Classic American West Coast Boxing

[kikibalt]

CHULA CHULA CHULA

We're having a LLWS party here at home, attending will be Connie, Chata, Charlie, Sandy and Max......

[dagosd2000]

CHULA CHULA CHULA

We're having a LLWS party here at home, attending will be Connie, Chata, Charlie, Sandy and Max......

Frank
I see Reynoso got 3rd place. We'll be over at my sisters' house with Pete the Cop and his wife and Molly our dog. Go Chula!

[kikibalt]

CHULA CHULA CHULA

We're having a LLWS party here at home, attending will be Connie, Chata, Charlie, Sandy and Max......

Frank
I see Reynoso got 3rd place. We'll be over at my sisters' house with Pete the Cop and his wife and Molly our dog. Go Chula!

Reynoso just beat Texas....

[Rick Farris]

Gotta Go . . .


I had to escape the San Fernando Valley this morning.
It's been well over 100 degrees for the past few days and, to make things worse, a series of serious fires have already burned over 40,000 acres in the nearby hills thruout the southland.

I woke early, was on the road in the hills behind my home with a guy I've been putting thru a boxer's workout for the past several years.
John works in the film industry, he's a former Marine vet of the Gulf War.
I met him on the set of "The Shield", where he was in the Wardrobe Dept. He was the men's set costumer for actor Michael Chiklis.

I did lighting on a number of The Shield's episodes a few years back and one day was approached by John.
I was new on the crew but well known on the set, I'd worked with just about everybody on the production at one time or another.
My involvment in boxing was also well known, and I am always approached by somebody to talk boxing. John had heard I was a boxer and wanted to meet me.

John's in his mid 40's, about 5'10, 180 pounds, grew up in the Valley, kind of a wild kid with a lot of pride. In other words, he did a lot of fighting in school, on the street, etc.
He'd had a few scrapes with the law as a kid, got involved in Shotkon Karate and put his energies into a more positive direction.
John dove deep into martial arts, and set himself on a positive path. He became obsessed with all forms of self-defense, but couldn't find a decent boxing coach.
I made some suggestions. "No, I was already there", or, "I saw that guy too."
I'd recommend real boxing gyms, and I could tell he'd really gone to Wildcard, and Lincoln Heights, the L.A. Boxing Club, etc.

As we talked, he asked if I would give him private lessons. He'd been everywhere attempting to learn boxing.
I really don't like to waste my time teaching boxing to people I don't know and I was making good money on the show. However, this guy impressed me.
He was willing to pay me a well for my time, and being the whore I am . . . "When you want to start?"

Do you know what impressed me about John Doyle? (aside from his Irish spirit)
In the early 90's, he had broken into the film business and was making good money while building a good rep.
He learns of trouble in the Middle East, quits his job (one people would kill for.) and joind the Marine Corps.
He ends up in Iraq during the Gulf War, returns home and once discharged returns to work at the Studio.
Think of how hard some people have worked at avoiding military duty, this guy seeks it out. That's John, that's why I decided to work with him.

For the past few years, with the exception of a brief hiatus due to our schedules, we have met twice a week.
It keeps me sharp as a teacher and we will no doubt continue on until one of us drops dead.
In the second week of our workouts together, John was injured on a film set, his little finger of his left hand was almost cut off.
This is on a thursday. He calls me that night and tells me he's not going to be able to use his left hand for awhile.

When I hear what happened, and it was pretty bad, I tell him he should take as long as necessary to let it heal and we'll talk again in the future.
John says, "Please let's keep on, I'll just work my right hand. Could we do that?"
I said "Yes" and for the first few months of our training, all we worked was the right hand. Crosses, hooks, uppercuts, blocking, etc.
And we started with his feet anyway, his balance footing, movement. We had to build the foundation first.

John Doyle is the best student I've ever taught. Of course John is a fighter. He has heart.

We go up to a trail in the hills above my home, do a combination run, hike, stopping along the way at various spots to work punches, defense.
I go up backwards with the pads, and I have him power his way up throwing combos. It's an incredible workout and it takes us nearly two hours before we finish.

Today? When John and I hit the hills, an otherwise pretty blue sky was filled with smoke.
We decided against the workout. First time ever we cancelled, and did so as we should have. I'm not filling my lungs with smoke, it would defeat the prupose.
Besides, we aren't training for a fight.

With Monica working this weekend, I headed to the Marina Penninsula. As I write this I'm on my buddy's sundeck, looking out over the ocean, the sand below, some of California's most beautiful ladies.

I almost feel like a "kept man" . . . NOT!
But life is good


-Rick Farris

[Randyman]

We just got back from having breakfast at Nick's Taste of Texas in West Covina. It's strictly Tex-Mex. The owners are from San Antonio, Texas. That's where Jeri is from as well. This is one of our favorite places for breakfast. The food served here is not gourmet. It is simple cooking. Totally unpretentious. The food looks and taste as if it was made is some small home kitchen. Nick's has a large and loyal following. The only downside for me is that, although they do serve good Menudo, there are no patas. Meranda and the girls went with us.





The meat served here is Tex-Mex style barbacoa. It's a commonly served breakfast meat in Texas. If you are familiar with Mexican barbacoa, this is a completely different dish.


Randy

[Randyman]

Orale. Chula Vista!

[kikibalt]

Orale. Chula Vista!

They did it!.....

[dagosd2000]

CAN YOU SAY CHULA VISTA LITTLE LEAGUE WORLD CHAMPS?

[kikibalt]

CAN YOU SAY CHULA VISTA LITTLE LEAGUE WORLD CHAMPS?

YES I CAN!!!!.....

[Randyman]

CAN YOU SAY CHULA VISTA LITTLE LEAGUE WORLD CHAMPS?

"CHULA VISTA LITTLE LEAGUE WORLD CHAMPS"!

[Rick Farris]

CAN YOU SAY CHULA VISTA LITTLE LEAGUE WORLD CHAMPS?

"CHULA VISTA LITTLE LEAGUE WORLD CHAMPS"!

CHULA VISTA LITTLE LEAGUE WORLD CHAMPS . . .
Classic American West Coast Baseball, of course.


-Rick

[kikibalt]

Chula Vista wins Little League World Series

Bulla Graft's single scores the go-ahead run in the fourth inning and Kiko Garcia pitches three-plus scoreless innings of relief to in a 6-3 victory over Taoyuan, Taiwan.



Chula Vista's Daniel Porras Jr., left, gets a hug from teammate Andy Rios as they celebrate winning the Little League World Series on Sunday. (Tom E. Puskar / Associated Press / August 30, 2009)

From the Associated Press

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. - California came up big late to win the Little League World Series.

Bulla Graft's sharp single scored the go-ahead run in the fourth inning and Kiko Garcia pitched three-plus scoreless innings of relief to lead Chula Vista to a 6-3 victory over Taoyuan, Taiwan to take the tournament title.

With the U.S.-partisan crowd on their feet, Garcia closed out the victory by striking out Yu Chieh Kao. The California fans yelled "USA! USA."

The teams shook hands before California celebrated, then invited Taiwan to accompany them on the customary victory lap around Lamade Stadium on a sun-splashed afternoon.

They celebrated the United States' fifth straight Little League championship.

The latest win looked in doubt early. Wen Hua Sung and Chin Ou hit back-to-back homers in the third to give Taiwan a 3-0 lead.

California scored a run in the third before surging ahead in the fourth. Seth Godfrey drove in a run on a sacrifice fly before Nick Conlin scored on a wild pitch.

Even Vice President Joe Biden, who attended the game, was impressed, standing and clapping as his three granddaughters looked on.

Later, Taiwan walked slugger Luke Ramirez with two outs to bring up Graft. The 12-year-old second baseman hit a 1-1 pitch to right to score Andy Rios from third.

California added two runs in the fifth, more than enough cushion for Garcia.

The boys threw their gloves high in the air after Kao struck out, then gathered near the mound and fell into a pile on the ground.

[dagosd2000]

Archie Moore

[dagosd2000]

Chula Vista wins Little League World Series

Bulla Graft's single scores the go-ahead run in the fourth inning and Kiko Garcia pitches three-plus scoreless innings of relief to in a 6-3 victory over Taoyuan, Taiwan.



Chula Vista's Daniel Porras Jr., left, gets a hug from teammate Andy Rios as they celebrate winning the Little League World Series on Sunday. (Tom E. Puskar / Associated Press / August 30, 2009)

From the Associated Press

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. - California came up big late to win the Little League World Series.

Bulla Graft's sharp single scored the go-ahead run in the fourth inning and Kiko Garcia pitched three-plus scoreless innings of relief to lead Chula Vista to a 6-3 victory over Taoyuan, Taiwan to take the tournament title.

With the U.S.-partisan crowd on their feet, Garcia closed out the victory by striking out Yu Chieh Kao. The California fans yelled "USA! USA."

The teams shook hands before California celebrated, then invited Taiwan to accompany them on the customary victory lap around Lamade Stadium on a sun-splashed afternoon.

They celebrated the United States' fifth straight Little League championship.

The latest win looked in doubt early. Wen Hua Sung and Chin Ou hit back-to-back homers in the third to give Taiwan a 3-0 lead.

California scored a run in the third before surging ahead in the fourth. Seth Godfrey drove in a run on a sacrifice fly before Nick Conlin scored on a wild pitch.

Even Vice President Joe Biden, who attended the game, was impressed, standing and clapping as his three granddaughters looked on.

Later, Taiwan walked slugger Luke Ramirez with two outs to bring up Graft. The 12-year-old second baseman hit a 1-1 pitch to right to score Andy Rios from third.

California added two runs in the fifth, more than enough cushion for Garcia.

The boys threw their gloves high in the air after Kao struck out, then gathered near the mound and fell into a pile on the ground.

These kids go to school in my district across the freeway. I think the superintendent should declare tomorrow Chula Vista Little League Champions Day and give everyone the day off.

[kikibalt]

Archie Moore

[kikibalt]

Attention!!!
To all my IRISH and NON-IRISH friends, thought I should pass this along.


How to get to Heaven from Ireland

I was testing children in my Dublin Sunday school class to see if they
understood the concept of getting to heaven.
I asked them, 'If I sold my house and my car, had a big jumble sale and
gave all my money to the church, would that get me into heaven?'


'NO!' the children answered.
'If I cleaned the church every day, mowed the garden, and kept everything
tidy, would that get me into heaven?'

Again, the answer was 'No!' By now I was starting to smile.
' Well, then, if I was kind to animals and gave sweeties to all the children,
and loved my husband, would that get me into heaven?'

Again, they all answered 'No!'. I was just bursting with pride for them.
I continued, ' Then how can I get into heaven?'
A six year-old boy shouted out " YUV GOTTA BE FuKN' DEAD.........."

[raylawpc]

We just got back from having breakfast at Nick's Taste of Texas in West Covina. It's strictly Tex-Mex. The owners are from San Antonio, Texas. That's where Jeri is from as well. This is one of our favorite places for breakfast. The food served here is not gourmet. It is simple cooking. Totally unpretentious. The food looks and taste as if it was made is some small home kitchen. Nick's has a large and loyal following. The only downside for me is that, although they do serve good Menudo, there are no patas. Meranda and the girls went with us.





The meat served here is Tex-Mex style barbacoa. It's a commonly served breakfast meat in Texas. If you are familiar with Mexican barbacoa, this is a completely different dish.


Randy

Looks like a great Tex-Mex breakfast. Man, I wish I could have been there with you!! I love Tex-Mex style barbacoa.

[Rick Farris]

Attention!!!
To all my IRISH and NON-IRISH friends, thought I should pass this along.


How to get to Heaven from Ireland

I was testing children in my Dublin Sunday school class to see if they
understood the concept of getting to heaven.
I asked them, 'If I sold my house and my car, had a big jumble sale and
gave all my money to the church, would that get me into heaven?'


'NO!' the children answered.
'If I cleaned the church every day, mowed the garden, and kept everything
tidy, would that get me into heaven?'

Again, the answer was 'No!' By now I was starting to smile.
' Well, then, if I was kind to animals and gave sweeties to all the children,
and loved my husband, would that get me into heaven?'

Again, they all answered 'No!'. I was just bursting with pride for them.
I continued, ' Then how can I get into heaven?'
A six year-old boy shouted out " YUV GOTTA BE FuKN' DEAD.........."

[Rick Farris]

Archie Moore

Yep!

[kikibalt]

The Hawk & my Grandmother - 1967



My manager Johnny Flores' oldest daughter, Pat, was graduating from Villa Cabrini High School.
My Grandfather was a retired lighting director, and a great photographer. He simply used a Polaroid.
As a favor to the Flores family, my grandfather shot photos at the graduation party held in Johnny's home after the ceremony.

In this one, he caught one of the greatest featherweights I ever knew with my grandmother. She was a big Hawkins fans, we all were.
Hawkins had become a family friend.

Thruout the long proferssional career of Dwight Hawkins, which began at the age of 15, there were many manager's, but none more respected than Johnny Flores. I remember, years after Dwight Hawkins retired from boxing, long after he'd worked my corner with Flores, I met him at his home.

It was about a year after the death of Johnny Flores.
We talked about Johnny. Dwight told me he used to visit Flores occasionally at his home in Castaic.
Dwight knew Johnny loved his garden, and would bring his lontime handler and friend some flowers for the garden.

This photo was taken shortly before Dwight went toe-to-toe with Bobby Valdez in the Olympic Auditorium's "1967 Action Fight of the Year."
Months later he'd travel to Japan and flatten future featherweight champ, Kiniaki Shibata. A few weeks later he'd return to Tokyo and destroy another top ten 126 pounder, Rokuro Ishyama. The followoing month another Japanese fighter, the great Fighting Harada would be the opponent.

The Hawk and Harada went toe-to-toe for ten rounds. Over eighty head butts counted from ringside.
Both badly battered and cut. Harada was never the same, but was awarded a decision. Most thought the fight a draw.

Memories!


-Rick Farris

[kikibalt]

Roger, if its anyway possible for you to make it to the parade/rally on Friday and shoot some pictures and post'em here, well that would just be great.....

Chula Vista Park View comes from behind to win Little League title
The Blue Bombers show poise and sportsmanship in 6-3 victory over Taoyuan, Taiwan, to become the first California team since 1993 to win tournament at South Williamsport, Pa.



Joyce and Steven Marganski react to Chula Vista's Park View Little League team winning the World Series on Sunday. (Earnie Grafton / San Diego Union-Tribune / August 30, 2009)

Chula Vista wins Little League World Series
By Tony Perry

August 31, 2009

Reporting from Chula Vista, Calif. - When pitcher Kiko Garcia struck out the final Taiwanese batter Sunday, several hundred exuberant fans at Oggi's Pizza and Brewing Co. were quick to pick up the chant: "We are the champions."

Chula Vista's Park View Little League team, dubbed the Blue Bombers, beat Taoyuan, Taiwan, 6-3, to climb the tallest mountain in Little League: the world championship at the annual tournament at South Williamsport, Pa.

It did so with a come-from-behind victory, snappy fielding, poise and sportsmanship.

For a city that often feels overshadowed by more glamorous neighbors, and was dissed by a national magazine as boring, the victory was particularly sweet.

No San Diego County team had won a championship at Williamsport since the La Mesa-El Cajon team of 1961 (two members of which were at Oggi's to cheer for Park View). The last California team to win the world championship was Long Beach in 1993.

"This never happened before in Chula Vista," said Alexjandra Pacheco, 17, at Oggi's with other members of the cheering squad from Otay Ranch High. "This is once in a lifetime."

Bulla Graft's sharp single scored the go-ahead run in the fourth inning and Garcia pitched three-plus scoreless innings of relief in the victory. He completed his team's comeback from a 3-0 deficit by striking out Yu Chieh Kao.

Like many cities that have experienced rapid growth, Chula Vista's politics often have an old vs. new split -- the city's older neighborhoods are west of Interstate 805, the new master-planned communities and shopping areas -- such as the one with Oggi's -- are largely east of I-805.

Chula Vista Mayor Cheryl Cox sees the success of Garcia, Andy Rios, Luke Ramirez, Graft and other members of the team as a cohesive factor in the sometimes fractious city.

"This is the kind of thing that brings everybody in the community together," Cox said.

To keep the good vibes going, a parade and rally is planned for Friday, with the Little League players arriving on fire engines, with a police escort and a band.

Several hundred fans packed Oggi's hours before the game to get favored spots near the two dozen televisions. Former San Diego residents Hector and Michelle Flores drove in from their new home in Yuma, Ariz.

"This team is just too exciting to just sit home and watch it," said Hector Flores, 39, a contractor.

Excitement, of course, is not a word often associated with Chula Vista. Forbes magazine ruffled local feathers in January when it named the city one of the 10 most boring in the country.

"This is boring?" said Cox. "No way."

Located 10 miles south of San Diego, Chula Vista (population 227,000) is the county's second largest city but often feels overshadowed in the public mind by the big city and the affluent suburbs to its north: Del Mar, Solana Beach, Rancho Santa Fe and Encinitas.

Sports is important to Chula Vista's self-image as an up-and-coming municipality; the U.S. Olympic Committee has a training facility here.

The city had hoped to lure the San Diego Chargers to town by building a venue to replace aging Qualcomm Stadium. But those plans appear to be tanking amid the national recession; the collapse of the housing market hit Chula Vista particularly hard.

Don Rhodes, 51, a retired Chula Vista police officer and former Park View Little League president, said there is considerable annoyance that Little League teams from the northern part of the county -- Oceanside, Vista and Poway -- get more media coverage, while Chula Vista is overlooked.

"Not today," said Rhodes, shouting to be heard over the celebratory din at Oggi's. "This is a team from south county, from south of Interstate 8, and they are the champions of the world!"

[email protected]

Associated Press contributed to this report.

[dagosd2000]

Roger, if its anyway possible for you to make it to the parade/rally on Friday and shoot some pictures and post'em here, well that would just be great.....

Chula Vista Park View comes from behind to win Little League title
The Blue Bombers show poise and sportsmanship in 6-3 victory over Taoyuan, Taiwan, to become the first California team since 1993 to win tournament at South Williamsport, Pa.



Joyce and Steven Marganski react to Chula Vista's Park View Little League team winning the World Series on Sunday. (Earnie Grafton / San Diego Union-Tribune / August 30, 2009)

Chula Vista wins Little League World Series
By Tony Perry

August 31, 2009

Reporting from Chula Vista, Calif. - When pitcher Kiko Garcia struck out the final Taiwanese batter Sunday, several hundred exuberant fans at Oggi's Pizza and Brewing Co. were quick to pick up the chant: "We are the champions."

Chula Vista's Park View Little League team, dubbed the Blue Bombers, beat Taoyuan, Taiwan, 6-3, to climb the tallest mountain in Little League: the world championship at the annual tournament at South Williamsport, Pa.

It did so with a come-from-behind victory, snappy fielding, poise and sportsmanship.

For a city that often feels overshadowed by more glamorous neighbors, and was dissed by a national magazine as boring, the victory was particularly sweet.

No San Diego County team had won a championship at Williamsport since the La Mesa-El Cajon team of 1961 (two members of which were at Oggi's to cheer for Park View). The last California team to win the world championship was Long Beach in 1993.

"This never happened before in Chula Vista," said Alexjandra Pacheco, 17, at Oggi's with other members of the cheering squad from Otay Ranch High. "This is once in a lifetime."

Bulla Graft's sharp single scored the go-ahead run in the fourth inning and Garcia pitched three-plus scoreless innings of relief in the victory. He completed his team's comeback from a 3-0 deficit by striking out Yu Chieh Kao.

Like many cities that have experienced rapid growth, Chula Vista's politics often have an old vs. new split -- the city's older neighborhoods are west of Interstate 805, the new master-planned communities and shopping areas -- such as the one with Oggi's -- are largely east of I-805.

Chula Vista Mayor Cheryl Cox sees the success of Garcia, Andy Rios, Luke Ramirez, Graft and other members of the team as a cohesive factor in the sometimes fractious city.

"This is the kind of thing that brings everybody in the community together," Cox said.

To keep the good vibes going, a parade and rally is planned for Friday, with the Little League players arriving on fire engines, with a police escort and a band.

Several hundred fans packed Oggi's hours before the game to get favored spots near the two dozen televisions. Former San Diego residents Hector and Michelle Flores drove in from their new home in Yuma, Ariz.

"This team is just too exciting to just sit home and watch it," said Hector Flores, 39, a contractor.

Excitement, of course, is not a word often associated with Chula Vista. Forbes magazine ruffled local feathers in January when it named the city one of the 10 most boring in the country.

"This is boring?" said Cox. "No way."

Located 10 miles south of San Diego, Chula Vista (population 227,000) is the county's second largest city but often feels overshadowed in the public mind by the big city and the affluent suburbs to its north: Del Mar, Solana Beach, Rancho Santa Fe and Encinitas.

Sports is important to Chula Vista's self-image as an up-and-coming municipality; the U.S. Olympic Committee has a training facility here.

The city had hoped to lure the San Diego Chargers to town by building a venue to replace aging Qualcomm Stadium. But those plans appear to be tanking amid the national recession; the collapse of the housing market hit Chula Vista particularly hard.

Don Rhodes, 51, a retired Chula Vista police officer and former Park View Little League president, said there is considerable annoyance that Little League teams from the northern part of the county -- Oceanside, Vista and Poway -- get more media coverage, while Chula Vista is overlooked.

"Not today," said Rhodes, shouting to be heard over the celebratory din at Oggi's. "This is a team from south county, from south of Interstate 8, and they are the champions of the world!"

[email protected]

Associated Press contributed to this report.

Frank
I'm going to the WBHOF Golf Tournament Friday to try to sell some art,but I'm not leaving until the afternoon. If the parade is in the morning I'll be there.

[kikibalt]

Ok Roger...

[Rick Farris]

Eli Thompson . . .

Exactly two years ago, on the set of Desperate Housewives, I met the son of the first unit lighting gaffer.
His name was Eli Thompson, and he was a world record holding skydiver, the best on the planet.
Eli also held a union card in the Studio Set Lighting local and would work several weeks a year in the business just to remain qualfied for our medical benefits, etc.
With his father, Lon Thompson, the first unit LD, Eli could slip in and work on the production and log his benefit hours.
When I was lighting the 2nd unit sets, I'd often pick-up Eli when he was ready to work with us.

Eli's interest was not in the film industry, at least not as a technician.
In addition to holding world sky diving records, Eli owned a Sky Diving School in Perris, California.
He created a television reality show for the A&E Network, "Stunt Junkies" and the series aired for nearly two years.
On the show Eli would interview and showcase "extreme athletes", stuff beyond Sky Diving.
He was married, had two young kids and he was on the move. He was one of those guys you wanted to see make it.

I knew when Eli's show got off to a good start he wouldn't be spending much more time logging hours as a lighting technician for benefit hours.
However, in August 2007, he spend a couple days on my crew and I had a chance to get to know him.
He was a good looking man in his early 30's, about my size, very strong, great energy, hard worker.

At the time I hadn't yet met my wife and was involved with a beautiful young actress from Finland.
The girl was a drop dead knockout and in her 20's. She was a lot of fun and told me she had always dreamed of skydiving one day.
She tells me this two days before I meet Eli Thompson. You can imagine the light that went off in my head when I learned Eli was the best in the world and had his own school.
I mention to Eli that I have a hot young girl who wants to sky dive and he invites us out to his school the next weekend.

He told me it wouldn't be necessary to attend any training if you just wanted to take a jump riding tandem with a pro.
Perfect for me. I never intended to go jump out of a damn plane. Boxing was as edgy as I would go. But this girl was so beautiful.
So that night I call my friend, Saana, and ask her if she would like to go skydiving on saturday, and tell her she'll be jumping tandem with the world's best jumper.
She was excited, and a few days later we drove out to Perris and jumped out of the plane.

Eli was cool, walked us thru everything. He was a legend in his field. He provided me the opportunity to help this young girl achieve a goal.
In the end, I also achieved my goal and it was one of those situations where everything worked just perfect.

Today when I came to work on the set of Desperate Housewives I learned that I would be lighting first unit, Lon Thompson would be off for awhile.
Eli had been in Germany, attempting to break another world record.
He told Saana and I that he had done over 16,000 jumps, and that on several occasions his parachute wouldn't open.
In such cases a back-up shoot is deployed and he was saved.

This past week in Germany, Eli's main chute failed, and the back-up also failed.
He plunged to his death.

Eli Thompson R.I.P.


-Rick Farris

[kikibalt]

Eli Thompson . . .

Exactly two years ago, on the set of Desperate Housewives, I met the son of the first unit lighting gaffer.
His name was Eli Thompson, and he was a world record holding skydiver, the best on the planet.
Eli also held a union card in the Studio Set Lighting local and would work several weeks a year in the business just to remain qualfied for our medical benefits, etc.
With his father, Lon Thompson, the first unit LD, Eli could slip in and work on the production and log his benefit hours.
When I was lighting the 2nd unit sets, I'd often pick-up Eli when he was ready to work with us.

Eli's interest was not in the film industry, at least not as a technician.
In addition to holding world sky diving records, Eli owned a Sky Diving School in Perris, California.
He created a television reality show for the A&E Network, "Stunt Junkies" and the series aired for nearly two years.
On the show Eli would interview and showcase "extreme athletes", stuff beyond Sky Diving.
He was married, had two young kids and he was on the move. He was one of those guys you wanted to see make it.

I knew when Eli's show got off to a good start he wouldn't be spending much more time logging hours as a lighting technician for benefit hours.
However, in August 2007, he spend a couple days on my crew and I had a chance to get to know him.
He was a good looking man in his early 30's, about my size, very strong, great energy, hard worker.

At the time I hadn't yet met my wife and was involved with a beautiful young actress from Finland.
The girl was a drop dead knockout and in her 20's. She was a lot of fun and told me she had always dreamed of skydiving one day.
She tells me this two days before I meet Eli Thompson. You can imagine the light that went off in my head when I learned Eli was the best in the world and had his own school.
I mention to Eli that I have a hot young girl who wants to sky dive and he invites us out to his school the next weekend.

He told me it wouldn't be necessary to attend any training if you just wanted to take a jump riding tandem with a pro.
Perfect for me. I never intended to go jump out of a damn plane. Boxing was as edgy as I would go. But this girl was so beautiful.
So that night I call my friend, Saana, and ask her if she would like to go skydiving on saturday, and tell her she'll be jumping tandem with the world's best jumper.
She was excited, and a few days later we drove out to Perris and jumped out of the plane.

Eli was cool, walked us thru everything. He was a legend in his field. He provided me the opportunity to help this young girl achieve a goal.
In the end, I also achieved my goal and it was one of those situations where everything worked just perfect.

Today when I came to work on the set of Desperate Housewives I learned that I would be lighting first unit, Lon Thompson would be off for awhile.
Eli had been in Germany, attempting to break another world record.
He told Saana and I that he had done over 16,000 jumps, and that on several occasions his parachute wouldn't open.
In such cases a back-up shoot is deployed and he was saved.

This past week in Germany, Eli's main chute failed, and the back-up also failed.
He plunged to his death.

Eli Thompson R.I.P.


-Rick Farris

Sorry to hear about your friend Eli Thompson Rick, may he R.I.P....