sunrise

Well, I made it! I'm writing from Markie's lobby computer. I'll get the skis tomorrow (sunday), there should be a couple of inches of new snow tonite so it'll be nice stuff to christen (spell?) my first day's skiing for 8 years (ridiculously too long....!) Snow quality looks very very nice.... It's a damn big resort. It takes me 10 minutes to walk from my room at one end to the issekaya at the other end! Very nice, though. I've kept away from the disney side of things, so it just seems like a big hotel so far. Deebs, you'd probably like the rooms. And the food's great. The

Yes, well hopefully that:s the case. I was in Sapporo today and wound up with a pair of Rexxams (spelling)? It turned out to be the best of the bunch, none were perfect for me, and even though it:s a man's boot it seems to fit the best. The Head boots turned out to be just a little small, according to Higuma's guys and I now think they're right. The Technica Rival is suprisingly wide - too much movement compared with all the others. I even tried on the Technica Icons at one point, but they were too narrow! I've forgotten the model number but the Rexxam is supposedly a high performance mod

Countdown to Hokkaido: I fly out of Haneda Fri at noon..... I'll have web access so I'll be able to keep in touch with you guys. I'll be in Sapporo on Saturday getting my boots (thanks higuma), anyone in that neck of the woods let me know, but I'll have to be outta there not too late cos i have to work that night. Hopefully see some of you in the Great White North... Yay! A whole month! wow.....

I'm a little off topic here, but I just got a used Mac G4 PB 667 yesterday. It's gorgeous. LOVE the shape of the screen..... Sam - are you a graphic artist? I have an Intuos also (first version), just the smallee, only the standard pen. Haven't gotten into the graphic side so much yet - (too scary - hours pass like seconds when I play with Painter), in the meantime I love using it with Audio apps and as a mouse replacement (along with a trackball at times - I hate mice). On topic: I love the touch screens of palms, and loved the look of the wacom touch screen - haven't seen the tablet

I dug my 8 year old Oakley O frames out the other day and the lenses are all cracked... so I'll have to get some new gogs also. What's the difference between O frame and A frame, (Oakley) just the size/shape? Also, I still have a pair of Ray Ban glasses with protectors for the sides to keep the glare out. Good vision, but metal makes it a little heavy on the face..... I prefer plastic. I might use some other sunnies I have instead.

Yay! saved in the 11th hour! Thank you for the words of good faith, Higuma! I left the boot shop last night feeling more confused than ever instead of leaving with any boots. I get to Hokkaido on Friday, by the way, so I'll head to Sapporo first thing Saturday for what sounds like it will be a much more fruitful boot fitting then I was able to find in Tokyo and yes, it will be cool to hook up in Rusutsu! Whew, now I can breathe a little easier. Of course the real test is on the slopes, but at least I feel I now have more chance of a comfy ride...

Guess who's (hopefully) getting a video camera today

Your bags will take 2 days to get to Nagano from Narita if you send them, you won't find them there the morning after you land. Also, since you're arriving in the evening they won't get sent until the following morning - make sure you check to see how many days it'll take - just in case this means a 3 day instead of 2 day wait. It shouldn't , but wise to check.

Oh, then Alpina must make a model called Edge also.

Wrong.....you can pull neck warmers halfway up your face if you need to, unlike your turtle neck, and when it's windy and snowy you'll want to... no matter how high your ski jacket goes.

Looks like fun.

Hey, thanks everyone for the replies... Firstly, today's sojourn didn't bear fruit - I found a last years model of women's FR3 and tho this probably isn't anywhere near the level of a FR9 I decided to try it anyway, but it didn't fit so well. Then I tried on some Darbellos in another shop - the ultimate in alignment, but unfortunately didn't work for my foot/leg. Personally, like many of you, I simply didn't trust to go to a non-recommended boot shop in Japan and let them totally fit me out so my only choice (as some people suggested in a previous thread, thanks guys) was to res

Hey, danz, Actually the pair I'd prefer for their better performance abilities (the FRs) are the ones with more space, the Edges (lower in the performance hierachy) are the ones that fit like the glove. The better fit's probably the way to go. But will I be able to chase you guys down the pow slopes one day in those boots?!! Hey, get both - yes, cheeky indeed!

I've been spending time lately trying on ski boots. The choices are narrowing down and the time is running out - any input is greatly appreciated. Here's the dilemma: After today's narrowing of the field I seem to be faced with choosing between: Higher performance boots but not quite as good fit (Head FR9.5 Mens) vs Not as high perfomance boots but perfect fit (Head Edge 10.x Womens) Details: Head Edge 10 (or is that 10.5?) Women's boot. - fit's like a GLOVE. very very very snug. So far I haven't tried on a boot that fits so snug. Suits my current skiing abilit

I don't think it's an area code - they begin with a single '0'. Sounds like something along the lines of KDDI, or 0060 or 0041 or 0088, etc.

Thanks Markie, price seems quite reasonable. I asusme you've done this yourself at some point?

I'll go to Rusutsu on Friday, 30 mins by bus from Niseko.... might be able to hook up before you leave as I definitely want to go there.

Glad to hear it's now linked. How much is the 'all mountain' pass?

I went to Uni straight after school doing Arts/Music, but dropped out after 6 months due to lack of interest. Never looked back. Did all kinds of crazy jobs on the road to being full-time muso. I worked in a record shop, did quite a lot of temping in offices, taught music when I had to, was on a government funded job helping build a bush walking track in the Blue Mountains, had another goverment grant job as a film/TV sound recordist for 9 months, worked as a typesetter in an ad agency. It took quite awhile to be able to make my sole living from music, but it's been well worth it and a degre

Why should this happen? Very strange when you think of the culture. I mean they really cram people into the rush hour trains no probs.... (how many salarymen can you put into a telephone box? More than you'd ever imagine)

Actually I liked both resorts and it was hard to choose one over the other, but I gave Furano a very narrow #1 because of it's larger, wide open area compared to Higashiyama (though Higashiyama opens out up top) and I seem to recall the snow might have been a touch drier in Furano, though the conditions were better at Niseko cos it had been dumping when I was there, but the snow hadn't fallen for awhile by the time I got to Furano so I didn't really see it in 'peak condition' after a dump. I remember finding it strange and frustrating at the time - having only been a few months in Japan -

Sounds good, slow. World music is right up my ally. I've heard of Motion Blue but never been there. Yokohama's a little far to hang out, though I do sometimes work there and it's probably worth checking out if there's something special on.

Maybe around A$1500-1600? With JAL anyway. Could be a little cheaper wtih other airlines. But for an extra $100 or so you can go SYD/TOKYO/ then either North America West Coast or Europe or London (or maybe for a little less you can go to China) return. 6 months or one year open. I often fly on those JAL tickets, currently on one that goes SYD/NAR/LON/NAR/SYD that cost around $1700 or a little less last Sept. If you originate from Tokyo it's usually cheaper unless in mid holiday season. Of course it depends on the time of year. This time of year it's probably around $1100-1200 or so (aroun

In that case I'd better save one of mine for you Ender...

Well, it's really coming down now - though maybe a day late.... don't know if it'll stay on the ground though it's starting to stick to the parked cars outside a little.