narcimund

Sorry to say, we were planning on going this weekend but work is kicking our asses. First Class Citizen Twice Over

Then think about the data acquisition biases. You walk through life noticing "That obviously lesbian couple fits my preconceptions about obvious lesbian couples. Check!" It's like saying, "Every building I've seen that was built in the 1800s is still standing, so most construction in the 1800s must have been very strong." What you've noticed is the 2% that were strong, not the 98% that escaped your notice. If television told you all left handed people are redheads, then you went through life noticing all the redheaded lefthanded people, you'd have missed the others. And that's fine in the case of redheads because there's no stigma. But it's not fine when people use those data biases for public policy decisions that restrict people lives. And my point is that's exactly what's happening. For the record, there are SOME lesbian couples that have a more "masculine" partner and there are some that do not. Some lesbians use "appliances" and some do not. Some are obviously lesbian and the others don't get noticed on the street. Some gay men pair up in couples with a more masculine partner and some pair with similarly masculine partners and some form different kinds of partnerships from time to time and some don't pair up at all. Some gay men like to receive anal sex and some like to be tops and some like both and some like neither and some change their mind day to day depending on their mood. Blue guy over there answered you with humor and lightness. I answered analytically. Imagine that. Gay people are DIFFERENT from each other. Gosh. Just like straight people. Go figure. First Class Citizen Twice Over

Lessee... someone walks up to you with a mess of unflattering, unjustified, and untrue preconceptions then draws a ridiculous conclusion from them and you think the best response is to just answer, "Yup" or "Nope"? Personally I see them as hopeless and the only useful experience to be drawn from it is to learn more about the dynamics of ignorant yet opinionated yahoos. Don't get me wrong! Answering "Yup" or "Nope" is probably harmless and keeps everyone's spirits high. First Class Citizen Twice Over

First you wrote: Then you also wrote: And maybe it's just too early in the morning for me, but I'm speechless. You don't know any homosexuals, but you still claim enough experience to know about most of them... What is it about sheltered straight people that causes their minds to operate this way? I seriously think it is exactly this behavior that is the root of ALL the anti-gay nonsense. "I don't have any actual information," they think, "but somewhere along the line I was introduced to a whole package of incredibly unlikely, comically bigotted information which I'm going to take as gospel and form life-shaping opinions from." It wouldn't occur to them that their preconceptions have zero credibility. They spout them with 100% confidence even though they at the VERY SAME TIME say, "And I have never met any." All I can say to you is, "I've never met someone from Tamaqua, Pennsylvania but I've noticed most Tamaquans eat their own babies so how come?" First Class Citizen Twice Over

This is trivial. Item (2) is a contract between the partners to have joint ownership. Joint ownership of property is well established in law, both in and out of marriage. The mechanisms for splitting jointly owned property are not dependent on marriage. One negotiates either with or without mediation. When that fails, one goes to court for a judgement. First Class Citizen Twice Over

Marriage is composed of the following elements (in no particular order): [OL][LI]Interpersonal agreements between willing participants to act and feel in certain ways to each other [LI]Agreements between willing participants to treat certain property rights jointly. [LI]Enforceable obligations among willing participants to pay money to each other under certain conditions [LI]Freedom from certain legal proscriptions against acting like married people, for instance by having sex (rapidly diminishing in modern times) [LI]Possibly a bond with God which sanctifies (4) [LI]Use of the word "married"[/OL] (1) and (2) are entirely personal and under nobody's control except the participants. (3), and (4) appear to be government roles. (3) is simply a mutual support obligation however, and (4) is all but obsolete. (5) appears to be under the control of churches or of God. It has nothing whatsoever to do with government. (6) is linguistic, so it's nothing more than how the word gets used by the masses. Except in France, government has no role in setting linguistic usage. Which parts should government dissallow for gay people? Which parts should government dissallow for threesomes? First Class Citizen Twice Over

It's all about you. All about you. Everyone say it together now: "It's all about jumprunner." And since it's all about you, is it possible there is more than one WAY to talk about women? Perhaps there are ways that make people think "stalker, lonely, desperate" and other ways that make people think, "balanced, mature, playful, self-confident, sexy"? First Class Citizen Twice Over

It's very important to spontaneously defend your heterosexuality in any conversation about other people's homosexuality. Nobody was thinking about you, but you should still step in and defend yourself. Make it EXTRA clear in graphic detail over and over even if nobody was thinking about you in the first place. That'll convince everyone. It'll convince them of SOMETHING. First Class Citizen Twice Over

Absolutely not. Gay men REFUSE to hang out with anyone who isn't a sex partner. What possible other use could one person have for another? First Class Citizen Twice Over

Maybe we need little pink triangle icons next to our nicknames. First Class Citizen Twice Over

Closest DZ is also the biggest: Skydive Oregon in Molalla. 45 minutes SE of here. Skydive Todelo isn't much further north. First Class Citizen Twice Over

I do know Stuart is right. First Class Citizen Twice Over

I'll be very interested to see if this turns out to be true. What enforcement action has been taken? The debate has already been fought in Incidents about what enforcement the FAA -CAN- take against this DZ. I'm curious what settled out in the end. Since Ron doesn't want to say it, this is the DZ that crashed their Caravan earlier this year. The plane was being rented illegally to the local police for a prisoner transportation flight when it went down apparently from contaminated fuel. Nobody was hurt but the plane was damaged and hasn't been seen on the field since the accident despite rumors that it was being repaired. If it is true, it's always sad to see a DZ close. Many jumpers considered it home and will miss it. But I believe this DZ brought it on themselves. And it's less sad than it might be since there is another DZ twenty feet away if the Wrights' customers still want to jump. The cross-DZ atmosphere on this field have always been somewhat tense, and I'm sure many of the Wright's regulars will feel loyalty constrains them from moving next door, but hopefully they will recognize that the owners were in a simple business-to-business competitive struggle and band together without hard feelings. First Class Citizen Twice Over

I've made two dinners involving the grill this week. Both were spontaneous and original and unusual. Leg of lamb: Rub a butterflied leg of lamb well with a dry mixture of: Black pepper, sea salt, coriander, cloves, cumin, caramom, nutmeg, cassia, allspice, peppermint, and savory. Let sit for 8 hours. Start the grill with real mesquite charcoal (for god's sake don't use petroleum briquettes!). Add some wood. I used cherry wood. Saute a couple of onions with caraway and thyme on slightly higher than normal heat. We want a LITTLE browning as they soften. Add a head of cloves of garlic and 6 tomatoes and cook until saucy. Meanwhile grill the lamb. When the sauce is ready, add a big old pour of pomegranite syrup (from middle eastern shops) and another of saba (dried nebbiolo grape juice) from italian shops and a generous pour of GOOD olive oil. Blend until smooth. When the meat is well-blackened, slice thinly and place the slices gently in the sauce. Simmer without stirring for 10 minutes. (Don't stir or you'll knock off too much of the charred spice mixture.) You want the silky sauce to absorb into and soften the impact of the dry rub. Edited to add: Oh yes. I also topped the plated meat with deep fried whole sage leaves. I fried them in ghee which gives them a remarkable nutty flavor. I also drizzled the flavored, now-green ghee over the plates for richness and color. -- Grilled Bouillabaisse This was a fairly standard bouillabaisse with sauteed fennel, garlic, onions in a fish fumet/tomato/white wine/saffron broth. For added flavor I used star anise, black pepper, and several sprigs of fresh oregano. For seafood I used halibut cheeks, prawns, sea scallops, and snapper. The difference is I grilled the halibut, prawns, and scallops over a HOT smokey grill first. When everything was spotty with char, I slipped it into the soup and simmered for a few minutes, added a big splash of Pernod, then served. The smoked flavor and crusty texture transformed the soup into something showy and unusual. (Don't try to grill snapper. It will disintegrate. I just dropped it into the soup uncooked and let it cook there. Also, be careful to UNDERCOOK the grilled fish. You want the skins to char before cooking through if possible. Let the soup finish the meat.) First Class Citizen Twice Over

My 6 BASE jumps to date have been hand-held short delays off a highly publicized, widely-known, tourist attraction of a legal 486-foot span with a massive landing area and a boat for water landings. I suspect the risk of these jumps, when carefully planned and executed, is comparable to high-risk skydives like CRW (which I also enjoy.) I have no plans to perform BASE jumps with massively higher risk levels than these. I don't expect to freefall 180' Bs with required 90-degree turns into concrete parking lots for instance. Or have low-pull contests with Aussies. Or try to out-track ledges with still-drying wet marks on them. I'll leave that to others. I agree with Doug that fear is somewhat independent of risk. I get sufficient fear just from leaving solid ground. I don't need to add limitless risk on top of that. If I could magically surround myself with a Do-Not-Hurt-Me field before every skydive or BASE jump, I would gladly do so. I'd be much more inclined to do silly jumps then. As long as I'm fantasizing, I'd like to also have a Do-Not-Arrest-Me field. Then I might consider some of the more outlandish homeland-security objects. First Class Citizen Twice Over

There aren't a whole lot of us outspoken enough to chat about it online. I bet some quick organizing could get a small gay-way together for WFFC though. It might just be 4 or 5 people, but next year I bet it would grow. First Class Citizen Twice Over

You know, going into it I thought the same thing. But it really was a sweet, low-key ceremony. And the symbolism opportunities abound. Symbolism is always worthwhile in weddings, births, funerals, and other Big Events. It was also a fabulous opportunity for good press with the community. Three different newspapers had reporters there not to mention the "Weird Weddings" TV crew. First Class Citizen Twice Over

http://www.magicvalley.com/home/search/index.asp?DateID=7/6/2003&StoryID=4247&theDB=local_state_news&theIMG=LOCAL_STATE_NEWS&theQry=parsons From The Times-News Twin Falls, Idaho Sunday, July 6, 2003 Bridge jumpers dive into wedlock By Brandon Fiala Times-News writer TWIN FALLS -- They took the big plunge -- and then plunged again. Sandy Parsons and Spencer Bisley got married Saturday afternoon at the Buzz Langdon Visitor Center beside the Perrine Bridge. Then they took another big step, BASE jumping into the canyon. "We met at the Perrine Bridge about a year ago, and we've been together since," Parsons said Friday. The couple wore parachutes and jump gear to say their marriage vows in front of friends and family, then walked together onto the bridge, jumped into the canyon and landed in the Snake River nearly 500 feet below. A film crew working for the television series, "Weird Weddings," videotaped the ceremony. The show airs on the Women's Entertainment Network. BASE-jumping friends of the happy couple also took the plunge. A waiting boat took jumpers to a wedding barbecue. BASE is an acronym for building, antenna, span and earth. The Perrine Bridge is a popular spot because of its 486-foot height, and because it's one of the few legal places to jump in North America. Parsons, a 35-year-old marketer from Albany, Ore., said she had come to Twin Falls a year ago interested in BASE jumping. Though an experienced skydiver, Parsons had never BASE jumped. Bisley, a 38-year-old respiratory therapist from Calgary, Alberta, had been jumping from the Perrine Bridge for two years already. "Sandy wanted help," Bisley said. "It's a big responsibility to teach someone, but she had the necessary skydiving experience and the right mind-set. She did really well -- she's a natural." Just three months later, Bisley asked Parsons to marry him. "It made so much sense to get married at the Perrine Bride," Bisley said. The newlyweds will reside in Portland, Ore. The wedding attracted other members of the far-flung BASE subculture. "The BASE jumping community is pretty small," said Raistlin Majere of Portland. "Everyone knows about the wedding." "This wedding is different -- a fun twist," said friend Bryan Stokes, an Air Force Academy parachute instructor. "These two are very unique and it's a great way for them to start living their lives together." Bisley said the Perrine Bridge is the most jumped object in the world. "People from Europe have come here to jump," he said. "The town welcomes us," said L.J. Keogh of Portland. "We get motel discounts, free beer. Everybody here makes us feel good." Like most newlyweds, the Bisleys expect some ups and downs in their marriage -- many of them at the Perrine Bridge. "We'll probably come back a couple times a year," Parsons said. First Class Citizen Twice Over

"... the cradle of the best and the worst." -- Leonard Cohen First Class Citizen Twice Over

I'm assuming I won't be chastised for advertising since he asked. I own a webhosting and design company. PM if you want to know more. First Class Citizen Twice Over

Does this mean the boat is gone, or is someone else running it? First Class Citizen Twice Over

We just joined a 4-way team together. First Class Citizen Twice Over

The other option is to skip the FCC licence like everyone else is doing. First Class Citizen Twice Over

I'm wholly responsible for the ever-changing code behind a retail website selling over $5,000,000 per year. Lately sales have been $30k per DAY. There are usually dozens of simultaneous connections. The site breaks its own sales records 5 times per month. Every time I add/mod/del something and the site goes down for even a minute, I feel a twinge of what you mean. Last month for a variety of simultaneous reasons the site was largely unusable for most of a weekend while I was off skydiving. There was much remorse and self-doubt. First Class Citizen Twice Over

Many DZs have 10- or 20-page waivers with scores of paragraphs written in technical legal language. Do you read to comprehension every single line or do you just get the general idea and sign it? Discussion items: Do you think lengthy waivers in general get read and understood COMPLETELY by tandem students? Do you think jumpers who travel to lots of DZs are likely to read every waiver? Do you start reading carefully on page one then lose concentration before you finish? Note that I am NOT asking whether or not someone who signs a waiver without reading it should be held to its conditions later. That is a DIFFERENT question. First Class Citizen Twice Over