DSE

Sure hope those multiply quickly. It felt like a Voodoo and has super clean lines that I found more attractive than the Voodoo, and the riser covers felt different over my shoulder, not sure how to describe it, but it seemed to make solid contact across the shoulder better, not cutting tight at the front and loose towards the back. I've got a Talon FS (T6) now, but got it used. How will the T6-sized FX manage with a 170 in it?

Come to Perris! It's the ones that have formed over the clean runway or the grass that you -can't- see that are especially dangerous. Been there, done that. No thanks, I like ours where you can see the dirt in them.

which one is the HC37? Familiar with HC3, HC5, and HC7, but not an "HC37"

I'd *seriously* think twice about having a helmet custom made for that camera. Spend some time reading about it; high failure rate, already outdated body style (from Sanyo) and not exactly a high quality cam. Why not make a custom box for the cam? That said, check out Wes Rich' helmets.

anyone else purchased one of these? Announced at PIA, it's a sort of a Voodoo/Talon FS container. The wait time seems to be the hardest part.

From what I saw and felt, I think Quade is closest. Chigbee is a very conservative pilot, FWIW, there is a layer in approximate level to where Chigbee described the collapse, and he was transiting a wet green pasture to a dry brown dirt area. I'd been on two previous loads, and one post-cutaway load, and previous loads, there was turbulence around 2K. I wonder if turbulence coincided with turn, resulting in the spin-up, or if there was actually a spin in the air. We do see dust devils, but not often over the green area. Although I didn't see Chigbee's actual cutaway (I was watching another cutaway, ironic there were two on the same load, the other pilot an instructor with thousands of jumps), I did see where Chigbee had cutaway due to his floating main within a second after he'd chopped. Was it the right call? The altitude he was at suggests not. On the other hand, he also might not have been able to kick out quickly enough. In this particular situation, he acted quickly and not only survived, but walked away from it. Everyone, from DZO down, felt he'd done the right thing given his choices. I don't know if I'd have done the same, I wasn't the one in the harness. Proud of you, Chigbee! And congrats for getting right back up immediately, but you shoulda stayed long enough to pack the rig you borrowed from me.

I completely understand your point, and don't disagree with you. That said, 15 years ago, I was typing letters on a typewriter, putting the paper in an envelope, and putting a stamp on it. I also had a phone that weighed as much as the brick it was named for. Technology has allowed for significant evolution in this sport making it mainstream. Some will hate that, I remember when Burton was first making commercial snowboards available and people bitched about that, too. Now no one cares, because it's all about one thing....having a good time. All activities cycle. It's a part of life. There will always be "lifers" in some activities, and there will be those that find the passion is a relatively short-lived experience. There will be "tourists" that stick with it for even fewer years, and then there are the "I jumped once, it was incredible, I decided to do AFF, got my A, and then found it wasn't what I thought it was. Don't you think a lot of it depends on the social structure at the DZ as well? There are DZ's that are mostly social centers for weekend jumpers that do a lot of tandems, and there are DZ's like Eloy, Perris, Deland that heavily cater to the "upper ranks" of the sport. As much as I've loved jumping at all three of those DZ's, I'll take my home DZ any day of the week, because I can at least get a smile and a "what's up?" out of folks. Not meant as a slight against big DZ's, just the difference between going to the SuperWalmart store and the local corner grocery store where the owner is the guy at the cash register. I wonder if the wear/tear on the body of the *average* skydiver pushes some out of the sport. Hurt ankles, skinned knees, etc are all fine for the younger crowd, but some folks just don't want to deal with that when they have to go back to the boardroom on Monday morning. Either way, the cycling all seems quite natural to me.

It is the Brett Pendleton, paraskier. He was a regular at Skydive Utah. His services were standing room only. I'm pretty sure I've got the obit/story archived on a laptop that I don't have immediate access to, but you can read the Tribune Obit on the

If they are above me, they won't hit me, no matter how much they turn back and forth. It's when they start above me and speed through my altitude that the problems start. I'm sure I'll be corrected if I'm misunderstanding, but in the case of the AFF and Danish military jumpers at Eloy; neither of them were turning nor swooping when the collision occured?

Never jumped a round, nor seen one deploy up close. How fast does a round inflate by comparison to a large, docile canopy? Compared to a crotch-rocket canopy?

How do you enforce it in advance? FWIW, we had a new guy show up on the DZ today, in for a few spring break jumps. Super nice kid, took him and another on a 3 way. Normal downwind, base, final; no hooks, S turns, sashays, nada. Straight, conservative flight. On landing, just before I touched down, he came over the left half my canopy and into my view. I have video of my landing and my head on a swivel in the pattern, and he's nowhere to be seen in the vid, with a .3 lens on the cam. In other words, he was straight behind me, closing fast. Once He was close enough that when I did land, I pushed my lines to the ground to quickly drop my canopy, and although it's always farther than it looks, his feet were close enough that it appeared that he's perhaps 10 feet to the left and above where my canopy had just been. on the ground, the S&TA was right there on the ramp asking him what he was thinking. No way that this could have been avoided in advance, given that he has a B license, and at some level, you have to expect that the license demonstrates a minimum level of confidence. Normally I'd just be tweaked about seeing this and would talk briefly to the guy. Given events of the past couple months, it left me a little shaken and a lot unhappy. It's not just swoopers that need to be watched out for, the Eloy incident of couple weeks ago weren't swooper either.

Apple has a couple sweet new tools coming, so does Canopus and Adobe. Adobe's production bundle is taking a monstrous leap forward this time around. AMD and Sony will have some nice software stuff happening, and on the higher end, Arri has some news, as does Anjenieux. This is the first year of "all HD" at the show; most manufacturers have either already said no more SD support or will announce no further SD support; Grass Valley has to be a hold out because their new Infinity system isn't shipping yet, but expected to ship by this coming NAB. It's expected to be quite a big event this year, no doubt. We'll be posting live interviews similar to what we did at PIA.

We had a newbie skydiver print out a huge banner asking his fiancee if she'd marry him. She went up with TM while he waited on the ground and laid out the banner. Similar situation, he was on one knee when they landed. Unfortunately, she thought something was wrong because she could see him on a knee as they were landing. After she chewed him out for scaring her, she said "yes." I guess she missed reading the 30 foot banner that was laid out in front of him. It was a great experience being part of it.

I'd love to comment on what Sony may or may not be doing at the show, but NDA prevents me from saying more. Suffice it to say that I'm excited about what's coming, enough so that we invited JC Colclasure to speak at the release event.

It's not a personal attack. It's ironic that my culture is the culture we're specifically talking about, and I 'm not taking it personally. It's a global issue. Here's another way to express it; A monster is unaware he's a monster. A monster that is aware he's a monster is a sociopath. The folks that argue that it's OK to use a racial slur are unaware of how it makes those being slurred, feel. Either consciously or sub consciously, it affects people. Society felt the word "jigaboo" was acceptable until a small part of society said it's not OK. Society felt it was OK to use a character like the Frito Bandito until a small segment of the community spoke out. Society felt it was OK to have a restaurant chain called "Lil' Black Sambo's" that then became "Sambo's" but kept the lil' black kid as their mascot. Eventually, they too, went away because society said it wasn't acceptable. But here you argue that "Redskin," which is defined as a racial slur by every dictionary and and most everyone else of intelligence, isn't a racial slur, and you equate "Viking" with "Redskin." They aren't the same, never will be the same. One group of people exists, the other doesn't. I've already agreed (differing from many Native people) that "Indians" and "Braves" is acceptable from my point of view. "Redskins" is not. It's a shame some folks in society are too ignorant can't see the difference, regardless of their skin color.

Anyone from this community going to be attending the NAB conference? http://www.nab.org If so, JC Colclasure is speaking at a Sony/AMD event. PM me and I can arrange for tix. He'll be showing what it is that makes him unique as a camera operator in various situations. Otherwise, there are several new HD/HDV camcorders that should be ideal for skydiving being seen at the show.

thnks for the responses thus far. One point that someone made (Phree?) is that you can shoot HDV and come back with an SD image that rivals a 50K Betacam image, even though it's only got a 1/3 or 1/4 sensor and short glass. But, HD isn't there on the delivery side for the masses. It does hold some strong point for archiving, if you're into archiving. But, SD still has a long life ahead of it, even if no SD camcorders are being produced any longer. I'm quite excited about a couple of new cams that will be announced at NAB next month.

Neither are "Redskins", or "Braves." But it IS heritage. And its clear you only want others to respect the things YOU hold dear. So it is OK as long as "whitey" does not do it? So only through revenge will you have equality? You're trolling, right? "Viking" isn't a slur or culturally derogatory term. "Redskin" is. But a redneck probably wouldn't be eddicated enuf to figger that out. thankfully, as most folks in this thread have posted, they "git it."

I'v already explained my position on the Braves. The same would hold true for the Indians or Cowboys. Are Vikings a race? Nope...I didn't draw that line, history did a long, long time ago. Was Viking ever a racial slur? Not to my knowledge, and a quick Google couldn't show me it ever has been either. If the "one group" that dislikes something is the very group that is being slurred, yes, I think it's an issue. Most any intelligent person would. I do think "nigger" is a bad word, even for blacks. But I'm not black, so while I have my opinion, it doesn't carry much weight with me. However, if there *were* a team called the New Orleans Niggers or something similar, and the black community wanted it changed, I'd be on the bandwagon agreeing with them. ALL groups, and I'll repeat it, ALL racial groups are capable, and often engage in, racist commentary. Which is why I initially posted so many different slurs. But it doesn't make it right. What makes it harder to deal with from white people is that for most of history in the US, they've been not just the numerical majority, but the socio-economic majority as well. Fortunately it's starting to balance out. Maybe in the future, white people will understand what it's like to be the put-down minority.

I believe I responded to the entire context of the post? ~You seem to feel it's acceptable to use the name of a culture or animal if it embodies the spirit or attributes of that culture ie; Bears, Vikings, etc. I agree, until the name used is a name that is commonly viewed as a slur against a specific culture ie; "Redskins." If a specific culture takes umbrage with the use of the name no matter what it is, I feel the team (if nothing else, then out of community relations) should change their name. If I've misunderstood your position, my apologies. ~You feel that ethnic jokes are inappropriate when used by comedians/commediennes in a particular context. I disagree. I enjoy comedic outlets ranging from SouthPark, John Leguizamo, George Carlin to Lisa Lamponelli, all of whom use a wide mix of ethnic jokes in their shows. If they did an entire show dedicated to slamming one particular culture, then I'd probably feel differently. Humor about other cultures brings perspective. I know I have funny quirks related to my culture, and while in one context they're quite sacred, in another, they're quite funny. Humor doesn't have to be denigrating. For example, we have a lot of jokes about eating dogs. Dogs are sacred, but we make jokes about each other eating dogs. "Two Cheyennes spotted a sign in a cafe window that said "hot-dogs". Thinking they were some other kind of dogs, they ordered two and went to a park to have lunch. The first guy looked inside his sack, and then threw it down in disgust, looks at his friend and says "What part did you get?" I see no harm in that. I think one of the best ways to understand a person is to know what makes them laugh. Laughter is also sacred to Native people, each nation has a name for certain kinds of laughter, and all nations have ceremonies for a baby's first laugh. I don't consider "Redskins" to be a laughing matter. Nor do I consider Crazy Horse Beer to be a laughing matter. ~you called me a jackass Whatever. Which part of the post(s) did I not respond to?

That's not my point, and you're a jackass for this misrepresentation. There, I did it directly instead of your little slight. "Hey, I was only joking when I called him a 'prairie nigger'..." is from the film "Thunderheart." I'd much rather be called a jackass than most of the names directed at my culture or skin. My comment is/was directed at your position, not you personally, but if it makes you feel better to call names...enjoy yourself. If you're a self-described "freak" about not liking ethnic jokes, I'd suggest you're wound too tight. There is a difference in being able to laugh at yourself and being labeled. I disagree that comedians making ethnic jokes (assuming they're joking about all cultures vs only one target) is the "less public" than putting comedic depictions of a culture on a shirt, hat, pennant, bumpersticker, billboard, lunchbox, foam finger, television logo, and so forth. I'd argue the word and image of "Redskins," for example, is seen more every hour during NFL season worldwide than heard in a month of jokes by Lisa Lamponelli, George Carlin, or Robin Williams. If you can't laugh in a human context at who we are as people....what *do* you laugh at? It's when it becomes pointed and personal (ie;'jackass') that it becomes problematic, don't you agree? So to further illustrate your original point... Crazy Horse/Tasunka Witko was an honorable leader of the Lakota nation. White guy comes along and says "I have a new beer, I think I'll call it "Crazy Horse" beer in honor of the great leader. (Except alcohol is a negative context in all of Native America) But not to white America. So you feel that's acceptable, because it's honoring someone? I think I understand you're saying it's OK because it's embodying the characteristics of Crazy Horse, who was an honorable guy. Not to mention that it suggests that Crazy Horse endorses the beer. And it does draw on the characteristics of a strong warrior, a proud nation, and a renowned heritage, so I guess it's OK to use the name, by the standard you set forth. Am I understanding your view correctly?

Several nations have issued letters, requests, and in some cases, demands. Rarely are their wishes complied with. Native culture by nature, is a quiet culture. The Ute nation in northeastern Utah for example, asked the University of Utah to quit running a "brave" around the field, acting like the moron in the image posted earlier. The Ute nation also gave the headdress and outfit to the Running Utes/University of Utah) back in the 60's, not knowing that it would be used in a comical, ridiculous fashion. For years the Running Utes refused. Finally, we got a new Director of Indian Affairs in the state offices, who made it pretty clear to the college that there would be economic impacts if they didn't comply with the requests of the Ute nation. The school was given the right to use the name "Ute" so long as they kept it in a respectable context, and agreed to no longer parade a white guy with greasepaint on his face, leaping over trashcans and acting like a fool. Everyone is happy now. How many in a vocal minority? The Native American Congress passed a resolution several years ago, asking certain teams (like the Redskins) to change their name, and asked the Braves to quit the Tomahawk Chop. Native Americans are the smallest ethnic group in the US, however, so not sure how many it takes to bring about change. I do get your point; it's OK to denigrate another culture if you're being a sport about it. i've heard ths silliness all my life. "Hey, I was only joking when I called him a 'prairie nigger'..." "He's such a nice guy, for a black man." "Pirate/Raider" doesn't apply to a specific culture. Are they Spanish pirates? Greek pirates? Malay pirates? Maybe they're Turkish raiders? See...the point is, indigenous people don't like, and haven't liked being referred to as "Redskin." Period. But to some that are either uninformed or unintelligent, it's not a slur. Tribal names used in team names aren't a slur, IMO, such as "Ute, Cherokee, Osage, etc." Most nations have come to some accomodation with schools using those sorts of names. Funny thing...even Strom Thurmond, a great leader within our government once said "I don't see any harm in the use of the word "Nigger." Now it's an illegal word in the media, books, and most of society. I enjoy good ethnic jokes, I'm not a freak about it. Lisa Lamponelli is one of my favorite comics and nothing is sacred with her. Joking from a comedic viewpoint and naming a team are two very different things. One is to be laughed at, and the other shouldn't be laughed at, IMO.

Override, the more you write, the more I don't think it was only your post that tweaked him. My point was, and is; most *any* business can refuse service for a variety of reasons. To think otherwise is simply being clueless. If your restaurant has a rule that people cannot enter if they're not wearing a shirt, or that you cannot talk on your cell phone in the restaurant, or that if you have Tourette's syndrome where you have to scream the word "F***" every 10 seconds, they have the right to ask you to leave or refuse you service. So does your DZO.

I guess I'm not explaining too well; I'm pretty well stood up when I'm reaching for risers. It's not that I dump and am immediately reaching. Guess I learned this early on by seeing damage to a camera flyer last year. He reached too soon, riser slap caught his hand between his helmet, camera, and riser. Smashed the cam pretty good, tore up his hand and removed a fingernail. I'm reaching as I'm beginning to push my head up to look at the slider coming down. Don't know how to accurately describe it, other than I'm not reaching before the canopy is partially deployed; I can always see my slider coming down just about the moment I grab the risers. Still OK?