CoasterBuzz Podcast #193 posted

I'm actually an alum of Ohio State...that's why I'm called OhioStater...

I'm a professor at Mount Union, and these were my students.

:)

And it can be dirty...;)

Repeat after me: Hol - uh - blog. Hol - uh - blog.

Holly's over there with Ivy. :)

Paula

And by that you meant thanks for the plug on the podcast, right? :)

Loved hearing your conversation about phobias on the podcast.

Ugh, so confusing. Then again, so is getting to Mount Union. :)

All roads lead to anywhere but Alliance. I was warned of this before we moved...and is it ever true.

To elaborate on something you mentioned...picking the "order" of the coasters was very difficult, and I have already learned a lot from the students. In addition to the gradual exposure to greater heights, the group modality (knowing they were not alone in their irrational fears) and the fact that there was no pressure on them (this was all purely voluntary) were the keys to this being successful.

Yes, of course, Carrie. But as a Communications OCD sufferer, I am compelled to correct the world's grammar, spelling and pronunciation. It's a gift ... and a curse.

Glad to see Dan the Coaster Man has a campaign manager. :)

Polls close at 2 pm CDT Tuesday: May the Best Fan Win!

Thanks, Paula

Jeff, what size shirt do you take? I wanna get you a 'Preservationist Poopypants' tee made up... ;)

Shirt? I'll just paint it on my bare chest.

A few random thoughts--

-I was in the process of making a comment on the head scarf story involving assless chaps, but thought it might be offensive.

-I'm a little surprised there aren't more car guys on here. Am I the only one who has more interest in the non-coaster stuff at Ferrari World?

-I share Carrie's fear of heights only when looking up. My brother does, too, so I'm not sure it's all that uncommon. Unless my family is just weird. And Carrie.

-Having kids over the last 4 years has limited my park visits to one or two a season, and coasters are much more exciting to me than they were in the first half of the past decade. I also don't typically ride them more than once or twice per visit--this has always been the case with me (probably 90% of the coasters in my track record I've ridden only once). I still sometimes wish they instilled the fear in me that they did when I was young, as the adrenaline rush made for an even better ride.

-How does all this make you feel?

Carrie says sorry go ahead too much in the podcast, I wish she'd talk more. She makes it enjoyable. The one guy that talks the most sounds more boring than Ben Stein. He seems to enjoy his voice though as he often has conversations pretty much with himself, then acts surprised when whomever else is supposedly in the podcast doesn't respond right away. I mean come on, who says something that is not funny at all, and then laughs?

I wish there were a podcast without him.

I only go to parks one or 2 times a year now, and coasters are actually fun again. I also don't typically ride more than once or twice, unless it's something special like PPP, where I'll actually spend some time because that's what there is to do. Even then, I'm more apt to be on flat rides.

My fear of heights comes in on cases like Power Tower, when you face the other tower on the inside. I guess seeing exactly where you are on the tower is the most freaky to me.

Well no one overcame their "fear" per se, but they overcame their phobias. In fact, one thing the students learned to do was how to take control of their body's reaction to the fear.

A personal example for is flying. I hate it. I fear it...but I still do it, and don't go out of my way to avoid it if I need to do it. A phobic would avoid it altogether, and would probably have something close to a panic attack if they were forced to do it.

This is why I cringe whenever I see a dimwitted parent forcing their crying child onto a coaster they don't want to ride.

Now I want you to tell me how this makes you feel...but also, what does being scared mean to you? :)

But, Professor, isn't that the real point? Fear is not really a bad thing; after all, we are scared of things for a very good reason, and that fear can serve to keep us safe. The point is to manage the response so as to reduce or eliminate that paralysis that fear can produce....

And in that, it seems your group therapy session showed a certain degree of success.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

That was precisely the goal...and all of them learned that they can apply the techniques in different areas of their life.

This is almost like a Brady Bunch episode where everybody learns something and everyone comes out a little bit better in the end. ;)

Except for Oliver, and sometimes Alice, because she has to clean up the mess.

Raven-Phile said:

My fear of heights comes in on cases like Power Tower, when you face the other tower on the inside. I guess seeing exactly where you are on the tower is the most freaky to me.

This is exactly how I feel. While I enjoy being on the ouside of the structure for its amazing view, there's something very unsettling about being underneath that giant white truss. Maybe its connection to the other tower makes you perceive the true height of the thing. But yeah, I get that cold shuddering feeling that all coasters used to give me. The Drop Tower at KI does that for me as well, so it's good to know that some things still scare me.

There's definitely something very bittersweet about having no fear of any roller coaster.

Vater said:
-I share Carrie's fear of heights only when looking up. My brother does, too, so I'm not sure it's all that uncommon. Unless my family is just weird. And Carrie.

I'm glad there are others! And what great company, too. :)

-How does all this make you feel?

Ever since this podcast I've felt a huge weight lifted. I really think we did some good work that session. ;)