I watched this Friday night. So it wasn’t live, and I knew he’d made it. Even so, here’s how bad my fear of heights is. My hands started sweating immediately, then the rest of my body followed suit. I fast-forwarded through large portions of it since I knew the outcome, but there were parts where my anxiety was off the charts. All while I was lying on my sofa under a blanket. The brain is weird.
Definitely. I watched The Wrecking Crew on Amazon recently. It’s a dumb action movie but was entertaining. Lots of violence. Some stuff I could watch and just laugh at, other stuff I literally needed to cover my eyes. Not sure why the difference.
Ooff my kids wanted to watch this and I ended up joining in. I don’t want to watch but equally couldn’t look away! I did keep thinking - fuck if this dude falls, what’s the conversation I’m about to have with my kids and will he go splat? 😱
"I have no interest in participating in behaviors that cheat death, so I have no interest in watching other people participate."
I don't know about you, but one time, I took two benadryl to go to sleep, and it was a close one. Anyways, I've changed my ways since then. But I'm with you; I have a hard time watching people do this stuff.
I watched Free Solo maybe last year, and for some reason I did not make the connection that it was about the same person as the skyscraper live on Netflix. I guess I thought that the free climbing community was larger? Fortunately it's not. Wonder what the next stunt will be...
First off, thanks for the shout-out! Much appreciated!
I saw that Taipei climb. Although it was beyond extraordinary, it's nothing compared to the risk he did on Freerider, the El Capitan route he free soloed. To me, *that* happens to be the greatest athletic achievement, by anyone in any sport, in history. Period.
One writer once said that his El Cap climb was like being chosen by your basketball team to take all of the team's shots in Game 7. And if you miss ONCE ... you die.
Too bad the guy's name isn't spelled "Honold," with only one "n." That way, his name could be scrambled to ... wait for it ... "hold on."
Shifting gears to Jackass: The Best Prank in the History of the World was when Johnny Knoxville: (1) rented a car, (2) trashed it in a demolition derby, and (3) tried to return it to the rental place without batting an eye. (Go to YouTube and plug in "Jackass demolition derby.")
You'll see in the El Cap documentary that the moves Honnold had to make – especially at one critical juncture, in particular, where he fell repeatedly while practicing with a rope – were FAR more difficult than the Taipei climb. (By the way, if it took him a great deal of extreme, singular focus and drive to climb that building, would it be fair to say that this involved "Taipei behavior"?)
About Jackass: Yes the gags were either brilliant or disgusting. Exhibit A, if you can recall this: The gag with the toy car and the X-ray...
If I describe the car-and-x-ray gag in detail here, I'll probably lose all of my subscribers (BOTH of them...)
I'm no psychologist, but, at the very least, Honnold must be on the spectrum. The documentary shows him getting a brain scan, and the doctor doing the test notes that his amygdala doesn't really fire under stress. Who knows? The dude is amazing.
I’m intrigued by the photo of “Big Hands” gripping a beer can, Henny. Hulk Hogan, perhaps? It appears as if he is sporting a gold bracelet, which I can picture Hulk Hogan deploying.
I cannot remember the last time I channel surfed. At all.
Having said that, I would probably have stopped where you did, wondered about the things you wondered about. (If I hated life enough to do something that dangerous I would absolutely not work so very hard to POSSIBLY hurt myself. I would do something much easier GUARANTEED to cause fatal injuries with less energy output.)
And, yes, I think the inability to look away has to do with knowing you might witness something horrible. Just like with Evel. But it must be personality-determined what the reason is for that. In my case I tend to watch those kinds of things peering through my fingers occasionally and just really hoping they make it through-- uninjured and undead.
I'm guessing but was it the hand of Andre the Giant?
That’s amazing that you can predict injury. You must be a great coach!
We watched Free Solo. We were definitely rooting for him but at the same time fascinated by the daredevil gene. It’s a real thing. Some people have this gene.
Ding ding ding!!! I would not have bet on you to get Andre…well done Carissa.
Every time I go back and watch the ending of that, with him at the top, I am just flabbergasted by the look on his face. It’s not even calm. Calm is like something you’re trying to be. He looks how I look when I’m about to brush my teeth. Like, whatever. Amazing.
Much like Chris, I'm terrified of heights, and I wouldn't be surprised if I had the same reaction. I'm undecided whether I want to watch this - I don't watch stuff often so I have to be selective and there are at least 50 things on my Netflix watch list. I'm also at episode 4 of The Stranger Things, final season, and I'm bored and not sure whether to continue.
Another question - was there a contingency plan for if the guy fell?
I watched this Friday night. So it wasn’t live, and I knew he’d made it. Even so, here’s how bad my fear of heights is. My hands started sweating immediately, then the rest of my body followed suit. I fast-forwarded through large portions of it since I knew the outcome, but there were parts where my anxiety was off the charts. All while I was lying on my sofa under a blanket. The brain is weird.
Definitely. I watched The Wrecking Crew on Amazon recently. It’s a dumb action movie but was entertaining. Lots of violence. Some stuff I could watch and just laugh at, other stuff I literally needed to cover my eyes. Not sure why the difference.
Stuff like this compels me on TV and then keeps me up all night catastrophizing.
I think it’s buried trauma from when I saw a guy jump off the Empire State building on an elementary school class trip.
Just WHYYYYY!!!?
My hand gets tired holding a pen. There’s just no way.
What the actual F? For real? If yes I’m assuming you’ve done a “what are the chances” post about that???
I think I did. Did I? Now I have to go look. I’m losing count.
You keep em in excel?
They’re in a Google doc. There’s more than 100 and some are too personal and others I’ve posted out of order. Organization is not my strong suit. 🤣🤣🤣
You saw a jumper as well?
I saw one, in L.A., way back in '85. Talk about bizarre.
Yeah, the 80s were a strange time
Wow
Ooff my kids wanted to watch this and I ended up joining in. I don’t want to watch but equally couldn’t look away! I did keep thinking - fuck if this dude falls, what’s the conversation I’m about to have with my kids and will he go splat? 😱
I hadn’t even thought about kids watching it. But hey, I watched the space shuttle blow up when I was about their age and I turned out …..
….nevermind
Hahaha omg, you did?
Oh yeah. Pretty much every kid my age in America did.
"I have no interest in participating in behaviors that cheat death, so I have no interest in watching other people participate."
I don't know about you, but one time, I took two benadryl to go to sleep, and it was a close one. Anyways, I've changed my ways since then. But I'm with you; I have a hard time watching people do this stuff.
Ha! Yeah, don’t wanna get hooked on that stuff!
I watched it. It was terrifying and if I’m honest, I loved every minute of it.
Oddly captivating
I watched Free Solo maybe last year, and for some reason I did not make the connection that it was about the same person as the skyscraper live on Netflix. I guess I thought that the free climbing community was larger? Fortunately it's not. Wonder what the next stunt will be...
I hadn’t thought about that. Given what I’ve heard about this guy’s personality it stands to reason he’s got something else up his sleeve.
First off, thanks for the shout-out! Much appreciated!
I saw that Taipei climb. Although it was beyond extraordinary, it's nothing compared to the risk he did on Freerider, the El Capitan route he free soloed. To me, *that* happens to be the greatest athletic achievement, by anyone in any sport, in history. Period.
One writer once said that his El Cap climb was like being chosen by your basketball team to take all of the team's shots in Game 7. And if you miss ONCE ... you die.
Too bad the guy's name isn't spelled "Honold," with only one "n." That way, his name could be scrambled to ... wait for it ... "hold on."
Shifting gears to Jackass: The Best Prank in the History of the World was when Johnny Knoxville: (1) rented a car, (2) trashed it in a demolition derby, and (3) tried to return it to the rental place without batting an eye. (Go to YouTube and plug in "Jackass demolition derby.")
My co-host on the Pod this week talked about the el cap climb and had similar reflections. I may have to go watch it now.
Jackass was such a simple pleasure wasn’t it? Although some of the stuff was a little much and I couldn’t watch.
Omg…why did he decline the insurance coverage!!? 😆🤣🤣
You'll see in the El Cap documentary that the moves Honnold had to make – especially at one critical juncture, in particular, where he fell repeatedly while practicing with a rope – were FAR more difficult than the Taipei climb. (By the way, if it took him a great deal of extreme, singular focus and drive to climb that building, would it be fair to say that this involved "Taipei behavior"?)
About Jackass: Yes the gags were either brilliant or disgusting. Exhibit A, if you can recall this: The gag with the toy car and the X-ray...
Don’t know that one.
Someone else in the comments said Honnold has like a condition or something where he literally doesn’t feel fear.
If I describe the car-and-x-ray gag in detail here, I'll probably lose all of my subscribers (BOTH of them...)
I'm no psychologist, but, at the very least, Honnold must be on the spectrum. The documentary shows him getting a brain scan, and the doctor doing the test notes that his amygdala doesn't really fire under stress. Who knows? The dude is amazing.
That’s for damn sure!
I’m intrigued by the photo of “Big Hands” gripping a beer can, Henny. Hulk Hogan, perhaps? It appears as if he is sporting a gold bracelet, which I can picture Hulk Hogan deploying.
Oooh so close!
Andre the Giant
I actually considered Andre the Giant - so close.
Better luck next time!
Enjoy your parting gifts!
Jackass stupid shit? We have an invasion of it here in MN a
You guys deserve a respite from this shit!
Andre the Giant? And, are you caught up on Bridgerton season 3 so you can indulge in season 4?!
Well done on Andre!!
Bridgerton? Now that’s funny Cindy 😆
…semi prefer the super dave version…not sure there even is one, but just saying there should be…
Oh damn I forgot about him.
Legend!
I immediately googled, "how did Honnold get down?" Oh, just a short rappel!
"I haven't fought just one person in so long."
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Yup, I’ll just rappel, no big deal 😆
Such a great flick
I cannot remember the last time I channel surfed. At all.
Having said that, I would probably have stopped where you did, wondered about the things you wondered about. (If I hated life enough to do something that dangerous I would absolutely not work so very hard to POSSIBLY hurt myself. I would do something much easier GUARANTEED to cause fatal injuries with less energy output.)
And, yes, I think the inability to look away has to do with knowing you might witness something horrible. Just like with Evel. But it must be personality-determined what the reason is for that. In my case I tend to watch those kinds of things peering through my fingers occasionally and just really hoping they make it through-- uninjured and undead.
I'm guessing but was it the hand of Andre the Giant?
Thank you, Henny. Good read.
Yup, Andre - well done!
I’ve watched many a scene with my hands covering my face as well.
I think part of me watching him was also kinda like, no way they show us if he actually falls.
I’m wondering how the dude got down. Knew it was Andre the Giant because of the Molson. Anybody want a peanut?
Ha! Yup, Andre.
He repelled back down.
Thx for the mention!
Big hand— Andre the Giant?
That’s amazing that you can predict injury. You must be a great coach!
We watched Free Solo. We were definitely rooting for him but at the same time fascinated by the daredevil gene. It’s a real thing. Some people have this gene.
Fun piece!
Ding ding ding!!! I would not have bet on you to get Andre…well done Carissa.
Every time I go back and watch the ending of that, with him at the top, I am just flabbergasted by the look on his face. It’s not even calm. Calm is like something you’re trying to be. He looks how I look when I’m about to brush my teeth. Like, whatever. Amazing.
We rewatched Princess Bride after Reiner died. Andre’s debut?
Yuppers!!
Much like Chris, I'm terrified of heights, and I wouldn't be surprised if I had the same reaction. I'm undecided whether I want to watch this - I don't watch stuff often so I have to be selective and there are at least 50 things on my Netflix watch list. I'm also at episode 4 of The Stranger Things, final season, and I'm bored and not sure whether to continue.
Another question - was there a contingency plan for if the guy fell?
Yeah I’d skip it then…after all, you know he completed it successfully.
Not sure on contingency plan. On our pod we guessed that maybe it was on tape delay. And if he was gonna die they’d just cut away.