Christine Ann Camer, a 58-year-old assistant principal at a middle school in California, is accused of having a sexual relationship with one of her students.
The assistant principal, who has been on leave since January when officials first became suspicious, reportedly met the young boy in 2008 and is believed to have maintained a relationship with the child since then.
The boy's parents are believed to have been aware of the relationship.
Police were able to move in for an arrest after the boy divulged details of their relations to another adult who tipped police.
Camer was booked into a California jail on suspicion of engaging in lewd acts with a minor and oral copulation with a person under age 16.
It cannot be that hard to find a man your own age in California, it just can't be!
SMH....what was she thinking?! I guess she just wanted some young cockroach...nasty azz
58-Year-Old Administrator Accused of Having Sex With 14-Year-Old Student!!!
CATEGORIES news |
Most Creative Indoor Staircases!!!
CATEGORIES LUXURY LIFE |
This modern staircase was made from a 10mm thick metal sheet. Each of the adjoining steps is connected with a slanting external side beam that forms a bracket attached to the wall. With a concept of a delicate rippling ribbon is definitely one of the most unique and thinnest staircases ever seen. It was created by HSH and it is now in one the contemporary houses in Liben, Prague. Although this original piece might look fragile, each of its brackets is constructed as a firm frame, so it is sturdy enough to carry weights.
Now, that is an awesome staircase! These original "floating" stairs were designed by Florence architect Guido Ciompi for The Gray Hotel in Milan, Italy.Thumbs up for the designer!
From the looks of these stairs, created by Spanish designer Jordi Vayreda, you might think only cats could make it to the top. They certainly don't look like they'd support the weight of a human. But, Vayreda confirms that they can support 200 kilograms (over 440 pounds). “Steel is the material which we use to construct the staircases, 100 mm thick and each of them is welded to a 250 mm thick beam."
Check out these glass stairs. Forget about scuff marks and smudges, these are so cool!
This creative slide next to the staircase was designed by London architect Alex Michaelis at the request of his children. Not only it adds originality but a lot of fun to their new eco-friendly dream home. In the picture, one of the children throwing caution to the wind and diving head first down the slide. According to Michaelis even grown-ups can't resist skipping the stairs. "We've been known after a big dinner party to use the slide”, he said. Creativity, originality and fun, what a perfect combination!
This “secret' staircase” belongs to a London Victorian apartment, where it is hidden from the main reception room, to access a new loft bedroom lit by roof lights. It was designed by Tom Sloan at Levitate Architects, who came up with a neat solution to a storage problem .
Those two amazing sets of stairs are from the Didden Village project by Dutch architectural firm MVRDV. The project itself is a rooftop addition in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
This spiral staircase appears to lead to nowhere as it was installed as a part of Milan's exposition aimed to show that decor objects can be artworks.The 'Rolling', designed by Roberto Semprini for Edilco, draws inspiration from the ergonomic forms of natural rocks smoothed by water. The stairs look like giant river stones, but they are actually concrete blocks polished to perfection.
Take a look at these treads that don't even touch. Anglo-Canadian architects Christopher Blencowe and Judith Levine seem to have taken the phrase "tread lightly" literally with this design. This really looks like an interesting solution to a standard problem in renovations and additions. Doesn't it?
This originality was thought not only as a foldable staircase but as a ‘redefined door'. According to its creator, industrial designer Aaron Tang, it is “an element of a wall that allowed passageway to another environment when opened and restricted passageway when closed”. Using just hinges and pistons, the staircase can fold up a wall to expand space on the lower level or restrict access to the upper level. It was designed to be closed or opened from upstairs and downstairs.
The woman who had her Facebook photo stolen and used as advertising in the Czech Republic!!!
CATEGORIES life styles, World News |
ST. LOUIS - When Danielle Smith and her family posed for their Christmas card photo last year, they knew they'd share it with family and friends. But the Missouri family wasn't expecting it to show up in the Czech Republic, splashed across a huge storefront advertisement...Read more
About 10 days ago, a college friend was driving through Prague when he spotted their huge smiling faces in the window of a store specializing in European food. He snapped a few pictures and sent them to a flabbergasted Smith.
Mario Bertuccio, who owns the Grazie store in Prague, said the photo was from the Internet. Details were sparse, but he said he thought it was computer-generated. When told it was a real photo — of a real family — he said he started taking steps to remove it.
Smith has gotten 180,000 hits to her Web site since she recently posted the story about the well-traveled snapshot. She said the photo wasn't used in an unseemly manner, only to tell potential shoppers about the store's delivery service.
Smith said next time she posts a photo on the Internet, she's going to lower the resolution or add an electronic watermark to make it hard to reproduce.
"This story doesn't frighten me, but the potential frightens me," Smith said.
Some off The Worst Christmas Decorations Ever!!!
CATEGORIES funny pic |
No, it's not a horror movie scene. This decoration -outside the New York City residence of Joel Krupnik and Mildred Castellanos- is said to have been created to make a statement against the commercialization of the holiday.
Funny for some, tasteless for others, but definitely an original Christmas decoration.
This Christmas decoration is the result of a man's sudden inspiration. Kris Marshall was hauling a generator and a few strands of Christmas lights to his church in a $50 used truck. Suddenly, he came up with the idea of combining both and The Christmas Truck was born.
Although it looks like a guy trying to commit suicide, this is actually a -very unusual- Christmas decoration. As soon as it was set some people tried to save him! The thing went too far when a 55 year old lady grabbed a ladder, put it against the house and almost killed herself climbing to the top just to realize that it was fake. So, only 2 days after it was set, the decoration had to be taken down.Couple Stuck for 3 Days After GPS Leads Them Astray!!!
CATEGORIES news |
On Sunday, atmospheric conditions apparently changed enough for their GPS-enabled cell phone to get a weak signal and relay coordinates to a dispatcher, Klamath County Sheriff Tim Evinger said.
"GPS almost did 'em in and GPS saved 'em," Evinger said. "It will give you options to pick the shortest route. You certainly get the shortest route. But it may not be a safe route."
Evinger said the couple got stranded Christmas Day and a sheriff's deputy found them in the Winema-Fremont National Forest outside the small town of Silver Lake on Sunday afternoon and pulled their four-wheel-drive Toyota Sequoia out of the snow with a winch.
John Rhoads, 65, and his wife, Starry Bush-Rhoads, 67, made it home safely to Reno, Nev.
"It will be (a Christmas) we remember the rest of our lives," Starry Bush-Rhoads said in a telephone interview from her home. "They said if they didn't find us 'til this time next spring, we wouldn't be happy."
The couple was well-equipped for winter travel, carrying food, water and warm clothes, the sheriff said.
"Their statement was, being prepared saved their life," he said.
The couple had been in Portland and followed their GPS as it directed them south on U.S. Highway 97 to Oregon Highway 31, which goes through Silver Lake and Lakeview before connecting with U.S. Highway 395 to Reno, Evinger said.
In the town of Silver Lake, the unit told them to turn right on Forest Service Road 28, and they followed that and some spur roads nearly 35 miles (56 kilometers) before getting stuck in about 1½ feet of snow near Thompson Reservoir, the sheriff said.
"For some reason, they finally got a weak signal after 2½ days," Evinger said. "They called in. They alternated between two different cell phone numbers."
A GPS-enabled phone is able to send its coordinates to emergency dispatchers, and eventually one of the couple's phones sent its location to the dispatcher's console, the sheriff said.
Worst Baby Name Trends of the Decade!!!
CATEGORIES life styles |
Some of the eBay parents have seemed genuinely desperate, while others may have just been out for attention. Before you write them all off, consider one thing they had in common: They were trying to sell a name that belonged to somebody else, not their own. That makes them fitting emblems for a decade when more and more parents started treating baby names as creative fashion accessories.
Giving Your Baby A Corporate Trademark Name
The U.S. doesn't regulate baby names, but the more we bestow corporate trademarks on children, the closer we come to a brave new world of naming law. What does it mean when a corporation owns the rights to your name? What will happen to little ESPN if he wants to be a sportswriter, or to Nautica if she tries to design clothes?
Using Names As An Excuse To Make Fun Of People
The most toxic name bashing uses names, real or invented, as a sly way to make fun of whole segments of our society. For example, one of the hottest Internet stories of recent years is the dubious tale of the girl named Le-a, pronounced Ledasha because "the dash don't be silent." The most common version of that story concludes with the commentary, "And we let these people vote."
Making Your Baby's Name A Tool To Advance Your Agenda
The parents expressed shock and dismay at the store's decision, but it soon became clear that they knew the score. The supermarket had rejected the Campbells' requests before, and they had pointedly insisted on both first and middle names on the cake, not just Adolf. In short, the parents had set up a media event, using their child's name as bait. Their whole Nazi-named brood and swastika-filled living room were soon being beamed to news outlets across the globe. How long before more zealots of every stripe follow suit, naming their children as living billboards?
What are the worst naming trends you've seen? Share your experiences! And if you have your own question to Ask, drop her a line!
Spurned Lover Buys Pricey Love Letter Newspaper Advertisement!!!
CATEGORIES life styles |
Somebody named Raul really wants somebody named Megan to know that he still loves her.
We know this because Raul expressed his most heartfelt feelings for Megan, whom he broke up with an indeterminate amount of time ago, in a 1000-plus-word half-page love letter/advertisement he took out in the San Antonio-Express News Tuesday.
As the story of the unusual advertisement started to gain national attention, the San Antonio-Express News attempted to get Raul to elaborate on the rather cryptic note. But Raul has refused, preferring that his original letter, which contains no last names or contact information, speak for itself.
The $1,800 ad was printed in a calligraphy that Raul helped design, and featured such flowery prose as "I understand your life is different but my soul is still constantly trying to touch yours."
While Raul acknowledges in the beginning of the note that an easier way to reach out to Megan would have been to drop it in the mail, he writes, "If I really truly love you, then it's important that I look for the highest mountain to climb and shout it from the top of my lungs."
One potential Megan has come forward and contacted the Express-News. However, she lives out of state, making it doubtful she is the one to whom Raul is referring. The paper also told Asylum that another man phoned soon after the love letter ran "to inquire about running similar ad."
So even if Raul and Megan never reconnect, lovelorn men who want to make a grand, romantic gesture might just be the new revenue stream that the floundering newspaper industry has been waiting for.
Escaped Convict Craig 'Lazie' Lynch Creates & Updates Facebook Page Taunting Polices
CATEGORIES funny pic, news |
Crook Craig 'Lazie' Lynch, 28, was serving a seven year sentence for aggravated burglary at Hollesley Bay prison in Suffolk when he absconded on September 24 this year. Find out how he Evade police and made a mockery out of the police and the US government...Read More.
Last week it came to light that Lynch has successfully evaded Suffolk police ever since, despite posting regular status updates on the social networking website.
Over the festive period arrogant Lynch has revelled in his notoriety and continued to mock the police.
On Christmas Day he posted a picture of himself taking a turkey out of the oven while swearing at the camera.
Underneath he wrote: "if any of you was doubtin my freedom. Here's proof. How the f**k could i get my hands on a bird like this in jail. ha ha."
On the same day Lynch, who now has 1,247 Facebook friends, posted: "YES YES i f**kin made it to xmas i beat their f**kin system and i love it."
Cocky
On Boxing Day at 16.41 Lynch posted: "It is freezin out there. I wonder if i can take the right piss and stay out til the summertime ha ha."
While on Sunday morning the cocky criminal taunted police for their failure to track him down.
He wrote: "good mornin everyone. I had a funny feelin that my door was going to come off this mornin then i remembered. The old bill are as thick as s**t. And went back to sleep."
At one point Lynch thought his cover had been blown when he heard the sound of emergency vehicles approaching.
He posted: "Oh No sirens!! Its happening", before adding later "false alarm it was an ambulance."
Elsewhere on Facebook critics of Lynch have set up a "Craig Lazie Lynch is no hero" group to condemn messages of support for the convicted criminal.
The front page of the group, which has 132 members. reads: "How stupid can people be egging this idiot on?
"Dont they know that he was jailed for aggravated burglary for seven years???
"How can people think tha this guy is a hero when weve got lads risking their lives every day in afgan, they are the real heros not this prick."
A spokeswoman for Suffolk police said routine checks were being performed at Lynch's known addresses and his details had been logged on the Police National Computer.
Officers are liaising with forces elsewhere in the UK as he has links with Middlesex and north-east London.
Lynch is described as white, 5ft 9inches tall, of stocky build, with short brown hair, brown eyes and a beard.
Check out a few of Craig's Facebook updates below:
This is what he got to say to the Haters and the police A.K.A Pigs
A new trend in prison tattoo's has arrived..?!?!
CATEGORIES health, life styles |
A new trend starting to develop where a prisoner can get their whole eye tattooed.
Starting from experimentation, inmates have found a way to completely change the color of their eyes to red, blue, purple, whatever.
And most people thought that Lil Wayne was crazy for getting tattoos on his eyelids. In comparison, Weezy is simply playing kids games with his inking.
Although there is an immense amount of pain in the procedure, this might just be the thing to do for some when a person gets bored behind bars.
I guess when a person can't afford color contact lenses, this might be the next best thing.
*UPDATE:: US investigates why jet bomb suspect still had visa?!?!?!
CATEGORIES news |
If you missing there pervious story Click Here "We all want to know the answer to that question," Janet Napolitano said.
She also appeared to backtrack on a widely criticised assertion that the aviation security system had worked.
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was arrested after he allegedly tried to set off an explosive device on board a Northwest Airlines flight to Detroit on Friday.
Find what his father had to say to the US Government... Click Read More...
His father, a prominent Nigerian banker and former government official, warned the US embassy in Abuja in October that his son had developed radical views and might have travelled to Yemen. But officials did not revoke his two-year multiple-entry visa, which was issued in June 2008.Instead, Mr Abdulmutallab's file was marked for a full investigation should he ever reapply for a visa.
His name was also added to the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment (Tide) watch list, which contains the details of around 550,000 people with suspected connections to terrorism but does not prevent them from flying internationally.
On Sunday, President Barack Obama ordered a review of the creation of watch lists and the use of detection equipment at airport checkpoints, which failed to spot the powerful explosive, pentaerythritol (PETN), allegedly hidden on Mr Abdulmutallab's body.
Ms Napolitano meanwhile said the aviation security system had worked "very, very smoothly over the course of the past several days", prompting widespread criticism from members of Congress and counter-terrorism experts.
But in interviews with US media on Monday, the homeland security secretary said her comment had been taken out of context and that she had instead been referring to the system of notifying other flights as well as law enforcement on the ground about the incident.
"Our system did not work in this instance," she told NBC. "No-one is happy or satisfied with that. An extensive review is under way."
"And that's why we are asking - how did this individual get on the plane? Why wasn't the explosive material detected? What do we need to do to change?"
Ms Napolitano told CNN that she something had gone "awry" when someone like Mr Abdulmutallab did not have his visa revoked and was allowed to fly.
"We want to fix that problem," she said, adding that the authorities were convinced that the additional screening procedures and on-board security measures put in place since meant air travel was safe.
Earlier, the UK said Mr Abdulmutallab had been placed on its security watch list because he had been refused a visa in 2008 after applying to study at a bogus college. His name was not passed on to the US.
Not Again: Bomb attack on Shia march in Pakistani city. [pics inside]
CATEGORIES World News |
Click Read More...For the rest of the story and very vivid [pics].
The attacker had been walking amidst a procession with tens of thousands of people, said the interior minister.
After the explosion, marchers turned their anger on ambulance workers, security forces and journalists.
Pakistan's security forces have been on high alert as Shia Muslims marked the holy month of Muharram, or Ashura.
Monday was the climax of the holy period, which commemorates the death of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson.
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WTF!! A Nigerian Terror Suspect Tried To Bring Down Plane Headed To Detroit.!!!!
CATEGORIES news |
Romulus, Michigan (CNN) -- A Nigerian man is "talking a lot" to the FBI, said a senior U.S. official, after what the United States believes was an attempted terrorist attack on an inbound international flight.
The initial impression is that the suspect was acting alone and did not have any formal connections to organized terrorist groups, said the official, who is familiar with the investigation. What a dumbass.. Click Read more for the entire story.
The suspect, identified by a U.S. government official as 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, ignited a small explosive device Friday, shortly before a Northwest flight from Amsterdam, Netherlands, landed at Detroit Metro Airport in Michigan.
Passenger Jasper Schuringa told CNN that with the aid of the cabin crew, he helped subdue and isolate Abdulmutallab.
Abdulmutallab was taken into custody and is being treated for second- and third-degree burns on his thighs, according to federal law enforcement and airline security sources.
The sources told CNN that the suspect flew into Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam on a KLM flight from Lagos, Nigeria, and is not believed to be on any "no fly" list, although his name does appear in a U.S. database of people with suspect connections. He did not undergo secondary security screening in Amsterdam, an administration official said.
The administration official said there was no evidence that Abdulmutallab was a hard-core, trained member of al-Qaeda.
The Nigerian national, however, claimed to have extremist ties and said the explosive device "was acquired in Yemen along with instructions as to when it should be used," a federal security bulletin obtained by CNN said.
British counterterrorism police officers were searching houses Saturday in central London in relation to the airline incident, a Metropolitan Police spokeswoman told CNN.
The remains of the device used are being sent to an FBI explosives lab in Quantico, Virginia, for analysis, security sources said.
President Obama, who is spending the holidays in Hawaii, was briefed on the incident during a secure phone call with aides and instructed in a subsequent discussion with security advisers "that all appropriate measures be taken to increase security for air travel," White House spokesman Bill Burton told CNN. The president made no changes to his schedule, Burton said.
The Department of Homeland Security issued a statement Friday saying that air passengers "may notice additional screening measures put into place to ensure the safety of the traveling public on domestic and international flights."
Passengers described the brief moments of panic on board, as screams erupted and flight attendants ran for fire extinguishers.
Syed Jafry, who was sitting in seat 16G, said the plane was just beginning to descend when passengers heard a pop.
"Everybody got a little bit startled," he said. "After a few seconds or so ... there was ... kind of a flamish light and there was fire" and people around the immediate area began to panic.
Schuringa said he heard a big bang that sounded like a firecracker going off. He told CNN that he was the one who was able to subdue Abdulmutallab. CNN was not able to independently confirm Schuringa's account.
Schuringa said someone started yelling: "Fire! Fire!"
Then there was smoke. That's when Schuringa said he knew something was terribly wrong.
When he noticed that Abdulmutallab was not moving, he grew suspect. He jumped over the passenger next to him and lunged over Abdulmutallab's seat.
Schuringa said he saw that Abdulmutallab had his pants open and he was holding a burning object between his legs.
"I pulled the object from him and tried to extinguish the fire with my hands and threw it away," Schuringa said.
He said he managed to pull an object tucked between Abdulmutallab's legs.
"Water! Water," Schuringa screamed. He heard fire extinguishers as he pulled Abdulmutallab out of his seat and dragged him to the front of the plane.
Schuringa said Abdulmutallab seemed dazed. "He was staring into nothing."
Schuringa said he stripped off Abdulmutallab's clothes to make sure he did not have other explosives on his body. A crew member helped handcuff him.
He said other passengers applauded as he walked back to his own seat.
"My hands are pretty burned. I am fine," he said. "I am shaken up. I am happy to be here."
Jafry said the incident was under control within minutes, crediting the crew and nearby passengers for the rapid response.
Another passenger, Richelle Keepman, told CNN affiliate WDIV-TV that the experience was terrifying.
"I think we all thought we weren't going to land, we weren't going to make it," Keepman said.
One person was taken to the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor, hospital spokeswoman Tracy Justice said.
"All passengers have deplaned and, out of an abundance of caution, the plane was moved to a remote area," where the plane and baggage were rescreened, the Transportation Security Administration said in a statement. Passengers were interviewed by law enforcement authorities before being allowed to leave the airport.
No other suspicious materials were found on the plane or in luggage, the law enforcement and airline security sources said. The suspect had only carry-on luggage.
Another passenger on the Northwest flight transferred from the same KLM flight in Amsterdam, but officials found no connection between the two, the sources said.
The plane, an Airbus 330, landed shortly before noon. It was carrying 278 passengers.
Delta is the parent company of Northwest.
Snapshot : Kanye West for A Bathing Ape’s Spring 2010 Lookbook!!!
CATEGORIES fashion |
9.1 Ounce Newborn May Break Record For World's Smallest Baby (Video Included)
CATEGORIES news |
A baby born in Mobile, Alabama weighing less than a can of soda at 9.1 ounces could break the record for world's smallest surviving baby.
The baby, Oliviyanna, was part of a set of triplets who weighed less than 4 pounds total at birth. Read More......
The triplets were born in August to Jamesha Harbin and Robert Page who already took Oliviyanna's sisters, Oriyanna, and Tayvanna, home.
Tiny Oliviyanna is expected to be released from the hospital soon as well.
She already broke the national record for smallest surviving baby by one gram.
WTH!! Black women stealing a white ladies purse at a Restaurant!! (caught on Camera)
CATEGORIES life styles |And blacks wonder why white people mistrust them. Yeah, white people steal too, but come on! The jails are nearly 4:1 and they're only 30% of the total population! For all of you decent, hard working African Americans, these are the thugs that create the problems and perpetuate the stereotype. There is no excuse for theft and should be subject to the death penalty!
16 Yr Old Teen is almost 7 feet Tall; World's Tallest Teen!!!
CATEGORIES news |
Call her Air Anderson.
This up-and-coming New Jersey high school basketball player is only 16, but Marvadene Anderson is already a giant on the court. At just under 6-foot-11 -- and still growing -- she's the world's tallest teenage girl...read more and continue
The Jamaican-born hoopster, who could tower over legendary ballplayers like Michael Jordan (6-6) and LeBron James (6-8), was the highest-scoring "netball" player in her country -- a sport similar to basketball.
That on-court prowess earned her a scholarship to Rutgers Prep in Somerset, and for the last two months she's been hitting the hardwood to learn the rules of basketball.
The Argonauts center was a standout with her teammates during a practice game Wednesday, where she played alongside pint-sized point guard Arielle Sherman, 15, who at 5-foot-2 barely reaches Anderson's elbow. Anderson uses her size to intimidate her opponents, block shots and make easy layups.
"Everyone has come up to me and asked if I play college basketball. I told them I'm only a sophomore in high school. They gasped when I told them," Anderson said.
The gal giant, whose family remained in Jamaica, was taken in by Enid Angus, who discovered her talents.
"She's my heart. I committed to treating her like my own," she told the Asbury Park Press.
Anderson said she got her nickname "Bubbles" because of her good humor.
"People are friendly with me because of my height and my personality. If I was tall and mean, I think I'd have a problem," she said. The biggest problem "Bubbles" seems to have is adjusting to the cold weather and finding clothes and shoes to fit her 210-pound frame and size-12 feet.
As a schoolgirl back home, Marvadene confessed, she was teased a lot.
"They call me 'baby giant,' and my older sister Kimberly is 6-foot-4. They call us the Twin Towers," she said.
"The rudest thing anybody ever said about my height is that I'm not going to be able to find a husband."
Rutgers coach Mary Coyle-Klinger and her sister, former WNBA coach Pat Coyle, have been working with their new star. Anderson picked up six points in her first game on Dec. 10 and Coyle-Klinger was not disappointed.
"Of course she is going to be a star," she said. "She's a natural. She's only been playing two months and it's amazing how well she's adapted."
Experience: I fell 6,000 feet and survived!!!
CATEGORIES life styles |
By any reasonable standards, people who jump out of planes are reckless or suicidal; and people who jump out of planes flying at low altitude over volcanos, well, they're beyond help. But that was our plan that day....continue read more
I was working on a documentary, filming an athlete skydiving over the Kamchatka in Russia. Known as "the land of fire and ice", it has 40 or so active volcanos, and is covered in snow for nine months a year. The idea was to get footage of the athlete "flying" in front of a column of steam hundreds of feet high that was spewing from a vent in the side of a mountain.
During my 12 years in the sport, I've completed around 2,500 jumps, and at that time I was doing it four or five times a week. But there's no room for complacency. Our plan was to exit at 6,000ft, fly past the steam, open our parachutes at between 150 and 200 metres, and land. But after we jumped out of the helicopter, the plan wasn't followed.
I was very focused on my filming and had a viewfinder over my left eye, to help frame the video. To gauge distances, you really need both eyes, and because of the snow covering the volcano it was very difficult to sense height – all we could see was white.
Quite suddenly, I realised I could see the texture of the snow and ice, meaning I had two or three seconds before I hit the ground. I can't have been more than 20 metres up. Terror gripped my heart and stomach, the darkest of darkness. Then I had a clear thought of my wife and three-month-old daughter, and was overwhelmed by sadness as I felt the parachute lift from my back. I'd opened it without even thinking, just as you might instinctively hit the brakes in a car, and experienced a brief sense of hope. This is going to hurt a lot, I thought, or not at all.
The parachute barely unfurled, but swung my feet up above me, like a child on a swing. Then the ground hit me full in the back with the force of a truck. The impact left me unconscious for a few seconds, and as I opened my eyes two overwhelming emotions raced through me. The first was elation at having survived, the second black, jagged fear. I was certain, straight away, that I'd broken my back – the pain in my spine was so immense that I had no doubt about this at all.
We had a crew of about a dozen, mountain guides with first aid and a stretcher, but it took some time for the helicopter to find a safe spot to land and for them to carry me to it. I left a 1m-deep crater in the snow.Meanwhile, the athlete had drifted safely down beside me – his parachute had opened at the correct time.
I'd become very cold, and one of my lungs had filled with blood, which gurgled in my airways. I thought it likely that I had serious internal bleeding and was about to die. I tried to decide what my last words to my family should be – "I'm sorry this has happened, I love you" – then wondered who in the multinational crew to pass them on to. I ended up choosing an Austrian guy who seemed to have the most fluent English.
It took an hour to reach the local hospital, where a diagnosis wasn't forthcoming, and another nine to fly on to Moscow, where a CT scan confirmed my back was broken. There was better news, though – it was a stable fracture and I appeared to have suffered no neural damage.
I flew back to the UK for the rest of my treatment. I was fitted with a back brace, and was up and walking within a week. In the six months since, I've had a lot of time to consider my jumping from other perspectives. I've lived a very internalised life – most of my friends and people I talk to are jumpers, and my whole life has revolved around this extreme sport, this dangerous environment. I've been able to reflect on how it's seen by others, and on my motivation for doing it. My wife, Christina, is also an active skydiver and base jumper, and has jumped since my accident.
In a month or so, I should be fit enough to jump again. I'll definitely do one more, then see how I feel. My conflict at the moment is to define a balance between having a family and following my passion. I really miss it. How could I not? It's the closest realisation of Icarus's dream – you put on a suit and you fly.
This man is crazy people do not follow his footsteps..smh!!
Best of 2009 : Fashionable Man of the Year!!!
CATEGORIES fashion |
1. Jay Z
2009 witnessed Jay-Z going over and above mogul status, penning contemporary New York anthems and even trying his hand at design. In September, he was commissioned by the US Open to fashion a limited edition Arthur Ashe T-Shirt and in August, he collaborated with Philly retailer Villa to create a pair of city ready boots. When not rocking his own creations, Hova wore Mosley Tribes Sunglasses, Vince plaid button downs, and Play Cloths t-shirts, all the while staying on top of the year’s hottest trends.
Whether in leather vests, piped cardigans, or chic Rockstar jeans, he made a splash, blazing a style trail set to rival his rap legacy.
2. Lance Gross
Svelte, tailored, and chic, Lance Gross showed he had more than just a pretty face in 2009. Whether in velvet blazers or laid back hoodies, the Howard University trained actor wowed ladies thanks to his refreshingly cool takes on fashion.
Embracing color, he even rocked purple with purpose, conveying confidence and charisma in multiple hues.
3. Pharell Williams
Producer, rapper, and Billionaire Boys Club ringleader Pharrell continued his fashionable reign this year, boldly stepping out of the hip-hop box by trying knee high boots and Christian Louboutin studded sneakers.
Save his few eccentric instances, Pharrell still brought it back in sharp suits, v-neck sweaters, and bow ties, looking fly even as he dared to be different.
4. Trey Songz
Soulful crooner Trey Songz debuted a new haircut, album, and sleek steeze in 2009. Going for very grown and extremely sexy, he made cameos at high wattage events in sophisticated vests and blazer jackets in alluring black or navy satin:
He stood out on the Fashion Bomb due to his collegiate cardigans and Marc Jacobs sunglasses, which created fodder for many the male Mail Bomb.
5. Kanye West
What would a fashionable male rundown be without style czar Kanye West? A regular to international fashion weeks, this year saw ‘Ye styling shoots for Elle Magazine and designing sneakers for Louis Vuitton and Nike. With equally fashionable girlfriend Amber Rose on his arm, he cut a fetching profile, playing up and complementing each of her neon spandex laced looks with varsity jackets and dark colored tuxes:
The self styled star catered to a wide range of designers, wearing everything from Margiela to Balmain to Timberland. While one of his more creative fashionable ‘accessories’ got him into trouble at MTV’s VMA’s…
He definitely made an impression in 2009, motivating hordes of men with swagger to embrace their inner stylist:
Which guy set it off in your opinion?
