badmigraine
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Posts posted by badmigraine
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Wouldn't you know it...even the oppressive banality of Japanese TV requires 6 hours of prep for only 1 hour of "payoff".
Reminds me of where I used to work. Never have so many idle hands expended so much time and energy pretending to do lord knows what and failing at even that.
Notice I didn't even say "pretending to be busy", because they couldn't even imagine what "busy" really is, and so couldn't pretend to be it.
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Mogs and I belong to the "Commonpoorth".
This is an international society devoted to trading beers and used girlfriends on a poor man's budget.
The only pre-requisite is that your body have been colonized by bacteria at some point.
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Mogs, it would have to be the cheapo wine knife I got at the 100 yen shop.
Even though I have better ones, I've used that one over 30 times already this year!
I should note that the wines I'm drinking these days are in the same price range as the opener.
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Q:
Know what happens when you play a country music song backwards?
A:
You get back your dog, your woman and your pickup truck.
Haw haw haw haw haw!!
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Yeah...and if you learn Japanese exactly as Busy People would have you, even after a couple years in Japan you will still be saying stuff like "Kinou wa nani o tabemashita ka?" and "Anata wa genki desu ka?"...the special coded brand-me-forever-as-an-outsider circus monkey style of Japanese that might be perfectly correct and neutral, but that no Japanese person would ever use.
Take a look at some of the many badly-done ESL texts to see the corresponding English version of this rarified travesty.
In high school we had a Finnish exchange student. She was really cute and tried hard to fit in using obvious textbook English she'd learned back in Helsinki.
She'd come out with the strangest things. Like if a teacher announced that due to fine weather, class would be held outside sitting on the grass in the courtyard, she'd say something like "Hot Dog! I am very excited at this moment! Perhaps you are too!"
It took her months to figure out that one could handle this kind of situation with a simple "Cool!"
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Ocean-thanks. Let me know when you have time!
Enderzero, thanks! I'll take a look at those. Does the series stop at intermediate level I wonder? I'll probably finish the "beginning" book in about one week, since I did spend over 7 years in Japan and can almost read the newspaper etc.
It's kind of weird, when I look at other languages there are tons of programmed/sequential A to Z coursebooks and user-friendly reference grammar books that progress you through virtually everything you could ever need.
But Japanese textbooks--even though there are tons of them--are almost all along the lines of "instant Japanese" or "Business Japanese in 90 Days" or something like that. And they leave you high and dry around low-intermediate level.
There is very little along the lines of what I had come to expect from other language textbooks...a comprehensive treatment from day one through advanced...
For all its faults, I'm tempted to go with the "Japanese for College Students" series or Bonjinsha's somewhat puzzling and user-unfriendly series "Nihongo Shoho", "Nihongo Chukyu" etc. (Or is it "Shin Nihongo no Kiso"?) I recall looking at those in Shibuya's Book First last year, and wondering how in the world anyone who didn't already know Japanese could possibly learn anything from them. Positively medieval. But it might work pretty well for me.
Thanks guys for your tips! A cold dai of Tengu Beer Brown to the one who saddles me with a series of textbooks to be the bane of my existence for the next year.
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Now that I'm back in the US for a year or so at least, I wanted to make a point of going through a series of college-level Japanese language textbooks, from beginning through advanced, to try to clean and fix my spotty Japanese.
After 7 years in Japan without formally studying the language, I achieved a level of Japanese that is fine for getting by, having conversations about most anything, and doing some business.
However, my Japanese is riddled with errors and gaping holes...to a native speaker, it probably sounds like the English of the cook Hop Sing on Bonanza.
Any recommendations for a series of J textbooks that is better than the default-standard "Japanese for Busy People"?
I'd prefer something that is more grammar- and scholastic-oriented, because even though they make terrible texts for beginners, this is what is missing from my Japanese.
I'd also like to avoid texts that use romaji right through to the end, like the Jorden method books.
I was thinking about "Japanese for College Students" put out by ICU--supposed to be a more comprehensive version of Japanese for Busy People... I was wondering about those books put out by some institute or the other to help people from various countries study and prepare for the Japanese Noryoku Shiken.
Ocean, help me out! What do you think I should do?
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Once you get in the trees, it is hard to hold a course or line, and not so much fun to stick right behind somebody.
Last week Mogski and I were at Snowbird in Utah during a big dump and what with his white puffy jacket and my silver spacesuit, it only took a couple of turns before we were invisible to each other...
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I wouldn't mind a bit of this before grilling my burger and opening another cold beer.
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I sometimes wonder what is the best "powder board" and frankly speaking it is the gentem or the Burton Fish type of thing.
But really. How often do you have a 100% powder day? Not often I would guess. You need a board that can do other things well, too.
Your other alternative is a "big mountain board".
I used a Supermodel for years, and rode 2 other Burton boards. They are great boards, but they lose their snap over time and become floppy floaty surfboards rather than responsive, quick and edge-biting tools.
Lately, I've enjoyed the top-of-the-line Salomon boards. They are a bit stiffer, but hold an edge and are bomber fast. They float very well in powder but can also do other things, like soak up bumps, cut through trees, carve on groomed and packed snow, and even do jumps and halfpipe if you are so inclined.
It's not usual to try a gentem, Fish or Supermodel/Cascade in these sketchy areas.
Anyway, the reason I am writing all this is to get to this question:
It's not "what is the best powder board", but rather, it's "where can I get 100% powder, every time?"
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Here's an article from the Mainichi. It was on the Mainichi site hours before the Japan Today put a shorter [edited?] version on their webpage.
The Mainichi version insinuates that alcohol was involved. The boarder was allegedly drinking free beers at a party, then rode the 5-story spiral rail at 3 a.m.
"US snowboarder slides to death down hotel handrail
NAGANO -- An American pro snowboarder fell 15 meters to his death early Sunday morning after sliding down the handrail of a fourth-floor staircase at a hotel he was staying, police said.
Jeffrey Lin Anderson, 23, was immediately taken to hospital but was declared dead shortly after, Iiyama police officers said.
Several hours earlier, the snowboarder apparently had been drinking beer at a Saturday night party at Panorama Land Kijimadaira hotel in Nagano Prefecture, they said.
Anderson, accompanied by his friends, began sliding down on the railings of the spiral staircases of the hotel shortly after 3 a.m., Sunday.
After successfully sliding down the fifth-floor staircase, he lost balance on the fourth-floor handrail so he fell some 15 meters through the stairwell, smashing his head on the ground floor, the officers said.
Anderson had been staying in a sixth-floor room of the hotel since last Thursday to take part in a snowboard competition at the local Kijimadaira ski course that kicked off Friday.
The event organizers held a welcome party starting at 9 p.m., Saturday, where beer was served free-of-charge for the guests. Hundreds of fans, snowboarders and event organizers took part in the two-hour party. (Mainichi Shimbun, Feb. 23, 2003)"
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db, it's all thanks to you...I found the Skwal doing a search after seeing your post in the "hard boards" thread saying something about some people rocking an "ultra-narrow board"...I couldn't stop thinking about it, so I Googled it.
Credit where credit is due! It was all you.
Now, your next job is to actually get riding on one, then give us a full review!
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As a boy, I'd steal my brother's Playboy mags and look at all the pictures and read the blurbs about the girls. They were all about 20 years old. I thought:
"When I reach 20, I'll have one of those girls..."
Next month, I'll reach 40. Assuming my math is correct, I'll have two of those girls...
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I am boring.
Goodnight.
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The guys on this page make the "Helmets-Yes or No?" threads irrelevant...
Click on the link to "Carving" and read about the Skwal, which is essentially an ultra-narrow carving snowboard...
Now THIS would be worth a try on a boring weather day.
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Do you mean, Mogs' "S&M" Resort BBQ?
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I'm with Mogs on this one. I started going with him and some Japanese friends last year (age 38). I've already got the wetsuit and put in an order for a board.
The great thing about surfing is that it seems you could do it for a lifetime with a minimum of fuss and equipment. I'm still a beginner, but I can see that even as I get better there will always be so much more to learn. What a great sport! I can't believe I waited this long to start.
Give a man a fish, and he can eat for one night. Teach a man to fish, and he can eat for a lifetime.
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Tatu?
Yappari tatanai.
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Yep that's one good thing about being back in the US...I see (then drink) microbrews all over the place and not much more money than Budweiser, the McDonalds of beers.
The etiology of your respective enjoyments of ASD in the place called "back home" is the blandly foisted spoilment/staling of the brew on the long ocean voyage to your country. This unexpected transformation of the ASD brewers' mechanical art imparts to the specimen some added flavor and brack, and is justly recognized as an improvement over the original.
Hence your disappointment with the genuine article as laid on by default at every single ochugen-tithe and nomikai, year after year after year, unless some oddly imaginative buchou goes completely hog-wild and orders up Kirin Lager to the amazement of all present.
For all you appetent vinophiles, when those ASD boats turn around laden with the fruit of your noble vinyards for transport to the Land of the Rising Sun, equally crass and deleterious care is applied to the bottles with the reverse effect: any bottle of imported wine to be had in Nippon raises the gnawing specter of spoliage.
The moral? Stick to the cheap ones...you've a lot less to lose and will lose track after the second glass anyway.
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In response to Enderzero's inquiry in the Pension Refund thread, here is an explanation of the difference between a JET and and Expat, as seen through the lens of a Penthouse Forum letter:
THE JET
"Dear Penthouse Forum
I am a student at a large, midwestern university, and until now, I never believed that the letters to Penthouse Forum were true...that is, until last Friday night. I was studying late in the virtually-deserted library stacks, cursing the fate that had me writing yet another paper while all my roommates were out drinking, when I noticed a beautiful blonde studying just two carrels over. She had a tight body with oh-so-nicely-sized melons, the tops of which peeked provacatively over her sorority tank-top. Over the course of the next hour, I stole several secret--or so I thought--glances at her, letting my mind run over various fantasies involving the overstuffed leather armchairs in the reading room, or the private, smoked-glass cubicles reserved for Graduate School study, and my love sausage was growing painfully hard under my jeans when suddenly the girl looked me right in eyes and smiled. "Hey, aren't you in my Phallocentrism and Oral Culture study group?" she asked, standing up to reveal the tightest pair of Daisy Dukes this Economics major has ever seen...
[section graphically describing sex on the floor of the library stacks deleted]
...so that is my story, Forum, and I am sorry I ever doubted you. From now on, count me as another true believer...and see you in the library next Friday night!
THE EXPAT
Dear Penthouse Forum
I am a manager at a large, midwestern company, and until now, I never believed that the letters to Penthouse Forum were true...that is, until last Friday night. I was working late in the virtually-deserted head offices, cursing the fate that had me writing yet another management report while all my colleagues were out drinking, when I noticed a beautiful blonde making copies in the break room. She had a tight body with oh-so-nicely-sized melons, the tops of which peeked provacatively out from under her prim but saucily-unbuttoned white silk blouse. She kept returning over the course of the next hour to make more copies, and each time she did, I stole secret--or so I thought--glances at her, letting my mind run over various fantasies involving the overstuffed leather armchairs in the executive lounge, or the private, smoked-glass conference rooms reserved for sensitive client meetings, and my love sausage was growing painfully hard under my suit pants when suddenly the girl looked me right in eyes and smiled. "Hey, aren't you working on the Fiscal 2002 Customs/Duty Drawback Task Force with Dick Johnson and Harry Wang?" she asked, turning to open the slit in her blue skirt and revealing the silkiest pair of work panties this Accounting Department manager has ever seen...
[section graphically describing sex on the floor of the office break room deleted]
...so that is my story, Forum, and I am sorry I ever doubted you. From now on, count me as another true believer...and see you in the office next Friday night!
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I was wondering about that...but with my luck I'll probably be an even worse skier than I was before I quit!
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Hey Snapper
Check out custom- and hand-made Donek boards at www.donek.com . They are better than mass-produced boards and will ship internationally for only $25.
Their all-mountain board (the "Incline") is only $330.
If you are wondering about quality, durability and performance, just do a Google search for Donek snowboards and check out the online reviews.
It seems that well-made custom boards blow away most mass-produced ones. Just like a specialty shop can make a better burger than Ronald McDonald.
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Where'd you get the info on the change, Zwelgen?
I wonder whether the change is retroactive starting April '03, or is it forward-looking?
I did one of these pension refunds years ago, and am doing another right now. Thanks to your post, I'll mail it off tomorrow and hope I beat the April change date.
I wonder if unpaid ward taxes are deducted from the lump-sum refund and/or the refund of the 20% tax?
I also wonder whether a "tax representative" I appoint to claim the refund of the 20% tax is purely an administrator, or does s/he assume legal responsibility for any unpaid [ward] taxes...
I'll let the board know what/when I find out.
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A long time ago...the planet Hoth had a considerable amount.
Your most impressive trick
in Snow talk, trip reports, Japan avalanche & backcountry
Posted
Mine would be getting to 39 without marrying.