January 22, 2006

• Sorry, I think I just inadvertantly broke the 1 link per day rule. I'll just shut up now...
• As a fellow outdoor-enthusiast, this article makes me wonder what the story is with this guy. To have this many serious injuries isnt normal, and it generally means that you arent talking neccesary precautions. Sooner or later he wont just be hurting himself, he'll be hurting others. Im suprised he hasnt already done this.
• Yeah, I was wondering about that too. When he hurts himself, he hurts his wife, daughters and friends too. He alludes to parenthetically to their fear but doesn't seem to get that they actually die a little bit inside each time they hear he's been in another terrible accident. I know mountain climbers and other outdoor warriors who've never had an injury like the ones he describes. Yearly helicopter rescues and reconstructive surgery are hardly a requirement of adventurous outdoor hobbies.
• I wish any of my accidents had been doing cool, fun things like this guy. I did have that one rollerblading injury, but it was far more lame than cool.
• For some, an adrenaline rush is addictive.
• Are there benefits to getting seriously whacked? "...the fact of the matter is: Bones heal. Chicks dig scars. And the United States of America has the best doctor-to-daredevil ratio in the world!" -Capt Lance Murdoch, "Bart the Daredevil"
• Yeah...this guy bugged me. I'm not so sure why he's crowing about being a giant pain in the ass to everyone around him. This guy appears to have his cake and snarf it too; he gets attention for doing all those dangerous things, and even more for hurting himself while doing them. Oddly, when I got hit by a bus, I learned not to do that anymore. Not nearly as profound, but a fuck of a lot more useful.
• Getting hurt doing what you love is one thing. Those are the risks you take, but this guy's made a big ego production out of riding the edge and getting hurt. I wouldn't want to climb with him, or do any sport that requires cooperation with another person. I'd want someone who doesn't take unwarrented risks on the other end of my rope. So what if he kills himself-just don't take anyone else with you, doofus. Rhiannon hit it square on the nail. He doesn't give a damn about anyone else.
• What a total stud. I'm in awe.
• I've sprained my wrist last spring and still it isn't back into its old shape. So I can relate. Of course this accident happened on a bike path in the city and not while telemark skiing, hiking, rock climbing or other potential dangerous things I do regularly. The skiing (yesterday) and hiking I still do, but rock climbing? Not so much.
• I like the stories about Evel Knievel, how he had broken every bone in his body, most of them twice, doing the exact same thing. Thing is, he apparently never got that much better at it. I was watching a documentary on Discovery or something about daredevils as a cultural phenomenon, and there was this one modern bus-jumper talking about studying the films of Knievel doing his thing, and how he was amazed that the guy was still alive. Most daredevils, according to this guy, make some effort to control the flight of the bike once it's in the air--raising or lowering the handlebars, spinning the drive wheel for stability, etc.--but Knievel, it looked like as soon as he left the ramp, he was pretty much in freefall, hoping for the best. Dunno if he's much like this guy, but still.
• You know, this guy is seriously whacked. Just not in the way he thinks he is.