With guitar and song I drift; the sun is what I find

[austin_dern]

Let me show some pictures from going to Seaside Heights as described last week.

	Here's from one of the rides, as Morticon gets into the chair swing while woodlander sits on the bench. We were among the very few people on the ride, and had to move from our initial spots in order to better balance the swing. Strangely, despite the clear skies and warm temperatures things felt under-occupied much of the afternoon.
	woodlander, Morticon, and Nyni wave from the northern end of Seaside Heights; Casino Pier is in the background. My first thought was we should get a picture of everyone with the attractions in the background would be a fine picture, and it probably would, if the sun weren't behind them so as to cast impenetrable shadows over everyone. The shadows looked more impenetrable on my camera's screen, anyway; here they don't seem so bad.
	Nyni, Morticon, and woodlander pose at the northern end of Seaside Heights's boardwalk, but this time with them not hopelessly in shadow. They certainly look better here, although there's not so much attraction in the background. If we'd walked to the southern end then we'd see something.
	Tempted as we were we did not put our heads through this slot, nor did we eat fried cheese balls this day.
	The Floyd Moreland carousel is still in good working order. I worry about it since, as an antique carousel, you just know they're going to sell it off and replace it with an awful-looking fiberglass replica in order to make the amusement experience measurably worse and I do not want to hear any current rumors about its imminent doom.
	I couldn't decide which I wanted more: the air bed, the emergency preparedness kit (complete with meals), or the clam steamer. Another set of redemption prizes was faces for trees, to attach vaguely eye- or mouth-shaped objects to the sides of trees, underneath caps suggesting the trees are fans of one of the local professional sports franchises, or the Mets.

Trivia: Joe Walker's 19 July 1963 X-15 flight was planned to reach an altitude of 315,000 feet. Due to excessive engine thrust, an over-long burn, and a 1 1/2 degree error in bun angle he overshot and reached 347,000 feet. Source: At The Edge Of Space: The X-15 Flight Program, Milton O Thompson.

Currently Reading: Universe 1, Editor Terry Carr.

Comments

[mondhasen.livejournal.com]

I see Smurfs got top shelf!

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

Yeah, who can explain that one?

[mondhasen.livejournal.com]

The local United Skates used to have either a large Tummi or Zummi Gummi on their top tier, only six years ago.

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

Wow. I didn't even think to look for Gummi stuff, though.

[xolo.livejournal.com]

Bzort! It's Mort! (Hadda say it...)

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

Heh.

[chefmongoose.livejournal.com]

This is a high level of random for skeeball prizes. That said, there's things here I'd get more use out of than the usual Dave & Buster's lineup.

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

Well, it's not just skee-ball, after all. It includes the baffling Price Is Right themed games where you drop a quarter in and that seems to be it, except sometimes it spits tickets back at you.

[rapidtrabbit.livejournal.com]

Yes ever since the Jenkinson organization of Point Pleasant bought the Casino Pier several years ago, the carousel had been going downhill...runs slower and the bandorgan not at all. Dr. Moreland himself got so discouraged with the new owners that he himself resigned as caretake for the carousel which still bears his name.

[bunny-hugger.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've never gotten to hear it with the band organ, despite the fact that the sign bragging that it has a real band organ is still in place. A carousel is not properly complete without a working band organ, I believe. (Cedar Point, I'm looking at you too.)

[rapidtrabbit.livejournal.com]

The sign predates the current ownership.

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

It does give off that vibe of predating current ownership. I worry each time I visit that the carousel isn't going to be there anymore. If I weren't so worried about The Day It Happens I think I might visit more, weirdly.

[rapidtrabbit.livejournal.com]

Jenkinsons actually has had the carousel listed for sale with a rides broker in Wildwood for the past several years.

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's what has me dreading someday going there to find out it's happened.

[chefmongoose.livejournal.com]

and a 1 1/2 degree error in bun angle

It's important to angle your buns correctly.

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

Gr. Once again spell check fails me where I need it most.