Thursday, January 11, 2007

Back to the Park - Fiesta Texas

Early each calendar year, Six Flags Fiesta Texas holds a "Rehire Event" to sign up veteran employees for the new park season and thus get an idea of how many new employees the park needs to hire. The previous two years the "Rehire Event" was held at University Bowl on IH Ten near De Zavala Road.

Part of the draw of the "Rehire Event" being there at a bowling alley was the free game of bowling. I enjoy bowling; indeed, my wife and I were on the Battalion bowling team at Fort Hood (1981-83). Because I was the 62d Engineers (Combat)(Heavy) chaplain, our team was called the "Holy Terrors"! So, when I found out that this year's "Rehire Event" for Fiesta Texas wouldn't be there, I immediately began missing the bowling.

However, the event was at the park itself, mainly in Sangerfest Halle in Spassburg, the German theme area. The weather was terribly cold , windy and wet, but even tho' it was the opposite of South Texas summer, I was very glad to be back in Fiesta Texas. They served us breakfast, catered buffet-style -- odd since the Sangerfest Halle food court was right there to use! And the catered coffee tasted terrible: it vied with Starbucks coffee for bitterness and Army mess hall coffee for strength. As in "put some hair on your chest, it will!"

But en'uf complaining! I was back in Fiesta Texas! It was so good to see my old buddies from the train again! The old vets like Rick, Don and Ross. The "new" older guys like Sam ("San Antonio Sam" as he would introduce himself when he was Conductor - S.A. Sam is the name of the main narrator-character in the laser-light musical show at the park). And the younger folk of the train crew, too, like Audie.

After the food got low & the signing-up was done, there was another treat. We got to enjoy a free viewing of ""Superman Returns" in Zaragoza Theatre in Los Festivales, the Mexican theme area at the park entrance. I had already seen the film in the summer of '06 during its initial run in theaters, using a Santikos ticket I had won. But hey! it was free, and the movie was rather good. I certainly enjoyed Kevin Spacey's portrayal of long-time Man-of-Steel nemesis Lex Luthor. Spacey seemingly achieved just the right touch of unspeakable evil masked by unremarkable facial expression and great taste in dress-up clothes. Between the two viewings of the film I had read an analytical review of it, asserting that among all the Justice League, etc., comic superheroes, Superman is the most clearly a Christ-figure.

Yeah, laugh, dear reader. I laughed too, when I read that opening assertion. But the author made very good supporting points. Starting with: here was someone from beyond Earth sent by his father to heroically rescue frail humanity from evil and destruction. And that the hero and his father on Planet Krypton had names that end in -El. This I already had noted, since I knew that many Hebrew names end with -El, signifying the one true God.

Therefore, as I watched this time I kept a lookout for other allusions to Christ. At one point, during his suffering Superman's body lay out cruciform, arms stretched atraight out to the sides! How could anyone miss that? Later, folk tho't the Man of Steel dead, but he came back to life (and complete strength), revived by the love given by Lois Lane and her little boy. Admitted, with the REAL true-life ultimate Hero, Jesus the Nazarene, it was His Daddy's love that returned the suffering Savior to life, on the third day. But, as with ANY artistic Christ-figure (I think, e.g., of Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings) the likeness to our dear Savior can only be pressed so far, and NOT to complete identity!

So much for my review of a movie I watched for the second time for free, thanks to the "Rehire Event" for Fiesta Texas AT Fiesta Texas.

AND NOW I can hardly wait to be back at Der Pilger Bahnhof or Whistle Stop 39, hollering as I open the gate, "All aboard!" Or interspersing the Conductor's touring spiel with banter and questions for the train's passengers.

Fiesta Texas is about having FUN! Yippee! ! !

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