Here comes the Jump!!

Here is the first part...


And here is the second... Excuse the bad quality of this video. I shall get a better version of this part soon!


Can you suggest me a good free dvd ripper? Thanks in advance!

Is Sky the Limit?!

It seemed like a nice sunny day when I started my car and keyed-in the address of the destination for the Perris Valley Airport in my GPS. I was quite excited just by the thought that I am going to jump off an aeroplane (my first :-) that day..

I had earlier made some enquiries at Thrill Planet (LA Skydiving online website) and the Perris Valley Skydiving school for the sunday noon seemed a good option. After some thoughts, I chose to go for a tandem jump (in which I would be strapped tight to an instructor during the free fall) and not the solo or Accelerated Free Fall (in which a couple of other instructors would also jump together with me but I would not be held tight to them - though they would give some 6hrs training before the free fall). At $340 - together with the video, it did seem a li'l costly, but then I could not lose the opportunity of jumping off an aeroplane, could I?!

Thus, I arrived at the Perris Valley Aviation at noon and was surprised to see the parking lot full!!! I did not imagine there were so many sky diving enthusiasts here.. Anyways, when I went inside to the office, I found out that a group of 100 professional sky divers were doing some formations in the sky that day and that I had to wait for another couple of hours before I would get a chance to go up in the sky.

After all the wait (watching the planes take off and the hundred odd guys land in multicolored parachutes again and again and a burger to fill my stomach in the time, I was assigned an instructor, Luke. (Of course, I should have asked for a female instructor... but then, I did not want any distraction this day ;-). He gave me some training and told me what to expect and all that. Finally, after getting dressed for the occasion, we made our way to the small aeroplane that was waiting to take us. (It felt like I was one of those astronauts in that jump suit...just the all-cover helmet was missing!)

The plane took off and started gaining altitude.. It must have been a couple of minutes and I was seeing 'ants' down below through the window. I checked the altimeter strapped on to my left hand and saw that it was only 4000 feet yet. We were to go thrice that height!! The burger in my stomach started churning a bit and I decided not to look out the window again...:-)

Luke again told me what to do - how we should slide to the edge of the door at the appointed time, how I should sit with my left foot just off the door and the right knee bent to the floor next to it, how I should look up with my chin protruding and all that, how I should arch my back just after we jump, how I should hold my legs bent and hold tight to the shoulder straps....etc etc. And then, he checked my gear and tightened the straps one final time, before letting me chat on video and himself playing some pranks with the co-instructors...

The final minute came and we were all set... and then, came the jump. That was the best part!!! The first few seconds felt so blissful... falling freely, throwing caution to the winds... and then, as we gained velocity, the winds literally caught up and were hitting me on the face and everything...! The difference in pressure started hurting my ears, but then, soon enough, Luke opened the trail (you would see the single rope like thing trailing us) and we stabilized.

It was time to give some poses and show the thumbs up and give a message from the batman... The video/photo guy was just beside us (This is an interesting fact of Physics.. remember the experiment from the top of Leaning tower of Pisa?! whatever be your weight, you will always hit the ground at the same time... as long as you time the jump, and start at the same time).

I tried opening my mouth and the wind was getting into my mouth and even otherwise, it was pulling my face in all directions...!!! Anyways, after about a minute of jumping off the plane, Luke engaged the parachute and the rest was a smooth landing.....

The next time, I want to do the solo jump.... Let me know if you wanna join.. :-)

Check my pics at
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/562218381OLTZiv

Videos galore!!

I have a lot of videos to post here... For one, a couple of my girl fans have got together to make a video on me.. And, as you can imagine, it is so flattering to have their time and attention!!

And then, there's gonna be a video of me sky-diving... :-)

But all those would come later...


Here's the video/lyrics of a rock song I like these days....


Gorillaz - Clint Eastwood Lyrics

I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad
I got sunshine, in a bag
I'm useless,but not for long
The future is coming on
I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad
I got sunshine, in a bag
I'm useless, but not for long
The future is coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on

Yeah... Ha Ha!
Finally someone let me out of my cage
Now, time for me is nothing cos I'm counting no age
Now I couldn't be there
Now you shouldn't be scared
I'm good at repairs
And I'm under each snare
Intangible
Bet you didn't think so I command you to
Panoramic view
Look I'll make it all manageable
Pick and choose
Sit and lose
All you different crews
Chicks and dudes
Who you think is really kickin' tunes?
Picture you gettin' down in a picture tube
Like you lit the fuse
You think it's fictional
Mystical? Maybe
Spiritual
Hearable
What appears in you is a clearer view cos you're too crazy
Lifeless
To know the definition for what life is
Priceless
For you because I put you on the hype shit
You like it?
Gunsmokin' righteous with one token
Psychic among those
Possess you with one go

I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad
I got sunshine, in a bag
I'm useless,but not for long
The future is coming on
I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad
I got sunshine, in a bag
I'm useless, but not for long
The future is coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on

The essence the basics
Without it you make it
Allow me to make this
Child, like in nature
Rhythm
You have it or you don't that's a fallacy
I'm in them
Every sprouting tree
Every child and beast
Every cloud you see
You see with your eyes
I see destruction and demise
Corruption in disguise
From this fuckin' enterprise
Now I'm sucking to your lies
Through Russ, though not his muscles but the percussion he provides
with me as a guide
But y'all can see me now cos you don't see with your eye
You perceive with your mind
That's the inner
So I'm gonna stick around with Russ and be a mentor
With a few rhymes so m****r f****rs
Remember where the thought is
I brought all this
So you can survive when law is lawless
Feelings, sensations that you thought were dead
No squealing, remember
(that it's all in your head)

I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad
I got sunshine, in a bag
...........

Crazy Kia Re!

How crazy can you get??!

Today was just one of those days.... imagine, I paid 2000 rupees to get a eye checkup done... ok, I also got a chottu 3 ml eye drops for that money.... No, the whole thing cost about 10,000 bucks, of which 2K was my part.... You need to convert that into dollars, but the cost of medication in this country is ridiculously high... World is flat, right? Then, how do such inequalities exist in two parts of the same world??!

There were other things in the day... let me not get to that here....

But, to top it all, I spent the last two hours on Orkut, reconnecting with my old engg batchmates....ogling at the babes, in general... May be, it is not so bad... but, it sure is crazy!!

PS: It is only 2.45am here...!

PPS: Dont you start now... how many can I give my attention to??!

Welcome, 2008!

Hey! 2008

Hope you are going to be good to me.... and have loads of fun in store. You better...!!

Let yourself shower greatness on my friends visiting here too :-)

Bhaskar