Word: thrilled
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Roller coasters are supposed to scare us. They wrap our non-phobic, perfectly natural fears of heights, speed and being turned upside down 200 feet above the cotton-candy stand into one vomit-inducing 2-minute thrill ride - and then they set us back on the ground, pat us on the back, and tell us where the end of the line is so we can go again...
...most of us thrill-seeking Americans - especially the kiddies - scamper away gleefully to comply. People love roller-coasters for the same reason some toddlers giggle happily when their fathers swing them around by an arm and a leg: Behind the dizzying thrills there's a full expectation of being safely returned, flushed and panting, to their mothers' arms. As Ann Brown, chair of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, put it at a recent hearing on roller coaster safety, "Thrill rides are supposed to give people the illusion of danger - not actually put people at risk...
...modern thrill ride gotten too thrilling? Do the new super-speedy, loop-de-loopedy coasters simply exert more stress than the human body is designed to withstand? Maybe, says safety consultant Bill Avery. The question turns out to hinge not so much on velocity as it does on quick changes of direction. "Just because it's bigger and moves at a higher speed doesn't necessarily make it more dangerous," Avery says. "But what's happened is that a lot of the rides have gone to rapid, multi-directional changes on the track, and when you have rapid changes either...
Vacation in Bangladesh? you're kidding, right? The name is synonymous with every kind of disaster, from fatal floods and endemic disease to violent strikes, crushing poverty and?an extra recent thrill?rebels who kidnap foreigners for ransom. A local writer once said Bangladesh was a place where no one should ever have lived. He was only half joking. This is not a destination for relaxation, pampering or guided tours of picture-perfect settings. Leave that for Bali or the Bahamas. The country used to sell itself with the rather telling slogan: "Come to Bangladesh before the tourists." This...
...women who are very bad at boxing. True, both fighters came in undefeated: Ali had crushed 48-year-old grandmother Marjorie Jones; Frazier-Lyde had whupped a 19-year-old who turned tail when she saw Frazier charging. The fighters exchanged violent blows, but the night's big thrill came when Smokin' Joe arrived to give his defeated daughter a hug. Muhammad Ali had a previous commitment to attend something classier--a NASCAR event...