bellyboy

"funny talking english dude" Fair enough , I am Welsh actually though , but I do talk funny , or dirty, whatever... What's that about sitting in a gutter , or in Jail - should I know you or are you a closet psycho? Ed.

Hang on just a minute JP , is that why you're always grouchy on a saturday morning....? Remind me to only jump with you on a sunday... I'd still be riding mountainbikes all weekend and getting horribly cut up in the process , I'd be a lot wealthier , but have less friends , more scar tissue and my oldies would still regard me as more sane, funny old world. See you at the DZ JP, Ed.

Sounds like a brilliant idea! What size of plane would we be talking though , I reckon there'd be quite a demand and I don't think Dennis' King Air would cope. Perhaps you could get a certain corpulent DZO to use hit Otter.....

Which particular weekend of Anarchy was that then? I can't tell one from the other... Good point though , I SHOULD go see y'all at Monterey soon so Dail can insult me some more. Righto POP - how about a skydiving tour of the bay area? Tally ho!

Yeah- Lodi's pretty cool , cheap jumps too. BTW - you won't find it in the USPA register but we can tell you how to get there if you want to go , hell I'll even go too.

Hah - I'm just ribbing him about taking the weekend off the other week - he's a beemer whore actually.

It's the stink coming from his caravan that worries me..... See you at Byron - I live near Sebazz too , I'm sure either of us can show you the way . Sebazz - how about taking some time off from Car races and the like to come over and get away from that damnned fog out at the coast? You know you want to! "Ah the hell with you all!" - my boss.

Aha , so it's like chicken , but whether or not it's corn fed is important.... The great thing about the paper was the implication that women became psychologically addicted to semen because those women who were previously exposed regularly to it became depressed to a far greater extent than those who were not when they went for extended periods of time with no nookie . Maybe 'Bukake' will become the future mental health craze.....

Sinkster, Loving your input here - you're commited to your beliefs and that's great. I believe in a creator too , I just don't call it 'god'. I agree with a lot of what you've said , and I can still agre with the removal of the 'under god' bit . I'm a firm believer in the segragation of church and state , the foundation of freedom cannot be contained under one religious roof , or even under all religious banners collectively - all animals desire freedom , we however have devised means to secure a level of freedom (not absolute by any means) for our offspring and their offspring . Is that a function of a particular religion? I still think we've got the best one - Yahu! Only joking....

"And have to _think_ about it? Too much trouble. " Quite so - unfortunately we're in the minority here , as skydivers we've already made a decision to be free . I very much doubt there are fora in many other places where such a wide ranging set of opinions can be shared without violence or threat thereof. I doubt the removal of any reference to 'god' would make the pledge of allegiance any less grave - Andyman , I fuly support your view that the whole concept is Orwellian but the removal of just one trifling detail is causing quite a stir , one step at a time . Perhaps after a few more international financial crises and the massive depression we're headed towards the people of the US will realize that whilst globalization as it currently stands is repellent , we can nevertheless forge a more globally coherent future in which nationalism is regarded more as an affinity towards one baseball team over another than membership of rival gangs. Nationalism and religion , strangely similar at the moment , seemingly membership of more than one gang is impossible , fights break out that way.

With you there Quade - if the government decided to print Ronald McDonald on every bill and force schoolchildren to mention him every morning we'd all look at it somewhat differently, there's not really a big difference - I'm not a donaldian , I prefer quesadillas. The separation of church and state thing is very important . I think we can all be reminded just by watching the news of late exactly what happens when that basic rule is not applied , and I'm sure we can all see wrong in the actions and reactions of competing religions in the world right now . I'm not after starting an argument here either- I'm very happy that people can find comfort in their beliefs , I'm just expressing an opinion - that I believe organized religion amounts to children in a playground trying to persuade each other to believe in their imaginary friends . That ANY organization much less the government of the USA should sponsor any particular imaginary friend is absurd and offensive to people without imaginary friends or those who have different ones. THE END.

Cheers Kevin, At least you've got the knackers to support your opinions - I , like Nacmac am an invitee to this country and love being here , I've also lived in some of the crappiest corners of the world and as a consequence have a rather dim view of global capitalism. What you're reading from me is my reaction to what I've seen , not an opinion based on what I've heard. I don't single out the US as the only country guilty of rape (Japan , Germany , the UK , France - all are up there) - next time you nip out to WallMart for a VCR though ask yourself where it was made , ask yourself why that's not the USA , and then take a long hard look at whether the disparity in wages across the globe can really be maintained given that domestic jobs have been traded by the large corporations for short term gains in margin. THAT's the real reason so many people across the planet dislike the 'Western world' etc , it's the corporations that represent them , and the policy they drive governments to adopt. Thanks for reacting to my 'inflammatory' comments - I seek only to counter the equally inflammatory comments made by someone else , and spark debate. I respect your opinion, and you're right , that is one of the best bits about this country , provided it's supported. Fishy.

Hoo frickin ray! Couldn't agree more. I'm also an invitee to this country , and I don't get a vote either. I've lived in myriad countries too, and they all have their bad. I go to my previous statement that people need to take a wider look through world media and piece together a more realistic view of what's going on , and then make up their own minds. Any unresearched viewpoint is called prejudice, you can never be truly free of it , just less guilty of it. Anyway , I'm off to the DZ for a swift lift and some beer, s'more fun than debating world politics .

Erm , I'm in the US. I'd be the first to admit that the US press is apparently free to say what it wants , but you will note with not a little irritation the regularity with which seemingly honest news stories are later revealed to be a mere shadow of the real truth . I'm no conspiracy theorist , but the regularity with which scandals also appear in the news at exactly the same time as a major piece of news which might not look very good for the US is happening is quite alarming. I'm not saying what you read in the press is untrue , just that it represents a VERY biased viewpoint and tends to blinker itself to anything which criticizes US policy. As a consequence we, the US people, believe in the main that the almightly USA is always right and just. Read the European news agencies websites , read the Russian and Chinese media websites , Singaporan news , whatever (Most are also in English) and you'll begin to be able to piece together a more balanced view of what's really going on. Right , off to the DZ.

Coudn't agree more with you about the pipeline bit , it seems the US is only REALLY interested in anything happening in the rest of the World when it affects their prosperity , feeling of security and perceived god given right to rape the rest of the world for the cheap resources and labor to be found there. I can't even begin to imagine what was going through whoever it was' mind when they described Pakistan and India as immature piss-ant countries , do you think the world revolves around the USA? I do hate to have to burst your bubble , but you're living in la-la land , the press here only feeds you what the government want you to hear , and at the moment there's precious little info about the India Pakistan thing because they've both basically decided to ditch US advice and seek the counsel of the Russian and Chinese government. Both India and Pakistan are valuable resources to the USA , were it not for the fantastic university education (especially technology based) available in India most US software firms would have folded years ago , that's where a staggering volume of the world's code is written. I urge you all to look at the news you're getting with a sceptical eye, the US isn't interested in India and Pakistan (Or Afghanistan , or Iraq etc) because it's some benevolent parent seeking harmony and wealth for all , it's interested in preserving an unsustainable level of rude wealth for itself to share amongst an increasingly insular upper middle class to the detriment of all others . In fact , realization of the 'goal' of wealth and happiness for all would smash the American 'dream' to smithereens, at least in the short to mid term. Grow up , the US is the world analog to a schoolyard bully, stealing other people's lunch money. Right , let's all go skydiving and burn some more oil.

Listen to the man , nothing's cheating at a DZ. What I don't understand though is how you can manage to have a relationship with a whuffo , don't they get all arsey about you spending the entire weekend at the DZ? Ed. "What do you mean - 'perfectly good airplane'? "

It's actually pretty good for your fall rate . And with a bit of custard poured over it you'd never know it tastes like lard soaked sponge cake. BTW , custard is yellowish goo with a bit of vanilla flavour, just in case that didn't make the cultural divide.

I've had my Tri 190 for about 2 months and 25 jumps now , it's my first canopy post-AFF graduation (I rented student gear previously) . I may not have experience , lots of jumps or multiple years of USPA membership but I can tell this is a damnned good canopy:- 1: I've had no hard openings (That's right , none) despite it being the canopy I learned to pack with. In fact the only iffy openings have been line twists due to my own stupidity and they are so easy to kick out of on this canopy it's unreal. 2: I've not found it hard to transition to at all , even though I'm 200lbs and a total rookie and the smallest thing I'd jumped before was about a 230sq/ft PD (I think) 3: It's EASY to land , fly it like a plane - taper off the glide angle as you come in and then just put your feet down when you run out of glide. Even with no wind it's just a case of a brisk trot to lose your forward speed or get your feet down early and slide if it's a flat/smoothish DZ . Obviously it's a bit more sensitive to relative toggle position at flare time than an old F-111 so keep it symmetrical and all's well. 4: It's simple to pack. Even I can do it. 5: Turn recovery is mega fast , a bit of opposite toggle and you're right back under it. 6: As someone else mentioned , you can sink in under brakes REALLY easily and take lots off your approach without sacrificing flare to any appreciable level. 7: Aerodyne research are incredibly helpful and great to deal with. In short - I can't find anything wrong with the thing. Perhaps one day I'll want more speed , but when that happens I'll probably just buy the next size down.

Sebazzzzzzzzz , after the weekends fart fest (From a particular camera flyer I suspect...) I think it would be a plan to ban flatulence promoting brews from the DZ until sunday PM if you think this could be a problem , perhaps a rule book (if one is introduced) could include this ruling as hypoxia is pretty dangerous . Yeah baby.