tbrown

Remember when gasoline looked and smelled like gasoline? I remember those .18 gas wars, too.

I used to be a lefty myself back in the day and thought Lennon was brilliant - absolutely brilliant (!!). Since his death though, a lot of that old crap has really worn very thin and I view him more as a narcissist with a VERY inflated opinion of his own "importance". I still like a lot of his music just the same, both for the memories of the times and because some of his songs really were brilliant. But he never was "St. John". I also remember a very long time ago (1968 ?) reading an interview with Mick Jagger, in which Jagger said he'd like to retire from rock before he got old and go into politics, perhaps as a Labour Party MP. Well, don't look now, but Jagger's been a staunch Conservative now for well over thirty years. Unfortunately, he hasn't retired from rock eother.... Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Bummed - we weren't ready to lose him too. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Only if she runs her fingers through my hair - a lot. Hair grows back, so I can live with less than perfect haircuts. If it's REALLY a bad one, I can always get it buzzed off anyway - because hair grows back. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

NICE pics ! Paul Campbell used to jump a Sled at Seneca Falls back in the seventies. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Nothing to say about the arrest of the accused perpetrator of the worst massacre in Europe since WWII ? Why are there TWO threads about whether there is a heaven or hell, and whether Jesus really died on the cross, but nothing about Mladic ? What planet do you people live on anyway ??? I'd start a rumor about Jesus being abducted by a UFO, but you idiots would actually debate the subject. There was a time when I could actually respect this forum, but that's long gone. Over & OUT. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Well, if somebody went traipsing around with Mallory's gear today, yeah I would. But not back then. He did learn from past mistakes too. On this third and final try, he took along oxygen. His oxy system would've been considerd pathetic nowadays as well, but the truth, if you read John Krakauer, is that even modern oxy systems are pretty sketchy. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

In no particular order - eat, fuck, skydive. Often and repeatedly. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

About ten years ago, there was a museum exhibit of George Mallory's recovered Everest gear in Tacoma, WA and i went to check it out. What i saw in those glass cases filled me with awe and wonder at this guy. Mallory died on his THIRD attempt to scale Everest. He'd been there twice before, he was no amateur. He was climbing in woolen clothes and boots that had bits of wire in the soles for cleats. He was camping on those slopes in big clumsy canvas tents. I remember thinking that some mornings I waited at my bus stop in warmer clothes than what I was looking at, it almost made me want to cry. For food, he carried a small tin of bullion cubes - a small tin of bullion cubes to nourish himself in the sub-zero, oxygen starved heights of Everest. It's almost too much to believe. Those guys had to be unbelievably tough - tough as nails in a way that our modern hi tech minds can't even grasp anymore. We take comfort for granted - Mallory did not. They simply do NOT make guys like him anymore. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I don't like The Doors either. Maybe it's because I'm a dyed in the wool Deadhead, or maybe it's because "St. Jim" was just EVIL. But I would encourage you to give ONE listen to "Hendrix at the Fillmore East". It's an expanded - and superior version of "Band of Gypsies", from the same two nights at Bill Graham's rock palace in NYC. The PLAYING is really quite stupendous. By 1970, Hendrix had left the theatricality behind and was PLAYING some simply incredible shit. He was even in talks with Miles Davis about recording a record together at the time of his death - and it's real tragedy the two of them never did. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

And for the movie category: "The Deer Hunter". Long, tedious, and pointless. No shit ! That film makes ME want to play Russian roulette ! Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

My son sat on the couch and watched 2001- A Space Oddesey with us the other night. He said it was a total waste of his time. It IS dated as hell. Sorry, Stanley K. I've still never watched the entire movie "Easy Rider." Some of it's just a little too 60's Stoner crap for me. John, you make some excellent point, as usual ! As to Space Odyssey, your son has obviously never dropped acid to watch it (just kidding...). SK made a few brilliant ones (Dr. Strangelove comes to mind), but a lot of his "body of work, including his finale "Eyes Wide Open" blew chunks. I will join you as a fellow heretic in saying that Easy Rider also blew chunks. Even Dennis Hopper thought so. The only real part at all was when they dropped acid in the cemetary (there I go again - I "read all about it in a book" once....). Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Not at all. HUMOR is intended, that and the recognition that our world is full of overrated crap. Just asking one & all for their take on the subject, so we can all stick our fingers down our throats in a spirit of togetherness ! So what's YOUR notion of overrated crap ? Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Then you might just enjoy "The Vikings", with Richard Widmark. The Vikings are captured by the Muslims, who use just such a contraption, with a horses head on top, a treat they call "riding the horse". It's a way cool 1960's technicolor film, which is NOT overrated crap. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Here, here ! "For he's a jolly good fellow...." ! Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

What a happy little camper she is ! You both look beautiful. So, how many kids do you have now ? What's new ? Still jumping. The kids have left home, the wife and I are enjoying our empty nest. Hope the Dylan CD's are still helping you with the housework and all. Keep in touch ! Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Met Ray once, at the 1977 Z-Hills Easter Boogie. We were a bunch of newbies and we flailed miserably on the one jump Ray made with us. But he was all smiles about it. A truly nice guy, I'm sorry to hear of yet another good one gone. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I got a promo disc of the first episode attached to the "tin lunchbox" edition of Band of Brothers. It was pretty good, if a bit of a slow start. I'd like to catch the rest on cable sometime, or find a way to rent it sometime. Tom Hanks made the point that the war in the Pacific was completely different than the war in Europe. Bad as it was, Europe was a solid land mass with more or less familiar cultures, even the enemy. But the Pacific was a lot of far flung little islands in a huge ocean, fighting in tropical jungle against a culture with a whole different set of values. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

First the good news : best was Paul McCartney, 1990 at the Seattle Kingdome. Honorable mention to any number of Grateful Dead shows, 1970 - '95. Your story reminds me of a similar concert in upstate NY in 1972. I was 16. The WORD was that John Lennon had agreed to play. The farm it was held on was overrun with a huge crowd on a beautiful Saturday. A whole list of considerable local talent played all day and into the evening. But there was not a drop of water to be had - and beer only makes your thirst worse. Acid didn't help much either. A helicopter landed and a couple - she was a distinctly Asian looking chic - stepped out. But it wasn't them. Lennon never showed, the whole thing was a hoax. The promoter was found shagging some chick in the back of an ambulance and the cops arrested him for anything they could think of. Somehow I managed to hitch hike home that night Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

"Ladies and Gentlemen - The Grateful Dead" ! Recorded in April 1971 at the Fillmore East in NYC. A 4 disc box set of the Dead's final 5 night stand before Graham closed the place. They were still young, lean and completely insane, with a very tight basic sound after the departure of their second drummer and keyboardist. Truth is, practically ALL the best live albums in those days were recorded at Fillmore East. That old theater had incomparable acoustics. Hendrix, The Allman Brothers, Clapton, Jefferson Airplane, as well as The Dead all recorded their best live releases there. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Well, according to Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, it would be "Electric Aunt Jemima", goddess of love. "Caress meeeee, caress me Aunt Jemima...." Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

VERY nice pic ! I'm glad you used color and hope you stick with it - I was always disappointed that the Nick Lucas original was in B&W. We are a living color sport. And you need to show the container open if you can. Shooting from further back would probably be safer for you, as it was for the original camera. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

The Cross Keys fatality last week would seem a good reason to give this thread a bump. If just a 500 ft increase would give the AAD makers a reason for bumping deployment altitude to 1000 ft, would most dropzones really have a problem with flying 500 ft higher for jump run ? I AM old school, so before you denounce my manhood or call me a sky socialist, I would like to point out that most people are already pulling higher anyway and that an extra 250 ft on an AAD MIGHT have made a difference at Cross Keys, even though the guy may have already been dead in the air. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Sorry to hear this. One by one, the lights of an era are going out. Last week it was Owsley Stanley, the great acid chemist. I'm beginning to understand how our parents and grandparents must have felt. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Everybody's got an opinion on something they think is a vastly overrated piece of crap (to use the polite word). Let's have a little fun and list some of yours. Here are a few of mine: "Last Tango in Paris". Found the DVD buried in a box after moving 3 years ago from our last place. Maria Schneider (the girl) just died a few weeks ago, so I figured I'd watch it again. What a complete piece of self absorbed Brando bullshit. After sodomizing the poor girl , he lies around contemplating his face in a mirror ? Schneider's got a bush that looks like Fidel Castro. Mercifully, she shoots Brando dead at the end (oh- did I give it away ? Too bad...) Probably the only smart thing she does the entire film, as her other boyfriend's a jerk too. This is supposed to be "classic Brando" ? Hell, maybe it is, if so, I rest my case. The disc went straight into the trash. Let's see what else, oh yeah, Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird". I'd rather put my eyes out with knitting needles than EVER hear that song again. Don't play it at your funeral, or I'll walk out on you ! "Inna Godda Da Vida", or however the fuck you spell it. Need I even say more ? Okay, that was fun and I feel a whole lot better. Now it's your turn (try it, it's fun). Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !