It's Grimmy's 23rd birthday!

I always loved this cartoon (and the CBS Saturday morning show that was based on it). 23 years ago today was the first time Mother Goose & Grimm appeared in newspapers.

Check out the official website for an archive of cartoons and other fun stuff.

RIP Geauga Lake (1888 - 2007)

So after a rough night at work where the computers died, knocking all our stations either off-air or into manual mode, I come home and learn about this bad news.

Cedar Fair (the company that owns Cedar Point, King's Island, Canada's Wonderland, and many other parks) has decided to close Geauga Lake's amusement park (just three hours west of Buffalo) and change it over to waterpark only. You can read the announcement about the closing here.

Want to go visit Geauga Lake one last time before its rides are either demolished or moved? Nope, you can't - Cedar Fair didn't want to give anyone that opportunity. The park is already closed for the season and the rides portion will no longer exist starting next year.

Cedar Fair can't be blamed completely though - Six Flags owned the park up until recently and ran the park into the ground. When Cedar Fair bought it, it was a serious uphill battle to get the park back to being worth visiting. And with Cedar Fair already owning the other two major Ohio amusement parks, I guess it wasn't worth the trouble.

This is what could have happened to Darien Lake had it not been purchased by PARC, a company that actually cares about our park. All the more reason to definitely visit Darien Lake weekends through October 7th and support this new company.

Darien Lake has FREE admission during its Fall Family Fun Fest. It'll be pay-per-ride or you can buy a wristband for $15 to ride everything. There's a haunted house, corn maze, lots of family entertainment, and Deep Fried Twinkies!

As for Geauga Lake, I'm sure the spin rides will find homes at other Cedar Fair parks. But I'm wondering if they're going to attempt to move "Villain", an excellent wooden roller coaster. Same goes for "Big Dipper", a classic (and still good) wooden coaster from 1925.

I have a lot of great memories of visiting Geauga Lake. The ultimate being the time me and a bunch of friends roadtripped out to the park and met up with my brother for a freezing cold, rainy October night riding all the rides and drinking lots of hot chocolate. Even with the miserable weather that night, we all still had an awesome time and stayed right until the park closed.

Visit this website to see Geauga Lake as it was.

Survivor backstage!

Ever wonder what preparation goes on behind the cameras for a reality show?

Survivor's Jeff Probst shows you in a series of behind the scenes videos. Check them out at the CBS website.

As for the current season - after just one episode, I've already picked out who I'm rooting for to win and the ones I hope don't last long.

So far, I'm rooting for James (the gravedigger guy) and Amanda (the hiking guide). Amanda wasn't shown much yet, but some early comments by her already prove that she totally understands the game.

The most annoying to me was definitely the NYC waitress (just an unpleasant person), the whiny woman wrestler, the full-of-himself poker player, and Sherea (who seemed to be stunned that Survivor was taking place outdoors).

A lot of them weren't shown much, so I'm sure the list will change next week. Plus, most of their names don't sink in until a few episodes in.

It does look like a fun season though. See it online or Thursday nights on CBS.

The Chenbot!

Julie Chen is "The Chenbot" - see the Chenbot clip here. And check out the Chenbot fan page while you're at it (proof there really is a website for everything).

According to recent interviews Julie Chen has done, even she thinks this clip is funny. Which makes her even more likable as a reality show host.

Two new game shows!

I used to watch game shows all the time - Press Your Luck, Tic Tac Dough, Pitfall, Scrabble, The Joker's Wild, Monopoly, and Classic Concentration were favorites of mine.

Now, it seems the classic type game show is all but gone except for the tired Wheel Of Fortune, Jeopardy, and Family Feud. But two new shows debuted this week and will hopefully revive the genre.

Temptation is a new version of Sale Of The Century. It airs weekdays at 12:30pm on CW-23 (cable channel 16 in Buffalo). It's like a cross between a game show and the home shopping channel (there's quite a few home shopping deals featured in the show).

If you liked Sale Of The Century, you'll probably like this. I didn't, so I wasn't too thrilled with this show. There just seemed to be more prize descriptions than actual gameplay.


Crosswords is a new Merv Griffin created game show. It airs weekdays at 2:00pm on WGRZ (channel 2 in Buffalo).

I love this show. The set is very cool and there's a lot of strategy involved in the game. So while I'm not good at crossword puzzles, that didn't matter. The "spoiler" rounds, where other contestants can take the place of a current contestant, makes for a great addition to an already good show. And those rounds more than make up for the hard-to-see bonus round, the only negative I have about the show.

While it's not an instant classic like the old 80's game shows, it's a fast-paced, fun half-hour. Definitely check this one out!

Who Wants To Be A Superhero winner...

After watching a reality show start to finish, it’s annoying when the person you want to win doesn't.

In the case of Who Wants To Be A Superhero, I was stunned when The Defuser won. I thought that character has been done to death in comics. Apparently, Stan Lee thought differently - and since he’s the one writing the comic, I guess he’s right.

Although I would've rather read a comic book about Hyper-Strike or Hygena. Hyper-Strike was a comic character come to life and perfect for the job. And Hygena would have made a very different and fun superhero - but that might have been too big a challenge to pull off in a comic book.

As far as the people on the show goes, this reality series didn't go anywhere near the bottom of the barrel in picking contestants. All of them seemed like genuinely nice people, which is why I’m already looking forward to Who Wants To Be A Superhero 3 (if it's renewed).

On the flip side, there’s Big Brother. At this point, I’m rooting for certain contestants NOT to win - Evil Dick for being excruciatingly annoying, Daniele just for being related to Dick and going along with his plans in the game, and Zach for not seeming to have a clue what’s going on.

That would leave Jameka, who seems nice enough to win, as long as she doesn't continue going overboard with her “it’s already pre-determined” craziness.

Unfortunately, all the contestants I really wanted to win (Mike, Jen, and Carol) have already been sent out of the Big Brother house. Most of them early on in the game. I’ll still watch through to the end though (which will be September 18th on CBS).

As for the second season of Who Wants To Be A Superhero, that will be available on DVD October 18th according to scifi.com.

Road trip: The abandoned tunnels of I-70

This cool place is not close - it’s about a five-hour drive from Buffalo in fact. And it’s something I haven’t been to, but it’s definitely something I plan to see in the near future.

In 1968, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission decided to update I-70 by bypassing congested stretches of road. The result, a 13-mile stretch of highway including two of the highway tunnels which have been left abandoned.

The tunnels are no longer open for motor vehicles, but are open to the public. In fact, an organization called Pike2Bike is working on turning these tunnels and the abandoned highway into a bike trail. It’ll be a long time before the project is complete though. So for now, there’s no easy access to these tunnels.

The two tunnels are the Sideling Hill Tunnel and the Rays Hill Tunnel. The Sideling Hill Tunnel is the longest of the original tunnels on the turnpike. It’s 1.3 miles long! Because it’s unlit and on a strange angle, it’s pitch black in parts - you’ll definitely need a powerful flashlight here (from what I’ve read, ordinary flashlights are not good enough).

Here's two videos of the tunnels (from the rays-hill.com website). As you'll see, the roads haven't been repaired since the tunnels closed, so it’ll be rough going.

To get to the tunnels, it’s either a long walk or bike ride. Go here for directions.

Just FYI, there is one other tunnel and short stretch of highway that’s been abandoned. But that tunnel (the Laurel Hill Tunnel) and the separate abandoned stretch of highway that goes along with it are on private property and not open to the public. So do not go there (it’s even police patrolled). The other tunnels are the better ones to visit anyways based on online reports.

And if you visit the Sideling Hill & Rays Hill Tunnels, let me know what they’re like as I’m anxious to see them myself!