Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with falling

Songs for skydiving

Lemurrhea — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 07:58:45 -0800

I need songs about falling and/or flying, but not in a metaphorical sense. So I'm going skydiving in a month, and have a 45-minute drive to the site. Thus, I decided that I need a good 'skydiving' playlist. Can the hive mind help me find some good songs? I want songs that are explicitly about flying, or falling, excluding things like "I'm falling in love", or "leaving on a jet plane".

I've already figured out Flying-Living Colour, Free Fallin-Tom Petty, Around the Sun-Edwin, Learn to Fly-Foo Fighters. What am I missing?

How do I invest in Euros?

pikaboy202 — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 20:36:33 -0800

Are there any financial institutions available in the US to buy Euros as a hedge against the falling dollar? As we all know, the value of the Dollar is falling and money in the bank is free-falling due to both the falling dollar and inflation. In a way to hedge against the falling dollar, I thought it might be possible to save in Euros or even the Chinese Yuan instead.

Is there any financial institutions are methods to invest in Euros or have a savings accounts entirely in Euros instead of Dollars in the US?

I'd like to get better at protecting the things I love, self included.

iamkimiam — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 15:20:28 -0800

How can I become less clumsy? Exercises, thoughts, vitamins, and other suggestions all welcome.

The sky is falling…

kmadd — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 15:20:56 -0800

(Two part question: part 1 – help me find a reference, part 2 – am I crazy?) I know I have read somewhere that on rare occasions fish and frogs can be dragged from their watery residences by waterspouts and deposited miles away. There are many references on the web referring to this type of phenomena, but there is a particularly extreme example which I seek… The reference that I recall includes the story of a jet that lost an engine due to inhaling a small animal and loosing the engine. When the residue was gathered from the engine in question, the animal which the plane hit at altitude was confirmed to be a small non-flying mammal (squirrel?). Has anyone ever heard of this particularly extreme case of flightless animals at high altitude?

The reason for my sudden interest in this topic is due to a rather strange guest in my yard over the most recent weekend. Sunday morning, after an unusually heavy summer storm (the patio furniture was knocked over for the first time in years) I awoke to let the dogs out, and when I went to let them in and one had a rather large turtle in her mouth (dead).

This was unusual for a number of reasons…

The turtle did not appear to be a terrestrial turtle, such as those commonly kept as pets (Mud or Box). I have had pet turtles as a child and would recognize a familiar species.

The turtle was large enough (7”-8” L, 5”W) that it would have been impossible for it to gain entry through my cedar privacy fence without going over or under it. Which I’m sure a turtle cannot do on its own power. The turtle was also of a size that I have never seen from an aquatic pet turtle. Only in the wild have I seen a turtle of this size.

The turtle shell was partially broken/cracked near one edge, which may have been the dog’s doing, but she is almost never rough with things that are already dead and I doubt that she would try to tear through something so hard. This suggests that there was some forceful impact involved with the turtle entering my yard.

Access to my yard is very limited; from the street side, there is no way someone could have thrown the turtle into the dog area of the property, plain and simple. The fence in the rear is surrounded by neighboring properties, consisting of mostly elderly folks and one young couple, so it is highly unlikely that that a neighbor chucked it over.

I do not live very close to water, or at least far enough that a turtle could have strolled over. There is a small branch of the Chicago river about a mile away, the North Branch of the Chicago river is about three miles away and the Des Plaines river is about three miles in another direction. There are several small lakes and man made bodies of water within a few miles, but none are within a mile and all have obstacles such as train tracks, major streets and bridges that would need to be overcome. I would be hard-pressed to walk directly to a nearby body of water without getting killed and I look both ways.

Am I crazy or did this turtle fall form the sky?

Does this happen with any frequency?

Opinions, thoughts and any personal experiences are appreciated.

Cartoon of cat falling from aircraft?

Dub — Tue, 29 May 2007 08:49:40 -0800

I'm trying to find a cartoon image of a cat falling from a (Dakota-type) aircraft. The caption said something like: "Sooty suddenly realised that it wasn't going to matter, even if he can land on all-fours from a mile up" I'm trying to find a cartoon image I saw in a newspaper, maybe 10 years ago.

I thought it was Baxter (from the style) - but I've been assured it isn't. Could be Larson, but I'm not so sure.

Bullets fired into the air - a health hazard?

Glow Bucket — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 01:53:35 -0800

Don't bullets fired into the air hurt or kill people when coming down? I haven often wondered what happens to those bullets that get fired into the air say, as a warning or in celebration of something by gun-toting folk. They must come down somewhere and even if they are not as fast coming down as being fired they must surely hurt if not kill, no?

Are there any accounts of people getting hurt or killed as a result of shots fired in the air, or am I getting this wrong and they simply bounce off of heads?

I haven't fallen and I can get up...for now.

wogbat — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 12:24:50 -0800

In the last couple of weeks I swear that I've seen a story, read a story, a dreamed a story about senior citizens and falling. The gist was something about senior citizens being too cautious about walking (taking tiny, slow steps) and that leading to more falls. I think. After that it is fuzzy. Do they then suggest stretching, yoga, or something else? I can't remember. Does this ring a bell? Or maybe the idea was to to teach them to fall...Or maybe have them take bigger steps...my memory fails me.

Yaktrax with sensible dress shoes?

desuetude — Thu, 15 Dec 2005 20:41:34 -0800

Anyone use these "Yaktrax" thingys? More importantly, any experience using them on not-entirely-flat-soled-shoes? I live in a city, I do a lot of walking, and a lot of my neighbors don't bother shovelling snow, or don't do it well. Lots of lumpy extended patches of glare ice for weeks.

I'm already getting tired of wearing the stomping boots every day with work clothes and bringing the more appropriate office shoes. The Yaktrax look a bit silly stretched over my low-heeled loafers, but seem like they'd work. Can anyone offer some testimony for or against?

Would you be concious if you fell from a plane?

neodem — Wed, 17 Aug 2005 10:55:40 -0800

This has been bothering me for quite some time so any help would be greatly appreciated. I've often heard that when one falls from a great distance (say out of an airplane or off a building) with no parachute, they will pass out in short order. I'm wondering if this is true, or if they will be concious throughout the fall until impact. Is there any science on either side of this question?

A society of people who have perfected falling down?

Ritchie — Sat, 18 Jun 2005 18:02:00 -0800

A colleague was trying to explain to me about a group of people based in the UK who have mastered the art of falling flat on their faces without injuring themselves, and practise this art in public. Does such a group really exist? My colleague was sketchy on details, and uncertain herself as to whether the group actually existed. She had heard that John Cleese was a member of the group.

The purpose behind falling flat on your face on a public street was unclear, although it was definitely not connected to those petty con-artists that 'slip' in stores and shopping malls in order to sue the management. Apparently the reason behind it is simply to see what people will do when someone right in front of them takes a seemingly-nasty spill.

It sounds a little absurd, but not outside the realms of possibility. Does such a group exist, or has it ever existed? Is John Cleese a member?