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Man on Wire
Topic Started: Dec 20 2009, 09:07 PM (761 Views)
KlavierBauer
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HOLY CARP!!!
Free Rider:
You may be thinking of the Flying Wallendas, whose patriarch passed away during a high-wire act where the wind picked up.

George Willig is another phenom - he was the guy who climbed the WTC. He's climbed lots of buildings, and always gets arrested at the top. He machines his own gear (standard chock sets don't work), which fits into the tracks that the window cleaners use.
He's an amazing climber, and his race is always to get through the first 4 stories, whereafter the cherry-pickers on the firetrucks can't get to him, and he's free to climb (they'll be waiting at the top though).
"I realize you want him to touch you all over and give you babies, but his handling of the PR side really did screw the pooch." - Ivory Thumper
"He said sleepily: "Don't worry mom, my dick is like hot logs in the morning." - Apple

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kenny
HOLY CARP!!!
I missed something.
Is Free Rider Chris Aher?
If so, why two names?
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KlavierBauer
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HOLY CARP!!!
Kenny: Not that I know of... ?
Free Rider asked about a tight rope walker falling and dying, and I wondered if he meant the Flying Wallendas tragedy.
"I realize you want him to touch you all over and give you babies, but his handling of the PR side really did screw the pooch." - Ivory Thumper
"He said sleepily: "Don't worry mom, my dick is like hot logs in the morning." - Apple

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Chris Aher
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Middle Aged Carp
kenny
Jan 12 2011, 09:58 AM
I missed something.
Is Free Rider Chris Aher?
If so, why two names?
Chris Aher is NOT Free Rider! :) (But no one has ever seen us both in the same place at the same time) :)

I had the dubious "pleasure" of working with M. Pettite about 30 years ago. :(

Chris

PS to Kenny: Be careful in your new career, life as a tuner/tech can take you to strange places indeed. :)
Edited by Chris Aher, Jan 12 2011, 10:20 AM.
Regards,
Chris
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kenny
HOLY CARP!!!
Thanx.
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KlavierBauer
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HOLY CARP!!!
Kenny: Indeed - I have lots of interesting stories from doing studio and concert tech work over the years!
"I realize you want him to touch you all over and give you babies, but his handling of the PR side really did screw the pooch." - Ivory Thumper
"He said sleepily: "Don't worry mom, my dick is like hot logs in the morning." - Apple

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PhJ
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Senior Carp
Chris Aher
Jan 12 2011, 05:42 AM
This person was probably the most egotistic, arrogant jerks that I ever had to deal with during my Lincoln Center days. We did an event with him in conjunction with the French consulate. The crew chief of the outdoor staff commented "If he goes down, we won't need an ambulance, we'll need a squeegee."

I don't think I'll watch this film.
His book 'Funambule' didn't leave me with a very good impression, I have to admit.
Still, what he did that day in '74 remain a beautiful thing.

It's like Bobby Fischer, take him for the great and inspiring things he did, the rest doesn't concern us that much.

(ok maybe it does concern you, if you had to work with him post NY '74.. :help: )


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Horace
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HOLY CARP!!!
We've discussed thrill-seekers here before. As I mentioned then, they tend to have sociopathic tendencies. That documentary (which I really enjoyed) substantiates that. The reason they seek thrills is because they have difficulty feeling anything much in the course of a "normal" life.
As a good person, I implore you to do as I, a good person, do. Be good. Do NOT be bad. If you see bad, end bad. End it in yourself, and end it in others. By any means necessary, the good must conquer the bad. Good people know this. Do you know this? Are you good?
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KlavierBauer
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HOLY CARP!!!
I don't know if it's sociopathic tendencies as much as it is desensitization to adrenaline. It's like Type II diabetes, where a body's insulin becomes less and less effective at getting sugar into the cell to be metabolized. In the thrill seeker, the body seems to become immune to the "fight or flight" response adrenaline evokes in most of us, due to the thrillseeker's liking of that feeling (and therefore constant seeking of it). The "addiction" to that feeling of excitement leads to more and more serious thrills, as the ability to feel the effect wains (as you said).

I wonder if tight-rope walkers have the same thing going on though? You seem to see a lot more "tradition" with that discipline in particular, where families have a long lineage of tight rope walkers, and overcoming the fear doesn't seem to be a quest for fun, but part of the training - probably a very difficult part.
This seems different in comparison to someone using a flight suit to shoot the fjords of Norway, who has simply lost interest in "low risk" BASE jumping, and seeks the next limit-pushing activity. Not so many "long traditions" in those fields (same with free-solo climbers).

Derek Hersey is another example of a seemingly adrenaline addicted thrill-seeker, but when one got to know him he was anything but.
I've mentioned him before, but he was one of the most well known "free solo" climbers in the world, and climbed almost daily in the canyon just 10 minutes west of me (we see it from our backyard). The routes they mention in the video (below) are many that I've looked up at people climbing, as I've climbed much easier ones - and I've wondered how someone gets the nerve to climb a 5.11, 4 pitch climb several hundred feet off of the ground - that's with ropes mind you. Derek free-solo'd most of those routes. He climbed them alone, with no safety gear save chalk for his hands. Not as a conquest, but as a pure sensation of freedom - poetry in motion if you will.

If you have about 7 minutes check him out:
"I realize you want him to touch you all over and give you babies, but his handling of the PR side really did screw the pooch." - Ivory Thumper
"He said sleepily: "Don't worry mom, my dick is like hot logs in the morning." - Apple

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Aqua Letifer
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ZOOOOOM!
KB
 
In the thrill seeker, the body seems to become immune to the "fight or flight" response adrenaline evokes in most of us, due to the thrillseeker's liking of that feeling (and therefore constant seeking of it).


I don't know if it's being "immune" to fight-or-flight. That response, though still a part of our body mechanics, gets very little use out of us, and as a result we're for the most part very inexperienced at handling it. But there are plenty of disciplines that train you to use this response, and channel your body's adrenaline dumping, rather than being overwhelmed by it. Could be something like that.
I cite irreconcilable differences.
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KlavierBauer
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HOLY CARP!!!
AL: I agree. I guess I meant that through frequent exposure, perhaps one becomes immune to the sensation of terror, and can more easily associate that sensation with something thrilling?
I guess you're right though, the quest is still for that sensation - the problem is that it is no longer associated with "oh crap, if I don't react, my life will end."
"I realize you want him to touch you all over and give you babies, but his handling of the PR side really did screw the pooch." - Ivory Thumper
"He said sleepily: "Don't worry mom, my dick is like hot logs in the morning." - Apple

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Aqua Letifer
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ZOOOOOM!
KlavierBauer
Jan 12 2011, 03:30 PM
AL: I agree. I guess I meant that through frequent exposure, perhaps one becomes immune to the sensation of terror, and can more easily associate that sensation with something thrilling?
I guess you're right though, the quest is still for that sensation - the problem is that it is no longer associated with "oh crap, if I don't react, my life will end."
Yeah, my guess is if they did get desensitized, there'd be little point in pursuing those activities anymore. More likely they've learned to just ride out the adrenaline and not let it put their body and mind out of whack.
I cite irreconcilable differences.
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