ChasingBlueSky

To get a better idea of the movie, try to read what the book in the extra section says. Read the book, then watch the movie again at a later date. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Not harsh - just straight to the point. I don't hold back words anymore and don't care if I step on a few toes in the process (I found out being the nice guy never got me anywhere in life). Plenty of my friends are complete nutbags and don't care if you point it out - as long as it is true. This website is great for spreading negative lies/rumors that most people believe without talking to the people involved. I just wanted to get some facts out there instead of "I heard it from a friend who, who heard it from a friend who....." Wouldn't it suck if someone lost their job from this rumor? _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Those were planned cutaways, and they were not done low. Well, most were done as Hop N Pops from the otter and no one took them low (speaking to the event in 2003 since I was there for it). The main was a Stiletto 97 often referred to as Pinky. Anyone that has been at SDC over the years knows about Pinky as Roger had quite a few mals on it. Pinky was chosen as the main because no one cared if it happen to get lost....and on one jump, I think done by Kirk or Woody, Pinky revereted to her old ways and spun up quick. A good portion of those jumps were done with someone from SkyCam flying video so they could catch the Skyhook in action. From my understanding, and from what I saw, all jumpers were under their reserves by 2000 feet. With people like Kirk, Kallend, Woody or Paul D out there, it would be easy for them to figure out from video the theoretical lowest alti someone could chop from. I promise you that with the rash of bad luck we had out there, no one takes low chops lightly at SDC. We lost too many friends over the last few years. The very low cutaway with a skyhook with slider packed down was done out east. A big deal was made about it because a rigger was the one that packed the slider down. When I say this was done low, we are talking about a reserve ride of only a few seconds. HERE is the thread on it: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1139102;search_string=skyhook%20crosskeys;guest=15520014#1139102 Because claiming that a dz allowed and tested for very low cutaways is a serious accusation that could have a negative impact. Claiming something like this is enough to get the USPA out there, and possibly the FAA since the slider on a reserve would have been packed down. This means that a rigger didn't pack according to the regs which in turn could cost them their ticket. Or the pilot could get in trouble for allowing a jumper on the plane with a rig that didn't have a FAA seal on the reserve. Be very careful in what you claim. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

I can tell you the event you are talking about happened on the east coast. NOT at Skydive Chicago. Yes, there is video of the event as I know the person who shot it. Let me repeat that again - it happened at a DZ on the East Coast. Please - before you start tossing out insults at a DZ and the jumpers there (esp my friends), get your facts in line. If I am not mistaken you can do a search and find pics of it on this website somewhere. Also, if you knew Bill Booth or even spent an hour talking with him you would understand the passion this man has for safety. He has changed and increased safety on the sport side and the tandem side of our industry more than you will ever know. He has GIVEN away some of his inventions just to help out jumpers (the instructions for the BOC PC and the three ring system can be found by anyone on their website) - which has helped increase the safety and sales for his competition. What is wrong with finally keeping something he invented in house? Skydiving gear is all he does - he does have a family to feed, what's wrong with increasing business? This is what the RW offer means to me - there have been senseless, avoidable deaths over the course of this season. This is not a one time event as we have people jumping that get in over their head and do not follow emergency procedures. This device MAY help you live if you end up in that spot. A lot of people choose not to get the skyhook due to cost - therefore it's free if you order a rig from RW. I see nothing wrong with this. As other have pointed out, AAD companies have long used 'death' as a selling point - so do companies that market reserves. Death happens in this sport and we talk about it a lot. We talk about it in ways that make most people uncomfortable. If you can't handle that.....well.... _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

http://www.suntimes.com/output/hurricane/cst-nws-hworld08.html Red tape snags some overseas aid September 8, 2005 BY KARL RITTER STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- For four days, a C-130 transport plane ready to lift supplies to Katrina victims has stood idle at an air base in Sweden. The aid includes a water purification system that may be urgently needed amid signs deadly diseases could be spreading through fetid pools in New Orleans. The one thing in the way of takeoff? Approval by U.S. officials. Although some foreign aid is on the way to the United States, many international donors are complaining of frustration that bureaucratic entanglements are hindering shipments to the United States. ''We have to get some kind of signal [from the United States] in the next few days,'' said Karin Viklund of the Swedish Rescue Services Agency. ''We really hope we will get it.'' Aside from water purification units, the country has offered blankets and mobile network equipment. 95 countries are helping The United States has accepted offers of nearly $1 billion in assistance from 95 countries, said Harry K. Thomas Jr., the State Department's executive secretary. Thomas said that ''every country has heard from us, all have been told their offers are being evaluated and that 'we may take your offers later.'" But Poland, Austria and Norway said they had not heard back on their aid offers, and countries outside Europe said they were also waiting for replies: *India, which regularly is hit by flooding from monsoon rains, has said it has a planeload of supplies waiting. The United States said it has accepted $5 million in aid. *Taiwan said it was waiting to hear for guidance on its $2 million pledge. The United States said late Monday it has the financial offer along with medical supplies. *The government also said it had accepted South Korea's offer of $30 million and 100 tons of goods such as blankets, diapers, crutches, bunk beds and wheelchairs. South Korea had promised the aid by this weekend. But Foreign Ministry spokesman Lee Kyu-hyung said Wednesday the delivery will likely be delayed until next week as ''preparations are not going well.'' Even Honduras -- second-poorest country in the Western Hemisphere -- offered aid. The U.S. Embassy told it that ''at this moment, the U.S. government is not asking for international assistance.'' AP _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Around here they are good sign that bad weather is here and you should take shelter. I would say 9/10 times I've seen them, there has been a tornado siren going off. Other things that tend to happen is odd color changes, often green, and major temp drops in a very short period of time. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

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Because it was a human interest story - not politics, religion, etc. However, it took just ONE post to bring it to a junk level. I will ask a mod to move it. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

So much for this not going to Speakers Corner. Most of that email is junk and rhetoric fueled by anger. Yes, there are some good points but I ignored it out of the ignorance flowing from the rest of it. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Does anyone else find this turn in ideology ironic? Freeflying first got started because people were tired of typical turning points, and the regiment of training required for RW. I remember meeting Rook and Olav the first times and hearing them talk about it. Most of the freeflyers I knew six years ago did nothing but make fun of dirt diving. Hell, I remember Skydive Lake Tahoe at one point posting on their website that no dirt diving was allowed - mostly as a joke, but it was the idea of what freeflying was about. I realize the sport will always evolve - (and I do freefly), but I just find it interesting to see the sport move to 4-way when that's what it was trying to avoid when it started. The 4-way VRW pool is a challenge that is well beyond any freeflying skill I have - and I commend any that can do it. But do you think it will take away from the 'no limits' that freeflying has always been about? _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Hopefully this won't get moved into SC. Alot of people have said those that stayed in NO deserved what they got. Alot like me wondered why they stayed. Well, apparently it seems not all could leave despite wanting to. http://www.suntimes.com/output/brown/cst-nws-brown07.html Trapped in New Orleans, and not by his own choice September 7, 2005 BY MARK BROWN SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST Joseph Annaruma Jr. has spent the past two days glued to his mother's television in Arlington Heights, watching coverage of the hurricane recovery effort in New Orleans. He spent the week before that trying to escape the flood-stricken city. And of all the aggravations he has experienced in that time, the one he'd most like to share with you is the reason he and thousands of others like him didn't flee New Orleans ahead of Hurricane Katrina: "There was no way out." By the time Annaruma realized a week ago Saturday that he ought to evacuate, it was already too late, he said, even though the storm wouldn't arrive for nearly two more days. Airline flights were fully booked. No trains were scheduled, no seats to be had on the buses. Annaruma didn't own a car or have a valid driver's license to rent one, if any had been available, which there weren't. And neither the city of New Orleans nor the state of Louisiana stepped up to provide mass transit or school buses to move people inland. "I hear that many people in America think that we who were there stayed by choice and almost asked for our fate. They have it dead wrong," Annaruma said. He concedes that some stayed put of their own volition, but many others joined him in mobbing the Greyhound terminal, desperately trying to get a bus out of town. A life-and-death struggle Annaruma, a 44-year-old carpenter, pipe fitter and sometime musician, even called his mother, Madeline Tector, to make a plea: "Get me out of here." But Tector couldn't work the system any better than her son. "If you didn't get a reservation, you were left to your own devices," he told me Tuesday. So Annaruma hunkered down to ride out the storm, taking shelter with 260 other people in a Salvation Army facility. "My two choices were the Superdome or the Salvation Army," and Annaruma had a notion of what he might face in the Superdome. "No way I was going to get stuck there." He opted for the Salvation Army, where he had spent a few nights previously during his 10 years in New Orleans. At first, everything was good: three meals a day and everybody staying calm. They were a mix of the facility's regular residents -- the elderly, homeless, mentally ill and people in a drug rehab program -- with others who were just stranded, including tourists, locals without a car and even some car owners who couldn't find gas. After the storm hit, there was even a lull in the action, and Annaruma called Arlington Heights to tell his mother he was fine. But then the floodwaters rose, and suddenly it was a life-and- death struggle. The people in the four-story Salvation Army facility abandoned the ground floor and moved upstairs. The men took the second floor. Women and children took the third and fourth floors. Extreme measures Supplies dwindled, and the Salvation Army major was forced to put a rationing system in place. But more extreme measures were needed. "We had to loot a Walgreens for water and food, because we had women and children," Annaruma said. "If it wasn't for looting, children would have died." By day, the folks at the Salvation Army would wave white towels from the roof, vainly trying to attract rescuers. By night, they'd shine flashlights. But the helicopters and boats kept passing them by, and no supplies were dropped. Annaruma said he saw 14 or 15 dead bodies in the neighborhood. Some of the residents began stealing food from the others and threatening violence, but just as the situation was becoming bleak, a Coast Guard helicopter arrived at the building Friday morning and methodically rescued everybody. That didn't end the ordeal. Annaruma said he and the others were herded about for hours at the airport before being put on a flight -- and weren't told the destination, San Antonio, until they were on board. After the plane landed in San Antonio, Annaruma said, he made his way to the train station, his mother wired him money for a ticket, and he caught a Saturday train to Chicago, arriving on Sunday. Where was the plan? Since then, he has been obsessed with the news, particularly this quote attributed on the first day of the hurricane to Terry Ebbert, chief of homeland security for New Orleans, talking about those who didn't evacuate. "Some of them, it was their last night on Earth," Ebbert said. "That's a hard way to learn a lesson." "What a crock," Annaruma responded. He acknowledges that ''maybe I acted a little bit too late'' in trying to evacuate, but he thinks the city should have had a plan in place to help those who couldn't get out of town on their own. That's not to say Annaruma didn't learn a lesson. "I'll guarantee you one thing," he said. "The first thing I'll do is buy a car." _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

I must admit, I don't watch that much TV anymore - that's what Tivo is for. But what the hell is this? Another reality show? _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

So why so few freefly teams this year? Seems the AE events overall have very little interest within the community to compete against each other. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

And this is the woman that raised our President. hmmm.... _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Why do people only put this much effort into helping others when a major tragedy strikes? (not aimed at your Rhino - just an observation after 9/11, the Tsunami and this). _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

I am not a fan of GW at all. I have no problem pointing out his screw ups. However, he is not responsible for day to day operations related to launching a relief effort. It is the responsibilty of the State and local gov't offices to take care of their own. The failure stemmed from complacency. It also probably had to due to lack of money from getting hit the last couple of years. On a national level, it seems that FEMA did drag its feet and that should be looked into as well. When a blizzard is headed towards the midwest, is it up to the White House to make sure salt/sand/snowplows are on the streets in the cities that will be hit? Of course not - it is up to the locals. At least in Chicago the residents vote against someone when they have a major screwup - we voted out a mayor that did nothing to prepare for a blizzard about 20 years ago. Now if there is a hint of snow we have 100% of our snow crews on the street putting down salt and plowing up anything that touches the ground. 28 inches of snow can fall overnight and the major roads will not shut down. Same thing for our heat waves - the city launches free cooling centers for anyone to go to. Why? We lost a lot of people to a major heat wave some years ago and the blame ended up at City Hall (not the White House). The blame game makes for some great press and that is why we see it as a hot topic in the media at the moment. Why? You can only talk about the flooding and show pictures when it will take a month to make any real progress. In the mean time they have the next 15 min of air time to worry about so they search for a topic. Remember, if it bleeds, it leads. Attacking the president makes for great headlines and gets people on all sides of the fence to pay attention. Those that fall victim to it are puppets. Bush is heading this up? Right. He will assign people to research and bring reports to him, then he will sit there, read them, and take credit for the results. I doubt he will do much other than delegate tasks for this. btw - this way off topic now. As I said before, these is nothing wrong with keeping communication lines open for only emergency response teams. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

I don't think cutting comm links is standard. Ask Florida residents on the east coast how easy it was to use their phones last year after the hurricanes. The gov't owns the airwaves - it is up to them to decide how/when they get used. The comms in Florida last year were disabled (not some high tech star trek jamming device). Lot's of people are trying to get comms in and out of a disaster area and can prevent emergency units from getting vital messages. Nextel has a contract with most local authorities and a few gov't agencies to shut down civilian comms and open up all channels ONLY for emergency services. This IS standard ops. This plan was implemented after 9/11 when NYC PD/FD could not get out comms because all channels were jammed with civilian calls. Those that bring their own form of communication, like the journalists, have no trouble getting out communication. High power transmitters on their vans help with that. If someone was trying to hide something, why would reporters be all over the city. Turn on any cable news channel and you can see them all fighting for a new angle, new picture, new story to lead off the next hour. Why would satellite images of the city be on the net already? Why would the Governor or Mayor want to block out negative images that will speed the up relief efforts and drive more financial aid into the city. If you want to see a conspiracy, you will find one. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

The levee money is a local thing, not due to the war. The State of LA should have taken care of it. However, they saw the initial upfront costs and always tabled the needed changes. To me it seems like simple math - spend $2 billion up front to avoid a $10-20 billion disaster. But, I'm not a politician and logic doesn't work in gov't offices. Thankfully California did not wait for Clinton or Bush to pay for retro-fitting buildings/bridges for new earthquake standards. I can't wait to see who the scape goat is for lack of organizing relief efforts before the storm hit the coast - it's not like this was a surprise. If we can't even mobilize with a 48 hour warning, how can we handle another terrorist attack, massive earthquake, or eruption? Look at that vinny - not one antibush statement there! I'm surprised there hasn't been a Kayne West thread yet. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Some are just to stupid. Loot at our own board here of people that lived in a possible impact zone of Katrina. How many said they were staying despite the warnings, etc? How many were finally swayed? Know anyone that couldn't decide if they should move on or not? The same goes for dz.com members that live in MS, GA, FL and TX. Over the 6+ years I have been on this site I have seen too many times "I'll just ride it out, I've done this before." (but then they turn around and tell friends/posters to leave when a storm is headed towards them - gotta love double standards) Everyone has their own reasons. They have the choice to put their life on the line. However, these people are also the ones we see sitting in a tree avoiding flood water after fleeing their house in the middle of a cat 3/4 storm. These people then slow down rescue efforts, make it hard to decide if they are tragedy exploiters, and keeps the right people away from areas that really need attention. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

During national emergencies communications is a must have for those organizing efforts. Nextel is alive because of a contract it made with local agencies around the country - they would shut down civilian comms until relief was fully up and running and people were safe. This is standard ops Rhino. How could they be covering things up when nearly every reporter/photographer trying to make a name for themselves is down there reporting what they are seeing. While the efforts took too long to get started which allowed violence to take foot in NOLA, this is not some conspiracy. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

And who said I wasn't relaxed? Stating a strong opinion I have is wrong now? And for what it matters - I don't care either way who is paying the bill. If it means my taxes go up a bit, it won't bother me. A couple bucks out of my pocket isn't that big of a deal when these people have lost pretty much everything. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Here again it shows how you are not comprehending that it has nothing to do with Athletics! No, you misunderstand. This has never been about athletics. It's been about the conflict of business and humanity. It's been about what comes first and how it is handled during extreme cases. YOU are the one that introduced the idea that I was ignorant to understanding the scenario. Apparently being a 'snow-bird' had some ability to blind me to what was happening - I wanted to point out that it didn't. I'm not the one that went on a tagent on how important one college game is to the South. Um, when did I say my cancelation was helping? What I was trying to point out is that I canceled my plans due to the ripple effect - it the big picture I doubt any one cares (even I hardly care). It doesn't help anyone...that wasn't the point Keith. I have done other things that I don't care to list to help. As far as calm - I am. You are the one that needs to toss out underhanded comments. Please reread your own comments and then take a deep breath before you hit reply. bah. now look - you got this moved to SC. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

The hospitality industry always needs to be flexable. It's good to see that once they took a step back and looked at the bigger picture they came up with a good middle ground. Emergencies test everyone. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Um, I understand business, PnL, ROI, etc. I also understand that any capitalist venture has risks - some more than most. No matter what a major dent will be made in our economy due to this storm. There will be a ripple effect. It has directly effected my job/business - but I won't complain about the loss of money. I will deal, adapt, and overcome. In the meantime I will do what I can to help. I'm even canceling my weekend trip due to fuel costs (OMG!) I pay my taxes for our administration to worry about the National Debt. I have my opinions, but outside of that I can't do much. We have no problem tossing around money to help with foreign aid. I have no issue with them doing it to save lives in this country. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

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