Weather

Last night I was treated to a beautiful lightning show before the rains hit the house. I remember listening to the rain come down and it started to relax me a lot. Then, an interesting thing happened. I was lying in bed and in my mind, I was back in Corpus Christi. The humidity was high and the smell of rain water on the ground reminded me so much of what Corpus smells like at night. I expected to look out the window and see Dodridge Park on Corpus Christi Bay and the winds coming off the water, or one of the last nights I remember both Evelyn and Yolie lived in Corpus prior to Yolie's wedding where we were driving around and going to Evelyn's hospital at night. I didn't smell the salt in the air, but it surely felt like south Texas.

So Wednesday I get the overwhelming urge to install the original Sims game for PC on the laptop. I have the second series for the Sims (Sims 2) but doesn't play too well on my system. I loaded it and have been having so much fun the past few days it's strange. I've downloaded many of the cheats that Evelyn gave me (which, yes I need to give them back) and have been playing the game in the most inopportune times. It's ok though. It's not like it's interfering with my work or anything.

Matter of fact, I think I might turn on the game right now...

Cinco De Mayonnaise

There had been some groups through the years who wanted to make Cinco De Mayo a holiday viewed by the United States. Why? It celebrates the date Mexico declared its independence from Spain on midnight, the 15th of September, 1810 and took 11 years before the first Spanish soldiers were told and forced to leave Mexico.

Nowhere in the history of the holiday does it mention the United States so I can't fathom seeing this holiday pass. This is all we need, more holidays to take off from work. To me, today is just another ordinary day with clowns driving around town playing crappy Mexican music.

I wish I was making this stuff up

I go to this one place to get my hair cut every time. Lately, the usual stylist I get has been missing, so I settle for whoever is there. I sat down and was listening to this older guy and that Charro looking chick talk - well, they were loud enough for the entire complex to hear. It was friendly conversation, but that Charro looking chick is dumber than the sack of hair she has to throw out every day.

I sit down and patiently let the girl doing my hair do her thing and I am listening to the guy go on and on about how he was born in Kansas - and before I go on, how many times will that God awful joke be said "IM not in Kansas anymore" be said by every stupid yokel that had enough sense to move away from that dead state and use it on every poor bastard within ear shot? Anyways, he cuts that joke and gives the other one liner about the state of Texas "I wasn't born here, but I got here as fast as I could".

So, I am trying to block out those stupid lines as the conversation seems to get louder as the Charro chick is washing this guys hair. I guess vocal volume increases as intelligence decreases. The guy goes on to say that he goes to AA meetings, and may the divine powers that preside over the vast majority of the populace strike me down if I am lying when the stupid ditz says "Oh, you're a teacher for AA?".

Saying it once isn't enough. The guy says "No, ma'am, AA, for alcoholics". She then says without batting an eye "Oh, so you're a student?".

I had one of the largest urges to laugh my ass off had it not been for the lady already cutting my hair. He then corrects her again and explains what AA is. She then says "Oh, so you're more of an instructor?".

DEAR GOD, WHAT THE FUCK IS WITH THIS WOMAN? I am literally at the cusp of getting up and saying something inappropriate when my haircut is finished. I had to leave. Fast. As I was walking to the front to pay, she managed to cut her hand as she was cutting this guys hair. That was it. I had to get out of there faster. She's dangerous with the human language, and now she's proven her mental incapacity by slaughtering herself with her own tools of the trade.

There are days I give up on humanity and hope that the next animals to walk the earth are a lot smarter than us.

More about the abandoned park.

Well, I am happy to see there are others who are interested in this abandoned park other than me. Apparently, there are several TV & newspapers who are going to be doing several stories about the park in the next few weeks, so stay tuned to KVIA 7, KDBC 4 and El Paso Times for several stories, and if you can't see them, I will provide as many links, or scan articles as they become available.

I have researched the park for something close to 10 years, most information given to me in the last 8 months. From what I have been able to gather is this.

Magic Landing opened on July 4th 1984, with most of its rides not yet built. There are several reports of the park not having the required insurance policies on all of its rides at the time it opened, but managed to open without these policies to make the scheduled open. For the first few months, the park was moderately successful, spawning some small concerts (local bands) and fireworks festivities every Friday. As we know now, fireworks have always been banned inside the city limits, so when the park offered fireworks every week, it was an added incentive.

I do not have an accurate timeline of events that caused the park to close, but I do know of each accident and incident at the park that caused lawsuits and its eventual demise. I don't know which one was first, but most noted was the accident on the rollercoaster. The Wildcat was a steel rollercoaster that was bought from Six Flags Magic Mountain after that park decided to get rid of it. Rebuilt in El Paso, the death on the ride happened when the ride operator was trying to retrieve a baseball cap blown off of a park patron. The operator's arm was cut off as he forgot where some of the active parts of the ride were and an oncoming car cut it off. He subsequently bled to death en route to the hospital.

An interesting side note, after the park was shut down permanently in 1989, the rollercoaster along with most other rides were taken down and placed in storage, or set up for sale. The Wildcat was bought and has been in operation in Durango Mexico at one of their major amusement parks since 1993.

The second fatality (unknown when this one happened) occurred on the YoYo ride. This ride wasn't modified to ensure rider safety. The ride currently at Western Playland (to use as an example) has two security fasteners, across the lap and between the legs. The ride that operated at Magic Landing only had the across the lap fastener. A young girl went on the ride and wile it was in motion, slid underneath the lap restraint and was thrown from the ride onto the main platform. She died instantly.

A third accident (one of the non-fatal ones) happened on the Ferris wheel. The one at Magic Landing was the largest free standing Ferris wheel in the state of Texas, but unknown if it was also the largest one in the 48 contingent United States. The park had at one point been able to sell alcohol to park patrons, and its unclear whether or not this woman's unstable mental capacities had anything to do with it, freaked out while on the Ferris wheel. With no restraints, and an open gondola design, she stood up and tried to jump off the ride. She ended up falling to the car below her, and was seriously injured.

Also involving alcohol, there was an instance where during a concert, there was several park patrons who got too drunk and started fighting. There are conflicting reports (found in several newspaper clippings) what misc. weapons were used in this altercation, but most accounts have them as either an axe, ice pick or baseball bat.

Now with this said, we can see that there are several lawsuits spurring up from this. There are some other bits of insight that were told to the El Paso Inc. by the owner of Western Playland, Pat Thompson.

E.P.I.-Why does Western Playland succeed where Magic Landing failed?

P.T.-Magic Landing was trying to be a theme park. El Paso wasn't really ready for one. It doesn't have the population or the family income levels to support a theme park. When people go on vacation, they're willing to spend extra money on theme parks. But, see, you wouldn't do it here (or) even in California. Disneyland can't get the locals to come out. They have to give big discounts to draw them out. Western Playland isn't here for the tourists. It can't be. There's not enough tourist traffic in El Paso.

When you look back at all of this, you see that Magic Landing was doomed. I tried to get access to the park on Saturday but got my car stuck in soft sand. I have plans to get close enough to the park to take some pictures, so I will let you know what happens when I do that.

Obsession

It's not just a fragrance anymore. I was told I am obsessed over that fucking amusement park by several friends yesterday. The day started off innocently enough, did housework, are lunch. Then I got the urge to go do things. I got halfway to CompUSA when for stupid, unknown reasons, I decide to - view Magic Landing as it stands today. I had long figured out there are some ways to get to the back of the building from a residential area. So, headstrong and stupid, I fjorded my way thru dirt roads.

Believing my car could go anywhere, today's lesson in automotives taught me that Mustangs do not do dirt roads, they get stuck. I tried to get the car out, but wound up sinking the car into deep, soft sand. Trying in vain to back the car out of the hole, I managed to stall out the engine as the connection between air intake and the throttle body came apart. I am now dead in the sand, 500 yards away from the park and feeling quite stupid.

I want to thank Joe & Ivette. They are lifesavers. I owe them something HUGE. Maybe not a Louis Vitton purse or an Alienware PC, but something huge. After 20 minutes of stewing in my own mire, I was yanked out of the sand and returned to pavement where I belong. After chatting with Joe and Ivette to get me back to normal, I stayed staring at the park. I was so close, yet so far away.

I was able to get somewhat good surveillance on this one side of the park and what buildings are still standing. It appears that both of the railroad stations are intact and standing. The stage/concert area is still standing and several other buildings are standing as well. What these other buildings are, I couldn't tell because I was at a distance from them and honestly couldn't tell from that distance.

I plan on going back. I am not giving up on this. I might not take the Mustang (which I am glad nothing has happened to it) but I will go back, even if I had to walk the distance and take a camera. As soon as I take photos I will be posting as many as I can take. I will not rest until I am satisfied with what I find.

This may take a while.