Felix Baumgartner’s record-breaking jump with parachute

Here’s something with fright attached. I remember Felix Baumgartner’s jump so well…we listened to the live broadcast whilst driving into rain on an English motorway.

The Phraser

Garnerin parachutes into London - 1802 Garnerin parachutes into London -1802

That was 1802 – a decade over two centuries later the following happens: a huge gossamer balloon floats into the nothing of the stratosphere. Beneath it clings the tiny dot of a capsule, and inside it is an Austrian, Felix Baumgartner, aged 43.

When the balloon reaches 128,000 feet (24 miles) above the Earth, he will step out and drop into the deep.

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Nadal – how to make history out of clay

A thought about tennis before the football starts.

Rafael Nadal has just won his ninth French Open championship.  No man has ever won more than six and none have achieved five victories in a row.
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Brilliance at the Sochi Winter Olympics … and damp in England

Night view of Sochi during the Olympics NASA Goddard Photo and Video

Night view of Sochi during the Olympics
NASA Goddard Photo and Video

We’ve had a soggy two months over here in the UK.  There’s been buckets of news, politicians looking splashy and lots of advice about staying away from windswept edges.

It’s damp … but not dull.

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