Jet Stream of Consciousness

On this episode I discuss some of the popular myths of storm chasing regarding how to get started. The flashy vehicles, state-of-the-art equipment & social media following are all great, but none are necessary to becoming a storm chaser.

Music provided by http://www.purple-planet.com

In this episode I discuss the disturbing trend of inexperienced people driving to coastlines in an attempt to make money from getting hurricane and tropical storm video. I also deter new people from signing contracts with ENG brokers, and instead to just chase for the love of the game. A controversial take to some perhaps, but grounded in reality.

Music provided by http://www.purple-planet.com

In this episode I tell the story of my first time meeting chasing legend Gene Moore. Gene is on what I consider to be the Mount Rushmore of stormchasing, and I was fortunate enough early in my career to have been able to learn directly from him. He was no doubt one of the biggest influences on me as a young chaser, and the lessons he taught me are things I still use to this day, every chase.

Music provided by http://www.purple-planet.com

In this episode I discuss how the classic movie "Jaws" was actually better because the shark appeared lessin the film than originally intended, and how the 1985 NOVA special "Tornado" is similar in that it doesn't include a successful tornado intercept by either team. The storytelling, the directing and the actors/characters make the film/documentary what they are, without the need of a huge "star" making a grand appearance or being a constant player.

Music provided by http://www.purple-planet.com

In this installment I discuss my thoughts on the modern style of chasing versus the oldskool way, and how chasing has greatly evolved (devolved?) in that timespan. What's really the focus nowadays, the storm...or the chaser? How did the tornado go from an awe-inspiring, elusive force of Nature to a mere pawn in the silly human games chasaers play today, like "which tornado was better" and "look at me, oh and here's a tornado too."

I ponder the future of chasing, as it would view chasing history. Will oldskool chasing die with generation X? And if so, would any new up-and-coming chasers even know the history, and attempt to emulate/embrace it? What would a chasing/weather world full of selfies blocking out tornadoes as the introduction to weather/chasing for new people even look like? I shudder to think.

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For us, chasing back in the day sometimes involved much more than just the open road and the occasional tornado. On this episode I look back on one such occasion, and tell the tale of an early season west Texas bust chase during our rookie year. Between spilled narcotics, having no ID on me and random house parties, it's a small miracle we weren't arrested sometime along that crazy chase-turned-road trip. The moral of the story? Well, chasing is a lot different for me today than it used to be.

Music provided by http://www.purple-planet.com

After a month-long hiatus, I return to the podcasting world with a head full of opinions and thoughts on various topics in both the weather world and the world at large. I hit on the topics of weather enthusiast over-reaction to events, the casual chaser's lack of commitment to events, how watermarking your work is vital to preventing theft and how not wearing a mask in public places makes you a huge asshole.

Music provided by http://www.purple-planet.com

Would you be willing to pay for something on ebay you could get for five times cheaper from the original source? A hundred times cheaper? Of course you wouldn't. I discuss such an instance with a story about a friend, who is a chaser video collector, who stulmbled upon such a situation on ebay. This seller has numerous classic chaser videos listed for sale, priced ridiculously higher than they were originally from the actual producers. Not only is this person trying to hijack buyers with stupidly-priced videos, he/she is also using chaser deaths as a selling point to further raise these asking prices into astronimical levels. As my friend says, a "ghoulish" action.

In the continuing Meeting Chasing Legends series, I discuss my initial meeting with chasing legend Tim Marshall, as well as other notable interactions between us over the years. Tim is one of the "Four Hosemen" in my eyes, the Mount Rushmore of influential chasers on my own career.

Now that the 2020 Plains chase season is more or less history, I reflect on the differing opinions floating around on social media regarding the overall disappointment of chasers. I explore the various ways one can choose to view a particular chase year, based on changing your perspective, and apply that philosophy to the 2020 season.

We've all had mishaps during chases, but sometimes those little hiccups are just one more piece of bad luck away from being total disasters. I share two stories of near-catastrophic events that happened during chases I was a part of, and how fortunate we all were that things worked out the way they did.