Odds and Oddities
Q.  Your timid date has never ridden a roller-coaster.  "C'mon, you'll love it!" you lie.  Which seat offers the best hope of 
turning her trembling and helpless? 
A. Take her on a hot day (wheel lubricants become slicker); ride a packed train (reduces wind resistance).  The front seat gives the most 
exciting view but it's slow over the top, not picking up speed until near the bottom and it soon turns upwards - not that scary.  The caboose, in contrast, is jerked careening 
over the crest so you feel you're being catapulted up and out of your seat (negative Gs).  At this moment riders release the safety bar and hold arms high in bravado, trusting 
the coaster's restraining devices.  The problem for you is if your date proves puddle-proof and hikes up her arms, you'll have to do it, too. 
- Jearl Walker 
The Flying Circus of Physics 
via Bill and Rich Sones strangetrue@compuserve.com 
  
Speed is the form of ecstasy the technical revolution has bestowed on man. 
There is a secret bond between slowness and memory, between speed and forgetting. 
- Milan Kundera 
  
Photos:
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Blow Me Down 
          
        Explosion! | 
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Coming Through | 
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Get Bent 
          
          
Get Stuck 
          
          
Get Your Head Out | 
  
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Tattoos 
          
Wildcat Men 
          
Canvas of Skin 
          
        Dangers/Alternatives | 
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Mountainbikers' Heaven 
          
Extreme Ironing | 
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Underground Retreat 
          
        Aboveground Retreat 
          
        Backyard Retreat 
          
        Hobbit's Retreat 
          
        Futuristic Retreat 
           
        Treehouse Retreat | 
  
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Sears Catalogue Homes | 
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Upwardly Mobile: Prefabs | 
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Starvation 
          
War Photographers Plagued | 
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Slow Burn 
          
        Light My Fire 
          
        Lightning Strikes | 
  
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People:
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Dynamite Dog 
          
Loch Ness Monster 
          
        Super Bowl Sting | 
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Bump Lets Lisa See 
          
Blind Leading the Blind 
          
Eating, Acting in the Dark | 
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Dead Wives Club 
          
        Witches Killed 
          
Gas Poisoning 
          
Magnetised Missile | 
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Feeling Lucky? 
          
Put It on My Bill 
          
Spidermen Face Death 
          
11-Story Fall 
          
Nailed | 
  
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Shark Lifts Boat 
          
        Colossal Squid  
           
        Square Meals | 
  
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Magnetic Personality 
          
Magnetic Skin 
          
        Magnetic Field Effects | 
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Twins in Black 
        and White 
          
Think
        Twice 
          
Identical
        Twins 
          
        Half Brother Twins
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Facts:
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Methuselah Mushroom 
          
        Giant Protozoa | 
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100 Facts | 
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Why Didn't I Think of That? 
          
Curiosities | 
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Corporate Sex 
          
Family Sex | 
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Finger Length Ratios & 
          
        Homosexuality/Autism 
          
        Depression/Heart Attacks | 
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Reunions / Ageing Classmates 
          
        Modern Medicine | 
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Language Gene 
          
Surnames Track DNA 
          
        Time Travel 
          
        BS Bingo | 
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The Power of Negative Thinking | 
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Diversions
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Jokes | 
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Senses and Science 
          
Quantum Cloud 
          
Jellyfish Art 
          
Just Skidding 
          
Spies Sing | 
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		Two Similar Plans for Spelling Improvement 
  
		Pronunciation Problems
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No Escape / No Rest 
          
No Smoking / No Fair! 
          
No Dancing / No Sense of Humour 
          
No Luck / No Mail | 
 
 
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What Is This Thing? 
        
Just Like a Turtle 
        
Dome, Dymaxion, Fire Escape | 
  
  
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20 Fun Things for Elevators 
          
I'm Stuck 
          
Hit the Floor | 
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Hip Bathrooms 
          
Basic Toilet Facts 
          
Take the Test | 
  
  
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Losing It 
          
Rewarded by Virtue 
          
Not So Different 
          
Flawed Hero | 
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Conclusion:
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        Brains, 
          
Courage, 
          
Integrity | 
  
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