EDIT: See bottom, please...

Okay! Quicker than usual, I have videos for those who are interested!

First, a few caveats...

1. I don't have access to "SteadyCam^©" (), so I would like to ask you to forgive the slight shakiness of the footage. Chalk that up to a combination of too many years of coffee (caffeine) intake, atmospheric conditions, and trying to hold a camera up for an extended period of time (without a stand or anything to lean on to steady it).

2. Most of these are short - three minutes or less. One is not. You don't have to view the long one if you don't want. It's your call. But it's seventeen minutes long (16:52, actually). And they are not edited...just raw footage with no narration or title elements.

3. The videos are listed by name and then URL, along with a brief description. They will also be linked in the as-yet-to-be-uploaded photos I have of each item...so that you can access them later after I create a new journal entry (or, if you prefer, you can simply look back for this journal...lol. I don't really care which.)

4. These SHOULD download to your computer without incident, unless you have some specific software or security issues which prevent it. That is for you to solve if you are having a problem. Please don't ask me for other options (though I can e-mail the files if you wish). I double-checked the links, and they downloaded successfully on my computer and played on Windows Media Player successfully. You, of course, can choose the program to open them with...it doesn't have to be Windows Media Player.)

Now...the videos...(these first two are mostly for the benefit and amusement of those whom I've been mentioning in my previous two journals, whitewolf 16 - [link] and puerpuerpuer147 - [link])...

a. Griffon Front View ([link]). This is a quick bit of footage (1:09) of the Griffon roller coaster at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, VA. It shows the entrance of the ride, and then a car (which holds 30 people) climbing up to the first drop (a height of 205 feet). As the car reaches the precipice, it is stopped and held for five seconds over the drop (90 degrees straight down!), and then released! It accelerates to almost 70 mph, goes underneath a bridge, up and around a twisting loop back over the bridge, and then over to another slightly shorter drop (of almost the same drop angle). The video ends here. The view is deceptive. The drop doesn't look all that long...until you consider the size of the BIG car and the amount of people in it. lol Trust me...in person, it's BIG! And from the precipice, it's a LONG view down! And it's INTENSE!

b. Griffon Side View ([link]). Now, this is a bit longer than the first video (1:17), and from a differing angle (showing a 3/4 side view of the first drop). However, I appear to have stood in a bit of an acoustic shadow, because in this one it's much harder to hear the screams and shouts of the riders. lol But that doesn't detract too much from the overall effect! This video follows the car right up until it is re-entering the ride launch/disembark point.

(...sorry for the occasional sweeps and lack of focus on some of the scenes in the next three...I was being occasionally bumped by other people as I filmed...)

c. Wolf Valley Show ([link]). Had to upload this large file to a different site, because of its size (when you open the download window, scroll down to the bottom of the page for the download hyperlink). This is the long video (16:52). This is a look at the wolf show in the Jack Hanna's wildlife reserve area of the Busch Gardens park. It focuses on the intelligence and adaptability of wolves, and the importance of conservation. I was bothered by one thing...this show was scaled down a bit (appears to have been the last show that day...I guess the trainers were hot and tired...and concerned about the wolves being the same. It was HOT and humid that day!). So you don't see more than two wolves (though two of the key stars...Durango and Tala! Tala first, and then Durango...), and no wolf puppies. Sorry about that. I couldn't get to the earlier shows that day in time to film. But this'll give you an idea of the show. If you want to listen, you'll catch the gist of the whole talk they give on it, and three of the trainers (Meghan - the head trainer, Nicole and Maggie). These trainers use a combination of "positive reinforcement" and "operant conditioning" training with the show wolves. No negative reinforcement (no saying "no" or "bad" to the wolves, as this would not work with an animal which constantly tests dominance and rank in its pack structure). All of this, and more, is explained in the video.

d. Wolves Playing With Toys ([link]). This is a look at the display enclosure, which approximates a gray wolf habitat. The keepers rotate wolves in and out of the enclosure, and never more than two at a time. These are not show wolves I believe. But you can see them interacting in their environment, and playing with some hard plastic toys which are usually placed into their enclosure (one is dropped down to them during the video, which startles one of the wolves momentarily). (Duration 2:27).

e. Wolves Playing With Toys 2 ([link]). Continuation of the previous video. (Duration 1:43)


Enjoy!


NEW EDIT: I just posted a bunch of pics of the Busch Gardens theme park...and it's just the beginning! I have a hell of a lot more pictures of every section of the park, and they will all be posted! You may find these pics in the "Busch Gardens" folder on the left-hand side of my gallery. Too tired to post more now though...it's actually 5:05 a.m. now. ("Too tired" seems to be an apt excuse for why I had these posted in my featured gallery in the right order, but forgot to be more careful when I moved them over to the Busch Gardens subgallery. GAH! So they'll be viewed in backwards order. Sorry about that! I'll try to be more careful when I post the remainder. *Grumble grumble*) Will create a new journal entry for all of this when all of the stuff is posted (might be a day or two more yet). Enjoy!