Zennie

Funny, I just did the same thing... with almost exactly the same short name. LOL. Mine is my two-way with Russel on his first wheelchair jump and then one from the bridge on his second. Gang, you gotta download these clips. As amazing as the stills are, the footage of him riding a wheelie along 6" planks is just plain sick... - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

The quote of the entire Labor Day Boogie was: Question: "Why does Russel need two wheelchairs?" Answer: "One to carry him and the other to carry his balls." - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Then it's safe to assume the hurricane missed him? So what's he at now? 4 or 3-lives? - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Not sure it's the bent knee so much as it looks like you may have your left shoulder dipped a bit further down. If you're baseball throwing the PC while handheld you may be dropping the left shoulder a bit, which could contribute to an offheading left. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Is Johnny 9 Lives still out at Gold Coast or did he move on? I've heard conflicting reports. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Isn't everything Abbie's fault? - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Always go for the appendage first! - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Gratz again Teresa! Had a great time on our 2-way. Come huck an A with us any time!

Actually Tom has something in mind which comes pretty darn close. And no I'm not tellin'... - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Twin Falls, where there will be more stupidity than you can shake a stick at.... - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Don't lose the faith Bill. Things are REALLY chatoic when this sort of thing happens. Power out, cell communications flooded or down. Chances are more than good that your friends are fine. It's just that they can't get word out. Oh, and don't forget that they may have burnt out their cell phone batteries just communicating with family. Chin up! - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I just read "Horton Hears a Who". Made me cry.... - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Holy crap! Did a building collapse or something? - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I wouldn't plan on using I-10 at all anywhere near the strike zone. It's going to be flooded and/or used by emergency management crews only. Edit: I just realized you said weekend. I'd still try to swing around I-10 as much as possible. When hurricanes of this maginitude hit it often takes 7-9 days before basic utilities.. such as power and water.. are restored. People will be scrambling quite a bit. If you plan on heading west I'd swing a bit north first. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

News in Houston (where a lot of NOLA folks came to ride this out) is that I-10 into NOLA is still closed except for emergency personnel. BUT, hey... y'all get free tickets to the Museum of Natural History while you're here. I think y'all get free tickets to the Comets' playoffs too. We're so hospitable.... - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

The short hair looks very cosmo and professional. The long hair looks very sultry & alluring. You look great in both. That's why I voted that I will always think you are a dirty whore. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I'm getting into TF airport at around noon on Thursday. If anybody can give me a ride to the bridge from the airport I'll pick up your beer tab Thursday night. How's THAT for motivation? Edit: Got my times mixed up. I get in around noon. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I honestly hope that's not the case, but my fear is that it is the case. This could easily be them circling the wagons by eliminating contradictory language from their policies, giving the impression of flexibility, but leaving the final decision still entirely to themselves. Historically, if you attempted to get a permit, you wound up chasing your tail as head ranger at the park passes the decisionmaking buck to Washington who passed the buck back to the ranger, who then passed the buck back to Washington... Nothing in the policy specifies WHO makes that final call. So I fear the current practice will continue unabated. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Yep. Basically, if your feet are ever in the air and you then land in a National Park with a parachute over your head, that's aerial delivery. In fact, two jumpers were hit with aerial delivery when they jumped FROM NPS land and landed into BLM land (where jumping is legal). Turns out that aerial delivery be be either into or from NPS land. The NPS protest jump that I personally would want to do is kite a detached canopy over my head, run across the meadow and then jump up in the air and land still holding the parachute (by the risers). If you had news media around for that sort of thing and the NPS actually decided to hit the person with aerial delivery, it would be a pretty darn good demonstration of how ridiculous this all is and how draconian the NPS is about enforcement. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I don't know whether I like it or not because I haven't seen it and never will. Oh, and way to throw one below the belt at Rhonda and then ask for a thread lock. That was classy. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I'm going out right now to purchase some grated parmigiana reggiano as an offering... - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Looks like a canvas for aspiring ASCII artists. The one looks kind of like a sex toy... - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Even better yet... a line of Dave's Insanity Sauce without going into convulsions... - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Tell you what. If Jimmy can get himself on video snorting wasabi (powdered, not paste) without puking? I'll be damn impressed. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

You would be correct in your initial assessment. BASE jumpers are, by a LARGE margin, some of the most down-to-earth, non-condescending people you will find. It's one of the things that attracted me to this sport. That said, it is easy to understand how a person new to the sport and culture might view it otherwise. But the reason is twofold: 1. The nature of an internet forum is such that it lends itself to a little more "spirited" debate than you would find on a person-to-person level. 2. BASE jumpers are a self-regulating group. We are very independent and don't want the government dictating how we do things. So we deal with things internally. Grundleson had a similar experience and secondary assessment. He caught a lot of flak of the forums when he started a little earlier than most folks thought was wise. However, he stepped back a bit, took it a little easier, got the necessary prerequisite experience, and is becoming a solid jumper in his own right. BASE jumpers are very passionate about the sport and their brothers and sisters within it. The problem with people new to the sport is that all they've seen is the glamorous side. All the super-cool-neato jumps that people are making that look like a hell of a lot of fun. And they are. What they haven't seen, unlike many of the folks who have been in this sport for a while, is the dark side. The human body is very fragile. This sport will show you just how fragile it is. I've shown several prospective jumpers the dark side, and several have decided not to jump when they saw it. This is semi-rambling, but the problem is the issue is very nuanced. It ISN'T black and white. What may pass as just dandy in one situation is totally unacceptable in another. It depends on all of the factors involved. There is a point when gray turns to black. And when that happens BASE jumpers are very vocal about it. And yes, there is disagreement as to where that point is, but if you put the finger on the pulse of the community you can get a sense of where that is. We are a very opinionated group. We are a very passionate group. If you do something stupid people will tell you (and yes I've been on the receiving end of that ... heh). We aren't exclusionary or elitist though. If you roll back I don't think you'll see a single post that says "I don't want Clair BASE jumping". My objection all along has been to the methodology which I believe does her, and the rest of the sport, a grave disservice. Fortunately, other circumstances seem to have now taken her down a road which I think will make her a better, more prepared BASE jumper, in the future. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon