Schroeder

I'm not entirely sure what the 'poised' exit is (I'm new at 19 jumps), but up in canada for our solo certificate, we have to do a "ride the slide" sit exit. I did it on my last jump from a c182 and it was pretty cool. Also, before, when I was up north, I did about 5 dive outs into a front loop, to BTE, and correct the heading. I thought it was a pretty good mix of techniques for me at the time. I really want to jump with others too, I've had a few, but it really is a shock to watch yourself sliding all over the place, and trying to screw with fall control. After the first one, you can see how important it is to have a point that you move relative to.

Yeah, I'm pretty shocked at what that kid did and how far he took it. But you know what, I'm still sorta glad to see all the response the story got, from people worldwide. Most people expressed some sort of concern regarding what we were led to believe happened. What we were told sparked outrage in animal lovers, and reminded us of the reality (regardless of whether or not it was true) of bullying. We believed the story because we all knew it could have very well been true. We know that animals are treated like this sometimes, and we know the effects/techniques of bullies. I'm glad the story got as far as it did. The public response reminds me of the humanity that often gets covered in "industrial haze".

All boobies aside for a moment: There is an increase in predator attacks on humans in North America, it might just be an unlucky co-incidence, or it might not be. I happened to be in attendance one early Canada Day morning, on an island in Clayquot sound for one such attack. I had kayaked all day from Tofino, north along the coast to Vargas island, where when the ocean picked up, we decided to spend the night. It was a beautiful island, with incredible whitesand beaches. We spent the evening setting up camp and playing in the surf. After dark, we made dinner over the fire, and proceeded to tell stories and drink. It was an awesome evening with friends in one of the most beautiful places I'd ever seen. I was tired and around 12, decided to pack it in. I was slated to be in a tent with my brother, and another friend, Scott, whom I'd met that morning. In my sleep I could here some sorta repeating sound, like you hear an alarm clock while dreaming, then choose to wake up. I could here something that didn't belong in my dream, so I awoke, to hear the most chilling sreaming of the word 'Help' I'd ever heard. I looked to my right, and there was only one body next to me, I knew it was either my brother screaming, or Scott. I went straight out the tent door like a shot and ran to the fire, where someone was curled in the fetal position on the ground, screaming still, holding his head. When you wake up like that, it's pretty disorientating, and it takes you a second to fully absorb what's going on. Seconds later other people started flying out of their tents, until we were all out. It turned out that it was Scott by the fire, and once we calmed him down, that he was bitten quite badly and was losing alot of blood. We got out minds together, bundled him up, kept pressure on the wounds, and relayed our coordinates to the Coast Guard (fantastic guys) via marine radio. The nearest vessel responded but couldn't land on the beach, so I volunteered to carry him out to the boat, load him up and accompany him to Tofino Hospital. Once we got him loaded into the boat, and myself aboard, the throttle cable snapped. No kidding. Again, we radioed coast guard who were still en-route. They arrived in no time flat, and we transferred Scott to the Coast Guard vessel. The radar man, went back to assist the medical personnel with Scott, and left me to run radar (which was surprisingly similar to alot of video games I had played as a kid, thankfully :)) We got in alright, and I stayed with him in the hospital until around 7am or so when they were going to seriously dope him up. The attack was around 1:30 in the morning, and the others wouldn't make it back for at least a day by kayak. It turns out, that Scott had decided to spend the night under the stars, sleeping by the fire. He had been woken by a wolf tugging at his sleeping bag, he said he thought initially it was one of us trying to get him back inside a tent, when he swatted at it. It bit into his left hand and tore a 2-3 inch gash into both sides. He jumped up, rolled across the fire pit and it jumped onto his back, sinking it's upper teeth the top of his head, and it's lowers into the back-bottom area. When it closed it's jaws, it cut 4 strips about 6-7 inches long, straight down to the skull. He was airlifted to victoria later that day. Him and I are good friends now and still talk quite a bit, he's doing well, but had some bad nightmares for a while. It made the front page of the Province, or Sun, I can't remember which. Here's a link to a brief description: http://www.natureswolves.com/human/vargas_island_attack.htm Those wolves (turned out to be two of them) hung around the camp until dawn, when my friends vacated that beach in a serious hurry. And, my brother, was next to me, passed out from drinking so much. I had to laugh when I found that out, I was glad he was so out of it he missed almost the entire thing.

Did anyone else see Ron on The Weakest Link? I was home for the holidays, sitting watching TV with my brother, and we passed the show and were like "no f*cking way". Dude's pretty damn smart!

How about streetluge? It has relatively little coverage right now, and is still in it's infancy (by way of media). A kickass website like this might be what it needs to get more people interested.

Hose-bed of a firetruck. I used to volunteer at my town's fire dept, I was there for a few years, and every now and then, my then-girlfriend and I would slip in there late. A canoe also. That was tricky. Fun too. Then of course there's the classic, pool table. ahh.. good times...

The dumbest/craziest...? .... The time I figured it was a good idea to attempt to jump over a parking lot, on skis. That one cost me. About 2 months. The time I figured it was a good idea to attempt to rappel off a bridge, using make-shift gear. That one almost cost me everything. Very, very bad idea. Ended up falling about 50 feet down into the river, with a rope tied around me. Believe it or not, physics actually saved me there, I recalled some stuff about currents, and how low/high pressure affected movement in them. I managed to swerve close enough to the back to cut away and swim to shore; proving I can swim JUST enought to save my ass. The time I let a newbie street-luger attempt to pass a oil truck, she amost lost control right infront of it.

30 minutes to go 30 minutes to go till I Walk away from this grey arborite-covered cube of my pent up motion and voice My hand scrawls Hold my calls on my white-board walls signed with an aggressive smiley face smiling over my abandoned desk over my drawings for filing over my black screen over my black tower who's cooling fans will not spin again of my hand I'll take my coat hook with me, cuz I'll not hang my coat here again my sense and my logic have finished their war and with the smoke now cleared, my sense did win I've quit my job and opened a door. I'm outta here. hAH hahahaha! Whhoooo HOOOO!!!! "At no time are we ever in such complete possession of a journey, down to its last nook and cranny, as when we are busy with preparations for it. After that, there remains only the journey itself, which is nothing but the process through which we lose our ownership of it." Yukio Mishima, *Confessions of a Mask*

Stupendous Man... haha brilliant

It WAS going to be 6-7 months for me too, until I quit my job last week and decided to move to Vancouver BC again. Thank-fully I can jump out at Pacific Skydivers in Pitt Meadows. Hey speaking of which, do you guys know of anyone here that jumps out there?

Huh. hmmm. Ok, Well, if I were you, don't change your original plan; yet. Find out stuff like the other's said: How hard-core? Does she have the rebelious side-slip streak in her? (she probably does, as she was likely raised JW, and at this age, is getting to the point where she questions stuff about her religion.) (not suggesting you turn her into a total deviant((just saying that it might not be so bad. rules-wise);) Stick to it dude, she does sound cool, and religion doesn't outlaw love. PS My first cutaway was blonde. With a brown reserve that didn't work so well. Landed in a Pillow Research Facility. I'm still looking for that cut-away pillow too; and one day I'll find her, it. I've got a feeling she's on a new rig though.

Sometimes when Supe was stopping crimes I'll bet that he was tempted to just quit and turn his back On man, join Tarzan in the forest But he stayed in the city, and kept on changing clothes In dirty old phonebooths till his work was through And nothing to do but go on home

5 days left to go for me!!! stupid 2 weeks notice....

great, now I can't resist. Bill has a point. Hidden under many layers of sarcasm (

You're gonna pull it off man, I can tell. Just keep a clear head, and talk with her like always. I always think this approach works best: Mind (talking to body) : "Hey, body, what's up?" Body : "Ooooohh... nothing really." Mind : "Huh, cool, ok, talk to you later" Body: "Alrightt... keep quiet... ok, on 3... 3....2....1 Go!" Mind : "HEY! HEY! You wanna involve me in this!?" Body : "Haha too late, it's done." Mind : "Damnit." I learned it from skiing: You have to surprise yourself. Don't give yourself the chance to second guess yourself, just keep a blank head, right up until the second you do it. That's how I taught myself backflips on skis, so it at least works for me. Forget about over-coming fear; outsmart it. ---- Superman never made any money For saving the world from Solomon Grundy And sometimes I despair the world will never see Another man like him

Lets find the hint: blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah and she is always smiling at me and talking and asking questions and stuff blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah I went every weekend to this pool hall across the street from where I lived, and there was this absolutely gorgeous young lady working there, hourglass figure, long dark hair, big dark eyes, beautiful smile. After a while of going there, she got to know what I liked (tea and the newspaper, while I was waiting for a table) (I'm 21). Eventually, when I'd go in, she'd just come over with the tea and paper. So I started talking to her a little more, and weeks later I was at the point where I'd shoot a few games with her when she had 5 minutes to spare. This girl had everything. She could play, she was in a band, she was a industrial design student, it just kept getting better. Then I got a job offer to move away, and I took it, I just went. No time to say good bye. In retrospect, I missed out big time, because I was too chicken. But this story's not over. I went back on holiday's last week. I went back to the pool hall (like 8 months later), just to see in she was there. She was. She asked me where I had run off too, and how things were, and how work was, and we talked and caught up and everything was great. As I left the hall, I got her email address, and told her I'd write her. I said I'd be back in the spring. I quit my job the other day (nothing to do with her)(that'd make me look crazy) and in 2 weeks, I'll be back down in that city, and I'll go in, and I'll take her out for coffee, for anything, I just know I wont run the risk of missing out on potential like that again. So man, if this girl girl makes you feel that good, and that sad when you don't see her, consider what it'd be like knowing (and having to live with) the idea that you probably missed out big-time. Go, ask her out, be confident, and let me know how it goes. I'll try to follow my advice and conviction when I get back to the city. I'll do it if you do it..... Good luck

Holy Tee! Good luck fitting all that into a 182! Interesting.... I made my first heli jump from a Bell Jet Ranger III at 9k on sautrday, and on sunday, I landed in trees. We had to chop the bad boys down to tget my canopy back. It's all on video, my saying "SHIT! I'm not gonna make it! No! I am! I'm really gonna make it! No, shit! I'm not gonna make it! Ooooh this SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!! ****CRASH****" Just a few few scratches, I ended up about 6 feet off the ground. Coulda been worse. Flared just before hitting the tops, and got my feet on the top of some young poplar and that helped get me down a little softer. Then my car broke down on my "Shortcut" home. Middle of nowhere 1am. That sucked bad.

Ok, I gotta vote for my band name. Waiting For Avocadoes. I came home one night at, like, 3am, and looked at the kitchen. For some reason the avocadoe I was letting rippen was on the counter, and I walked over to it, and gave it a little poke. It was ripe. 3am, and this avocadoe was ripe. When I left at 10, it wasn't. I knew that at noon the next day, my window would have been blown, and I'da missed the avocadoe. SO I made these two WICKED sandiches and sat down to a good meal. During preperation, it dawned on me: So many of us are waiting for avocadoes. We keep certain things in the fore-front of our minds waiting for the perfect time to come along. But that time sneaks up on you, and when you're not ready (or hungry), you find yourself making sandwiches. Get what I mean? I personally don't want to wait for avocadoes, but sometimes, with somethings, it's all you can do. And that's how my one-person-band got a name. I'm currently recruiting.

Friday! - I Pack the Rocco. I drive 6 hours south to Prince George. I arrive, meet my brotha. SATURDAY! - I wake folks up at the DZ in the morning. I jump all day at the grand prix student comp. convince brotha to jump, won't work. Drink, sleep in tent at DZ. Sunday and monday are basically the same. Which is excellent. Love you all. A.

Soul Coughing --------- my all time fav. The Beta Band --------- creeping up on my senses. Radiohead --------- always hanging around my head Kramer --------- When I feel sad about my romantic venture. I like funk. mad, mad funk. but I strangely detest some as well. M. Doughty's solo stuff after soul coughing broke up is probably my favorite acoustic stuff.

Hey guys Just saw this and could relate. I was on my first clear and pull, let go of the strut, went into a barrel roll, they taught me to deploy even if unstable. Halfway to inverted, I pitched it out, and the pilot came up between my legs. I saw it, was on my back, and grabbed at it from the bottom, missed, tried a second time, took an extra moment to really get a hold of it, then yanked it back down and out. It caught, flipped me around and opened with a few twists. At the time I was calm, but shit, it does sink in later what really happened. I got in on ground video too. What was supposed to be a 1sec delay turned into 7-ish. scary indeed.

You guys ever listen to Soul Coughing or The Beta Band? Those two are my all time faves. Long live the cough.

"Besides what does Canada have that America wants?" Oil. Fresh water. Oh, you'll be back to the store, oh yes, you will.... Just don't come to hold us up! Just pay a fair price, and everyone's happy....

Jessica, I swear to god, I had that exact same dream about 2 weeks ago. I was jumping, jumped, double mal, burned in, at impact I switched to the ground, standing next to the packer and there were people pretty much raining down all around, it was fu(ked. I didn't wake up either till it was all over. I didn't really know what to make of it. Deninately shook me a little. I too, still went and jumped, but damn, it was a weird dream.

Hey, In the winter, I ski. I ski alot. Hey infact, there's a picture of me at this addy: http://www.freeskionline.com/libraries/showfilepage/355?offset=5 So yeah.. that's my entire winter of hurting myself.. and in the summer, I hike, camp, climb urban structures like bridges and stuff, streetluge (just built a new board) and as of the beginning of this summer, I skydive! -Ash