Ronald Dunn's Blog, page 4
October 11, 2012
Fearless Felix’s Aborted Skydive Rescheduled
Felix Baumgartner has rescheduled his aborted 23-mile plunge from space. He decided to postpone it due to high winds above the Roswell, New Mexico desert. If you’ve been under a rock (which is easy to do these days) or just don’t read much about events like this, then you are probably not familiar with Felix Baumgartner. Felix was in the Austrian military where he was trained in parachute jumping and especially hitting small targets. Most of his post-military life has been spent BASE jumping. This has basically prepared him for this daring, life-threatening stunt. He’s already made two practice jumps at 13 and 18 miles up.
On October 10th he was to launch himself from a capsule attached to a 55-story weather balloon at an altitude of 23 miles. Unfortunately, the winds did not cooperate and the jump was called off. With a new date on the calendar, anticipation is back in the air. October 14th will dawn with all eyes on Baumgartner and his custom-made flight suit. Red Bull, which is sponsoring the event, will be streaming live on the internet and Baumgartner’s space suit sports five hi-def cameras so you won’t miss the action. The feed goes live at 6:00 AM Mountain Daylight Time on Sunday and actual jump times will be updated as weather permits.
Some folks may look at these as just stunts, but much information can be learned about the body in free-fall and in the upcoming age of commercial space flight, this will be important information. Baumgartner will be setting a record with this jump that has been held since 1960 by Colonel Joe Kittinger who leapt from 102,800 feet. In fact, Kittinger is the lead member of Baumgartner’s team. Did I mention that Felix is also going to go supersonic on this jump? That’s right, he expects to break the sound barrier within 40 seconds of jumping.
Question: Felix is in a class of famous “nut jobs” and thrill-seekers. Who is the most famous that you have heard of or can recall by name?
You can watch live and read more about Felix at the links below.
Watch Live at Red Bull Stratos Youtube Channel
The Red Bull Stratos Home Page
Written by James Pickering
October 8, 2012
Musical Mondays
Here’s a lively tune to get your week started!
Old Is New Again
I got an email of a blog post earlier this year about another blog post from four years ago. It’s a collection of photos showcasing old refurbished bumper cars from The Pike amusement park out in California turned into actual cars. I remember riding the bumper cars at the Pike back in the late ‘40’s or ‘50’s, but liking the Cyclone roller coaster that went out over the ocean best. Enjoy these links to the blog post and other articles about the bumper cars.Stix Blog – Old Bumper Cars
Theme Park Review - Bumper Cars from Long Beach's Pike Amusement Park Found
MR38 Flickr Set – Dodgems
Gadget Venue - Street Legal Bumper Cars
Old Bumper Cars Go Street Legal
Boing Boing Gadgets - Street Legal Bumper Cars
October 1, 2012
Character Origins
Have you ever wondered how a writer comes up with the names of his book’s characters? Well, in THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON, it was pretty easy. Since much of the story was about my life-my family, my friends, my faith-I simply used real-life people and changed their names a little bit. My name Ronald Dunn became Rob Donne; my son’s name Brad became Brady; my good friend’s name Stennis became Dennis, etc. Except for Solomon the alien spaceship and, Torena the alien woman, all my characters were founded on people I know. It was easy to translate their character into the book because I know them well. I’m not alone in my methods for many writers incorporate their lives into their novels---we write about what we know and what we have experienced.
