alw

For the past 36 years, but who's counting. --------------------------------------------- Every day is a bonus - every night is an adventure.

Best laugh of the day --------------------------------------------- Every day is a bonus - every night is an adventure.

And you're saying that on a forum on a web site for a sport in which men wear and display with great pride Pink, Purple, paisley, and tie die? Where smaller is associated with better. And where a day with fabric and string is more desirable than a day of football? Maybe "cute and cuddly" would have been a better remark. --------------------------------------------- Every day is a bonus - every night is an adventure.

--------------------------------------------- Every day is a bonus - every night is an adventure.

Good points. There are a few operatiors that run their DZ operation like a business. There are a larger number that run there DZ operation like a DZ operation, and there are quite a few that run their operation like a small niche extreme sport service provider. There is no single explanation for this because of the numbers involved but here are a few points. 1. The individualistic nature of many of the operators is not in line with general expansion of the sport. They don't work together to increase their overall client pool but instead focus on what they do at their shop. Competition comes into play, but not really all that significantly except in a few instances. In these instances competitiion usually develops over a dispute rather than a genuine fight for a limited customer base. They do not pool resources and they do not pool advertising and marketing. An example of this is my home area - Orlando. In Florida it is a medium population area with an extremely large base of tourists. There are five "Principal" DZ's that all do a relatively stable business, each with its own niche draw. Up the road in Jacksonville, an area with a much larger population but lower tourist base the operators run pistons. In between the two areas is what could be classed as a "local" that runs a turbine and attracts many of the skydivers that are regional. If these operators would coordinate their marketing and product base along with even a minimal communication network focused on market expansion mprovements could be made to their bottom lines overall. 2. It's not just "A" business it is several. A DZ can consist of a rigging business, a charter airline business, a skydiving business, a skydivng school, and maybe even a food service plus other stufr. Sometimes each business is not financially tied to the other. Coordination becomes an issue with the DZO typically ending up a a value without pay provider, If you wanted to see what you describe my guess is it would take a buyout of several DZ's in a local area with an existing business that is healthy and a commercialization along the lines of a service provider or franchise model. Before anyone starts ranting about Skyride keep in mind that they just add to the existing mix - a booking agency if you will. Finally, ponder why Scuba Diving is common and comparitively large compared to skydiving. The mental exercise in that may give you pause for consideration. My thought ran to an opinion that scuba divers loved it and wanted everyone to do it to experience their love of the sport. Skydivers love it and want to do it more. Of course I could wrong. --------------------------------------------- Every day is a bonus - every night is an adventure.

OK, I stayed at the Premier Travel Inn Central, Milton Keynes 08701 977184. Pretty good place to eat right next to the Hotel. Rate was 63 BP inclusive of VAT. --------------------------------------------- Every day is a bonus - every night is an adventure.

Hang on I'll go check my receipts - I just stayed there a few weeks ago - it's right across the street. --------------------------------------------- Every day is a bonus - every night is an adventure.

As mentioned, BPA does something similar to these discussions. BPA also has a section that has a basic one page newsletter from each DZ in the UK in each issue along with an lead page with a map of the DZ'z in the Kingdom. A Magazine leader issue is a common practice in publishing. There are two ways to accomplish that - One with a purpose built publication, ie the "Introduction" issue which is designed to build membership through communication, and the other that just delivers a copy of the recent edition that is designed to build interest. I think the Introduction issue works as a limited (annual?) run with a target audience of the likely demographic. Copies at Wind tunnels, DZ's, and venues that attract likely members. It is advertising and as such DZ'z could get special rates for a page ad (newsletter) with a DZ directory provided for all participants. Don't want to participate - no ad or reference in the issue to your DZ. Per issue price would be low and very affordable to a participating DZ, which could order in bulk and distribute with the Tandem Certificate. If it proves to be a success after the first run you could take the program forward in a number of ways. An effort to market the sport could have a profound effect on the Skydiving industry and the sport as a whole. We likely have the indigenous talent - certainly we have more visual media available than most sports and the professionals to gather it. --------------------------------------------- Every day is a bonus - every night is an adventure.

Anyone who has ever worked with a dog as partner knows the answer to this question. Proof is in the heart of the dog and of the human. There is no proof necessary and likely there is none to be found but there are many examples. Do animals experiences love. Well, what is love? Is it love to risk your life fr someone? What about manogomy, is that an indication of love. Think about the devotion of animal parents to their offspring. Why do they act that whay when they have young in the nest whydon't they when the nest is bare. Is that instinct? Do you love your pet. What are the indications that you do? Does your pet mimick any of those behaviors? For those who might offer reasons and explanation of why our pets don't love us I turn the tables and challenge them to "prove it". I used to be a skeptic about animal emotions and cognitive abilities, but not any more. Of one thing I am sure, humans are often arogant snobs when it comes to our emotional, intellectual, and social sophistication and development. Perhaps we're the ones that have some evoling to do. Is it love, you decide, maybe we should just call it devotion, or loyalty, or respect. Why to they pay attention, why are they predictable, what about companionship, tolerance, forgiveness, or honesty. Perhaps those are just traits, the things we wish love would be. "In loving memory of my partner Duke" --------------------------------------------- Every day is a bonus - every night is an adventure.

Though Dave's effort has perverted one of these, they are two of my favorites (althought there will always be a special place in my heart for Carly Simon's "No Secrets" cover. --------------------------------------------- Every day is a bonus - every night is an adventure.

I'm not sure how many, I may have had enough jumps for an A when I finally got through. It's all about finding the groove. Relax and have fun with each jump, don't sweat the numbers and don't overpressurize yourself. You're getting a chance to jump with an experieinced skydiver - that's an opportunity you should make the most of. --------------------------------------------- Every day is a bonus - every night is an adventure.

As long as they are attached to a woman I don't care. --------------------------------------------- Every day is a bonus - every night is an adventure.

Finish visiting all the DZ's in Florida and Britain. Do a few more balloon jumps. Jump a parafoil Get a custom paint job on a helmet. --------------------------------------------- Every day is a bonus - every night is an adventure.

Jesus Lisamarie - really? --------------------------------------------- Every day is a bonus - every night is an adventure.

Every day I jump I always try to set aside at least one for that type of jump. I don't get a rush from jumping just simply enjoy the immensity of the whole thing. Flying the wingsuit gives me more time to enjoy it. --------------------------------------------- Every day is a bonus - every night is an adventure.

In my quest to visit all the DZ's on GB I did visit one that jumps lower than 10K. To their credit they let me know in advance what altitude I could expect. If they are telling the students what to expect and that's OK with them then where's the harm. I've seen tandems spend money to get to 18K and forego the video for the extra freefall. Not what I'd do, but it's not my money. Out of curiosity an interest in promoting my sport, I talk to many of the tandem students to find out why they are jumping, who's idea it was, and what they thought of the experience. They seem to choose a drop zone for a number of reasons - with very few exceptions, altitude isn't one of them. --------------------------------------------- Every day is a bonus - every night is an adventure.

Weimaraner --------------------------------------------- Every day is a bonus - every night is an adventure.

My two best friends - one's my partner - one's my wife. The best shots are the ones that happen by accident. --------------------------------------------- Every day is a bonus - every night is an adventure.

Equipment - I have the same camera and helmet combo. I use a low profile lense which eliminates the adapter tunnel. I had to modify the mount slightly to get the lense forward and take the box out of the picture. If you can live with the zoom that would work well. Composition - Several of our camera flyers are really good at getting the shot when the student is head down. They go to their back and fly low - now and then you see a foot in the shot, or they may present their foot to the student for a dock. Dynamic footage adds to a static face-on shot. carving to the side to get a profiled shot adds dynamic proportion and is also a nice perspective. All in all I's say your framing was good and it was a good effort. Now edit!! You can't fix it all in post but you can do alot. Nice work. --------------------------------------------- Every day is a bonus - every night is an adventure.

I change the wallpaper whenever I get a shot that I particularly like. Here's the latest. --------------------------------------------- Every day is a bonus - every night is an adventure.

The Dems have a propensity to believe that technology rather than hard work can solve any problem. Ever been to a Dems home? they all have those robot vacuum things. In addition, is you look at pictures of the Dems you see that they all have blown dry big hair - using those blow driers takes tons of energy and they will all be competing for the biggest - ergo - most energy demanding hair. --------------------------------------------- Every day is a bonus - every night is an adventure.

Just remember kids, when us children of the 60's did it (not that I ever did) it was likely under a round which didn't require those fine motor skills you swoopmeisters have. The seventies crowd got high just to dull the pain. The eighties bunch was too into themselves to think about what might happen to the others they ran into. The nineties bunch didn't want to dull their senses cause they were too busy calculating how much burning in would cost them. Now for the new millenium kids, they, what were we talking about? --------------------------------------------- Every day is a bonus - every night is an adventure.

Girls on Film - Duran Duran --------------------------------------------- Every day is a bonus - every night is an adventure.

I watched it. Being an American in U.K. presents an interesting perspective. This is a formulatic storyline plot which is very predictable. I got the impression that the writers would have liked to think they were penning a cliff hanger who dunnit on the deeply burried subplot of "who is the shooter", but it did not play that way. As an American and ex-military Vietnam veteran I believe I have some latitude to offer an opinion on the piece from a been there done that perspective. On the whole I thought it was very Michael Moore-ish "Let's bash the establishement" and somewhat anti-American and lastly anti-Bush. I agree with those that say this was in very bad taste and that the message could have been delivered in many other ways. I agree with those who say that freedom of expression allows for such bad taste. I do believe wholeheartedly that I enjoy this and other freedoms because men and women dedicate their lives or portions of their lives to securing those freedoms. I therefore have a tendency to be tolerant and forgiving of mistakes that those people may make, because, after all, like me they are human and prone to be susceptible to that frailty. I would recommend that if you are looking for something to occupy your time and entertain you, this is not a film worth watching. If on the other hand you want to get a sense of what serves for political cartoonage on 4, give it a look. --------------------------------------------- Every day is a bonus - every night is an adventure.

I'm going to need a long weekend for that one. Wingsuit along the coast - sounds great. --------------------------------------------- Every day is a bonus - every night is an adventure.