It's not the fall that kills you, it's the sudden stop. That was one of my uncle's favorite witticisms. Of course he couldn't anticipate that someone would fall from 23 miles up in the stratosphere where the fall could actually kill you.

The fact that Felix Baumgartner's world record attempt was death-defying made it all the more intriguing. I will admit to being glued to the attempt during the rare luxury of Sunday afternoon television. The infrared image of a grey void with a little white human shaped dot spinning to earth was fascinating.

FREE FALL FAR FROM FREE

Occasionally during the descent he was actually speaking yet there were moments where you heard nothing, as if he had passed out. Suddenly the sound of Darth Vader-like breathing returned and we were relieved.

Before you knew it he had landed as softly as “a butterfly with sore feet” (also from same uncle) in the desert near Roswell, New Mexico, where over 50 years ago aliens from another planet had landed with a thud. If only they had Red Bull technology back then.

It's all very good and well that this macho man defied death and set several world records (I think on the weekend someone may have also set a world record for eating poutine) but really what is all this? Science claims they have learned a great deal, the application of which seems sketchy at best.

I'll tell you what I learned. The human race seems so bored we're willing to watch anything. One of the records Felix set was number of live YouTube streams. Try and find out how much this thing cost. No one seems to be saying, and do you know why? Because that number would be embarrassing. Think about it. 7 years of research and development, the capsule, the space suit, the balloon, the staff, the electronics. It's easily a 9 figure outlay in the name of Red Bull.

Later that same day on most other sports channels, athletes wore pink in the hopes people would donate money to breast cancer research. Anti-bullying campaigns during October are getting a high profile especially with the sad death of Amanda Todd, yet they are having trouble raising funds. Yet we think nothing of throwing away 100, 200 or 300 million on a stunt. Some days it's just feels a tad awkward being a human being. LEAVE COMMENTS.

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And so, here it is again. **ALSO:  There is already a LEGO version which is under 2 minutes and VERY entertaining.  Check the video below this one.