Tag Archives: in this issue

Issue 28 ♥

i28 February!

The February issue of Blue Skies Mag is coming. (That’s what she said.) If you are a subscriber, here is what you’ll find (if you’re not, it’s quick and painless to become one and subscribe today right now here):

  • New Canadian rates! More info here.
  • Top ten ways to say, “F*ck You, Cupid” on Valentine’s Day
  • I Jumped It: The MagBag
    • Gear review by Andre Lemaire, of Jerry Baumchen’s magnetic, stowless main d-bag. Videos of the test jumps here.
  • Football Widow
    • Or, how not to become one. How the Drennan family keeps their love alive while Ian is living the dream as a PD Factory Team member, Annie runs her own business, and Kaiya is a professionally adorable 2 1/2-year-old.
  • 100 Jumps for Mike Spann
    • John E. Souders, Jr. did 100 jumps to honor Mike Spann, America’s first combat casualty in Afghanistan. Clark Word went along for the ride and tells us about the day.
  • -ISM + NCCPA = TLF
    • Kim Nocita tells about the great coming-together of NorCal and SoCal swoop leagues to form one that will rule them all.
  • Photo Break: Invasion 2012
    • Kazu Oyama and Bill Schmitz take some fine photos
  • My Freefall Wedding
    • Dave Udell was the first (beeeeeeeeeeer!) man to take the plunge out of Mike Mullins’ King Air when he married his adorable girlfriend Kim in 1993
  • Aerodynamics for Dummies Part 3: Glide Ratio
    • In the final installment, the adorable Julien rounds out his aerodynamics lesson with GR
  • Turning Points: With Fresh Air and Rhythm into the Future
    • Kurt, of NSL lore, fame, and glory, details why SDC Rhythm XP is the next big thing
  • The Beginning of the End of My Flourishing Career: True Love
    • Sydney and skydiving, sittin’ in a tree ♫ k-i-s-s-i-n-g ♪ first comes love ♬ then comes marriage ♫ then comes a back brace
  • The Fuckin’ Pilot: “Bob, A Smart Man”
    • A fictional tale about Bob, a tandem instructor, and the smartest decision he ever made
  • Life Coaching: Tape Your Head to Hers
    • Melsinore gives tips on how to clean up, amp up, and de-clutter up your non-skydiving life
  • SkyGod’s Expo 2012 Calendar

Say Hello to Issue #25

Issue #25!

What’s in this issue:

  • Arizona Airspeed is NOT going to Dubai, in case you hadn’t heard. Lots of opinions on this one.
  • The Zen of BASE, Part 2: Very Lucky
    • Last month, Matt Gerdes took you from his first skydive to his first BASE jumps. Now he’s testing his wings and getting very lucky.
  • Big Girls Don’t Cry: Ana Isabel Dao
    • This month’s hot BASE girl fix.
  • The Ultimate Test of Tunnel Training
    • What happens when you take two tunnel gods out of the tube and into the sky for a Jay Stokes AFF rating course?
  • Photo Break Deluxe: The Best of What We Haven’t Shown You
  • RBF Lessons Learned
    • What’s an RBF, you say? Read it and find out ;)
  • Follow the Bromance to Nationals
    • Catch up with Team Scarecrow on their journey from Skydive the Ranch to USPA Nationals.
  • Turning Points by Kurt Gaebel: What’s the 4-Way World without Airspeed?
    • We told you there were a lot of opinions.
  • The Beginning of the End of My Flourishing Career by Sydney Owen: Continuing Education
    • Amanda’sSydney’s educational path so far
  • The F***in’ Pilot by…the F***in’ Pilot: So Hard To Say Goodbye…
    • His other nickname is “Princess” and he gets a little mushy.
  • Venison Steaks by Melanie Curtis
    • What Melsinore’s childhood in the family slaughterhouse taught her about life. Seriously.
  • Jump a Random Skydiver: Missy Keough
    • A dairyland delight.
updated: I accidentally omitted this month’s BASE Big Girl! Ana Isabel Dao is in this issue :)

In This Issue: #24

Issue #24

The magical issue #24 is out hitting the streets as I type. Here is what you can expect in your mailbox, if you’re a subscriber. If you’re not a subscriber and like what you see, you can sign up now. When you get our confirmation email, let Kolla know you want to start with this one (or any issue).

  • The Zen of BASE: Suicide with a Plan B
    • The first of four parts to Matt Gerdes’ tales of life and death in BASE
  • Why Am I a Swooper (And How Did I Get Here)?
    • Swooper Dave Lund, aka aggiedave, explains how and why he is a proud swooper
  • Big Boy Pants Swoop
    • A recap of our live tweeting of the exciting swoop showdown at Mile-Hi last month
  • Tunnels: More Smiles, Fewer Peek-a-Boos
    • Shannon McCarthy and SkyVenture Colorado present a few more compelling reasons to get in some tunnel time – not that we need any!
  • Bromance is Coming to Nationals in a Scary Way
    • The lovely Faith brings us her first piece, a profile of Team Scarecrow, who she’ll be following all the way to USPA Nationals in October. Meet the boys, share their journey, love their bromance.
  • Big Girls Don’t Cry: Lika Borzova
    • We love girls. Girls who BASE jump are even better. Hot Russian girls who BASE jump? Yeah. Cynthia Lynn’s next profile of an awesome, badass woman.
  • Show Me the Money! More Open Thoughts about Sponsorship
  • The Beginning of the End of My Flourishing Career: From Cutaway to 3Ring
    • Sydney’s next chapter – [caution: spoiler alert] her own company, 3Ring Media!
  • Passion for Pay by the Fuckin’ Pilot
    • Dean “Princess” Ricci has a few tips if you’re thinking about joining the Living The Dream crew
  • Deal-No-Deal
  • SkyGod loves the haters.

Your First Time

In issue #20, Doc shared some tips he wished he’d known before going to his first boogie. (By the way, you do know that’s beer, right Doc?) What are your first boogie tips and stories?

photo by kilgarron

QR Code Thingies

Scan me, baby.

So we’ve been printing these funky little QR codes for a few months now – what does everyone think? Do you use them? Are they lame? Do you know what in hell to do with them?

Don’t worry, we’re still figuring out just what we want to do with them, too. I know that when I read magazines, I’ll sometimes want to read the additional things they have on their website, but sure won’t type in a long URL to do it. A quick scan and boop! it’s there on my phone, super handy.

So, a few adjustments are in the works for the next issue. They’ll be smaller, for one. Events will each get their own, and the QR code will pop up an actual event that you can add to your phone’s calendar. Melanie Curtis’ QR code will be a contact card so you can email her to set up a coaching session, visit her website or just add her to your contacts. Links will be…links still, I don’t know what else you would want to do with those. And, there just may be a surprise or two for diligent scanners ;)

Whoops

Roberta Flack

We're not catching her, as much as we'd like to.

Realizations happen in weird ways. This morning out of the clear blue, the first thought I had when I woke up was, “Shit, we spelled ‘flak’ wrong on our latest cover.”

That’s not quite as bad as not offering UPT response space in the last issue’s Grim Rigger column, “Riggers, the SkyHook and AADs: Pay Your Money, Take Your Chances.” That realization came much slower and developed over time into a “yup, I was wrong on that call” feeling.

UPT is drafting up a response for our next issue, and we’ve already gotten a letter to the editor in response, which is in this issue.

To make a long story short, we screw up. Well, mostly me. I’m constantly finding mistakes in our issues that just plain got missed or were the wrong choice to begin with. To be fair, I find mistakes in just about every CNN article and book, too. It’s what I do. Anyway, I hope you’ll all forgive us. Well, mostly me. Forgive and write letters to the editor. lara@blueskiesmag.com

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