Wordsmith.org: the magic of words

Wordsmith Talk

About Us | What's New | Search | Site Map | Contact Us  

Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
#39474 08/24/2001 8:20 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
wwh
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
I was reading "An NYU admission application" in MaxQ's Humouresque page, and came across the line: " I
enjoy urban hang gliding." It reminded me that there was an item in the news last night about a power-parachute enthusiast colliding with the Statue of Liberty, but being able to climb to safety, leaving his flying machine draped over the torch holding arm.
So let's hear some opinions, should the perpetrator get a citation, or a medal?


#39475 08/25/2001 1:26 AM
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Torch his chute I say!


#39476 08/25/2001 11:10 AM
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 387
enthusiast
enthusiast
Offline
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 387
Medal for what?


#39477 08/25/2001 1:30 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
wwh
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Sombody is going to have to pay for the cost of getting what's left of the machine down off the torch.That could run into money, as the monkey said when he pissed into the cash register.


#39478 08/25/2001 3:41 PM
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Give him a big hand!


#39479 08/25/2001 3:44 PM
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661

#39480 08/25/2001 4:37 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
wwh
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
How about a little game of thinking up the charges that could be brought against him.

How about "Defacing a public monument" ?


#39481 08/25/2001 4:44 PM
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
"Flying in the face of nurture"


#39482 08/25/2001 4:52 PM
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
Jumping to conclusions



TEd
#39483 08/25/2001 5:27 PM
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Irreverence of the champion of liberty.
[apologies to Mark Twain]


#39484 08/25/2001 5:59 PM
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379
Pooh-Bah
Pooh-Bah
Offline
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379
Does anyone remember Pierre's last name? In the 1970s, he walked into the arms of the police--across a tightrope stretched between the towers of the World Trade Center. He was sentenced to perform for children, for free, in city parks.

In comparison this was a pig's stunt. They should lock him up for thirty days, make him cover the cost of rescue and cleanup and take away his visa.


#39485 08/25/2001 6:18 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
wwh
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Operating to endanger (the tourists)

I found a power parachute site, and some of the regulations which they must obey. Also some pretty pictures of them in flight. I have seen the "daring young men in their flying machines" just above the treetops in wooded areas, where motor failure etc. could get them hurt.

http://www.powerchutes.com/far103.htm


#39486 08/25/2001 7:53 PM
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
make him cover the cost of rescue

This is a complete redd herring - just get the TV networks to cover that cost, and they will still have had loads of very cheap footage!


#39487 08/25/2001 8:08 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
wwh
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
The TV networks would insist on a complete re-enactment. Might be difficult to arrange. Or maybe they could do a computer simulation. And imagine a computer simulation with the Statue of Liberty shifting her torch to the other hand, and lowering the daring young man gently to ground level!


#39488 08/25/2001 8:12 PM
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
... or dipping her torch to crisp Daedalus like a moth over a candle!


#39489 08/25/2001 8:25 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
wwh
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Hey, fellas! I found a URL that gives a lot of information!

http://www1.sympatico.ca/news/Fullstories/w082338.html


#39490 08/25/2001 9:25 PM
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605
Torch his chute I say!
Not his fault: she obviously carries a torch for him.


#39491 08/25/2001 10:10 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
wwh
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
If they had been contemporaneous, what would the Colossus of Rhodes have said, if the Statue of Liberty had been towed on a barge into the harbor of Rhodes?


#39492 08/26/2001 2:28 AM
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Maybe we should light the torch and let him try it again...see how game he is this time!


#39493 08/27/2001 8:42 AM
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 1,055
old hand
old hand
Offline
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 1,055
Many such illegal stunts have taken place in the passed, for example by so-called base-jumpers. The strange thing about this stunt was that he would have been caught whether he achieved a successful landing or not (unlike our base-jumpers), and that the stunt seemed practically impossible. The observation deck on the arm of the statue is tiny!!


#39494 08/27/2001 12:36 PM
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
As was the edifice upon which he caught himself.

Hoist on his own poignard.


#39495 08/27/2001 3:57 PM
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
and so fated to complete the delightful irony indeed®, of being deprived of his equal liberty by his stunt on old Liberté's fraternal bonnet!


#39496 08/27/2001 4:22 PM
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
Not to mention his Mastercard and AMEX.

Do you know me?

300 million Catholics do.

The American Express card.

Don't leave Rome without it.

K-A-R-L W-O-Y-T-I-L-A





TEd
#39497 08/27/2001 4:45 PM
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
what would the Colossus of Rhodes have said, if the Statue of Liberty had been towed on a barge into the harbor of Rhodes?

Don't know, but I can imagine Liberty with a Mae West accent:

"Is that a doric column, big boy, or are you just pleased to see me?"


#39498 08/27/2001 5:16 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
wwh
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
"Is that a doric column, big boy, or are you just pleased to see me?"

"Non, m'amie, it is Ionian, please note the concentric spirals at the top!"


#39499 08/27/2001 11:54 PM
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636
When I was learning to shoot pool, my teacher, Rodney, told me that when faced with no easy shot, imagine the most elaborate shot possible. If you make it, everyone will be in awe. If you miss it, well, it was a tough shot anyway. So the French guy missed it. It was a tough shot anyway.



Moderated by  Jackie 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Disclaimer: Wordsmith.org is not responsible for views expressed on this site. Use of this forum is at your own risk and liability - you agree to hold Wordsmith.org and its associates harmless as a condition of using it.

Home | Today's Word | Yesterday's Word | Subscribe | FAQ | Archives | Search | Feedback
Wordsmith Talk | Wordsmith Chat

© 1994-2025 Wordsmith

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 8.0.0