Kennywood Launches Roller Coaster New For 2010!

Kennywood is proud to announce the addition of a seventh roller coaster, name The Sky Rocket, for the 2010 season! Joining the ranks of the Lil’Phantom, Exterminator, Jack Rabbit, Racer, Thunderbolt, and Phantom’s Revenge, the new Linear Synchronous Motor (LSM) launch roller coaster is unlike any other roller coaster at Kennywood.

“This roller coaster will provide a thrilling new experience for coaster lovers at Kennywood,” explains General Manager Jerome Gibas. “The use of LSM launch technology will allow riders to blast from 0 to 50mph in three seconds and offers our first roller coaster with inversions since the Steel Phantom.”

Kennywood’s new launch coaster will feature many exciting and unique features including three inversions and a 0-50mph launch in three seconds! After the high-speed launch, riders will experience a vertical ascent to 95ft before a brief cliffhanger pause at the top and a 90-degree drop into a maximum G-force pullout. The riders then enjoy extended airtime as the train races into an inverted top hat element, passes into a barrel roll and goes vertical again through a twist up leading to another pause.

Riders experience a second vertical free fall followed by another maximum G-force pullout on the way into a highly banked fan curve. After a traditional corkscrew, a curve to a zero gravity hill, and a series of wave turns, riders finally return to the station.

The new roller coaster will be placed in the current location of the Turnpike, a ride that has been at Kennywood since 1966. Guests will only have to say ‘see you later’ to the Turnpike since plans are already underway to bring back the ride in the near future. The Turnpike’s final day of operation was Aug. 16, 2009.

Kennywood’s new launch coaster is proudly built in the U.S.A. by Premier Rides of Millersville, Maryland.

Ride Statistics:
Track Length: 2100 feet
Maximum Speed: 50 mph
Ride Time: 65 seconds
Number of Trains: 2
Number of Cars Per Train: 2
Number of Riders Per Train: 12

Check out www.kennywood.com for schedules and ticket prices.
 

New Season Begins At Drake Well
From the Titusville Herald

As winter fades, Drake Well Museum and Park is gearing up for the summer season by adding an additional day to its operating schedule.

Friends of Drake Well (the museum's membership association) and volunteers have agreed to manage the site on Tuesdays, beginning April 6, so that the outdoor exhibits, the Orientation Trailer and restrooms can be open to the public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Drake Well will continue to be open Wednesday through Saturday, and the staff hopes to be able to recruit additional volunteers so that the site can open Sunday beginning in June.

In the aftermath of budget cuts and staff furloughs, Drake Well is seeking additional funding and volunteer resources to re-invent programs and services offered to regional residents and national tourists.

Even with reduced days of operation, the site saw nearly 2,000 visitors from November 2009 to March 2010 in spite of deep snow and cold temperatures.

Many took advantage of reduced winter season admission fees, which will return to summer season rates on May 1 with operating machinery, craft demonstration programs, special events and regularly scheduled guided tours.

A new self-guided outdoor site brochure leads visitors through the evolution of petroleum technology displayed in buildings and machinery by following numbered oil drops scattered throughout the grounds.

“Closing the museum building for renovations gave us a chance to pay more attention to the outdoor exhibits,” said Drake Well Director Barbara Zolli. “Our working engines are an exciting part of the site, but we haven't interpreted them in the same detail as the interior exhibits.”

A new event, Engine Start-Up Day, has been created to celebrate the official first day of summer season operations at Drake Well on Saturday, May 1, at 10 a.m., when working machinery will again come to life. The steam engine in the Drake Well Replica will demonstrate how Edwin Drake pumped oil out of the ground in 1859 and the 20 HP Olin gas engine in the Central Power Lease Exhibit will fill the air with sounds of the barker and the squealing of rod lines.

The winter season without the museum building also challenged Drake Well staff and volunteers to find ways to provide educational programs and outdoor tours to assure local residents that the site would remain open during construction.

The annual Heritage Lecture Series moved to Titusville's First Presbyterian Church and attracted nearly 175 people to its four Thursday night programs. A series of Saturday morning children's programs included taffy pulling, making ice cream, the work of the tin smith, and maple sugaring.

Many site visitors followed the progress of geothermal well drilling through February and March both in person and through media coverage.

Their interest encouraged museum educator Mark Ware to schedule an informational program explaining how geothermal systems work to reduce energy costs for heating and cooling. It will be held on Saturday, April 24, from 10 a.m. to noon at Drake Well as part of Earth Day celebrations. Additional information is available by calling 827-2797.

Demolition in the museum building has concluded and interior walls are being framed in. Adapted space will include a multi-purpose room with kitchen, a new orientation theater, an education center with a media lab, and a comprehensive state-of-the-art research center with collection storage. Completion of that phase may occur in fall of 2010 and the exhibit installation phase will begin soon after. The new enlarged exhibit gallery will be approximately 7,000 square feet.

Drake Well Museum and Park, administered by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, is located off route 8 south of Titusville and is open to the public year round. Admission is charged.

 A Journey Through Bass

One Musicians Passage from the Underground to Mainstream

By Kirk Dabback

A Saturday night at the club is a culmination of lights, sound, and people. From San Francisco to Tokyo, music is the universal. The masters of this sound are the D.J.’s, and the representative from Pittsburgh is an artist who produces mixes the world could enjoy.

Since the days of disco the disk jockey has provided the masses with a beat and that ever crucial bass line. Making the people dance is the name of the game. The gyrations are completely up to the individual. Move the body, move the soul. Tonight the mover is Sean 2:16, and the club is literally shaking.

With an alter-ego comparable to a musical Clark Kent, Sean O’Neal spends his days managing a clothing store in Cleveland. It is only at night that the city of Pittsburgh is able to experience Sean 2:16 and a sound that is truly original. The culture calls it Dubstep, and it gets its name from the two-step rhythm that makes up its backbone. This one-two pattern distinguishes the genre from other forms of electronic dance music.

The listening experience, especially in the club environment, is comparable to a crude oil shower. To give the sound a label, the word “grimy” comes to mind. Oddly, the patrons of this music style will use increasingly negative terms to express enjoyment. The main contradiction of Dubstep is its ability to be musically satisfying, while simultaneously sounding like a car alarm in a wood chipper.

O’Neal describes his sound as “powerful, dark, and dirty”. It is hybrid of metal and techno with its heart and soul being the bass, and a sound that’s progressive to say the least. To observe a crowd under the syncopated trance of Sean 2:16 is impressive. One club goer described the way the music makes her move as, “head-banging with your feet.”

Alicia Lantz, of Edinboro is a familiar face in the Pittsburgh dance scene. When asked what is was that keeps here coming back, the only reply that is made is a short, “you got to love the bass.” The energy emitted from six massive speakers animate the air with an intensity that is felt by every soul in the room. The sound levels, environment, and most importantly the variations between beautifully melodic and viciously brutal make this sound-style so novel.

The work of Sean 2:16, born on the north shore of Pittsburgh, is quickly becoming a recognizable name in the electronic dance community. The ramifications of a fresh sound in the world of E.D.M. may lead to international recognition. Electronic music has no language; it’s a tune that can move all nations

In the same context as soccer fans, American culture doesn’t fully embrace electronica as a mainstream genre. “It’s true electronica isn’t tops here in the states, but in countries like France and Japan this type of music frequents the pop-charts”, explained D.J. Joltz of the production group 412 Approved. He later shed light on what it is about Seans’ technique that makes it so special. His method incorporates familiar samples, odd sounds, and beat patterns that stick in the head for days. Most importantly it’s the eclectic format of Dubstep that gives the music of Sean 2:16 its originality.

High hopes and expectations of grandeur may plague the minds of O’Neal’s peers, but to this humble D.J. the attention is a cause conflict. “I’ve grown to love the underground music scene this town [Pittsburgh] has,” says O’Neal. “It’s this environment that helped me conceive my best work… Journey Through Bass and That Nasty Gushy Good Stuff are albums I made to be Pittsburgh’s music. Honestly, I’m afraid of what’ll become of my style if it get too big… I guess I have this fear of the mainstream.” The plight of Sean 2:16 is rooted in an unspoken allegiance to the Pittsburgh underground, and a feeling of contempt for any music engineered to tickle the ears of the masses.

Just as a true artist would be, Sean 2:16 is more protective of his creation than a father on prom night. He dreads the creation of a “cookie-cutter” for his sound and with this comes the demise of his exclusive voice. Given the bare bones of Dubstep - - that being its one-two rhythm and the essential reliance on a bass line - - it’s easy to imagine how his approach could become skewed. The day could come when this fear ironically manifests into an acceptance most artists dream of.

The foreseen destruction of Dubsteps original charm isn’t balanced out by a promise of money or fame either. Electronica is driven by legions of autonomous D.J.’s who take pride in discovering and exhibiting a plethora of sounds ranging from popular to rare. This being the case, if there ever were to be a Dubstep boom, chances are Sean’s music would be sampled and downloaded for free. These practices are now commonplace, and even though it’s not about the glory, they leave the artist without cash and credit for their work.

With all worries aside and the future of Dubstep left to conjecture, Sean 2:16 will just have to wait and see what happen. All this while the D.J./ producer will focus on nurturing his beloved style; at the same time further exploring new aspects of the genre. As mentioned previously, the bass line and its variable fluctuations make Dubstep a reverberation one can’t forget. The term for this distinctive sound has been coined the “wobble”. The best description of this sound wave is imagining a digital tone that swells and drops in different variations. When used with the low-end bass, the fluctuation hits the crowd with a physical force.

The most fascinating aspect of Sean O’Neal the artist is his deserved reputation as an electronic virtuoso. This title was given by some due to the fact that Sean has only been producing material for two years. Picking up basic turntableism as a mire hobby, Sean later decided to devote his entire being to the art. “One day I realized how much mixing and producing was my passion… I to quit my job for a few months and put a serious effort into my true work”, says O’Neal.

No matter what type of music the listener is accustom to, Dubstep has a way of making a body move. It is the accomplishments of this young D.J. that serve as an inspiration to many in the Pittsburgh underground. The stark dualities that encompass this music in its form and reception alike are enough to intrigue any music lover.

NASCAR Party In Venango

By Rob Taylor

The NASCAR season is going full tilt!

For a sport that started out as a bunch of good-ol-boy rednecks driving in a big circle, automobile racing has grown year after year after year until it has surpassed baseball, football, hockey and (god forbid) golf and tennis in popularity. When you add in stars like Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon you have a sport that can’t be beat.

This weekend is the Subway Fresh 600, a 600 mile race held in Phoenix, Arizona and, at the same time the city of Cambridge Springs will be holding their Cambridge Springs NASCAR Party to benefit the Cambridge Springs High School Wrestling Team.

Now, you HAVE to be 21 to attend the event but for the $10 admission price you do get a hell of lot! You get to watch the race on big screen TVs, food, drinks and door prizes and, if you want to, there is going to be small games of chance, prize drawings, raffle drawings, Chinese auction and race pools.

I know you want to know what the grand prizes are…well they will make any NASCAR fan drool!!! For $5 a ticket you get the chance to win 2 tickets 2 pit passes to Coca Cola 600 Race - May 30, 2010 at Charlotte Motor Speedway AND 2 tickets 2 pit passes to All Star Race - May 22, 2010 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Register to WIN - $5.00 per ticket. To make it better you have a 1/1000 chance of winning the tickets.

The NASCAR Party will be held at the Venango VFW, 20628 Gospel Hill Rd in Venango, PA at 6:00 PM on April 10….that’s this Saturday!

Call 814-602-4638 for ore information.