Over the weekend I journeyed up to Staffordshire to watch Alton Towers’ fireworks display on Saturday with Tom. It turned out to be a fantastic unofficial unplanned meet-up: we bumped into Tom B just after we got into the car park, then saw half the ECC before meeting Paul O in the Valley for a couple of quick rides on Nemesis (where we found James L). Yep, it was that kind of see-everyone-you’ve-ever-met-or-heard-about kind of day. All that was before we went to the Tavern and said hello to Chris S and most of the Rideas team.
The park was extremely busy throughout the day, with queuetimes getting ridiculous by the end of the morning (Nemesis & Air 120+mins, Rita 160!). Luckily James had been able to get us reservations at Cariba Creek, so we had a break away from the mayhem. Thanks must go to James who guided us around - without my glasses on I couldn’t read any of the signs so would probably still be trying to find the way out!
We were back on park by late afternoon in time for the fireworks. Following all the noise problems Alton have been facing, there was a real possibility up until only a couple of weeks ago that the event may not have gone ahead, and it was definitely “toned down” compared to previous years.
The show, with the cheesey title “Rocket All Over the World”, featured the return of Dr Pop Rocket using Rita to visit several countries. While on the outside the show seemed to be an over-the-top marketing vehicle for the coaster, peeling away the layers revealed something else going on.
Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now featured in the warm-up music, which gave a clue to what the display was really about. Similar to last year, at the supposed end of the show a message came up on the screen: “Do you want some more?”, then “Are you sure?”. This year though, this was followed by “Keep the noise down!!”. The theme from Live and Let Die was accompanied by lights, lasers, flames and a couple of ground-shaking fireworks. So much for the noise order, and a great way to stick a couple of fingers up in the direction of you know who.
After the show finished they played Elton John’s Rocket Man (not quite as bleak as This Train Don’t Stop There Anymore but I think we get the point). And I think it’s gonna be a long long time before Alton can pull off another full on fireworks display, but what a way to go out!
Rounding off the evening, we managed to squeeze in dark rides on Nemesis, Air and Rita.
If Alton somehow manage to find a solution to the fireworks problem and put on a display next year, I’ve got a few suggestions for alternative Elton John numbers to replace Rocket Man: Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting), Someone Saved My Life Tonight, I’m Still Standing, Can You Feel The Love Tonight? or of course The Bitch Is Back. Good night, Mr & Mrs R: don’t have nightmares.
Sky Three launches on Monday, with Sky Mix rebranding as Sky Two on the same day. Let’s just hope they spend a bit more money on the programming than on the logos.
It’s all very clever making the words out of geometric shapes, but the end result has been that Sky One has looked like Sky Onc for the last few months and now Sky Two will be Sky Tuo and Sky Three will be Sky Tnrcc.
Sky News’ new look logo is just as unimpressive. What’s happened to the creativity which went into some of the great logos from the 1990s?
I’m not just singling out Sky. The BBC squares logo has failed to grow on me, and I always read BBC ONE as BB CONE. ITV seem to have gone down the easy route of copying the squares idea but adding a bit of colour.
Channel logos should convey the channel’s image. At the moment these just make Sky look like a playschool.
I�ve just got back from Trafalgar Square which tonight played host to ![T[]200](http://www.jamessalter.me.uk/personal/blog/images_upload/ts200.gif)
: The Spirit of Nelson, 
a special show in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar.
The show itself was spectacular, featuring a mixture ranging from Royal Navy marines through to street runners, set against a backdrop of lights, projection, fireworks and lasers, all narrated by Nelson himself.
Celebrating the anniversary in such a historic place as Trafalgar Square was very special. I�ve taken a load of photos and video, which will hopefully go online over the next few days.
How infuriating! I’ve just watched the last episode of Lost Season 1, and I feel almost as clueless as before. Definitely got to watch them again now to see if I can pick up on things I missed the first time around, but the biggest questions will remain unanswered until I can see season 2.
To be cryptic for a second, I need the answer: Yes No Game.
Fantastic, gripping telly.
I just put up some photos from Thorpe’s Fright Night I went to last night with Paul.
I’ve never managed to make it to any of the Fright “Nite” events before but I’ve heard a lot about them, both positive and negative.
As well as opening until 10pm for riding in the dark, Thorpe also laid on two mazes (changed since last year) and Carnival of the Bizarre, a live-action freak show.
The mazes are haunted walkthroughs. People enter in single file in groups of between six and eight, encountering a whole load of actors who attempt to interact with them as they progress through.
To avoid spoiling them for those who haven’t experienced them yet, I’ll simply mention that out of The Asylum and Hellgate, Hellgate was the much scarier of the two mazes, mostly because it was much more reliant on psychological scares than physical ones. Highly recommended.
There were a few first-night cock-ups. Most notably, Loggers Leap was supposed to be open throughout the night but was forced to close at nightfall. Floodlights had been placed around the course, but apparently green floodlights do not show up on CCTV. Doh!
Carnival of the Bizarre and its collection of freaks returned to Thorpe for a second year, but this time as an independant production. Consequently, they charged an entrance fee of �2 to see the show. This was not mentioned on the park’s website (although its now been updated), on park signage, in fact anywhere apart from the bloke at the top of the queue turning people away who hadn’t forked out. Result: the show played to mostly empty houses.
We were actually let in for free to see the final show of the evening, because of another cock-up. Tickets were sold in the Fuji shop near to Rush, which had closed well before the final show, meaning nobody could actually buy tickets. Another doh!
Overall a great evening and a chance to see Stealth lit up in all its glory. Its a pity though that there is still all this confusion at every Tussauds event. They really need to sort it out: many people were complaining about the upcharge for Carnival of the Bizarre. Its all about the communication, Madame T.
Wahoo! My DVDs of Lost Season 1 arrived today. It might be a bit quiet around these parts for a couple of days…
