Skwrl

As usual, Lurch gives wise advice. But since some of the people who are lurking are probably going, "Great, but WTF is a Gainer?!?!", let me give a more basic/n00b explanation. I couldn't find it quickly, but Dave Gerstein has a fantastic photo of me getting kicked in the face by Danny Mattox as I did one wrong, so I know how not to do them. Basically, on a tailgate plane, as you exit the plane, keeping your armwing closed, you flip backwards and open your legwing. This causes you to do a backflip, usually resulting in you pointing more or less straight down. Open your armwing and you level out... It's a pretty cool visual, as you can see here (from Matt Hoover's pics): http://www.matthoover.com/gallery/skydiving-photos/2008-08/2008-08_p12.html#navbar (showing J-Sho, Rick Hough, Nebelkopf and Lurch diving and Steve Harrington right in the door). You can also see a momentary clip of Andreea Olea and Ariel McManus doing one at 2:35 here: http://www.youtube.com/user/huxley71 Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

Oh, I agree 100%. Christ wouldn't agree, but that's a different issue. You're not the first person to have pointed that little logical conundrum out. However, if you read it in the context of the rest of the Synoptic Gospels (Matt., Mark, Luke) you start to realize that Jesus wasn't seeing that as a problem since the arrival of the Son of Man (note - distinct from Jesus) was going to happen at any moment back then ("this generation shall not pass..., etc., which was retconned to mean something other than what it says later on). In that context, your conundrum was a non-issue. For the time being, be as "lillies in the field" (if you have nothing) and give it all to the poor (if you have stuff). Since the Son of Man was due to arrive at any moment, it wouldn't require wealth to be created.... Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

What I posted ("socialize risk/privatize profits") was sort of a joke referring to the various bailout programs under both the Bush and Obama administrations... Like all jokes, it has a certain element of truth to it, but.... As for socializing health care, the reasons are incredibly complex, but my guess is that any health care reform we see in the next few years will look like the Massachusetts model - mandatory universal health insurance with government-sponsored insurers for those who can't afford insurance otherwise. Unfortunately, it doesn't address the real problem with health care, which is increasing costs. The increasing costs come from a combo plate of the demand for the highest possible quality of health care coupled with the increasing cost of providing that care. (For those who thought I was going to blame the evil pharma companies, the cost of drugs, both patented and generic, OTC and prescription, is 10% of the total cost of healthcare - but it tends to be very visible to people because often a large chunk - if not all - is paid by the patient). BTW, I an not saying the Mass model is great (or horrible), but I am guessing where it is all going. Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

No, you've got it all wrong. In the US, we socialize risks and privatize profits. Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

Ummm.... Christ's teachings on economics were far closer to socialism than they were to capitalism. Jesus sought out the poor, particularly those enslaved to debt and his message was meant specifically for them as well as a criticism of the wealthy elites. "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors", leaps to mind. Some popular Jesus stories have economic themes; the young ruler who seeks eternal life in Luke... which leads Jesus to encourage him to 'sell all you own and give to the poor.' Another is the Good Samaritan, in which an unlikely foreigner becomes the hero, pays money out of his own pocket to care for the injured Israelite he finds on the road-side... The way we think of wealth today not really connected to Jesus' message because we assume that wealth in the property of the individual without connection to a larger community. Luke 12 tells a story of Jesus in which he tells a parable of a successful businessman. He is so successful that he cannot find enough room for all his harvest. So he goes on an expansive building project to protect his wealth and plan an early retirement. In our terms, he's a capitalist success story. He did what we see people do with their wealth all the time, expanded, invested, and used for his own benefit. Jesus told a success story for today... except that Jesus does not let it stay a success story. He says God calls this man a fool. He has only considered himself and the use of his wealth for his own benefit. Luke 16 contains the story of Lazarus and the rich man. The rich man eats wonderful food and dresses in the finest clothes. We are not told that he was a bad guy. Lazarus sits outside of his gates and waits for the scraps from his table. Both men die. The rich man lands in torment and Lazarus at Abraham's side. The rich man's sin, as far as I can tell, was willful ignorance of the suffering of the poor. Jesus urged his disciples to think of wealth in terms of the community as opposed to the individual. Wealth was a tool for communal good instead of individual right or good. I think Matthew 25 fits into this ethic: salvation is given to those who have fed the hungry and clothed the naked. So, I'm going with "no."

Jarno, that only would have been "sick and twisted" if you had him holding the Model 27X pneumatic-powered Hulk-brand Ass Blaster. The Model 25 electric-powered Ass Blaster is way less powerful... I mean... umm... Or so I'm told... Then again, I suppose the electric model would be more appropriate, since you can calibrate it more accurately and get the L/D (length/depth) readings Yuri seems to be obsessed with. Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

That's a very cool design! Well done. That... is... awesome... Scott, I always suspected you were a pretty butterfly deep down inside... Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

I've said it before and I'll say it again: grandma and grandpa were an absolute hoot. Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

I just challenge you to do better because I know what you're capable of... Normally, your troll-fu is impressive... I don't want you slacking... Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

I give your troll a 6 out of 10. I've seen you troll much better than that on this board in the past... Are you feeling OK? Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

For tandems, does the D license rating apply (i.e., does the BSR provide for no specific dropzone size for tandems)? Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

It also has Purple Mike not geeking the camera. That's as rare as a Yeti sighting; it has to be worth something. Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

Where does the leprechaun go, then? Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

Fan-fucking-tastic. Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

Great pics, Matt! Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

I'm spot focusing on an object typically 5 feet away; my understanding (I am a camera dummy) is that that's what I should be spot focusing on. Is that right? I can imagine that I would have screwed up exiting that dialogue wrong once, but I can't imagine that I'm doing it repeatedly. Dunno. Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

MTV is still on the air? Huh. Who knew? Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

Hi all, I've been spot focusing my CX7 prior to wingsuit jumps, but finding that the camera is going slowly increasingly out of focus as the jump progresses. (In other words, the picture starts as sharp and then gets blurry the longer into the dive you go.) I have it mounted in a Tonfly, so there's not much (if anything) exposed. Thoughts/suggestions? Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

What a fantastic boogie! Jason and Viv put on another great event! We had incredible weather, great flocks and a huge amount of fun. Huge thanks also to J-Sho ("J-Sho for sho in 2020"), Scott Bland and Jeff Nebelkopf for organizing amazing flocks that kept people of all skill levels challenged and having fun. Highlights for me were the flocks to the beach, including two from high altitude. I even got to try out the XS on one of them. (As an aside, holy crap that's a lot of suit - it's like the old Yakov Smirnoff line: "In Soviet Russia, wingsuit flies you..."). Another favorite was a double rodeo with incredibly hawt chicks in bikinis as riders. (Damn you, CX7, for being out of focus.) Joner owes beer for his first time as a horse - although he needs to work on his passenger ejection seat, since it was the most unceremonious dump of a rider I've seen.

I got all excited for this link, and then I realized it said "cloud", not "clown". Looking forward to jumping with you in the spring, Lurch; you'll be missed in PR. Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

Not me, man. I don't discriminate. I dislike all of you equally.

Why don't we just get a lift from the folks that we got one from last year? http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/bL-0EN6aAkHrB8Pb3axw4A?authkey=HhFm_f34Gg0&feat=directlink Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

Last I heard, there was one WS manufacturer that was working on a tandem wingsuit, but it has been "on the drawing board" for a long time with (to my knowledge) no sign of launch. Personally, I don't think it would work well at all, and likely to cause incredible problems while not giving the "experience" of wingsuiting. If slow fall rates are what you want, tandems are a bad platform to start on (you need a drogue to slow the pair to standard freefall rates). If forward motion is the goal, you'd have the same drogue holding you like an anchor. A better approach woud be to get your license, put in your 200/500, and do it the right way. Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

Well, I, for one, hate sans serif fonts! How dare they fail to take into account the eye pleasing nature of the serif, which allows text to be read far more elegantly and smoothly than those horrid sans serifs like Arial. Dear Lord, how did the possibly let that slip by! I shall boycott this until there are serifs and even ligatures! And I'm sure there are other flaws that are equally as horrid as sun glasses and fonts! Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

I didn't know Skittles swung that way. Justin, on the other hand, I figured. Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork