AK 77

Ride DH is the best of the three you mention, and has the flex you say you are looking for (playful and soft, but not a noodle). But you don't say which UNINC you are riding? This makes any comparison meaningless to comment on, as they have really different flexes. The 156 is way stiffer than the 154 and 158. The waist width of the DH is also going to be wider, compared to an unincm, which will feel different when you ride it.

Originally Posted By: thursday the BBC has always come across pro Tory. er... you do know the meaning of Tory, right? The BBC has been attacked at times for being pro-Labour, or left-leaning, but I have never heard it described as pro-Conservative. News is a commodity, but the lack of decent news and news analysis programmes in Japan depresses me. It also makes me feel rather proud of the BBC. Can you imagine a programme as good as Newsnight on TV here?

Originally Posted By: BettyBoo! I just don't like it! That simple! (Perhaps I need to like it just to not irk 20 million people, who should be caring about more important things!) I agree (and also with the fact that whether you like something has nothing to do with it's supposed 'greatness'). Led Zep have some amazing kick ass songs - like Immigrant Song, for example, but Stairway to Heaven is cheesy, 'dad-ish' and not that great.

Uh-un, no he di'int! Ya'll do not want to be starting this with me, yo. I am currently in the land of the best bumper stickers, Alabama! Ya'll are going doooown: "F%kc 911, I've got 3.52" or my favourite by far: "Keep honking - I'm reloading"

Ok. Might pay Myoko a visit this year.

Er, the Jocks are still in it... in the QF against Argentina. Not a great place to be, but still there.

Sounds nice... is this all in Gifu?

Where is Akakura?

FT - yeah, but those lines would have been twice as long a few years ago, as far as I know. Did Myoko have a decent park? No, I don't have any friends that are not furry aggressive creatures. I am not cool enough to have friends. Skiers suck in the pipe, and Samurai sucks the most. I would probably take up skiing if he didn't make it look so awful in the pipe. Whatever.

As "an old skater, and used to concrete" why would you be scared of a snow/ice halfpipe? Try one in the spring when it gets softer too. FT - from the Japanese riders I have spoken to, and looking at magazines and reading interviews, pipe is way less popular than it used to be. It is still quite popular, but it used to be virtually the only way to 'make it' as a snowboarder here - ranking highly in pipe competitions was the only way to get sponsored big time, and most Japanese riders would rank pipe as their number one goal. But since then (the time of the Nagano Olympics) other areas ha

The Hakuba 47 early bird pass date is until Oct 31st. Don't know if you can buy it from outside Japan though.

Hi there, Takasu Snow park in Gifu (not so far to drive if you are in the south of Nagano prefecture, or Nagoya) probably has the best park and pipe in Japan: http://www.takasu.gr.jp/contents/park/index.html But i'm sure it will get really busy at the weekends... queueing for the pipe, etc. In the Nagano area, 47 has a superpipe dragon so probably the best pipe, but again it will get really busy. It was pretty short last year - like 4 or 5 hits as they didn't shape the bottom half due to lack of snow (or complacent laziness...). The only saving grace is that pipe has b

The score may be close (with a defensively dominated match, and a heap of good luck for England) but the reslut will not be a 'close call' - Australia will win. I can imagine England defending well enough in a slow game to keep the score to about 15(Eng - all pens) - 22 (Oz). But there is a good chance the result won't be a close call either - like Aus 42 - Eng 13 (maybe only 15-3 at halftime, England landing 2 pens and a consolation try from the forwards, Martin Corry maybe, in about the 63rd minute) This is my attempt at ESP... France have a better chance of beating NZ than En

That's ok - my fingers are beautiful. I should charge them for a print of them. Why do I sense that it will be the other way round!

The context for my last quote was someone offering to lend me their card to use - who is Japanese! They said most places don't check, so it wouldn't matter that a) it wasn't my car the card owner would not be present c) I wouldn't have to sign anything - as it would be a kanji signiature anyway! I was really taken aback by this "Oh, don't worry about it" slackness towards card safety - which could be the result of low levels of VISIBLE crime, and MOSTLY law abiding citizens.

Originally Posted By: thursday Nobody should ask for you PIN duh!!!! "Please enter your PIN." Credit cards have been switching to 'chip and PIN' rather than signiature, as it is thought to be more secure - they then have those number key pads with little privacy shields round them by the check out. Duh.

I think this must happen quite a bit in Japan - by the small minority who laugh at the laws and police (while I laugh at their ridiculous hair) - as apparently Japanese shops rarely check the signature, or even make the person sign, and they often don't use the PIN number with it either! I'm sure this lax naivety must allow those of the criminal class to shop away!

Isn't BP a girl?

good work Dizzy. Let's luckying.

Damn, I'll be in Tokyo on the day of the Matsumoto showing (Oct 6th - which is also International day of protest against the government of Burma).

Thursday - are you a kiwi? If not, what is the fun in picking the outright overwhelming favourites to support? Why not an interesting underdog, like Argentina, who's progress will actually have a positive affect on world rugby? Or are they 'your team' as you put some money on them? Just curious.

I aggree with Ger's post.

It's a total truism, but world cup rugby in the knock out stages is about being good enough on the day, doesn't matter who is the best team in the world really (ie the All Blacks at the last 2 world cups). Australia definately have the edge on England in this - England are always a 5 minute bad spell away from seizing up mentally for the rest of the game... Australia seem better at making the most of what they've got and trying to win with it. I think it will be close-ish, but with Australia by about 10 points at the end. I don't think the winner of this match will win the whole

I'm not sure... I think they just like buying stuff and getting off on the marketing text of the products. ..?

Originally Posted By: tsondaboy Moms are so nice heh. I also have mine sending me staff from Greece. Wow, cheap labour in the post! That's the global economy for you. Don't they find Japan a bit cold in the winter? Or do you send them back?