Final Destination 4

Well, I bought the tanuki. A good purchase, I think. Solid.

And on a completely different note, I found out that I'll be headed to Washuzan Highland Brazilian amusement park in Okayama prefecture in October as part of the Josei Junior High School grade 3 class trip. Once the initial word was delivered to me and my confused excitement started to wear, I set off researching in hopes of learning more about the park. My initial search bore little fruit, as the park's site was written exclusively in Japanese (and what makes it a "Brazilian amusement park" is beyond me, other than the fact that there were quite a few out-of-place looking Brazilians in the site's pictures - there for the park opening, no doubt), but that was before I discovered this baby:



Witness The Skycycle, a pedal-powered roller coaster and perhaps simultaneously the greenest and most dangerous coaster on the planet. All was well and I even had a good laugh until a sudden worry popped into my head - "What happens if the two 'cars' in the picture collide with eachother? Surely there must be some sort of emergency brake system." Then I saw the following picture of the carts, and my question was answered.



Some rust, two shaky looking seatbelts, a pink basket, and no brakes in sight. Am I frightened by this ride? Quite frankly, yes I am. But will I go on it? Absolutely. As the saying goes, you only live once, and if the principle of roller coasters holds true that thrills derive from fear, then this one could be a classic. Here's some more pictures.


apparently dubbed "the third corner of fear"


glimpsing Elysium before the fall

*all pictures courtesy of www.treehugger.com