We're in the mini mall working the carnival
Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum, when we last visited in November, hadn't announced where they would move when the landlord kicks them out. A week or two ago they did; it's to a spot in an actual factual mall, much like its current location in what was once upon a time Tally Hall began. They figure to close the current location just after the new year, and open in the new ... whenever they finish moving. Summer if all goes well. That hardly seems like enough time. I imagine archeology students can get some practical experience uncovering the many layers of things there.
The last season of Marvin's pinball league at the original location ended in November, with bunny_hugger winning the B division (as she had her first season there) and my just being pleased to participate. But they had one more pinball event, scheduled for this past Friday. It was a triple Launch Party. The Launch Party is a Stern Pinball-supported publicity thing to draw attention to a venue getting a new game and playing some kind of tournament --- Stern doesn't much care what --- with all the interested serious players. It happens that PWT had three launch parties for the same day, I guess because he hadn't had time to schedule one since John Wick, Jaws, and Ultimate X-Men came out. Jaws I think has been out since the early part of this year but I guess Stern isn't being too tight on how soon a launch party has to be. And a triple launch party opens some excitement that a single one wouldn't have; after all, even if you flop in one, there's two more to have.
So bunny_hugger and I made the drive to Marvin's on Friday for what we figured would be the last time in this location, maybe ever if the move goes badly. We did have one minor miracle in that all the highway construction between here and there was done and we could just drive on the roads like it was normal. It's been so long since the turn onto 127 South, if nothing else, was open.
The tournament format --- actually the tournaments format, as all three used the same scheme, but independent of one another --- was pretty much what bunny_hugger uses for our weekly Tuesday Night Smackdown tournaments. Everyone who wants can play the designated game up to twice, with their higher score counting. At the end of qualifying, the four players with the highest qualifying score go on to a winner-takes-all match. So we just had to find time between about six pm and nine pm to play ... well, six games, in-between the many other people who'd come for the triple launch party. (How did we never think to call it Launch Multiparty?)
That group would, incidentally, include CST and his wife, whom we hadn't seen since ... well, early in November when they attended our friend's strikes tournament. Sadly, not there was MWS, whose car is once again having issues. And yeah, nobody needs to be having car issues any particular time, but he really does not need this trouble to be hitting him now. So it would be a partial reunion of the old gang, at least, come to see everything as it has been for one final time.
The King Cobra coin-op reflex game was not working, with the coin slot taped shut. The tic-tac-toe chicken was playing, although the chicken wasn't moving around, and it wasn't dispensing tickets anyway. But, for the first time, I put money into the faux-vintage TV set to ``see the life of Robert Werdlow'' and it did indeed bring up a short documentary on the life of Robert Wadlow, the tallest person recorded in history. It started with a song, for some reason.
In-between all the photo taking, we just had to play a couple games well.
Now please enjoy some more Kentucky Kingdom pictures here.
So which way is the Thunder Run entrance, again? ... I like that you're allowed to walk under the roller coaster. Not enough parks provide paths like that.
Ah, there's the entrance to Thunder Run, all right!
Nice little rock-lined creek alongside the Thunder Run lift hill here.
Here I photograph toward the launch station and right into the sun so bunny_hugger can demand I clean my camera lens.
And here's the walk up to the station. As noted, it was kind of weird there wasn't any line at all.
Thunder Run's up against the side of the water park. This banked turn of the roller coaster feels characteristic of modern wooden coasters to me although it's not like it's that great a design innovation to bank a turn.
Trivia: The Count of Monte Cristo, an adventure drama series based on the Alexandre Dumas novel, ran from 1944-45 on the Don Lee network on the west coast; then 1946-47 weekly on Mutual, then 1947-48 on Mutual as a summer series; then June 1949 through January 1, 1952, weekly on Mutual. Source: On The Air: The Encyclopedia of Old Time Radio, John Dunning. Dunning doesn't say whether this was all adaptations of events in the novel or if it was original stories with this background.
Currently Reading: Lost Popeye Zine Volume 51: Icicle Island!, Tom Sims, Bela Zaboly. Editor Stephanie Noelle.