tbrown

Hey it's Christmas time again and time for one of the coolest ghost stories ever written. I can't get enough of Dickens' "Christmas Carol", my favorite part is still Jacob Marley dragging all those chains up the stairs and walking in on Scrooge. So which is your favorite version ? Your favorite part of the story ? Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

That's the ticket ! Thanks for the link Sudz. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Still deleriously buzzed from watching Cream live at Albert Hall on the public telly last night (hurray for Public Television !). For those of you born since 1968, Cream was THE BEST of the blues rock bands to ever come out of England. Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience originated the "power trio" band for other greats like ZZ Topp to follow in their footsteps. They came along at a time when the blues were fused into psychedelia in a way that's never been seen since. And though they've all gone on to fame and other things, especially Eric Clapton, there's never been anything in any of their careers that was quite as good as Cream. The last time they played together was October 1968. Nixon hadn't even been elected yet. Skydivers were jumping Paracommanders and gut gear, with motorcycle helmets and big clunky boots. I wasn't even a teenager yet and was only beginning to discover them from their radio hits that year. And then they were gone - the first HUGE disappointment in rock music, that we'd never see tham. Well, they may be in their sixties now, but they can still play just as hot as they ever did. And Jack Bruce can still sing just as well. And the liquid light show was a nice touch too. If you want to know WHY rock was at its best from 1968 - 1972 (and it WAS), put this new DVD on your wish list for Xmas - you can always get another skydiving flic any time. Wow, utterly incredible. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I think the ban on gay priests is a direct, if incorrect, reaction to the sex abuse scandals the Catholic Church finds itself involved in, not just in America but around the world. The great majority of these cases, at least the ones getting the publicity, are cases of abusing same sex children. Add to that the ultra conservative leanings of this new Pope, whose last job was running the Office of the Inquisition (which is still in business, by the way) and it's not surprising there's a backlash against gays in the clergy. I didn't say correct, just not surprising. Celeibacy wasn't required until sometime in the Middle Ages. In the Bible, Paul said something like " a bishop should be married only once", which to me anyway strongly implies a married clergy in Paul's time. The obvious solution would be to allow priests to marry, but again the hardliners insist that it's a matter of discipline rather than facing reality. What the Church needs to be more concerned with is its institutional obsession with secrecy and power and the way it knowingly hid and protected known abusers for decades. I'm honestly baffled as to why the authorities don't bring a RICOH prosecution against some of these dioceses, like Boston or Los Angleles, for the systematic way they protected KNOWN FELONS who were ruining children's lives. This mix of a same sex unmarried clergy, with an almost bulletproof protective organization has unfortunately created a huge attraction to same sex pedophiles, it's like Club Med for life. And there have been some dioceses and seminaries that are quite infamous for their blatant gay cultures, which like it or not have no place in Catholic doctrine - any church has a right to formulate and profess its own doctrine, if you don't like it, go to another church or start your own. But the Church is only willing to blame that part of the problem that can be blamed on individuals. It will never accept the blame for its own role in creating a real monster. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

You can still hear the very loud noises, they just don't hurt. Same with your audible. There's a lot of noise up there we should be protecting our ears from, like engines and freefall. If you do it over and over, it will eventually take its toll on your hearing. Once you lose your hearing in a certain range, it's gone. You won't get it back. A 120 dcb audible's not too cool either. I wear earplugs and a Mindwarp helmet, with my Pro Dytter tucked into a pocket in the padding that's there for that purpose. I can hear the beeps very nicely, but without the excessive piercing decibels. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

They're Grinches and they can just keep it to themselves. I don't complain about their hoidays - if they even have any.... Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I remember the Hornet (the Pioneer Hornet, not the more recent So. African 9 cell). It was advertised in Parachutist back in '75, though I never actually saw one. Was a 185 ft. 7 cell. Never saw a Volplane either, just pictures, but I always heard it was the Volplane that had the hydraulic reefing system - the Hornet came out in 1975 and I recall the pictures showed a slider. I Guess we need to hear from Scotty, because I'm positive I used to read these little reports about "Scotty Carbone was out jumping his Barish Sailwing at Z-Hills, during the Turkey Meet", etc, etc. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Some smaller dropzones will in fact shut down, at least for the day, though I've never seen one close for an entire weekend. Other places, bigger operations with two or more twin engine turbos and a lot of jumpers can't really afford to. An airplane sitting on the ground is a money hole. Besides, these places usually have a bunkhouse full of jumpers who have travelled long distances from colder snowbound states, or even from countries all over the world to jump there for things like the climate and the dropzone's reputation as a great place to jump. Their vacation is every bit as precious as yours and they can't be expected to cool their heels because some local yokel bit the dust (soory about that, I DO care when we lose anyone, I'm just trying to empathize with a visitor's point of view). Three deaths in two years ? It happens at some of the bigger places. Used to happen a whole lot more - believe me. Time was when you'd go to any major boogie and you knew ahead of time that somebody would bounce - and somebody would. That's just the way it used to be, so it is better now, mostly. Finally, about "dying doing what I love". Splatting like a bug on a windshield is not something that I love. I have assured my family that IF I ever go in, it will most certainly be an accident and that I fought with it all the way down. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Recently found both my old SCR (8018) and SCS (4497) patches and got them sewn onto my jumpsuit. The SCS has changed, nowadays it's got a picture of a skydiver in the middle. Mine is the old kind, looks like the SCR only it's red, with the Bob Buquaor Memorial thing written around the edge. Checked out their website and noticed the WSCR (Women's Starcrest) is altogether missing WTF happened to that & how come ??? Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

There was a hybrid 2 surface and 1 surface wing called a Volplane that might be what you are remembering. It had two surfaces on the front half of the canopy, and a single surface on the back half. Here is an image of one, although not a good image. Nope, I remember the Volplane, that was an early ram air from Pioneer. This Carbone Barish Sailwing was reported a number of times, with a picture or two, in Star Crest Magazine and maybe in Skydiving. Can't remember if Parachutist ever ran a shot. But it was mentioned fairly often in the mid - late seventies and it definitely looked like the Barish in the pic at the top of the threads, except it had cells added into it. Maybe Scotty Carbone can fill us in ? Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Un-French: Acting on moral principles. Un-Dutch: Not smoking pot for a single day. Un-Canadian: Eh ? Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Scotty Carbone used to jump a Sailwing back in the mid - late seventies. But the pictures I've seen of his Sailwing showed an additional lower surface with ribs, making it a sort of hybridized ram air Barish, if I remember correctly. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

The thing is that your newspaper guy/girl is nearly invisible. They come in the dark before you're up and you get your bill in the mail. Do you ever add a tip to your regular bills ? Most newspaper bills have a line for doing that, but hardly anyone ever does. The point being that they're invisible people who don't get tipped unless they ask and then they're called crass for doing that.... So the question would be, is the service good ? Do you get your papers all the time, on time, in good condition ? Do you get good service if you have an occasional complaint ? Do you have any problems more than once or twice a year and does the problem get fixed if you call ? If so, if the service is good, get the chip off your shoulder and mail the guy a tip. If the service is crappy then don't. People who complain about tipping really gripe my ass. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I was 28, my wife turned 25 during her first pregnancy, and we'd been married a little over 3 years. Then we had our second kid about 4 1/2 years later. It's good if you can have certain things accomplished with jobs, home, etc, but the truth is you'll never really have "enough" money to have a kid. It's a decision you have to make for other reasons and it will cause you to make decisions that will involve sacrifices. But they're so worth it. I think having some time to yourself is even more important. I mean preganant happens, so you should go ahead and have your baby, but if you can hold off a few years you'll never regret the years together that you give each other. Each baby will be "the boss" for the first year or so, you'll be "the help", on call 24/7. It took us about 18 months to get back to a normal existence with each of the kids. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

But how would you do that ? If you tug hard enough on the ball you'd pull the pin and pop your reserve. I suppose you could try to get a grip on the cable and try to rip the ball off by hand. As there's no way you could do that with 300 lbs force, you shouldn't be able to rip the ball off, but that's not going to tell you it's holding at 300 lbs either. If you're really concerned, you could probably ask your rigger to set up a test with a bunch of barbell weights or something. But only do it ONCE and then stop worrying about it. Ultimately we have to trust our gear, as our sport is entirely gear dependent - can't jump without a rig, not more than once anyway. This is a sport where no matter how we love it, that little voice reminds us every time we open the door that, "this could be the last time", so try not to let EVERY detail prey on your mind. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Support the troops - bring them home. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I hope you live next door to your local firehouse, best of luck. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I wonder who's fucking her now ? (I mean let's just cut to the chase, okay ?) Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I had mine done 13 years ago, after two children that were both very difficult births for my wife. It's not exactly like having your balls tickled with a feather, but it isn't anything a brave tough skydiver can't take either. There are horror stories about everything. A meteor could crash through the roof of the doctor's office and kill you both. Again, you skydive don't you ? You ever read the Incidents forum ? If that doesn't scare you off skydiving, then stop worrying about a little clip job on your 'nads. Quite honestly, it is just a little tough to get through the procedure - my favorite part is when they stick a big needle in your scrotum, it's about as much fun as it sounds - and then they do it again to the other side. But you won't be traumatized, it will heal up quickly, and BELIEVE ME, you'll feel like you have a new toy. Because you will. And you can change your name to Blankenchuter or something equally cool. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Yes, I have accepted God's grace, but I still worry that I did something to screw it up. This is the biggest problem I have with the whole thing. They tell you that you're saved and then torment you the fine print for the rest of your life over everything from how you vote to how much money you give, or whether or not you like rock 'n roll. Pat Robertson just damned a whole city to hell because they voted out the "intelligent design" knuckleheads from the school board. Things are hard enough without being told to doubt yourself and live in fear. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Felt so lowdown and disgusted, I threw my drink across the lawn Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

First of all, it sounds dramatic, and "Femur is NOT a verb !" is the name of a new and widely publicized safety campaign by USPA to get people to wake up to canopy safety issues. Secondly, canopies nowadays are considerably hotter than anything, even square canopies, that people used to jump twenty years ago. Because of the faster velocities and snazzier landing maneuvers people are attempting, with or without proper preparation, more femurs are sadly being broken, along with lots of other bones as well. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Not much. I probably owe my existence to the atom bomb, as my dad was drafted in August, 1945. He was on his way to his pre-induction physical on V-J Day in NYC when all the sirens and church bells started going off to signal that the Japs had thrown in the towel. I don't want, or expect, to see another war with Japan. But the Japs have this fucked up history of WWII that basically says they were minding their own business until the US suddenly nuked them for no apparent reason and it's a bunch of fucking bullshit. They invaded China back as early as 1936 and used the Chinese people and British POWs for bayonet practice and unspeakable medical experiments. They conscripted and abused thousands of Korean women to be whores for their armies all over Asia. Then they really fucked up and attacked Pearl Harbor. I knew a gentleman twenty years ago who was taken prisoner on Guam at the beginning of WWII. He and his brothers were US navy sailors. They were paraded through the streets of Tokyo and spent the rest of the war working as slave laborers inJapanese iron mines. Miraculously, he and his brothers all survived their captivity, but he weighed 84 lbs when he was liberated. For the rest of his life he never gave a fuck about Japanese people and I can't say as I blame him. So the US was already sick and tired from having fought Germany to their surrender. All the forecasts for an invasion of Japan were that the war would go on until 1952 with over a million American casualties. We just didn't give a fuck anymore and we wasted the cocksuckers. they asked for it and they richly deserved it. Thanks again for inviting an American to explain our proud history to a South African. Maybe you can explain Apartheid one of these days, I'm all fucking ears..... Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Reminds me of the blonde who froze to death at the local drive-in movie. She wanted to see the feature, "Closed For Winter".... Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

My wife is, by far. I cook, but I'm basically a "meat & potatoes" kind of cook. Good & tasty, nothing you'd turn your nose up and plenty of it. But my wife is FANTASTIC and uses a lot of imagination. This has also rubbed off on our 21 year old daughter, who can cook up some really tasty meals. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !