Slippery Jim

or like bog for toilet! I haven't got a swamp in my....oh, wait a minute

ROTFL smiley would work well after [i have teenagers...]

To be fair: If we're going to disqualify figure skating on the grounds of the judging, it could be difficult to qualify Olympic boxing as a sport. Certainly we'd have to toss out the moguls & half-pipe competitions, no more ``style'' points in ski jumping, etc. This could be a good thing, cut the Olympics down to a watchable scale and force all the has-beens & never-weres (when's the last time any actual medalist served as a judge?) to go out and get real jobs.

No knock on the skaters, but I wouldn't call it a sport because the judging is so subjective. Figure skaters are supremely athletic, no question. But there's no objective determination of the performances. It's like rhythmic gymnastics or synchronized swimming (I LOVE the singles!).

I don't care about safety bars one way or another -- except, as Mitch wrote, when some idiot smashes one down on my head without warning. But the one on the quad at Hirafu is a joke because the damn footrest is on too short an extension to be usable for anyone my size. Seems designed for kids, which raises the question then of why use it when there are only adults on the chair.

But..but...but...then you'd never have seen it!

never mind, silly quibble. blame a slow day in the office.

bated breath, my friends. not baited breath (although if you were using pieces of hon-maguro to catch fish you might hook me also)

baited breath...

Read today's post

[[That does sound very cheap. I always walk past those business class seats and curse the people on them.]] That's OK, we smile condescendingly as you go by.

I always return from trips to the U.S. feeling amazingly svelte and healthy , even though I probably put on 2 or 3 more kg during the trip . The feeling lasts until I get off the Narita Express and onto the Yamanote Line .

Could someone please suggest to the Hakuba NOW correspondent that worms belong on fish hooks, not in your mouth...

Read recently that whole ``world'' thing has been abandoned and the ``islands'' are sinking down into sandbars.

You should make future eligibility dependent on use of the prize; eventually all the buttheads will weed themselves out.

I just looked up ``rainmaker'' in the skier's dictionary, it said JONG!

Well, which Sapporo? Black Label or Classic? vs which Kirin? Ichibanshibori or Lager? (Note: this is a trick question, because the Bud Lite is all the same.)

Bump for any more news on Mizu no Sawa (and to point out that arguing Niseko vs Hakuba is like arguing Kirin vs Sapporo -- you're not drinking Bud Lite so shut up and enjoy!)

I spent a day on Goode skis a couple of years ago. Suspect they'd be a lot of fun on groomers but they weren't great in the heavy wet powder we had to deal with that day. Of course they were pretty narrow by today's standards -- probably 70mm underfoot. Wider all-carbons might work better.

Ski, You figure? Given Japanese employment standards I'm guessing same bunch of buttheads, 20 years older and even more impressed with themselves. That said, there may be some great snow & runs there. I have enough good stuff elsewhere not to bother. 2 cents fWIW/YMMV

Been once 20 years ago. Bad attitudes of staff. Haven't been back since. Train is easy.

I'll be on Blizzard Titan Cronus (88 underfoot) & Moment Night Trains (123 underfoot) this season.

But Muika, Niigata girls are reputed to wear the shortest school uniform skirts in all Japan!

FKNA!

Since I just bought a pair of serious powder skis that I'll be picking up in NY next week and bringing back here, I hope all this confidence about an early and deep season is justified.