Jinja

Lin, Aha, you must be non-English/American, right? With the lyrics quote from a Communards song (I'm guessing), and the winking smiley, how many more hints do you need to figure out he was joking? Duh. Here ends my sarcy reply for the day.

Scouser, I'm DISGUSTED with that tactic on Japanese TV, it's an evil, incestual relationship. When you have big, successful (ie. rich) TV stars/pop singers using their fame to get onto these shows, that they get paid to appear on, so they can then win themselves Pajeros and 10 million yen and stuff like that...... that's just f*c3d up. Heheh, I sound like a commie revolutionary there, but yeah, "Give the power to the people".

Nice one Frannyo. I won't have to worry about setting up the laptop next to the TV for the web radio broadcasts then!

Talking about coverage, Does anyone know if any of the matches on TV will have bilingual commentary??? I know, don't laugh, a man can dream right. I've got 4 Irish friends staying at my gaff, it'll not be tha same not being able to listen to any form of commentary.

I don't like Zao, no challenging terrain / really badly laid out. Good though if you're there with the GF/wife/kids/beginners

Barok: Buy a mod convertor: www.gamegizmo.com

So you call yourself Cheeseman, a connosieur infact. And the first real question asking for cheese recommendations comes your way, and your reply? Cheddar. You're a sad, sad loner with nobody to talk to. Go and play somewhere else.

Danz, I have the definitive answer, 'cos I also saw a simple report about a year ago on TV. the argument goes that if the brain detects a sudden pressure increase between the lower and upper teeth, it interprets this that our body is under stress, and it should start dumping out endorphins to help us cope. If your mouth is a mess with crooked and missing teeth, the surface area of contact between the upper and lower teeth is reduced, thus the 'signals' that go to the brain are reduced, and the less endorphins the brain starts dumping out. Now the fun part, to test this theo

SSAWS is closing down??!!?! What will they do with that huge monstrosity? I think they should turn it into a dryslope... save on the huge costs of refridgeration, and introduce those huge bouncy balls that you get inside and get thrown down the slope..... there must be something you can do with a 500m long indoor slope..... but my mind is blank at the moment.

Oh God no, you're joking please tell me. I bet it's so they can dry their hands when they take off their gloves so they can smoke their cigarettes without getting it wet..... That really makes me worry for the Japanese brain

I am going to have to post a little counter-balance to BadMigraine's post.... I've stayed at the Furano prince every December for the past 3 years. The staff have completely lightened up with regards to ski gear; I have never experienced or witnessed the heavy-handedness you referred to, but I can believe it was that way back in '97 (a century ago in snowboard / ski terms). I get the cheap deals you can find in Jaran magazine (all in flights , 2 night accomodation and tickets for 34,000 yen). So I will give a thumbs-up for Furano prince ( and the lifts are at the back door of t

Sunday was a complete wash out at Arai, torrents of rain. Did Hakuba / Nozawa / etc also have a lot of rain??? Let me know, just curious.

I found the avalanche barriers Ocean's talking about the hard way, I almost went over one on my first descent. They're almost impossible to see on the way down if you don't know the area. Awesome run though.

Because Japanese industries are a calcified entity where rigor-mortis of the collective brain renders them incapable and uninterested in adapting to modern techniques and methods otherwise established around the world.

Thanks all, I think I'll save Nozawa till conditions are A-one... we know why!