Thursday, June 16, 2005

Zen and the Art of Bowler Roller

Summertime is festival time in Wilmington. The king of the festivals is St. Anthony's Italian festival. It raises the most money, covers the most blocks, and has the most people. Most importantly its got Bowler Roller.

The object of Bowler Roller is to roll a bowling ball with just enough force for it to go over one hump but when it encounters the next rise and rolls back it must lack the energy to roll back over. The ball needs to stay in the valley for you to win. I could write the equations for you. Let me work on it and I promise to get back to you.

With enough quarters or tokens you can really get in the zone. The game becomes quite meditative. Rolling ball after ball allows you to achieve an almost Zen-like state. However, you do win a prize when you get it right, but Buddha says that desire is the cause of all suffering, and I wanted to win the prize, so the game can't be all that Zen.

Go find a Bowler Roller for yourself, it is a ton of fun. The picture is my first win.

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