The Tilt-A-Whirl

Last week the kids and I went to the Western Fair here in London Ontario and I went on my favourite ride. Are you a ride person? I'm a ride person. Although my trepidation grows with each passing year, I'm still game to ride the biggest, scariest coasters and any other contraption aimed at scaring the hell out of its riders, just for fun.

The ride I enjoy most, however, has been around since the 1920's. Perhaps it scared the hell out of people back then, but these days I think many consider it something of a kiddie ride. It is, of course, the Tilt-A-Whirl. I don't care if it isn't exactly macho; it is the best ride ever. For some unknown reason it causes my joy-joy glands to go into overdrive, resulting in uncharacteristically unrestrained laughter. Evidence:

Kiddie ride or not, there is an unpredictability about the Tilt-A-Whirl that I have never felt on any other ride. Chaos theorists dig it. You know you're gonna spin, but when and how hard is a physics-related mystery. If you haven't been on one since you were a kid, I strongly encourage you to try it again as a grown-up. I liked it as a child, but love it now.

Yer Pal,

R A N T W I C K

PS  - I took the video using a GoPro HD Hero on a Chest Mount Harness. You can check that stuff out at the Official GoPro® Store

5 Unrelated Things I Really Like

As we approach Canadian Thanksgiving, my thoughts should be turning to things of true value, like family and love and food to eat, but I'll save that stuff for the actual Thanksgiving Weekend; it wouldn't do to have my priorities straight on days unsanctioned by Church and/or State, would it? For now I'm going to focus on some things I just really like other than the ones that seem to keep coming up around here like bikes and/or bike accessories and trees and/or tree products or the overuse of the phrase "and/or".

Some things are just so much better than others that those lesser things should have a complex. Thankfully they are things, and things can't have complexes or get angry or jealous. If I were one of those lesser things I would have a deep jealous hatred of the following 5 excellent items:

1) Zip Ties

So simple and ingenious and handy. Like a beer drinker with only 6 beers left on the Sunday of Thanksgiving Weekend, I get a little antsy when my zip tie stash gets low.

2) The Tilt-A-Whirl

I laugh uncontrollably on the Tilt-A-Whirl. The older I get, the worse it becomes. My children like taking me on it because they almost never see me that way and I like letting them. When I say uncontrollably, I mean uncontrollably. Once I start I can't stop, and I start on the first good spin. Tears stream down my face. People in line laugh at me. It's fun.

3) Zipper Bags

I use these as parts sorters, camera rain covers, booties, you name it. Cheap. Waterproof. Yep.

4) Suspension Bridges

The bridge pictured above is the Mackinac Bridge. It connects "mainland" Michigan with its Upper Peninsula. I have travelled over it many times on my way from my current home in London Ontario to my family home in Thunder Bay. I think suspension bridges are beautiful, combining form and function, engineering and aesthetics. Seeing a suspension bridge just lifts my spirits, I guess.

5) USB Drives

USB drives are what I think technology should be... straightforward, useful little devices that just make things so much easier. I also like the physicality of them. Plug 'em in, carry them around, plug 'em in somewhere else. Computer files physically moved (rather than transmitted) from one place to another. Old Magic made new. For some unknown BS reason I don't like the phrase "thumb drive" when referring to them. I mean, who cares? I do, it would seem, because I am insane.

Well, that's it. I'm not entirely sure what possessed me to make such a list, but you know, why not? Blogging is good that way. Have an excellent weekend and keep your eyes open for contenders in the Smackdown.

What about you? Got any to add?

R A N T W I C K

PS - I wrote this post on Thursday night. When I scheduled it to be published Friday morning, I noticed that the date was all ones and zeros...

mm/dd/yy - 10/01/10
dd/mm/yy - 01/10/10

Just for kicks,

100110 in binary = 38 in decimal and 26 in hexadecimal.

011010 in binary = 26 in decimal and 1A in hex.

I've become too lazy to do such conversions myself. Isn't the Internet great? No more thinking required. I used this converter.

Those numbers are completely meaningless to me. How about you? Wouldn't it be great if somebody reading this (or a friend) was turning 38 or 26 today? Or perhaps you could reach a little and freak out because today's test is in room 1A or something. Let me know.