ilubmoney

Last weekend, Angie and I went to Six Flags along with Howie and a few of his friends. Angie and I arrived there around 11 and we were supposed to meet up with Howie and his girlfriend. So we parked and went through security. At security, they told me that I had to leave my Swiss Army knife (which is on my keychain) in the car. So I walked back to the car and Howie said he arrived. On the way back to the park entrance, I met up with Howie and Judy. After security, I met back up with Angie (since she wasn't dangerous and made it through security fine). Angie and I went through the rest of the entrance area since I bought tickets in advance. So while we were waiting for Howie and Judy, we browsed one of the stores, which I saw a Batman shirt (retro look) that I'd pick up on the way out.

Anyway, after Howie and Judy met back up with us, they stated that they wanted to ease into rollercoasters since Judy wasn't a big fan. This was pretty much the opposite of my philosophy of hitting all the coasters first since they tend to have the longest lines and it'd lessen my anticipation of them. So we decided to walk towards Batman: The Ride and the Dark Knight (since the Dark Knight is new and not as extreme supposedly). On the way there, we stopped and rode Deja Vu, which is one of those spinny rides with arms so there's a central spinning and spinning at the end of each arm. I still don't know why its called Deja Vu, but it was pretty okay. Angie and I both thought it spun faster than it looked so that's good.

Anyway, we made our way to Batman and Judy said she'd give it a go. So we rode it, which I enjoyed, although it was pretty short. But I guess the ride's 20 years old so its okay. After Batman, Howie wanted to check out a shop and get something to drink. Nothing too exciting was in the store, but afterward, we met up with Howie's friends. I'm guessing one (Serena) was a friend from UNC and she brought four friends with her. Overall, they seemed pretty okay. They wanted to hit all the coasters in some sort of marathon (which I'd actually be for), but that clashed pretty heavily with Howie's plan. So to not have to think about that, they went on Batman while Howie, Judy, Angie, and I were going to go on Congo Rapids.

So we walked to Congo Rapids only to see that it was not openned. So walking back, we decided to go on Skull Mountain. The line was pretty short and overall, it was kind of a crappy version of Space Mountain. It was an indoors rollercoaster without any loops or anything. Pretty much just a small drop or two and some twists. It wasn't bad, although nothing too exciting. Afterward, we met back up with Howie's friends and we went on the Dark Knight (although Judy sat it out). The Dark Knight was pretty similar to the Aerosmith coaster but without the sudden acceleration. It was an indoor rollercoaster with lots of sharp turns and a few sudden, although not too big drops. The first drop was actually pretty surprising since there were things distracting you and it seemed like it was just going to make a sharp turn instead. Again, not a bad ride, but nothing great.

Next we were going to walk over to either the Green Latern, which I was pretty excited about since its new and a stand up coaster (which I've never ridden). On the way there, it was suggested to take the gondola ride. But the gondola ride had too long of a line and we decided to walk over there instead. On the way across the park, we stopped to ride the Buccaneer (minus a few of Howie's friends), which is one of those swinging ship rides. I actually haven't ridden a similar ride in a long time, but it was pretty good. Angie and I sat in a row at the end so it was pretty fun and a "fall out of the ship" kind of way. It was also very funny to see Howie (who was sitting on the other side of the boat towards a center row) being so afraid. After the Buccaneer, we waited for a couple of Howie's friends to finish riding a mini-coaster (Blackbeard's something something).

Next, we went to the Green Latern rollercoaster and prepared for a long wait. Judy again sat this out and we waited about 1.5 to 2 hours. But the ride was excellent! Also, while climbing the first hill/drop, there were people behind us who were reciting the Green Latern oath, which I thought was pretty cool. I don't really think the "stand up"ness was that great, but the ride was really good. It was long, had several loops, and lots of twists and spins. I was a big fan of it. I'd definately rate it among the better coasters like The Incredible Hulk (Universal Islands of Adventure), the Rock-It (Universal Studios), and Medusa (Great Adventure although it was repackaged as Bizzarro). Too bad we didn't get a chance to try the Bizzarro so I couldn't do a comparision that day.

So after the Green Latern, which Angie was also quite impressed by, it was getting late (~5) and we wanted to get home before the dogs revolted. And since we felt bad for Judy, Angie and I decided to go with Howie and Judy on a ride of her choice (bumper cars) before leaving. But we had difficulty finding the bumper cars and eventually found out that it wasn't set up yet. So we went on Houdini's Great Escape. It was a shortish wait although there was incredibly annoying bro's that were "woo'ing" during the start. Anyway, its a room in which the part you sit in swings like a swinging ship but the walls also move to confuse your senses. It was pretty good since it was kind of deceptive with the forces and stuff. Anyway, we headed out (I bought my shirt) and headed home.

I wish we went on more rides (Bizzaro, Superman, possibly even the wooden coasters). Also, the new sky swing thing wasn't open to the general people, only stupid people with Flash pass. So I think I would like to go back someday. It was fun and I was kind of suprised by how stuff there was to do. But overall, it was a fun day.

I finished Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis yesterday. Overall, the book is pretty good. The story is compelling and the focus of the book (Sabremetrics) is worthwhile. I did enjoy the book, especially since its baseball season and I'm in the baseball mindset. But the author was incredibly annoying. The book was written so one-sidedly and without any acknowledgement for the traditional approach. Michael Lewis just talks about Sabremetric approaches as novel, ground-breaking, and grounded in facts, and just dismisses the traditional approach as a conspiracy. Now, I agree with much of Sabremetrics, but his portrayal was just poor. He refers to baseball insiders as a Club that has a conspiracy to keep nerds and their stats out because they don't want to endanger themselves. There was an afterword that was added to later editions and it went on about how bad of a reception the book got from baseball insiders. Well that shouldn't be a shock since he portrayed them as horribly as he did.

So basically, the story is very good and obviously its lays out some basics of sabremetrics. But the tone is awful and its so one-sided that it gets frustrating to read. Instead of addressing arguments or having a meaningful discourse, Lewis just chose to belittle baseball insiders and present a conspiracy theory. I'm getting annoyed just thinking of it. But I would recommend the book even though I hope the author gets beaten or something.