Leave it to the MythBusters to come up with some crazy way of painting the Mona Lisa. Utilizing a contraption of hundreds of air-fired cannisters holding different colors of paint balls, they were able to recreate the famous painting. The concept is easy enough to grasp, but the results are nothing short of amazing! Each paint ball contains a specific color, a specific section (or pixel, if you will) of the image. When fired at a canvas it actually produces a physical representation of what a computer might create utilizing pixels.
The results of this experiment are, like I said, nothing short of amazing. Of course, the object of this experiment was to represent the differences in what a CPU does versus a GPU (graphic processing unit) , the entire thing being sponsored by nVidia. Oddly enough, I’ve never seen or heard about this until now, so I just thought I’d pass it along. Enjoy!
It’s happened: Hard Rock Park has just filed Chapter 11. I knew something was up after having read rumor after rumor of financial troubles, but, of course, I was hopeful that these were ONLY rumors. However, it looks that all of it was true. It seems that there was a big meeting early today that all park employees were called into. In the end, all seasonal employees were let go, and only a few remained to “winterize” the park. So, now, the usual with these sort of things is going on: reorganization and restructuring.
This isn’t good when this was the park’s first operating season. Oddly enough, though, the happenings remind me of an earlier era. That era being the 1970s when a lot of new theme park projects were in the works. Marriot’s Great America parks, Great Adventure, Magic Mountain, and, of course, Carowinds just to name a few. The thing that strikes me the most apparent to how similiar these times are in the industry now and back then is the fuel crisis. Though there might not be any gas-lines, the prices of gas have caused many to forsake any long distance traveling, which I think has hurt not only the tourism industry, but also the amusement industry. Only those local to a park can really afford to go there.
Let’s face it, Myrtle Beach is a ways from any major city. Sure, Atlanta and Augusta and the Upstate and Low Country of South Carolina are nearby (as in within 100 miles), but that’s still a pretty good distance for most people to come to a theme park, and there’s really no major interstates that take you direct to Myrtle Beach. At least, not from any of the aforementioned places. That makes it less of a fuel efficient destination. And, of course, I think Hard Rock Park missed out on a few cues along the way as well. A) The park’s planning and design doesn’t really feel as solid as it could have been, B) the entire budget on this park was $400 million, and though that might sound like a lot of cash, and it is, it wasn’t enough to accomplish the scope of the original vision, C) designers considered this as a family park, but didn’t really put enough attractions in place for the youngsters; at least, not in a cohesive way; and there weren’t enough flat rides to satisfy grown-ups, either, in my opinion.
Of course, one could go on and on about all the failures of the park’s design. The truth is, though, Hard Rock Park still holds promise. I don’t think the place will be stripped anytime soon of its valuables. The auctioneer’s gavel is stayed for now, at least. But, you know that if, after this restructure, things don’t turn around next season…
I’m hoping there is going to be a next season, and I assume there will be. Who wouldn’t invest in this venture if they could? It’s still a solid investment. Remember all those parks I mentioned before? Let me just touch on Carowinds, since it’s only right up the road, so to speak, from Hard Rock.
Carowinds, built in 1973, was definitely a major risk to investors. Financially, the park wasn’t in trouble when it first opened its gates. Much like Hard Rock Park, the mood amongst management, employees, and guests was positive, but as things progressed Carowinds began to lose money. And it only did manage to stay afloat because of the determination of management. Mainly, the feat was accomplished by selling off attractions, which is a shame, since most of those attractions made the park special. Lastly, a deal was made with a major investor when all was nearly lost, and that’s how Carowinds is still here today; Taft Broadcasting came in with the capital to actually manage the park properly, which is what I think will happen at Hard Rock Park, though hopefully they won’t have to auction or sell anything off.
I think we’ll know in the coming weeks the extent of Hard Rock Park’s financial woes. Already we’re hearing about how many companies are owed money, including ride brokers. If the rumors are true, some substantial payments are still owed to Premier Rides and B&M and several other contractors.
Mainly, I suppose, all of us could point fingers at the oil companies for this, and I want to, but I won’t for now. I’ll just say that the state of our economy is pretty damn dire. With the uncertainty on Wall Street and insane fuel prices and less and less available jobs, we might just very well be heading toward a depression. Hell, we’re already in a recession, whether the government admits it or not.
Anyway. Hard Rock Park has a FAQ section up on their website about the current crisis they’re going through. And, of course, here they touch on many of the points I’ve mentioned throughout this post.
I wasn’t too sure, when I first saw the trailers, about this show. I should have known, though, it being a J. J. Abrams creation, that it would be completely awesome. But…with some of the movies he’s produced lately I did have a few nagging doubts. That was until after having just watched it.
Yes, it’s true that it’s a lot like the X-Files and LOST and Alias. However, it comes across more as a fusion of elements, rather than story ideas. There’s the creepiness of the X-Files, the uncertainty of exactly what’s going on from LOST, and the secret organization theme from Alias.
The Pilot basically set everything up. Gave us a believable and fun protagonist. Brought together what should prove as an interesting team to watch form week to week. And, most importantly, introduced us to a possible world-destroying, all-powerful organization.
Fringe, in my opinion, borrowing a quote from the show, is simply “50 points north of genius”. I liked it. In fact, I’d say I liked it a lot. The pilot was smartly written, easy enough to follow yet intriguing enough to keep you feeling the I-want-to-know-mojo, and just over all plain fun. I just hope Fox doesn’t end up canceling it I hope they give it a chance!
I’m not sure why, but I’ve always felt most shows on Fox to be gimmicky and without direction. There have been a few exceptions, of course; 24, though I’ve never watched it, I’ve heard is good–as in Alias good–and worth watching. However, I guess I could point out that the fact each season is supposed to be the happenings of 24hrs each makes it gimmicky, I won’t, because it’s, at least, original.
But, to me, shows like Prison Break are simply without purpose. I’ve tried to watch it; I just can’t get into it, because it’s almost as if Fox were trying to find us a bunch of garbage here, which is pretty much why my TV’s tuner hardly ever lands the channel. However, with that said…
Ever since seeing the movies, I’ve been a fan of Terminator. So, when the Sarah Connor Chronicles started airing I was there. And, when it came on for its second season, I was there again. Fox definitely seems to do things differently than everyone else. Firstly, even thought the show contains extreme violence, they air it at 8 o’clock. The disclaimer at the beginning, warning of the violence, sex, etc. is something I’m not used to either. I guess that’s how they get away with broadcasting it so early in the evening.
With that said. I’m still fairly happy with the show. I think the story, though, is a lot, maybe too much, like the third movie. However, it has enough of it’s own flavor that it feels fresh still.
I hope they give it a chance!
