John Barresi

That would be awesome Moon... I can always use good java! Something with a rich, nutty chocolate-hinted hue would be lovely.

Here's a copy of the email just sent out to our mailing list: Greetings Kitelife readers! I'd like to take this moment to appeal to your love of kiting media... And ask for your help. The way things are set up now, we share a server with other users, limiting us to a certain amount of space and bandwidth... For only about 80% more than we're paying now, we can increase our space and bandwidth by over 900% and put us into a position where there is no limit to the resources and downloads we can provide to our readership! We're sitting on 15 new videos, which we'll be looking to upload once there are enough subscribers to support moving to a dedicated server... The amount of bandwidth used by visitors to our video section is staggering, and would indicate that they are greatly valued! On the "coming soon" list: • 1990 AKA Grand Nationals - Masters Individual Ballet finals (top 4) • 1991 Great Lakes SKC - Masters Team Ballet (all teams) • 1993 Hawaii Challenge - The "Big Picture" flies for the first time • 1993 Paradise Cup - Scott Aughenbaugh's Ballet • 1993 World Cup - Team High Performance championship ballet • 1994 Hawaii Challenge - Team High Performance team ballet And more... Much, much more. Beginning early next year, we'll also begin publishing every issue of Kitelines Magazine ever printed... Some of you may recall this magazine which spun off of the AKA's original newsletter "KiteTales" in the 1970s. We've made arrangements with the owner of this historical publication to make the entire archive available via the world wide web, complete with every kite plan, kite review, article and interview in original format. We would also like to put Ray Bethell's promo ballet back into our video archives, but could not support the popularity it found on the world wide web... It exhausted most of our monthly bandwidth resources only a week into September, having been viewed over 8,000 times in a mere 5 days! Other plans for Kitelife include compiling all possible sport kite competition results since the late 80s into one place, and profiling legendary past competitors into a sort of hall of fame... No one organization has ever taken responsibility for preserving the history of our sport, and we would like to step up to put this dream into motion. In addition, we're looking at doing daily updates from four incredible events every year: • Kite Trade Association Convention • Wildwood International Kite Festival • Washington State International Kite Festival • AKA Grand Nationals and Convention Consider for a moment, how would you feel if this valuable resource was suddenly no longer available? This sentiment represents how important Kitelife actually is to those who browse our pages, although many take it for granted and don't realize the expenses that go into maintaining Kitelife. While we're in no danger of collapse (never!), and will continue to provide our services for free, we've hit our "digital ceiling" for the time being... And need YOUR help! We would love to see roughly 50 new subscribers or more by the beginning of next year in order to make this happen, and encourage you to weigh the sheer volume of kiting material we provide... Our love of all things kiting... And compare it to any other resource currently available. We believe you'll find us to already be among the most balanced and sizable archives strictly devoted to kiting. My own history in kiting began in 1990 at the age of 15, as a sport kite competitor... Since then I've seen many changes for better and worse, have experienced and taken part in quite a number of facets of kiting, growing to love every aspect of our pastime and the people who are a part of the global community... I could not begin the to express the deep feeling I have for kiting as a whole, the affect it can bring to humanity, or sufficiently impress upon you my dedication to being an ongoing contributor to our history and growth. We need your help as an individual, don't leave it up to everyone else... It begins with you. We're talking about $2.95 a month, or 10 cents a day... To help bring this dream to fruition, it would take less than you spend on a single day's lunch. Heart to heart, can you feel what drives Kitelife? Please help us make it happen - http://www.kitelife.com/subscribe We look forward to bringing you our traditional daily updates from the AKA Convention in Seaside, and releasing our new issue (#38) on October 1st... See you on the field!

Since it happens in just 4 weeks and pre-registration ended 7/1, I imagine they've already drawn winners.

I think you might find this kite to be an answer to some of your light wind concerns, it is a nice mid-size kite, and will grow with you.

Hey oculus... Check this out! http://kitelife.com/forum/index.php?showto...st=0entry1487

Since I have some errands which may keep me busy tomorrow, we've drawn the recipient for our September 15th prize this afternoon. And the winner is... *drum roll* KL Subscriber #75 - Amy McAuley! (oculus on the forum) Prize: Jack in the Box Light - Courtesy of GWTW Kites! Our hearty congratulations Amy, this actually works out quite well since we'll be seeing you at the upcoming fun fly in Vancouver on 9/19! See your prize here - http://www.kitelife.com/prizes/jack-in-the-box37/ Happy flying!

Well said, all around!

Any idea if there's a coffee maker in the room Theresa? If so, I might bring grinds and such out... That would save me a buck or two.

Matter of fact, we're giving away the Phoenix Supreme in our October drawing! This month's drawing is coming up soon... Ya'll ready?

Sorry to hear it dear, my best energies go out to them.

Agreed... Experienced fliers aside, I have to think back on an incident that happened in the early 90's with Dean Jordan where he was manlifting (tethered between kite and telephone pole)... His helmet slipped over his eyes, the kites went out of control, and he went plummeting at the ground so hard that his pelvis shattered in a number of places and cost him thousands of dollars to recover from. I think there's a time and place for it, but should always be conducted hand in hand with safety education and the assurance (waiver) that all participants are taking sole responsibility. With regard to kids, or those under the age of majority... I think until there is a designated place (like skateboard parks, ski parks, etc for their respective sports) where fliers can do this kind of thing - that 18 or over might be the recommended rule of thumb simply due to the legal aspects, and public perception... Do we look at the day's fun, or kiting's long term preservation? Not that I think you would Mike, but be sure not to take these comments on a personal note... Simply as other opinions, to which you should feel free to reply as even-handedly.

Okie dokie, my lodging offer is off the market... Ted Goodman and Rob Autrey (Fireball) will be sharing my pad for AKA Convention.

I do love it... I woke up this morning and found that someone had hacked the whole forum, so I went into the RAW database and reset my password as well... I also found the code they inserted to put their "tag" across the top of the forum. Now I feel like I'm in control... I have learned so much more (yes, more) about maintaining a web site in the last couple weeks!

FYI - aside from the general categories in the Kite Classifieds where regular fliers can post kites they have for sale, there is also the "Store Specials" area where stores or similar retail (garage store) businesses can post their stock for sale... One item per ad please.

This was a popular topic about 10 years ago... To be honest, I haven't heard anything about it in years. I've been using straps for eons, and have never run into this problem... However, I used the computer all the time and don't appear to be prone to getting Carpal Tunnel. Obviously, the problem would mainly occur if you were flying a lot with tons of pull on the kite... If there is little stress on your wrist (light pull), then it would be unlikely. I would just fly what you like, and observe the condition of your wrists... If stiffness or pain starts, then switch... Or, switch back and forth between straps and handles out of general prinicple.

Thank you kindly Theresa! We'll be ready. With regard to the forum jitters, someone registered under a bunch of different names and was posting profane, useless jibberish... I had to shut it down for a minute, clear their garbage out and ban them by IP address. Only kicked ya'll out for half an hour or so though.

Hello, I have a 1BD timeshare unit reserved starting Monday night (10/11), checking out on Sunday (10/17)... It sleeps four. While the regular bed will be ours, a couch and double or queen size murphy bed (comes down out of the wall) are also in the room. There is also a kitchenette and fridge, if you're looking to save some dough by bringing or buying your own groceries. Location is directly across the main street from the main event hotel (Shilo), both flank the promenade and are a comparable (very short) walk to the flying fields... While it's not an ocean view side of the building, supposedly you can lean out off the balcony and see the ocean. More info - http://www.worldmarktheclub.com/resorts/se/pdfs/brochure.pdf No smoking in the room, only on the balcony... No worries there. Anyone who I know that is looking for lodging in Seaside should get in touch with me by email... $25 a night for one person, or $35 for two. Let me know,

I'll of course be there 10/10 to 10/17 doing the daily updates to Kitelife... I'll be down on the beach for a spell on Monday helping them set up the fields, I talked to Susan Skinner and she mentioned it would be a great help.

That would be awesome Penny, hopefully someone can come up with pics too. Danka!

Hey Rick, how's that Cody plan/article coming along?

Doug, are we going to see a report and photos for that event in Kitelife? nudge, nudge, wink, wink

Any chance of a report and photos for an upcoming issue of Kitelife?

11am should be perfect, just look for all the freaks who spent too much on their kites! You can indeed fly in the rain... Remember though: 1. Do not fly if there is lightening or static in the air. 2. Open up your kite at home to let it dry out (avoid mildew). Newbies can fly indoors, but you need a super light kite made for it. Here's me, make sure you say hi on the 19th!

I didn't catch the way the three arches were set up... That is really neat, not sure I've ever seen that done before!

I believe they call this one "Broughton Beach", and is the same place I used to practice with the masters class team Invisible Wind in 1995... While it's a fair place to fly, the sand takes the "twinkle" out of new sails pretty fast and can be a little rough on kites... in my experience anyway.