kaerock

I remember hearing or reading about this many many moons ago. Something in certain plastics (probably this phthalate) simulates a sort of estrogen or what the body thinks is estrogen...which in developing males could cause little weeenors. This is not new information, I believe. :/ -R You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

Hey, I've got one of those, it only cost $25...hope you got yours for nearly as cheap :> -R You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

I don't think it really matters unless you're having sex with thier feet. -r You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

are you kidding, with a booty like yours!?!?! besides, you wouldn't like it if I slapped your brain anyhow. :)~~~~ (yea, that's drool) -R And I thought you loved me for my BRAIN!! Angela You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

WOW! After reading the Consumer Reports articles I will NOT be buying one of those, I almost bought one a couple of weeks ago. I'm an asthmatic (very mild) and it's not worth it to me...I'd rather blow my nose than wheeze. -R You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

A politician, the hire up the chain, the more satisfying. -R You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

I've heard that drinking large amounts of water can leech your body of important vitamins and minerals. So just make sure you take your vitamins as well with the increased water intake. -Rory You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

ok, call me shallow and callous...this one time :> mmmm...booty It's one of those inexplicably arousing features of the feminine form, more so than boobs. -R You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

definitely sex. sometimes I get tired of skydiving and need a break. I have never needed a break from sex...except when I'm chafed, even then, there are work-arounds :> -R You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

I grew up to chicago and two years ago moved to florida. I bought a car down here and they kept referring to "tags" that I needed to register. I kept thinking they were little stickers or clips you put in your window like the city sticker in chicago. Lo and behold, I pick my car up and they hand me license places..."here's your tags..." I was in disbelief, "These are LICENSE PLATES", I exclaimed, the dealer just stared at me blankly until I finished with a "thanks" and left. Still, when conversing with people here about license places I reluctantly spit out "tags" instead of the correct name -- It's quite distressing to have to compensate for their backwardsness :> -rory Actually you would be suprized at how many people come here and get confused when i tell them to take the Kennedy, when they are not from the area. They want to know why the hell we dont just use the numbers I think we confuse the hell outta foreigners by having one interstate share two numbers/names, and defining distance as a measure of time, not milage. Also: What others call the "metro, we call the "El" What we call the "Metra", others call "the train." At least where I grew up in Chicago, when asked what neighborhood you grew up, you named a Catholic parish, not a neighborhood. Also, you could tell which school a girl went to by the color of her uniform tartan. You could pick out non-IL cars by their ubiquitous lack of a front license plate (And yes, they're license PLATES, not "Car tags." You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

I took a wind meter up with me when I demoed a velocity 103 loaded at about 2.0 and found I was moving at 25mph in a full glide and 65mph in a sustained harness turn at about 2000ft. It seems almost inconceivable to hit 98mph like someone posted, but with enough wingloading and a small enough canopy, sure. You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

Short answer, you are correct. That depends on the canopy, but generally they will all eventually return to their 'normal glide', some will do it faster than others and some will either pitch up (positive recovery) or level-out (neutral recovery). -R You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

Sounds like you were eating at a Quality Joint...IHOP perhaps? ;> -R You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

Fuck yea. Who needs weight-belts? My natural weight-belt helps me haul my fat-ass like a bullet over the grass (Okay, so my ass isn't fat per-se, but you dig). ;> Fat man with a little parachute...*rip*...oops -R You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

Oh yea, shamless plug: I am a rigger practically in Ft. Lauderdale. No, seriously, I *AM* a rigger. Most commonly heard phrase from skydiving friends: "Wait, YOU'RE a RIGGER? Oh yea, that's right." -R You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

Brian, What's in store for the future for you and canopy design? Any other cool things that you may be working on? -Rory You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

amen. You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

The job is sounding cooler by the moment. -R Heaps upon heaps of drugs.... You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

She wasn't Hungarian or of Hungarian descent by any chance? It seems that whenever people fall out of planes at insane altitudes then survive mostly intact...there were Hungarian ;> If so, that'd be further confirmation to Conspiracy Theory #143. -R You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

It's not on that late in this time-zone, but I usually watch it if it isn't reruns. I've thought about how cool it would be to be a writer for some of those cartoons, you get to think of the most vulgar, vile and offensive subjects, then get paid for it. -R You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

Agreed, It's the exact same story with any large group of immigrants, i.e. the Irish or Italians. Now that they're fully assimilated, they forget their history so easily. -R So why don't you speak Seminole or Micoskee? So you think every time a bunch of people move en masse to a new place and refuse to learn the local customs, it's an invasion deserving of hostile, violent response? Just suggesting that whites who grumble about the behavior of immigrants should apply the same standards to the arrival here of their own families. You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

All of them. You will learn something new and different from each teacher you have...this affords you the most complete, rounded-out foundation for flying. Eventually you will find 'the best' teacher for you (at that time). They all have different techniques, out-looks and vibes, some of which you may find yourself more in agreement with than with others. Now, practically speaking, start somewhere or with someone close and work up to as many of the big canopy schools and teachers as you can. I have heard from many people that Scott Miller does a fantastic job and I can say Brian Germain has taught me more than I thought there was to know. -R You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

I'm in the "teach them young" camp. If you fill them with the correct knowledge early on, they don't have to make the mistakes we've already made. I think close supervision is required when mentoring or teaching a new swooper, even more so for those with less experience. -Rory You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

Basically the Samurai is the evolution of the Jedei. Both are higher-performing elliptcals (compared to the bar-setting Stiletto). They are divier canopies that usually don't tend to plane-out after a dive. One major point about Jedei's is that they are almost all individual as many were hand-built and therefore have distinct personalities...as are some Samurais. My girlfriend and I both have PD-built Samurai 105s and even they fly differently from each other (or so she says! :>) The riser pressure on the Jedei tends to be higher than the Samurai, so it's not as easy to muscle around especially on the bottom end of a swoop. The openings on the Samurai are still very fast, but not hard...I've been whacked on both, but the Samurai is consitantly easier on opening...a major evolution has been on the openings, Jedeis tended to be a little rougher. The planiform has been changed quite a bit between the two models, the Jedeis tended to have a straighter leading edge which added to the riser pressure, curving the leading edge made pressure lighter but also made openings a little more variable. Samurais have generally shorter lines so the canopy feels very quick and nimble, not what I'd call twitchy, but it flies very intuitively and naturally...I feel very aytuned to the canopy. One thing I've noticed on the Samurai is that flat-turns are not as flat as many would like, any movement causes more altitude loss than you might expect. You have to keep in it mind when you're worried about getting low...it'll eat your altitude if you're not careful. I've heard Brian is offering a 'swoop' line-set on the Samurais now, which I think is a kick-ass thing. I believe it's just longer lines, giving it probably an identical performance envelope to the Katana. I'd opt for it but my fat-ass doesn't need any more speed on that canopy than I can already muster :> The lines were about 2ft shorter than a Velocity 103, which I REALLY noticed when flying the 103, it felt slow and sluggish and I missed my Samurai's agility. All in all, the Samurai retains the Jedei's good points and improves significantly on it's poorer points, but the Jedei is a good canopy to learn to swoop on regardless. -R You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

The article did have some links to people that put the plastic bits in containers with gasoline+acetone mixture to see how long they'd last, and I guess they did pretty well considering that you'd be using a fraction of that concentration in the real world. -R You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE