Bokdrol

As a person with a particularly low 'body count' I find this type of thread a bit weird, to put it one way. To make a comparison, when I served I always found that the guys with the tallest tales and war stories in the pubs off base were the guys who exaggerated or simply had fertile imaginations and a need to be seen as heroes. As the old saying goes, what happens on tour, should stay on tour.

So, I've started watching this TV series called Yellowstone. Standard cowboy fare, lots of mumbling, brawling, the odd loose woman, the obligatory family tragedy which haunts everyone, the fall-guy/eedjit and the occasional trip to the 'train station' - it's sort of like Clarkson's Farm on speed and steroids. I'm a bit late to the show because I don't watch too much TV except in winter. It took most of the first series to get into it because I really thought it was overacted, exaggerated, Dallas-type BS. Then, blow me down, I read about this chap named Murdaugh from one of those powerful rich American family-type dynasties. He's on trial over there alleged to being at least complicit in offing the better part of his family, was addicted to drugs, and embezzled the equivalent of the GDP of a medium sized European country to fund his habit (again, allegedly). Maybe, Yellowstone might be not too far off the mark. We live a very simple life here in the UK and I look forward to continuing series 2 with less scepticism.

No, but why don't you just hire a rig for alternate jumps instead of purchasing a second rig which, sure as eggs, you'll want to get rid of in short order? Just a thought, but with me being a max 3 jumps per diem man it's never been an issue for me, even with my sluggish packing!

Sure, there are many older current jumpers to be found - I'm older than the bloke on the cover, as are you and the jumpers you have mentioned. They didn't look us up though! Their loss. However, to the general public who read N.G., doing an extreme sport like skydiving at the age of 69+ will seem unreal.

The magazine article is about keeping younger and firing on all cylinders at old/er age rather than just subsiding into terminal bed shitters. It's a 69 year old Dutch skydiver by the name of Arnold Camfferman - according to Nat Geo mag website he does about 500-700 jumps p.a. They go into a spiel about getting the photo, as if it was something unique (putting a camera on to the helmet of another skydiver....wow) so we can maybe take some of it with a pinch of salt. However, I wonder how many of us would turn down the opportunity to appear on the front cover of a worldwide publication? I'd be happy with being on page 3 of The Sun....lol

To touch on the original topic/question i.r.o. death penalty, there's an interesting, if sad, story on the BBC webpage about a young lady, Edith Thompson, who was hanged at HMP Holloway exactly 100 years ago yesterday. She was found guilty, along with her lover, of the murder of her husband. Draw your own conclusions if you are inclined to read it. If not, suffice to say that it illustrates perfectly why capital punishment should never again be on the UK's statute books.

I'd be interested to read other comments but a fear of heights, for me at least (as a child who couldn't even climb a tree out of that fear) didn't necessarily translate into a fear of jumping out of a plane. Nervous/anxious during AFF, yes, of course, but no fear. And if you are a bit scared on AFF, console yourself with the knowledge that you are leaving that plane with extremely competent instructors who have seen it and handled it all before, that you will be flying a large and very forgiving canopy that will look after you too and that, before you know it, you'll be safely back on terra firma. Blue skies.

69 y.o. skydiver pictured

Tom Cruise was at Skydive Jeffrys Bay in South Africa very recently filming a promo for Mission Impossible 8. Some of his film stuntwork has been done in the UK at RAF Weston and nearby DZ's. He allegedly has to be persuaded not to perform the more dangerous e.g. pyrotechnic type, stunts himself. Whether or not this extends to mc base jumps, I couldn't say. He is reportedly a more than competent skydiver.

I haven't jumped in the USA for about 5 years so the rules may have changed somewhat (e.g. If you are jumping your own gear I believe that you now need USPA rigger sign-off on your reserve repack which wasn't required previously) and may vary per State/DZ, but when I have jumped at Elsinore I had to show USPA membership, which I got online prior to leaving the UK, current log-book, BPA licence, and then go through the video rigmarole where you confirm that you are jumping of your own free will blah blah, California apparently being the litigation capital of the world. The vid. is done by the DZ staff at reception. It's all (or was) quite straightforward. E&OE.

Try Skydive Spain in Seville - they have good weather all year round, can probably sort out accommodation and transport etc at a reasonable price. You won't get 'cheap' jumps but the overall price should level out. Alternatively, you could contact Skydive Atmosphera (sp) also based in Seville, who can probably offer some type of all-in deal. Or contact Scotty Milne at Active Skydiving. He runs monthly AFF trips down to Seville, except during high summer, and is always happy to have licenced jumpers along with his group. That way you get to share transport/accomocdation etc which all helps with the overall price and thereby brings your price per jump down. Seville have good aircraft, altitude 15k every jump, good gear if you want to hire and so on. I get what you mean by 'cheap' jumps - maybe you could have worded it better!! 'Cheap' and 'skydiving' don't always fit well in the same sentence. Blue Skies.

We sit on other sides of the political fence and seldom if ever agree but in this instance, I do agree - other than the rule thing which I guess may be tongue in cheek. As I think I said earlier in this thread, the country now needs a change of ruling party. Enough is enough. Hopefully Labour will have learned from the dismal Tory performances of late and will make a decent fist of it. It'll be interesting to see how long it takes for the press and sm experts to revert to type.

Me Tory, you Labour - we'll never agree. Leave it at that. We'll see how new labour's champagne socialists fare after they get in. They can't do any worse, or can they...

Well, it's easy to say 'because of policy' blah blah and to not credit the leader, but the buck stops with the PM as Truss will find out sooner rather than later. The stuffed shirts on the benches got rid of him (and I've no doubt many are now regretting it) due to personal dislike of him, along with press and social media pressure to which they cravenly bowed. Despite being a Europhile with strong personal European connections, he took us through Brexit, something that Cameron was too chickenshit to do, DC having himself opened up Pandora's box. Bojo also led us through the greatest pandemic since 1919 - but of course those with 20/20 hindsight will say, not very well. People look at his dishevelled buffoon-like persona and fail to see a razor-sharp brain and super intellect. Imho, one of our great leaders - someone who could converse with world leaders, not only on the same level, but often in their own languages. People remember Churchill, Thatcher (even Julius Caesar who got it in the back but remains the one Roman Emperor we all recall) and in time they'll remember Boris Johnson as a once great leader too. To me one of the best endorsements of Bojo as a leader was Putin's joy at his fall, but Zelensky's dismay. Says it all...

(1) Time will tell/is already telling. It's highly unlikely this current sh*tstorm would have occurred under Boris. And now many would have him back (2) Well, he saw off Khrushchev and his Cuban missiles for a start.