MikeJD

Beautiful city, of course, but oddly marred by graffiti. I mean the whole place up to a height of 9 or 10 feet is smothered in scrawl. And the locals are a bit surly. I actually kind of like it that they don't feel they have to turn on the smarm, but if you're used to a high level of customer service I'd say you're in for a surprise. On the plus side, if you steer clear of the tourist areas then everything is cheap as chips.

Andy, despite popular opinion (often repeated on these forums), I don't think skydivers are a special breed. They're 99.9% regular people - and we all know that regular people can be idiots, especially on the internet. Don't get me wrong - I do feel a special affinity for others who share this passion - but there are plenty of them I wouldn't trust to do the right thing. I think you just set your expectations too high.

I can't access YouTube from work (can't believe it took them so long to get around to blocking it) so I can't comment on this version. But the Britney original - although annoying the first couple of times you hear it - really got under my skin after a few listens. I think it's a genius track. Seriously.

From my experience a full face helmet actually helps you hear voices in freefall. Obviously it attenuates all noise to an extent, but I guess not having the wind rushing directly over your earholes allows other sound to filter though that interference better.

I think men's main worry about baldness is its progression - not what they look like now, but what they'll look like next year, and the year after that. So I think the best 'cure' for baldness, for those bothered by it (not you, Twoply), is either to shave your head or cut your hair super short and then stop worrying about it. Low maintenance haircuts are seriously liberating too. No more queuing at the barber on the weekend when you could be jumping out of an aeroplane!

Oh, I hated that scene. Not just unconvincing in skydiving terms, but some of the worst blue screen/ green screen FX work I've ever seen! Quite liked the rest of the movie though.

If it was a holiday, we'd be happy. But it's just another working day. Even the Irish get to spend St Patrick's Day at home. Or rather, in a succession of pubs.

Yep. Cat people, keep an eye of the health of your little buddies, and even then treat them like they might not be around tomorrow. Both of mine (coincidentally) became ill around the same time with very little warning. I lost them less than a week apart after having them from kittenhood for 13 years. And next time you're confronted by a kitchen full of muddy paw prints, or teeth marks in the food you forgot to put away, or hair shed all over your favourite chair, take it from me - those are the first things you'll miss when they're gone. Oh, and take plenty of photos so you won't forget what lovely, lazy lives they enjoyed!

First major injury? Are you saying you've had more than one major injury in that number of jumps, or are you planning on another one?

Me too. It reminds me of my own cat who used to spot me coming home and would trot down the street towards me with this long miaow. Because she was running it had the same kind of effect on her voice. Always made me laugh so much. Unfortunately she had to be put to sleep just last week. But when I remember her, that's the thing that will always make me smile the most.

Just another insulting formula show, edited to make the participants seem even more annoying and caricatured than they are in reality. Best I can say about The Apprentice is that it's provided some great material for Harry Hill's TV Burp - which is about the only thing left that's worth switching on for.

Reminds me of the stories of people receiving radio broadcasts through their dental fillings. Apparently this is quite possible given the right conditions. Imagine how annoying that would be. Your speaker problem doesn't seem so bad now, huh?

That is bad news. Sounds like an excuse to introduce yourself to your new neighbours though. Ask them to keep an eye out for your cat. You might even find he's been visiting one of them already!

Actually you need a doctor's signature at 40 and then you can self-certify for 10 years after that - which just means the jumper signing a form (annually?) to say s/he hasn't developed any prohibitive conditions in the meantime. You need another medical approval at 50 and subsequently every two or three years, can't remember which. It is of very dubious value, I think, and I know skydiving doctors who agree with me. But them's the rules. On the plus side, there are probably quite a few UK skydivers who've discovered medical problems (like high blood pressure) at 40 that would have gone undiagnosed otherwise. Of course, at the end of the day it's just a form and I know of people for whom a home-made rubber stamp and falsified signature has served just as well as a genuine doctor's endorsement.

Birds know why skydivers sing.

Definitely keep checking back at your old address, especially if it's in the same neighbourhood. If your little guy wanders in that direction he'll probably gravitate towards it. I too moved just a couple of roads away, and after many months of living at the new address my cat went missing briefly. I found him sitting at the front of my old house. He seemed convinced he was in the right place, and even though he clearly knew me I had to carry him back to the new house held tightly inside my jacket and protesting loudly all the way! As others have said, it's good to have a signal that the cat associates with being fed. I used to whistle in a distinctive way and, so long as they weren't too engrossed in something, mine would always come running. If it was at night I'd shake the box of cat biscuits instead so as to be less annoyance to the neighbours. Good luck finding him. I don't agree with those who say all domestic cats should only be kept indoors, but then I do live in a pretty quiet neighbourhood and there seem to be nearly as many cats roaming around as people. I would say if you're going to let him out then make sure you keep up to date with his innoculations, since cats can be fatally infected by contact with others, especially if they get into fights. I doubt leaving food out will help - it will just attract other animals of all sorts.

There must be thousands of bits of music that do this. I like the way it can be just a few seconds of a track, even just a single line or a chord change. And even in a song you don't otherwise like. These come to mind straight away - be interested to know if anyone agrees: Martha Wainwright's Ball & Chain. The lead in to the chorus with those escalating piano chords - ('Why does this always happen?') Britney's Toxic. I hated this when I first heard it, but within a few listens I thought it was genius. There's a breakdown at the start of the final chorus, and then back into that fantastic groove. That's the bit that does it for me. Goldfrapp's Lovely Head. The one with the whistling, as used on some TV advert or other. The whistling is shivery enough, but there's a noise that appears after the first verse (about a minute in) that sounds kind of like distorted electric guitar, but I think is actually her voice put through a guitar effect. Still unsettling and beautiful after a hundred replays. John Murphy's In the House - In A Heartbeat. First heard this on a car advert but it's from the 28 Days Later soundtrack. It's got a really simple motif but it just keeps building through the track. Dramatic and compelling.

Damn i have not heard/seen the name Hazel O'conner since breaking glass, didnt know she was even still alive

I think the doppler effect might help you here. The bad news is that you can't use your horn until you're already passing the observer, and you're going to have to drive very fast indeed.

A few thousand miles away in Liverpool, England. While Kentucky was being devastated by tornadoes, we probably had a little light drizzle as usual. We had an earthquake in the UK in February that measured a whopping four-point-something on the Richter scale. Chimneys got cracked and everything. Made the news headlines for days on end. Natural disasters don't feature much in these parts.

I should think with a broken clavicle she's probably avoiding hugs of any kind. Get well soon, Gail.

I got vertigo just looking at those pics. So no, I wouldn't dare.

I like the heat from the exhaust on a cold day when you're waiting to board. It's a fine line though - you have to find the sweet spot where the warm exhaust gas overrides the cold prop blast.

I think that should be, "Fall through the harness with Freud". I can see why he's reluctant to reach up for the toggles.

If I had to pick one TV show that gives me that 'just shoot me' feeling, Big Brother (the UK version) would be it. I don't even belong in the camp that says it was good to begin with, but has outstayed its welcome and got more desperate with each series. I always hated it. So, um, no, I don't watch Big Brother 9 - . Although I think we do get it over here on one of the minority channels.