|
|
| |
 |
 The Midway: #9 - ACE Spring Conference Report
by Mike “kimfair” Carvalho
July 2 , 2008
I awoke bleary-eyed to the sounds of the alarm at three in the morning. I hit the snooze button, but knew I could only do that once, as we had a 6 AM flight, and thanks to the TSA, we needed to be at the airport with at least an hour and a half to spare, for shoe removal and a full body cavity search. When the alarm woke me the second time, I got up, showered, and hustled my still snoozing wife into the shower herself. My brother was in town visiting, and the three of us had a long night of drinking that ended barely 2 hours prior. I was not happy.
Read More >> |
 The Midway: #8 - Postcards
by Mike “kimfair” Carvalho
March 12 , 2008
As anyone who’s read any other installments of this column would attest, I love amusement parks. But anyone who knows me well would say that I love collecting things even more. I think if I were to poll the readership here, most of us would confess to collecting something in our lifetime.
Read More >> |
 The Midway: #7 - Stuck on a Roller Coaster
by Mike “kimfair” Carvalho
November 14, 2007
Every five years, my wife and I renew our wedding vows. At five years, it was on a beach in Sanibel, FL, fifteen was by Elvis at the Graceland Chapel in Las Vegas, NV, and this year, our twentieth, we renewed them at Fenway Park prior to a baseball game. This is the Midway, however, and this column is about our tenth anniversary, when we held our vow renewal on a roller coaster, and got stuck. Getting stuck on a roller coaster is not a whole lot of fun, especially if one is upside down. Luckily we were not quite upside down, but it still sort of sucked, especially in full wedding regalia.
Read More >> |
 The Midway: #6 - Dark Rides
by Mike “kimfair” Carvalho
September 5, 2007
It starts as the heavy car lurches forward, and the ride operator lifts the lap bar so you can enter it. The car moves forward slowly, approaching a set of painted doors, known as “bang doors” in the industry. The car forces the bang doors open, and you find yourself plunged into the darkness. From this point on, you are at the mercy of the ride designers who will place several “tricks” along the serpentine track for the riders to experience. These tricks can be as simple as a loud buzzer in the dark, generally the first trick, as it lets the operator know when the car has passed a certain point in the track, allowing them to send another car through, or complex tricks like the “Girl to Gorilla” illusion. I’ve always been fond of the super cheesy paper mache monsters that lean forward as the car approaches. This is a dark ride.
Read More >> |
 The Midway: #5 - Roller Coaster Boot Camp
by Mike “kimfair” Carvalho
July 18, 2007
It all started with a trip to the emergency room.
It was Saturday June 16th, and we were waiting on a table for dinner at a favorite restaurant. I had been suffering for two days with right ear pain, but I didn’t want to go to an emergency room, since I knew we’d be there until the wee hours. We were leaving for Cincinnati in the morning for our coaster trip, and hadn’t packed yet. I finally relented, as the pain was becoming unbearable, my wife’s nagging was too, and I thought that my ear (that by this time resembled Dumbo’s) might explode on takeoff. We left without eating and walked about a quarter mile to the ER. I was pissed off and sweaty from the heat, and when we walked in, I think they thought I was having a heart attack, as they brought me right back. Twenty minutes later, with two antibiotic scripts in hand, we headed out. This is unprecedented in ER turnaround time!
Read More >> |
 The Midway: #4 - Sideshows, Freaks, and Medical Wonders
by Mike “kimfair” Carvalho
May 23, 2007
“Step Right Up! Step Right Up! See the half boy Johnny Eck, who walks on his hands! See the Lion Faced Man, whose entire body is covered in fur! See the armless girl who does everything with her feet! See the Siamese Twins, joined forever at the hip! See them all and much more for just one thin dime!”
So went the ballyhoo, or pitch to get the audience inside the tent or building that held what were known as freaks, or more sensitively, medical curiosities and human oddities. Though more commonly thought of as part of traveling circuses, there were many amusement parks across the country that housed small permanent freak shows as part of their sideshows. It is important to realize how amusement parks were operated at the turn of the century. There was usually a nominal fee to gain entrance, which went to the owners of the park. The rides and attractions were individually owned and operated, some by the parks owners, and some by private investors who rented space in the park from the owners.
Read More >> |
 The Midway: #3 - Top Ten Steel Roller Coasters
by Mike “kimfair” Carvalho
March 20 , 2007
On reading my top ten wooden coasters list a friend asked me
how I could write a top ten steel coaster list after saying some
less than complimentary things about them. Let’s get this
straight. I love and enjoy steel coasters; they just don’t
bring me the same level of excitement I get from wooden coasters.
Unlike wooden roller coasters, which basically come in two types,
there are a myriad of different types of steel coasters. Types
of steel coasters include looping, corkscrew, mega, hyper, stand
up, boomerang, and inverted. There are also coasters classified
as flying, Linear Induction Motor (LIM), suspended, shuttle loops,
and mine rides. There is new innovation in the industry constantly,
and it is a rare year that a new style or type of coaster does
not debut. As I approach my forty fifth year on the planet, my
enthusiasm for going upside down five or six times in three minutes
has waned precipitously. This is particularly true of the old
fashioned sit down style looping steel roller coaster. Inverted
coasters, where the tracks run above the riders heads, and your
legs dangle beneath your seat are my favorite type of looping
coaster, as you’ll no doubt tell from the list. Get ready
and strap in for ten great rides!
Read More >> |
 The Midway: #2 - Top Ten Wooden Roller Coasterss
by Mike “kimfair” Carvalho
January 24, 2007
Although I love almost all roller coasters, the traditional wooden roller coaster, or “woodie” holds a very special place in my heart. There is something about that shimmy, shake, and give that really speaks to me, much more than the antiseptic smooth ride that most steel coasters provide.
Read More >> |
 The Midway: #1 - The Birth of My Love for Amusement Parks
by Mike “kimfair” Carvalho
December 27, 2006
Clack, clack, clack went the chain as we ascended to the top. My hands were white-knuckling the safety bar, when a string of muttered obscenities burst forth from my mouth. Shit, shit, fuck, shit, fuck, all the way up the 98 foot lift hill, until we plunged over the edge.
Read More >> |
|
|
|
|
|
