tbrown

No. The only comparable day I can think of would be Pearl Harbor Day, which isn't a holiday either. That doesn't mean that people don't observe pearl Harbor Day either, they still do, even after 66 years. But if PHD's not a holiday, then making 9/11 a holiday would invite comparisons and complaints from people who are miffed about PHD being passed over. And so on and so on.... We have enough trouble getting real holidays for the holidays we've got. Nobody gets MLK Day off. We USED to get Veterans' Day off, but not anymore, which I think sucks, especially for the veterans, who should just put their collective foot down and take the day back by taking the day off in force. And then times change and meanings change. Veterans' Day was originally Armistice Day, commemorating the end of "The Great War" (World War I to us). Who knows what the next century will do to our memories of these times. We don't celebrate the end of the Civil War anymore. I say our generation and our kids generation, anyone was old enough on 9/11 to remember it, will always honor the day. But not as a holiday. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Guys- 1. A lot of us girls (ok, maybe me and most of my friends) don't understand the fascination with breasts. __________________________________________________ SOME of us guys aren't as obsessed with breasts as you may think. I have found women with all kinds of breasts, from large to nearly nonexistent, attractive for all kinds of reasons. And if age and childbirth deflate the perkiness of a woman's breasts, it doesn't make them - or the woman they belong to, any less attractive. __________________________________________________ 2. Some people are comfortable with who they are, others aren't. It would be nice to say that "as we age, we grow into our bodies and learn to accept who we are." But... __________________________________________________ Being just a little over fifty myself, I can honestly tell you that I'm still a lot more attracted to women my own age, or at least closer to my age. Maturity has a lot to do with it. I don't expect younger women to take an interest in me anyway, and though I do still find young women attractive (I'm not dead, blind, or gay), I'm much more drawn to women who have shared a bit more life experience. My favorite sexy film stars are all older women (Sigourney Weaver, Susan Sarandon, Andie McDowell, Mary Steenburgen, any one of which I would take a tumble with in a New York minute). __________________________________________________ 3. Aren't there enough pictures of boobies on the internet? NO. (I am still a guy....) __________________________________________________ 4. (just cuz I love numbered questions... speaking of which, I should go and pick up the new issue of Deadpool) __________________________________________________ Whatever you gotta do.... Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

We've come a long way from Chatty Cathy.... Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

No it doesn't, but consider this. If we were to judge the works of any artist by the moral content of their life, there would be very little art, music, drama, or literature of any great worth. Shakespeare, Beethoven, van Gogh, Tchaikovsky, Picasso, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Jackson Pollack, Sinatra, Dali, Jerry Garcia. All a bunch of assholes. But where would we be without the lift their work has given our lives ? Personally, I was always miffed at him for being a no-show at a free Opera in the Park performance in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco back in the eighties. The wife and I were all set to see him on this lovely Sunday and the guy skipped town. A lot of opera halls stopped booking him for that reason. But it doesn't change the fact that the man was one of the greatest tenors of the twentieth century. I've never heard a voice like his in MY lifetime. So he was an asshole. Show me an artist, or a politician, who isn't. At least the artists make a meaningful contribution. I will miss him. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

RIGHT!! That's one of my concerns, is that a lot of jumpers nowadays expect their gear to save them without understanding how it works or what kind of warning signs to look for. Actually, I try pretty hard to take care of my rig and a lot of it is by collaborating with my rigger. I look my gear over regularly and do things like cleaning my 3 ring cables every month (last time I did that I got to use them just 2 days later). But there's an amazing amount of stuff that I don't notice, even though I try - I don't have the trained & practiced eye of my rigger. Just for one example, he showed me how one of the grommets on one of my reserve flaps is slowly wearing a notch in itself from normal pack tension. This grommet is not visible, it's not even on the outer flap and I had no idea to even look for it. But he does, and he's keeping an eye on it and when it's time to replace the grommet, that's what we're gonna do. He's showed me stuff like the stitching inside my pilot chute that needed repair. The list goes on & on. I often end up paying for more work done than the original repack I'd put my rig in for. My wife is delighted that he gives my rig this kind of attention. But sad to say, I also know he's the only rigger I've had who gives my rig this kind of detailed attention. Most riggers have just repacked the reserve and some of them don't even bother to replace the closing loop. People need to choose their rigger the way you'd choose your doctor, or your dentist. Or a pediatrician, because your rig is your baby... Ultimately we have to save ourselves, but it's a big help when our gear performs as expected. And for that to happen, you need to cultivate a relationship with a good rigger. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

One thing for certain is the Saudis won't fight, but the Iranians will. Which means we'll have to step in. I think this time around we should just kill them all and take the fucking oil. Even better, but less likely, would be moving beyond needing oil, so we could tall the whole fucking ratrace to mix their oile with sand and eat it. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Well why not ? He's fucked up everything else he's ever touched, why should our national sovereignty be any different ? And what the fuck does he care anyway ? He's rich and his friends will always give him more money. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Bill, I have no doubt the majority of Muslims in America are peace loving and law abiding citizens. But right here in Orange County, this same community is harboring people who have made serious death threats against a woman in their own community who has raised her voice against the same extreme interpretations of their faith. I simply cannot accept this silence and complicity. If american Muslims are truly peaceful and law abiding, then it's time for them to prove it and DO SOMETHING about the minority of assholes who are dragging their collective reputation down the drain. Bill, I shop at King's Market in Westminster, because the quality of the foods, and especially the meats, is incredible. And the people are friendly. So WHY are they harboring these people who threaten to kill a woman for what she's saying ? I'm really troubled by that. It's not prejudice, it's real. So cut the liberal "why can't we all just get along" bullshit and talk to the real issues. Which is that real civilized people of any and all faiths don't tolerate this kind of crap. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I've got two adult children. A baby should not make you and this lady have to feel you need to marry. BUT, as you now realize, or you wouldn't be asking the question, sex is often more than just recreational boot knockin'. As the father of this child you do in fact have moral - and legal - obligations, even if you and the mother don't wish to marry. And the reason you have these obligations is that there will, or at least might be, a baby born in this world. And if there is a baby born in this world, he or she will need all sorts of things that he or she is utterly unable to provide. That's where marriage and all these legal obligations come from. The decision as to whether to have, or abort this pregnancy, lies entirely with the mother. That's where case law is, as I understand it. If the lady decides to carry her baby and have the child, then congratulations, you're the father, with all the obligations attending, whether you marry or not. The fact that the two of you "agreed" to a casual sexual relationship without a deeper commitment is meaningless. The deeper commitment now exists. I would only hope that you would be a man enough not to persuade, or coerce, this woman into aborting her baby for your convenience. Before all the pro-choicers jump all over my ass, I want to point out that I AM pro-choice myself, at least as a matter of law and public policy, though not personally. I am also a believer in personal responsibility. And as the father of two daughters who have/are reached/reaching adulthood, I would urge you to take a hard look at your own personal responsibility and consider the changes and benefits that having a real relationship with a child of your own can bring, whether or not you marry the mother. You can't just fuck all you want and kill the inconvenient children that result from your own carelessness. And if that bothers some people, I could give a flying shit. You're a skydiver - now be a man. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Forgettaboutit.......you sound like a REAL woman an' you got NOTHING to worry about. An' I'm not kiddin' either. And any man worth his salt will tell you the same thing. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

And now he's resigning from the Senate. another "family values" caught with his dick in a - oh, never mind..... I could give a shit about what he's done if his partei hadn't acted like such a bunch of assholes about anybody else doing the same thing for so many years. The Nazis had a lot of closet cases too, even as they were shipping the ones who got caught off to the camps. Good riddance I say, out with the garbage and in with the new, even if it's just fresher garbage. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I've never liked the guy one little bit. But I really have to wish him the very best, from my heart. Cancer sucks and what this is doing to him and his family has to transcend politics. Best wishes & get well soon, asshole. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I'm 6'4" and my wife of 26 years is 5'2". 'nuff said. For maybe the first week we were dating I wished she could've been 5 or 6 inches taller, then I wised up about it. I'd had a couple girlfriends in the 5'8" to 5'11" range and heavens knows I adore tall women, but the truth is they had their chance. And for those of you who who can't keep their minds out of the gutter, it works just fine, even after 27 years. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

It would seem so. I don't need to be convinced about legalization. Just saying that even with legalization, great care has to be taken to safeguard against coercive situations. Even in Holland and Germany there are women being held in slavery by Russian mobsters, who are "minding" their children back home in Mother Russia. Legalization is part of the solution, but only a part, this isn't a free for all that ignores the very real slave trafficking issues involved. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Agreed. Most people who read the Incidents do it for the same reason that people rubberneck at a motor car accident scene - morbid curiousity. No, actually it isn't. The cynics who think they're too hip to learn anything are a real drag though. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

The rats are all deserting the sinking ship. Maybe Bush will go down like Captain Ahab, with his foot wrapped in the lines, happy that he has at last had his vengeance with the great white whale. Oh, and by the way - only 510 days to go !! Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Should rich people be able to purchase organs from poor people if they both agree on a price? Their bodies, their choice. No, I think Darius has a good point. Of course you have a "choice" as to whether or not to sell one of your kidneys, eyes, or lungs, maybe even your heart or liver (after they kill you first). But do you really know of anyone who's economically well off resorting to selling their organs ? I think not. They may be organ donors, or they might give an organ for a family member, but I don't know any wealthy people excercising their "free choice" to sell ANY of their organs. On the other hand, if you're homeless and destitute, you might be induced to sell a kidney for a couple thou. Or to rent out your uterus to help a couple of rich DINKS have a baby. Again, I've yet to meet any women of means who were into baby farming for the cash. So it can be with prostitution. It's not an argument against legalization, but it certainly is a cautionary note that a great deal of prostitution IS involuntary, whether from economic desperation or outright bondage. The sex trade is in fact a major component of slave trafficking in the world today. Which is part of the reason that obtaining a prostitute's license in Nevada involves a background check with the local County Sherriff's before a license is granted. There can be no felonies, ever, as well as no misdemeanors for something like 2 - 3 years. A woman (or a man) might choose to make a living offering sex to consenting adults, but it should be a truly free decision, and not because some monster is beating her and threatening to harm her children if she won't turn out and trick. And for some reason, these are the same poor women who get busted, while the judges let their scum pimps walk. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I think it should be renamed "the sports page", but yeah, I read it. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

As to why the Pilot suddenly decided it was time to blow itself up, question for you - when you say 200 jumps, did you buy it new, or is that how many you've put on it? I was just thinking of the study that was presented at PIA last year about sunlight exposure weakening canopy fabric. The damage was particularly bad in canopies with neon colors - I definitely remember magenta being one of the "bad" colors, but can't remember right offhand if orange or yellow also showed increased propensity for wear. Still, if you bought it new, at 200 jumps there's no way that amount of weakening should have come to pass by then. First, I'd like to thank everyone for some really good posts and some very nice PMs I've received. I wanted to quote from more than one of you, but that doesn't seem possible in one post. There seem to be three issues involved; 1.) Why the slammer opening ?, 2.) Why the extensive damage ?, and 3.) Why me (sob...)? A couple people, including our good friend mjosparky have proposed that I might have let the slider slip off the stops an inch or two, probably when I threw the canopy down on the ground. I really can't think of anything likelier, the slider WAS fully open, so I didn't pack it in a collapsed position, or down the lines at the risers either. So unless/until other evidence presents itself, let this be a reminder to us all to make damn sure we've got our sliders down on the stops and that we keep them there as we pack. As for the explosion, who knows ? Maybe it's better that it did blow out, if that released some energy that would've gone through me instead. I was already having enough fun at the other end of the lines. The bright colors theory is interesting, I've never heard it before, but my canopy was a screamin' orange/yellow color - it's exactly the pattern you see in a lot of the older Pilot ads. The canopy itself was built in '03 and had made a few jumps as a demo before I got it. But not that many jumps either, as it's large 210 ft size didn't attract much interest. The fabric was still bright and slippery when I got it and I've always believed it had "very few" prior jumps on it. I'm not in the habit of leaving my gear out in the sun either, even though I jump in So. Cal. I get it packed, indoors, under a packing shelter, or at least in some shade. It's also possible that desert dust and grime might have weakend the fabric. And let's not forget that Bill Booth has weighed in more than once on the subject of canopy damage and bodily injury with the current spectra and HMA type lines, as opposed to the older, bulkier, but stretchier Dacron. I'm about to send the canopy back as a "research donation" and will be asking for any opinions after the autopsy. I won't be having it repaired though, I could never trust it again. The "why me" angle is of concern, as we just packed our youngest kid off to college and I'd sort of hoped I could get by on this canopy for the next four years. Oh well, "the best laid plans of mice & men"...shit really does happen and it could've been worse. I'm feeling a lot better though and will get this figured out. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

That's only true if you're out the door at that weight. If your naked weight is 230, you'll be pushing the the 254 lbs TSO max of most rigs, or God forbid, even be over it! My rig with the big canopies I jump weighs over 25 pounds, so when my body weight is at 230, I'm slightly over TSO limits with full gear! I need to stay under 225 naked weight to be within specs, and even then I'm right at the limits! An important point. If you're getting a PD reserve, you'll have to get the 281 size to meet legal TSO reqmts, as PDs are still TSO'd to the old C revision. That or look at some of the competing reserves (Smart, R Max, Icarus, etc), which are TSO'd for 300 lbs under the new Rev D. I have to watch my weight to keep myself within the Rev C limits of my PDR193. I know they're tested at something like 20% over the approved weight & velocity (254 lbs @ 150kts), but really, your reserve is the last thing between you and a very untidy demise, so don't mess with the TSO requirements. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Oh Jean, how right you are. I especially miss the way a round reserve would "exhale" and almost invert itself after the initial opening, then re-inflate itself. Damn squares just want to open and stay open.... Best landing under a round reserve I ever had was in 10-15mph winds in a flooded field. Touchdown on my feet was actually gentle, but then the canopy yanked me off my feet in almost a foot of water (Perris sometimes floods in winter). Hit my head against a submerged rock, I guess, splitting my helmet in two and then I was off to the races, being dragged fast enough to make my own wake in the water behind me. Trying to haul in on the lines with slippery muddy gloves was especially entertaining. Kids today have no appreciation for the kind of fun we yoosta have with some good gear. Or that we yoosta "spot for our reserve", back when skydivers actually KNEW how to spot. Or that we would actually stand our landings up, in sneakers, under those things. Of course I'm 60 lbs heavier now than back then, so I'll whimp out and keep my PD. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Not my first cutaway ever, but my first back since returning to the sport four years ago. What happened was a brutal slammer opening that knocked the crap out of me and my canopy. After a 22 Way Sunday dive at Perris, I tracked, cleared myself, waved, and tossed. BA-WHAM !! Felt like hitting the end of a chain, my chest strap slammed me in the Adam's Apple and jaw, while my leg straps cut into my thighs and I felt like I'd been slammed face first into a stone wall. Looking up at my canopy, a 210 Pilot, and saw it had transfomed itself into a 7 cell, with a lot of daylight and blue sly visible through several tears and holes in the otherwise orange/yellow fabric. Lots of bracketa-fracketa hanging off the ends and the tail, though the canopy as a whole was still stable. Made a quick decision that I couldn't possibly land the thing, especially if it decided to split in two at 500 ft, and chopped. The ride down under my PDR193 was lovely. Opening was quick, soft, and on heading. The sweet thing flew consevatively, but reliably, and a one stroke flare with my feet and knees together for good luck yielded a comfortable, if not perfect stand up landing on Perris' green strip landing zone. As to why my Pilot could've opened the way it did, I'm baffled. I do my own packing, a not terribly neat pro-pack that has always yielded lovely soft openings in the past. Post-mortem examination on the ground showed that the slider was fully opened, but had also come whistling down the lines with enough force that it was stuck over the main toggles, something I hadn't noticed in the air before chopping. The canopy is trash and I doubt I'll have it repaired. I got slammed hard enough to see my doctor, who is generally positive about jumping, but has recommended a month off to give everything a chance to heal up, to which I'm in general agreement. I had even replaced two rubber bands on my d-bag for that last pack job - I do my own packing, thank you. But I don't know why this one packjob had such a different result, hurting me and trashing the canopy. The cutaway was perfect, though the evidence is that my RSL beat me to the punch. I punched the 3 Ring with one hand, looked at the reserve handle, grabbed and punched it, then got line stretch. The big pigtail bend on my ripcord tells me the RSL beat me to it, but that's what it's there for anyway, isn't it ? Other than a few aches & pains, I'm fine. I'm just wondering why my canopy would open so hard after more than 200 lovely openings, if there's any explanation beyond "shit happens". Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

So where the fuck is Sport Beth ? Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Hey bite me. People can express themselves about the conditions of their oppression. Dumb animals cannot. I wish to hell that Nelson Mandela would weigh in on this, I think he has the stature to clear the air on this problem. A man who spent 25 years busting rocks in prison might be able to tell his own people to knock it the fuck off and stop killing dogs. Jesus Christ anyway.... Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Well of course he should, shouldn't he ? He is, after all, black. that should absolve him of anything. Just look at OJ Simpson, who else could get away with murdering an ex-wife and her boyfriend in cold blood. It's the 40 acres and a mule clause. The idea that Vick, or any other black American, should be accused of ANYTHING is an offense to our collective sense of white guilt for something that ended 150 years ago. Something that we fought the bloodiest war in our history about. But since 40 acres and a mule is probably too expensive anymore, why not a forty year supply of Shlitz Bull malt liquor and Kools ? Honest to fuckin' christ, would we even be HAVING this discussion for anyone else ? Certainly not for me.... Anybody want to call me a racist ?? Well fuck you all over again ! I've known and been friends with and tried night and day to broaden my understanding of the black experience in America. I've known and partied with Black Panthers and Black Muslims in college. And you know what ? I still believe that HUMAN BEINGS are "responsible" for their behavior. And if that gives anybody a problem, then they can go fuck themselves. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !