CanuckInUSA

There is something called "Globalization" going on in the world right now where people from many different countries and many different cultures are moving to other countries to set up shop and live (possibly permanently). To some, there are no issues and to them globalization works and is a good thing. To others there are major issues and hatred towards either the new comers or the new comers hate their hosts because their hosts either don't open embrace the new comers religion and/or culture and the new comers seem to think that what went on in their countries of origin need to occur in their new countries. Racism is alive and well in the world today and it exists in all cultures and thrives in the religious communities. Until humans either learn to live together and/or stop globalization the racism and hate will continue to thrive. Historically I like to tell myself that I am not a racist person. But one never really knows about themselves until they are forced to live in an environment where many cultures co-exist. I still like to think that I'm not a racist, but I'm learning what it's like to live in a city where all of a sudden I am a minority when I've always been used to living in the majority. News at eleven ... Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Personally I believe the situation in the Middle East is out of control with no sign that it will get any better any time soon. Was Israel right to attack? Well they've got every right to defend themselves from Hamas and Hezbollah. But they seem to be going overboard. Since when was the destruction of Beruit (and other Lebanese towns and cities) going to stop Hamas from attacking Israel? Didn't Israel learn anything from Iraq. Their military action is only going to create more terrorists. Then on the other side of the coin, Hamas and Hezbollah have asked for everything they are getting, it's just unfortunate that innocent Lebanese are dying along with these terrorists. And why? Because of religion? Religion is one of the most fucked up things in the world today. When will Muslims, Jews and Christians stop killing each other? Answer ... only when they've succeeded in killing off the entire world's population humans and the animal kingdom. Soon the only thing left on this planet will be the insects. Man's obsession with religion will be our downfall. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Was this the PST Swoop Comp at the Hamptons you're referring to? If yes, it was cancelled and moved to Colorado a while back. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

It's not how much you make that counts, it's how much you spend versus how much you take home after taxes. Being involved in an expensive sport such as skydiving doesn't help that's for sure. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Psst ... don't tell anybody that I'm old and a POPS member. So far I'm managed to trick some peeps. Hey I'll be in Colorado for the Swoop Fest next weekend.

Four years ago today, I made my first (yes beer) skydive and my life has never been the same since. Skydiving has both been a blessing and a curse to my life. Anyway I'm hoping to celebrate my sky-birthday today by getting some jumps in after work. But the weather here in Vancouver BC is less than ideal with rain and clouds dominating the skies (surprise surprise it's always ####### raining in this town). But the forecast is saying that the skies might clear a little later in the day. So time will tell ... Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I would love to be there (of course the PST is going to want better canopy pilots than me being there), but when the cheapest flights I can find is $1500, I'm not so sure I can afford to be there. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

He's my status: - 2nd year CPC member (as well as 2nd year swoop competitor). - Currently holding an "advanced" competitor status allowing me to compete in PST and CPC events this season. - No sponsor (if you don't count myself as the sponsor) Last season in CO, there were 4 CPC guys who had a sponsor. But it wasn't like a sponsorship that would send them to events or buy them jumps. Their sponsor just gave them some clothing and access to a cheaper canopy (with the company's logo on it). Of course Spizzarko can tell you much more about what he got and didn't get as he was/is one of those sponsored jumpers. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

What's PETA? I'm a member of PETA!!! People Eating Tasty Animals. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Close. Last year one of my log books was left in a bag placed adjacent to the entrance of my garage at the time and it was snowing. Because it was snowing, water leaked into the garage and into my bag where it proceeded to ruin the log book. Most of the pages are now fused together and the book is essentially useless. But I just kept logging into a new book (that old log book was nearly finished anyway). This reminds me ... I still have 10 jumps from last weekend which have yet to be logged. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

The easiest solution to this issue is to do either hop n' pops and/or high pulls when learning to swoop so as to reduce the potential traffic hazards to a minimum. Of course traffic can still occur if there is more than one person doing the hop n' pop and/or high pull. But it's still better than trying to learn to swoop after a full Otter load on a normal load. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I think we've all done things that we regret and sports are a competitive realm where emotions run high and decisions need to be made quickly, and sometimes the wrong decisions are made. Years ago I cost myself a slot on a "AA" hockey team because I gooned some guy in a pre-season game. So I understand how emotions run in sports. Zizou, this Nowitzki guy you speak of, Todd Bertuzzi and others ... are just samples of talented athletes making bone headed decisions. Finally, don't get me wrong here. I'm not calling for Zidane's head. What he did was dumb, but not the end of the world. But he will be remembered for it. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

He may have been a brilliant soccer player, but he sure is no sportsman. He proved to us this last Sunday what kind of lousy sportsman that he is. Shit it's not like his team was even losing when he lost it. Plus to try and lay blame on the Italian guy is a joke. He fucked up and will forever be remembered for it. No excuses ... Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I think you've got that backwards. Sure the hardcore French fans will remember his career, but for most of us mortals, Zidane will forever be remembered now for his head butt. No excuses ... he fucked up. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I'm using my Velo for the Zone Accuracy rounds since it's much easier to shut down. But I was (cough) forced into taking the JVX terminal on most of the other rounds last weekend since I was first out on my pass and took it down a little before pulling so as to not have a conflict with the guys coming in after me. I still like my JVX and am slowly getting used to the terminal openings (which sometimes are spicey and sometimes not). But I really need to work on my consistency this season as for one reason or another I'm just stinking up the joint on some of my runs. The season is not over yet and there's still time left to salvage some of my pride. But it's taken a beating this year as my consistency in hitting those 5 footers just hasn't been there (I'm either verting or setting up too far back) and because of this, I'm often finishing well down in the standings. Either that or I just suck ... PS: I would like to add though that I had a good time last week swooping in Kapowsin and meeting/partying with many of the Kapowsin peeps. Plus Luke and Andy did pass along some useful info when they saw us doing something up there in the skies which can be improved upon. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

When I see two soccer players kicking at the ball missing it instead going shin on shin, then yes I can totally understand how a soccer player can get hurt (I've even played the game in the past and understand that injuries can occur). But when I see a guy going down rolling around like he his mortally wounded after barely being touched (or not touched at all). I know it is an act and it's part of a game I do not like. If I can block a slap shot in hockey (sometimes hitting unprotected parts of my body) with a hard rubber puck and stay on the ice until I can safely get to the bench so as not to put my team in a bad position to getting scored on, then a soccer player should be able to handle having their foot stepped on without acting like he's going to die (then of course he's back on his feet running full speed minutes later). The pure game of soccer is a great game to watch. But I didn't see a pure game yesterday. Instead I saw a game where nobody really wanted to try and score in OT (with the exception of that one header by Zidane) and it was clear that both teams were playing for the penalty kicks to decide it all. It was entertaining (the most important thing) and full of drama. So in that respect it was worth watching. But soccer really needs to clean it's self up when it comes to all these dives. But then again, haven't people been saying this for years? Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I think you've got your priorities all wrong as Zidane's head butt was far worse than any dive. Did this "Malouda" character dive in the 1st half? Yes looking at the replay I think it's clear that he did dive. But you know what? I saw French and Italian players diving left right and center all game long. It's as if nobody could stay on their feet. Plus I saw an Italian defender clearly take down a French player in the penalty area in the 2nd half with no call whatsoever. So there was no consistency at all from the zebras in this game. Sometimes they would make the right call and some times they would totally miss a call (and miss it on purpose because God forbid they call two penalty kicks in one game). In fact while I know many of you like to criticize hockey (probably because some of you have never played the game and know nothing about it), but I think soccer players need to learn a thing or two about being tough from hockey players. To see a soccer player go down rolling around on the ground as if they are mortally wounded after not even being touched by the opposition kind of puts things into perspective as to where the sport of soccer is. The pure game of soccer is a beautiful thing, but all this diving and acting like your mortally wounded when someone steps on your foot is a joke. You'll never see a hockey player rolling around acting like they are mortally wounded (only to be up and at it going full speed minutes later). Oh and I started off chearing for France yesterday (I didn't really care who won or lost) but changed who I was cheering for after Zidane's bone headed head butt. What a classless act from someone who's supposed to be one of the best players in the world. After that incident it was clear who deserved to win and it wasn't the French that's for sure. Congrats to Italy for their win. Soccer can be a great game to watch. But there is still some serious issues with diving and acting like they're mortally wounded when someone brushes up against them. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

That's not true. The Nazi's discriminated against many different ethnic groups who weren't of true blue German decent. It may have been a different war had there not been so many Jews in Europe at the time, but Nazi Germany was still hell bent on creating their utopian racially superior society. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

BSBD ... and condolences to those who loves and cared about him. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I'm jealous ... Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Continued ... PS: The Ice Climbing pic was from the same climbing trip, but it wasn't part of our epic (let's get temporarily lost in a white-out) storm experience. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Mountaineering can be an awesome activity. I would love to visit Nepal and see Everest with my own eyes and as I said in an earlier post, climbing one of the region's semi-technical peaks taking in the Himilaya's scenery. I wish I had more pics (I've either not done enough hardcore climbing and/or the few times I did do something very adventurous, hauling up a camera and taking pics wasn't high on the list of things to do). But here's a few pics from kind of an epic multi-day trip I did a few years back in Colorado (we summited during a white-out storm which was spicey to say the least). Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

The name of the video is "Alpine Ice: Jeff Lowe's Climbing Techniques" and it appears that there is a book that covers the same content and more about this book can be found here. But don't forget that if you want a book about Mountaineering, you need to get yourself a copy of Freedom of the Hills as this text is considered the climbers bible by many. Oh and while I'm passing some info on to you, check out this Everest related URL. Oh want to go climb Cho Oyu? It's the 6th tallest peak in the world and considered one of the easier 8000 meter peaks. But it can be a killer (as any mountain is), so it's still not a trivial climb. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

The CMC does still have their High Altitude mountaineering seminars. More can be read about them here. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I would love to do a Treking trip to Nepal and visit base camp (and climb some semi-technical peaks in the area such as Island Peak). So I would love to see Everest with my naked eyes, but I have no strong desire to climb it. I figure if the Khumbu Ice Fields don't get me, the death zone would. But that's just me ... When I get home tonight (I'm at work right now) I can pass along a title of a very good mountaineering training video. But of course no video can ever be a proper substitute for real world experience and real world training. I'm not sure if they still have them, but back in 1999/2000, I attended a series of "High Altitude" mountaineering seminars in Golden Colorado conducted by the Colorado Mountain Club. But I was living in CO at the time, so it wasn't hard to attend these once a week, three hours a night for two months "High Altitude" mountaineering seminars. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over