Shotgun

Um, I have a Ford Ranger with a camper shell... So I don't think I'll even bother to see how cool that is.

I know this has been brought up before, but I just now saw it so I'm bringing it up again: http://www.runjerryrun.com/index.html I know his show was goofy, but I think he's a very smart man (yeah, I'm gonna get flamed), and I'd like to see people like him having a say in what goes on in the government. A quote from Jerry's website: So yeah, flame me if you want... But those of you who live in Ohio and can actually vote for him if he decides to run - at least give him a chance and hear what he has to say. And those of you who agree with him but don't live in Ohio can at least sign a petition on his website to encourage him to run.

2.5 - 3K for regular jumps

Oh great! Good timing on my part, eh? Well congratulations on the new baby!

Sorry if I upset anyone with this, so I want to clarify that it is NOT real: http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/hoaxes/babyink.asp Oops

I'm pretty sure it's just a joke... I'm sure they would have been shut down by now if it wasn't... Edited to say: It's listed under the Urban Legends category on Yahoo as a "hoax site".

This site is too funny: http://www.babyink.com/index.html It's never too early to get your kids tattooed!

Pardon me for asking a stupid question (yes I'm too lazy to look at the Eloy website), but which 12 days are we talking about? ;-)

I just had to repeat this because I agree with it SO much :-) It would be a great idea to get some of the world's best swoopers to write some safety articles or give lectures about downsizing responsibly. We have some of the world's best swoopers at Perris, and I believe all of them downsized in a slow manner... so these are the folks who could have the most influence on those who want to fly small canopies. Being a chick at the DZ, there is nothing more of a turn-off than some arrogant jumper trying to jump the smallest canopy in the shortest amount of time. Intelligence is much more attractive. And, while the "out of control" jumpers make me concerned for my own saftey too, I do hate to see other people hurting themselves when it could be so easily avoided.

Just from my own experience I would say that the chances are higher than they should be. While USPA has fatality statistics, I don't believe they keep *injury* statistics (anyone, please correct me if I'm wrong) - since injury reports are not required to be reported to them from the individual DZ's. (Therefore I don't know any "numbers" to look at it.) I do think this would be better left up to the individual DZ's than to have a BSR (although I think BSR's are only recommendations anyway???). That way, those of us who choose can go to the DZ's that are known for higher safety standards, and those who want more "freedom" can go elsewhere... I do agree that the large majority of jumpers are in control of their canopies, but in my experience there are enough jumpers who are not in control (almost always those who are trying to downsize too fast), that it is a situation that needs to be addressed. Well unfortunately, since I was very nearly injured by an "out of control" jumper on a canopy too small for his skill, I do now find myself taking stock of who is on the plane with me and if there are any "questionable" jumpers on the load then I intentionally stay as far away from them as I can, sometimes landing far away from the main landing area and making the long walk back - I guess you could call it "defensive skydiving", which to a degree is certainly a good thing, but it shouldn't be necessary for me to have to be that concerned about who is being allowed to land in the main landing area. If we didn't have regulations requiring education then anyone could walk on to any DZ and jump out of a plane with absolutely NO experience. Some education needs to be required, and canopy skills have been a long overlooked aspect of required education. Well I can't say I agree with that... But I am in no way suggesting that DZ's become Nazi's about it... I just think it needs a little more attention than it has been getting.

Well that just shows what kind of sicko friends you have! Lucky you...

Hmmm.... now I'm wondering what sort of strange things you were searching for to even find this article.

This is an excellent point that a lot of people don't seem to know about... especially when it comes to larger guys recommending canopies for small girls. PD has some excellent educational articles that every skydiver should read. (one of those articles is where my signature line came from)

I very much agree that something needs to be done about the wingloading issue, either at the USPA level, the individual DZ level, or both. Right now it seems to be one of the most dangerous aspects of our sport... To me the main issue is not the particular jumper's safety (who chooses to jump a smaller canopy than they are ready for), but the safety of the other jumpers - and spectators - around them. It seems that a lot of these jumpers don't even realize that they are putting everyone else in danger. I myself have almost been hit in the landing area by someone who was out of control on a canopy that they never should have been on in the first place, and I know of at least one tragic canopy collision that was directly caused by an out-of-control jumper on too small of a canopy for his experience level. It has always been surprising to me that the DZ does not take action to stop this kind of behavior, especially here at Perris where they are so safety-conscious in most regards (and I am at fault for not having brought this up to the management, but I guess I should). There should definitely be some sort of system for determining who is capable of flying a canopy at a high wingloading and who is not. And here at Perris there is plenty of room for having another landing area (far away from the main landing area) for potential high-wingloaders to "prove themselves". I realize this is a very complicated issue and the more "rules" you make the more you may become liable... But I am very glad to see it is being discussed, and I would definitely support more regulation - not because I believe in forcing people to look out for their own safety, but because I believe that I and everyone else on the DZ should not have our safety compromised by jumpers on dangerously fast canopies beyond their skill level.

Well there's definitely a lot to be learned about human anatomy on dz.com! Ok, well maybe not about all the human parts... but if you need to know about boobies, then this is the place to be.

And one more interesting story from an American who went to a bullfight in Spain: http://www.gregssandbox.com/places/spain/bull.htm Ok, I'll get off my soapbox now too.... Next thing you know I'm gonna turn into a damn activist or something.

This is taken from an article on a Catholic website that is actually somewhat defending the morality of bullfights (because they are not intended to hurt humans) While the bullfight may have originated out of necessity and at one time did prove courage, it seems to me that it has now turned into an unnecessary spectacle and no longer demonstrates courage at all. (How macho is it to kill a bull that has already been weakened by others? A gang of men against one bull doesn't seem very courageous to me...)

Thanks for the input, Bruno... It's good to hear a perspective from someone of purely Spanish descent... Now I am trying to find samples of Manolo Escobar's music on the Internet, but I'm having a hard time since all the websites are in Spanish. I don't speak the language, but I love the music - now that's a part of Spanish culture that I can really respect... and maybe sometimes not being able to understand the words is a good thing ;-)

If you read all my posts from this thread, you will see that I am not being selective... I have already stated that I am being a hypocrite because I am a meat-eater (and worse than that, I'm letting someone else kill the animals for me). I never stated that a bull's life was worth more than a fish's life - they are equal to me. However, killing animals for food, whether it is right or wrong, is still different than torturing them - be it a bull or a fish - for entertainment. I do respect you for being a vegan. I have tried being a vegetarian in the past and it made me feel very unhealthy - this is most likely because I didn't have the proper nutritional education that one needs if they choose such a diet. If I decide to try it again, perhaps I should go visit a slaughterhouse for inspiration... It's definitely a tough question in my mind... Thanks for your input...

Yeah, but you might want someone else to...

Damn you Ivan!!!! Now I have that song stuck in my head! You are an evil man...

Apparently you know nothing about bullfighting, nothing wrong with that anyway. My understanding is that that's what they do for the "run of the bulls", but I don't know about traditional bullfights... Now since I haven't physically been there and watched them do this, I could certainly be wrong... (the media wouldn't lie to me, would they??? ) Have you actually been to the "run of the bulls" or a traditional bullfight? I would definitely be interested in hearing the perspective of someone who has been there... Or if you have a different perspective of what goes on anyway I'd like to hear it... I'm obviously no expert on this topic, but I thought it would make an interesting discussion.

I hope I won't either, but if I do it will be an accident. Doping up bulls, smearing vaseline in their eyes to blur their vision, and stabbing them reapeatedly until they die a slow death for the spectators' amusement is not an accident

Yes, I stated that to show that I am being a hypocrite... I would prefer to think that the animals I do eat are treated well and killed quickly, but realistically that may not be the case sometimes. This is an interesting topic on it's own... Is it right for us to eat meat? Do our bodies require meat? (I seem to know a lot of vegetarians who seem malnourished.) If we do require meat, is there some way the animals could be treated better? Something I think about a lot - but of course thinking is not really doing anything... so yeah, I'm a damn hypocrite. Yes I mentioned that before too... the only difference is that in bullfighting you are harming another innocent creature, but in skydiving you're only risking your own life (well, except for the few skydivers who have no regard for others' safety ;-) But I really wouldn't expect any whuffos to have sympathy for us when we get hurt either - after all, we are choosing to partake in a risky (and to them, senseless) activity...

I certainly don't watch the bullfights... and I in no way have to respect anyone's "tradition" if I think they are hurting some innocent creature (I'll bet the bulls don't care anything about Spanish Culture)... Slavery could be considered an American tradition - does that make it ok? Sometimes traditions need to evolve along with human intelligence... Of course, I'm making no claims to being perfect myself... just thought it was an interesting topic to bring up.