Zennie

K, srory, hvane't bnee in Tklabcak mcuh rcetnley. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer inwaht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae.The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm.Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, butthe wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Amen brutha. I've been very fortunate to have been mentored by a person (460) who cared about tradition and the pioneers of our sport. I'm also fortunate as hell to be in a city where many of those pioneers still live and who I've met on occasion. This sport has such a wonderful, colorful history. It's too bad more people don't make the effort to learn about the sport's history and get to know some of the "old school" jumpers. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Heh. Exactly. The question shouldn't be one of gay marriage, but gay divorce. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Hmmm. Not a bad idea. Good for clearing out a nice LZ as well. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Without getting into the "who invented it first" discussion, I'll just report what I learned this past weekend when RW came by with a Skyhook demo rig to the AOT boogie. From what the RW guy told me, the primary difference between the Skyhook setup & the Sorcerer setup is that the Skyhook detaches from the reserve freebag bridle (to handle main total malfunctions). I asked the guy what kind of distances they were seeing before people had a reserve over their head and he said generally around 75 feet (the longest they saw was 100 feet). So it sounds very similar performance-wise. I'd love to do an intentional cutaway with one from... oh... 250' or so. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Heh. With this crowd (present company included), if you tee one up like that it's gonna get knocked into the next county. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Oh, and C-4 works great on locked roof doors. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I will. The best way I've found to get past security is to create a diversion with concussion grenades & smoke bombs. Works like a charm every time. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Hey man, the pleasure was all mine. Thank you for finding the sweet A. How were the arms today? - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I know others will probably disagree, but this just doesn't sit very well with me... http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3626938338 - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Congrats my man! - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Ruh roh! - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Hey ferret, I've been PM-ing with Rodney about meeting up at a halfway point, wanna come along? - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

riggersam and I looked into flights into Boise and Salt Lake City. We opted for SLC even though the drive is a bit further. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Last year's BD was my beer-th BASE jump. I can't speak for anyone else, but by the time I got on top of the bus, and particularly by the time I got to the edge, I was completely oblivious to the crowd. Focus amidst chaos. Quite cool actually. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Any other BASE jumpers going to AOT? If so bring your rigs and let's have a little "after hours" fun! - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

No joke, Friday the 13th is my lucky day. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Speaking of which, me and my gf are thinking of going to Renaissance Festival dressed as a Goth Fairie and a Pink Flaming Necromancer. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

A flower child. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Everyone here has good advice. But I want to echo what Faber says about skydiving numbers. I've been in BASE freefall situations where I needed to react instnctually to weird body position issues (like being spun 180 degrees until I was facing the object, or over-rotating onto my back). I am 100% convinced that what got me out of those situations in one piece is the body awareness that one can only acquire through doing several hundred skydives. I had 400-ish skydives before I made my first BASE jump and I really think if I were going to recommend a minimum number of skydives, it would be closer to 350-400. You'd be amazed at the weird things you have to deal with quickly & instinctually in the skydiving environment (especially freeflying, where things can go to s#17 incredibly fast). I think these experiences will sharpen your mind and hone your overall awareness and reaction times. Plus, like many others here note, skydiving is fun! I love BASE, but I also love skydiving. They scratch two different itches. Just this weekend I got my first taste of Birdman flying, did a couple of fun freefly jumps and a really cool tracking dive. It's ALL fun! - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

LOL. Actually, I have been skydiving a fair amount over the past month or so. We just keep missing each other. I plan to be out this weekend, so it would be really cool to try the birdman suit. And yeah I'd love to do some ball jumps with you & Nick. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Hey Tom, congrats on 1K jumps! May your future jumps be exhilarating & injury free! I look forward to the day we stand on the edge together. You gonnna be at BD or the Turkey Boogie? bps: Drop me a note and let me know when you're gonna be in Houston again!

Hey Lew. Had losta things happen in a very short period of time that made absolutely no sense. It's been a good year since the last one and I'm *still* sorting things out. But in that time I've met a wonderful person who has gone through something similar and understands me. My point is, bad things happen, and it sucks at the time. But things sort themselve out in their own weird way and it *does* get better. My thoughts and best wishes are with you!

Hmmmmm.... didn't make the cut. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon