Why is the clock on Miss City Hall so ugly?

[Richard87]

Anyone have fear of them? I'm 21 years old and I still won't go on one.

 

[BobG]

Only a moron wouldn't be terrified of roller coasters.

 

[negitron]

Guess I'm a moron.

 

[Andre]

Only a moron wouldn't be terrified of roller coasters.

Why would that be? I bet the survivability rate is a lot better than mounting the Annapurna

 

[turbo]

My wife was terrified of roller coasters until we went to Busch Gardens and I persuaded her to go on one with me. She was screaming, but exhilarated, and when the ride was over, She had me take a picture of her with the ride in the background, and then asked "Where's the other one?" We rode that one too.

 

[seycyrus]

Doesn't the thrill of a roller coaster come from being terrified?

 

[angak001]

Thats the whole point of all roller coasters; they are meant to freak you out imagine how it would be like of no one was scared to go on a rollercoaster and not scream when it does all its sinister twirls.

 

[Pinu7]

I go on roller coasters occasionally.
I *should* think I would be safe because of all the engineers and workers doing constant maintenance on them. However, when I actually ride it I think to myself,
"Mofo Jesus, I'm going to die! "

 

[Topher925]

Heres a cool little wiki page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amusement_park_accidents

I for one actually have gotten bored of roller coasters. I used to go to cedar point every summer at least once but now the millenium force just isn't worth the two hour wait.

 

[Loren Booda]

I fear nausea, ergo roller coasters.

 

[waht]

I stopped coming to six flags because it just doesn't do it. If time allows I'll pick up sky diving, base jumping, bungee jumping, and being dropped from a helicopter with a snow board at 14000 ft.

 

[Moonbear]

I fear nausea, ergo roller coasters.

Same for me. I don't actually fear the coaster itself, but they too often make me nauseous, so I generally avoid all but the gentlest ones.

 

[Dadface]

Same for me. I don't actually fear the coaster itself, but they too often make me nauseous, so I generally avoid all but the gentlest ones.

Same here,the last time I went on a roller coaster(big dipper in the UK)I came off really dizzy and nauseous and it took over an hour to recover.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

I'm too afraid to go on one. I was on kind of roller coaster which consisted of a car that looked like a log and ran in a track of water. When it got to the end there was a sudden drop of about 25 feet at about a 30 degree slope. I did not enjoy the feeling at all and so I don't experiment any more. However, I rather wish I could get over my fear because I want to experience weightlessness and it seems that some roller coasters do a true freefall for a short time.

 

[Chi Meson]

I just came back from New Hampshire, where on our last day of vacation, we took our kids to http://www.storylandnh.com/info.html#3" at least ten times!

Woooooooooo Hooooooooooooooo!

(my 6-year-old, can not stop talking about it.)

 

[negitron]

However, I rather wish I could get over my fear because I want to experience weightlessness and it seems that some roller coasters do a true freefall for a short time.

There are various free fall rides which aren't coasters; as you might expect, they basically drop you straight down.

 

[noblegas]

I will not stepped in onto a roller coaster that goes really fast and goes upside down if you paid me. How can people get thrilled from feeling terrified? On the other hand, I have no qualms with going on those virtual reality roller coasters like at Disney quest;

 

[turbo]

Noblegas, inversions and quick changes in inertia are designed into coasters. You will not be harmed, as long as the machinery is properly maintained. I'll bet more people died trying drive to an amusement park than ever died on a ride.

 

[NukeEmAll]

My wife was terrified of roller coasters until we went to Busch Gardens and I persuaded her to go on one with me. She was screaming, but exhilarated, and when the ride was over, She had me take a picture of her with the ride in the background, and then asked "Where's the other one?" We rode that one too.

I get teased mercilessly until I finally get on the ride. It's always fun and I'm glad I ride everything, but I still haven't gotten over screaming bloody murder the moment the coaster starts and until the coaster pulls back into the station

 

[noblegas]

Noblegas, inversions and quick changes in inertia are designed into coasters. You will not be harmed, as long as the machinery is properly maintained. I'll bet more people died trying drive to an amusement park than ever died on a ride.

I know I won't die, I just don't like being freaked out; not a pleasant feeling; being on a roller coaster ride is akin to being stuck inside an elevator for a while;

 

[DaveC426913]

Anyone have fear of them? I'm 21 years old and I still won't go on one.

Yep. Can't stand em. Though I have done a few of them when I really needed to prove something to myself. I've haven't done anything modern. Nothing that's been built in the last 30 years at least (though I've done those older ones more recently).

I've convinced myself that a traumatic ride on http://www.astronomy-images.com/day-images/California/Marin-Sonoma/CountyFair/zipper.ride.KI8Q5299.jpg" when I was five years old is responsible for my phobia, but I'm less sure now. A couple of years ago, I forced myself to ride "The Zipper" to beat that particular monkey on my back.

I shared the car with a nine-year-old who laughed the whole way through the ride. I'm not sure if he was laughing because he was having fun, or because I spent the entire ride singing "Inchworm" backwards at the top of my lungs.

Mrowhcni, mrowhcni!
gnirusaem eht sdlogiram!
smees ot em!
d'uoy pots dna ees!
woh lufituaeb yeht era!

 

[Danger]

You couldn't get me onto one of those things at gunpoint. It's not the motion; I'm severely acrophobic. In all seriousness, I have trouble looking over W's (used to be mine too) 1st floor balcony. It's only about 2 metres to the ground, and it gives me chills.
Rather ironic, since the only thing that I ever loved, the only thing that I intended to do for a living, the only thing that I was good at, was flying. Let me strap on an iron bird, and I'll make the sucker dance. Try to get me to stand on a chair to change a lightbulb... uh uh.

 

[Evo]

There was a study years ago where they were testing the level of brain activity of individuals.

One group showed a high level of brain activity when the only stimulus was classical music. The second group showed almost no brain activity when listening to the same music.

The first group did not need external stimuli to keep their brains active, while the second group required quite a bit of external stimulation. While the first group found things like loud noises, roller coasters, and high levels of physical activity and excitement disturbing, the second group needed the external stimuli from such activities because they were unable to internally stimulate themselves.

Interesting.

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

I'm too afraid to go on one. I was on kind of roller coaster which consisted of a car that looked like a log and ran in a track of water. When it got to the end there was a sudden drop of about 25 feet at about a 30 degree slope. I did not enjoy the feeling at all and so I don't experiment any more. However, I rather wish I could get over my fear because I want to experience weightlessness and it seems that some roller coasters do a true freefall for a short time.

I'm not sure if you were there but they have a ride like that called The Log Ride at Knott's Berry Farm here in California. At the same park they also have (or had) a ride called Sky Jump or some such that just drops you several meters really fast while standing in a cage.

 

[Loren Booda]

The second group showed almost no brain activity when listening to the same music.

The second group required quite a bit of external stimulation.

The second group needed the external stimuli from such activities because they were unable to internally stimulate themselves.

Give them a dose of Night on Bald Mountain.

 

[Danger]

Well, welcome aboard Rajuguru.
You're in the right place for just about anything that you're interested in (excluding any crackpot crap). You have world-class experts in any field of science at your disposal. Feel free to snoop around in the serious sub-forums dealing with engineering, math, medical science, physics, chemistry... whatever.
Here in GD is where we just shoot the **** regarding any topic of interest, whether or not it involves science. If you have a question about quantum chromodynamics, there's a place for it in the Physics sub-forum. Wanna talk about a bug that you found in your breakfast cereal, there's room for that in the Biology section.
Stick around, pal... you're in for the ride of your life.

 

[Sorry!]

My friends sister was terrified of rollercoasters. So we got her to go on the rollercoaster that had the most spins and loops etc. Its at Canada's Wonderland used to be called Top Gun don't know what it's name is now.

While we were in line we were telling her about all these accidents that had occurred such as the train coming off the rails at the top and the weird part was that just before we had gotten on they said they couldn't allow us to go on for a bit because they had to fix something. I will never forget her face when they were finally making sure her restraints were on tight enough. Of course I'll also never forget her face after she had finished the ride and got of... then wanted to get back in line to do it again :P

I never understood people being afraid of rollercoasters to the point they can't ride them.

 

[Danger]

Its at Canada's Wonderland used to be called Top Gun don't know what it's name is now.

Are you talking about the one at West Ed? I know that it had a semi-serious accident a few years back.
As for the not understanding someone being afraid to get on one, you apparently have no idea of what a true phobia is. As I said, I have a bit of trouble looking over W's balcony on the first floor. A buddy of mine from over 20 years ago lived on the 7th floor of an apartment building. I had to stand in the balcony doorway to grab a smoke (non-smoking apartment). One warm evening, all of his guest were standing out there. I forced myself to crawl on my belly to the edge and look over. I was within two quick sphincter contractions of garbageting my pants. Never again.

 

[Sorry!]

Are you talking about the one at West Ed? I know that it had a semi-serious accident a few years back.
As for the not understanding someone being afraid to get on one, you apparently have no idea of what a true phobia is. As I said, I have a bit of trouble looking over W's balcony on the first floor. A buddy of mine from over 20 years ago lived on the 7th floor of an apartment building. I had to stand in the balcony doorway to grab a smoke (non-smoking apartment). One warm evening, all of his guest were standing out there. I forced myself to crawl on my belly to the edge and look over. I was within two quick sphincter contractions of garbageting my pants. Never again.

Hahaha Danger I actually love your posts. 2 quick spincter contractions, lol.

But no the ride is at Canada's Wonderland which is in Vaughan near Toronto. We were just being jerks messing around with her head to make her scared. She was crying as they buckled her in. Ah I'm an *** :).

On that same ride actually I was trying to see if I could get out of the middle of the restraint with my arms as it made the climb up the first hill... Well, I could, and I had one arm hanging out at the top of the hill and was struggling to get it back into the restraint, it was pretty scary but I eventually worked it back in before the drop... but I had repositioned where I was sitting and my *** was starting to slip UNDER the restraint so i was kind of slipping out and most of the forces on this ride force you downwards haha.. I honestly thought I would have my legs ripped off by the supports which my feet come about 1 foot from anyways because of my height but it made it all the more fun :P (The ride is a hanging roller coaster)

I would always pretend I was a pilot and be yelling random stuff to the ride operators they always got pissed off.

 

[BobG]

I've convinced myself that a traumatic ride on http://www.astronomy-images.com/day-images/California/Marin-Sonoma/CountyFair/zipper.ride.KI8Q5299.jpg" when I was five years old is responsible for my phobia, but I'm less sure now. A couple of years ago, I forced myself to ride "The Zipper" to beat that particular monkey on my back.

Don't get on that ride when you have loose change in your pocket or purse. Actually, I'm not even sure the change belonged to one of us, but flying discs of metal definitely hurt! Little kids were running around under the ride picking up loose change being flung from the cages.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

I'm not sure if you were there but they have a ride like that called The Log Ride at Knott's Berry Farm here in California. At the same park they also have (or had) a ride called Sky Jump or some such that just drops you several meters really fast while standing in a cage.

For a short time I lived in La Mirada, CA just a few blocks from Knott's Berry Farm, but I never went in. I think the log ride was here in NJ, perhaps in Clementon, but I can't remember for sure.

 

[BobG]

I'm too afraid to go on one. I was on kind of roller coaster which consisted of a car that looked like a log and ran in a track of water. When it got to the end there was a sudden drop of about 25 feet at about a 30 degree slope. I did not enjoy the feeling at all and so I don't experiment any more. However, I rather wish I could get over my fear because I want to experience weightlessness and it seems that some roller coasters do a true freefall for a short time.

I actually like these rides. You're so wet at the end that your date doesn't realize that you peed your pants out of fright.

 

[Moonbear]

I'm too afraid to go on one. I was on kind of roller coaster which consisted of a car that looked like a log and ran in a track of water. When it got to the end there was a sudden drop of about 25 feet at about a 30 degree slope. I did not enjoy the feeling at all and so I don't experiment any more. However, I rather wish I could get over my fear because I want to experience weightlessness and it seems that some roller coasters do a true freefall for a short time.

That's not a coaster, that's a log flume ride. Those I can do, and love! They are pretty gentle, not a lot of sudden jerks and twists, and not too high of drops. Definitely no upside-downs.

I just came back from New Hampshire, where on our last day of vacation, we took our kids to http://www.storylandnh.com/info.html#3" at least ten times!

Woooooooooo Hooooooooooooooo!

(my 6-year-old, can not stop talking about it.)

Now THAT looks like my size roller coaster! I do like coasters that remain upright the entire time.

By the way, I've officially sworn off any form of wooden coaster. They may LOOK tame compared to their steel counterparts, but the ride is so bumpy and jerky, especially around turns, that the last time I was on one, I swore I got off with a concussion.

I can handle ones with a single loop-de-loop, but no more than that, and none that send you upside-down while twisting. They look like loads of fun, but it's no fun when you need to spend an hour recovering from the nausea.

 

[BobG]

Why would that be? I bet the survivability rate is a lot better than mounting the Annapurna

Better than shooting the rapids in the Royal Gorge, for that matter. (That's why I'm also afraid of the water.)

]http://www.adventureblog.org/images/royal-gorge-river-rafting_45.jpg

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

That's not a coaster, that's a log flume ride.

A healthy pine tree, growing on the side of a mountain, is cut down in its youth. Its limbs are severed and the corpse is dropped onto a watery sliding board called a flume. When it gets to the bottom, someone stabs it with a tong and drags it over to a lathe which whittles it down to a toothpick just in time for the next log to get tonged. I am not jealous of the tree. I do not feel the urge to go down the flume with it. Besides, I can't stand that feeling of falling. The Ferris Wheel is enough of a white-knuckle ride and a little bit of that goes a long way with me.

 

[Moonbear]

A healthy pine tree, growing on the side of a mountain, is cut down in its youth. Its limbs are severed and the corpse is dropped onto a watery sliding board called a flume. When it gets to the bottom, someone stabs it with a tong and drags it over to a lathe which whittles it down to a toothpick just in time for the next log to get tonged. I am not jealous of the tree. I do not feel the urge to go down the flume with it. Besides, I can't stand that feeling of falling. The Ferris Wheel is enough of a white-knuckle ride and a little bit of that goes a long way with me.

Oh, don't worry, no actual logs were used in the making of the ride.

Hmm...even the Ferris wheel is rough for you? Do you at least do the carousel...on a horse that moves, not one of those chickens that just stands still? (Ha ha, for the first time ever, I just noticed the humor that the animals that don't move up and down on the carousel are usually chickens...well, roosters I suppose. )

Does this mean that if I visit you in NJ, we're going to have to stick to the kiddie pier at Point Pleasant or Seaside Heights? (When I was a kid, I used to LOVE the octopus ride at Seaside Heights, because one of the turns took you out ever so slightly over the edge of the pier so you thought you were going to fly into the ocean!)

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

When I was a kid, I used to LOVE the octopus ride at Seaside Heights, because one of the turns took you out ever so slightly over the edge of the pier so you thought you were going to fly into the ocean!

At Seaside Heights they have a ride now that I hereby wish upon all my enemies domestic and foreign. I'll hold your jacket for you while you ride. It is simple as dirt. It is a ferris wheel of about 100 feet radius, but instead of an entire wheel, only a diameter exists. On either end of the diameter is a cage that they strap you into and which is free to rotate about a pin which attaches it to the diameter. Then they whip you around so you literally don't know which end is up. I love it. I could watch it for hours. Wait there's another. It's like a slingshot. You get in a capsule attached to two bungee cords attached to two towers. They pull you back about a hundred feet and shoot you at the moon. Then there's the ski-lift to nowhere. My wife is wild about it and we can't go there without riding it. It's not just like a ski-lift, it is a ski-lift. However, it doesn't lift, it just runs parallel to the ground for about 3 or 4 city blocks. It goes very slowly so that the pedestrians outwalk it by a lot and so it lasts a long time. For me the trick is to disengage my fingernails from the handlebar in time to jump off at the end. Wheee.

 

[junglebeast]

When I was a little kid my dad took me to a roller coaster at the fair. Not one of the big nice ones, this was just a portable circular track that the carnies had set up. The only form of harness was a metal bar which was lowered over my chest. However, being a child of about 8, this bar was in no way restrictive for me...I could have just stood up and walked out of the chair at any time. This would not have been a problem due to centrifugal force, except that they kept stopping the coaster upside down on the top of the circle. Every time this happened I was falling out of the chair and had to hold on for dear life. I was screaming for help as loud as I could but nobody heard me or cared, so I had to endure this for what seemed like an eternity. I've been scared of roller coasters ever since.

 

[Moonbear]

At Seaside Heights they have a ride now that I hereby wish upon all my enemies domestic and foreign. I'll hold your jacket for you while you ride. It is simple as dirt. It is a ferris wheel of about 100 feet radius, but instead of an entire wheel, only a diameter exists. On either end of the diameter is a cage that they strap you into and which is free to rotate about a pin which attaches it to the diameter. Then they whip you around so you literally don't know which end is up. I love it. I could watch it for hours. Wait there's another. It's like a slingshot. You get in a capsule attached to two bungee cords attached to two towers. They pull you back about a hundred feet and shoot you at the moon. Then there's the ski-lift to nowhere. My wife is wild about it and we can't go there without riding it. It's not just like a ski-lift, it is a ski-lift. However, it doesn't lift, it just runs parallel to the ground for about 3 or 4 city blocks. It goes very slowly so that the pedestrians outwalk it by a lot and so it lasts a long time. For me the trick is to disengage my fingernails from the handlebar in time to jump off at the end. Wheee.

Oh, I've seen the rides that you're describing...the one that just whips you around a big pole, and that slingshot thing. Yep, I would definitely enjoy those with you...watching from the ground!

But the sky ride has been there as long as I can remember. I loved it as a kid. Now they're kind of boring. It's only a hazard to flip-flops...you'll spot them scattered along the roofs of the buildings you pass over as you ride it. But, when you're a kid, and a short one at that, it's great to get a birds-eye-view of everyone and every thing. I think my parents may have had an ulterior motive though. We always parked the car at the parking lot nearest to one end of it, and then by the time we worked out way to the other end of the boardwalk and were too tired to walk back, they decided it was time for the sky ride! It does move faster than parents who are trying to drag two tired kids back to the car at night.

 

[Danger]

A healthy pine tree, growing on the side of a mountain, is cut down in its youth. Its limbs are severed and the corpse is dropped onto a watery sliding board called a flume. When it gets to the bottom, someone stabs it with a tong and drags it over to a lathe which whittles it down to a toothpick just in time for the next log to get tonged. I am not jealous of the tree. I do not feel the urge to go down the flume with it. Besides, I can't stand that feeling of falling. The Ferris Wheel is enough of a white-knuckle ride and a little bit of that goes a long way with me.

Holy crap! Jimmy is channelling Bicycle Tree! Somebody call an exorcist!

Considering the elite status of several PF members in the scientific community, I bet that one of them could arrange a ride on the 'vomit comet' (zero-gee parabolic flight to train astronaughts for micro-gravity in space).

 

[Moonbear]

Holy crap! Jimmy is channelling Bicycle Tree! Somebody call an exorcist!

That's a name I haven't heard in a long time! Careful, don't say it three times, he might come back!

 

[protonchain]

I used to be afraid of getting on one, and the first one I ever got on was when I was i think 15 or 16. I won the local science fair 1st place prize and went to the international sci fair in kentucky. There we headed to 6 flags and because I didn't want to look like a wimp, I got on.


I

don't


regret


doing that

Holy cow I love RCs.

 

[Danger]

he might come back!

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

It's only a hazard to flip-flops...you'll spot them scattered along the roofs of the buildings you pass over as you ride it.

This year it's scrunchies and beaded necklaces. There were a thousand of them tossed onto the roofs.

 

[Danger]

Hahaha Danger I actually love your posts. 2 quick spincter contractions, lol.

Thanks; I appreciate that. I can manage to squeeze out a reasonable one once in a while (joke, I mean, not...)

Vaughan, you say? Did you say Vaughan? Man, I saw that place on the news an hour ago. They just got flattened by a tornado. I hope that you don't live there, or are okay if you do.

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

By the way, I've officially sworn off any form of wooden coaster. They may LOOK tame compared to their steel counterparts, but the ride is so bumpy and jerky, especially around turns, that the last time I was on one, I swore I got off with a concussion.

I think that is the idea, sort of. I went on a wooden coaster for the first time at Disneyland a while back and they intentionally made it so it felt rickety and like it was going to tip over or jump the tracks.

 

[Danger]

Whoa! I just saw the beginning of the CBC National (but switched to 'Wolverine & the X-Men' for obvious reasons). Vaughan has been declared a disaster zone.

 

[DaveC426913]

Whoa! I just saw the beginning of the CBC National ... Vaughan has been declared a disaster zone.

Vaughan. Vaughan.

Oh yeah. That's where people live who want to be Torontonians but can't afford it. It's in the same direction as Hudson's Bay, right?

 

[DaveC426913]

Considering the elite status of several PF members in the scientific community, I bet that one of them could arrange a ride on the 'vomit comet' (zero-gee parabolic flight to train astronaughts for micro-gravity in space).

I realized recently that, while getting into orbit in my lifetime might be impractical, taking a ride on the Vomit Comet is definitely doable! And there's a flight in Vegas - this fall!

 

[Danger]

It's in the same direction as Hudson's Bay, right?

From here, it is. Now I'm back on the CBC news and see that Hurricane Bill is ripping toward the Maritimes. Usually, those buggers start running out of steam before they get that far north, but this is supposed to still be at hurricane strength when it hits Nova Scotia on Sunday morning.
There are some serious advantages to living inland. (We have our share of tornadoes here, but they're small and rarely hit anything other than gophers.) Our big problem is hail, which can reach baseball size here. We had about $45,000,000 in damages last year. Last week, a bunch of local farms got pummelled, and the vet clinic was overrun (after hours). One hailstone whapped a horse on the snout so hard that they had to remove the shattered bones in order for it to breathe. It was touch-and-go for a while, but apparently she's going to be okay. A garbageload of others had serious impact trauma as well.