nippontiger

Did anybody go to the Halloween party at Ageha last night? I honestly thought I'd died and gone to heaven! Amazing party!

I think wombs sound system is pretty good, but it has such a big room to fill. Yellows is prob my favourite - bass is a bit slack, but LOUD! Havent been to Atom for two years either - last time I went was fun - probably not really my cup of tea, but a unique japanese "experience" - it was "Egg" night!

This is a real pain: Foreigners queue = 1.5 hours wait Japanese queue = 10 minute wait. (in my experience...) I just hope that if they are going to make residents do this, then they will have more staff on to deal with it.

Clubs in Japan are ace! I like Womb, Yellow, Air and Unit. Im going to Ageha for Halloween, and in a couple of weeks, something a little different.....Atom! Ive still never seen any trouble or fights in Japanese clubs, unlike back in England, where something like that is pretty much guaranteed. I think the gas panic places are still going, but, trust me, DONT DO IT!

If I get caught riding my bike drunk, and my employer finds out I will be SACKED from my job!!! My boss insists on reminding us of this every time we go out drinking and then get on our bikes to go home! Anyway, I too have been arrested (in England), for a crime I hadnt committed. The police wanted to charge me on the night, but due to having a solicitor, I was not charged (actually, my solicitor objected on a technicality). In the end, the police said that they believed my version of events and I was never charged. I have no complaints about the police behaviour throughout this episode.

5 officers could have handled the man. So why tazer him? Why was the use of the tazer necessary? This is a dangerous weapon, remember, linked to several deaths, capable of causing cardiac arrest and inducing seizures. The guy was being an idiot - I totally agree that he shouldnt have been pushing police, and behaving like that. But, in my country (last time I was there anyway), if you pushed the police, they would push you to the floor, stick handcuffs on, drag you off to the police station and have you up in front of the courts to be tried and punished - thats the way the justice system

Samurai said: But I have to wonder how much he just wouldn't settle down with, how many... 5 officers on him? Are all 5 really incompetent or was the guy just impossible to control? So if the police didnt have access to a tazer, or any guns or whatever, presumably there was a chance that this guy could have got up from his position, kicked the policewoman in the face, and, I dont know - pulled out a gun and shot someone or whatever. No, the guy wouldve just been aprehended, probably in not much more time, or with any more risk (probably considerably less risk, than that involved when

Ken of Kentropolis said : If you live your life without causing trouble, there is no need to be worried about stuff like this. Surely. Disagree. Look at that in another context : Imagine your wife has a job, but she keeps turning up late - her boss, a big guy - used to do a bit of boxing, keeps warning her and hes getting pretty fed up with her. Then one day she turns up late yet again, so her boss punches her in the face!! If theres no need to be worried because we're not causing trouble, then presumably, we can simply ignore the actions of the boss - it doesnt affect us. Act

Im working on fuel cells - a new technology which should be a cleaner, more efficient source of energy.

Thanks! Took me ages to type that!

Ahh Kagura! I went there on most of my outings last season - and by timing my trips, I was able to get some good powder almost every time, despite the poor season. As with most high resorts though, watch out for the wind on snowy days. I did just that on, I think March the 3rd last year and went to Kandatsu instead - got almost of full day of waist deep! Might not get there so much this season cos a day trip is more tricky for me now.

Of course, the "Tasing" was totally unnecessary. It is the job of the police to arrest suspects and put together evidence, not to issue punishments - thats the job of the courts. Anyway, I like to think that this wouldnt ever happen in my country, England. We dont have such laws as "Three strikes and your out", because, as we might say in England, well, its just not cricket (sorry!). The laws pertaining to the police use of such powerfull and potentially lethal weapons as Tasers, are quite clear - officers should only use them as an alternative to lethal force - ie in a potentially life-th

In response to some of the above, I may have sounded like the stereotypical, bad Nova teacher, but in all honesty, I genuinely dont believe that was the case. I put in three years of service with them, and only received 5000 yen pay rise at the end of my first year. My attendance was excellent - 100%, no less, in my first year, and I guess 98-99% in the second two - my worst attendance was after the AAM had used contract renewal time to force the unwanted schedule change - an act which, if Im not mistaken, is illegal under Japanese law. I very much doubt that this was to try to get me to to

thursday said: "Did Nova get you into the country?" Its a fair point and yes they did - if it hadnt been for Nova, I might not have come to Japan, so Im thankful for that. I have recommended my freinds to come to Japan through Nova as its an easy way to get set up here. However, in my three years at nova: a) I received ZERO YEN pay rise in my last two contract renewals. I received little or no career development - I didnt even get CAT trained (lets you decide students level). c)I had an Assistant Area Manager use contract renewal time to force through an extremely undesired sch

I suffered 3 years of Nova tedium, but left 2 months ago for what I consider to be a proper job. Many of my friends in Japan are ex Nova teachers, and I think there are probabaly a lot of good people working for them who I would genuinely sympathise with if Nova goes down, I feel for the students too. However, there are quite a few people working there, most notably some of the people in the lower supervisory/management positions, who deserve all they get. I know if Nova goes down and I bump in to a certain "boss" from my previous branch, I will be saying to him "dont forget to straighten yo

Just getting into Radioheads new album "In Rainbows" - you can download it for whatever price you want at their website - they no longer have a contract and have done a "musical Bosman"! Favourite tracks so far include "Wierd Fishes", "Nude" and "Reckoner". Maybe not music to "hit the park" to mind....

Some good advice here, I think. My old housemate was in training for the Canadian bobsleigh team - he was huge and he swore by the squats - he recommended doing something called "blocking" which involves holding your breath on the main weight-bearing part of the excersise. I think squats do a lot more than doing the leg press (I can leg press 160kg, but squat only 100). At my previous gym, they insisted on people using the belt (provided) for squats - might be a good idea for higher weights. I think its also a good point about balance - I think my quads are a bit stronger than my hamstrings,

I hope I havent scared anyone off! Unfortunately, Im neither particularly fit nor buff - I started going to the gym more regularly and playing the football, but I also started eating the huge, cheap teishoku at lunchtime since I started my new job! I definately wouldnt mind doing some biking - my bike really isnt up to mountains though - come to think of it - neither am I! I think the squat is a good all-round lower body excersise - but make sure you keep your back straight!

According to doctors, skiing can be a dangerous activity - the so called "phantom foot" scenario can result in serious knee injury - a snapped ACL can require surgury, and you wont be doing any more skiing for a while. Boarders can be prone to other types of injury. Our learned friends in the medical professions advise us that we can reduce our chance of such injuries with appropriate pre-season training - for example, knees can be protected by strengthening the quads, hamstrings calfs etc. With this advice in mind, Ive been trying to do more excersises at the gym such as squats, leg curls an

Thanks very much for the prompt reply guys! The 9pm bus should be perfect! Im looking forward to it - just saw the weather forecast and apparently there could be snow in Hokkaido from Saturday even down to lower levels and in the mountains above 1500m in Tohoku!

Could anybody tell me what time the last bus is from Nagano to Hakuba on a Friday night? (searched, but got conflicting info). I used to live in Omiya, so last season mainly did day trips to Kagura, but I now live in Tsukuba, so I guess the day trip isnt really an easy option anymore. I think theres a train leaving Tsukuba around 6ish (cant leave earlier because of work) that gets me to Nagano at 8.42pm, so if theres a bus after that I can stay friday and saturday and get two good days on the slopes... Thanks in advance for your help.