Wednesday 27 June

Last updated 05 Feb 2012 15:17 GMT

0600
Ugh...I can't keep doing this...please, let there be rain this morning...just a small break, a little siesta por favor...no? Okay, I will drink coffee and write bits....

Today's quickie bullets, sans holy grammar:

  • I can only deliver email to delegations, not individuals. Any email that says "please hand this to...." goes in the trash box, sorry.
  • Email to teams should now be sent to saramallo@hotmail.com, all beer and wine and kudos to webmaestro@omniskore.com
  • We have trolled the hangar! S&A Bits & FF/FR/SK Bits are on the way!
  • If your team is missing a scoring summary, do not panic or send email. It will get there eventually, I promise.

A reader observes: "I can't figure out how in the world you have enough time to enter tidbits, competitor results, pictures, run DZTV, and Omniskore at the same time." Ah, you see, it is simple. Every hour, I set my watch back 30 minutes, so I get 21 hours of work done in my 14 hour day. ;-)

On to the business at hand. 8-Way FS and 4-way CF sequential are on call, and I hear airplanes cranking up...

...Russia and Brazil just did their round 3's, and boy did Russia light up the board with an 18, that pulls them within 1 point of USA. It's a meet again!

CF Sequential just finished round 5, and France picked up a point on USA with a very good 11. USA *JUST* squeaked their 10th point in time and hold a two point advantage, while those Plaid Canadian Jackets posted their best score so far, also a 10. The video work by the USA camera flyer Brad Hood is superb; he takes a very active role in closely framing the action. Other camera flyers tend to just get back farther and aim the camera.

FS8 round five. Germany and UK nice 12's on a skydive that is not easy. Russia has a fast jump, but they bust the build of a Cat Diamond for score of 17. France - wow! a very slick & quick 19, those guys aren't going to let up. USA just took off, it be a while...

"Parachute, pack thyself!" British 8-way
Elisa Feldt Team USA CF Sequential
DeLand Dutch Flight walks to the Otter

1100
Still waiting for the USA FS8...they will have to really hustle to do better than 19, that's the start of the Lego > Eye block...okay, here we go...they nearly funneled the exit...nice recovery, a quick pace, is that 19th in time? It's on the freeze frame...it's in time! A 19, and USA8 holds their slim lead at the halfway point.

Alexander watches his young Russian athletes prepare for round six.

FS Judging Panel 1. So far, I think this is the best judged FS meet I've seen yet, although I think sometimes they are too nice. But then, T1 and I have a reputation for utter brutality when we have a scoring panel in our hands.  Just call us "The Bust Brothers."

A special OmniThanks to Erik "Wing" Suit for the hot tip to Ted regarding his FTP software troubles. All you folks who sit out there stabbing the "refresh" button on your favorite team's scoring summaries should now seem them more consistently. (btw Erik bought a case of beer for getting his name on our page, and we are enjoying it!!! [burp])

Yes, things are a little slow right now, they just finished a round of CF Speed where France is holding on to the lead in front of USA and Russia. The Freestylists are also jumping this morning, and the Freefly and Skysurfers will be joining them after noon.

Bits! We have 3D (that's Freestyle/Skysurf/Freefly) Bits! Boel Janérus to the rescue! Thanks Boel! Reading Boel's tidbits makes me sorry I'm not seeing much of the 3D, it sounds like some real good stuff is happening.

[A T1 bit] A lot of interesting talk going on about the jury's decision yesterday on Russia and Brazil's round 3. The judges -- from the Chief Chief Judge (Brenda Reid) on down -- are very upset about it, and I can understand why. But listening to Alan Metni's reasonable and well researched argument, the jury seems to have reached the right decision. We will be posting the text of the decision as soon as the Jury President (BJ Worth) gives it to us, but in the meantime, it goes like this: the General Section of the FAI Sporting Code has precedence over rules in the individual sporting event sections, and according to the General Section, maximum penalty score (zero in the case of FS) is only appropriate for situations of intentional misconduct or unsportsmanlike behavior on the part of a competitor/team. Clearly this was not the case on Tuesday. The Russians should be thankful there was a motivated lawyer here batting for them!! Stay tuned for the text of the Jury's decision.

Attention Competitors/World:
Yesterday morning a brand new:
Mirage G3 Factory Harness / rig all black with little Swiss red and white aliens (swiss Flags) at the side was stolen from the Swiss room on the first floor the name AL was on the rig in the rig was a brand new Icarus Crossfire 99 all black and a Tempo Reserve 120 white and a Cypress. Any recovery help appreciated!

[Back to T2] Are they throwing snowballs in hell today? They served something different for lunch! Paella and swordfish. Quite delicious, especially with Judy's Tabasco sauce and white pepper. Hmm, that'sa some spicy stuff!

1430
Just back from the inbox, and I had at least a half dozen folks asking -- begging, almost -- to know that's going on with all the other events. Let me just say that it's very tough for us to keep abreast of manifest calls and changing plans, and we toss this stuff on the web based pretty much on what is just coming through the judges' rooms. Two or three times a day I'll grab the camera and take pictures on my way to and from the washroom (stopping at the hangar, of course). In short, I know it's tough to tell what's happening, but it isn't much different here: everyone outside seems pretty much in the same state of non-information. Us doubly so.

For you ladies who requested "style coverage" of the opposite sex, I'm not having much luck. They all like to lay down and chill with those hot suits on!

Hey all you Freestyle fans, the webmaster owes you a little apology. He (besides referring to himself in the third person after he screws up) forgot to post an updated results page hours after putting the scores in it. Can you believe the guy! It's up now.

Speaking of Freestyle, I just saw my favorite team being judged for round 4, they didn't have that good a round but Georgie & Michael are still doing well. If they don't win, can we give them the award for cutest couple? Yes, I think so.

YIPPEE YIPPEE YIPPEE TEE HEE HEE HEE -

Sally Stewart delivers! It's McDonald's in Granada! Who cares if I just had lunch, I'm diving in!

Lick, smack...if it seems like no updates for a while, it's because our internet access has died for a while...

...well, the internet access is back, but we are on a weather hold (winds) for a while longer...

...while we are on a weather hold, I'd like to share a gem regarding our internet coverage. I think this is too good not to tell. I'm going to paraphrase it some, but this is basically what happened on the first day of competition:

Team jumps round one. Score is immediately posted by OmniSkore system to the internet. Relatives in home country see score and jump for joy. Team packs and dirt dives for round two. Relatives send congratulatory email to team through webmaestro@omniskore.com. Email is printed and placed in delegation's mail box. While team is waiting for score to be posted, delegation member hands team congratulatory email with score on it. Team is amazed.

Time to grab the camera and head for the washroom...

...and we're still on a wind hold...

1700
...weather! 4-way FS! Scores! Round 5 is here. Ladies first, let's go. I just put some new Freefly scores up too. The USA girls put up a nice 14, good zircons! The Swedes choose to cog turn their zircons, just as nice for a 14. Norway has a glitch building a Murphy Flake and settles for a 13; and last but not least, UK, another team with Truly Excellent Video, hey who does that girl think she is, turning a bipole > bipole like Johnny Eagle? She's making us guys look slow! A 14 for UK and the race tightens for the women's event.

All you Style & Accuracy fans out there, I'll have a lot of scores up shortly, thank you for waiting.

More on the "Fun Flag" coming soon.I'm trying to watch some of the Freeflying round four, and I'm seeing some amazing stuff. You are NOT supposed to do that in freefall! That move is aerodynamically impossible! Parents, don't let your daughters date these people, they are not human ;-)

OUCH! The Slovenia camera flyer just scored a strike on his team as they closed the first zircon, I think one of them is going to feel that in the morning. Been there, done that, bought the beer.

I see lots of teams shearing the zircon turns and a lot of them cogging. Hmm, you'd have thought they'd have reached a consensus on that move by now. I guess the argument is: shear the move, shorten the turn. Cog the turn, easier and no 3-D. Let's see how the top teams do it.

One of the big 4-Way FS surprises (at least for me) is the Japanese team, currently tied for sixth place. They are very good! Just did a 16 on that one. Looks like all the top teams do that shear move. Me, I'm lazy, I'll cog that puppy.

France just had a terrific jump, a small glitch finishing a bipole > bipole, and they squeeze that last zircon in for a 21, sweet jump. The Norgies right after, a good jump but their #20 is just out of time. USA: Smooth and steady again, their 20 is JUST in time!

Well, that's a wrap for the day. The program for tomorrow calls for CF and 8-Way FS in the morning and 4-Way FS in the afternoon with 3D sprinkled all around.

2055
A quick apology to the Style & Accuracy fans: I promised you more scores tonight, but I won't be able to post them until the morning. The last bus leaves for the hotel in 4 minutes and I don't feel like walking tonight. Thank you all for the wonderful emails I just browsed and see you tomorrow, and A1, if I don't get back to you, have fun in Florida and tell everyone I said hello. Good night!

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