Abandoned Six Flags New Orleans video is creeping us out

Six Flags New Orleans, which closed as Hurricane Katrina approached in 2005 and has never reopened. The sign outside the park still announces that it’s “CLOSED FOR STORM.”

The theme park was in New Orleans‘ Ninth Ward, one of the hardest hit areas during Katrina and the flooding after the storm. Though many of the rides still stand, Six Flags says that saltwater from the flood has corroded them to the point that they cannot be saved.

The only ride to survive the flood – Batman: The Ride, which was elevated above most of the floodwaters – was refurbished and moved to Six Flags Fiesta Texas in 2008.

After viewing this video of the rotting theme park, I’m wondering why the City of New Orleans, which owns the land, isn’t renting it out as a location for horror movies. Louisiana photographer Teddy Smith shot this video in October, with permission from the City of New Orleans.

As Gizmodo notes, you almost expect to see a horde of zombies come ambling through a scene or two.

The world’s oddest airport names

I once took a flight from Batman Airport, had a layover at Useless Loop and then landed at Monkey Mia. Okay, I didn’t. But I could have flown in or out of those and several other airports with equally odd names. Batman is located in Turkey, and Useless Loop and Monkey Mia serve Western Australia.

Skyscanner has put together a list of some of the strangest airport names in the world, including these. On the titillating side, there’s Brest Airport in France and Ogle Airport in Guyana, while Asbestos Hill Airport in Canada and Mafia Airport in Tanzania are on the “airports you might not want to fly into” list. But at least neither of those sound as scary as Danger Bay Airport.

There are airports named for animals: Canada is home to Squirrel Cove, Muskrat Dam and Goose Bay Airports while the US has Chicken, Fox and Duck Airports. Then there are the ones that just sound silly: Wee Waa, Wagga Wagga, and Woodie Woodie Airports are all in Australia and Flin Flon and Kar Kar serve Papau New Guinea.

The site also lists some funny airport codes like BUM (Butler Airport), PEE (Perm Airport), and SEX (Sembach Airport).

Check out the full list of strange and silly airport names here.

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Batman, Turkey accuses Batman, Superhero of identity theft

Let’s play word association. I’ll say a word and then you tell me the first thing that comes to your mind (I can hear you, trust me). OK, ready?

Batman.

Great. I heard “Robin,” “cape,” “Batmobile” and a something that sounded like “kablam.” While there are no wrong answers, you are all so very wrong. The correct response, of course, is “Turkey.” As in, Batman, Turkey. Batman is the capital of Batman Province in southeast Turkey and is an important oil-producing area which is home to the country’s oldest oil refinery.

Batman, Turkey also happens to be in the news lately because its mayor, Hüseyin Kalkan, is planning to sue Warner Bros. and Christopher Nolan (director of the most recent Batman films) for unauthorized use of the town’s name. That’s right. Batman ripped off Batman. And now Batman wants Batman to pay. Are you following along?

According to The Guardian, Mayor Kalkan said, “There is only one Batman in the world. The American producers used the name of our city without informing us.” He also blames several unsolved murders and a high female suicide rate on “the psychological impact suffered by the town after being placed under the spotlight by Nolan’s film.”

So, dear travelers, I urge you to pack up your gear, catch a flight to Istanbul and then hop aboard a puddle-jumper to Batman’s regional airport (yes, it exists). You’ll want to avoid becoming the victim of an unsolved murder and perhaps you should be a good samaritan and try to cheer up the ladies. I bet they like men in masks and tights.

Good luck, Mayor Kalkan. May I suggest that you form a class-action suit with Bat Cave, North Carolina?

Up Up and Away to the Super Hero Museum!

Nerds of the world unite!

There is now an entire museum dedicated to those fictional characters upon which you’ve projected your own feelings of inadequacy and impotency and vicariously lived out a fantasy life of vigilantism in which the evils of the world are all righted and life is grand indeed.

Yes folks, it’s the American Super Heroes Museum!

Located in downtown Indianapolis, the 3,300-square-foot museum honors Batman, Superman, and other American comic book heroes–and none of those wussy European ones, like Obelix, for example.

The collection features thousands of super hero “toys, games, posters, puzzles, figurines and collectibles,” as well as an impressive array of costumes featured in the numerous live action movies and TV series which have promulgated the super hero legend for more than half a century now.

The coolest thing, however, is the museum’s life size replica of the Batmobile. Even non-nerds like myself have a nerd-like obsession with this thing. I mean, haven’t we all wanted to cry out, “To the Batmobile!’ and then peel away burning some serious rubber? Yes, you know what I’m talking about!

Up, Up and Away to Indianapolis’ New American Super Heroes Museum

By night, Dane Nash is a mild-mannered, retired, grandfather of two. By day, however, he assumes a secret identity, moving (almost) at the speed of light. Though he may not use his super powers to save lives, Nash does use them to build his dream: the American Super Heroes Museum.

Located in downtown Indianapolis — just three blocks from Circle Center — Nash is working feverishly to get the museum’s doors open this month. For those of you who have never visited Indy, many of the buildings are turn-of-the-century, and it appears as though Nash has found an old building — with hardwood floors, red carpet, 16-foot-high tin ceilings, and period-style lighting — that will lend the Museum the atmosphere it deserves.

Featuring 3300 square feet of showroom floor, the former insurance salesman’s Superman collection — which he’s spent most of his life assembling — will fill the bulk of the space, but there’ll still be plenty of room for his Batman stuff — from 1940s toys to replicas of the 1989 Batmobile and 1966 Batboat — and other memorabilia. Admission to the museum will be $5; children younger than 8 will be admitted free.

[Photo: fengschwing]