Eiley

Picton is having an Easter Boogie - I think it might be a $25 Madness boogie, but I'm not sure. Togoolawah has a learning curve camp the week before easter. nothing to see here

Found an interesting article called Capitalists on Steroids here: http://www.city-journal.org/html/15_1_capitalists.html A couple of quotes from the article: Is this true? Where does he jump? Not sure about this one... One thing I've noticed is that skydivers come in all shapes and sizes - it is the great leveller, because the surgeon/CEO may well be taking advice from the unemployed swoop guru. nothing to see here

Hey Russ, I have a photo of you from Picton... email me at [email protected] and I'll send you the New Years Eve photo album.

Ooh yeah, if you are going anywhere near Emerald Coast be sure to drop in. They'll let you do a jump onto the beach, where the Florabama pub will greet you with a jug of beer (at least that's how it was in 2002...)

Also, if they paid by a major credit card (Visa or Mastercard), I don't know how it is in the US, but here in Australia, you simply dispute the charges. Visa/MC reverse it and it is up to the vendor to prove the charges were legitimate. (Of course, if so proved, you not only get re-charged but also have to pay a fee for wasting their time). I would think that skyride wouldn't be too keen to have their fraudulent activities exposed and so would be unlikely to fight the reversal. nothing to see here

Mmmmmm.... sort of consistency of fish but tastes like chicken - very yummy indeed. Kangaroo is also extremely yum if cooked properly (very rare). nothing to see here

Stayed for a month on a kibbutz before they became available for tourists. nothing to see here

That's got to be one of the funniest things I've ever read. nothing to see here

Well, I trust I partook in your beer then! It would have been easy to do the whole Nox on free beer! All those kegs put on and every time Macca got pissed he'd put a carton over the bar... How good was the talent contest??? My two favourites were the two serious ones - Losty on guitar was just awesome - who'd a thunk it? - and Yobbo doing 'Wish you were here' about had me in tears. But then Hazel and her joke had me clutching my stomach with laughter. Oooohhh, I'm gettin' them post-Boogie blues again. I am totally going for the whole three weeks in 2006 - pre-Nox, Equinox and De-Tox! nothing to see here

Considering the injury Handbrake was walking around on, he did exceptionally well... though by that time none of us were feeling any pain. I spent a bit of time at the farm (and the loungeroom and the greenroom), wonder if we met? We'll make sure to keep a better eye out next time.

Hmmm... maybe our paths didn't cross then... I was usually just getting ready to go to bed at 5.30 in the morning! God those parties were good! Did you happen to catch the crate-stacking competition run by the Way Cool guy that began at about 6.00am on the Sunday after the last Saturday? I think the winner managed to balance on a stack of 13 milk crates! Mad Cow's commentary was gold! A bit peeved that I didn't win a single thing in the raffles (I was so sure that canopy was mine!) - especially since my friend won 3 times - and she won the wet t-shirt competition! I didn't do that many lobs, but some of the ones I did were of good enough 'quality' to get on to the Day tape - a 9-way wagon wheel, an awesome raft jump and Jim B's 80th birthday '80-way'. I soooo can't wait to get my copy of the Boogie DVD! nothing to see here

It wasn't quite as funny when the LO's played it over the loudspeakers at 6.30 in the freakin' morning though! My Nox rocked! How did yours go? Did I meet you? Nobody there seemd to have a real name! nothing to see here

My partner had a degenerative hereditary disease - a vicious, nasty evil disease. He watched his father die - over a protracted period - from this same disease. Watched it first take over his mental faculties, turning his brain to mush, making him incapable of reason, of recognising his family, and then his body, as he became a useless vegetable lying in a bed, in unimaginable pain, waiting to finally die. The process took years. There was no chance a cure would be found before Paul also fell victim to this disease that the doctors confirmed he had. None. Nada. Zilch. He told very few people that he had it, but those who knew also knew of his wish that as soon as he was incapable of rationality he wanted to die. I told him I would not be able to personally fulfil his wishes. However, I could totally understand and respect his decision and would support him for as long as it took and support whoever it was who did the final deed. As it turned out, I never had to make that heartbreaking decision. This sport took him instead - instantly, painlessly and at the happiest time of his life. Just wish it had been ten years later. nothing to see here

I was wondering about the possibility/utility of having a closed forum (accessible only to those who have requested access for a legitimate reason) for those who have lost close people to the sport. Some people don't have others around them to talk to and may be reticent to talk at length on an open forum about what they miss most about the deceased, how they feel about the media coverage (or even the Incidents coverage), feelings of incredible grief, hopelessness and inadequacy etc., such outpourings which may even embarrass them in years to come. I'm thinking of a highly moderated forum of supportive people who truly understand and may be able to assist in such a time. I know I didn't get much out of the counsellor who feined interest in someone she'd never met and suggested I might feel better if I (a) believed in god or (b) sued someone. My family and friends were loving and supportive but most didn't truly understand. I just thought there may be others - spouses, siblings, partners, parents, offspring, best friends - who would benefit from something like this. nothing to see here

Next month here in Melbourne Australia they are introducing 'lollipops' which will be administered the same as random breath testing is now. The lollipops can apparently tell if you have used recently enough for you to be under the influence. Our government is keen to legalise/decriminalise MJ, but every time it comes up the loudest voting bloc (the blue rinse set) screams it down. nothing to see here

No. I used the word 'uninformed'. It's more like the old guys who have racked up 2000 jumps, but who still jump foils deriding the new, younger guys who jump HP canopies without really knowing what they are talking about. I'm not sure whether this is the generic 'you' you are using here, but if you mean me, then you presume too much. 1. I have never used coke, either at the DZ or otherwise. 2. I only ever jump straight and sober.* I'm not advocating jumping whilst impaired, I'm just saying I think people have created a 'problem' where none really exists. The use of drugs on the DZ hasn't changed in decades (or, if some of the posts from old-timers are to be believed, its actually improved in this respect) but all of a sudden people are calling for 'solutions' to a situation that has been around forever. *nowdays at least nothing to see here

I think this is an invented 'problem'. People have been doing drugs at the DZ for as long as I have been jumping and, by all accounts, for a lot longer. Those who do imbibe tend to do so out of sight, in the company of like-minded people. I've never seen anybody pressure non-users to try. Most imbibers don't mix it with jumping, but those who do so are generally undetectable. If someone's so fucked up/drunk that its noticeable, their friends will stop them boarding a plane. As far as I am aware, even though drug use and skydiving has been going on for decades, there are no known incidents where someone died because someone else was fucked up. Those who have killed themselves, well, they are grown-ups and knew the risk they were taking. It's also important to remember that just because there are drugs in somebody's system, this fact is not necessarily causally linked to their death. I know of at least one instance where this was the case. Live and let live. The users are polite enough to use away from those who may be offended by it and don't push their beliefs upon others. To have (usually uninformed) non-users try to tell the others what to do is every bit as offensive as listening to a whuffo expound their ill-informed opinions about the stupidity of jumping out of planes. My .02. YMMV. I'm used to that. nothing to see here

Okay, let me make this clear: I do not believe you read other people's PM's. I am sorry if it sounded like that in my post and in retrospect I wish I had PM'd you the question instead of posting it. Oh, and the reason behind the posts being deleted was explained to me and I agree with the explanation and that they should not have been on that thread. Blue ones. It is a very nice house you have here.

LOL. Only on satellite in the USA! I was surprised to find they do actually have a league over there, mostly ex-pats obviously. On GF day in 2002, there was an organised pub crawl in Chicago which ended up in a bar showing the game on 20 screens. It was absolutely packed and really weird to hear all those Aussie accents after so long. The American friends we took along just didn't 'get' it. nothing to see here

Nagambie and Toogoolawah are two of the most significant DZs in Australia. Glad they can be included on your map. nothing to see here

Okie doke.

This is a serious question. I recently had a bunch of posts deleted and permission denied to post to the thread(s). I made no personal attacks that I'm aware of, though did attack the notions put forth by others. I honestly believed 100% that I was adding to the discussion and, more importantly, to the safety of the sport (by opening eyes to what happens in the sport, whether you want to believe it or not). I knew my views would not be widely appreciated, but I believe they were valid and in context. I've received no explanatory PM. I put in a lot of effort into research and providing links to back up my opinions. So, if I may be un-ladylike for just amoment, where the fuck did they go and why weren't the unsubstantiated (though perhaps more popular) opinions/attacks deleted? nothing to see here

In that case... (Down Under...) Cessnock YCNK Corowa YCOR Latrobe Valley YLTV Mangalore YMNG (well, sometimes, but if you make it there, you'll see the sign pointing to Nagambie 10 mins away... whose code I couldn't find

Now, that is excellent, practical advice! Great idea and I'll remember it 'just in case'. Bit worried about the "usually" bit though... just how many times do you make this mistake??? nothing to see here

Count me in on that. Did it come out looking anything like the diagrams? Awesome.