Official BBO Hijacked Thread Thread

[y66]

Good story in today's paper about 2 guys battling for farthest ever flight by hang glider.

 

THE CLOUDS stretched across the Texas sky like a highway. And soaring along those lanes, lofted nearly 8,000 feet by the hot air rising from the earth, two hang gliders raced in tight pursuit of the most prized feat in this high adrenaline niche sport: farthest ever flown.The men suspended underneath their aluminum and fabric wings, Jonny Durand and Dustin Martin, had already journeyed 438 miles in 10 hours, splitting up and converging repeatedly as each pursued his own path alongside the red-tailed hawks and turkey vultures. Against all odds, they were now flying nearly wingtip to wingtip.

 

Because of the consoles of gadgets mounted on their control bars, the two men knew that they had now flown farther than any person ever had using a hang glider. Farther than anyone had without the drone of an engine or the protective shell of a plane. They had flown, and were flying still, farther than anyone had in the manner dreamed of in centuries of tall tales, from Icarus to Superman — cheeks in the wind, like a bird.

 

Having launched near the southern tip of Texas in July, a few miles from Mexico, the two men had pushed north, propelled by the fierce flatland wind, and at times had reached more than 80 miles per hour.

 

They crossed low over desolate expanses of cactus and mesquite, which threatened shins full of thorns for any pilot forced into an early landing. They crossed over the concrete sprawl of small cities with houses that looked like pebbles, and over the tumbling, juniper-dusted canyons of hill country, and, finally, over the parched farmland that heralded the northern borders of the state.

 

There was Durand, dangling under his Red Bull-sponsored wing, who had prophesied that morning, “I’ve got a good feeling about today.” The archetype of the adventurous Australian, he was known to friends as someone who operated best with a few margaritas or at least a decent hangover. There are those who take to the sky and revel in the silence; he filled it with whoops of delight.

 

And there, soaring alongside, was Martin, the quiet, perpetually destitute product of the American West. His youthful dreams of flight had never given way to more practical considerations. Since he started working at an airport as a teenager, earning less than he handed back for his flying lessons, he had scraped together just enough on the ground to spend as much time as possible off it.

 

They called themselves friends. But, as those who had spent the previous few days with them would attest, rivals better fit the jaunty, “sure you’re up for this?”competitiveness of the daring prodigies. In the sky, where they snacked on protein bars and water and relieved themselves freely over the world below, they were as evenly matched as two hang glider pilots could be.

 

As they flew past the old world-record distance — close enough to hear each other yahooing in celebration — the question turned first to how much farther they could possibly go. But as the sun retreated and they began their inevitable, decisive descent, another, more pointed question began to nag at the two men: who would go the farthest?

more

[Aberlour10]

I miss in the Posty Awards the category Hijacking of the Year B-)

[Cyberyeti]

http://www.geek.com/articles/geek-cetera/swedish-cleaner-steals-and-derails-train-destroys-apartment-in-the-process-20130115/

 

It appears that nicking a car and taking it for a drive is so last year.

[dwar0123]

http://www.geek.com/articles/geek-cetera/swedish-cleaner-steals-and-derails-train-destroys-apartment-in-the-process-20130115/

 

It appears that nicking a car and taking it for a drive is so last year.

I find it difficult to believe that you can just board a train and start it running. It seems more likely the engineer left the equivalent of the key in place and she might even have accidently started it and then had no idea how to stop.

[Thiros]

FRANK ZAMBONI GETS A GOOGLE DOODLE!

 

http://www.pcmag.com...,2414350,00.asp

[diana_eva]

http://www.theonion.com/articles/teenage-girl-blossoming-into-beautiful-object,31061/

[Winstonm]

FRANK ZAMBONI GETS A GOOGLE DOODLE!

 

http://www.pcmag.com...,2414350,00.asp

 

It's about time....well, no, it's really about ice....but you get the idea...

[kenberg]

http://www.theonion....l-object,31061/

 

It's great!

 

Edmund Powell, Parker’s history teacher, echoed the sentiment of many pupils, claiming that he was impressed by the junior’s transformation from an honor roll student and sentient human being into a lovely piece of meat.

[/Quote]

 

This triggered a memory of one of my strager high school experiences. near the end of my freshman year in high school. a while I was14. I was talking about life with Mrs. K, my Spanish teacher. I was a pretty decent student at that time, before the adolescent hormone rush had fully set in. Mrs. K advised me that I should not study so hard, and that no girl wishes to be Mrs.Einstein. I can't imagine what inspired her to make this suggestion. I was probably the best student in her class, but that was a pretty low bar. Anyway, by the time I graduated three years later, no one had to worry that I was working too hard at my studies.

 

I have at times looked back at this incident and realized that it stands out because of its rarity as advice to boys, and that at least in the 1950s, this sort of thing was communicated, one way or another, to the girls much more commonly. I am happy to say that the girls I knew best had their own ideas on the subject.

 

Actually I liked Mrs. K. She was weird, but I liked her.

[Aberlour10]

Off topic post deleted by author.

 

 

hmmm,...off topic posts are simply impossible in this thread

[Winstonm]

hmmm,...off topic posts are simply impossible in this thread

 

Well, wouldn't an on-topic post be off-topic in this thread?

[dwar0123]

Well, wouldn't an on-topic post be off-topic in this thread?

Being on-topic is still off-topic! Considering the topic!

[Winstonm]

Being on-topic is still off-topic! Considering the topic!

 

And being off-topic then means being on-topic. It's a Catch-11...or perhaps 44.

[ggwhiz]

Does anybody have any inside info on whether Beyonce's hair will be straight or curly? Colour of the Gatorade? (six choices)

 

Anybody actually bet on the game?

[ggwhiz]

http://hogsback.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/aporkaplypenow_02.png

 

My link

 

Another GREAT Canadian invention. Oatmeal Bacon Stout. I guess I can put up with the Oatmeal seeing as how it's breakfast.

[Aberlour10]

http://hogsback.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/aporkaplypenow_02.png

 

My link

 

Another GREAT Canadian invention. Oatmeal Bacon Stout. I guess I can put up with the Oatmeal seeing as how it's breakfast.

 

 

I love the smell of bacon at the morning. It smells like victory.

[mike777]

Who is the smartest person you know? Albert Einstein? Bill Gates? Well, a 16-year-old girl with an IQ of 161 makes those guys look like complete morons.

 

Ok, maybe not morons. But according to the Daily Mail teenager Lauren Marbe has a higher IQ than Stephen Hawking, Bill Gates and Albert Einstein. (Einstein never actually took an IQ test but experts predict that he would have scored a 160.)

 

http://www.inquisitr.com/521378/girl-with-iq-of-161-loves-fake-tans-manicures-and-mensa/

[kenberg]

160 for Einstein seems pretty low, I can't recall seeing that estimate before.

At

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marilyn_vos_Savant

we find

In 1985, Guinness Book of World Records accepted vos Savant's IQ score of 190 and gave her the record for "Highest IQ (Women)." She was listed in that category from 1986 to 1989.^[6] She was inducted into the Guinness Book of World Records Hall of Fame in 1988.^[6][7] Guinness retired the category of "Highest IQ" in 1990, after concluding that IQ tests are not reliable enough to designate a single world record holder.^[6] The listing gave her nationwide attention and instigated her rise to fame.^[6]

[/Quote]

 

Which leads to my favorite IQ story: Ms. Savant had discussed a problem in probability that I mentioned to a freshman class, and I mentioned who she was and that she wrote for Parade magazine. I no sooner finished the sentence after which a young woman piped up "She has the highest IQ in the world and she writes for Parade magazine?". Indeed.

 

Then there was the girl I asked out in high school. She accepted and early on in the date she explained that she had a part time job at the courthouse that gave her access. probably not approved access, to records and that she had looked me up. Her IQ was one point higher than mine, she informed me. This was a weird start to a date and it got weirder.

[mike777]

Ken we should ask why your local courthouse had you in their records? :)

[blackshoe]

Ken we should ask why your local courthouse had you in their records? :)

And why they had his IQ in there. B-)

[chasetb]

So guys, I am starting up a band, where I am lead singer. I am changing my last name to 'Singer' and my middle name to 'the', so I can be Chase the Singer. I have a buddy whose last name is Sitar, and he is going to play the sitar. Any other people want to jump in?

[chasetb]

Speaking of bands, I can't be the first one to mention Tommy Tutone and 867-5309 (ask for Jenny)

[kenberg]

Ken we should ask why your local courthouse had you in their records? :)

 

 

 

And why they had his IQ in there. B-)

 

Yes, now that you mention it. Good question. And why was a part time employee of high school age able to access it?

 

All of which reminds me of another story. This is the hijack thread after all, so I'll tell it.

 

A few years ago a local gealogy society gave a series of free or low cost (I forget which) talks on how to find your family tree online, so Becky and I decided to go. Early on they asked for someone to volunteer a name to track. I suggested Anton Perekovic. This was my father's name when he came over on the boat in 1910. No luck, not surprising since he was ten years old and pretty much disappeared into the masses after he arrived. Ok, I said, try Thomas R. Berg. This was his name after he went through Ellis Island. No luck. Some with in the audience suggestged we try searching witness protection. However when we switched to myu mother his software came thorough. We found an online picture of my mother on a boat in a swimming suit, ca.1930.

 

Government records have a lot. And apparently had a lot even back when I was young. I was adopted at birth, and with this genealogy course as motivation I decided to see what I could find. People who are squeamish would be well-advised to let sleeping dogs lie but it can be a kick. Really I am far more interested in tracking down some early history of my (adopted) father's life. I think it qualifies as a true adventure but it was also difficult and he very much avoided talking about it. It's been tough finding much. Ellis Island says that he and his older brother who came with him were headed for Wisconsin. No trace there that I have found.

[Cyberyeti]

My family came out of Eastern Europe in the 1890s. A couple of stories emerged when we did some chasing.

 

1. We always thought that part of the family came from Krakow, they actually came from Lvov, but if you got sent back from further down the line it was eminently preferable to be sent back to Krakow than Lvov so you claimed to come from there.

 

2. A father put his 3 sons on boats, one to South Africa, one to New York, one to London. The one headed to "New York" got off the ship having been told he was in New York and realised some time later he was in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

[kenberg]

My family came out of Eastern Europe in the 1890s. A couple of stories emerged when we did some chasing.

 

1. We always thought that part of the family came from Krakow, they actually came from Lvov, but if you got sent back from further down the line it was eminently preferable to be sent back to Krakow than Lvov so you claimed to come from there.

 

2. A father put his 3 sons on boats, one to South Africa, one to New York, one to London. The one headed to "New York" got off the ship having been told he was in New York and realised some time later he was in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

 

The adventures of those times, carried out by just folks, seem stunning to me. I can well understand my father's reluctance to relive the details, but I wish that he could have done so.

[blackshoe]

Genealogy is a fascinating subject. There were four Reppert brothers (and their mother, and their wives, and the widows of two other brothers) who came to this country from Scotland in the mid to late 1700s. I think there are other Reppert descendants here, but we'd have to go farther back in time to find a common ancestor. The family from which I'm descended, before Scotland, came from what is now the Alsace-Lorraine area of France. There's a Reppert Hotel on Reppert Mountain in the Black Forest, in Germany. And I was told years ago that there was a Pomeranian nobleman named Reppert (or perhaps Rapphardt) who moved from Pomerania to the Black Forest region in the 12 century. Pomerania is, if I'm not mistaken, now part of Poland. The same guy who told me about the nobleman told me his name meant "fast horse". Don't know how much of that I believe - the dude ran one of those shops (in San Francisco) which claims to be able to tell you who among your ancestors was entitled to display an achievement of arms — i.e., was of the nobility. He had some old book in German in which he looked the information up. Possibly a version of the Almanach de Gotha. That's about all I know - my sister's the genealogist. B-)