MikeJD
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Everything posted by MikeJD
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I agree she doesn't have a case to sue, but would you be so damning if she wasn't? Anybody can make a mistake, especially at night, especially in an unfamiliar environment with unfamiliar hazards. Walking into a spinning prop can hardly be compared with stepping in front of a speeding train.
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Dangerous cutaway parachute ... (article)
MikeJD replied to likestojump's topic in General Skydiving Discussions
My local DZ did have a case of someone being injured (albeit very mildly) by a cutaway tandem canopy. It landed in his garden, and if I remember rightly one of the risers/ rings caught him in the eye. He must have chosen the wrong time to look up! We shouldn't just dismiss the impact that cutaways and off-landings can have on non-jumpers. Of course we try to avoid them for our own safety, but we're not the only stakeholders. Imagine a chopped canopy draping itself over a car travelling at speed. It'd be a freak occurence, I know - but it would be a pretty serious issue! -
"Thou shalt not bear false witness." Just sayin'...
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Even I thought that was funny.
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There's no basement in The Alamo. Oh sorry, wrong thread.
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That feeling of dread is 'normal' too, Nat, and people have been reporting it for centuries. Even more macabre, there's a very common hallucination that involves some kind of malevolent creature sitting on your chest while you're paralysed. Unlike some people, I don't believe this is evidence of actual demonic activity! But it's fascinating nonetheless to read about how similar people's experiences are. I don't think I've suffered from sleep paralysis - but like everyone, I guess, I've occasionally woken up from a dream feeling very uneasy and found it hard to go back to sleep.
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Nice idea for a thread, Wendy!
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Lack of knowledge sharing in any industry is a blight, but then so is the overhead of producing, reviewing and wading through reams of documentation that nobody will ever read. Lots of people seem to be favouring an online wiki approach now, and that seems effective to me. It's quick and easy to add knowledge, it's intuitive to follow paths of links to find the info you're looking for, it evolves naturally and it fosters discussion and peer review without becoming a burden.
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I still prefer 'numpty'.
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Do you mean in lucid dreaming, or in regular dreaming? Because for me dreaming invariably involves places and people I know, but there's always something different about them which might only seem strange on waking. One thing that fascinates me is that locations and people in my dreams might not resemble their real-life counterparts at all - so that in waking life you wouldn't recognise them, but somehow in your dream you know it's them. It's as if you have a subconcious narrator who tells you what's going on, even though you'd be in complete confusion if you were only reacting to the dream experience. For the most part, the dream worlds in Inception did appear too 'real'. I think Nolan's justification for that was that when you're dreaming even the most outlandish stuff seems like normality. It's doesn't really work, but I think you'd be hard pushed to produce a coherent action movie without that compromise.
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Speaking for the foreigners, we leave when it's time to go to the airport and there isn't really any flexibility around that.
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I've looked into it, including some of the techniques used to induce it. It's certainly a fascinating idea for us - witness the popularity of movies like Inception. Would be a wonderful gift to be able to do it at will, but I don't really have time in my day to keep asking myself at regular intervals 'am I dreaming right now?' and all the other stuff that's supposed to train you for it.
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My current bugbear is people complaining about how movie producers ruin books . The book is the book and the movie is the movie, and the two types of media call for different approaches. I think it's almost better to think of them as unrelated - people are spoiling their enjoyment of films adapted from books because they're not accepting the films on their own terms.
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I read the first one recently. Thought it was just ok, but had a bit of a 'young fiction' feel about it. Then I discovered that it was supposed to be young fiction, so it went up in my estimation.
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By 'Bicester' I guess you mean Weston-on-the-Green. Sadly that's been closed for the last season or two, as the RAF owns the land and hasn't renewed the lease for civilian jumping. Weston is much missed and I hope it'll reopen at some point, but don't hold your breath! Meanwhile Headcorn probably is within reach, or alternatively there's Hinton. For a small island, we're actually fairly well served with places to jump.
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Newbie Question (take it easy!) Done Tandem but AFF...
MikeJD replied to shorehambeach's topic in Introductions and Greets
Then I reckon Headcorn will be your nearest. However, Netheravon (near Salisbury) should also be within striking distance and is a great DZ - I'd recommend that. Sadly learning in the States may spoil you a little, and won't prepare you for the joys of dodging the British weather - but it's well worth it for the sake of fast progression. Hope it goes great while you're out there! -
Wanna BASE HUCK or Skydive from a Paraglider!?!?
MikeJD replied to Boeris's topic in General Skydiving Discussions
Sadly expression of public opinion is now just another internet commodity, hijacked by entrepeneurs as a means to promote themselves and/ or make a fast buck . Online (com)petitions are something of a joke, I think. No matter that I sympathise with the cause - if I was on the USHPA board I'd scoff at the fact that a few thousand people (and/ or their scripted bots) had been mobilised to add names to a web page. The upside of this is that making a little more effort makes you stand out from the crowd. I say if you want to be heard, write an email - or better still, a letter. -
In a word, yes! Sorry about that, though. Didn't happen on my watch, mind you.
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I seriously have no idea what you're talkin' about. Ah, sorry. Plastic Paddy = wannabe Irish.
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Is it Plastic Paddy time again already?
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Just so long as 'send' is a separate and distinct thought process. Otherwise I predict a sudden increase in failed relationships and careers.
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Other problem you might have is a premium hike for your dogs, if they are already getting on in years. The insurance company will likely sting you for the very reason you now want to take out a policy - because your pets are at increased risk of needing treatment, and the insurers haven't had the benefit of raking in your money while your dogs were young and healthy. I've paid out a lot more to insurers over the years than I've ever claimed back. In general I only take out policies now where it's a legal requirement (e.g. for driving, or as a condition of a mortgage), or I really couldn't afford to pay for something myself. Otherwise I'd much rather put the money away. If I need it, then it's there to spend - if I don't, then it's still mine.
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Some years ago Caroline Aherne was interviewing Debbie McGee, wife of British TV magician Paul Daniels and 20 years his junior. One of her questions was 'What first attracted you to millionaire Paul Daniels?' Personally I've never forgiven Dick Van Dyke his 'cockney' accent in Mary Poppins, but good luck to him and Arlene. And hey, she'll be able to keep him looking young as well as feeling it!
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We all live in houses like that, you know.
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Call me old-fashioned, but surely trolling while telling people you're trolling = trolling FAIL.