metalslug

Hehehe, gitmike has a way with words.. More to the topic; thanks HH for the additions.

The question that comes to mind for me is "Will you learn anything at all about a particular type of jump or skydiving discipline without having to actualy do it ? It seems that in some cases the answer is Yes, and in some cases No. I have noticed that there are "side-issues" relating to the type of jump that do require experience. For example, the largest CRW canopies that our DZ has are 160s, so if a jumper is not sufficiently skilled or experienced under a 160, especialy regarding landings, then they have no business attempting CRW on those canopies. No point in building a great stack and a terrific downplane only to end up breaking bones while landing. Also regarding CRW, a person needs to be confident at not having an RSL, and in many cases, a cutaway on a CRW jump often requires the jumper to freefall until close to the hard deck altitude before deploying the reserve. I would assume this requires a cool, calm mental state and may be tricky for a low-timer experiencing their first mal. There is another recent thread on these forums about the dangers of newbie jumpers doing 2-ways. I was doing 2-ways with other newbies after about 35 jumps, after getting my "Category 2" FS rating from coached jumps. Soon after I also did a few 4-ways and 'horny gorillas' which didn't seem dangerous at the time. In my opinion, I doubt I was learning much about fall-rate control, docking, drift etc until I started jumping with other people, so I dont completely see the logic in waiting longer before attempting simple 2-ways, for example.

A common pattern of many "paranormal sightings" involve witnesses that are tired, fatigued, sometimes in their cars or beds, asleep or about to sleep or about to wake up. There are several studies of EEG brain activity that identify various stages of sleep, most interestingly alpha and theta rythms during Stage 1, as people are dozing off, characterised by drifting thoughts and images. It may be possible that this phenomenon can result in very realisitic delusions of paranormal sightings, or grants us temporary ESP to be receptive to the paranormal. (whichever you prefer to believe) What is harder to explain though, is lasting physical evidence of some events. It is easy to dismiss a ghostly sighting but it is less easy to dismiss the sights and sounds of a physical object (clock/vase/grand piano), seemingly moving or breaking under a paranormal force. Long after the incident has occured, the object affected remains conclusively moved or broken, and that is no delusion. I'm a skeptic most of the time too, even though I have an earlier post in this thread claiming telekinesis. A popular quote from fictional character Sherlock Holmes - "When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

"I find your lack of faith disturbing..."

Maybe we should all be taking a few pointers from this fucker (TM).

To my knowledge, the PD Spectre is a 7-cell elliptical. Probably not comparable to the Diablo in performance though.

I performed telekinesis... I did a brief period of shift work for a few weeks, 12 hours on, 12 hours off, 6PM to 6AM. The colleague I was alternating shifts with was sleeping in the same house at that time in another room, and his alarm clock sounded exactly like mine. After just a few hours sleep I was awoken Monday morning at 5AM by what sounded like my alarm clock. Of course, it was my colleagues alarm clock in the other room. Anyhow, at that instant of wakening, I felt an abosolute sense of rage towards that sound and spun around in my bed to face my alarm clock, which was 15 feet away from me on a desk at the opposite end of the room. I watched, and heard the clattering noise, as the clock flew backwards about 12 inches, flipping over and impacting against the wall behind the desk. The clock did not break and still worked fine after the incident. My only witness heard the clock hit the wall but, of course, did not see it. There is no possible way for me to explain what I saw. I am quite sure I didnt throw anything at it and also sure that it was no dream. Combined with the bizarre and intense emotion of that moment, I believe to this day that I made that clock move.

Get a bigger aircraft, helicopter or a balloon for a day. In my short experience, visiting aircraft are the single biggest factor in attracting people. The last time we had a helicopter here in Nylstroom, we had about 4x the regular number of weekend jumpers on both days.

Held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act of 1974, the Guildford Four were four people from Northern Ireland who were wrongly convicted in the United Kingdom in 1975 for the Provisional IRA's Guildford pub bombing, despite Joe McAndrew, one of the actual terrorists, subsequently admitting to the bombing. Like many charges under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, their convictions were quashed in 1989. The Act did not directly support torture but certainly gave significant power to police and it has been alleged that confessions were 'extorted' from some suspects. This Act was subsequently replaced by the Terrorism Act 2000 and may see more changes in future. Whatever the UK's policies are, or what they may become, let us hope that justice is ultimately served to the right people.

One of our company directors skydives, usualy at the same DZ as me. Some people play golf with the boss, I skydive with the boss. It's not all sunshine though, DZ politics and office politics have the potential to overlap with each other in uncomfortable ways.

The gas explosion story is an old one too, definitely way before 2004. There's an increasing number of "rogue" Darwin Award stories going around that seem to be a mix of urban legend and resurrected newsprint.

...and girls are evil.

I had my first reserve ride on jump 50, on one of these, a Predator R 170. It was preceded by a cutaway and was not a deployment at terminal velocity, the opening was quite smooth. It didn't feel very different from my 210 main canopy, except perhaps that it was a little faster and more responsive. I had never jumped a 170 canopy before. The most obvious handling difference was the exceptionaly long steering lines on this one, my knuckles were almost dragging on the grass to get any kind of flare on it. I only barely managed to stand up the landing, even with a 10kt headwind. The colors were interesting too, a mix of green and lemon yellow rather than conventional reserve colors. It was rental gear and I'm no rigger so I have no idea about the structural merits of these reserves.

I think the solution lies in computer education rather than what OS a person chooses to use. A great many people have been using M$ operating systems for years without so much as a single hiccup. Proper firewall practices (yes, its even possible on a home PC at minimal cost) and responsible email and internet practises (no, I dont want to open the YourPrize.jpg.exe mail attachment right away and I dont want to install that website application that will "fix my PC clock") ... will go a long way towards painless PC ownership and eliminating dependencies on Operating Systems that are expected to think of everything for the user.

Heeey, that beer doesn't look fabulously South African. Has Skreamer lost his sense of taste ?

For some folks, their metabolism slows down a bit as they get older. It's probably not the lager drinking, most beers only have about 13 calories per ounce. Cider has a little bit more than that, but neither of them can likely be blamed for having a bit more belly. Interesting article, lower down the page, here...

I may be the exception to the rule, but I was a very well-behaved child and yet my parents hardly ever put a hand on me to keep me that way. I remember that, most of the time, correct behaviour wasn't just dictated to me, it was explained to me so that I knew why I was supposed to do (or not do) certain things. I think that made a big difference. As best as my childhood memories will allow, my parents didn't seem to get angry when I misbehaved, instead they seemed to become 'sad'. I think that an angry parent is not as emotionaly significant to a child than a visibly sad/upset parent is. I know now, in hindsight, that much of their sadness was caused by relationship problems with each other (because they eventualy divorced) but there was nothing more terrible for me than to see my parents sad and I would therefore behave like an angel to do whatever I could to make them happier, to see them smile again. I was well-behaved in school aswell, mostly so that my parents would be happy to hear good reports from my teachers. Maybe my circumstances were unusual, but that's how it worked out for me.

I am not up to speed on Kerry or US politics in general, but I gotta ask: Is there any successful politican anywhere that sticks to one story ? Politicians, by nature, are trying to please all of the people all of the time. Their position and career depends on popularity. Most of them, if not all, are therefore capable of saying and doing anything that can remotely improve their popularity with any group that carries a signficant share of the vote, even if this results in statements that contradict each other. Faithless politicians will cajole religious voters by reciting verse in church, family values will be promoted by those who have no values themselves, both war and diplomacy will both be promoted in the same year as the data from public opinion polls trickles in. The politicians themselves probably realize the irony and contradictions over time, but they also know that only the smarter voters will realize too. Since smart voters are in the minority, the risk is acceptable, its the majority vote that will count.

Huh ? mirochristie posts something about "strip" and when I get here there's not even a boobie to be seen.

I owed beer this weekend, had my first mal & reserve ride on Saturday.

Personaly, I doubt I would ever do 'internet dating', but I have some experience with online communities in general, so here's my take on it: Before meeting them I think the necessary information is: (1)Age (2)Sex (3)Location (purely for logistical convenience) But... To get this info is often more difficult than simply asking. In my experience, 25% of people lie about one of those 4 things the first time they are asked. So you gotta quiz them a bit about it. Subtle questions and discussions about current events, popular music, where and when they finished school etc. (and do the math after each answer). Be aware of any unusualy 'forward' behaviour.. it's very often a sign that she is a he, or perhaps desperate, neither of which is a good thing. (6)Number of kids. The kids thing is an issue for most people. There is potential for impacting more than just one person's life if things get more involved or complicated. Think about it. (4) The picture ? Dont insist on it, for several reasons: Even some attractive people could refuse to send a picture or send you a picture of some other stranger instead, either because they dont feel very photogenic or because they are being cautious, they dont want to attract anonymous stalkers who's only interest in them is the pretty picture. Also, even real photos can be deceptive, both positively and negatively. Their physique (if its a full-length photo) is perhaps the only accurate attribute of the photo. Makeup, lighting, quality of the image can all make a difference. Your eyes can judge better than their camera lens, so dont rely heavily on a photo. (5) Single, Married, Separated ... these are nice to know in advance, but depending on your minimum requirements you may not need to know in advance. A good person, who is dating people online, is still a good person, regardless of marital status. Love, if it ever becomes that, has a way of looking past a person's previous (or even current) relationships. Even married women may be looking for a way out of a dependency. You are not automaticaly a home-wrecker for being interested. Final general note: Dont be too optimistic. Internet dating is mostly the bottom of the barrel. The best people amongst us attract their partners from their immediate environment, the people they work with, the people they socialise with. They are out dancing at the nightclubs and competing on the sports fields. They are seldom computer hermits.

Is their a deeper pattern to this observation ? Are these femmes mostly single or attached ? Mostly older or younger than 35 ? Mostly excellent, average or newbie skydivers ? In my experience, most femmes get along very well with each other. The exceptions occur whenever there is any kind of competition, even if it's 'friendly'. It may be competition to skydive well, competition to be popular or competition to attract the attention of specific individual(s) at the DZ. Have you ever watched "Dismissed" on M-TV ? It's an eye-opening display to witness how femmes turn on each other even when neither of of them is truly even interested in the 'prize' they are competing for.

I'd only be unhappy if it interrupted exports of tequila. I'm in Africa.

A few things about this wall are puzzling to me. (1) In the one picture I've seen, the wall appears to be no more than about 3-4 inches of concrete, not excessively high and no apparent wire or other deterrent on top of the wall. Surely a determined bomber could find a way over, under or through the wall without too much trouble ? (2) The World Court seemed to have an issue with the location of the wall, that the land it was placed on was currently 'disputed' land and therefore Israel did not have clear property rights to build there. If it is "disputed land", would the Palestinians therefore be within their legal rights to destroy parts of the wall ? (3) The World Court voted 14:1 on their judgement, the opposing vote was an American judge. This seems to be in keeping with US policy on this issue, which makes me wonder if the US judge was merely towing the party line or whether he was truly acting in an impartial, judicial capacity. I am not suggesting his judgement was bad or wrong, I'm just noting a pattern and asking a question.

If you go, be sure to bring back photos. My buddy took this amazing shot shortly before undergoing surgery...