Zennie

OK lessee, back in the mid 80s I was listening to... Zeppelin Doors Floyd Hendrix Bob Marley Joe Satriani Sabbath Ozzy Maiden Priest Crue Dio Def Leppard (pre-Hysteria) Scorpions Heaven (there's an obscure one for ya) Accept Whitesnake Deep Purple I don't listen to any of that much anymore. I get bored with music easily so I try to keep up with the new stuff... SOAD Staind (though their new CD is lame) Slayer (never too old for Slayer ) Evanescence Primus (when I'm feeling weird) Tool I'm getting bored again though. Need to find some good up & coming hard bands (Linkin Park just doesn't do anything for me). - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I honestly don't understand what people saw in the "Use Your Illusion" albums. First time I heard it I said "God this SUCKS!". So I popped in Master of Puppets. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Since the vast majority of my jumps are at night anyway , we go through glowsticks like crazy. Then we found the LazerBrite and I haven't bought a glowstick since. An electronic glowstick... why didn't someone think of it sooner? Plus it can convert to a flashlight in seconds. This would be really nice on the plane. No more cracking glowsticks 5 mins before jump run & worrying about blinding each other. Just turn it on right before you go. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Another good resource are urban explorers. Getting into places they're not supposed to is sort of their specialty. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Ummmm... guys.... scoopthis is a spoof site. Like the Onion. Still pretty fscking funny though. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Amen my Libertarian brutha! - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

From the subject I thought this was going to be about BASE jumping, still your sentiments are timely. I was thinking about this very thing just yesterday. Up until now, the thought of me being seriously injured or killed really hasn't sunk in. For some reason it did yesterday. Nothing special happened, I wasn't out jumping and I really haven't had any close calls or anything. But I started wondering "What if something goes wrong on a BASE jump and I wind up quadriplegic?" It's funny. The thought of death doesn't bother me, but the thought of paralysis really gave me a "Holy Shit" moment... thinking about the costs not only to myself but to my family & others who care about me. I'm guessing everyone goes through this. But it was a real eye opener & totally unexpected. As far as Jame's incident goes, my condolences to his family & friends. I've flown both a Jedei & a Vengeance and yes, they fly very, very differently. The Jedei has a control range that is very narrow & deep in the stroke. It's extremely difficult to dial in. Much more than a Vengeance IMHO. Not knocking the Jedei, but what I read is consistent with what I observed. BSBD - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Just dandy! Why just this morning I went for a nice little stroll in the park, mowed the lawn, washed the car, flew a kite... - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

What if you still do both? I think it depends on the skills of the person. Some are just naturally good swoopers but would not have an easy of a time BASE jumping. The reverse is also true. I personally think swooping is more dangerous. My roomate, who does competetive swooping, thinks BASE is more dangerous. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I never weighed in on the last one, but yes I think I would have. I think skypuppy is dead on in noting that risk & fear aren't necessarily directly proportional. Like others have noted, you can't beat the visuals. And you get the visuals with risk or no risk. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Sha-weeett!!! - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Well, under the terms of the poll, I had to say 2K. But I'm with base704. I was testing out my Ace at the DZ one day. Had it freepacked in a skydiving rig and was doing some hop n pops with it. So the pilot takes off and starts his turnaround and asks "Whaddaya want? 3K? 4K?" I said "Nah. 2K is plenty.". The looks I got from the skydivers in the plane was priceless. Wish I coulda seen their faces when I jumped out and went into a track. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Like idiots who go hiking about an hour & a half before sunset, get lost, and realize they didn't bring a flashlight. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Thanks for the CFR cite, I was gonna look it up and throw in my $0.02 based on the actual language. You sure you don't have legal training Tom? Your analysis was so lawyer-like. I agree, the fundamental issue is the scope of the phrase "Delivering or retrieving" in 2.17(a)(3). In addition to the points you made, there is an interesting regulatory jurisdiction/enforcement authority issue that I need to think about a bit. When faced with a vague law/regulatory provision, Tom correctly looked to ascertain legislative intent. I worked for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources when I practiced law... which is the state counterpart to the Department of the Interior (my specialty was the regulation of surface coal mining)... so I did a lot of research along these lines. I always loved legal research & writing, and this issue is very intriguing to me. So I think I'll be bopping down to the local law library and do a little more research. If folks are interested, I'll write a little article when I'm done. I'm just a little leery of publishing a legal argument. Then again, if other people found it useful, the Interior Solicitors will see it at some point anyway. Personally though, I still think those guys could have made an argument that they weren't in violation of 2.17(a)(3). I could definitely argue it with a straight face. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I remember hearing about this when I was in Moab. I personally think they could have fought this, since they were "delivering" themselves onto BLM land, not NPS land. They say this like it's a bad thing. How can this be? How can people routinely jump BLM land without any sort of problems (definitely no more than climbers or bikers), yet we're a menace to NPS lands. Ugh... better get off my soapbox... - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Worse... with rifles. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Ya know, one of these days when I come back out from under my rock I'll get current again and join the cause. In the meantime, good luck to everyone. What's the current hybrid formation record anyway? - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Yeah, if I've learned anything by now, never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever bring your g/f to the dropzone... unless you like her being hit on nonstop by every guy in the place. BASE, man, it would be cool to have a BASE jumping g/f, but I think if it really happened I'd be a basket case every time she jumped. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I went with my original instinct off of the title, which was "NOOOOOOOO!!!!!". But then I saw the "locks of love" option and I think that's a very cool idea. Just looking at the pics, even 10" won't be too drastic for you and they would go to a very worthy cause. Come to think of it, you mind donating some of that to me? - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I have a Vertigo Warlock with the wingsuit mod. I don't fly wingsuits but I wanted the stiffened flap and open corner that the mod provides. My rig is currently packed, so I can't provide a photo (sorry dude, but I ain't unpackin' & repackin' just for a photo op ). But basically, when my rig is open I can lie it completely flat on the floor. There is no pack tray that sticks up. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I almost threw in Betty Page as well, but that would have been a no-brainer. So I decided to make it an either/or to keep it interesting. I have a few others. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

A little blast from the past... Betty Boop all the way man! - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

It's funny. That's exactly what I do skydiving and both of those have helped me in the BASE environment. Freeflying gave me overally body awareness and allows me to instinctively put myself in pretty much any orientation I want. This has saved my butt on at least one occasion. Plus we do tracking dives a lot. The swooping gave me good malfunction reaction and riser input instincts, which have also helped on several occasions. That said, accuracy practice & CRW are extremely helpful skills as well. Most anything you learn skydiving will be helpful in some manner when you move over to BASE. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Let's see... my friend's back yard, most gyms... - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Well, it doesn't apply in the present situation, but about the only time I stare is when I see someone and I'm trying to figure out if I know them from somewhere else. And usually they incorrectly assume I'm checking them out. Oh well. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon