The fourth and final Midway Postcard column on Revere Beach, MA has been posted. After this installment, I'll be returning to the 10 amusement park postcards, and two sideshow performer postcards of the previous installments. You can check it at the link below!

http://www.gapingmediahole.com/blog/201 ... -ma-views/

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I'm going to wait until you're sitting next to Ericubus and then I'll ask how you're feeling. - caryc

I think this was actually my favorite one of the bunch. I loved the cards featuring the old bathing suits (particularly the one with the police officer) but my favorite was the last one with the flying machines.

Also, what I wouldn't give to be able to ride the Darkness and Dawn ride. This year at the OC Fair I took Lily on every "Haunted House" ride they had. All of them were extremely weak. The walkthrough fun houses were slightly better though not nearly as daring as the ones you've shown on past cards. Years ago, on the DIMP site, I said that if I ever make millions of dollars I will build my own dark ride for friends and family. I just wish there were more around.

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"Watch my stuff." - Monterey Jack

If you ever find yourself in Elysburg, PA (in Eastern PA) check out an old traditional amusement park called Knoebel's Grove. Apart from having two awesome coasters, they have what I consider the finest dark ride in the US. It's house made and has some of the more common tricks of the trade, but has one effect that's truly spectacular. You enter a room that has blinding light coming through under the door. When you enter, the lights go out. It's a straight path across with about 12 feet of track. ON either side of the track there are plastic glow in the dark skulls. These move up and down on invisible wire/fishing line. All the walls are lined with mirrors, so the illusion is that you are in a field of never ending bouncing skulls. VERY cool! There are a few YouTube videos of the ride, but none of them capture how cool this room is.

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I'm going to wait until you're sitting next to Ericubus and then I'll ask how you're feeling. - caryc

I'll be in Chicago two to three times a year for the next few years. Maybe I can catch a flight over sometime and spend a day there. I'd love to ride it.

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"Watch my stuff." - Monterey Jack

I could listen to you talk about dark rides all day...

The sad thing is I could talk for too long on the whole amusement park subject (as well as a few others), but I'd never bend anyone's ear unwillingly. At our first American Coaster Enthusiasts event, we sat near three guys who were discussing the various wheel flanges of roller coaster cars. I told the wife to shoot me if I ever went that far into the deep end. Thankfully I haven't.

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I'm going to wait until you're sitting next to Ericubus and then I'll ask how you're feeling. - caryc

Yeah, I think your hobby is right where it needs to be. And sharing it with the casual listener is awesome. Seriously, I love dark rides, but I haven't been on nearly enough. Do you know of any in the midwest that are worth hunting down?

None that come to my head right away, but I'll do a bit of digging.

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I'm going to wait until you're sitting next to Ericubus and then I'll ask how you're feeling. - caryc

It turns out I missed a dark ride/faux love canal at the Minnesota State Fair that I visited last week. Sadness. I would have preferred that to the crappy haunted house they had there that I walked through.

I haven't had time to look up dark rides and funhouses in your area on this great site, but it's well worth perusing for the dark ride fan.

http://www.laffinthedark.com/

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I'm going to wait until you're sitting next to Ericubus and then I'll ask how you're feeling. - caryc

So, Kimfair, any hope of you coming out to one of the many hunted hayride type areas with the family this year? Many walk-through style 'rides' with more adult themes.

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-These are the demands and sayings of Ericubus.

In the future it will become even easier for old negatives to become lost and be "replaced" by new altered negatives. This would be a great loss to our society. Our cultural history must not be allowed to be rewritten. - George Lucas 1988

Maybe. There are some things making it tough, though. One is that I'll be on Bonaire for two weeks in October, secondly, the wife still hasn't completely forgiven me for what I did to her at the Universal horror nights in Orlando. She caught me pointing her out to ghouls, since she screams so much at anything even remotely scary. Hell she sometimes screams when I come around a corner of the house unexpectedly!

I'll work on her, though!

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I'm going to wait until you're sitting next to Ericubus and then I'll ask how you're feeling. - caryc

You wouldn't happen to be stopping in the Keys again beforehand would you? I'll be there Sept. 21 - 30.

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"Watch my stuff." - Monterey Jack

Nope. Heading straight down 10/13-10/27.

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I'm going to wait until you're sitting next to Ericubus and then I'll ask how you're feeling. - caryc

It'll be awesome again. Looking forward to more pictures.

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"Watch my stuff." - Monterey Jack

I know, I can't wait. Even better is that K and I decided to get better fins/footwear for Bonaire this year. The shore there is broken coral and rock, no sandy beaches at all (bad for suntanning, great for snorkeling), but we both had full back fins, which we liked, but getting into the water was an ordeal. This year we went with hard soled dive boots coupled with snap back fins. Finally I'll be able to walk to the waters edge easily, and put my fins on in the water. BTW, don't know which online company you might use for your needs (I know you have local brick and mortar stores, but we don't really have 'em here), but we bought the fins/boots, and some other assorted stuff through LeisurePro, and they were awesome. Really fast service, and no hassles when I needed to return K's boots for a larger size. It took 2 days to get the original order, and 1 week from when I mailed the old boots back to when the new boots arrived.

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I'm going to wait until you're sitting next to Ericubus and then I'll ask how you're feeling. - caryc

This one is insanely creepy:



And this one is totally Neutral Milk Hotel:





You know, you could probably compile all these columns and images into a nice self-published book. You'd have to research whether or not the images are in the public domain, but there is certainly a niche market for this kind of material, and you do a good job with these.

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"Hitler had a pretty good idea there." - Eric

I'd buy it.

This was one question I was going to ask you about. I have plenty of books using postcard images, so I'm sure many if not most are public domain, but I'm not exactly sure how I'd research that.

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I'm going to wait until you're sitting next to Ericubus and then I'll ask how you're feeling. - caryc

It can be an arduous process and it can be an easy process. About to head out for the weekend, but be sure to BUMP after the weekend and I'll get into it in detail.

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"Hitler had a pretty good idea there." - Eric

Good to know. I get a keyman discount through my company so I tend to order direct from the manufacturers. I've used Scuba.com before though and they've been good. Their headquarters is about 30 minutes away so I've ordered from them before and then gone there to pick it up instead of having it shipped.

When you say "snap back fins" do you mean the adjustable elastic straps or did you upgrade to the spring backs? I still use my old elastic strap ones that I slip on and then tighten in the water, but most of my friends have gone to the spring back ones that you never have to adjust. You just put the fin on and go. It's probably overkill for what you're doing because you'll be in relatively flat water, but getting in and out in the surf, whether you're snorkeling or scuba diving, the spring back is pretty awesome.

Also, even though I've seen them advertised, I don't know anyone who actually uses those full boot fins where the fin flips up so you can walk into the water. The idea is solid but I'm not sure who well they'd hold up compared to a solid piece of plastic/rubber.

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"Watch my stuff." - Monterey Jack

Yeah, I didn't do the snap backs, since the regular type are super easy to tighten. These are the fins we went with.

http://www.leisurepro.com/Prod/Category ... RSFAX.html

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I'm going to wait until you're sitting next to Ericubus and then I'll ask how you're feeling. - caryc

Bumping this again for Shoe. Tell me about copyright research. Also, Shoe and I had a couple of beers together this past Sunday in Seaside Heights New Jersey. First item that should be dispelled is his supposed hobbitness. I am just over 6 feet tall, and one can plainly see that, though not as tall as I, he isn't a hobbit. (I will not comment on reports he was standing on a box). A fine time was had by all, and Shoe, as well as Shoe Jr were very gracious.

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I'm going to wait until you're sitting next to Ericubus and then I'll ask how you're feeling. - caryc

Had a great time finally meeting Kimfair. As nice a guy as I expected. I'd have sat with him for hours (as it was we sat for about two), but I had Shoe Jr. in tow, who had school the next day, and Mrs. Shoe at home yipping about just getting home from work and being tired. Will certainly do it again if given a chance.

As for copyrights...

It can be murky for stuff like this, but thankfully the basics are EASY:

ANY postcard from before 1923 is in the public domain, period. Use it with no worries.

ANY postcard published before 1978 that has no copyright notice is in the public domain. Prior to 1978, you had to explicitly say you had copyright with a copyright symbol/notice. No less than J.R.R. Tolkien got burned by this when The Lord of the Rings came out without one. Many, many, many unauthorized copies came out as a result -- and they were all legal.

So pre-1978 and no copyright notice on the card, you're good.

I bet these two alone probably cover 90% of what you'll do.

From 1978 to 1989, any published without a copyright notice and without being registered in the interim are in the public domain. So post-1978 works DO NOT need a copyright notice through 1989; they can merely be registered with the US Copyright Office. You have to research them first. Though it's possible, chances are slim the kind of images you'll be working with will have been registered during that time. You can research copyright status at this link, but it won't always be easy. Check the tutorial and be prepared for dead ends.

You'll be safe in most cases, though. The images will have come from ad companies or small-time photographers. Not highly likely to be registered. However, check anyway! It's possible a park or two used a famous image or an image from a photographer who protected his shit.

After 1989, everything is assumed to be under copyright, notice or not, registration or not. So don't use ANYTHING unless you can identify who owns the image and they give you permission.

Thems the basics, and based on your series I bet it covers the vast majority of the images you'll be working with, anyway.

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"Hitler had a pretty good idea there." - Eric

Yeah, I'm not interested in modern cards, known as Continental sized, or 4 x 6 inches. The older classic cards I like and would use only be standard sized 3.5 x 5, all prior to the late 60's, most but not all prior to 1923 so easy-peasy on those. Thanks a bunch, I'll check out the link later. Next a discussion on how to get a book self-published.

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I'm going to wait until you're sitting next to Ericubus and then I'll ask how you're feeling. - caryc

Super easy these days. When you feel like you want to explore it further, let me know. I'll run you through it.

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"Hitler had a pretty good idea there." - Eric

Shoe wouldn't let me have his photo taken with me. Twice.

Shoe only allows people larger than him to be photographed with him, making him look teeny in the process. See:Me and Red.

Shoe - When I'm thinking more seriously about the book, I'll let you know.

Also, did we have a "How many Dimpers/Holers have you met?" thread here? I searched for one, but didn't find it. If no one knows/can find it, I'll start another.

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I'm going to wait until you're sitting next to Ericubus and then I'll ask how you're feeling. - caryc

I told you not to wear those silly shoes.

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"Hitler had a pretty good idea there." - Eric

I'm dubious of the photo above. I feel that Shoe may have been standing closer to the camera, thus giving him the illusion of height.

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"Watch my stuff." - Monterey Jack

That was only the 2nd time. The first time, my other shoes were soaked by rain the evening before and smelled terrible. And they were falling apart.

For the record, I'm wearing my "silly shoes" as I type this at the office.

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"Watch my stuff." - Monterey Jack

Ugh.

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"Hitler had a pretty good idea there." - Eric

A new column has at long last been posted on the blog. This month we go to parks in Agawam, Lunenberg, and Salisbury, MA!

http://www.gapingmediahole.com/blog/201 ... tts-parks/

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I'm going to wait until you're sitting next to Ericubus and then I'll ask how you're feeling. - caryc

Loved the aerial view. I saw you talking to Shoe about the book on your travels. You should consider one about old amusement parks.

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"Watch my stuff." - Monterey Jack