EricTheRed 0 #1 September 20, 2006 thought this was from http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A157187 This enigmatic 'sport' roughly consists of playing 'chicken' with the Earth from high altitudes, wearing nothing more than a fabric safety mechanism housed in a bag anchored around your crotch. This can be attested posthumously by those skydivers who have left their mark in, on, and/or scattered in pieces about this world: the Earth has yet to flinch. Probably started by accident or on a drunken bet, some think that after a long, dusty, laborious, and largely cable-free evolution, skydiving is proof-positive that our evolution has not only stopped, it has in fact started to devolve. And when you consider that many people who practice this sport tend to have monosyllabic names that rhyme with various grunting noises, this claim is not without its merits. Non-skydivers will never really understand the passion skydivers have for their sport, but let me give you an idea: put quite simply it's as exciting as waking up and realizing you've been sleeping at the wheel of your car, you're going a hundred-and-twenty miles per hour and a very large truck is coming directly towards you. Only, your car happens to have a parachute that slows you down to about ten miles an hour but does nothing to the truck. Be sure to bend your knees!illegible usually Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Icon134 0 #2 September 20, 2006 that is funny... Livin' on the Edge... sleeping with my rigger's wife... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
beowulf 1 #3 September 20, 2006 That has to be the most interesting description of skydiving that I have ever read. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pchapman 279 #4 September 20, 2006 It's an OK bit of humour poking fun at skydiving from an outsider's perspective. I'm just sorry it is still based on misconceptions -- they still seem to be thinking of '60s belly mount reserves and early round canopy landings. There should at least be an element of truth behind what's being joked about. The H2G2 site seems to mix humour and seriousness; it all depends on what individual contributors choose to write. What bugs me is when serious publications get it all wrong. Consider the entry in the 1600 page Webster's New World dictionary of 1988 that I happen to have kicking around: "Skydiving: The sport of jumping from an airplane and executing free-fall maneuvers before opening the parachute, often at the last possible moment". Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freeflyit 0 #5 September 20, 2006 I second that. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EricTheRed 0 #6 September 20, 2006 It's from the terrestial copy of Hitchers guide to the galaxy. It's british (mostly) and as the guide says Quote DON'T PANIC Try the entry on tequila... QuoteFirst of all: Drink straight from the bottle (The smallest, darker, and squared shaped is always the best), mixing it in coktails is a standar procedure to hide bad quality Tequila and can produce hangovers the size of a compact car, shots of Tequila are often drink with lemon and salt, this produces the effect of having a whip slashing one's throat but you'll get used, and eventually start liking it. Second: The local habitants will make you feel welcome, take that for sure, just don't get over excited, after you have had one drink which everyone of them (and they'll ask you to, I promise) you'll notice that gravity starts to behave funny, then you must a) make sure that you know where you are b) make sure you know who you are with c) make sure you have your pants on. If everything's still where it should be singing local songs and dancing with local women is a natural and fun thing to do (don't worry if you don't know how to sing or how to dance, most probably everyone in the place will be too drunk to notice). Third: If you happen to wake up in your room, just go find some indoor mexican food bussines and ask for "algo para la cruda" (something for the hangover) which normally delivers a chilly based food enginnered to make your hangover go into second plane. If you happen to wake up somewhere else just make sure you have your wallet, watch and keys, if you don't have them just forget about it, it's virtually impossible to get them back, even traveling back on time, I know people who did it and ended up getting drunk again and losing the wallet for a second time. If you happen to have them, just do as in the the first case.illegible usually Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Orange1 0 #7 September 21, 2006 Quote Consider the entry in the 1600 page Webster's New World dictionary of 1988 that I happen to have kicking around: "Skydiving: The sport of jumping from an airplane and executing free-fall maneuvers before opening the parachute, often at the last possible moment". From some of the stuff that I've read here, that seems to be an accurate description of skydiving in the 80s Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
