gjhdiver

This is what I sent to him. Henry, I just wanted to say thank you for the article you wrote about Shannon Dean's death from BASE jumping. I was Shannon's jump instructor who initially taught her to skydive, and watched her go from a nervous student, to a very accomplished athlete. As a bonus, she also became a good friend of mine, and we chatted most daily in one way or another. In my 20 years as a skydiver and instructor, I've seen accidents that while always devastating, have only been made worse for those left behind by sensational reporting in the local and national media. That you spent the time to learn what happened and why, and presented it in a considered way, whilst also letting those who never got to meet her learn a little of why she was so loved, is a testament to your skills as a journalist, but more inportantly, your respect for the humanity of the subject and the feelings of those she left behind. The skydiving community is small internationally, and more so locally. Shannon's death is being felt all over the world, but it's particularly hard for us here in the Bay Area who called her a friend. Thank you for reporting her death with compassion and professionalism. I shall expect my form letter accordingly. Really though, if we bag on them for getting it wrong, they deserve to know when they get it right.

A trick the Americans have yet to perfect in the 15 years I've been living here. Might as well ask them for an elephant's ear on a bun as for a hot cup of tea.

You're going to die of something one day. No real point in worrying about it too much. Just try to minimize the chances of the event being unpleasant.

Rather well done I thought. However, as you can see, be careful of what you post here, especially after incedents, as the media are making these forums a first port of call. http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/05/31/BAG3UJ4MK51.DTL

Here's my guys, with one more on the way to refurbishment. That;'s the one with no strings and frets on.

Indeed it is. I was Shannon's AFF instructor. I watched her go from student to great skydiver, to friend. If you know me, I'm a prickly fucker. I don't let many people close to me. Shannon didn't have that problem. We were both like that and shared a connection. We talked via Yahoo chat most every day. I burned her my classic punk singles, she ragged me about my European tastes in wine. Only last week, we were laughing at Tourettes guy together. Now she's gone. Now listen to me people. I've been watching friends die in this sport for 20 years now. It's the currency of what we do when we walk to the edge. Some of us fall off. When they do, remember them for their lives, not their deaths ! Shannon touched a lot people. and when someone does that to you, you are forever changed. Embrace that change that she brought about in you, and hold it dear. It is both her gift to you, and her legacy to us all. I'll treasure the time I spent with her, and like the other friends I've lost, I'll refuse to forget her until age and infirmity rules otherwise. As long as I can remember her, she'll still have a small place in this world.

This would be me. I end up getting more extensions that Yanni to space them out. When the DMV threaten to take my license away, I use my UK one until they drop off the CA one. I can use the UK for up to a year after each entry into the US. I have been better of late though.

I'll have a pint of whatever you're drinking.

No, it's definately a picture of a Republican.

That mentioning that DZ.com has found a way to suck donkey balls even more can be tolerated during this time.

I've got about 7000 jumps on Stilettos and a few on the Vengence. Without going into huge amounts of details, I'd say that the Stiletto is livelier in the air, and the Vengence less susceptible to washout on landings, meaning that you'll have a longer flare. They are both good canopies, but you may find the pack volume the same or slightly larger than a 190 Stiletto. If you have the experience, you might want to just stay with the Stiletto when you downsize. I just did that myself by going down a size. It took about 50 jumps to dial it in just like the last one.

Always. Before I gear up for routing and freedom of operation. Then again after I don the gear to make sure I can reach it all OK. Then again after I sit in the plane to make sure that they haven't been dislodged. Once more after I attach and prepare the passenger. One moe drogue release check on both sides as I walk to the door. One after exit and drogue deployment. Once again in freefall, main release, secondary release, cutaway, reserve and RSL ball. I basically check that handles at each stage of the jump that presents an opportunity for them to move. I've know two people who have died doing tandems becuase of totals or out of sequence deployments. It's avoidable, and it's not like you have much else to do really.

I'd like to to meet the guy that named it FASHION BUG and stick a broom up his ASS !

Walk a mile in his SHIT ! Forgive me if this has been posted before, but it's fucking hilarious. http://www.tourettesguy.com

I believe it's an orthpaedic supply warehouse.

Is she jumping into the wedding ?

I don't trust 'em. I had a misfire on a perfectly good in service AAD that had just come back from it's four year. They could never tell me why it happened. It's a machine, built and programmed by people. You're better off relying on good procedures and sensible judgement about the situations that you jump in. Mind you, the argument is moot, as it's only us old farts who feel comfortable jumping without them these days.

Know AND love? Who's the Gareth we know AND love? That would be me, you unwashed moose fucker.

Well, I got something for free didn't I ? That always cheers me up. Mind you, I managed to break my foot today at home so I'm in agony, and therefore more like my usual cheerful self.

Why thank you. Dolby wasn't bad either.

So I'm sitting here at home on a wet Saturday with nothing to do and nowhere to go. It's 6:00 p.m. and I'm at that juncture of the day when I'm considering doing some damage to my liver, when the phone rings. I almost didn't answer it, as I was settled in, but curiousity got the better of me. Before I used to skydive, I was a professional musician, and I still have a lot friends working in that business. Turns out this was one of them. My old friend Carli, who right now is Thomas Dolby's tour manager, and would I like to come to his show tonight in San Francisco ? So, an hour later, we're in San Francisco at the Independent, which is a pretty cool venue, and sure enough, I'm on Thomas's guest list plus one. We get the VIP treatment, and whisked off to the stage side for the best views, and get to hang out with Carli. Thomas takes the stage alone, and using a Mac running Logic and some neat loop technology, essentially builds songs from the ground up for us. He has a head cam on that follows his eyes and this gets projected up onto a huge screen behind him so you can see him working banks of keyboards and sequencers. It's all really good stuff. Watching him build "Hyper-Active" from the ground up was great, as it's one of my favorite songs of his, and I'd actually brought my old 7 inch single of it to the gig. Afterwards, we got to go back to his dressing room and hang out with him. He signed my single, and we chatted about the UK, how he's living about 30 miles from me now and all the cool stuff that he's done since he's been in the US. He's a very nice and genuine guy. PIty he doesn't need a bass player. Then it was out into the pouring rain at 2:00 a.m. to go home. If you get a chance, go check him out. It's his first tour in 15 years, and it's well worth a visit. If you go, say hi to Carli, She runs his merchandizing stand at the gigs. Say Gareth said hi. The dates can be found at http://www.thomasdolby.com

Nope. I like to retain the original Rick pickups. They contribute to that defintive sound too much to mess with. The bridge pickup on the 4001 is notoriusly low output, but that is mainly because of a capacitor on that pickup's tone pot. If you jump that capacitor, problem solved. Also, being able to knock out 500 watts RMS of bass with the trace Elliot makes up for any output deficeiency. The neighbors love me.

If I'm not mistaken, that sound on the original My Generation is a Vox bass with nylon wound strings. He broke the strings doing a take, and as he couldn't get replacements, had to go up Shaftsbury Avenue in London and buy another Vox bass for 80 pounds to finish off with. I think that the amplification on that track is a HiWatt 50 bass head, both close and room miked through JBL 4X12, though I might be mistaken on that one.

For those who asked me to post my 4001 when the restoration was complete, here you go. It's an amazing job bringing the old girl back from the brink, but here it is in all it's newly restored glory. Fireglo, checkerboard binding, custom toaster and horseshoe pickups. This is a very sexy bass, even if I do say so myseif. Those of you who are interested can see the whole restoration process at; http://www.rickenbacker.com/forum_view_thread.asp?thread_id=1755&forum=RIC_Restoration%2C_from_Part_to_Finish&thread_name=%2779%204001%20RESURRECTION

Look on the bright side. You'll be able to get it cheaper now.