I’m looking forward to seeing this issue go live, as it will mean that I’m free to pack and prepare for my first visit to Colombia on August 4th… In addition to meeting lots of new people and finally putting faces to some names, iQuad is arriving a couple days before their festival to provide a Rev clinic for anyone who wants to participate.
All in all, it will be an excellent warm up for the Washington State International Kite Festival (WSIKF) in Long Beach (WA) one week after we arrive… Thanks to a lot of “tree shaking”, we’re expecting well over 40 Rev pilots in attendance from all over North America, building up to what will hopefully be a new North American record-breaking mega fly!
The previous record is 39 (?), set in Treasure Island (FL) in January of 2008… Now, the number of pilots with team experience is significantly higher, and we expect to see multiple record attempts throughout the week, with an open and dynamic Rev clinic environment for the whole duration.
If you’ve got some control over your Rev and want to give it a go, come see us at WSIKF… Just look for our banners, or if all else fails, look for all the Revs!
Some of you may have noticed that we recently upgraded our forum software as part of our ongoing efforts to provide our visitors with the most secure, reliable and feature-rich discussion forum on the web… If you haven’t done so already, stop into the forum, register and get involved!
https://www.kitelife.com/forum
In addition, we’ve also added our new Kite Archives section, where forum members can add their own reviews, images and information, creating a dynamic and ever-growing archive of any kite that has ever been produced.
Last but not least on the forum side of things, you’ll also find a “reputation” system that allows you to “plus” or give encouraging feedback for particularly helpful or postive posts.
Yes indeed, it is an electronic age!
Not only are we an “electronic magazine” or “ezine”, but Kitelife is now on Facebook as well… Come check us out, become a fan and stay apprised of changes, additions and day to day news from Kitelife.
In addition to Kitelife’s FB page, you’ll now find the same for iQuad and Revolution… Come say hello, make friends, let’s make this world even smaller!
http://www.facebook.com/kitelife
http://www.facebook.com/iquad
http://www.facebook.com/revkites
And my personal FB page…
http://www.facebook.com/barresij
I was one of those who turned their nose up at Facebook for the longest time, but I’ve been amazed at the sheer number of people I’ve not only reconnected with, but all the new friends I’ve made there as well.
For those of you who are following my marital progress, I’m overjoyed to announce that we’ve received our Notice of Actionwhich means the petition has been approved and our case now goes to the National Visa Center… From there, within a couple of weeks, our case will be transferred to the American Embassy in Tokyo where Takako will have her final interview.
Provided there are no unexpected problems, we could see our visa approval sometime in early October, and while we were hoping it would be in time for the AKA Nationals in Rochester, but it’s looking tight schedule-wise… I’m really hoping I’ll be able to attend, as it’s my favorite event of the year and I’ve got a particularly large and heavy chunk of metal that needs to passed on to somebody else in Rochester.
With the visa in process and coming to a head in September/October, I’ll be doing a lot less personal travel during those months in the event that I need to be somewhere on short notice to facilitate Takako’s move… A 4-man iQuad will still be on the road for the Mots Festival in Milwaukee and possibly Sunfest in Ocean City (MD), but with someone else calling the shots.
There’s my news from the Editor’s desk, thanks for reading, and for being a part of this Kitelife… Kiting wouldn’t be what it is without the efforts of so many fine people.
Cordially yours,
John Barresi