fonz

He owes me a beer, too. I spilled mine all over the keyboard. Alphons (different time zone, it's past midnight here so I'm allowed alcoholic beverages now) And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

B|N>K Alphons (you're killing me) And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Oh dear... Why do I somehow get the feeling that sooner or later some comedian is going to think it's funny to post a picture of his/her own toilet? Alphons (that's one thread I'd probably be skipping then) And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Good point. Try cycling the Corkscrew at Laguna Seca... upwards Alphons And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

I've had the privilege of witnessing him doing that. Christ, that man is good! Alphons And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Student Vector. Five years ago at Perris, most student rigs were Telesis but they did have one or two Vectors with slightly smaller mains in them and I once tried one. After opening, the chest strap turned into a throat strap. Annoying as hell and has/had never happened with any container I have/had jumped before or after that. Alphons (then again, maybe the harness just wasn't my size) And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Is anyone familiar with the japanese porn scene? Madoka Ozawa, Mika Sanada, to name but a few. Alphons (Japanese chicks rock) And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

When you ask others who their favorite porn star is? Alphons (just a guess) And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

She's rumoured to be quite a computer whiz, too. What more could a guy want? Alphons (not sure if she likes beer though) And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Which of the 83 different Nikkis do you mean??? Alphons And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Yeah. Elvis is dead, long live Elvis. I Don't think he's that great a guitarist though. Alphons (sorry... just couldn't resist) And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Asia Carrera. Alphons (she never fails to give me a hard-on) And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

I'm not saying girls can't play. Not at all. I wouldn't dare. I just noticed that almost every player mentioned so far (at least until I brought up the girl issue) is a guy. Alphons (chicks who can play are way cool!) And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Of course. I didn't mean to suggest that there's anything wrong with not being able to read notes. Just wondering, that's all. In fact, I think that probably some of the best players out there can't read a single note. But since they have such an incredible feel for their instrument they can make their guitar do anything they want it to do and play anything they want, regardless of whether it's in on a piece of paper or in their heads. Come to think of it, such an ability probably much more makes them a virtuoso than the ability to read notes ever could. Alphons And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

So far this thread hasn't been moved to Bonfire so perhaps your initial choice of forum was right... Alphons And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Over here (Belgium/Holland) it's not that easy. Of course occasionally somebody changes home-DZs but in general there's not much of a come and go situation. People tend to stick around. Also, because both Holland and Belgium are very small countries, many people know each other. Even across dropzones. The jumping community here is pretty closely-knit. To the OP: Going to another DZ is at least worth a shot. You'll probably bump into some of the people who are not accepting you at your current home-DZ but different DZs have different vibes and if you can work your way into "the gang" at one DZ, it might lead to the people who are rejecting you now accepting you after all. Also, since you mention the valschermsport forum, it's my experience that some people's behaviour significantly differs between the Internet and real life. People can be a real pain in the butt on forums but much more friendly in real life. So if I were you I would take the beating you get on the belgian forum (I read it so I know what you mean) with a grain of salt and only worry about how you are treated in real life. To conclude, I somehow feel like adding my own personal story to this. First of all, I have a speech impediment. I was born with a ruptured palate and although it was surgically corrected in my childhood, the speech impediment is permanent and cannot be helped. Some people seem to hardly notice it, some people can hardly understand a word I'm saying, a very few people like to make fun of it (if it's a good joke in good taste I'll certainlly laugh about it and if it's meant to be mean, just f*** the bastard) and even fewer people treat me like an idiot or a freak. I never ask for pity. I was born with this "malfunction". so to say, it is not my fault and it simply is the way it is. I've learned to not make a big deal of it and to differentiate between people who can see past it and people who can't or won't. Behind the funny-sounding dude there's a normal person with normal feelings, normal opinions, normal desires, normal interests and normal whatever. Obviously, when I took up skydiving, my speech impediment made me worry about being accepted. But fortunately, I found most skydivers to be very open-minded. Most people I've met at various DZs seem to realize that my speech impediment doesn't make me less a skydiver. Of course some jumpers act(ed) nastily, but an overwhelming majority treats me just like they would any other skydiver. That is the case over here in Holland and it was even more so at Perris. Perhaps being a foreigner helped, but when I was at Perris for my AFF not a single person treated me badly or made me feel unwelcome. And if they had done so, I guess that Claude (rest in peace my old friend) probably would have kicked their asses. As would some of the others. Even skygods such as Jim Slaton and Eli Thompson were very friendly and treated me just like they would anybody else. In addition to this, I am very curious, investigative, consider myself to be fairly intelligent, am very much interested in gear and how and why it works, often have opinions on things and am not afraid to voice that opinion. I probably talk and post too much for a person with my jump numbers, but when I have a question or think I know an answer I'm generally quick to respond. This character trait sometimes aggrevates people. The most obvious example is when some people at my home-DZ were not happy and decided to start their own DZ with their own plane, their own gear, their own name, their own dogs and whatnot, but at the same airport. I never made a secret of how I thought about their endeavor and even got asked as a columnist. Being very outspoken has made me some enemies here and there and has cost me a few friendships. But fact of the matter is that I feel that people should accept me for who or what I am and what I think. If they won't, it's their problem. Not mine. I'm not sure why I'm telling all of this now, except that I think that maybe I can somehow relate to the OP's feeling of being an outcast. Alphons And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

When I graduated from AFF, Farney was kind enough to drive me to the grocery store in town (Stater's Brothers or something I believe they were called). I bought one or two cases or Bud there, as well as some bags of ice cubes, and Tim was kind enough to lend me his ice box. I personally handed the beer out to those who had helped me (instructor or not) or had otherwise been kind to me. Except of course for Grayson, who for some reason wanted a Smirnoff Ice... Alphons (yes, I did bring Grayson his girlie Vodka-based drink ) And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Dammit! Does any of you ever suffer from "false air"? What I mean is having to burp (or at least feeling like you have to) but not being able to. I've had this a couple of times the last few weeks and (as Paul Teutul sr. would put it) "it just f****ing aggrevates me." Alphons And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Another side note: so far nobody has mentioned any chicks. Does this mean that women can't play the guitar? Alphons (thin ice, I know... so shoot me) And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Tom Morello has been mentioned. I saw his name somewhere earlier in this thread. [edit: at least I think I did...] With regard to Jeff Beck: my bad. He was on my mind indeed but somehow I forgot to mention him. Sorry! Alphons (mea culpa) And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

I think the problem here is that there are just SO many good to extremely good guitarists out there in the rock scene that, although some names will come up more often than others, it's very easy to miss a particular one. Additional factor is that not everybody knows all the bands or the names of all members. Alphons And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Neither can anyone in Metallica or any of the GNR/VR gang. At least not the guitarists. Perhaps Axl Rose can (or could) because he was taught classical piano in his childhood (and he's still pretty good at the piano, btw), but even he is a big, big maybe. Alphons And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Little side question: Which of the rock guitar gods mentioned so far in this thread can read/write notes? (For the smartasses: I mean sheet music, not banknotes, post-it notes or whatnot...) I know for sure that Brian May can and I think that Mark Knopfler probably can, but most probably can't. For example, last time I checked, Slash couldn't. And wasn't interested either. Sorry for the hijacking, but the thread will be released as soon as the ransom (in the form of answers) is received. Alphons And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Who says I don't? Alphons And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Not that I disagree, but I'd mention John Deacon as well. Okay, he's calm and quiet, probably the poster child anti stage animal, but he's very solid, technically skilled, knowledgeable and a great composer as well. I was not aware of that. He should probably get the Virtuoso award, then. Alphons And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy