nicolesheridan

I live in Castaic. I jump at Taft (1 hour away) and Perris (1 and 1/2 to 2 hours depending on traffic). I love the area. SInce my work takes me to the San Fernando Valley, downtown LA, Malibu, etc., I am never more than an hour and a half away. The beach is anywhere from 45 minutes (Ventura) to and hour and a half (Malibu / Point Dume / Zuma). Castaic Lake is here and Pyramid is 20 minutes away if you are into boating, fishing, jet-skiing, etc. You can go skiing or snowboarding at Mountain High which is one hour away, and there are tons of places to ride horses, shoot, dirtbike, etc. Housing prices have gone up significantly since I built my house 4 years ago, but the surrounding area has grown so much as well. I can't believe the number of stores, restaurants, cafes, etc. that have come into the Santa Clarita / Valencia area in the past few years. The only drawback is that there is not much nightlife here, but there is plenty within a short drive. PM me is you have any questions. I'd be happy to help you out! "People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But, the self is not something that one finds. It is something that one creates"- Thomas Szasz

Thanks to everyone for all the info so far here and in PMs! Maybe we will have to plan a few trips now

Has anyone participated in any of the intensive 3 - 5 day intensive skills camps (S. Blincoe comes to mind)? I was wondering how valuable your experience was. I would think that so much learning (tunnel, canopy skills, freefly coaching with in air radio comm., etc.) in such a short period of time would be very valuable, but I can also see how it could be overwhelming. My husband and I are trying to plan a "skydiving vacation" and were looking at various camps that are offered. Any input would be appreciated

If you just can't stop yourself from using some "flashy" editing techniques, save them for the title sequence. That way you can "show off" all the cool things that you can do and then show off even more your restraint in not using them in the body of the video.

Marc Marc had the Pac in for service the minute he received word of this. I believe all that it required was changing out some of the bolts. At Taft, we carry 17 jumpers with no one flying right seat or 16 with a right seat flyer. 8 will get the Pac in the air. "People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But, the self is not something that one finds. It is something that one creates"- Thomas Szasz

.I see that you met Vlad (the trapeze instructor). Isn't he the greatest? Ever since my husband and I came back from the first time we went to Hedo (a year ago), we have been flying trapeze once a week in LA. Vlad got us hooked

A "day on set" =s exactly what it sounds like...you get to come to set, hang out, meet the people, watch a movie being filmed, eat some free catering food, and go home having done something that not alot of people have. Maybe you would get lucky enought to be asked to do a small "acting role" which is different than a "sex role" in the adult industry. A day on set is something that the larger companies (the ones that I work for) will sometimes offer up for a charity auction to benifit our adult industry testing center. I've never seen one go for less than $500. Now, I'm not saying that I believe what I am offering is worth $500, but it does give some reference point. Thanks for all the PMs. I'm so not worried about guys like Mark. I deal with them all the time and the funny thing is that they are the first ones to start fawning all over me when they are out of the public eye. Also, if everyone liked me and respected me despite my chosen profession, I might get a big head "People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But, the self is not something that one finds. It is something that one creates"- Thomas Szasz

Paige, we just started flying in the tunnel at Perris about two weeks ago. Oh my god...I am so hooked. The only thing that sucks is that Perris takes so much longer to get to than Taft, but I'm going to try my hardest to get there 3 times a month. If we are ever coming to FL, I will PM you and maybe take YOU up on YOU'R offer. Thanks! "People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But, the self is not something that one finds. It is something that one creates"- Thomas Szasz

Fluffers? OK, that is such a "Boogie Nights" perpetuated myth. Nowadays, a fluffer is a Viagra, your hand, and some lube while the girl looks bored and keeps saying, " are you ready yet?"

I wasn't sure if I should even jump in on this. It seems a little weird to have people taking a poll on whether or not I am really me, but I guess in some twisted way it is flattering. If you've noticed, the only time I bring up what I do is when the topic somehow relates to porn ("anyone have porn to trade" and a thread about wearing makeup that talked about whether men prefer the natural or "porno" look). I love what I do, EVERYTHING I do, adult films, photography, skydiving, trapeze, raising my dogs, etc. I just happen to talk about and be very open with the things that I love. Like someone said, hopefully the only thing that matters here is that my husband and I are skydivers and down to earth people that you'd probably really enjoy spending time with

My husband and I are both adult film stars. We have more porn than we know what to do with. If anyone is in the So Cal area, we are willing to trade movies or even a day on a set for some freefly coach jumps. We are so thankful for the world that skydiving and skydivers have introduced us to, it would only be fair to introduce skydivers to our world :-) "People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But, the self is not something that one finds. It is something that one creates"- Thomas Szasz

On my third jump of the day yesterday, our entire load was pushed by uppers and we all landed out. Unfortunately, the only safe place for me to land was on a four or five foot wide strip of dirt between some railroad tracks and a 15 foot deep trench that paralled a road. After a downwind landing (couldn't get turned around in time to avoid a low turn...tried to start my crosswind leg at about 500 feet and got thrown about 20 feet sideways), I was just turning around and pulling my steering toggle in when a huge gust of wind came up and next thing I knew, I was being thrown down into the trench. I learned a valuable lesson and will disconnect my RSL once I have a good canopy abouve my head in windy conditions from now on. I don't know if I would have actually had time to cut away after landing and before getting thrown, but I know now how hard wind on the ground ccan throw you even after a successful landing. Anyway, question is about elbows. Today I am pretty sore all over with a few minor bruises and abrasions, but I'm a little worried about my elbow. Immediately after the incident, I noticed that my motor function in my right hand seemed a little slow or "off" and my hand and forearm were tingling. As the night went on, swelling and pain developed in the elbow. I thought that I had just really whacked my funnybone and that I would wake up today sore, but functional. Today, my arm feels fine when I am not moving it. I can bend it a little past the 90 degree point (enough to hold a fork in it and bend my head to my hand to eat). I can't get close to touching my shoulder though. I notice that I can not lock it straight, but it hangs with a slight bend. It is not painful to try to straighten it and in fact my husband was able to straighten it manually without me feeling any pain. Could swelling alone from soft tissue damage cause this? Has anyone experienced an injury like this before? I hate to go get an x-ray as I feel like I would be in much more pain if it were broken, but considering the fact that I am right handed, I don'twant to wait if it could be something more serious. Any coments would be appreciated! :-) "People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But, the self is not something that one finds. It is something that one creates"- Thomas Szasz

Mike is not coming to Taft this winter because we have a Pac 750 XL now. Give Dave Crouch, the owner of Taft, a call and see what he says about the age thing. I know that we do tandems at 16 with both parents permission. Check out: www.skydivetaft for contact info. "People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But, the self is not something that one finds. It is something that one creates"- Thomas Szasz

Yes, and I totally agree with you. Just as we humans should be judged on our bahavior and not on our sex, religion, race, etc. dogs should be judged based on their behavior....period. "People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But, the self is not something that one finds. It is something that one creates"- Thomas Szasz

No, you are looking at two different things. The scores you listed are for temperament testing, not for actual bites. The other study (the Texas one) is the one that placed Goldens above APBTs as far as ACTUAL bite occurences. There is also a listing in my vet's office of reported dog bites per year by breed. It is cross referenced by number of dogs of that breed registered in that given year (so all dogs are purebred...this does not cover mixes or mutts) and then assigns a percentage to each (ex. x% of all Basset hound bit a human in a given year). This eliminates the problem of "well there could be more of this dog breed than that, how do you compare?" On that list, APBTs have been listed below 20th every year for the past four (that's as long as I have been going to this vet so I am not aware of info before this.) I will see if they will fax me a copy of this list in the next few days. While I agree that a bite form a Pit or any other large powerful dog is probably going to do more damage than a bite from a small dog, it does not mean that these dogs, when raised properly (like any dog) are more viscious than any other breed, As far as a nature vs. nurture arguemnet goes, remember this breed was created to fight hence the dog agression they exhibit. They were not bred to be aggressive towards humans and in fact the opposite is true. Of course, you can train this quality into any dog, but it is not something that is in the bloodline of PUREBRED registered APBTs. The only point I am trying to make in my posts is that APBTs should not be lumped into one big group and be made monsters of. Statistics show that these dogs score as well on temperament testing and rank lower on bite indexes than dogs of many other breeds, yet people continue to pass on inaccurate information regarding the breed, incorrectly identify dogs involved in many attacks as "pit bulls" when in fact they are not purebred dogs of any kind, and make a general media monster out of the entire breed. "People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But, the self is not something that one finds. It is something that one creates"- Thomas Szasz

Farmers Branch, Texas, a suburb of Dallas, has kept accurate records since 1980. During a 7 year period from 1980 through 1987, this is what was recorded. Total bites: 1,593. Pit bulls, 30 bites, or 1.89% of the total (or 96th on a list of 100 breeds). Other studies tend to show the same results and because of so many mongrels that have similar features and the unfair lumping in with the American Pit Bull Terrier ( APBT ), it seems reasonable to assume that the figures are actually much lower. The American Temperament Test Society continually ranks Pits better in temperamnet than many other breeds such as the Airedale Terrier, Basenji, Beagle, Bichon Frise, Border Collie, Chihuahua, Collie, Dachshund(4 of 6 varieties), English Setter, Lhasa Opso, Pomeranian, Shar-Pei, Shiba Inu, Shih Tzu, Schnauzer, and Toy Poodle. Check out: www.atts.org. "People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But, the self is not something that one finds. It is something that one creates"- Thomas Szasz

"Those who are not familiar Pit Bulls have jaws that will lock shut, allowing them to shread the hell ouf of who ever they are attacking. " It is ignorance like this that continues to perpetuate the stereotype that Pit Bulls are "killing machines." No breed of dog is physiologically capable of locking their jaw. If you spoke with any vet before making such a statement, you would realize it's absurdity. Like children, the way a dog will behave as an adult is a combination of nature and nurture. A dog of any breed who has been abused or neglected as well as a dog who has been trained or encouraged to behave viciously is going to behave in a very different manner than a dog who has been raised with the appropriate amount of discipline and love. Pit Bulls were originally bred as fighting dogs. They fought bulls, bears and other dogs. During this training, they were also bred NOT to bite any human, be it the opposing dog's handler who had the right to inspect each dog prior to a fight or an individual breaking up the fight. They were NOT bred as protection or patrol dogs. As a result of this original breeding, Pit Bulls can be dog aggressive and any responsible Pit Bull owner is aware of and deals with this in their own way. Those who don't should be punished just as a parent who knows their child likes to play with fire and gives him a lighter anyway should be punished when that child burns down the neighbors house. In the case of Pit Bulls biting humans, know that there is usually a back-story that the media does not expound upon. It is more sensational to say "Family Pet Mauls Child" than to say "Neglected dog kept on a 6 foot chain in the backyard for three years because family didn't have time for it with new baby bites child who repeatedly poked it in the face with a stick while said child was left alone in the years unsupervised." While it is true that the number of fatal bites is greater among large powerful breed breeds, data from CDC studies show that small dogs such as dachshunds, cocker spaniels and even a Yorkshire terrier have killed humans. In Los Angeles last year, a Pomeranian caused fatal injuries to a 6-week-old baby in her crib. "Bites by Chihuahuas are probably as numerous as bites by German shepherds," says Bonnie Beaver, executive director of the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists at Texas A&M University. It makes me sick when I hear stories of parents telling their children never to pet "that kind" of dog when what they should be teaching them is to never approach any strange dog, ask the owner of a dog on a leash whether you can pet it, etc. ... these things are common sense. Much of society seems to accept this, but what if that same parent was overheard telling their child instead of "don't talk to strangers," "don't talk to that kind of person" (referring to a certain race or ethnicity). Why is bigotry OK when we refer to animals that we created? Why is prejudice OK when we are referring to a breed with the word AMERICAN in it's name? During WWI, an American Pit Bull Terrier named Stubby was the wars most outstanding canine soldier. He earned the rank of sergeant and a medal for warning of a gas attack. Teddy Roosevelt, Helen Keller, Thomas Edison, Sir Walter Scott, and Fred Astaire all owned APBTs. I have no problem with saying that both the dogs and owner's of the dogs in this case should be held accountable, but to make this a "Pitbull" issue is just wrong. I would be surprised to learn that the dogs were even UKC / ADBA registered purebred Pit Bulls, but more likely some sort of a mix commonly referred to as a "pit bull." I bet if it had been a Golden Retriever that had done this damage, the headline would have simply said "dog" instead of the breed and that there would be no commentary of "locking jaws" and breeds with" a "tendency to attack." In a seven year study ranking the likelihood of 100 different dog breeds to bite a person, the APBT ranked 96th, more than 50 places behind a Golden Retriever. Something to think about ! "People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But, the self is not something that one finds. It is something that one creates"- Thomas Szasz