Katie from Pulse Loves a Good Tiger...

Roar!

Orlando (Part Four)...

Our last day in Orlando, we got up super early and drove over to the Disney compound. Our plan was to spend the day at Disney's Animal Kingdom, return the rental car, and get on the airplane by 5. SUCCESS!

We knew we were off to a good start when they made us park our car in the unicorn lot. As soon as we were inside the park, we made a beeline for Africa and the Kilimanjaro Safari. We got stuck on the ride for awhile due to a giraffe in the middle of the road in front of the safari vehicle ahead of us. Luckily we were stuck next to the hippos. After the safari, we hit all the walking tours where we saw, Komodo Dragons, tigers, birds, gorillas and one of my favorites, Giant Fruit Bats... After checking out the animals, we rushed over to Expedition Everest which is one of the most fun rollercoasters I've ever ridden. You ride in and out of the mountain, fly backwards into the dark, and scream (if you're me) like a little girl when you see the Yeti! After Expedition Everest, we ran over to Dinoland USA and rode the super fun DINOSAUR... After the DINO-ride, we still had time to kill! Labor day weekend really is the best time to visit Orlando, little to no line waiting is awesome. We decided we would kill time by riding the Expedition Everest again and then again!
And here we are hamming it up now that we know where they keep the camera... Oh and that guy and his daughter in front of us? Definitely not acting! Ha.


Here's a nice picture of Katie at the Tree of Life. And then... we headed home.

All I Need is One Mic...

Last night for the very first time, I recorded some vocals in our home studio. Why haven't I done this sooner? It was so fun! Sean and Benn Grim have been working on some things for Benn's new record and I was honored and excited when Benn asked me to help out too! Now that I'm addicted to the sound of my own voice through headphones (or "the cans" as we call them in the biz) I'm going to see if I can get on a House of Blow track, and then maybe a solo record. Ha!

SKUNK!

Turns out this little guy lives under our porch! And all this time I thought that smell was just something I'd have to get used to living with Sean. Ha! He's just a baby but he is causing quite a stir with the neighbors. I've seen him a few times at night, and so far I haven't actually smelled him spray anything. He's getting a bit bold now though, coming out before dark to look for dinner in our yard, and I don't know what to do. The neighbors want him out, but he lives under my porch, so I'm the one that will have to pay to "have him removed" by a wildlife specialist. If he's not hurting anything, is this necessary? I suppose I won't think so, until I end up skunked in the face!

Orlando (Part Three)...

ROCK IT! First thing on day three, we headed over to regular old Universal Studios to ride the most intimidating rollercoaster I've ever seen.
The ascent is completely verticle and even though that looks like a loop, you are never actually upside down! The aren't even shoulder harnesses on this ride! Just a lap bar! It was awesome. This rollercoaster has a touch screen and speakers in each seat and you get to pick what song you listen in your personal speakers while you ride. I chose Motley Crue's "Kickstart My Heart". I sang and danced and screamed my way through this entire ride, and I was only slightly mortified when I discovered I was filmed the entire way. Instead of a picture available for purchase at the end, this ride offers a video! I looked SO stupid! We had a really good laugh at my expense.

The new Simpsons ride was great!



In this park, we also rode JAWS, Men In Black, Twister, Terminator 2, Shrek 4D, ET, and our personal favorite The Mummy! We rode that one twice too! Unfortunately we actually had to wait in line both times. Luckily it moved pretty quick. The Mummy rollercoaster is all indoors, in the dark, and at times it moves backward! A backwards rollercoaster is one of my all time favorite rides! There is also a really great pyro effect on the Mummy ride. Woooooo!

Look at this thing again...

I'm thinking one more Orlando post and I should have it out of my system. We just had some much fun, reliving it here is fun too!

Orlando (Part Two)...

We got up early to head deep within the Island of Adventure and spend our day exploring Hogsmeade and Hogwarts at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter! We had stumbled upon the entrance the previous evening, but Katie was very stern about turning me around and reminding me that we were saving the experience for the following morning. I stared back over my shoulder longingly as she drug me away.

Here's the entrance to Hogsmeade... And the Hogwarts Express...Our view of the Hogsmeade streets... The girls of Pulse love some butterbeer... Hogwarts...

One of the longest lines we waited in on our trip was for the Dragon Challenge rollercoaster. Not worth it. Come to find out, it's just the 20 year old Dueling Dragons rollercoaster that has always been at Universal Studios, just with a new name. LAME. We rode the blue coaster or the Hungarian Horntail and decided to not waste any time waiting to ride the red Chinese Fireball. The Flight of the Hippogriff coaster was fun, but not thrilling. While waiting in line you get to pass Hagrid's Hut, so that was pretty cool, and Buckbeak greets you from his nest on your ascent, also very cool. Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey was awesome! Thanks again to the tattoos and my big mouth, a friendly line attendant named Ryan, escorted us inside Hogwarts and showed us some amazing props on our way to the front of the line. Thanks Ryan! Immediately after riding we had yet another friendly Universal employee lead us back to the head of the class, and we were able to enjoy this ride twice in a row too! I'll admit to being a little dizzy after our second go!

To get our heads together and recollect after the Harry Potter rides, we decided to sit down for a meal at... The Three Broomsticks! Katie had the fish and chips and I had the shepherd's pie. Both of our meals were delicious (sorry for the lack of pictures!) and we both enjoyed a frozen butterbeer with our lunch. So good! Butterbeer tastes kind of like a butterscotch soda and they put this (forgive me) MAGICAL whipped cream on top. We tried the frozen and regular and both were to die for. They also serve Pumpkin Juice and Pumpkin Fizz. I was excited about both, but after inquiring about the ingredients and discovering both contain an apple juice base, I was not able to try either. Anyone who knows me will tell you that there are no circumstances in which it is safe for me to drink any amount of apple juice. I'll spare you the details here. Which is sad, because I do like it. Someone out there try it and tell me how it is!

We tried to mail postcards from the Owl Post, and that turned out to be a complete cluster F@%*. There are only four Potter postcards to choose from and the website leads you to believe there are stamps and other mail novelties, of which we found none. We were able to get the Hogsmeade postmark stamped on our cards before we left the store, but we had to mail them ourselves from our hotel. LAME. As a matter of fact, other than the Three Broomsticks, I found most of the Hogsmeade village to be a complete cluster F@#%. Katie from Pulse is the nicest person I know in real life and it even made her angry and mean! Which I appreciated. Ha.

All in all our day in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter was very fun. The attention to detail was amazing, but as a huge fan, I was a little let down by the less than spectacular attractions. Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey inside Hogwarts was outstanding, but it left everything else pale in comparison.

Orlando (Part One)...

Katie from Pulse and I spent our labor day weekend down in Orlando, FL at Universal Studios. Katie had never been, and I'm a big fan of the parks there so when they opened the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, we just had to plan a trip.

We arrived on Friday evening, drove from the airport straight to Universal, parked and ran for those rides! We made it on the Cat in the Hat, Jurassic Park, Spiderman, and the Incredible Hulk all without any waiting in line! One of the ride operators on the Hulk liked our tattoos, and let us ride twice in a row! The second time he put us in the front! It was awesome. Katie from Pulse loves a good Lorax. And who doesn't love Moose Juice? We used a real film camera to take our pictures and it's been so long since I've done that, I forgot how much fun it can be! I definitely want to start doing that more often again. I also used my iphone for a few shots when we were out of film.

We picked a perfect weekend for this trip, as most kids start school the first week of September and most parents wouldn't be silly enough to plan a vacation during their children's first week back to school. The people traffic at the parks was light and the lines were short. Awesome!

Tomorrow... Hogwarts.

My Husband Went to Miami...

and all I got were the pictures posted in this blog! Just kidding! While he was getting tattooed down at good old Love Hate Tattoo Studio (formerly Miami Ink), I was keeping busy in central Florida at Universal Studios! More on that later. Now back to Sean...

Chris Garver had started a back piece on Sean several years ago and they haven't been able to get together to work on it much since. Sean was always on the road with Hatebreed and Chris was busy with traveling of his own, as well as a TV show so it was hard for them to be in the same place at the same time. Until last weekend.

Hey Sean, after you finish your back, maybe we can do something about your front?Sean sat for almost 6 hours and Chris covered a lot of ground. Here's to hoping they get together sooner than later and we can see some more progress on this thing!
Check out Chris Garver at www.lovehatetattoos.com