Today is a perfect storm of celebrations

Not only is today the 11th day of National Poetry Month, I just found out it's also National 8-Track Day! How do these two celebrations perfectly intertwine with one another? In the memory of my favorite 8-track as a child, combined with the swath of stormy weather plaguing the Midwest over the last day or two.

When I was a kid, I absolutely loved the Irish Rovers' album The Unicorn. I still do, actually... Not the 8-track so much, but I do have it stashed in a box somewhere still because of its sentimental value; never mind that I have copies on vinyl and CD as well. It endures to this day as one of my all-time favorite feel-good albums.

The title track from that album was the only chart hit for the group here in the U.S. (possibly abroad too, though I can't corroborate that). It was penned by the famous comedic poet, Mr. Shel Silverstein. Bear with me, I'm going to tie the perfect storm up in a nice little bow now.

If you are unfamiliar with the lyrics, they happen to be the story of the unicorn's extinction. See, they missed out on Noah's ark ride because they were too busy playing in the rain. Aaaand there's our tie in. It's been raining quite a lot lately, and we have flood warnings and all out here by the Illinois River. Bam!

Anyway, to honor both National Poetry Month and National 8-Track Day, I present to you the lyrics of that classic Irish Rovers tune, "The Unicorn."

THE UNICORN
by Shel Silverstein

A long time ago, when the earth was green
There was more kinds of animals than you've ever seen,
They'd run around free while the earth was bein' born,
And the loveliest of all was the unicorn.
 
There were green alligators and long-neck geese.
Some humpty-back camels and some chimpanzees.
Some catsandratsandelephants, but sure as you're born
The loveliest of all was the unicorn.

Now God seen some sinnin', and it gave him pain.
He said, "Stand back, I'm goin' to make it rain."
He said, "Hey Brother Noah, I'll tell ya what ta do.
Build me a floatin' zoo."

"And take some of them green alligators and long-neck geese,
Some humpty-back camels and some chimpanzees.
Some catsandratsandelephants, but sure as you're born
Don't you forget my unicorn."

Now Noah was there, he answered the call
And finished up making the ark just as the rain started to fall.
He marched in the animals two by two,
And he called out as they went through,

"Hey Lord, I got your green alligators and long-neck geese,
Some humpty-back camels and some chimpanzees.
Some catsandratsandelephants -- but Lord, I'm so forlorn
I just don't see no unicorn."

Ol' Noah looked out through the drivin' rain
Them unicorns were hidin', playin' silly games.
They were kickin' and splashin' as the rain was pourin'.
Oh them silly unicorns.

There were green alligators and long-neck geese,
Some humpty-back camels and some chimpanzees.
Noah cried, "Close the door 'cause the rain is pourin'--
And we just can't wait for no unicorns."

The ark started movin', and it drifted with the tide,
And the unicorns looked up from the rock and they cried.
And the water come up and sort of floated them away--
That's why you've never seen a unicorn to this very day.

You'll see green alligators and long-neck geese.
Some humpty-back camels and some chimpanzees.
Some catsandratsandelephants, but sure as you're born
You're never gonna see no unicorn

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes...

After years of ignoring my MySpace page, I have finally deleted my account. Before doing so, I was sure to download all my blog entries from there. I am currently in the process of transferring those to this blog. They date back to 2007, and there is some very interesting stuff in them. I read through several today as I converted them to this page.

You might also have noticed some rebranding going on. Say farewell to the old McGraw Media Matters (M3) blog. I have noticed that a lot of the stuff I've been posting and basically all of the old MySpace stuff is highly personal, introspective or speculative. Seems like this blog was beginning to shift into more than I had originally bargained for, so I thought it best to simply rebrand it as sort of a catch-all blog instead of a narrowly targeted one. Here you can really get to know me now, more than just professionally.

I hope you enjoy the changes. I am excited to roll out this new image and continue in the new direction. Thanks as always for your readership. Now do me a solid and subscribe please?

National Poetry Month #10 - A special treat

Here's something different for you on this tenth day of National Poetry Month--an original piece. Come on in. The congregation is dying to welcome you to the...

HOUSE OF GOD
by Shane McGraw

Frozen, flockless sanctuary--
Desolate, foreboding;
Thick with a stifling suffocation,
Echoes of ageless choirs
Suspended in time.
Once joyous, once fervent and hopeful
Now the same, but somehow different;
Electric, menacing
Shadows loom,
Creeping darkness
Newly consecrates the chamber.
Malignant mass
Sinister sacrament
Corrupt communion,
Body and blood of the slaughtered lamb.
Unhallowed altar,
"In Remembrance of Me..."
Gothic walls of cold stone
Exhibit the bloody stained glass
Tableaux of death and resurrection.
Above it all,
Christ hangs pallid and impotent.
Nightmare shadows dance
On tortured features;
Once revered, now feared--
Little comfort.
In the pews,
Wholly unholy
Ghostly parishioners bear witness
To silent terror
In the house of God.

National Poetry Month #9

Here's a bit of a long one. That's what she said.

 
















KUBLA KHAN
by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan 

A stately pleasure-dome decree: 

Where Alph, the sacred river, ran 

Through caverns measureless to man 

Down to a sunless sea.

So twice five miles of fertile ground 

With walls and towers were girdled round: 

And here were gardens bright with sinuous rills, 

Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree; 

And here were forests ancient as the hills,

Enfolding sunny spots of greenery. 

But oh! that deep romantic chasm which slanted 

Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover! 

A savage place! as holy and enchanted 

As e'er beneath a waning moon was haunted

By woman wailing for her demon-lover! 

And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething,

As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing, 

A mighty fountain momently was forced: 

Amid whose swift half-intermitted burst

Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail, 

Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher's flail: 

And 'mid these dancing rocks at once and ever 

It flung up momently the sacred river. 

Five miles meandering with a mazy motion

Through wood and dale the sacred river ran, 

Then reached the caverns measureless to man, 

And sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean: 

And 'mid this tumult Kubla heard from far 

Ancestral voices prophesying war!

The shadow of the dome of pleasure 

Floated midway on the waves; 

Where was heard the mingled measure 

From the fountain and the caves. 

It was a miracle of rare device,

A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice! 

A damsel with a dulcimer 

In a vision once I saw: 

It was an Abyssinian maid, 

And on her dulcimer she played,

Singing of Mount Abora. 

Could I revive within me 

Her symphony and song, 

To such a deep delight 'twould win me, 

That with music loud and long, 

 I would build that dome in air,  

That sunny dome! those caves of ice!  

And all who heard should see them there,  

And all should cry, Beware! Beware!  

His flashing eyes, his floating hair! 

Weave a circle round him thrice, 

And close your eyes with holy dread,  

For he on honey-dew hath fed,  

And drunk the milk of Paradise. 

Photoshop to the rescue!

Tonight I tackled a tricky project for my friends at the Peoria Ballet. Their performances of Snow White start in just over one week, and they are scrambling to put together the program for the show. Part of that program is a photograph of the featured level 4 dancers. However, when the photographer came to take the picture, one dancer was missing. There is no time for a retake, because the program must get to the printer on time. There's no option other than to digitally manipulate the image using a photo taken for the Nutcracker performances in December 2012.

I do stuff like this all the time, mostly for fun or personal reasons--but this case was particularly challenging because of all the things going on in the Nutcracker photo. That's some troublesome masking. Also, bear in mind I am using Adobe Creative Suite 3 on a five-year-old MacBook. This stuff became a lot easier with CS5 than it was back in the Stone Age of CS3.

It took a few hours as well as a few days' worth of patience, but I am proud of what I ended up with. See below. (Note: I am not the photographer of these images)


The original photo for the Snow White program, missing one dancer

 

The source photo containing the missing dancer (front row, first one in from right), from five months ago

The final version of the Snow White picture, now ready for program inclusion.

National Poetry Month #8

It's not often that this man made much sense, especially in his written verse, and even more especially in his elder years. As he aged, his delusions got even stronger and he became more and more of a weirdo. Presented here for you--a shred of only slightly loony beauty plucked from within an absolute morass of unintelligible, outrageous, satanic new age nonsense.

AT SEA
by Aleister Crowley

As night hath stars, more rare than ships
In ocean, faint from pole to pole,
So all the wonder of her lips
Hints her innavigable soul.

Such lights she gives as guide my bark;
But I am swallowed in the swell
Of her heart's ocean, sagely dark,
That holds my heaven and holds my hell.

In her I live, a mote minute
Dancing a moment in the sun:
In her I die, a sterile shoot
Of nightshade in oblivion.

In her my elf dissolves, a grain
Of salt cast careless in the sea;
My passion purifies my pain
To peace past personality.

Love of my life, God grant the years
Confirm the chrism - rose to rood!
Anointing loves, asperging tears
In sanctifying solitude!

Man is so infinitely small
In all these stars, determinate.
Maker and moulder of them all,
Man is so infinitely great!

Volbeat and King Diamond present a FREE download of new track

Act now to get a FREE high-quality WAV file of Volbeat's newest single featuring the one and only legendary King Diamond on guest vocals. It's a prereleased track from the upcoming Volbeat album Outlaw Gentlemen and Shady Ladies, and it's called "Room 24."

\m/   HORNS UP!   \m/

National Poetry Month #7

Warm Summer Sun
by Mark Twain

Warm summer sun,
Shine kindly here,
Warm southern wind,
Blow softly here.
Green sod above,
Lie light, lie light.
Good night, dear heart,
Good night, good night.

National Poetry Month #6

How fitting that I should post this one at this time of night...

AT MIDNIGHT
by Frank Dempster Sherman

See, yonder, the belfry tower
That gleams in the moon's pale light;
Or is it a ghostly flower
That dreams in the silent night?

I listen and hear the chime
Go quavering o'er the town,
And out of this flower of time
Twelve petals are wafted down.

National Poetry Month #5

Here is a great piece from a poet who hails from my own hometown of Galesburg, Illinois. It's a fascinating train of thought to ruminate upon. I've wondered the same thing myself, never having known that a renowned poet considered it enough of a conundrum so as to write about it...

THE HANGMAN AT HOME
by Carl Sandburg

What does a hangman think about
When he goes home at night from work?
When he sits down with his wife and
Children for a cup of coffee and a
Plate of ham and eggs, do they ask
Him if it was a good day's work
And everything went well or do they
Stay off some topics and kill about
The weather, baseball, politics
And the comic strips in the papers
And the movies? Do they look at his
Hands when he reaches for the coffee
Or the ham and eggs? If the little
Ones say, Daddy, play horse, here's
A rope--does he answer like a joke:
I seen enough rope for today?
Or does his face light up like a
Bonfire of joy and does he say:
It's a good and dandy world we live
In. And if a white face moon looks
In through a window where a baby girl
Sleeps and the moon-gleams mix with
Baby ears and baby hair--the hangman--
How does he act then? It must be easy
For him. Anything is easy for a hangman,
I guess.

SAS (Short Attention Span) HPL Reviews #10

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS!!!!

Azathoth
This is sort of a Dream Cycle story, though I don't know if it's officially recognized as such by Lovecraft scholars. It is very short--one of his shortest, in fact. Here's the skinny: A guy lives in a huge fortress with no outward facing windows. The world is dead and gray, and the only things he sees when he looks out his castle window are the courtyard at the center of the fortress, the exterior walls, and (at night) the stars directly above. One night the stars open up to him and send a bridge of astral dust down to carry him away to an unknown paradise of verdant shores populated with beautiful flowers, where he lives in comfort from then on. No stars for this one, just a great big raspberry. Me no likey. For completists only.

The Battle that Ended the Century (written with R.H. Barlow)
There *is* a plot here... of a sort anyway. It's just not that good. This story is nothing more than a joke written by Lovecraft and Barlow, a way to drop names of their contemporaries and have a little fun. It centers around a boxing match on December 31, 2000. The two combatants end up getting quite bloody by the end, with ears and noses flying off throughout the fight, and one guy's fist going clear through the other guy's face. Throughout it all, the authors have overly peppered the dialog with Garbage Pail Kids-like references to their peers and themselves: Howard Philips Lovecraft is referred to as Horse Power Hateart; Frank Belknap Long is parodied as Frank Chimesleep Short... You get the picture. Another great big raspberry for this one. It's not a long story, but it's an interminable read.


The Case of Charles Dexter Ward
More of a novella, CDW comes in at around 51,500 words. Charles Dexter Ward is a young, well-to-do man who has recently escaped impossibly from a mental hospital. His family doctor, Dr. Willett, goes to investigate, digging into Ward's recent past and the goings-on that landed him in the asylum in the first place. Ward had become obsessed with an ancestor of his, Joseph Curwen, an alchemist and necromancer. Ward had resurrected Curwen from his long-dead ashes, much like the blood droplets resurrected Uncle Frank in Hellraiser. Once Curwen was back, he picked right back up on his old evil hijinks, killing his look-alike progeny and taking his place in the world, allowing him to continue his grisly experiments with necromancy. However, his sudden and unexplained lack of knowledge of the modern world gets the Charles Ward impersonator locked in the nut hatch. When Willett realizes who is actually locked up, he pays Curwen a visit, intending to kill him and burn him to dust in order to save the world from the dastardly plans he has been hatching. It's a great story, and the film adaptation isn't too bad either. For me the novella was a bit slow during the flashback parts about Curwen's time.

That was a long one. Gonna hang it up for tonight. Thanks for reading!

National Poetry Month 4

Here's another one I love, from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass, 1872:

JABBERWOCKY
by Lewis Carroll

’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

      Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:

All mimsy were the borogoves,

      And the mome raths outgrabe.

“Beware the Jabberwock, my son!

      The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!

Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun

      The frumious Bandersnatch!”

He took his vorpal sword in hand;

      Long time the manxome foe he sought—

So rested he by the Tumtum tree

      And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,

      The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,

Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,

      And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through

      The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!

He left it dead, and with its head

      He went galumphing back.

“And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?

      Come to my arms, my beamish boy!

O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!”

      He chortled in his joy.

’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

      Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:

All mimsy were the borogoves,

      And the mome raths outgrabe.

National Poetry Month 3

Any reader of this blog knows of my obsession with H.P. Lovecraft and my current goal to read everything he has written. Did you guys know he wrote poetry too? He didn't write a whole lot of it, but what I've seen is very good. Here's one of my favorites, in which Lovecraft pays homage to one of his own favorite authors, Edgar Allan Poe.

WHERE POE ONCE WALKED
by H.P. Lovecraft

Eternal brood the shadows on this ground,
Dreaming of centuries that have gone before;
Great elms rise solemnly by slab and mound,
Arched high above a hidden world of yore.
Round all the scene a light of memory plays,
And dead leaves whisper of departed days,
Longing for sights and sounds that are no more.

Lonely and sad, a specter glides along
Aisles where of old his living footsteps fell;
No common glance discerns him, though his song
Peals down through time with a mysterious spell.
Only the few who sorcery's secret know,
Espy amidst these tombs the shade of Poe.

National Poetry Month 2

Today I will juxtapose yesterday's lengthy featured piece with the world's shortest rhyming poem, penned by an unknown author and titled FLEAS:

Adam had 'em.

National Poetry Month 1

Happy National Poetry Month! I will celebrate by posting one of my favorite poems each day this month. What better place to begin than with the man whom Poetry was named after? ...At least that's what I like to think.

I read this to my children, ages 8 and 11, recently. They seemed to enjoy it. Not surprising that the 11-year-old boy liked it. He's my little Lovecraftian in training.

THE RAVEN
by Edgar Allan Poe
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
" 'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door;
Only this, and nothing more."

Ah, distinctly I remember, it was in the bleak December,
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow; vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow, sorrow for the lost Lenore,.
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore,
Nameless here forevermore.

And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain
Thrilled me---filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating,
" 'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door,
Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door.
This it is, and nothing more."

Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,
"Sir," said I, "or madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;
But the fact is, I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,
That I scarce was sure I heard you." Here I opened wide the door;---
Darkness there, and nothing more.

Deep into the darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before;
But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word,
Lenore?, This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word,
"Lenore!" Merely this, and nothing more.

Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,
Soon again I heard a tapping, something louder than before,
"Surely," said I, "surely, that is something at my window lattice.
Let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore.
Let my heart be still a moment, and this mystery explore.
" 'Tis the wind, and nothing more."

Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,
In there stepped a stately raven, of the saintly days of yore.
Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;
But with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door.
Perched upon a bust of Pallas, just above my chamber door,
Perched, and sat, and nothing more.

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,
"Though thy crest be shorn and shaven thou," I said, "art sure no craven,
Ghastly, grim, and ancient raven, wandering from the nightly shore.
Tell me what the lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore."
Quoth the raven, "Nevermore."

Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,
Though its answer little meaning, little relevancy bore;
For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being
Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door,
Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door,
With such name as "Nevermore."

But the raven, sitting lonely on that placid bust, spoke only
That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.
Nothing further then he uttered; not a feather then he fluttered;
Till I scarcely more than muttered, "Other friends have flown before;
On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before."
Then the bird said, "Nevermore."

Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,
"Doubtless," said I, "what it utters is its only stock and store,
Caught from some unhappy master, whom unmerciful disaster
Followed fast and followed faster, till his songs one burden bore,---
Till the dirges of his hope that melancholy burden bore
Of "Never---nevermore."

But the raven still beguiling all my sad soul into smiling,
Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird, and bust and door;
Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking
Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore --
What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt and ominous bird of yore
Meant in croaking "Nevermore."

Thus I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing
To the fowl, whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom's core;
This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining
On the cushion's velvet lining that the lamplight gloated o'er,
But whose velvet violet lining with the lamplight gloating o'er
She shall press, ah, nevermore!

Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer
Swung by seraphim whose footfalls tinkled on the tufted floor.
"Wretch," I cried, "thy God hath lent thee -- by these angels he hath
Sent thee respite---respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore!
Quaff, O quaff this kind nepenthe, and forget this lost Lenore!"
Quoth the raven, "Nevermore!"

"Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil!--prophet still, if bird or devil!
Whether tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,
Desolate, yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted--
On this home by horror haunted--tell me truly, I implore:
Is there--is there balm in Gilead?--tell me--tell me I implore!"
Quoth the raven, "Nevermore."

"Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil--prophet still, if bird or devil!
By that heaven that bends above us--by that God we both adore--
Tell this soul with sorrow laden, if, within the distant Aidenn,
It shall clasp a sainted maiden, whom the angels name Lenore---
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden, whom the angels name Lenore?
Quoth the raven, "Nevermore."

"Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!" I shrieked, upstarting--
"Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore!
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!
Leave my loneliness unbroken! -- quit the bust above my door!
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!"
Quoth the raven, "Nevermore."

And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming.
And the lamplight o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted---nevermore!

A free app that could save a life!

I don't remember how I originally discovered it, but CodeRED Mobile Alert by ECN is an app that everyone--and I mean everyone--should have on their smart phone.

The app ties into a national emergency notification system to keep you informed in the event of an emergency in your area. If an alert is issued for your location, a klaxon-type horn sounds and the app automatically pops up with a brief notice of the type of alert. When you select it, a recorded message from the issuing agency is played over your speakerphone, announcing the details and any instructions.

When you first download the app, you are given a trial of the severe weather alerts portion in addition to the free community alerts. After expiration of the trial, continued weather alerts are a premium service at $4.99 per year. But seriously, what is $5 yearly when it could let you know you are in the direct path of an oncoming tornado?

This morning the klaxon sounded to let me know police had in custody a two-to-three-year-old light-skinned black boy who had been found walking in the street in only his diaper. Just imagine, if the boy was yours and you had this iPhone app installed, you could say to yourself at 5:30 in the morning, "A light-skinned African American toddler boy in only a diaper? Wait a minute... I have one of those! Maybe I should go check to see if he's still in his crib where he belongs..."

If you DON'T have this app, you're likely to wake up later than 5:30am and say to yourself in a panic, "Oh my god! Where is my light-skinned African American child? Did he go outside? But he is only two-to-three years old, and he was only wearing a diaper!

Anyway, download the app. I've gotten severe weather alerts, missing elderly people alerts, amber alerts, attempted kidnapping alerts and similar notifications.

In all seriousness, this app could honestly help you save someone's life. Please download it. It's free in your app store.

A coaster compendium

In memory of Disaster Transport at Cedar Point in Ohio...

OK, so here it is... My list of the 65 coasters I have ridden so far. My definition of a roller coaster is pretty straightforward:

Roller Coaster: an amusement ride consisting of a car or train of cars that takes riders on a thrilling series of dips, loops, turns or other aerial maneuvers while progressing laterally on a track of some sort, usually fashioned from steel.

My list does include a couple of exceptions to this definition, and I will explain those on an individual basis when I get to their descriptions. I do not count motion simulator, dark-boat style, or Disney's "omnimover" rides.

For now, though, I present... The List.

• American Eagle (Six Flags Great America) [details]

• American Thunder / Evel Knievel (Six Flags St. Louis) [details]

• Avatar Airbender (Mall of America) [details]

• Batman: The Ride (Six Flags St. Louis)

• Batman: The Ride (Six Flags Over Georgia)

• Batman: The Ride (Six Flags Great America)

• Bizarro / Medusa (Six Flags Great Adventure)

• Blackbeard's Lost Treasure Train (Six Flags Great Adventure)

• Blue Streak (Cedar Point)

• The Boss (Six Flags St. Louis)

• Cedar Creek Mine Train (Cedar Point)

• Corkscrew (Cedar Point)

• Dahlonega Mine Train (Six Flags Over Georgia)

• Dark Knight Coaster (Six Flags Great Adventure)

• Dark Knight Coaster (Six Flags Great America)

• Demon (Six Flags Great America)

• Disaster Transport (Cedar Point)

• El Toro (Six Flags Great Adventure)

• Fairly OddParents Fairly OddCoaster (Mall of America)

• Gemini (Cedar Point)

• Georgia Cyclone (Six Flags Over Georgia)

• Georgia Scorcher  (Six Flags Over Georgia)

• Great American Scream Machine (Six Flags Over Georgia)

• Green Lantern (Six Flags Great Adventure)

• Iron Dragon (Cedar Point)

• Iron Wolf (Six Flags Great America)

• Kingda Ka (Six Flags Great Adventure)

• Little Dipper (Six Flags Great America)

• Magnum XL-200 (Cedar Point)

• Mantis (Cedar Point)

• Maverick (Cedar Point)

• Mean Streak (Cedar Point)

• Millenium Force (Cedar Point)

• Mind Bender (Six Flags Over Georgia)

• Mr. Freeze (Six Flags St. Louis)

• Mr. Freeze Reverse Blast (Six Flags St. Louis)

• Ninja (Six Flags St. Louis)

• Ninja (Six Flags Over Georgia)

• Nitro (Six Flags Great Adventure)

• Opa! (Mt. Olympus Indoor Theme Park)

• Pandemonium / Tony Hawk's Big Spin (Six Flags St. Louis)

• Pepsi Orange Streak (Mall of America)

• Ragin' Cajun (Six Flags Great America)

• Raging Bull (Six Flags Great America)

• Raptor (Cedar Point)

• River King Mine Train (Six Flags St. Louis)

• Rolling Thunder (Six Flags Great Adventure)

• Rolling Thunder (Six Flags Great America)

• Runaway Mine Train (Six Flags Great Adventure)

• Screamin' Eagle (Six Flags St. Louis)

• Shockwave (Six Flags Great America)

• Skull Mountain (Six Flags Great Adventure)
• Space Mountain (Walt Disney World)

• Spongebob Squarepants Rock Bottom Plunge (Mall of America)

• Superman: Ultimate Flight (Six Flags Over Georgia)

• Superman: Ultimate Flight (Six Flags Great America)

• Top Thrill Dragster (Cedar Point)

• Tornado (Adventureland)

• Twister (Six Flags Great Adventure)

• V2: Vertical Velocity (Six Flags Great America)

• Viper (Six Flags Great America)

• Whizzer (Six Flags Great America)

• Wicked Twister (Cedar Point)

• Wile E. Coyote Canyon Blaster (Six Flags Over Georgia)

• X-Flight (Six Flags Great America)

Adding to the list of H. P. Lovecraft stories I've now read...
The darker color is the previous list. The lighter colored entries are new additions.

• The Alchemist
• Azathoth
• The Battle That Ended the Century
• The Beast in the Cave
• Beyond the Wall of Sleep
• The Book
• The Call of Cthulhu*
• The Case of Charles Dexter Ward* 
• The Cats of Ulthar*
• Celephais
• The Challenge from Beyond 
• Cool Air
• The Colour out of Space*
• The Curse of Yig*
• Dagon
• The Disinterment
• The Doom That Came to Sarnath
• The Dreams in the Witch-House
• The Dunwich Horror* 
• The Electric Executioner
• The Evil Clergyman
• Ex Oblivione
• Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family
• The Festival
• From Beyond*
• The Haunter of the Dark*
• He 
• Herbert West: Re-Animator*
• History of the Necronomicon
• The Hoard of the Wizard-Beast*
• The Horror at Martin's Beach
• The Horror at Red Hook
• The Horror in the Museum
• The Hound
• Hypnos*
• Ibid
• In the Walls of Eryx
• The Loved Dead
• Memory
• The Moon-Bog
• The Music of Erich Zann*
• The Nameless City
• The Night Ocean
• Nyarlathotep
• Old Bugs
• The Other Gods
• The Outsiders 
• Pickman's Model*
• The Picture in the House*
• Poetry and the Gods
• Polaris
• The Quest of Iranon*
• The Rats in the Walls*
• A Reminiscence of Dr. Samuel Johnson
• The Shadow Over Innsmouth*
• The Silver Key
• The Slaying of the Monster
• The Statement of Randolph Carter*
• The Strange High House in the Mist
• The Street
• Sweet Ermengarde*
• The Temple*
• The Terrible Old Man*
• The Thing on the Doorstep*
• "Till A' the Seas"*
• The Transition of Juan Romero
• The Tree
• The Tree on the Hill
• Two Black Bottles
• Under the Pyramids/Imprisoned with the Pharaohs
• The Unnamable
• The Whisperer in Darkness*
• The White Ship
• Winged Death

Man, I gotta get some reviews churned out...

I am coaster crazy

Meet El Toro, the most bad-ass wooden coaster I've encountered yet!

Here's a departure from the norm on this page.

I just realized that I have ridden 65 roller coasters in my lifetime so far. You know what? My bucket list just got an item added: To ride 100 coasters before taking on that big thrill ride in the sky.

Soon I will post a list with the 65 I've ridden, complete with locations, descriptions and very brief reviews. And this summer I will add at least number 66, in Six Flags St. Louis' latest addition, the currently-under-construction Boomerang!

More online activity than you can shake a virtual stick at

Can't get enough of me? Yeah, that's what my wife said too. Head on over and check out my Instagram feed at http://instagram.com/shanemcgraw1. I have 393 photos uploaded so far, but only 31 followers. Please take a quick visit. If you like what you see, click the FOLLOW button. It will make me happy. :D