Full Throttle Ride Report

Full Throttle is Six Flags Magic Mountain's newest roller coaster. It replaced the Log Jammer flume ride that opened with the park in 1971. This is sad because Log Jammer was a great hillside log ride. However, Magic Mountain is trying to be the thrill capital of the world and coasters are more thrilling than log flumes.

The ride, from Premier, has two trains accommodating 18 people each. There's a linear synchronous motor (electro-magnetic) launch system that accelerates the train quickly (it seemed like a couple of seconds) and directly into a vertical loop. This is no ordinary loop. At 160 feet, it's the tallest in the world. At the top, there is incredible hang time. The centrifugal force pushing your body toward the track and gravity pulling you downward are about equal so there is a sensation of floating through the top of the loop.

Following the loop, there is a sweeping right turn that travels up and over the top of the mountain (the magic mountain). On the back side of the mountain comes a direction changing diving loop that takes riders into a tunnel.

The tunnel was formerly used by the monorail back when it was in operation (1971 - 2001). In the tunnel, the train comes to a surprising but smooth stop. Riders are then launched backwards partially up the diving loop. Sit in the back row for the best effect here. The train then naturally reverses direction and travels forward through the tunnel with a boost. Exiting the tunnel, riders are taken through a turn and over the top of the loop.

Brakes (magnetic and smooth) kick in about half way down the following drop as the train approaches the nearby station.

Pros: Comfortable seats (if you watch the shin guards), top of loop hang time, reverse launch.

Cons: No more Log Jammer, short ride (a little over a minute).

I rode Full Throttle three times (because wait times were up to about an hour). It is not one of my favorite coasters. But it is unique and worth riding a few times. There are 17 other roller coasters at this park so a junkie can easily spend a couple of days here.

Knott's Berry Farm Coaster Report

Park date 1 November 2013

GhostRider: A 1998 wooden L-shaped double out-and-back roller coaster from Custom Coasters International. Wait times were painfully long due to single train operation. Ride time is ~3 minutes and unload/reload time is ~2 minutes (so the line moves forward by 28 people every 5 minutes). This was surprising as Cedar Fair parks are usually good with maximizing capacity. The coaster was riding reasonably well (a bit rough in the back but nothing to complain about). Unfortunately, the mid-course brake brought trains to almost a complete stop thereby degrading the second half of the course. Operations aside, the ride is good as-is but has the potential to be world-class -- all Knott's has to do is kill the mid-course brake (and keep up with track maintenance). Rode it twice.

Pony Express: A 2008 launched coaster from Zamperla where you ride horses instead of sitting in a seat. It's a fun moderate ride that's good for the novelty. Rode it twice.

Coast Rider: This is the park's newest coaster (replacing the Perilous Plunge water ride). Opened in May, it's a custom wild mouse from Mack Rides. The to-the-ground first drop opening (~50 ft) and the first series of hairpin turns get the ride off to a good start. However, the midcourse braking (I counted four points) and anticlimactic layout cause the coaster to fizzle out. Rode it once.

Boomerang: A stock Vekoma shuttle boomerang. Knott's used to have one of the original (1975) Corkscrew roller coasters from Arrow Dynamics (the design that started the modern inversion craze). In 1990, they replaced it with Boomerang. Why? - I may never know (but you can still ride the original Corkscrew at Silverwood Park in Idaho). Boomerang takes riders through a cobra roll and vertical loop forwards and then in reverse. Watch out for ear banging on the cobra roll. Rode it once.

Xcelerator: A 2002 hydraulic launch coaster from Intamin. This ride was a prototype for the world's two tallest coasters (Top Thrill Dragster and Kingda Ka). It's only half the height but is actually better in some ways in that the layout is more extensive. Riders are launched to 80 mph in 2 seconds, sent over a 200 ft top hat at 90 degree angles, and subjected to two banked turns (I kept greying out on the first one). Rode it 8 times (it was a walk-on and the ride operators let us stay on as long as there was no-one in line for our seats).

Silver Bullet: A 2004 inverted roller coaster from Bolliger and Mabillard. This six-inversion ride has a unique over-banked left turn and a surprising intense helix finale (over water). Rode it twice.

Jaguar!: A 1995 custom steel coaster from Zierer. This ride is heavy on theming but low on thrills. It's basically a scenic tour around the Fiesta Village section of the park. Good for the young people, pre-teen, who are not afraid of the theming.

Montezooma's Revenge: The oldest (from 1978) of six remaining shuttle loop coasters from Schwarzkopf. I've been on a lot of rides and there's nothing quite like the experience of going through the loop backwards in the rear car on this one. Rode it once.

Timberline Twister: A 1983 Bradley and Kaye (rare) kiddie coaster. I was technically too tall to ride but the operator was nice enough to let me contort myself on. This ride is a bit jerky but otherwise fun.

Sierra Sidewinder: A 2007 spinning coaster from Mack. This is a medium size twisted steel coaster where the cars spin (naturally) throughout the course. There is a speedy descending helix section in a white rock bed that is my favorite part. Not for those who get dizzy easily. Rode it twice. Each ride is different so this one is worth riding more than once.

Other rides of note: The classic Calico Mine Ride had been re-themed as The Witches Keep for Halloween. This is technically a roller coaster as it uses a chain lift and is powered by gravity (with speed controlled by a brake-person). I would like to ride it with no brakes. In a strange twist of irony, the Supreme Scream drop ride was being sponsored by Toyota (taking sudden acceleration to a new level?). Another classic, the Timber Mountain Log Ride (originally opened in 1969) had undergone a revitalization and was as good as ever.

California's Great America Coaster Report

Park date June 21st 2013

Demon: This coaster opened with the park in 1976 (albeit with a different outbound track layout). It's an Arrow with a double vertical loop and a double corkscrew (into a rock demon's mouth). Not a bad ride. Worth riding once. Rode it once.



 Grizzly: One of the lamest wooden roller coasters ever built. Drops are gradual, turn-arounds are slow, and pacing is casual. This is more of a scenic railway than a thrill ride. Rode it once.



 Psycho Mouse: This is a wild mouse ride from Arrow. Back in the old days, wild mouse (mice?) rides would throw riders from side to side on fast unbanked hairpin turns with the illusion of falling off the tracks. Now, courtesy of litigation, many wild mouse rides are plagued with brakes that continually slow cars down (to reduce lateral forces). To Great America's credit, I only noticed one of the multitude of brake runs slowing the car significantly. A decent ride (although I would like to do it completely brakeless). Rode it once.



 Woodstock's Express: A 1984 kiddie coaster from Intamin (renamed in 2010 to match the Peanuts theme). Riders must be less than 60 inches tall or accompanied by a child. Age discrimination I say. Could not ride.

 Taxi Jam: A kiddie coaster from Miler with a fun-looking twisted track. Once again, riders must be less than 60 inches tall or accompanied by a child. Could not ride.



 Flight Deck: Opened in 1993 (as Top Gun), this is B&M's second inverted coaster. Though short, it's still one of my favorite inverted rides. It's intense throughout, well paced, and has a great finale helix over water. Ride it in the front row for the view or in the back row (on an outer seat) for the most extreme physics. Rode it twice.



 Vortex: People scream on most roller coasters out of fear. On Vortex, people scream out of pain. This stand-up ride from B&M (their second coaster ever) is a 1900 ft long torture track through ear-bang hell. Here is a condensed personal narrative of the course: "Ouch ouch Ouch OUCH Ouch ouch Ouch" (and this coming from a guy who tends to like rough rides). Worth riding once (with ear protection and plenty of aspirin). Rode it twice - yes, I'm a masochist.



 Gold Striker: This is Great America's first new coaster in twelve years. It's a wooden ride from Great Coasters International. I've been on eight GCI coasters and this is my current favorite. It's fairly tall at 108 ft and fairly fast at 54 mph but the statistics don't matter. What I like is the relentless non-stop action all the way from the lift hill to the final (and only) brake run. The only negative thing is that the operators assign seats and will not let riders choose where they want to sit. Fortunately, we got lucky and scored the back car twice. For the best experience, ride this one in the back at night. Rode it five times.



Other Rides of Note: Take a spin on the double decker carousel. You can choose upper or lower level. And there are all kinds of animals to ride - not just horses.

Welcome to My Ignitemare

Attending Ignite Phoenix #14 last week launched me back into thinking about a prior Ignite (#11) where I somehow found myself on stage presenting. Here’s how it happened.

One Friday evening back in July 2011, I was at a Chandler watering hole sipping craft ale. Some colleagues from work and Ignite volunteers were there and the topic of sabbaticals came up. I tend to plan vacations and sabbaticals around visiting amusement parks and riding roller coasters. 

For example, I spent two months one summer traveling to 34 parks in 18 states and riding 145 coasters (with family in tow – yeah they think I’m crazy but put up with it). One of the Igniters, who will remain anonymous, thought that roller coaster riding would be a good submission topic for an upcoming event. I agreed that this would be a great topic (for someone else) but I had no public speaking experience whatsoever (although I had done a microphone sound check once – “test, 1, 2, 3, 4…”). In addition, I have a bit of an anxiety condition and tend to become irrationally nervous even in every-day situations. Then came the assurance that Ignite Phoenix audiences were the most encouraging and forgiving. At this point there was no legitimate excuse for refusal so I gave my word on submitting.

True to my word, I crafted an abstract for the next event. The idea was to give an overview of roller coasters and talk about some favorites. Would it be accepted? Probably not – the Phoenix area (and the state of Arizona) only has three coasters. Two of them are kiddie rides and one is a poorly designed adult ride (trust me; I rode it 28 times one day – once in each seat).

As fate would have it, Ignite was more interested in passion for an activity than local opportunities and the submission was selected. Now all I had to do was to condense decades of coaster riding experiences into a 20 slide presentation. This was no trivial task but I managed to pull it off before the deadline. [Technically, it was a few minutes past the midnight deadline.]

From here on out it would be smooth sailing. Just rehearse and refine the presentation daily for a couple of weeks until the show. This is where reality reared its ugly head! The next day, there was a family emergency that required my immediate presence (to the tune of 3000 miles away). Ignite instantly became a relatively miniscule spark at this point. Personal matters took priority and were attended to. Things were wrapped up (to the extent possible) on a Thursday afternoon.

Ignite Phoenix #11 was the next day so I booked the first flight to PHX leaving Friday morning. There was only one problem. The travel was from West to East so time zone changes were not in my favor. I could make it to Ignite by about half-way into the show (probably not a good idea). As luck would have it, I was able to change to a red-eye flight leaving late Thursday night (actually very early Friday morning).

I made it home by Friday afternoon. I cannot sleep on planes so my primary goal at this point was to stay awake and not sleep through Ignite (after having been up for a day and a half). After hazily looking through the slide deck a few times, I realized that it was simply too late to do any kind of meaningful rehearsal.

Upon arriving at the venue, I was in a daze. Everyone other than me (volunteers and attendees) was full of positive energy. I was just there in physical body.

Cut to show time: At Ignite, the presentation starts when the speaker first speaks. From that point on, slides are rolling by at 15 seconds each. I had my opening and closing remarks in mind. Other than that, it was pretty much Ignite Karaoke (except that the slides were mine). Polished performance? – Nope. Timing synchronized to slides? – Uh-uh. General idea (when you’re on a good coaster, nothing else matters) conveyed – I think so. If nothing else, people had 20 slides of cool coaster pics and statistics to look at.

So why am I writing this? Umm, I’m not really sure (other than killing time). Oh, now I remember. If I can do it, anyone can do it. That’s right – if someone with no presentation experience and performance anxiety can pseudo pull this off under brutal circumstances, then anyone can do it. So if you are thinking about submitting to Ignite (or even a similar event) but have some reservations, then maybe it’s time to set aside the reservations and just do it.

In the meantime, I need to plan for getting my coaster count high enough for a second (hopefully under better circumstances) pres.

Memory Test Blues

I got the memory test blues
Been singin em for days
I got the memory test blues
Lost in a sea of arrays
My wordlines are not passing count-check
And my sets are not matching their ways

I got the memory test blues
Been singin em for weeks
I got the memory test blues
Have become a cache architect geek
My bitlines are tyranny twisted
And my pass gate oxides have sprung a leak


P-BIST has gone P-BUST
M-BIST is on the S-LIST
L-DAT is not working any better than L-DIS or L-DOtherThing
I need a logical address
Illogical addresses just won’t do
Please give me a logical address
Or I’ll keep singin the memory test blues

I got the memory test blues
Been singin em for months
I got the memory test blues
Can’t seem to ID the appropriate chunks
BKMs have been leading me astray
Guess following them is for chumps


I got the memory test blues
Been singin em for years
I got the memory test blues
It’s taken over my career
If I ever cache out on this madness
I’m goin to the Bitline Bar for a beer


The butterflies are hammered
Retention has galloped away
I’ve measured so many cell currents that my nickname is Al Y A
I need a physical location
Metaphysical locations just won’t do
Please map me a physical location
Or I’ll keep singin the memory test blues

soundtrack