Jeff Batten (Juan de Fuca) Memorial Thread

Hello,

My local Boy Scout Troop has been given permission to give a rappelling
demo at a local college. All the kids want to take part so it should be alot
of fun for the parents to watch. The rappell will be down a 150 ft wall.
The kids have to take off their shoes as to not damage some new artwork
halfway down.

The kids will clip into the rope, and climb over a small 3 ft wall to begin
the rappell. They have all been practicing using the brakes over the summer,
on our 20 foot practice wall.

We plan to give fireman belays from the ground.

At the planning meeting earlier in the week, one of the parents
was giving us alot of trouble, saying we needed more advice on
how to do the demo.

It seems quite safe to me. I figure once they are on rope, if anything
goes wrong, we can brake them from below.

Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks

Henry

confessions of a serial troller - posted 6/19/2003 to rec.climbing

Trolling - why do I do it?

For me, trolling can arise out of boredom, an opportune post, a
current event, it's my "devilish" side that sometimes needs a release,
it's a desire to test my wit and humor and pass some time. The primary
reason I troll, however, is because I have a need to laugh, and boy do
I. I can't tell you the number of times I've sat at my computer at
home or bored to death at work and have just laughed and laughed and
laughed. My co-workers sometimes ask me across the cube farm, "what's
so funny over there?" I just tell them they wouldn't understand. My
girl friend who understand "me" pretty well doesn't even understand
(although she is getting an official BURT BRONSON thong), which may
make this post, this confession of a serial troller, all the more
stupid and pointless as some of you may not understand - my hope is
that you will, though.


So what am I laughing at? I am laughing at the hilarity of my post
but even more so, the hilarity of the posts I receive from others who
know I'm a troll. Very rarely have I laughed at a response from
someone who thought one of my characters was real. I actually don't
get many replies from people who think a character is real because –
well, how could anyone think they are real? I like the wit and humor
that people who know I am a troll bring to my posts. I liked how Karl
Babba replied to BURT'S Yosemite TR about how he had to be lying, not
about the routes he did and the crazy times he did them in, but about
Breakfast at Curry being good. I rolled on the floor with that one.
Additionally, I about died when Andy Gale and Jason Liebgott did the
"whose cock" "Ron Cock" bit. Just like Mad Dog said, perfectly good
beer right out the nose. Beyond that, someone has gone to the trouble
of creating official BURT BRONSON wear - are you kidding me? That
stuff can't be planned - and that is why I troll. Those laughs are
needed in today's world of bullsh#t, deadlines, stress, traffic, rain,
death, smog, deforestation, war, taxes, cubicles, blue screens of
death, shitty bosses - should I go on?


The key here is that all those people that made me laugh so hard knew
I was troll. In a way, they're trolling, too. All those people that
responded with more than a "please turn off your caps lock", are the
ones I'm after. Trolling for me isn't about getting the new blood,
it's not about hiding my IP address or getting punk'd, it's not about
flaming some poor lost soul that can't figure out how to put an
ascender on a rope, or beating down somebody cause he wants to use a
llama to get up to the Cirque, it's about coming home from a hard day
dealing with sh#t and needing to laugh instead of watch the TV and
learn about some poor 19 year old kid dying in Iraq. It's about
punking a stereo-type, about getting through my 8 to 5er, about
dealing with the goddamned rain that won't let me get out and climb.
It's about my wit and humor and even more so, the counter wit and
humor that you guys bring to the table. It's about laughs. It's as
much about my laughs as it is yours.


So am I a washed up troll now? Maybe. Have I gone soft? Maybe.
Will someone flame me for posting this? Probably. Do I care? No.
When I bring in a new character will someone look for my IP address
and say "it's BURT"? Maybe.


Will I still make you laugh? Probably, unless you're a sorry old soul
too caught up in your ego to allow yourself the freedom to laugh.


Do I hope you still laugh? Absolutely, because you're part of the
process.


And will I still make myself laugh? You f*#king better believe I will
cause that laugh is one of the only things that keeps me sane in this
crazed world.


Sincerely,
E.B. Shoe, BURT BRONSON, Igor Slovaceikqi, and a few others who didn't
quite make the cut.