Archive for July, 2012

London 2012 Olympics – Opening Ceremony & More!

The world watched last night as the city of London, England, welcomed everybody with an elaborate opening ceremony for the official start of the 2012 Olympic games.

Technically, the women’s soccer teams began playing two days prior to the opening ceremony.  As we know, with the massive tournament bracket and the high number of teams, it takes like forever for sports like soccer to be played at the Olympics.  But that’s a different issue.

Right now the spirit of the Olympics rests in London, half a world away from the site of 2008’s summer games in Beijing, China.  In 2016, the summer games jump south of the hemisphere to be hosted in Rio de Janeiro, South America’s first time hosting the event.

There was much fanfare and a high production level for London’s opening ceremony.  It had its good moments (like the Industrial Revolution), the bad moments (the lame music segment from the 1970s to today), and its weird moment with that video clip featuring James Bond (played by current James Bond actor, Daniel Craig) and Queen Elizabeth II.

The Industrial Revolution segment of the opening ceremony was just plain cool.  From the people representing the workers to those representing the company owners and overseers to the raising of the smokestacks, that was one really cool segment of the show.  Since it’s so hard to find a taped copy of the opening ceremony, here’s a great video clip showing the rehearsal of the Industrial Revolution, complete with the music loud and clear:

London 2012 Olympics – opening ceremony – Industrial Revolution (rehearsal)

As far as the segment of the opening ceremony celebrating England’s fame in music, that part started out fine with the famous “British Invasion” music from the 1960s, but it became really lame when it hit the 1970s, 80s and beyond.  Now if Iron Maiden was playing instead of that rap music then things would have been a little bit better.  Actually, it would have been a LOT better.  Eddie would have been more lively on camera than those later shots of what appeared to be a bored Queen Elizabeth II. Read more…

Movie Review – The Expendables (2010)

Every once in a while it’s nice to enjoy a good, solid action movie.

Normally action movies have one movie star, or sometimes up to two or three of them.  But what happens when you cast half a dozen of Hollywood’s tough guys into one great big movie?

The answer is 2010′s ass kicking film, The Expendables.  In this case, the “expendables” are a group of highly skilled mercenaries who carry out daring missions.  If something is deemed too controversial (or expensive or dangerous) for a government’s military, then it’s time to hire mercenaries to carry out the assignment.

Following the incredibly bloody action and high praise for 2008′s film Rambo, Sylvester Stallone continued the writing, directing and starring theme with The Expendables.  In The Expendables we’re treated to a who’s who of the action world as the movie features tough guys such as Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Steve Austin, Randy Couture, Terry Crews, Eric Roberts, Gary Daniels and Mickey Rourke.  Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis both have non-action cameo roles.

The Expendables (2010) – (c) Lionsgate

The Expendables begins in the Gulf of Aden with the mercenaries attempting to stop Somali pirates from executing their hostages.  The group of mercenaries includes leader Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone), former SAS soldier Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), martial artist Yin Yang (Jet Li), sniper Gunnar Jensen (Dolph Lundgren), weapons specialist Hale Caesar (Terry Crews), and demolitions expert Toll Road (Randy Couture).  In addition to being specialists in their respective fields, all of the team members are marksmen and experts in hand-to-hand fighting. Read more…

Toleration and Free Speech . . . As Long As You Are FOR Certain Topics

The current social uproar over Chick-fil-A’s recent funding of Christian, anti-gay organizations is quite a spectacle.

And it’s a major hypocrisy.

It’s quite ironic many of those people who preach toleration, kindness and acceptance of others are the ones screaming the loudest at Chick-fil-A’s recent anti-gay actions.  Based on what I’ve seen on Facebook and other message forums, we’re not talking about mere screaming, but pure rage and hatred against the fast food company and those who stand and share similar beliefs.  Take Rosanne Barr’s recent (and very hateful) comments against Chick-fil-A.  She’s only wishing CANCER of all things on people who eat there.  Hell, even the mayor of Boston, Thomas Menino, heavily recommended that Chick-fil-A not try to open any restaurants in their city of “pride”.

That’s right.  A city’s mayor boasting of its so-called “pride” refuses to accept a major fast food franchise because the company is sticking with its core values, and those values happen to be against same-sex marriage.  Instead of recognizing Chick-fil-A’s obviously different values and still accepting them for who they are, welcoming the top-quality fast food chain to their city, the mayor is basically telling the company to stay home.  They don’t want them BECAUSE of their beliefs.  So much for being tolerable of others.

What’s next?  Attacking Chick-fil-A locations at night and smashing their glass windows?

Let me get this straight.

A Christian-based company is being criticised because the CEO has the guts to stand up for his religious beliefs.  What “society” is saying is that the private company should instead be protested, ridiculed and FORCED to accept opposite values, no matter how much the leader and founder may be against it.  That’s “toleration” for you.  Accept OUR beliefs or we’ll protest and harass YOU until A) you accept us, or B) you’re out of business.

Read more…

XHOSE (expanding garden hose) – A Marketing Review

The overhead sun slowly bakes you as you stumble through the knee-high weeds to the back of the house.

You had already designated the 4:30-5 pm time slot today for watering the garden, but the baseball game you were watching on TV was just hit with a rain delay.  The wife also noticed the rain delay and suddenly had that look in her eye.  No, not that look, but rather the look she gives you when she’s about to ask you to complete a favor (i.e. chore or task).  Oh look, you now have some free time.  Honey, can you . . . You know, one of those repairs or tasks that you’ve been promising to complete for the past three weeks.

Seeking a quick escape from the pestering that you know is going to happen, you opt to take care of the garden now rather than later.  You snatch a cold beer from the fridge, grab your hat and sunglasses, and make a quick exit out the back door.  The intense heat from the sunshine and high humidity hits you immediately.  You pause for a moment to chug half the can of ice cold beer before finding the garden hose.

Ah, there it is now.

Sadly, your garden hose reel looks nothing nearly as nice as the one in the picture.  Your cheap garden hose reel is broken and barely functions as a reel.  It’s filthy, the hose never stays tightly wound in the middle, and the cheap piece of plastic resembling a useful device just plain sucks.  The thing barely even works.  It doesn’t help that next door’s kid always laughs and points at your miserable excuse for a garden hose reel.

After dragging the plastic garden hose reel through the weeds, stopping twice to pick up assorted odds and ends that keep falling off the hose reel, you finally make it to the outdoor spigot.  You attach the hose assembly to the spigot and begin unwinding the hose from the reel.  Sweat drips down your face as you keep turning the wheel, swearing under your breath how much you hate the damn assembly, until you finally have enough hose to reach the garden.  With a triumphant turn of the handle, you send water flowing through your horrible excuse for a garden hose.

Until it stops at a kink.

Mo&$%*#%@&er!

You walk over to the kink and start twisting and freeing the hose.  Water resumes flowing until it hits a second kink.  It takes another moment of adjusting until water once again resumes flowing.  You now finally have water pressure at the end of the hose.

While watering the garden, you can’t help but wonder just how much of a task it is to pull out the hose and water some stupid plants.  Or a dirty car.  Or the neighbor’s annoying cat that keeps defecating on your front porch.  Revenge will finally be yours one of these days!  Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!

There has to be a simpler way of using an outdoor hose.  You know, some other method that doesn’t involve better ways to store the garden hose for easier access, or even investing in a slightly better quality garden hose.  As the plants are being watered, you take another few sips of beer.  The alcohol helps dull the ache from the upcoming chore of turning off the water and returning the garden hose to the rear of the house.

What’s this?

The XHOSE?  A lightweight garden hose that expands and contracts?

XHOSE website — www.xhose.com

The concept of an expanding and contracting garden hose sounds interesting.  Let’s take a look at the XHOSE TV commercial and see just what they’re trying to sell us.

XHOSE TV commercial

Wow.  Didn’t that just look awesome?  Let’s take a closer look at the TV commercial and see what just those people are trying to sell us. Read more…

Harsher School Bus Enforcement To Help Protect ‘The Children’

If you’re going to be driving the streets of Cobb County, Georgia, when the school buses are on the prowl, be extra careful when the buses are loading and unloading their precious cargo of darling little children.  The “eye” on the side of the bus may be unfairly recording the actions of your vehicle!

Thanks to the Cobb County school board, a private company, American Traffic Solutions, has been authorized to issue hefty $300 citations for drivers caught illegally passing school buses when the buses are stopped while loading or unloading children.  The monitoring will be handled via external cameras mounted on the side of select school buses in high risk and high traffic areas.

Normally, I don’t have a problem when police pull over and issue traffic tickets for law breakers.  Those people who run red lights, fail to yield, cannot maintain their lane, and generally drive like a jackass deserve to be given a citation.  But that’s as long as the police themselves are doing the monitoring and policing of bad drivers, and not some third party company watching via photos or video clips.

I’m not sure what bothers me more about the deal with a private company issuing tickets:  the fact that the ticketing process has a MAJOR FLAW, or that this was done merely for “. . . the safety of the children“?

THE FLAW

A flaw you say?  Really?

When you illegally pass the school bus at a bus stop, the bus driver presses a button and the camera catches a picture of your vehicle and the license plate.  How does the company (in this case American Traffic Solutions) identify and ticket the DRIVER?

Answer – It can’t.  The DRIVER of the car does NOT receive the ticket.  The traffic ticket is mailed to the OWNER of the car.  It is therefore the responsibility of the vehicle’s OWNER to pay the citation ($300 in this case), whether that person committed the crime or not. Read more…

Movie Review – The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

The big day had finally arrived, and once again the fans are going crazy for Batman.

My friends and I took part in AMC Theatre’s The Dark Knight Trilogy promotion.  It was a Batman movie marathon that started at 6 pm with Batman Begins and concluded with the 12:01 am showing of The Dark Knight Rises.  Seeing The Dark Knight on the big screen with an enthusiastic crowd was worth it.

And then 12:01 am finally arrived.  The movie theater showed a few movie previews (including a teaser for 2013′s Superman movie, Man of Steel), and then it was on to the main event, the epic conclusion to this Batman trilogy.

The Dark Knight Rises begins eight years after the events in The Dark Knight.

The movie actually begins somewhere in Asia.  We see several hooded prisoners arrive at a small airstrip and get taken aboard a small, twin-engine aircraft.  This is actually an aircraft by the CIA, and the agent wants to know the whereabouts of Bane.  The plane takes off and the CIA agent begins his interrogation of the prisoners.

The Dark Knight Rises (2012) – (c) Warner Bros. Pictures

The third prisoner is actually Bane (played by Tom Hardy) himself.  He (speaking in a weird voice) tells the CIA agent that getting captured was actually part of his plan.  We see a C-130 cargo plane fly above the CIA airplane, and several commandos jump out the back of the C-130.  They’re all attached to ropes as they quickly descend and attack the CIA’s aircraft.  The commandos physically attach cables and “capture” the CIA’s aircraft.  Bane is freed by the commandos, and they also capture a Russian nuclear scientist that was on board the aircraft.  The CIA’s aircraft is then detached and crashes on the ground, making it look like the Russian scientist was killed in the crash.

The movie then transitions to Gotham City.

Crime is down significantly in the city.  Most of the mobsters are now in jail thanks to the heroic symbol of the late Harvey Dent and the powers of the Dent Act.  Batman is still being hunted by the police for his presumed crimes from the end of The Dark Knight, but nobody has seen Batman for eight years.  Coincidentally, nobody has seen Bruce Wayne in that same amount of time.  Hopefully nobody will put two and two together and finally figure out that Bruce Wayne is the masked crime fighter . . . Read more…

Movie Review – The Dark Knight (2008)

The excitement for the new The Dark Knight Rises Batman movie continues to grow.

My girlfriend and I already have our movie tickets for Batman.  Our tickets are actually part of a cool package deal with AMC Theatres.  For like $25 you’ll get to see Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and then the midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises.  The deal also includes a special movie poster and even a Batman lanyard.  It also includes some theater rewards points good towards goodies at the snack stand.  It’s going to be an epic night!

In the meantime, let’s continue our review of Christopher Nolan’s vision of the Batman comics with 2008′s The Dark Knight, the second movie in his outstanding superhero trilogy.

The ending of Batman Begins left Wayne Manor in shambles after almost completely being destroyed in a fire; Rachel Dawes leaves Bruce Wayne; and the previous inmates from Gotham’s Arkham Asylum are running loose.  A particularly nasty villain has been taunting the police department by leaving Joker playing cards at the scenes of his crimes.

The Dark Knight begins with an elaborate bank robbery.  We see a few bank robbers wearing creepy clown masks as they break into a bank and restrain the workers and customers.  One-by-one the robbers kill each other as they’ve been instructed to until only a couple of them are left.  One of the bank’s workers kills a clown robber, but he warns the last clown that the money he’s stealing belongs to the mob.  The clown robber pulls off his mask, revealing himself to be the Joker (brilliantly played by the late Heath Ledger), and then makes a clean getaway with all of the money.

The Dark Knight (2008) – (c) Warner Bros. Pictures

In another part of town, the Scarecrow (played by Cillian Murphy) is trying to sell some of his narcotics to a gang.  Several people imitating Batman try to disrupt the meeting, but they really suck at crime fighting.  The real Batman (played by Christian Bale) appears and fights the gang and Scarecrow.  Before leaving, he warns the Batman imitators to stay home and let him do the crime fighting. Read more…

Movie Review – Batman Begins (2005)

You can feel the excitement building for this Friday’s highly anticipated release of The Dark Knight Rises, the final movie in Christopher Nolan’s outstanding Batman trilogy.

Let’s take a step back and look at the first two movies in his Batman trilogy, starting with 2005′s hit movie, Batman Begins.  After all, we need to know the origins of the Dark Knight to fully understand his character and the chaotic world around him.

Batman Begins has a strong cast starting with Christian Bale starring in the lead roles of Bruce Wayne and Batman.  Michael Caine plays the role of Bruce Wayne’s butler, Alfred Pennyworth.  Liam Neeson has the role of Henri Ducard / Ra’s al Ghul, the main villain in the movie.  The secondary villain of Dr. Jonathan Crane / The Scarecrow is played by Cillian Murphy.  Katie Holmes plays the role of Rachel Dawes, Gotham City’s assistant district attorney.  Gary Oldman has the part of Sgt. James Gordon, an honest cop and Batman’s contact in the Gotham City Police Department.  Morgan Freeman rounds out the cast as Lucius Fox, a former high-ranking employee at Wayne Enterprises who gets demoted to the company’s Applied Science Division.

Batman Begins (2005) – (c) Warner Bros. Pictures

Batman Begins starts with Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) prisoner in a jail in Bhutan.  He knows how to use his fists as the other prisoners quickly learn to keep their distance.  While in jail, Bruce meets Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson), a mysterious man who offers to teach Bruce ninjitsu, the ways of the ninja.  Bruce accepts Ducard’s offer and begins his training with the League of Shadows at their remote temple in the mountainous region of southern Asia. Read more…

Giving the ‘Death Penalty’ to Penn State’s Football Program

The shocking sexual abuse trial of former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky has rocked not only the world of college football, but also the nation as a whole.

Sandusky has been found guilty of 45 counts of child molestation, many of them taking place on or near Penn State University.    He met all of his young male victims through The Second Mile, a program he founded to help troubled youths.  Sandusky is currently in prison awaiting his sentencing.  It’s safe to say that Jerry Sandusky will live the rest of his pitiful excuse for a life in a state prison, never again setting foot in the outside world as a free man.

As far as Sandusky, it’s case closed.  He’s been convicted and it’s up to the state of Pennsylvania to handle his sentencing and punishment.

Former Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno served over Sandusky for thirty-one seasons from 1969 to 1999.  Paterno had known about Sandusky’s sexual attacks against young boys.  Paterno, more interested in protecting his image along with the images of the university and its football program, chose to look the other way.  Joe Paterno informed his superiors of Sandusky’s actions, but he failed to pursue any legal action against Sandusky or seek help for his victims.  Thanks to today’s society of worshipping athletes and athletic programs, those cries for help fell upon deaf ears.

Joe Paterno was fired as Penn State University head football coach on November 9, 2011.  Many students and football fans in Happy Valley, PA rioted when the news was announced.  Later, Penn State players were crying that they missed the presence of their idolized head coach. Read more…

Patch Perfect (grass seed) – A Marketing Review

It’s summertime again, folks!

Yeah, as if we didn’t already know that thanks to this relentless heat wave.  How many heat records have been broken within the past week or two?  It’s just scorching hot this year.

For many of us, summertime means taking care of the lawn.  Unless you regularly water, aerate and fertilize your lawn, chances are you’re got some bad patches.  If you have a dog or heavy foot traffic, then you probably have many brown spots and “dead zones.”

As tempting as it may be to rip out the lawn entirely and just have a yard full of dirt, there supposedly is an easier way to fix those bad patches in your lawn.  No, the answer is not to set lethal traps to catch the neighbors from cutting through your lawn.  As tempting as it may be (especially when the kids know better and still keep disrespecting your yard anyway), setting lethal traps only leads to legal problems down the road.  When it comes to fixing the bad spots in your yard, the correct answer may be as easy as some really special grass seed.

Patch Perfect website — www.PatchPerfect.com

Patch Perfect probably sounds familiar to many of you.  This product has actually been advertised on TV for several years now.  And, not surprisingly, the Patch Perfect TV commercial has been virtually unchanged for the past few years.  Check it out now.

Patch Perfect TV commercial

Let’s take a closer look and try to see what the marketers for Patch Perfect are really trying to sell us.

Patch Perfect TV commercial – The horrors of a terrible lawn!

The Patch Perfect TV commercial begins with the absolute worst of horrors — a bad lawn.

Actually, this isn’t just a bad lawn.  This is a horrendous lawn.  This is the type of lawn where neighbors can’t help but stare at your complete lack of contempt towards your own property.  It may even cause them to have a sudden evacuation of their bowels.  This is a lawn so bad that not even your neighbor’s dog would stop and “take care of business” on it any longer.  We’re talking really bad. Read more…

Looking Like An Idiot When Using A Tablet Computer

Tablet computers are slowly becoming more and more mainstream as the technology improves and the overall prices drop.

Similar to the rise of smartphones and all of their advances over the past ten years, tablets many one day replace laptops.  I’m still not sold on getting a tablet yet, but I do recognize their potential and the handiness of using one.

That handiness, however, brings us to the subject matter of this article.

No, I’m not here to make fun of the retards who sit in coffee shops, trying to look sophisticated on their laptops and tablets when all they’re really doing is playing around on Facebook and Twitter, or just reading an e-book.  That cliché was exposed a while ago.

This article is about people using the camera feature on their tablet computer while on vacation.

I understand that the camera feature is handy for video chatting software such as Skype.  No problems there.  But when people choose to lug around their tablets through theme parks and other vacation destinations, and then use said tablet product as their camera for taking pictures, those people look like complete fools.

Last week my parents came home from their trip to the central Florida theme parks.  I asked them to keep an eye out for those idiots using tablets to take their vacation pictures.  Take a look a several scenes of those people in action.

—– Read more…

Movie Review – Spider-Man 3 (2007)

Finishing out Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy is the third installment, creatively named Spider-Man 3, released on May 4, 2007.

Like 2004′s Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man 3 brings back the familiar cast of the first two characters along with some people we haven’t seen since the first movie.  Tobey Maguire reprises his role as Peter Parker / Spider-Man, Kirsten Dunst is Mary Jane Watson, James Franco is Harry Osborn / New Goblin, and J.K. Simmons is once again the leader of the Daily Bugle, J. Jonah Jameson.  Spider-Man 3 introduces us to Thomas Hayden Church as Flint Marko / Sandman, Topher Grace as Eddie Brock / Venom, and Bryce Dallas Howard as Gwen Stacy.

Spider-Man 3 continues some time after the events of Spider-Man 2.

New York City is currently on a Spider-Man craze.  The hero is immortalized and the talk of the town.  Peter Parker is making a living as a photographer for the Daily Bugle, doing well in his college studies, and very much in love with Mary Jane Watson.  Mary Jane has advanced from the small stage and is now starring in Broadway productions.  Harry Osborn, in the meantime, still carries his grudge towards Parker and has been tinkering with his dad’s weapons at Oscorp.  He’s also subjected himself to his father’s performance enhancing drugs from the first movie.  Harry’s hatred towards Peter has reached its breaking point.

Spider-Man 3 (2007) – (c) Columbia Pictures

In the beginning of the movie we see Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) and Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) spending time together in the evening.  Not too far away a meteor crashes in the park.  Unknown to Peter and MJ, a strange black substance crawls from the wreckage and attaches itself to Peter’s moped.  He unknowingly transports the extraterrestrial creature back to his apartment. Read more…

Movie Review – Spider-Man 2 (2004)

The smash hit of 2002′s Spider-Man virtually guaranteed that Hollywood would give the fans a sequel.  2003′s record-breaking X2: X-Men United would only further fuel this thirst for another a sequel to Spider-Man.

Released on June 30, 2004, Spider-Man 2 thrilled the superhero audiences once again.  Spider-Man was back, and this sequel was bigger and better than its prequel.

Once again directed by Sam Raimi, Spider-Man 2 brought back the cast of the first Spider-Man film.  Toby Maguire, Kirsten Dunst and James Franco all reprise their roles in the first movie.  Spider-Man 2 also brings along Alfred Molina as Dr. Otto Octavius / Doctor Octopus.

Set in New York City, Spider-Man 2 picks up where Spider-Man finished.

Peter Parker’s (Toby Maguire) life is harder than ever as he tries to juggle a part-time job and his college classes, all while saving people and stopping criminals while disguised as Spider-Man.  In addition, Parker is trying to improve his relationship with Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst).  Mary Jane finally got herself into acting, and she’s trying to get Peter to see her perform on stage.

Spider-Man 2 (2004) – (c) Columbia Pictures

We see Peter Parker try to make it as a pizza deliveryman.  His only problem is that while rushing to delivery the pizzas, people keep needing the help of Spider-Man.  Parker is forced to don the costume and save people, all while racing the clock to make his delivery on time.  He ultimately fails with the delivery and loses yet another job.  Parker’s financial problems double at home as Aunt May is facing foreclosure from the bank. Read more…

Movie Review – Spider-Man (2002)

The country is in spider-fever again as everybody’s favorite masked, wall-crawling superhero once again hits the movie theaters.

In honor of The Amazing Spider-Man movie now in theaters (NOTE – This is a new version of Spider-Man and not a continuation of Sam Raimi’s blockbuster trilogy), let’s take a step back and look at the Spider-Man trilogy that began ten years ago.  Wow, has it really been ten years since Spider-Man premiered in the the movie theaters?  Time just passes way too quickly.

2002′s Spider-Man finally brought the superhero to the movie theaters as part of a growing superhero craze.  2000 saw the release of the first X-Men film along with Unbreakable, and 2003 gave us Daredevil, Hulk, and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.  2005 would rock the audiences with the retelling of the Batman stories with Batman Begins.

Spider-Man tells the tale of Peter Parker as he becomes the legendary superhero.   Set in New York City, Peter Parker (played by Toby Maguire) lives with his Uncle Ben and Aunt May in Queens.  His best friend is Harry Osborn (played by James Franco), son of Dr. Norman Osborn (played brilliantly by Willem Dafoe), a brilliant engineer and president of Oscorp manufacturing corporation.

Spider-Man (2002) – (c) Columbia Pictures

In the beginning of the movie we see Peter Parker as a nerdy student in high school.  His smarts keep him out of trouble from bullies, but his shyness keeps him away from his female classmates.  He really wants to get to know his fellow classmate and next door neighbor, Mary Jane Watson (played by Kirsten Dunst), but Peter just can’t seem to get a chance to talk to her. Read more…

Driving Cars Through Vertical Loops

The other night at 2012’s summer X Games, Hot Wheels set a new world record by having two cars driving along a track with each of them completing a massive, six-story vertical loop.  The track ended with a victory jump through the air for both cars.

Check out the historic (and quite badass) car stunt:

A British car television show called Fifth Gear also explored the fascination of having a car being driven through a vertical loop.  A segment of one of the episodes had a stunt driver drive a small Toyota sedan through a forty-foot vertical loop.

After watching both segments, I noticed that the vertical loops are more roundish than elliptical.  I wonder how many G’s the drivers were experiencing at the entry and exit of the loops.

Looking back at the history of roller coasters, it was quickly discovered that circular vertical loops were extremely strenuous on the passengers, causing many of them to black out and go unconscious from the sudden, extreme G force.  This problem also caused many injuries and earned some of the early roller coaster designs a negative reputation.  It was later discovered that elliptical loops with shallower transition points in and out of the vertical loop put less strain on the passengers and ride vehicles, resulting for a much more enjoyable riding experience.

Most roller coaster documentaries discuss the history, evolution and physics behind the famous maneuvers and inversions that we love today.

Read more…