Many of us spent last weekend watching as Hurricane Irene beat on most of the East Coast of the United States last weekend. It left in its wake some deaths, a whole lot of destruction, and as reported by the Huffington Post, possibly a good crop of psychedelic mushrooms!

Yes, it sounds trippy, but one of the strange aftermaths of a hurricane is an increased amount of mushrooms popping up — especially the psilocybin — or “magic” kind — the ones that cause hallucinations.
According to Dr. Casey Simon, an addiction expert based in Orange County, Calif., hurricanes create the perfect climactic conditions for the mushrooms to grow.
“Mushrooms are spores and they multiply in moisture and are spread by wind,” he told HuffPost Weird News.

The article even goes on to suggest that the ‘shrooms – being magical and all – can be beneficial for more than just a good trip:

Recent studies by Johns Hopkins University suggest psilocybin mushrooms may have medical benefits, and Jain is one of those who believes the findings could have a positive impact on humanity.
“There is evidence that it can help in treating OCD, body dismorphia issues and even marital problems,” he said.

So there you have it. Those of you in the affected areas, keep an eye peeled because the best time to pick is apparently right after the storm. Have a few, and let us know if it helps with any of your ailments. Just make sure you are picking the right ones – find your local mushroom expert for that.

Photo by Denise Cortez

And try not to shit yourself.

We all know how difficult it can be to get good help – and we all know that skydivers may not always be the most reliable workers around. It’s a combination of that constant ADD, getting distracted by shiny things and prominent gypsy nature so many skydivers seem to have in spades.
But some are dependable, solid workers – and remain employed at the same dropzone for years, doing a fantastic job. Some even become managers or DZO’s eventually. But we all know that some examples of lazy, opportunistic, sloppy SOB’s that you don’t really want working for you.

And why would you, when you can hire this guy:

The picture above features tim Tim from beautiful Jump Florida in Lake Wales has nothing to do with the video – it just funny and fits the topic. As far as we know, he’s not currently looking for help.

There’s a bit of skydiving in the news right now. Here are some quick links to satisfy your current events cravings, because we know there isn’t enough going on in the news this week to keep you occupied.

• SKYDIVE ARIZONA, INC. v. QUATTROCCHI
  Skydive Arizona, Inc., Plaintiff, v. Cary Quattrocchi, et al., Defendants.
  Case No. CV05-2656-PHX-DGC.
  United States District Court, D. Arizona.
  May 2, 2011.

  via leagle.com

• Jury gives $48 million in air crash verdict
  Late on Thursday, April 28, 2011 a jury in Franklin County, Missouri near St. Louis awarded $48 million in legal liability and punitive damages in an aircraft accident trial which resulted from a crash on July 29, 2006 at 1:45 p.m. CDT at Sullivan Regional Airport (UUV), near Sullivan, Missouri.

  via examiner.com

• Belgian parachute murderer loses appeal
  A Belgian teacher sentenced to 30 years for the murder of a skydiving love rival lost an appeal against her conviction on Tuesday.

  via reuters.com

A tipster tipped us off to this tidbit of tippery this week.

Loop parachutist falls into the arms of the law
By William Lee Tribune reporter
2:41 p.m. CDT, April 3, 2011

A Chicago police officer must have thought he was seeing things when he spotted a parachute-wearing man early this morning drifting down to a Loop street from a skyscraper construction site.
The alert Central District cop heard a popping noise in the air in the 100 block of West Wacker Drive around 2:40 a.m. Seconds later, he spotted a man slowly falling to the ground by a parachute, according to police spokesman Officer John Mirabelli.
Police said the downtown daredevil appeared to have leaped from the unconstructed shell of the Waterview Tower and Shangri-La Hotel, a high-end condominium/hotel resort at which construction sputtered to a halt in 2009, during the nation’s economic woes. Only about 26 floors of the planned 90-floor project had been completed.
After making sure the 44-year-old man was uninjured, the officer took the man into custody. The parachutist, Shaun Walters, of Ottawa, was charged with misdemeanor reckless conduct.
Walters was unavailable for comment.

Naughty, naughty, Mr. Walters!

Add this guy to the list. “Read More” to watch the video.

photo by zachklein

Maybe it’s just the Monday morning haze, and I know this is a fake scam/phishing/shady site, but there’s something oddly poetic about this post. To save you the trouble of clicking over to it and potentially falling victim to some evil scheme, here is the text:

Parachuting- How to Parachute Safely For The First Time

One way is using the fixed ripcord system. Articles of ipod screen protector In this system, the parachute is connected to the fuselage of the plane. Jumping from the airplane, the ripcord will open its container and heave the parachute pack. Because only when the parachute lanyard completely stretches that the parachute can pull away from the parachute package, This system can help you to avoid the winding between parachute lanyard and canopy. The cost of the fixed parachute rip cord system is lower than other means, but it will take more time to learn the same skill.How to

Tutorials

Another method is to adopt accelerate free fall (namely AFF). In the method of AFF, actually you jump out of the airplane from the height of 12,000 feet (3658 meters), fall freely about 40 seconds and then pull the fixed ripcord to open the parachute. In the course of free falling, we must maintain an aerodynamic body posture.Want to Know Whys that Have Smudge to ? Here It Is!

The third method is to apply the coming after style parachuting. The advantage of this method is that almost everyone can enjoy the fun of parachuting without attending training courses. During the coming after parachuting, you are virtually a passenger flying with the coach. 5 Rules You should Break

Tags : cosmetics make up, ipod screen protector, phone screen protector, screen protectors, video game

Taig Khris, the Ramp Warrior

This is, like, totally gnarly, bro. And, yeah, a little old. Whatever. It’s Friday. I love how he gulps a Red Bull just before his death-defying stunt. Radical in a tubular kind of way.

From asylum.com:

In-line skater Taig Khris, the most decorated athlete in extreme sports, jumped from 41 feet off the Eiffel Tower onto a ramp, setting a world record.

Khris (aka the “Ramp Warrior”) launched himself off the first floor of the Parisian landmark onto a ramp, before remaining on his feet for an impressive celebratory skate, then hitting the deck and plowing through a bundle of safety boxes.

The 34-year-old was attempting a new Guinness world record for the longest free fall from a structure onto a landing ramp.

It was also the world’s highest jump on roller skates. After the stunt, the French fruitloop said, “Two years nonstop, I didn’t sleep for nights and nights for that small moment up there and now, as you can see, I made it. So that’s cool. I’ve never had such a strong adrenaline rush.”

The previous Guinness record for the highest jump on roller skates was the 28-foot world record set by American Danny Way.

This is where pictures come from.

Gizmodo posted a very cool freefly skydiving panorama that makes the author want to skydive. Not that a tech blogger will ever likely go skydiving outside Second Life, but it’s a nice thought.

Here is another cool one on the USPA site, too.

They’re obviously two different approaches to panoramas. Has anyone else tried one with any success?

Photo by drljohnson.

Mirage ad. Thank Ward.

• Mirage Systems has an open call for “a hot, experienced skydiving girl [who] would like to be on a National TV show filming in late July.” <Mirage>
• Judge rules Skydive City, [Freefall Express] must coexist until trial. <Tampa Bay Online>
• Nutty lady claims highest freefall jump, despite … well, every skydiver’s common knowledge. Bonus round – find all the ridiculously funny problems with this backstory article. <AOL news>
• Italian wins that other World Cup. Jump4Heroes was also there with their poppy canopies. <ProBASE World Cup>
• VA Beach firefighters rescue SEALs from trees. <WAVY>