Secrets of the City

KSTP has the video: http://kstp.com/article/stories/s726457.shtml

This is so stupid. One unexpected gust of wind swirling among the towers and boom, you’re swept into one of them and plunge to your demise. What an idiots.

If i did that, i would brag about it too.

Jumping off the Foshay: pretty cool.

Coming back to brag about it: really lame.

And while KSTP has a bunch of cobbled together base jumping footage from youtube, they don’t appear to have the video.

This is only marginally more stupid than the people who jump into the lake on New Year’s Day. The pictures of this stupidity are cooler, but the death risk is higher. So that’s my calculus.

This is only marginally more stupid than the people who jump into the lake on New Year’s Day.

Yes, but the annual dive into Lake Minnetonka does raise money for a worthy cause, a summer camp for kids with asthma run by the American Lung Association of Minnesota. The asthma camps are facing a funding crisis right now, so the donation was more important than ever.

So, the Strib ran an AP story based on KSTP’s reporting?

Well, it’s not like the Star Tribune has any resources in downtown Mpls, erica.

Oh, wait…

Both local dailies often run AP stories that began as broadcast news. The most common source is MPR, followed by other news-focused radio outlets like WCCO-AM, Minnesota News Network, and the occational rural station with a good story..

I guess I knew that. Although I thought somehow that practice was going to stop. Because the dailies don’t want to pay the AP? Or something.

It just looked stupid. Mostly I’m mad at myself for even clicking through to the strib in the first place.

There’s an incredibly long period after they give notice to the AP that they’re going to cancel before they can actually stop payment.

Tru. The Strib campus might be Ziggy’s New Stadium Parking & Concesions by then…

What people forget is that the jumper doesn’t want to die or get injured either. Hence the reason for planning out the jump carefully. His planning for his safety sets events up for other people’s safety. For example, the corner of the Foshay he jumped from was chosen because it was the best option for winds, landing area, and not hitting anyone on the sidewalk had the worst happened. And besides, parachutes just don’t not open. From exit to landing the jump lasted about 20 seconds. Not enough time for any great changes to take place on the ground. If they did, there were plenty of ‘outs’ for him to use. As for an “unexpected gust of wind”, they aren’t that big of a deal with modern parachutes. People who don’t jump don’t understand. But skydivers and BASE jumpers learn to deal with winds. Because they don’t want to get hurt either.