PLFXpert

What I have seen in the news related to skydiving (particularly my local news and you and I both live in FL--also one of the swooping meccas), other than the Today show doing a highlight of swooping & high-performance canopy flight, are skydiving deaths & injuries due to airplanes crashing & some non-swooping related incidents here or there. And then there's America's Funniest that always shows something here or there, but still nothing (that I've seen) swooping-related. Now, I'm NOT saying this means swooping is safer--not even a little bit. What I AM saying is due to the Today show and other similar media spots dedicated to the POSITIVE aspects of skydiving (i.e. non-death related reporting) featuring swooping, blade-running and the like, the public has been given an alternative to all the other stuff they're used to seeing in the news & media about skydiving. Before swooping, it wasn't too often the media featured a world-record jump or anything else positive other than death-related reports. Now on all sorts of channels, I'm seeing skydiving--particularly swooping--shown in a positive light. The number of skydivers decreasing and the interest in the sport are NOT mutually exclusive. Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back.

Awesome suggestion, but I think it's more appropriate for Australia. (I read "Australia", too, at first.) Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back.

Banning, restricting to turn ratio--I'm not for either. But, you raise an excellent point. I brought the article & this thread to Billy's attention we he got home. For those who don't know my best friend & lover, BillyZ--swooping is, and has been from its beginning, his passion. Neither of us have jumped too often recently, but of his more than 4,000 jumps, he started swooping at around jump 500. And likely only didn't start until then b/c swooping was in its infancy back when he started. His thoughts (and I'm paraphrasing) were more or less there should be a swooping area, separate from the other landing area. It would even make sense & be acceptable to limit swoopers, if intending to swoop, to hop-n-pop. Given the stats & incidences, swoopers don't need to be jumping at the same altitude & same time as other jumpers, but especially do not need to be landing in the same area.

And that was exactly my point, too. Again--funny thing about opposing sides. In my same post you responded to & quoted, I addressed this. With the swoopers going elsewhere and the increased interest in our sport due largely to swooping, it is my opinon ultimately the DZO who bans or restricts swooping will loose money. You stated you believe the increased interest is due to accessibility of tandems. The extreme increase in interest, however, is new. The accessiblity of tandems is not not. Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back.

I don't disbelieve your conversations & observations. I also don't deny the recent, vastly increasing interest in our sport--again, due largely to swooping & like disciplines. It would seem many more spectators are "impressed" than not. Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back.

Is it your belief that someone represents the majority of swoopers? I absolutely agree.

Either way (and both apply), my point is made. It's also interesting that many canopy instructors are swoopers! Interesting many students & plenty experienced skydivers seek their advice & instruction for their own safety & understanding of canopy control. Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back.

I, too, do not understand the coorelation some make b/w swooper & lack of respect for others??? Nor do I understand why being a swooper or supporting the discipline must mean one doesn't care about those who have died as a result of the discipline. I absolutely care, and don't want to see people die unnecessarily anymore than the next person. I can only speak for myself, but would venture to say most swoopers feel the same way. Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back.

The sport of skydiving has evolved. "Die" is used figuratively and refers not to the swooper. Furthermore, the original poster spoke purely from a business perspective. From a business perspective these "high-speed approachers" WILL go somewhere else. Spectators will follow. Swooping is one of the few skydiving disciplines that spectators can actually watch firsthand. There is more spectator interest in our sport than ever before largely due to swooping & like disciplines. Interested spectators = more tandems. Tandems make profit for the DZ & DZO. What Germain means by "not a crime" is it is not illegal. So long as it's not, people will find places & means to continue doing it. And so long as they do, what exactly is being prevented overall? I would much prefer such a discipline be done in an already well-established, respected & regulated DZ myself. But...to each their own. Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back.

I absolutely agree. I disagree, however, with your business standpoint. From my business perspective, if I were a DZO today, not only would I allow high speed approaches, I'd want to host the competitions for such. From a personal perspective, I agree with Germain's assertion that "if my behavior does not have an effect on anyone else, I should be allowed to continue to do what I am doing.." But I disagree with his use of "should be" allowed in this scenario, given one's actions at a DZ are on & using the DZO's property. It is absolutely the decision of the DZO--for better or worse and despite what I think about their decision either way. And for the record: In general, I believe one needs to evolve, adapt or die; figuratively speaking. Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back.

It's one of my favorite movies! Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back.

Oh, I absolutely expected it to be violent. I wasn't expecting it to be a constant struggle, one thing after another, after another, after another, not even a second to take a deep breath and exhale. So many details to pay attention to and pick up on. It's not just about blood & gore; every detail was well-thought & interesting to pick up on. I remember reading an article back when the movie first came out that historians were quite pleased with the film's degree of accurate representation of this ancient civilization. And the acting, of course, was fantastic! I was pretty surprised I was that interested in the movie the entire time. I'm not usually a fan of violent &/or gory films. I'm not even a huge fan of action/adventure (though there are plenty exceptions I really enjoyed). Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back.

"..A lot of people, that's their story. Good times, noodle salad. What makes it so hard is not that you had it bad, but that you're that pissed that so many others had it good." Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back.

Me, too! Literally. It just released on DVD this past week and Netflix sent it right out to us. From start to finish I felt like I was going to throw up. It wasn't the gore in and of itself so much as it was that coupled with the emotion. The emotion involved and not being able to relax for even a brief second was too much for my belly. I never did vomit, but I'm certain I would have felt much better if I could. I mean that seriously. I felt sick the whole time, though I couldn't close my eyes or turn my head. The only part I did not watch was just after the jaguar mauled one of the "bad guys". Those who've seen it know what happens next and as strange as it sounds I watched the rest, but could not watch that part. As opposed to Olivia, though, I WOULD recommend this movie. It was EXTREMELY well-done and unlike anything I'd seen before, which was ironically refreshing. I REALLY appreciated the very beginning. In just a short few minutes, the audience was already given enough information to care about the initial characters & appreciate their way of life and respect for everything. And what I loved most was how unknowingly prophetic this tribe was to what has indeed evolved to be our world today. The conversations, the stories, everything. Thank goodness for the beginning of this movie. It was so necessary. What I mean by that, is so many movies today I can watch from the middle to end and not be lost, still have enough info to figure things out, care or not care about the characters and still understand the meaning (or often lack thereof). W/out the beginning to this movie, however, the rest of it would be almost meaningless. I love that.

Excellent idea! We wanted new carpet in all the bedrooms and decided to wait until after we adopted Cruz. He only pottied on the old carpet three times (and a couple times on the tile--but that's an easy fix) before he learned he should go outside. He's never gone inside again since. And so six months after we adopted Cruz we finally got our new carpet. Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back.

I am a clean FREAK in my own home (dirt & chaos doesn't bother me at all in anyone else's home though). For some reason, though--my furry babies can do NO wrong. I recently sent an e-mail to friend's and family titled "Sabre's custom furniture designs"..."Price upon request"...then included a picture of the side of our new couch & of course, a photo of "the artist". My friends & family, especially my grandparent's LOVE getting my stories. Thank goodness I bought the $5k couch for only $500. We have nice furniture, but none of it did I spend a penny on. All hand-me-downs, gifts & Billy's mom happens to LOVE estate sales. I don't think I ever could spend a pretty penny on furniture anyways. The only thing in our house off-limits to the animals is my closet. And even that is not always off limits. I've found Sabre dangling from a silk-woven sweater. And when we adopted Cruz the first thing he did was put my very pricey brown leather platform in his mouth. Just when I think I care about my things, Sabre, Cruz or Zoe' will look so cute and innocent destroying them and I can't help but laugh. I can't remember ever being upset over anything they've destroyed. Having said all that, though. I think we're VERY lucky. Cruz sticks to chewing on his nyla bones. Sabre--most of the time---sticks to scratching on his post. If it weren't for some toys scattered about the floor, a dog bed or cat house in the corner of one room, you wouldn't even know we had three, very precious & spoiled animals. Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back.

It's called "Connoisseurs".

It's not electric. Just liquid inside a plastic container lined with a strainer and has a handle to pull the strainer out. There's one for gold, and a different one for silver. They come in different sizes. I bought the large which holds everything at once.

I have this polisher I bought at Stein Mart a LOOOONG time ago. I used to wear a lot of silvery jewelry in high school. I still have all the nicer pieces--most of it's turquoise which I still love. I like this polisher thingie (don't know what to call it) b/c I can literally dump everything in this canister filled with a liquid, wait 20 seconds, then lift up the strainer thing from the middle and all my pieces are beautifully polished. Then you just rinse in warm water and either let them dry or dry them with a soft cloth.

My mutti likes spoons. I have two of her spoon rings, which are sterling silver and have these intricate designs in them. I don't wear jewelry often, if ever so I haven't worn them since high school. But, I still love them. They're so unique.

Just looked at both hands. Both ring fingers are the exact same height as my indexes. So, the study must be true. I'm one of those people who excelled in both Math & English. Science was my weakness. Biology, bio-technology, anatomy--these things made sense. Chemistry, often physics (though I always got the math right), etc....I don't know. It's like Billy can understand the dynamics of air and how his canopy works and why it needs a cell here or there SO easily. I'm confident he could engineer his own and it would work beautifully--it's so obvious & interesting to him. Me? No idea why there's a cell divider in there somewhere, just thank God someone does and miraculously mine works. Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back.

Saw it. I agree. I gave it 4/5 stars. My ratings are as follows: One star--didn't finish it/sucked enough in the beginning to not further subject myself to the torture. Two stars--probably finished it, but not guaranteed and hated myself for wasting the time. Three stars--finished it. Was good/OK. (I rate nearly every movie a three or less.) Four stars--finished it. Liked it. Would watch it again for free. Would not re-gift it if given as a present, but wouldn't buy it myself or watch it more than a couple times. Five stars--Loved it. Bought it. Have/will watch it a billion times.

I've been on a billion cruises. I love them! I haven't been on one since I met BZ. We've been together seven years this year. He has never been. He's quite skeptical. We will go on one together w/ friends soon. There is no "structured" environment. There are a lot of things going on at all times and then there are special events; you get a schedule and you go or don't. It's like anything else. You don't have to do anything at all. Or you can do EVERYTHING. I played Bingo on my Alaskan cruise--my first time playing Bingo for money. I won $100! I never win! Alaska was also my favorite cruise b/c our boat was the same boat they use in the Caribbean in the fall-season so the crew was also the very same. The bar outside manned by the Jamaican bartenders was always empty (keep in mind this was Alaska--not a lot of people outside unless near land) except for me. Oh my gosh, did they teach me a thing or two. SO much fun! Weren't a lot of other teens so the crew on the ship was the closet thing. Anywho...I've thoroughly enjoyed every cruise I've been on. I even got certified to scuba on my first Caribbean cruise. We spent the first two days at sea and so the first day we did the classwork, second day in the pool, and by the third day (our first day near land) I was scuba-diving all day in Jamaica! Yea, I love cruises.

I'm excited. What I don't understand is why some believe the end leaves no hope? I won't give it away, but I know how it ends and??? Seems like either I'm nuts, or others misunderstand and/or misnterpret the meaning. But again, I'm watching it tonight for the first time and... 'Course, I have been called nuts before. Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back.