Cordova, Deer, and DDR Craziness

Sometimes, I must wonder how things happen. Dustin, a guy from work with a Mustang Cobra, invited me down to the local dragstrip for an event called Midnight Mayhem to watch him race. After getting lost attempting to follow them, I managed to get directions and arrive around 12:15. Hundreds of people were there, and easily a hundred cars were all lined up to pair off at the drag strip. I didn’t have any idea this would be such a huge event. While watching, I noticed a lot of modified Hondas, Toyotas, old pickups, classic Chevys, cars of all makes and descriptions. I came to the firm conclusion that my car could slap around over half of the participants, merely due to the sheer amount of wimpy 4-cylinder vehicles and old rust-buckets present. Why would a person willingly bring an embarrassingly shitty car to a drag-strip? One Honda in particular burned out his clutch and had to be towed off the strip.

Then there was the Flag Girl Competition. I figured this would be some random diversion and didn’t really pay attention. A few girls started the cars instead of the track lights, everyone was happy. Then judging came around. Two of the girls flashed the entire venue of gathered race enthusiasts in effort to garner votes in their favor. Unsurprisingly, the girl who flashed frequently and with great enthusiasm won handily. The track is far enough that few people really saw detail, but there were two photographers for the event, and I would be surprised if at least one of them didn’t procure embarrassingly clear pictures. That ended at around 1:45am and Dustin wasn’t racing anymore, so I left.

On the way home, my car almost got its first taste of deer meat. As I was driving along below the speed limit, a deer must have thought it was safe enough to cross the road and bolted directly across mere feet from my car. I left the track with a full bladder, figuring I could handle the half hour drive home without issue. I don’t know how I avoided pissing myself after narrowly avoiding striking a deer by less than a foot. The rest of the night passed without incident, so I feel much better. Dustin tells me his timing belt broke on the way home, so last night was fun for everyone trying to return from Cordova. ^_^

Today, I found out that the Quad Cities has somehow acquired two more DDR machines. What’s this?

* [Showcase Cinemas 53](http://www.ddrfreak.com/locations/locations.php?action=displayLocation&locationID=22349&status=new)
* [Great Escape Theaters - Moline 14](http://www.ddrfreak.com/locations/locations.php?action=displayLocation&locationID=22350&status=new)

I have no idea how long this will last, but it’s just ridiculous. A year ago, we had nothing. Now for some inexplicable reason, we have three. I’m simply amazed. Unfortunately the new machines need a little TLC before they’re really usable, but I know the company which owns them, and they’ve been informed of the problems. Hopefully that means we’ll eventually have three fully functional machines here, which is overkill, but in a good way.

For those who are wondering, yes I’m still working on the Anime Central 2005 writeup. I took nearly a hundred pictures, each of which needs a tagline, some of which need cleanup, and then the convention writeup itself needs to be finished. I should be done by the end of Memorial Day weekend.

Until Tomorrow