jimmytavino

We have done a poor job of stepping into the 21 century, in terms of our energy consumption and the variety of our energy sources. Scientists, geologists, the oil companies today have a pretty accurate idea of the volume(s) , location(s) and ease of Aquisition of most major oil fields on this planet and concur that they are dwindling....We have know of this for decades.. Most of the world has become dependent for their fossil fuel, on countries which "have the oil", countries which are learning the definition of "greed", countries which have the infrastructure and facilites to exploit that oil, countries which are located in a part of the world which is becoming chaotic, countries who have struggles enough, between their own indiginous populations....... And THEY set the price which we, like the fools we are,,,, simply "belly up to the bar " and pay... I live not far from Niagara Falls and since the time I was 8 years old was impressed with the fact that We cound get Electricity from a waterfall,,, a neverending waterfall.. Hydro-Electric was well received and it opened the door for for us to begin to consider other sources for power... I think the key is to put everything on Electric, and then find and utilize ALL the ways we now have to create and store electric. We've come well away from the days of burning coal ( solid fossil fuel) for power. We should have been lessening our uses of oil ( liquid fosssil fuel ) , and of natural gas and propane ( gaseous fossil fuel), these past few decades. Instead we have increased our consumption even in the face of lowering supply . Had we moved more toward electric and been willing to build the generating stations it would take, we could have come into the 21st century, in a much different way. Wind, Solar, Water and Nuclear generation stations can all create electricty.. Clean electricty, a power which leaves no residue, no exhaust, no carbon monoxide output. Well we were told the wind is too little, solar is unreliable, water is limited, and nuclear may "someday blow Up and explode the surrounding area in a Mushroom cloud of devastation" ( such hogwash ) and so we reduced our interest in these areas and just stuck with "Gas and Oil".... and now look where we are!! Our leaders may be to blame, especially the ones lately, who have been "oil men" their whole lives....dunderheads!!! But the people as well, may bear some of the blame by benignly plodding along, accepting the seeming ease with which gas is available to us, and burning it up even as we are throwing our 20 and 50 and 100 dollar bills down some oil well on the other side of the planet... I've always been an advocate for change, well thought out change, not just hasty impulsive change, and I hold out some hope that before i am outta here....this world will make the changes needed to insure it's future... Soooooo, there's your sunday morning sermon Now I better go check to see if the bacon is burning!!!!!!!!!! jmy

hmmmmm could be Yes.... could be NO!!!!!

good ideas...an overview of the area above which we soon hope to be under canopy, is essential... I would also step back and observe... I'd be looking for how students and First timers are being treated. I'd be watching the staff members to see if they are happy... pleasant.. friendly.....

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hahaha... very good...

. It seems to show that ruthlessness is common to many and that seemingly unrelated occurences have indirect and unanticipated impact on other occurences.. The fact that the younger brother prevailed allowed the gas and oil "business" to proceed as usual.. The Damon character and the "older brother" storyline did offer some chance at sensibility, some hope that ALL is not evil.... but as is usually the case.... "the good" get disregarded, fail to prosper, indeed risk their lives... I thought it was simply to save their lives... No??? Right from the get-go when his character realized that there were TWO rocket fired weapons in his most recent 'assignment' , rather than one... he seems worried about "What will become of this second ordnance ? " He shows that he is a G-man with a conscience... so we root for him,,, and later when he realized that HE had been betrayed he puts two and two together and is simply trying to save the motorcade....... But as I say.. it's really the kind of movie which must be viewed a number of times..... THAT WOULD BE A START TO ME UNDERSTANDING IT!

I did see the movie a few weeks ago... it seems like there are a number of different plotlines, somewhat interwoven... It's the sort of movie that you DO need to see twice...in order to figure out some of the connections between the various plots and characters... That part of the world is chaotic and wild,,, and NOT in a good way..... Mix in radical devotion to some suppossed "cause".. and the fact that many many individuals are at a loss as to the purpose of their lives, and those who can be manipulated and yes even brainwashed,, find themselves in bad and serious situations,, which have lasting impact, beyond the seemingly small acts which some of these devotees carry out.....Mix radical passion, ( misguided or not ) with access to explosives and with some religiously dictated need to "be part of something" and murder and mayhem will ensue... What a crazy part of the world.... ( which the US may or may not have helped to create)....It is scary. The US ( i.e. the Bush Admin. )seems to play by the message.... we must round up and remove the terrorists.... In fact the terrorists are like a nasty hornets nest....leaving it alone and playing defense against it's attacks,,, That is,, working on preempting their plans..... seems to make a lot more sense to me,,, than does running over there where we don't belong and are not welcome, and hitting the nest with a stick,, and then scratching our heads, and wondering why "all the hornets are scattering from that nest and flying off to sting people here there and everywhere " ......Of course that may be simplifying things.. but from the perspective of those foreigners....WE are viewed as invaders, troublemakers and Targets!!!!! Oh and peacefuljeffery,,,How could you not like Clooney,, Must be you haven't seen his fine work, in OH Brother Where Art Thou??? hahahahaha . jmy

.... we feel like this >>> ...... when those we love , leave us..... .... we feel like this >>>

Actually it wasn't too bad. I have tried exiting at 13 k @ -25 Celsius (that's -13 F for you Americans). This was nothing like it. Probably not worse than -15 Celsius (5 F) or so. Edit: Fixed Fahrenheit conversion. Re: cold weather jumping.Some of the DZ's I frequented,, would run right through the winter, in this rough Western New York State area,, where the Great Lakes tend to lay lots of snow. The paved runways were plowable. So we jumped often in the cold. Seneca Falls, Finger Lakes, Roch...... I had a stretch of 8 or 9 years where I had jumped every month in succession with some of those jumps in real cold. I enjoyed flying my canopy on those days and hop and pops made sense.. Be careful of the accumulating effect of the cold,, especially if you're doing 2 or 3 60 and 70 second delays.. Since dressing against the cold is necessary, try to keep it non-bulky... layers of effective insulation will alllow your "feel" for your rig to be more like you are used to.... Look for gloves which are warm yet thin , to facilitate deployment.. And of course,, be sure to have a warm warm place indoors for between jumps...

If you decide on an otter, get the 200 series or 300 series, ( Super OTTER) as they have the bigger engines and will fly more loads/ hour or more loads/day.... which is especially important if you host a boogie with lots of attendees, and you only have the ONE aircraft. jmy

As pointed out, you are exiting at what is usually breakoff altitude... except you aren't at terminal v. so you DO have plenty of time to properly accomplish it. Concentrate completely on the exit,,, and settling it out. Don't let yourself and your teammates feel rushed.... You shouldn't feel rushed when exiting at altitude??? right??? so don't do it here... Grin, enjoy the last part of your downward acceleration, actually listen to the wind noise and then split....You'll be able to track hard, continue grinning and deploy safely..You won't be getting in the basement. The temptation to "turn 4 points" Is great...... but you must fight it, grasshopper.. Many hop and pops have gone 15 seconds or more ( and at that point, you are really moving.)and if you start out low (exit) you could finish low.. especially if you take it to terminal. Be safe have fun.. I like the idea of 4 or 5 exits whenever the ceiling is limiting the altitude... If you get 7 or 8 grand then sure,,, work it !!!

An Old Timer is an active skyiver, still to this day, who was or is.... 1. inspired to begin jumping because of "RIPCORD" 2. made a dozen or so jumps wearing a pair of Sears-Roebuck grey-striped 'mechanics overalls' 3. Skydived many many times wearing a BELL motorcycle helmet 4. Thought a cessna 180 or cesnna 182 was a "big" airplane.. 5. Remembers the reality of 3 dollars to 3 grand and five bucks to "altitude" 7-5...... 6. Knows what 'flaking a cheapo' means and was around, when the term PC ran a shiver up your spine. 7.Remembers when Most skydivers were construction workers or motorcycle riders or college students or their respective girlfriends.. you know,,, NON 'professionals' 8. Knows what "standing tension" means 9. Knows what a bungee is and knows what NOT to do with it.... 10. Is intimately familiar with the terms Pioneer 3 pin, Stylemaster, thunderbow, minisystem, sweethog. 11. Spent more $$$$ on a great dinner with friends, after making 5 jumps,,, than what the jumps cost. 12. USED to do 'normal things' on the weekends. 13. Can assemble a shot and a half setup, properly, with thier eyes closed. 14. Can RELEASE a shot and a half setup,, simultaneously AND not panic,, while doing it during a malfunction 15. Busted 1000 feet while still in freefall, (sometimes with friends along as well ) and then sucessfully managed to avoid the DZO the rest of the day. 16. knows how to land, "backing Up". 17. REALLY paid attention to the training which emphasized the Dangers of the sport and of being too cavalier about it. 18. Aparrantly learned well, cause they are still kickin' it, and lovin' every minute of it. 19. Someone who if asked to "go make up some WDI's", knows HOW to do it.... 20. Someone who has hand propped a single engine plane at least 10 times... "HOT" !!!!! 21. Someone who remembers "rings and ropes" AND can explain the supposed engineering concept behind it. 22. Someone who laid base for the newbies, for NO $$$$$ whatsoever, paid their own slot, grinned as wide as the newebie, when they all landed and understands the idea. of Staying in place ,, during a jump. 23. someone who make seem OLD but who carries youthful enthusiasm with them each time they board a plane. 24. someone who is wise 25. someone who has a pair of Para Boots, still kicking around in a closet. 26 someone who remembers Accuracy meets, and maybe won one or two in the 60's and 70's. 27. someone who was jumping when many were in diapers and will STILL be jumping, when those same Youngsters buy thier first pair of ADULT diapers.... 28. A Blessed person,, who has been privledged to have 'seen it all' and has experienced and indeed contributed, to the evolution of our sport. 29. Someone who DOES have respect for ALL the disciplines of today, and who admires and emulates those who persue new ideas. 30. ME ......

Back in the Late 1960's one of my buddies on the JV football team at our High School.. managed to hit the vending machine Jackpot, frequently.... It was done in such a way that it paid off a few times a week for weeks at a time... Candy AND Money!!!!!!

I view my gear as an intimate partner in my skydives, and as such it deserves my respect and, well, love. I feel that knowing how to pack it, and packing it every time is an intrinsic part of skydiving. - I am one of about 6 videopeople at my club... When the day begins you can be sure that we are allll really busy.... BUT... I won't use that as an excuse to have someone else pack for me.... ( Though friends often DO offer...)

. . . no fair your jpeg is not from a skydive...... if someone does a bungee jump, they get what they get... including sometimes, a disconnect

well then that is a great job of 'framing the subject' !!!!!

When the parachutist arrived with the photo taken from behind that formation, i absolutely noticed the 'extra' canopies, one at the bottom and the one at the top,,, peeking out from behind the top 4 way diamond....

Yes 5 reserve rides in 34 years... 525 jumps.. 1976 ..cutaway a tangled French Papillon in a mini-system container shot and a half capewells chest mount reserve with a kicker plate 26 foot navy Conical reserve 800+ jumps... 1978 trouble extracting the handle of a belly band mounted pilot chute, during a hop and pop. pulled a blast handle 26 ft round reserve

Use a carry on bag of an appropriate size... I take the video cam(s) off the helmet and the still camera also gets disconnected at the quick release. Then you can pack the cameras into the inside of the helmet and pad them with cloth or any other padding of your choice... If the bag allows for it,, pack the charger, lenses, extra batteries blank tapes and dubbing cables in there as well... Keep the camcorder near the top,,, in case anything catches your attention while you are enroute through the airport, or pre flight or even during the flight ( if you can be discreet about it.. ) Then the video cam is good to go and easily within reach,, without having to hold the entire helmet in your hands.. Expect some attention when you go through security and explain that it is a "sports related helmet cam"..if asked . I try to say as little as possible about 'skydiving' to the security people but answer any questions they may have honestly and briefly..If possible size your carry-on so that it fits Under your seat instead of having to stash it overhead. While i might trust my rig to "checked baggage" .. I would never leave my cameras or the helmet in their charge...

re: Weapons of Mass Destruction Ironically, it turns out that the Only WMDs were the missles, rockets, shells and other assorted 'ordnance' which came from USA aircraft, Naval vessels, and ground forces ...and hit with "pinpoint precision" . Ask anyone on the ground and in structures which were blown to smithereens, people who watched buildings crumble and loved ones die,,,, whether the destruction was on a "mass" level??? or not..... ...( there's no question they are weapons ) "What's good for General BullMoose is good for the USA" Al Capp....lil' Abner