Kids bounding for glory on giant trampolines

Ever feel like your kids are bouncing off the walls?

A new joint in Santa Clara encourages them to do just that.

Some weekend days, the line to jump, bounce and flip on the trampolines at Sky High Sports stretches out into the parking lot, where kids in brightly colored shirts stand out in the largely industrial neighborhood.

“He doesn’t want to leave,” Veronica Avila said of her 2-year-old, Nathan Zaragoza.

“This is everything he’s into,” Avila said with a laugh. “He likes to run. He likes to jump. He likes to dive into things.”

And it’s not just for the young ones. Later in the evening – the place is open until midnight – the college crowd jumps and jives itself silly.

With lockers for shoes, a TV for the parents, a snack bar for sugary treats and groups of children running from place to place, everything inside Sky High Sports is reminiscent of birthday parties you might remember as a kid. But this place is different. There’s no ice rink inside the low-slung building. No one roller skates here. And bowling pins are absent.

Just trampolines – three huge trampolines – draw the crowds, who pay $9 for an hour of bouncing.

The largest trampoline in the warehouse-sized room is 52 feet by 120 feet – and that doesn’t include the trampolines that line its walls.

The three trampolines are made of smaller blue trampolines, brought together in a quilt-like square, bound by springy poles, a design developed by co-owners Jerry and Ron Raymond.

To prevent injuries, they covered the poles with yellow plastic padding, making a grid pattern.

Jerry Raymond called the trampolines “one of a kind,” saying that he and his brother abandoned their office jobs – Jerry was in computers – to build the place from scratch over the summer.

Since Sky High opened in November, Jerry’s youngest kids – 11 and 14 years old – love it when he takes them to the office. And they aren’t the only ones who love the place.

“I really like it because I know I won’t get hurt, unless I like landed on my head from like six feet up in the air or something,” 10-year-old Gary Mittenberger said, adding quickly: “But that’s not going to happen.”

While Gary may feel like he’s jumping pretty high or diving down pretty low, the springy trampolines don’t have quite that much give.

Just in case, Jerry Raymond said, the place is insured to the max. And jumpers must fill out extensive waivers.

The other day, as the 40-year-old Raymond stood along the sidelines of the main trampoline, his teenage employees asked him to perform certain tricks.

After a little prodding, Raymond agreed.

He sprang onto the trampoline and jumped onto the blue trampoline wall, landing against his side on a springy wall. It pushed him back into the air. He landed two smaller trampoline-squares away, jumped again and ended up on an opposing wall.

“Whoa,” shouted a knee-high boy watching the display.

He gave it a try himself but could barely make it from one of the smaller trampoline squares to the other in a single bound.

Nearby little girls tried new tricks, adding a trampoline bounce to their cartwheels. Some flipped in the air.

Gary, the 10-year-old, seemed unimpressed.

“I just like to dive into the foam pit,” he said.

Universal Giving Free Tix to New Film

“Why don’t they just pay me to see the piece of crap?”

Universal Pictures has come up with an unusual plan to try to fill theaters when its film “Peaceful Warrior” opens later this month: the company is giving away $15 million worth of free tickets.

Through a partnership with Best Buy, the film company will give interested moviegoers as many as 10 free tickets to see “Peaceful Warrior” during its opening weekend, March 30 to April 1, Universal’s president of marketing, Adam Fogelson, announced Tuesday.

The inspirational film, based on Dan Millman’s best-selling novel, “Way of the Peaceful Warrior,” doesn’t lend itself to traditional promotional techniques, Fogelson said.

“We wanted to allow consumers a chance to sample the film and opted to redirect money from a traditional marketing campaign and instead purchase and provide tickets to moviegoers directly,” he said. “This truly is an example of an offer with no strings attached.”

The hope is that viewers’ “word of mouth and enthusiasm might sustain interest” in the film, he said.

The film came out last year in limited release.

Tickets will be available online beginning Sunday, with the giveaway ending April 1.

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Disney Anger Over Comic "Pirates Of The Caribbean" Porn

Filmmakers Disney are reportedly considering legal action against US firm Sinful Comics after they produced a raunchy strip featuring Pirates Of The Caribbean actors.

Everyone should be angry, look who else it uncovered HERE.

Betty Hutton Dies at 86

Betty Hutton, the stage and film star best known for playing the title role in the movie version of Annie Get Your Gun, has died at the age of 86 in Palm Springs, California, according to published reports. An official statement on her death is expected tomorrow.

Hutton, who lived as a virtual recluse towards the end of her life, was born Elizabeth June Thornburg in Battle Creek, Michigan on February 26, 1921. She began singing as a child along with her sister Marion, and eventually became a band singer in the 1930s.

She made her Broadway debut in 1940 at age 18 in the revue Two for the Show; later that same year, she appeared again on Broadway in Panama Hattie, opposite Ethel Merman. Hutton replaced Carol Burnett in the 1964 musical Fade Out-Fade In, and in 1980, she took over the role of Miss Hannigan in Annie.

Her biggest success was on the big screen. In the 1940s, she appeared in such films as The Fleet’s In, The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek, The Perils of Pauline, and Red, Hot and Blue. In 1950, she was tapped to play Annie Oakley after Judy Garland left Annie Get Your Gun during filming. In 1952, she starred in Cecil B. DeMille’s The Greatest Show on Earth, but worked rarely after that.

Hutton briefly had her own television series, The Betty Hutton Show, in which she played a manicurist who inherited the estate — and children — of a wealthy customer.

She was married and divorced four times, and had three children: Candy, Lindsay, and Caroline.

Fifty Years of Math 1957 – 2007

Last week I purchased a burger at Burger King for $1.58. The counter girl
took my $2 and I was digging for my change when I pulled 8 cents from my
pocket and gave it to her. She stood there, holding the nickel and 3
pennies, while looking at the screen on her register. I sensed her
discomfort and tried to tell her to just give me two quarters, but she
hailed the manager for help. While he tried to explain the transaction to
her, she stood there and cried. Why do I tell you this?

Because of the evolution in teaching math since the 1950s:

1. Teaching Math In 1950s

A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5
of the price. What is his profit?

2. Teaching Math In 1960s

A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100 His cost of production is 4/5
of the price, or $80. What is his profit?

3. Teaching Math In 1970s

A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is
$80. Did he make a profit?

4. Teaching Math In 1980s

A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80
and his profit is $20. Your assignment: Underline the number 20.

5. Teaching Math In 1990s

A logger cuts down a beautiful forest because he is selfish and
inconsiderate and cares nothing for the habitat of animals or the
preservation of our woodlands. He does this so he can make a profit of $20.
What do you think of this way of making a living? Topic for class
participation after answering the question: How did the birds and squirrels
feel as the logger cut down their homes? (There are no wrong answers. )

6. Teaching Math In 2007

Un hachero vende una carretada de maderapara $100. El costo de la
producciones es $80. Cuanto dinero ha hecho?

Why?

How come wrong numbers are never busy

Do people in Australia call the rest of the world “up over”?

Does that screwdriver belong to Philip?

Does killing time damage eternity?

Why doesn’t Tarzan have a beard?

Why is it called lipstick if you can still move your lips?

Why is it that night falls but day breaks?

Why is the third hand on the watch called a second hand?

Why is it that when you’re driving and looking for an address, you turn down the volume on the radio?

Why is lemon juice made with artificial flavor, and dishwashing liquid made with real lemons?

Are part-time bandleaders semiconductors?

Can you buy an entire chess set in a pawn shop?

Daylight savings time – why are they saving it and where do they keep it?

Did Noah keep his bees in archives?

Do jellyfish get gas from eating jellybeans?

Do pilots take crash-courses?

Do stars clean themselves with meteor showers?

Do you think that when they asked George Washington for ID that he just whipped out a quarter?

Have you ever imagined a world with no hypothetical situations?

Have you ever seen a toad on a toadstool?

How can there be self-help “groups”?

How do you get off a non-stop flight?

How do you write zero in Roman numerals?

How many weeks are there in a light year?

If a jogger runs at the speed of sound, can he still hear his Walkman?

If athletes get athlete’s foot, do astronauts get mistletoe?

If Barbie’s so popular, why do you have to buy all her friends?

If blind people wear dark glasses, why don’t deaf people wear earmuffs?

If cats and dogs didn’t have fur would we still pet them?

If peanut butter cookies are made from peanut butter, then what are Girl Scout cookies made out of?

If space is a vacuum, who changes the bags?

If swimming is good for your shape, then why do the whales look the way they do?

If tin whistles are made out of tin, what do they make fog horns out of?

If white wine goes with fish, do white grapes go with sushi?

If you can’t drink and drive, why do bars have parking lots?

If you jog backwards, will you gain weight?

If you take an Oriental person and spin him around several times, does he become disoriented?

Why do the signs that say “Slow Children” have a picture of a running child?

Why do they call it “chili” if it’s hot?

Why do we sing “Take me out to the ball game, when we are already there?

Why is the time of day with the slowest traffic called rush hour?

Willie and Bob