tbrown

Nope. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Easiest way to tell a PC from a Pap is that the Pap had slots in the front just at the top of the first panels of the front gores. Plus some radial slots near the top/hi pressure area of the canopy. This baby looks like a Mark II Paracommander, because it has no blow hole at the rear center of the canopy. The Mark II wasn't made for very long. The "Competition" model had an even larger blow hole. The RW model was pretty much back to the Mark I design, only it was built with the same 1.5 oz. ripstop used at the time for squares like the Strato Star, Strato Cloud, or Pioneer's original Viking canopy. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I prefer to believe that the gunman simply missed. He was aiming for Yoko and the stupid bastard was a lousy shot Don't we all wish he'd hit her, not him! You guys have obviously never known anyone who's been murdered. Murder isn't like a car crash, or AIDS, or cancer, or even bouncing on a skydive. It's having your life stolen by somebody who hates you. I can't imagine what seeing her husband murdered right before her eyes must have been like for Yoko, even if she is a monumental bitch (which I think she is, by the way). I used to be a lot more into Lennon than I am now. Maybe I'm just older, but I see the egotistical side of him a lot more, he actually believed he was so important. Yeah, he did a lot to change Western music and culture, but most of his anti-war stuff was self aggrandizing nonsense, like that fucking "bed in" he and Yoko did. He was like a kid who never grew up in a lot of ways, like a lot of us are. The guy who killed him should NEVER get out of prison though. Fuck him, he killed one of the Beatles. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Fantastic choice ! Lost In Translation is a good one too, if you don't mind the "slower pace" (no car chases). Because it's Xmas time again, "It's a Wonderful Life", or the George C. Scott version of "Christmas Carol" are good, and surprise of my life, "Elf" really is funny (I thought it would be dorky, but it's not). Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Nope, it's because if the plane actually starts flying loads, it will only be used once or twice a month at Perris. It isn't an aircraft that will ever be used during weekdays. It is strictly for novelty and for that reason, it will spend most of the year on the boogie circuit. SF'n What ? Do they need a permit from you to park a jet at their airport ? Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Your post is plagiarized. Just like the Koran... Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Try having one of your kids jump it off the roof ! Teach the kid to flare for all he/she's worth and maybe they can even swoop it across the yard. Their little pals will be SOOOO jealous ! You'll need to have the little brats sign waivers though. Send vids of the kids to skydivingmovies.com Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

You think that's bad? I was once on a load where a jumper jumped in with an unclosed container and proceeded to try to close the container as we climbed. And we _did_ have a problem on that load. He had fortunately just finished packing when the problem arose. Back in the seventies we made the trip down to Z-Hills for the Easter Boogie and were dumbfounded by local skygod behavior. The coolest of the cool would get on the plane with their jumpsuits slung over one arm and their rig hanging off one shoulder. Then they'd stand in the door smoking cigs during takeoff (very important to flick the butt out the door onto the runway as the plane lifts off). That era finally ended after one local fool finally figured out how to put his jumpsuit on OVER all his handles. Still not sure how he did that, but he did. No AAD's in those days either, so you do the math.... (correct answer is "minus one dumbass skydiver"). After that they imposed a dress code before boarding. Nowadays at Perris and Elsinore, the loading staff at both places do their best to give everyone a quick eyeball before they board. They can't catch everything, but it's nice to know they care enough to try. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Let's not forget that it's only been a few days now since some guy blew himself up at the entrance to a mall in Israel. The cops had spotted him too and were moving in on him when he detonated the thing and killed a lot of people. The cops were within their rights to shoot him too, but under the circumstances (so many shoppers surrounding them) they chose not to because they didn't want to shoot a bystander. The cops in Israel are pretty torn up now about NOT having shot the guy, and you can bet a buck or two that these guys had the Israeli bombing on their minds. Too bad the guy was nutty, good thing there was no bomb, too bad he's dead, but the Marshals made the right call & Merry Xmas to all... Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Good point. And I'd also like to add that it's not something that just happens once and is final. To forgive is to forgive every day; at times of weakness, you are at risk of retracting it, much like love. It takes a lot of strength to consistently forgive. And even more strength to consistently forgive such an personal atrocity. EDIT: Stray indefinite article cleanup. NPR talked to woman in Louisiana whose son had been murdered about this this very thing. It was the woman who brought this up. The killer had since died in the electric chair for the crime and the woman had decided to forgive him the night he he fried. She never told him before the execution and wasn't so sure he needed to know. But she needed to forgive him for her own sake, because she couldn't move on with life any other way. Just executing the guy wouldn't do it for her. I remember her saying that forgiving the guy didn't mean she would ever want to sit down over dinner with him, he was a dangerous man and she wouldn't have wanted to even meet him. But it's something she works at continuously for her own sake, because hating the guy only hurts her now. The UK has no death penalty either. In fact most Euro countries don't even have life sentences, the max is about 20 - 30 years, even for murder. The thinking over there is that all it takes to chill these people out, even the ones who kill. I won't comment either way, other than that it will be interesting to see in another 30 years whether there's a difference between their way and ours. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Why?!!! They keep rats under control. If it's a big snake, you can bet it's been eating plenty of big rats. Do you like rats ? I'll take the snake any day. A quick way to tell if a snake is poisonous is to look at the shape of the head. Except for the Coaral snake in the southeast, all venomous American snakes are vipers and they have a "heart" shaped head. If the head resembles a valentine, don't mess with it. If the head is continous with the body it's not poisonous (except for Coral snakes). Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

'Das right...uh - huh ! Anna Nicole constantly restores my faith in human nature. And how come pulling her hair isn't on the poll ? Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Who ?? Oh that guy.... doesn't he live somewhere in Pakistan, under the protection of our allies ? You know, the ones who are selling plans for building a nuke to the ragheads in Iran. If he eve is caught or killed, rest assured it will be an accident. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Okay, sure, the Christians "hijacked" Christmas - and gave it the name. Possession, as they say, is 9/10's of the law. It used to be Yuletide in the northern "barbarian" realms, and the Romans called the Lupercania. Christians moved Christ's birth from March to Lupercania so they could obsaerve it without serving dinner to the lions at the local stadium. But Christmas kept the pagan features too. It kept dragging a tree into your house, it kept the gifts and the parties. And by now, Christmas - or Xmas, if you prefer - can be as religious or as secular, or as much of a blend of either, as you want it to be. Plenty of Christians have been hacked off for centuries about Christmas being too secular, or too rowdy. The fucking Puritans even outlawed the celebration of Christmas during the joyous years of the Oliver Cromwell dictatorship. What gripes my ass is the whiners who want thhe tree, want Santa, want the presents and the candy canes, and then bellyache about being "oppressed", as if they're being shipeed off to fucking Auschwitz because Christmas is such a Christian holiday. All I can say to them is to knock the chip off their shoulder and knock back a few stiff drinks if that's what it takes to get in the spirit. Enjoy Christmas, it's free and we'll share it with anyone who wants it. If that's not good enough, then start your own fucking holiday and call it Grinchmas or Holly Jolly Fuck Me Day and make your own traditions. But DON'T go around demanding that we feel ashamed about Xmas, or that we have to call it "a winter fucking holiday". Because that's bullshit and they know it. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I was raised Catholic and we were taught in the first grade that suicides go to hell for committing the "sin of despair", i.e. despairing in God's grace to make anything in their life better. Used to be that the Church wouldn't allow suicides to be buried in hallowed ground, they had to be buried outside the cemetary walls. That's what I was taught anyway. Since then, I can't actually think of anyone I've known who's committed suicide. I had a friend once who discovered his roomate after the roomate had hung himself (happens every year right after exams at some of the big universities, like this one did). We even had a jumper who disconnected her Sentinel (an early model AAD) and never pulled. The Coroner ruled it a suicide based on testimony about other things that had gone wrong in her life, that and disconnecting the AAD, which took some effort. Then when my brother was dying of cancer, I had to wrestle with the very real possibility that he might take his own life, he was certainly armed to the teeth and could've done it very easily (he didn't though, the cancer took him). I'm not Catholic anymore and believe that God alone judges people's hearts, minds, and intentions. I believe God judges EVERY person as He sees fit, whatever the cause of their deat (and we all die) or how that person lived. It's not for us to say. The Bible says we'll be surprised at who we find in heaven, so I'll leave it to God and not try & second guess Him. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Confucius say, "Girl who want diamonds must first wear pearl necklace". Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Bless you Krisanne ! And YOU'RE a fine skydiver too... Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

You go girl ! The ONLY role I ever thought TC was any good at was as Lestat in "Interview With the Vampire". And only because he was playing an egotistical vampire. Sucks just isn't a strong enough word for TC, it's like calling calling Tom Arnold (another sucky actor) "funny". Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I think there's a good amount of racism mixed up in it as well. Although this guy was a Vietnamese immigrant, he was an Australian citizen. Most Aussies in jail on drug charges in neighboring countries are your standard issue white people. The Aussies think it's "barbaric" that their Asian (and some of them Islamic at that...) nighbors would have the temerity to hang white people for making "a mistake" by smuggling drugs. The fact that most of these neighboring countries have authoritarian regimes and that Australia and New Zealand are really the only working democracies in that part of the world is another issue. But I think Aussies have a real problem when the local "wogs" get cheeky with white folks. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

It's a crappy little coal burning 19th century sedan car. Scrooge used to like to run children off the road with his. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Also, both Beck and Clapton were considered for The Rolling Stones, after Brian Jones died. Due to commitments at the time they both turned The Stones down. They chose Mick Taylor and later, Ron Wood. I'm not sure about Jeff Beck, but both Clapton and Mick Taylor came up through John Mayall's Blues Breakers, along with a lot of other great musicians before and since. Mayall belted out a lot of British Blues and developed an awful lot of musicians who would go on to be famous in their own rights. Saw Mayall about ten years ago at the Bumbershoot Festival in Seattle. He's gotta be up in his seventies by now, but ten years ago he was still looking strong enough to wear a tank top in public and he sounded just great. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Sorry about that, I knew was gonna forget something. Please feel free to vote for "other". Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol was my first experience with the story, I think I was in the 3rd grade when I saw it. Then just last year I caught it on cable for the first time in about forty years. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I especially liked Ginger. He was smiling, something I never saw him do before. KCET in Lost Angeles will be re-running the show Sat. night at 10pm. I thought Ginger Baker looked great too. In the old days he was a frightening looking skeleton from a horrible crystal meth habit. So glad to see him healthy and happy ! Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I love Carol Cain as the Ghost of Christmas Present, especially the way she keeps bashing the crap out of Murray. "Oh look, a toaster (bash) !" What does she say, something like "you won't be able to suck soup for three weeks" ? Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

When the part comes for the 'fuzz-tone', Eric has to run to the left (his right) to tap the 'fuzz-tone' with his foot. They didn't have a longer cord! I was noticing that Clapton and Jack Bruce were both free to walk around with chordless guitar and bass, something they never could've done back in the sixties. I'm sure the sound system was way better than anything they could've dreamed of back then either. But there were still no frills; it was just one guitar, one bass, one gorgeous set of drums (Ginger Baker was one of the first drummers to use two bass drums), and their still strong voices. What absolute joy ! Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !