kimemerson

tomatoe, when refering to the singular, is wrong and therefore is not so much "yankee" (whatever the fuck that means) as it is ignorant (which is not limited to yankees). The 'e' should only be there if there's an 's' right behind it indicating the plural. One tomato/ two tomatoes; one potato/two potatoes. The former Vice President dan Quayle got into trouble over this very issue when he told a school kid to spell tomato with the 'e'. It made all the papers, he was outed as an idiot, and he and papa George went on to lose the election.

The Ranch in Gardiner, NY is hosting its first annual Film Festival slated for September 23 & 24, 2006. The mission of this festival is to showcase short films with plot & characters, films that tell a story. Any aspiring film makers should log on to the Ranch web site http://theblueskyranch.com/ and click on the Wanted box, or go to Events to request the guidelines and entry form.

No.

I think someone might be exaggerating a bit. See attachment. I think your attachment shows only the sales of parachutes. DeLand's "skydiving Industry" consists of more than just the canopies. There are three container manufacturers in DeLand for starters. And I don't know if the $40-%50 mil includes hotels, motels and restaurants that all directly benefit from the industry. What makes up DeLand's "skydiving industry" is very broad and inclusive. Still, your example shows $80 mil combined military & civilian sales. That's not too shabby and far from an exaggeration. Is that DeLand's sales alone? Whose sales are we talking about?

the term in its sexual meaning has been around since well before any of the NB founders were born. And knowing them, I have to believe the double meaning never once escaped them.

only if you imagine that she's not thinking of someone else too.

At the Ranch we had Lou Marra do it five or six years ago. A few years ago - 2001? 2002? Tim Bernard did it in the pond swoop nationals. He even donated his name to a rule - as in what is no longer allowed.

I was reminded of that too, but you dated yourself by mentioning it. Not a lot of present day skydivers know what you're talking about.

Was getting a blow job and she sucked so hard she made my dick blue. Wasn't funny at first - I'd never had a blue dick before. Called the doc. Doc said come on in. Doc took a look. Did some painful tests. Asked, "have you enganged in a sexual activity recenty?" "Yeah, just before the phone call." Doc said something about broken blood vessels or some such thing. I asked him if that's the same as a hickie. "Yes, sir, sure is." That's when I laughed. I got a real blue dick hickie.

I don't really know who was the very first. I remember Patrick coming to DeLand with his boards and wowing us. Lukas and I built ours based on his designs and then we built Bob's. A few of us tried back then with varying degrees of success. So as to "first" it was really a matter of who got in the air earlier that week. Lukas, Howie, myself, maybe Marty Cooper (now dead. And I'm not certain about him trying it. He was game, I know, but I can''t swear he did the board.)Bob was probably the only one to take it up seriously for a while. I think he even did a commercial or was on a poster or some publicity thing on the plywood board Lukas and I built and I painted. To my knowledge no one else was doing it in the US yet and Jerry wasn't even jumping yet. As for how Jerry got that reputation I can only speculat that, as you stated above, it's because he made it available to the masses for the first time and designed and perfected the instructional program he became known for. Wasn't Jerry from a western state? I can't remember, but I think so. Patrick would stop in DeLand first and then if the weather was shitty he's head to California so his influence migrated.

Wrong on this one. I do know that at least Bob Hallett, and Howie Daugherty (Ok, he's Canadian but he was jumping with American teams in DeLand) and even I - among others - were doing it before Jerry made his first skydive. I met Jerry when he first started out with the skysurfing and we talked about this.He was early, but not first. What Jerry was first at was designing the beginner, intermediate and advanced boards, as well as a course of instruction. Prior to his efforts it was pretty much watching and winging, which is how I started. Lukas and I used Patrick's bindings design but Patrick never said anything about using small boards or foot placement. All he said in the way of sage advice was, "Don't kill yourself." and he laughed that French laugh of his. Lukas and I laughed too but not quite as robust a laugh as Patrick's.

I have the distinction of being the first and second in NY back in about '90 or so, before Jerry Loftis and any form of instruction. Lukas Knuttson and I built our boards in DeLand after DeGayardon helped us with design based on his boards. On my last jump I pulled while in a stand up - because that's how it was done even for beginners - which caused me to flip onto my back and I too tossed the PC between my legs. Lines wrapped around my right knee twice and I then had a fully open main but I was upside down, main at my feet. Line twists and spinning like a top on meth. I was able to unwrap the lines and get repositioned, but still had outrageous line twists down to and including the risers. Had to chop it but as I was still at about seven grand I let it spin and rode it down a bit before completeing the chop. I was jumping a Phantom 22' reserve at the time. The cutaway and subsequent pull was so hard it tore a mud flap off and broke a reserve line so I was turning again. Landed in some sapplings on the rail trail beyond the town of Gardiner, NY. Where else can you get that much fun for $15.00?

Lot of good advice here. I didn't read them all so forgive me if this is a repeat. One thing that will help is losing the fear of downwind or crosswind landings, or insisting on upwind landings. This depends on conditions and location, of course. But it helps to not buy into the teaching that we "should only" land into the wind. T'aint true. So, depending on skill, experience and talent (and balls, I suppose), wind direction is lower on the list of concerns with landing out.

yes.

If he says it's sunny out, bring the umbrella.

"With" could imply an on again, off again, love/hate relationship. Or one that grows despite the differences. Even allowing for a fondness for the differences and so with the struggle."Against" seems to define a permanent, unrelenting, omni- and ever present foe. One to calculate and manipulate against. Either way there's the underlying sense that it's all always competitive and either/or as opposd to cooperative and inclusive. Even when we have struggles to face, they can be seen as beneficial rather than adversarial. Your struggle 'with' reality is the more cooperative form. You must be half expecting to strike up a deal occasionaly. You probably expect reality to be around no matter what you do to it. An implication in 'against' is that it could suggest a winable solution for only one side of the competition. You or reality. Survivors that we are, we'll die trying to beat reality down, I suppose. So what do you think it reveals about its meaning to you?

I lost Dave! Anyone have an email address for him? His web site is "page not found", too. Thanks

The Ranch in Gardiner, NY is hosting its first annual Film Festival slated for September 23 & 24, 2006. The mission of this festival is to showcase short films with plot & characters, films that tell a story. Any aspiring film makers should log on to the Ranch web site http://theblueskyranch.com/ and click on the Wanted box, or go to Events for a PDF of the guidelines and entry form

be nice geez! no. why?

The prez we have right now can go and I'd support it.He's just cocky enough and stupid enough to believe he could pull off a low hook turn and I for one wouldn't stop him. Hell, I'd instruct. 360's, 720's, 1440's from 200'. Go for it W. Bring it down, George, I'd suggest. Hook it! I'd encourage.

I jumped from a hang glider once. Does that count?

Back when I had about 700 jumps an acquaintence pulled me aside at a mutual friend's house and said, "We're your friends. We love you. We want you to stop this suicide trip you're on..." I reminded him he wasn't really a friend, he didn't actually love me, and that seven hundred goddamn suicide failures is a tad much. In fact, I'm still a failure at it.

because we were smart and educated before we started jumping and,amazingly if not mysteriously, skydiving did nothing to make us any less so.

Or 6/6/66. Is "approxomite" good enough? Whose death?