The Gold Coast in Queensland hosts Australia’s greatest theme parks and family entertainment venues. All of these Gold Coast Theme Parks all adopt their unique creative ideas and supply days of popular amusement set amongst safe surrounds.. The five most important Gold Coast parks are within trouble-free distance of your own Gold Coast accommodation. They may be arrived at either by personal automobile or a variety of public transport. Following you will discover an overview of each Gold Coast theme park.

Australia’s best known theme park is Dreamworld and it has already been open in excess of twenty five years. Dreamworld features over thirteen crafted zones around the park. Located in Coomera on the Pacific Motorway, Dreamworld is easily reachable from either Brisbane as well as the Gold Coast.. To access Dreamworld by car via Brisbane will probably take around forty five minutes and via the central Gold Coast around twenty or so minutes. There’s a substantial thirty hectares of developed rides, sights as well as shows at Dreamworld including the kid’s most liked Wiggles World and Tiger Island. Within their purpose erected enclosures visitors to Dream world’s Tiger Island can easily experience these regal creatures with their handlers. For a much more serene experience take the Riverboat Cruise, check out Gold Rush Country and also the koala and kangaroo sanctuary, maybe check out one, or even all, of the water slides and enjoy rides such as Tower of Terror, Wipeout and Thunderbolt. For everybody visiting the Gold Coast theme parks and hoping to steer clear of the lines then don’t forget to book your tickets via the Internet.

Warner Brothers Movie World enables everybody be a superstar and enjoy the magic and excitement of staring in the Films. You will find heart stopping rides such as the Superman Escape rollercoaster where only the fearless venture and dare to voyage at one hundred kph in only 2 seconds.. And when you actually assumed Warner Brothers Movie World theme park on the Gold Coast could not give you anymore adventure – from the darkness comes an unparalleled thrill ride experience ‘Batwing Spaceshot’ – Prepare yourself for a speedy 4G vertical launch followed by a drop into a breathtaking negative descent – over and above freefall. There is also all the fun laughs and attractions from the Looney Tunes Village with some serious special effects accompanying the eye popping and typically hair-raising adventures. Warner Brothers Movie World happens to be an appealing adventure just needing you! Ideally located in Oxenford on the Gold Coast’s Pacific Freeway, Warner Bros. Movie World is a forty five minute drive from Brisbane and only 20 minutes from Surfers Paradise.

Sea World is amongst the long-term most liked Gold Coast theme parks and beckons travelers on a journey to locate splendid aquatic life such as dolphins, fish, sharks and polar bears. Enjoy discovering Sea World’s Shark Bay, earth’s largest sized man-made lagoon structure, in which you come face-to-face with probably the most feared varieties of sharks internationally! There is certainly a great deal to enjoy at Sea World it truly is almost impossible to document everything, however simply to list a number of favourites is likely to consist of: Seasame Street Beach where most of the cartoon figures, including Bert and Ernie, perform daily plus the Polar Bear Shores It’s all taking place at Sea World theme Park in the Queensland Gold Coast and is a need to see for all the family. Sea World theme park is built at Seaworld Drive, Main Beach. To get it in perspective the Sea World theme park along the Gold Coast is barely 3 km’s north of Surfers Paradise.

Among the list of leading water based theme parks at the Gold Coast is Wet’n'Wild. Take pleasure in the merriment of be spun around by a Whirlpool which blows people whirling amidst whirling rapids. For people who absolutely need to get soaked and outrageous check out the thirty metre dive of the worlds first water roller coaster whilst grasping desperately on to a spinning surfboard. Additionally there is Australia’s Mammoth Falls, the country’s greatest water attraction. For something a little bit more sedate take a rest in the Giant Wave Pool or just hang out at Calypso Beach. Little ones (below 10 years old) can also indulge in a visit to Wet’n'Wild World with a paddle or swim in Buccaneer Bay – a play ground packed with enjoyment and fantasy. While in the hotter months the pools and slides provide a relaxing place to cool down and throughout the winter months they are heated. Fully accredited lifeguards patrol the park throughout the calendar year. Dive-in Movies are screened every Saturday evening from November to January and each and every night for the period of December to January school vacations. Wet’n'Wild Water World is located on the Pacific Highway, Oxenford (The exit ramp is clearly signed) which is just forty five minutes heading south from Brisbane and twenty minutes heading north from Surfers Paradise.

WhiteWater World is home to four of the earth’s best water slides and is certainly a tremendous family theme park with the Nickelodeon’s Pipeline Plunge and the massively popular Wiggle Bay play area. White Water World is constructed around the Australian icons of surf, sand and sea, and obviously loads of fun. With a range of family focused sight-seeing opportunities merged with rides and slides for the more daring, the Dreamworld run White Water World theme park is almost certainly the most highly developed international water park.

The Australian Gold Coast is undoubtedly one of the planet’s most stunning getaway vacation spots and is definitely full of good times plus sight-seeing opportunities for every age group. To arrange your own Gold Coast Accommodation and find an extensive choice of other information and facts to help prepare your Gold Coast holiday have a look over the internet.

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Roller Derby was never really a big deal in the US, but has been around forever and was a staple of the early days of television. It was similar in its promotional format to its better known “sports entertainment” cousin, professional wrestling. It was frequently seen in the same bad timeslots on the same low powered UHF TV stations, and it was run by the same loose confederation of promoters and businessmen that characterized the regional territory era of pro wrestling. That’s where the similarity to wrestling ends–it’s storylines made pro wrestling angles look like high drama. While there is a definite history to the sport–great teams like the LA T-Birds and Bay Bombers, and legendary skaters like Ann Calvello it never really stuck in the public consciousness like the pre-Hulk Hogan era of pro wrestling.

New era roller derby reached a national audience through the A&E reality series Roller Girls. It featured a local, all-girl roller derby league in Austin, Texas and followed the lives of the players on and off the track. While the show was oddly engaging, it was the first clue that many had that such a league existed in the first place. A sport that was never taken seriously to begin with and that was really living on borrowed time since the’60′s before fading into the lowest level of obscurity had been rediscovered and embraced by an eclectic group of young women. They had kept the same essential format, thrown in a healthy dose of burlesque camp and Varga pin-up inspired glamour and made it into their own vibrant subculture. They changed some of the nomenclature and competitive format–in lieu of regularly scheduled games they renamed the competitions “bouts” a la MMA or boxing. The result was a compelling mixture of glamour, toughness and athleticism driven by a healthy dose of punk rock “do it yourself” mentality.

Today, roller derby is a full blown worldwide phenomenon. There are hundreds of local roller derby leagues not only in the United States, but Canada, Australia and Europe. Most of the local groups similarly play up the campy retro pin-up/hot rod iconography and everyone involved sure looks like they’re having a good time. Between teams there’s a vibe of good natured competitiveness and camaraderie. In the US, these groups exist under the auspices of a national organization called the Womens Flat Track Derby Association. Las Vegas has the ‘Sin City Roller Girls’, Portland, Oregon the ‘Rose City Rollers” and Seattle the ‘Rat City Rollers’. There are now groups in not only the larger and traditionally “hipper” cities but also smaller communities such as Birmingham, Alabama and Omaha, Nebraska.

This organic rebirth and growth of roller derby is a result of young women taking what essentially was TV time filler and made it into their own distaff ‘action sport’. The community that has sprung up around it bears a striking resemblance to the skateboarding or snowboarding subculture. Granted, there are plenty of talented female skateboarders and snowboarders but they’re typically male dominated disciplines. The roller derby circa 2009 is just the opposite–a living, breathing matriarchal success story. No one is in it for the money, as these local groups are typically run as non-profit organization. The women involved have recreated this sport, and run it, promote it and compete in it on their own terms.

The new generation rollergirls also pay homage to their sports’ pioneers much in the same way that skateboarders give props to Duane Peters and Tony Alva and surfers evoke the names of Duke Kahanamoku and Greg Noll. Many of the individual group websites have sections devoted to the history of roller derby, and the late Ann Calvello–regarded as the Queen of the original Roller Derby–is revered as something of a patron saint.

Ross Everett is a freelance writer and respected authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Northern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

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The Edmonton Eskimos survived a wild back and forth CFL shootout against the Calgary Stampeders before prevailing 38-35 to take over sole possession of first place in the CFL West. Ricky Ray hit Fred Stamps with a 23 yard touchdown pass with just nine seconds to play to earn the victory, erasing the lead that Calgary had earned with their own TD pass less than a half minute earlier.

After the game, winning QB Ricky Ray said that he enjoyed the wild contest:

“That was a ton of fun. In the CFL you get to play in a lot of games like this, especially against a guy like (Calgary quarterback Henry) Burris, who has done this to us. It’s great to come out on the winning end of a shoot-out like that. It’s a great uplift for the team. It’s a huge win for us.”

With a bye week on deck, Eskimos head coach Richie Hall said that the win couldn’t have come at a better time:

“Regardless of what happens, we are coming back in first place. Now we have one up on Calgary. It’s going to be a dogfight for all the teams in the West and any chance you get to win, especially a win like this, it’s a real bonus. It’s great for our confidence.”

Calgarys Burris remembered a very similar situation in a game last year where Edmonton won by the same margin on a last play touchdown:

“They got us last year in this situation and of course you didn’t think it was going to happen again or even could happen again. It felt so great to get that late touchdown and with 38 seconds on the clock nobody was even thinking about last year. We had to stop Jackson and we didn’t. And we had to stop Ray and we didn’t. Kudos to Edmonton.”

Both teams have a bye next week. Calgary returns to action on Aug. 28 in Toronto while the Eskimos will next play on Aug. 29 when they host Hamilton. The two CFL provincial rivals from Alberta will face each other twice more this season.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and highly respected authority on baseball betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Southern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.

Tags : Canadian Football League, entertainment, football, hobbies, marketing, pro football, recreation, Sports, Travel

On January 31, 2000, the historic Mapes Hotel in Reno was imploded by 75 pounds of explosives tucked into the art-deco structures support columns. The destruction of the Mapes put an end to years of efforts to preserve the building via lawsuits, redevelopment proposals, and grass roots action. The National Trust for Historic Preservation took up the cause of the Mapes, and challenged the destruction in a suit that eventually reached the Nevada Supreme Court.

While the logic and necessity of demolishing the Mapes is very questionable, one thing that is certain is that the hotel was an important part of Northern Nevada history. The opening of the Mapes in’47 ushered in a new era in casino gambling, and changed the economy and way of life in Nevada forever. The Mapes was actually the first property in the country to combine a hotel, casino and live entertainment under the same roof. It also became the hotel of choice for celebrities staying in Northern Nevada. Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe stayed at The Mapes during the filming of ‘The Misfits’. Joseph McCarthy, America’s famed anti-Communist crusader, admitted to a reporter over cocktails in the Mapes Lounge that he really didn’t have a list of Communists in the US despite his frequent and vitriolic insistence to the contrary.

During the ‘Rat Pack’ era of the 50′s and 60′s it became along with the Cal-Neva Lodge in Lake Tahoe the place to be seen in Northern Nevada. The 11th floor, window walled Sky Room Lounge hosted performances by a roster of entertainment legends including Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., Dean Martin, Louis Prima, Keely Smith, Milton Berle and Mae West. Downtown Reno struggled during the’60′s and 70′s but the Mapes continued to prosper. The hotel finally closed in’82, due to financial problems experienced by the Mapes Family brought about by their other Northern Nevada casino holdings.

Reno has yet to experience the sort of growth that has been seen in Southern Nevada, and for that reason the destruction of the Mapes is more open to debate than the hotel demolitions to the south. Even the demolition of The Sands–perhaps the most historically significant casino in the state–is hard to argue against given the inability of such a small property to compete in the current Las Vegas marketplace and in light of the value of the mid-strip real estate.

This is not the case in Reno, where land and buildings for development in virtually every casino area are abundant. The official reason that the Mapes had to come down was that the city needed the land–which sits along the banks of the Truckee River–to expand its riverside district of art galleries, restaurants and shops. The revitalization of downtown Reno is definitely needed and a legitimate goal, but at the same time it is hard to think that the Mapes was a barrier to this. Indeed, a number of proposals for redevelopment including office space, artists lofts and upscale senior housing would have probably served to enhance the livability of the downtown area. For whatever reason, the City Redevelopment Authority wouldn’t approve any of the proposals and the fate of the Mapes was sealed.

The behavior of the City Redevelopment Authority throughout the process has come into question. Overlooking the Truckee River, the hotel was perfectly placed between the downtown casino area and the riverfront district. In’96, the city purchased the htoel and began accepting proposals for redevelopment. Despite receiving a number of proposals that made sense both in terms of their financial workability and positive impact on the downtown area, the City Redevelopment Authority nixed all of them and insisted that the hotel be razed.

Following the 2000 demolition, the lot remained vacant for over a year until a temporary ice skating rink was hastily constructed the following winter. The site now houses a permanent ice skating rink which, while not a bad use for the land, isn’t the sort of game changing improvement suggested by the City Redevelopment Agency and their adamant insistence that the building be demolished. To the contrary, it appears they had no specific plan or even general idea of what to do with the land but for some reason wanted to see the hotel come down. This has led to all manner of speculation, ranging from financial self interest to a rumor that the structure was ‘haunted’ and needed to be destroyed to forestall future paranormal activity in Washoe County. Whatever the reason, the city of Reno lost a valuable landmark that played a significant part in the economic growth of the entire state.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and respected authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and betting odds portal sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

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Decades before mixed martial arts became popular in the United States, events matching fighters of different fighting disciplines were very common in Japan. They weren’t called “mixed martial arts” at the time, but that’s essentially what they were.There’s an entire history of pro wrestlers fighting specialists from other martial arts (particularly judo) that were leaving out, but during the’70′s Antonio Inoki began to put the concept of “mixed martial arts” on the map with his matches against fighters from other disciplines.

Before and after his matchup against Muhammad Ali, Inoki would frequently compete against other martial artists in what are widely accepted to be “worked” (ie: having a predetermined outcome) matches. Inoki fought boxer Chuck Wepner, judo Gold Medalist Wilhelm Ruska and world karate champion Willie Williams among others. His most famous match internationally, however, was against Ali.

There’s still much speculation about how Muhammad Ali came to fight Japanese wrestling legend Antonio Inoki, and even more uncertainty about what happened immediately before and during the fight. Ali took the booking because he thought it was to be a big paycheck for little work. Most accounts suggest that his handlers agreed to the ‘worked’ finish without his knowledge, and once he found out that he was to ‘take a dive’ he refused.

Many conspiracy theorists have noted that these rules were never announced to the crowd on fight night, leaving many with the impression that they were being made up as they went along. Action in the fight would further validate this view, but there actually were rules that both camps agreed to heading into the fight. Not surprisingly, most of these were designed to protect Ali. In fact, they were so one-sided that if Inoki hadn’t been so concerned about preserving his big payday he would have been justified in not fighting. Inoki was prohibited from punching with a closed fist or striking Ali in the head (ostensibly since he wasn’t wearing gloves). Inoki was prohibited from using any sort of submission maneuver. The most absurd limitation was that Inoki was prohibited from “grappling or trying to take Ali to the ground”. A few observers noted that this was like not letting Ali throw a jab.

The result was an absolutely horrible fight. Neither man showed much interest in engaging the other, with Inoki spending most of the time on the ground doing what he could under the one sided rules. Inoki threw kicks at Ali’s legs, Ali threw an occasional jab and tried to protect himself from his opponent’s leg strikes. The fight ended a 74-74 draw, with the real losers being the fans.

An interesting postscript to the fight is that the referee was former pro wrestler “Judo” Gene Labell, a legit tough guy whom some have suggested could have beaten up both Ali and Inoki at the same time despite his advanced age. Had he chosen to do so, it would certainly have been welcomed by those watching the fight live and on closed circuit.

In the aftermath of the fight, Inoki’s popularity was greater than ever–in a perverse way he was something of a hero due to his trying to fight despite the rules being stacked so soundly against him. He remained one of the country’s most popular professional wrestlers and even enjoyed a career in Japan’s parliament. Without missing a beat, he quickly resumed his series of fights against other martial artists who were apparently all more comfortable with the “worked” environment of pro wrestling. Among his “victims” was none other than Leon Spinks, presumably serving as some sort of vindication for his draw with Ali. The popularity of these matches led to a number of promotions that were essentially hybrids of martial arts and pro wrestling, and these led to the big Japanese MMA promotions of today.

Ross Everett is a freelance writer and noted authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and World Cup betting sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

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