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So since you have to do the "heavy lifting" of citizenship anyway, why not get registered ? After all, we've got a HUGE election coming up in November. You still have time. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I don't like dogs. Don't own one and never will. I come out to a dropzone to skydive. If somebody's dogs lay down on my lines I'd go fucking beserk - and no apologies. What I HATE about dog owners is that they suffer from this delusion that the rest of us have to love their fucking dogs. I got even more fed up with dogs at rock concerts, where all these fucking hippies let their dogs run around without leashes and shit all over the place. By the second day it was unbearable. One poor girl in sandals had a stinking footfull of dog shit. Then I awoke to find some fuckin' dog taking a shit right outside my tent door. So I bounced a beer bottle off the dog's ass. His hippie master came on the run, saying "Hey man !" (limited vocabulary), so I fired off another empty at his head (missed, for better or worse...) and told him there more where that came from if he didn't clean up his dog's mess. Fuck dogs, I hate 'em. Dropzones are for people. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Geena Davis, Sigourney Weaver, and Gates McFadden (Dr. Crusher on Star Trek, Next Gen.). The younger crop are all very nice, but anything younger than about 35 makes me feel like a pervert. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I'm truly sorry Jim. If it's any help, Boo Bear knew and appreciated what a wonderful life he had with you. He couldn't have asked for more and he knew it. They just don't live as long as we do, so knowing you gave him a happy life is your reward. And you'll see him again - no leashes for sure. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

It's interesting to note that this series was born out of McGoohan's "Danger Man" series. McGoohan was asked at the "Danger Man" series wrap party what a secret agent does after resigning. Of course, it was meant as a question regarding McGoohan's own career choices after "Danger Man", but it got him thinking about a series based on that exact premise: what happens when you know too much to be left alone and people on both sides of the fence want what you've got? Maybe "Danger Man" was the British name for the show, but I remember it as "Secret Agent" - with the Johnny Rivers song for the theme. It used to be on Saturday nights, right after "Get Smart". I must've been in the 6th grade back then. So when "Secret Agent" folded, I locked right into The Prisoner in the summer of '68 (12 years old and nothing better to do). It ran as a summer replacement series. I hope these people know what they're doing. It sounds like they've got a good cast, but no telling what the writers will do. I hope they have a good imagination, because the one thing they will never be able to convey is the sixties British pop feeling. To Americans at least, Brit pop in the sixties had a very strange and campy feel that took some getting used to - but then you liked it because it was so different. The original "Avengers" series with Patrick McNee and Diana Rigg would be another example - and a warning, because a recent remake film really butchered that wonderful show. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I'm against it. For sure there are some nice people with nice dogs, who are responsible, use leashes and so on. But there's always some a-hole who believes in his or her god given right to let their animal run loose. If you make exceptions, you're playing favorites. "No dogs" means NO dogs, not anybody's. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

The FARS don't talk about BASE gear, they talk about parachutes. If you want to go on and do it anyway, which is what it sounds like, the Feds probably can't touch you. Your pilot will really appreciate losing his license though. That should make you feel really righteous. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

AAD's are designed to open your reserve parachute if you don't open your main or reserve by a certain altitude. RSL's are designed to deploy your reserve if you cut away and do not deploy your reserve. They're not really interchangeable, although an AAD will sometimes save you anyway. I just received an email from a friend this morning giving an eyewitness account of an AAD save after a cutaway at Skydive Chicago. It happened during the Illinois State POPS record attemprts (which resulted in a successful 81 Way state record). According to this person who saw it all happen, one of the POPS jumpers cut away low from a violent spinner and his Cypres fired. The reserve opened really low, with line twists and the guy made a "really hard" PLF landing in the grass. But he lived. And walked away with a few bruises. I rest my case..... Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

From the moment I first read the Incident report, with no name released at the time, the canopy description gave me a really bad feeling. I kept hoping and praying it wasn't Keith all the way out to the dropzone yesterday. But there my friends could only confirm that it was him. After a respite of three years at Perris and at least several years at Elsinore, the events of the last two weeks have caught up with us in a sudden and terrible way, taking two of our best. Be careful out there people, if this can happen to Keith and Shindig, it can happen to any of us. As a father of two girls myself I'm deeply deeply grieved. My prayers go out for them and for Andrea. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

i]NB: An estimated 700 hostages are still being held by the FARC, who have been fighting for >50y Sad, but true. And they won't be able to pull off this kind of a rescue twice. But just the pics of the JOY on Ms. Bettancourt's face tell how much her newfound freedom means to her, the three Americans, and dozen Columbians who were all freed. A fitting 4th of July for all. According to recent reports, the FARC are having serious problems with the deaths and arrests of some of their top leaders. Their desertion rate is way up. In fact, it was a disgruntled FARC member who helped orchestrate this entire deception. The tide may be turning and there may be the opportunity to finall wipe the bastards out. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

No flame, but elliptical canopies by definition are not entry level. You should have really solid experience with semi-ellipticals, whatever that means. It means that others, like canopy coaches, share in your opinion that you're ready for one. And by that time, you should have your own ideas about which size, brand name, or model would be right for you. So....if you need to ask, you're probably not ready. Disclaimer: I jump a Pilot and don't see myself ever being interested in a full elliptical myself, but that's just me. If you really want to go elliptical, LEARN how. WORK at it. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Maybe somebody from Airtec should chime in as to what they think about AADs after a cutaway, when a jumper is in trouble finding or pulling their reserve handle. Seems to me that a device that's programmed to intervene at 750 ft, when it's owner is going 65% of terminal would be useful if the cutaway had been done at a sensibly high altitude, say 1500 or more ft. There have been a number of deaths, notably at WFFC in past years, where people cut away at or below a grand and their AADs fired too low to be any help. That's a shortcoming of AADs that needs to be understood, that you need that 78mph AND sufficient altitude for the reserve to open. And of course it's just a backup, never to be depended on or waited for. RSLs, Skyhooks, and AADs are all helpful backups between us and the ground, best worn and forgotten about. I use both a RSL and AAD (Cypres). I set my Cypres in the morning and then forget it's there. I make sure my RSL is hooked up and then forget it's there. Last year I was REMINDED the RSL was there on a cutaway, as I got line stretch in mid-pull on my reserve handle. I hope I don't ever have to be "reminded" I have an AAD, because the ground rush would be too awful. But it beats punching a crater any day.... Yeah, I'd like to hear what anybody from Airtec, or Vigil, or Argus has to say about AADs after a cutaway. It's hardly an ideal situation, but I don't think any of them would rule out their products potential for banking the odds more favorably if the cutaway isn't too damn low. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Very enjoyable drug Not so sure about that, they can get pretty scary too. An experience with a really strong dose about 12 years ago gave me some profound insights into some marital problems we were having at the time. So you might ask, "Do you really need drugs to realize the obvious ?" It's not that simple. Psychedelics open up the unconcious mind and bring a lot of stuff up into plain view, even laying it out like some kind of 23rd century Mac computer. They can be grossly abused, like any other drug. I haven't used them even once in the 12 years since. But for some people, they are a really valuable tool. For real people too, not just some shaggy hipsters going to their 12,000th Grateful Dead concert. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

That's really a beautiful canopy - love the colors especially. So who makes, or made this canopy & when ? I've never heard of it before. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I'll be out next weekend Joe. See you there. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Dav3e Ruckert will organize it! There you go Harry ! Of course you'd have to launch this fleet from several airports, or you'd have planes running low on fuel before everyone's even airborne. Always with the problems, it just never gets easy.... Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

If the jump is too dangerous to do WITHOUT an AAD, why is it suddenly acceptable because you HAVE an AAD? That's an equally foolish outlook, in my opinion (instructors/coaches are a different matter). If you go to the World Team website, you will find that AADs are mandatory for participation in their world record jumps. I think trying to build a 400 to 500 Way formation in freefall MIGHT be too dangerous without an AAD. Apparently the World Team's organizers think so. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

In hindsight, I'd go for Germany in 1944, because I know now that I'd be in the jug for no more than a year. I'd be hungry all the time, but would still get Red Cross packages. Then I'd learn how to dig tunnels and brush up on my forgery skills, writing fake Nazi I.D. cards, with eagle & swatstika stamps carved out of boot heels. This was probably the last war that POWs were allowed by the enemy to congregate. Beginning with Korea, POWs were all kept apart from each other. The Nazis didn't generally go out of their way to torture American or British POWs, though Russians were usually shipped off to the death camps. And only some of the Vietnam POWs were locked up longer than the prisoners at Gitmo. I know it wasn't all "Hogans' Heroes" either, I used to have a boss at Boeing who turned 18 in a German Stalag after his B-17 was shot down deep inside Germany in 1943. One of these days, we're all going to feel ashamed of Gitmo. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I made over 500 jumps without any AAD, back in the seventies. We didn't consider them to be safe or reliable in those days. Those were also the days when "no pull / low pull" was the leading cause of death in the sport. I'm even more surprised at your question after what happened last weekend at your home dropzone, where a highly experienced and respected skydiver died after being unable to pull his reserve handle after a cutaway. The reason may never be known, as only he really knew what went wrong. He had made an informed decision to jump without his AAD while it was away for its 8 year service. I'm sure he considered and weighed the risks and made a not unreasonable decision to jump without it for the month it usually takes to get the job done. Lots of people make the same decision with no adverse consequences. Tragically, he guessed wrong. I'm saying this as respectfully as possible, because I know how much pain this has caused everyone, as the memorial service was only held yesterday. But thankfully, accidents like Shindig's are now a rare occurence thanks to AADs. In the old days we knew far too many good skydivers - and wonderful people - who died this way. I can think of several I knew myself, right here in So Cal (Tom DeMotts, Glory Severt, and jeanni McCombs, to name three right off the top of my head). And I'm VERY please that this type of fatality has ALMOST entirely disappeared. At least now we can focus on how not to do ourselves in under an open canopy. As we go sailing out the door at altitude, none of us ever knows, "This is the jump where I will need my AAD". Most of us will hopefully never face that jump at all. The rest of us can either thank God we were wearing one that day, or leave our friends and family in a lot of pain and with questions that may never be answered. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I sure hope SOMEBODY set up a triage tent, with plenty of ice. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Not to mention better than "Point Break" ! Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

130 Cessnas ? Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Anybody have any thoughts on Robert Mugabe's latest re-election campaign. His opponent has had to take refuge in the Dutch embassy. Aside from my fellow American dot commers, I know there are a bunch of South African and even some Zimbabwean skydivers on this website. So what's up down there ? Speaking for myself, I don't think there's anything wrong with Mugabe that two shots to the chest and one to the head won't clear up. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Nobody anywhere deserves that kind of treatment. Period. People who think so have forgotten that ideologies are supposed to serve people, and not the other way around. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Can anyone recommend a full face that fits well over glasses ? I tried on a Mamba once, but had to take my glasses off in order to put it on, and then again before taking it off. And no, I don't want contacts either. Anybody with glasses flying a comfy full face out there ? Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !