The fair

[rhialto]

I went into town today to have a look at the fair. I always like the simple, low-tech attractions the best. So I spent some time watching people play at "The Pushing Palace". The game there is that you throw coins into a machine. They fall on a moving platform, and some other coins fall off to a lower level. (Unless you are unlucky of course, then they fall into some empty space.) On the lower level this also causes the pile of coins to shift. Often, the new coins are pushed on top of others, but usually they move a bit towards the edge of the plateau. And what falls off, you win. Not only are there the coins as you throw them in, but also extra, plastic fiches that represent prizes. On the whole, this seems to be a fair game, since there is more or less a maximum capacity of coins that can be stored in the machine, so once you reach that point, you get as many coins out of it as you put in. Of course, since the coins usually fall down in piles, it is only fair in the long run, not necessarily in the short run. The trick is, of course, when the prizes are put in the machine, it is not completely full with coins, so you need to invest some coins (but then it should be possible to get all the prizes out) On the other hand, I also saw a variation of the machine where it seemd that coins could also fall off the side of the platform, where you would not win them.

Another interesting attraction I saw was for kids who want to be Lara Croft! It's based on those reverse-bungee jumps they currently have: kids were trampoline jumping while they were strapped in a little harness that was connected to the two elastics. A lot like Lara Croft just before she was defending her house from those attackers and doing the ballet in the air :-)