Eyes" and "Opera Glasses" respectively.

Pirates and Queens

Have you heard about this ? Hope my pirate friends at The Black Bunny are all okay!



Also, check out this article with pictures from Disney with characters from the new, state of the art Disney film "Alice in Wonderland", set for theaters March 5, 2010.

Kinda scary looking stuff for the Disney label, don't you think? But what do you expect when Tim Burton is involved.

Trivia

Today's trivia question. Here we go.

Which city's major sports teams all have the same primary colors? (This city has at least three teams in MLB, NFL, NHL, and / or NBA).

The question yesterday was matching lingo from The Varsity .

Here's the correct combinations.

1. Hot Dog - E. Hot dog with chili and mustard
2. Steak - C. Hamburger with ketchup, mustard, and pickles
3. P.C. - A. Chocolate milk always served with ice (P.C. stands for Plain Chocolate)
4. Strings - D. An order of french fries
5. Sideways - B. Onions on the side

Don't forget to take the hockey quiz .

I Was Right The First Time...

Okay, so if you read the blog yesterday or the day before , you'll see I've had varing opinions about Yankee fans.

Well, after the Braves defeat at the hands of the Yankees tonight, I've decided that Yankee fans are gracious lossers and annoying winners. Loud loud yells, lots of chants. It sounded like freaking Yankee Stadium tonight. Very bad.

The walk up was still low, but I did get a pretty cool assignment. I've been talking about bidding for batting practice the last couple of days. Today, I was the doorman to the field. There was some concern that people would try and reuse their batting practice wristbands from the day before. Well, low and behold we did have some punk try it and I ran him off. Don't try any of that low class stuff with me. I'll get you everytime. I was extremely close to the Yankees and Braves tonight. Gag me with the Yankees though.

Oh, by the way, batting practice will be available to the public past the Yankees and Red Sox series at a set price of $50. That rocks. 50 clams gets ON the field, stationary right behind the players to get all the pictures you want during both batting practices. Neat.

Back to the walk up real fast. Yesterday's was the second LOWEST of the season. In case you don't know what the term "walk up" refers to, it's anyone who arrives at the ballpark for the game without a ticket and purchases their tickets just before entering. Walking up as opposed to getting it in advance at the box office or through the Internet. Second lowest this season. That's really bad. We've had games with rain, potential rain, extreme heat, week day games at night, week day games during the day, and we are in the same division as the Florida Marlins and Washington Nationals. So, that really says something about people's collective thought about ticket availability. It's shocking. I mean, all of the parking IS sold out, but the seats are not. Interesting to day the least.

So, Bobby Cox wasn't ejected tonight, but Yankees skipper Joe Girardi was. But don't be discouraged. Cox is still awesome in the " You Are Outta Here " department.

On a total side note, watch Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along-Blog. Joss Whedon at his "grrr-arrgh-y-est". ( What the hell is he talking about? )

Don't settle for it just once. Go out and buy it and watch all the extra features, including "Commentary, The Muscial!" Wow, now that's a bit of all right.

Trivia

Triva for today. Today's question is a matching one.

"What'll ya have? What'll ya have? What'll ya have? Have your order in mind and your money in your hand!"

This constant chorus can be heard the minute you walk into The Varsity in Atlanta. They have their own lingo. Match the proper phrase on the top with the descriptions below.

1. Hot Dog
2. Steak
3. P.C.
4. Strings
5. Sideways



A. Chocolate milk always served with ice
B. Onions on the side
C. Hamburger with ketchup, mustard, and pickle
D. An order of french fries
E. Hot dog with chili and mustard




Okay, so the answer to the question from yesterday. That question was: "The Braves are the only team to have won the World Series in three seperate cities. Name the cities."

Answer: Atlanta, Milwaukee and Boston . The Braves defeated the Cleveland Indians 4 games to 2 in Atlanta 1995, Milwaukee saw the Braves defeat the New York Yankees in seven games in 1957, and in 1914, the Boston Braves swept the Philadelphia Athletics in four games.


Don't forget the hockey exam .

I Stand Corrected

Well, I was wrong. Yankee fans are not worse than Cubs Fans . They were generally polite and civil. Of course, there was the typical booing and cheering and chants and such, but that's to be expected.

The sad part was that the Braves have been advertising for some time now about this homestand. "Get your tickets now! They go fast!" and things like that. There are even tips for fans attending the game. In fact, for the last week the message boards on the Interstate system have been saying "Braves Permit Parking Only. Others use MARTA."

Well, there was a ton of people there, but the walk up was nothing. We had about 30 police barracades placed in our sales line to help with the overflow of people, but the people didn't come. I think most were scared that if they didn't have tickets already, they couldn't get them. I mean, we had additional staff, Atlanta Police in force with their mobile command unit and horseback patrols, and a ton of management from the front office around. And it was nothing. No line to speak of at all. No window had a wait of more than three people at any given time.

Now, I'm not one to say I-told-you-so, but I totally called this one. My memory of the Red Sox series from two years ago was a good predictor of tonight. I worked almost every day out in the line and it was so boring. My theory is because there was so much fanfare about this game and so much hype, that fans assumed that if they didn't have tickets, they can't get in. On Friday and Saturday, that will be true but not for the rest of the homestand. My slight fear is that people will sit at home and see the empty seats and actually show up in droves for the rest of the games. Possible, but still pretty unlikely in my book. We shall see if I'm any good at this whole prediction stuff.

Today was really hot though. I mean, REALLY hot. Fans and employees alike were falling over like crazy. I can't really comment on it, but let's just say I had to stay late tonight for some paper work related duties. That means I got stuck in the traffic, which was horrible.

But at least the Braves pulled out a victory . A nice one too. And just in the nick of time for one Turner Field landmark. That big Coke bottle is being retired on the 2nd of July.

Before I forget, I did get and email from Georgia State Athletics today. That's good. I haven't worked there in over a month because of a Maymester and surgery. In addition to the email, I saw Carlos (marketing guy) at the game. Huge Yankees fan and he actually did bid the auction I talked about yesterday and won along with about 70 other folks. He paid $51 if you are interested. And it sounds like Georgia State is still interested in me from what he says. That makes me feel good. I really did put in some good work and I hope they have some good work for me. I don't know if they want me to come back until I go to Disney (about a month), but I'm willing if they are. I'll have to see.

Well, I'm pretty exausted and tomorrow is round three (of ten!). And the forecast for tomorrow calls for more 90 degree weather. Drink plenty of fluids if you are going to be outside tomorrow.

Trivia

Today's question:

The Braves are the only team to have won the World Series in three seperate cities. Name the cities.




And, of course, the answer to yesterday trivia question.

The question was: "What police agency developed SWAT, the D.A.R.E. program, and the motto "To Protect and Serve"? "

The answer: LAPD . The Los Angeles Police Department.

Both SWAT and D.A.R.E. were actually created under the same administration. That adminisitration? Chief Daryl Gates. Recognize the name? You might. Not only was Gates responsible for these programs, but he was also Chief during the Rodney King arrest and subsequent riots.

By the way, be sure to check out the Hockey Quiz . Answers will start rolling in after Hell Week .

DC Metro and Cubs

First and foremost, my thoughts are with everyone affected by the DC Metrorail accident . This holds a few personal thoughts for me. My precious Stephanie uses Metro every day. She uses the Orange Line (the disaster happened on the Red Line), but still. She's the one who originally told me about the accident, so she and everyone she knows is fine. That is such a relief. I don't know what I'd do if I lost her.

The second part that is a little personal is my upcoming job for Disney. I will be working for Transportation. The only description given thus far is operating (or assisting in the operations) of the boat system and the monorail. I don't know any details other than that. This means I could realistically be piloting a passenger train just like these.

Rest assured, I will not be texting at any point while operating a vehicle. I don't text a lot as it is, but that appears to be the problem with two accidents recently, one in Los Angeles , and the other in Boston . I haven't read anywhere that any fault should be placed on the operater of the DC train, but history shows it's possible if not probable. It could be a fault of the safety systems or faulty breaks. One article did site the train was one of the oldest in the fleet.

Oh well. Again, this is a tragedy and hopefully HOPEFULLY people will learn from it. Some of the professional lessons will have to wait (learn to do a complete safety check or learn not to get distracted), but lessons are already learned. Life is short and don't let it slip by. I know I don't always appreciate everyday, but things like this bring that into focus a little more clearly.

CHANGING GEARS

Yes, the Braves won tonight, but I still can't stand Cubs fans. They are by far the most annoying people on the planet. (I do plan on getting corrected tomorrow when the Yankees come to town). But my goodness! Loud and proud, but in a put-down-your-team sorta way. Go ahead and root for whoever, but you don't have to be so crazy rude about it.

By the way, you can bid online for a chance to go onto the field for batting practice during the Yankees and Red Sox series. This is one of several things operated by our staff.



We will also be distributing literally thousands of foam tomahawks over the remainder the week. I have a very bad feeling that some devious Boston and New York fans will get their mitts on them and there will be bits of red chunks blowing through the stadium.

Till then, I leave you with a photo of the fireworks from Turner Field taken from the parking lot.

Trivia Time

Okay, so I've decided to start a little trivia thing. Why? Why not.

Everyday (that I remember or can), I'll post a trivia question with the answer the next day.

I posted a Hockey Quiz . I'm going to leave that up there for at least a week and half so people can look at it. I'll slowly post the answers over the next little while.


Okay, here's today's trivia question:

What police agency developed SWAT, the D.A.R.E. program, and the motto "To Protect and Serve"?

Answer tomorrow.

Welcome to Hell Week (plus!)

Well, tomorrow begins the most impressive homestand the Atlanta Braves have had in at least the last three years.

Starting tomorrow (Monday), the Braves play a make up game against the Cubbies of Chicago. The Cubs are always the biggest opponent of the year that we can count on at Turner Field since they are in the same league.

Tuesday thru Thursday matches the Braves against the overrated New York Yankees. Even those that don't know anything about baseball know the Yankees. And anyone with half a brain hates them. The Yankees ball club is where the good players go to end their careers and whither away. It's like the retirement home for MLB.

I just can't wait for those fans. All the "ey's" and "yo's" and better-than-you attitudes. Should be fun. I'm not against fans getting ejected for pulling stupid stunts and acting like idiots.

After the Yanks, the Red Sox come into town for a weekend series. Another gigantic opponent. Not nearly as annoying (as memory serves), but numerous nonetheless. Plus, it's a weekend series which always up the fan-alcohol intake. You know, I've been doing this job for a few years and I'm not stupid. It still amazes me when a fan will pull alcohol out of their pocket and put up a verbal argument when I call them on it. We don't sell in glass bottles and we don't serve in 12 oz cans. I mean, if you're going to sneek stuff in: be smart about it.

Icing on the cake to these monster series is a mid-week series against the Phillies. For those counting, that's 10 games in 11 days. So, I'm going to be missing trivia the next few weeks.

On top of that, I've got a few important school meetings this week. Beyond class (with test on Thursday by the way), I've got a meeting with the Department Chair on Thursday at 1:15 to discuss my participation in my internship in the Spring and my non-conventional class this Fall. Friday has me meeting with the internship coordinator to finalize some details. Should be alright.

So, I apologize right now if I miss a little while worth of posting. Hopefully, I'll have some observations about Yankee fans and Red Sox fans. It will likely be biased. I try to be unbiased when talking sports, but there is only one exception: Yankees. While I'm always a Braves and Thrashers fan, I can realistically look at a loss and give a neutral stance, if I want to. I'll always root for them, but can handle a loss. The exception that is the Yankees: I always want them to lose. Always. No other team has this kind of moniker. I just can't stand a team that is so full of themselves they would build a more expensive stadium with less seating. Huh? A team that spends more money on players than any other team and STILL can't win the pennant with the dependancy one would expect.

One interesting point though. The Florida Marlins mascot is reportedly paid more than the Yankees mascot though CC Sabathia makes more than the Marlins Payroll.

Just how much are they getting paid? Well, let's look.

MLB Salaries

That's $201,449,289 for the Yankees. Second is the NY Mets at $135,773,988. Boston is in at four with $122,696,000 and the Braves are at 11 with $96,726,167. Bottom of the list the Marlins at $36,814,000.

So why do I hate the Yankees? Because of their "mighter-that-thou" attitude without enough sufficent evidence to back it up. Yes, they've been to the playoffs a lot, more than most teams. Yes, they have a number of World Series Championships, more than any other. BUT, they should absolutely dominate if the tried and true theory of economics means anything.

I mean, if one pays more for something, shouldn't it be better than something else that costs less? I'd be ticked off if I payed $20 bucks for a meal that came with a burger where the guy next to me paid $12 for a steak with choice of sides and a dessert. That's what happens everytime New York doesn't win the division behind Boston or, dare I say, finish behind the (Devil) Rays. And how are the Yankees doing this year? Right now they are second in their division, 4 games back of the Red Sox. Money does not buy championships. Heart does.

Okay, enough for now. I've got to meet with the surgeon tomorrow. Fun times.

Oh, and Bobby Cox was ejected today along with Chipper Jones and Eric O'Flaherty in a Braves loss.

New Look and Updates

Okay, so I changed the look of the site. It was really distracting for me to see so much wasted space. The computer I use is wide, so it's a wide screen blog now. It may cut you off if it's a smaller screen, but as long as you're reading this, it's all good.

Anyway, so I added 15 pictures as a stable fixture at the top of the blog. Photobucket was really cool in how it decided to center on them, I didn't choose that. For those curious, the pictures are as follows (left to right)

1. Row of TK Stormtrooper helmets from the St. Patrick's Day Parade.
2. Me as a Stormtrooper in some oversized chairs at Sky Field.
3. Stephanie and I at the Aquarium in Baltimore.
4. Me as a Stormtrooper on the big screen at a Thrashers game with Chuck Bell on "Chuck Cam".

Next row

1. Me helping present the Kelly Cup to the ECHL Champion Alaska Aces.
2. Stephanie, Abbey (sister) and me with Mickey.
3. Me as a TK at a Thrashers game.
4. Me and Stephanie at a Nationals Game in DC.

Another row down...

1. Me as a TK at Turner Field with the Atlanta skyline in the background.
2. Lord Stanley's Cup.
3. Stephanie and I in Mickey's Country House at Disney World.
4. Me (TK'ed) and Homer the Brave.

Last row

1. Stephanie and I in my two Thrashers jerseys.
2. Me after the St. Patrick's parade being lightsabered by a Sith Lord, Darth Nihilus.
3. Christmas with Thrash, a dancing tree, and some of "Santa's helpers".
4. Same as the first one. Couldn't change it.

So that's what that is on the side. I rather like it. I may update it from time to time, but it's a pretty cool looking little collage thing.

I did have a crucially important meeting today. It was all about my intership in the Spring of 2010 for Georgia State. Basically, I have to set up two more meetings next week and be professional during my intership (duh).

Oh, and one last thing. A test. Oh yeah, a test. 50 true / false questions over pretty much everything criminal justice. It's suppose to make sure we actually know something about this whole concept of criminal justice before we go out and embarrass the school in our intership. This little test wouldn't have been nearly as bad if I hadn't just taken some fun pain pills about an hour before hand. I swam through the test and hopefully did alright. But who knows. Some of the questions were just educated guesses because I've never really studied women as a seperate part of criminal activity, nor have I discussed certain specific police actions, and juvenile crimes have not been a major topic of my schooling at this point.

We shall see. All the best. I think I've earned myself a treat.

Improvements Necessary

Alright. I think I've enabled the comment part so that anyone can leave a comment.

My mission today is to try and set up a slide show and figure out how to make links appear in the message. I think it won't be all that hard, but we shall see.

How 'Bout A Picture?

Okay, here's a picture. Let's see how this looks. If all goes well, it will be a picture of Stephanie and me. I'm not sure if it will work or not. We shall see.

It looks like maybe it did. Hmmm...

I'll have to get with dear Captain later and figure out how to upload a slideshow. I think I know, but I'm not positive. That's all for now. More experimentation sure to follow.

First Post

Okay, so this is the first post. I have no idea how do do this, but let's just try it.

If it is successful, I should probably explain why I'm doing this. Biggest reason is for my dear family, friends, and girlfriend. Sometimes it's hard to remember who I told what to and so I figure this is an easy solution, especially come August.

So much to see and do in August. Going to work at Walt Disney World, don't cha know.

Anyway, that's all from me.