It’s the meme that will never die and I’m totally OK with it.
YouTuber The Unusual Suspect spliced together scenes from 169 different movies to sing Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up.”
So much work went into this.
One of the best Rick Rolls ever. You can find a full list of the movies here. The Unusual Suspect’s YouTube channel is here.Â
It’s time for Brian to take some time off.
James Corden has a segment on “The Late Late Show” called Take A Break. He steps in and does somebody’s job for the day. Last night, it was time for Brian of the Backstreet Boy to take a seat.
Corden caught up with the group in Las Vegas, went through some rehearsals and even hit the stage with them at a live show. Unfortunately, he never got to do the worm.
Enjoy!
Tom Cruise is making the rounds for the new “Mission Impossible” movie release. That included a stop to “The Tonight Show.” Jimmy Fallon asked him to play a game of Mad Lib Theater.
You all know Mad Libs, right? You ask somebody to give you a bunch of words, then you put those words into a story that turns into a bunch of hilarious nonsense. My kids love it.
After Tom gave his answers to Jimmy, they put them into a scene right out of “Mission Impossible.”
Tom tries his best to keep it together. It didn’t work. Here’s the video….
“You HAVE to go to Holiday World!”
I can’t tell you how many times I have heard that from people since I started doing these roller coaster segments on WGN TV. Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari may not have a giant corporation running the show with a giant marketing agency promoting them all over the world – but they have a HUGE fan base. People come from all over the world to visit the park….and after taking my first trip there….I can see why.
Holiday World is located in Santa Claus, Indiana. Yes…that is the real name of the town. It was founded under the name Santa Fe. In 1856, when the town was applying to get a post office, they were told they needed a different name. Santa Claus was the big winner.
Driving up to the town, the theme park just pops up out of nowhere. There’s no more glorious sight than driving through trees and cornfields for hours….then suddenly…ROLLER COASTERS.
You can see my full story WGN Morning News story on Holiday World HERE….
A few more notes….
THIS PLACE IS CLEAN
You’ve seen the Golden Ticket Awards, you know Holiday World always wins the cleanest park award. I’m here to tell you that it’s no joke. The place looks like it just opened yesterday. At one point I dropped a receipt from my pocket and found myself in a panic making sure it didn’t blow away. You know when you walk into somebody’s house and it’s spotless and you feel like you need to be on your best behavior because you don’t want to be the slob that screws it up? That’s what Holiday World is like. Not only is it clean, but the staff is so darn nice and friendly you feel like you’re in somebody’s home and you want to take care of it.
ALL ABOUT FAMILIESÂ
Holiday World has been a family run business since it opened way back in 1946. They’re now on their fourth generation of family ownership. Family is a big theme here. They have rides for all ages, on the dry side of the park and in the water park. But where they really set themselves apart is in the small details…
FREE DRINKS?! WHAT?!
Yes, the rumors are true. All throughout the park you’ll find “Oasis” stations with FREE soft drinks. You just grab a cup and pour yourself any of the many Pepsi products on hand. As much as you want. Whenever you want. In addition to that, they have sunscreen stations throughout the park. And parking is free. So is the WIFI. What started as a crazy idea from former park president Will Koch has put Holiday World on the map. They say the idea is to make families feel like they’re not taken for every dollar they have.
ROLLER COASTERS!
Holiday World doesn’t have the number of coasters other parks boast, but they make up for it with some really unique rides.
The Raven is one of their wooden roller coasters. Don’t let the 85 foot drop trick you into thinking this is a kiddie ride. First of all, the ride is mostly hidden in the trees, so when you’re waiting to get on, you can’t see what’s awaiting you. This ride is packed with all kinds of tight turns. A fun, traditional woodie.
The Legend opened in 2000, just a few steps away from The Raven. This ride is wild. It’s a bit taller than Raven with even more crazy turns. What’s really cool about this – former park president Will Koch posted initial plans for the ride online and asked for input from coaster enthusiasts. The result is a coaster that throws you out of your seat in all directions. Sadly, Will passed away suddenly eight years ago. He was just 48 years old. His legacy is stamped all over the park – you can tell he was a man with tremendous vision and the industry suffered a huge loss with his passing.
The Voyage is the park’s biggest wooden coaster. Once again Will Koch set out to get input from coaster enthusiasts, but from the conversations I’ve had with people at the park, so much of Will’s vision went into this ride. It’s 163′ tall and hits a top speed of 67 miles per hour. The ride seems to get faster as it goes on. And it goes ON. It’s the second longest wooden roller coaster in the world. The Voyage has five tunnels – the tunnel right after the midcourse break run features a TRIPLE DOWN. I swear you can feel the temperature change while you’re in it. The Voyage is regularly ranked as a top wooden roller coaster – as of this writing, it’s my favorite.
Thunderbird is the park’s first major steel coaster. It’s a B&M wing coaster that has you sitting on the outside of the track. What’s unique about this one – it features a launch that takes you from 0-60 in 3.5 seconds. The theming is top notch as well. You start in a large barn….and just as some smoke starts to fill the room….you get blasted into a straightaway before you fly up into an Immelmann. There are some fun near-misses throughout the ride as well. TIP: Sit in the back row, right side, outside seat. Best seat on the ride.
SPLASHIN’ SAFARI WATERPARK
I probably should have talked about the waterpark earlier in this post. Simply put – this is one of the best water parks out there. There are a ton of rides and attractions and everything is so spread out. So often I go to waterparks and you feel like you’re packed in there with a million people. It was a busy day when I went….but it never felt busy. That’s because of all of the space. The park is home to two incredible WATER COASTERS…
Wildebeest has you in a boat with four people, shooting up and down hills and getting some airtime.
Mammoth is even bigger. It has you in six passenger rafts going up and down hills and through tunnels. The really cool thing here – the rafts naturally spin, so every ride you take is a little bit different.
THE ROLLER COASTER CLUB OF GREAT BRITAIN
I was also at Holiday World to visit with the Roller Coaster Club of Great Britain. 75 coaster enthusiasts from England traveled across the midwest, visiting 15 parks in 16 days! That more than 100 roller coasters in just over two weeks. They’re a great group and were a lot of fun to hang out with. As you can see in my Voyage video above, I rode with Ryan Hackett, one of their members. He’s a huge Voyage fan and even has a Voyage tattoo on his leg! I also spoke with their founder Andy Hine who told me how the group began and what these trips are like. Here’s the segment…
WHERE TO STAY
I stayed at Santa’s Lodge on my visit. As the name suggests, the entire place is decked out in Christmas stuff. A sign greets you on the way in telling you how many days are left until Christmas. Here are some photos…
Lake Rudolph Campground & RV Resort is another option that gets a lot of great reviews – so many of you sent me comments saying I need to stay there next time. They offer campsites and also cabins for rent.
WHERE TO EAT
If you venture a few minutes outside of Santa Claus to Dale, Indiana – Los Dos Charros has some solid Mexican food at a good price. I was “that guy” who walked into the restaurant about 10 minutes before they close, and they sat me and took my order no problem. The food was great and service was excellent.
WHERE TO STOP
If you’re one of our Chicago viewers reading this, here are a few spots I recommend on the way down or the way back..
East End Grill in downtown Lafayette, Indiana. Stopped here for lunch and had a flank steak sandwich with bacon onion jam. Delicious and great service.
On my way to @HolidayWorld! Stopped at the @eastendgrill1 in downtown Lafayette IN for lunch. Perfectly grilled flank steak sandwich with bacon onion jam and Boursin cheese. Yuuuuum. 🥩 💯 pic.twitter.com/ZzHQ5Q11Mg
— Marcus Leshock (@marcusleshock) June 12, 2018
Fante’s Coffee in Louisville roasts their coffee right there in the shop. You can watch it all happen behind some big glass doors. The coffee is outstanding and they have some great sandwiches as well. The space used to be somebody’s home – it still has that cozy feel to it but it’s really modern with some great outdoor seating. You can see all kinds of photos and videos I shot in this Twitter thread:
On my way home from @HolidayWorld … stopped at #FantesCoffee in Louisville. pic.twitter.com/wUpGg296dc
— Marcus Leshock (@marcusleshock) June 14, 2018
WHAT’S NEXT?
Holiday World is in the books. Where should I go next? Let me know on all of my social platforms. You can find me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat.
You’ve probably seen plenty of POV video from the front seats of roller coasters. POV is an abbreviation for point-of-view – you get to feel what it’s like to ride the front car of that particular ride.
With VR cameras and new technology, we’ve been able to capture 360-degree views of what it’s like to look around while you’re on a coaster. And now, with the GoPro Fusion camera, you’re able to see an entirely new, TRIPPY view of a roller coaster ride. The Fusion is GoPro’s camera that lets you shoot spherical video you can stitch together in all kinds of creative ways.
YouTuber Jeb Corliss took the Fusion to Six Flags Magic Mountain and hopped on board a few of their roller coasters. Take a look at this ride on GOLIATH – Jeb says he put the footage through stabilization during the stitching process. The result is pretty wild….
And he also went on X2 while he was there. This is equally wild….
NBC News reporter Gadi Schwartz also took the Fusion aboard a recent ride – STEEL VENGEANCE at Cedar Point. Check out the results…
Wanna take a ride on the wildest hybrid rollercoaster in the world?!??? Check out #SteelVengeance at Cedar Point. Here is one of the 6 rides I might have convinced them to give me😏 Our story tonight on @NBCNightlyNews!😳🎢🤣🏜😬🎢😂 pic.twitter.com/oNR0cAH8je
— Gadi Schwartz (@GadiNBC) May 29, 2018
I really enjoy these videos, it’s a neat way to experience a roller coaster in a new way. That said, nothing beats the traditional, straight forward POV. I’M OLD SCHOOL.
What do you think?
We’ve heard the cast announced one by one, now we see them together.
In IT: CHAPTER TWO, the Losers Club is all grown up. Warner Bros. released the first official photo of the cast together. You can see it above! Here they are from left to right….
Jessica Chastain – Beverly
James McAvoy – Bill
Isaiah Mustafa – Mike
Jay Ryan – Ben
James Ransone – Eddie
Bill Hader – Richie
Andy Bean – Stan
If you’re not familiar with the Stephen King novel or the TV miniseries, the second chapter of IT features the kids that make up the Losers Club returning to Derry 27 years after the events of the first movie. Bill Skarsgard will return as Pennywise the Clown and Andy Muschietti is back in the director’s chair. IT: CHAPTER TWO is scheduled for release on September 6, 2019.
It can’t get here soon enough.
Back to Derry with these Losers. 🎈#ITMovie pic.twitter.com/dvg0fEP9Ts
— IT Movie🎈 (@ITMovieOfficial) July 2, 2018
Last night, word broke that LeBron James is leaving Cleveland again – this time for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Remember when LeBron left the Cavs for Miami? The internet was full of fans burning LeBron jerseys. But things are a lot different this time.
Its that time. @Reflog_18 @BleacherReport @SN_Ohio pic.twitter.com/zAcFj6RpZ9
— Alec (@asapolin) July 2, 2018
Fans are posting videos of LeBron jerseys and dropping THANK YOU notes on top of them. Even the statement from Cavs Chairman Dan Gilbert is a lot different this time around….
I do wish he would have written it in Comic Sans, though.
So now that LeBron is in LA, the Western Conference Finals are the new NBA Finals, right? Does any team in the East have a legit shot against whatever team comes out of the West? And LeBron out of the East is great news for the Bulls. It’ll be an interesting season.
Jeffrey Dill snagged one of the biggest flathead catfish in Virginia state history over the weekend.
According to NBC 4, Dill and a friend went fishing at about 8:30am when he felt something pull. That started a 15 minute battle with his $20 rod he bought at Walmart.
He finally pulled a potential record-breaking catfish from the water – all 66.4 pounds of him. The current record is 66.4 pounds from a fish caught way back in 1994.
Here’s the story on “Big Earle” from WCMH-TV….
You don’t see this every day.
The Dynamic Volleyball Academy was holding their team practice on the beach on Fenwick Island, Delaware when they thought they spotted some dolphins feeding on a school of fish. They took out their cameras for a closer look.
It was a WHALE.
Check out the reaction when they made the discovery. If you’ve ever seen a whale in the wild, you will understand their excitement. Here’s the video…
The group said in a comment on the video that the whale did end up circling back down the beach and went further into deeper water. You can read more here.
It was a huge night for “The Shape of Water.” Guillermo Del Toro accepted his first Best Director Academy Award and the movie went on to win the top prize, Best Picture. Most of the movie’s stars were in the auditorium to see it all happen in person.
Michael Shannon watched the Oscars from a Chicago dive bar.
Bruce Elliott runs the Old Town Ale House. He took a picture of Shannon watching the show with no sound on the TV, asking “Where else would you want to spend Oscar night?”
Check out his tweet from the other night…..this is great:
Michael Shannon watching the film he starred in, “Shape of Water”, win best picture while sitting in the Old Town Ale House. No sound on the TV, just sub-titles. Of course the juke box was rocking, and the beer flowing. Where else would you want to spend Oscar night? pic.twitter.com/WAC6uc6guZ
— Bruce Elliott (@GeriatricGenius) March 6, 2018
