I've been chit-chatting with Jan for I guess about 3 years now...when there was
a "skydiving" chatroom. I remember she and I tag-teaming the males in
there...Dave (livendive), Scott (ttocs9rg), Sean (dzscubie), and others. It
was so funny because she'd start yacking about her "toybox." :-) Those who
were there know exactly what I'm talking about. :) I believe if she'd gotten
hold of Scott, she would've hurt him! haha! From there, the scottie sammich was
born. I believe she scared the hell outta half the folks in there. How funny!!
We used to fight about who was the biggest bitch. Usually she won. :) She
also loved to cook on the grill. We'd get the play-by-play on her dinner and
which drink she was having. We accused her of cooking roadkil on a few
occasions, but I believe the Porterhouse was her steak of choice. We always
threatened to invade her house and make her cook steaks for us. I'm sure you
can imagine how well THAT went over. :)
We'd talk about the men in her life, men in general (can't live with 'em, can't
kill 'em), and how good it was to be an independent woman nowadays...not
feminazis, mind you, just strong willed and capable. There was never any
question that Jan was all that and then some.
She also talked me into driving down to the 1st rec.boogie in Sebastian from
Jacksonville (the goat boogie as James calls it)...even if it was for only a
partial, windy day. She was the first person I sought out...after meeting
Winsor. I remember her giving James a rash of shit about driving loops around
the airport in Orlando...bitching about him living in FL and not being able to
find his way out of a paper sack. :) So Jan-esque.
Jan was a trooper with me when my mom was sick. She and I talked alot about
her mom and my mom and we would end up all teary-eyed during the conversations
(but don't let her know I said that...it would make us appear "soft" ;). Her
mom passed from cancer. She helped me out tremendously through that sad time
in my life. I became a shoulder for her upon the death of her father last
year...what a terribly sad time.
It won't be the same without that hardass around. But damn she lived life to
its fullest...what more can you ask?
I will miss you, my friend.
love to you, your family, and big ol' blue ones for you always,
arlo
Godspeed, Jan.
p.s. Hello to my mom for me... :)
One more Jan Fan...
I "met" Jan on-line after she became famous. Someone recommended I send her
some questions regarding camera helmets about a year ago. I was
contemplating buying one and starting camera flying.
So, rather than just e-mail her, I IM'd her in AOL - thereby interrupting
whatever she was doing. She made some useful suggestions and that was that.
SBozo enthusiastically introduced me to her at the Richmond Boogie last
year. I thought she looked like a bat in her wing-suit and quite out of
place on the ground. Really kinda comical.
I've since purchased a camera helmet and am learning the ins and outs of
freeflying with video. Since reading of Jan's accident, though, I get the
feeling that there's at least one more lesson that she'd like me to learn.
We'll know I've learned it if I'm still around to teach my wee one to fly.
I'm listening, Jan.
JAKAL
It wasn't the 1st time the Jan's were confused
The 1st recdot boogie that Unclebennie and I tossed together (goat
boogie) at Sebastian had a camera lady coming from out west just to film
us. Karen gave me her email addy and I fired off a note to her. I don't
have it or her response but I remember it.
I was gushing to her all the cudo's about her work and website and how
great it was that "The Jan Davis", wife of the famous vidiot was coming
to our little get together just to film us. How lucky and honered we
were to have such expertise at our disposal.
She wrote back and said she was sorry, but we were going to be
disappointed that she wasn't "The Jan Davis" and if the "famous" Jan was
what we wanted then she would stay home.
Crow taste like chicken.
Wasn't the 1st time I placed foot firmly in mouth, won't be the last
either.
james
from someone on staff at Sebastian ... giving Jan the
"lay of the land" and how they "did things out there." It seems they were
telling her that they have a "video concession" out there (which, admittedly
most dz's have) ... and that video work is generally the province of their
concession ... again, same way it's done most places. Jan would not be
"welcome" taking "work" from the staff. "However, of course, if teams wish
to bring their own videoflyers to film their team jumps, that's another
issue." I remember Jan emailing me ... "guess I won't be there ... there's
a problem with my filming the jumps ... and you guys don't have a team."
Oh, yeah? Team, ummmmmm ...
Unclbennie and I put our heads together ... I came up with the name ...
Karen came up with the teeshirt design and printed it on tye-died teeshirts
... "Team FacePlant" were were called ... lol ... and what an appropriate
name!
Jan filmed all of our jumps ... she said I gave "good video" ... LOL, I
wonder why? :)
That first wreck.skydiving boogie tape is among my most cherished
possessions ... and it sure got a lot of play time during those months of
recuperation ... brought back for me all the wonderful memories of my time
in the sky ... something to "hold" me over until I could return. The RW
that turned into freefly ... the cartwheeling through the sky when I
released grips on the formation because I had them in a head down with
myself in a standup underneath of them ... :) ... the unstable exits that
caused poor James to have to swoop his ass off to dock on me before it was
time to track away ... learning how neat it was to fly on my back ... and
amazed the my AFF instructors seemed to discourage the practice in the past.
:) All those memories ... every single damed one of them ... caught on tape
by Jan ... "the camera never lies, Rita," she used to assure me when I would
laughingly deny screwing up the dive ... "Take a look." Oops!
God, I'm gonna miss Jan ... not that we were "regular" buddies or anything
like that ... hell, I live in Philly and she's from the west coast. But,
somehow ... I think we share a similar philosophy on life ... and how the
only way to live it is on one's own terms.
Jan and I spent many an evening ... remember this James? ... that restaurant
we went to in Sebastian ... on the waterfront ... the steak place. The
wreck.skydivers loved the place ... the waitstaff seemed to tolerate us and
our loud antics. Well, Jan and I ... were were among the few smokers in the
group ... so, of course, we didn't smoke at the table. But they had a
beautiful deck out back ... gentle lapping water ... and whenever one of us
got the "urge" ... all we had to do was eye the other and tilt the head.
Then two of us would rise from the table ... and walk out the back. Jimbo
knew what was going on ... he pulled me aside ... "you know, that shit will
kill you guys long before skydiving will." Poor Jan ... I only wish she
were still here to one day be done in by the "evil weed." Selfish as it
sounds ... I would have rather had her go in her old age ... victim of the
weed if necessary ... and kept her here for a few more decades ... some more
wreck.skydiving boogies where I could have listened to her crazy laugh ...
helped plot some of her crazy antics ... been just a small part of her crazy
life.
God, I'm gonna miss her ... and I know that at least for me, the
wreck.boogie will never be the same. I need to find me a new smoking
"goombah" ... even though no one else will ever be Jan ... :(
I say ... let's rechristen the wreck.skydiving boogie @ Sebastian ... to the
Jan Davis Memorial Boogie ... and keep her very much a part of it ... into
the years to come. How does that sound?
Blue skies ...
--rita
Rememberances Part 1
Rememberances Part 2
Biography of Jan Davis
Send Your Rememberance
|
