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Sociobiologists posit that shopping is merely a modern acting-out of a vestigial, genetically-embedded instinctive hunter/gatherer behavior. Certainly medical science (this particular line of inquiry no doubt funded by your friendly retail conglomerates) has documented the discrete physiological state the body assumes during "shopping": dialated pupils, rapid darting eye movements, a complex cognitive state akin to meditation in which brain functions neatly balance a river of comparative visual imagery with memory, emotion, planning/organizing, personal financial accounting...

 

Observe the hunting cat. Do not his head and eye movements, body posture and philosophical demeanor strangely resemble those of homo sap on a shopping binge?

 

If this is not proof enough for you, try following one of these cats. Eventually you'll see him disappear into a shrubbery, then re-appear an hour or so later, laden with Gap, Banana Republic, Seibu and Victoria bags, and quite likely a feline Camelback full of Starbucks Catnip Tea.

 

All too true.

 

What a world!

 

This astonishing panoply of seemingly unrelated gems has led us inevitably to what comes next:

 

The Snowboard I saw On Sale at Victoria that I DON'T NEED.

 

I already have my kit...or, as Mogski put it, my "2 Kits".

 

When it comes to Kit advice, Mogski is of the antique Mormon persuasion: two wives are better than one.

 

You have one kit for the big fluffy powder days, the nice snow days, the Hokkaido trips...

 

And you have another workaday kit for the regular grind...a sharp railing snappy all-mountain utility kit for your Niigatas and your Naganos and your Generally F-ing About days.

 

I myself have invested in 2 wives...one is a Supermodel, a long, tall, plush, shapely smooth classy Cadillac of a prize that only consents to be seen in public on powder days and up in Hokkaido.

 

The other is named Sally 550, and that tight little Ginsu Knife can pop and snap and flex and rock all night long, then jeer you into doing it all over again!

 

So why on earth would I want to pick up a Salomon Fastback 163 on sale for a quite reasonable sum?

 

Reviews on the Net praise the board to the skies, but all for things that I don't really need.

 

"Perfect for Big Mountain Carving..."

 

(When am I going to do "big mountain carving" in Japan? Never. Big Mountain = Hokkaido = powder. Well I already have a powder board, and I love it.)

 

"This board is FAST...floated in the pow, railed on the crud and hardpack..."

 

(My Salomon 550 already does all that, is lighter and can also go in the park [even if I can't]. I already own a "bomber" board. So why would I need this new board?)

 

Could it be that the graphics are really cool on that new Fastback?

 

Could it be that the 18,000 yen annual fee on my new Citibank credit card is waived if I charge 60,000 yen on it by March 15?

 

Could it be that I am confusing a desire to demo with a desire to own?

 

The point of this thread, and my request to you, is:

 

Won't somebody out there help me develop a cheap specious rationalization that will permit me to buy this sexy new board that I don't really need?

 

Thank you in advance for your contributions.

 

 

 

[This message has been edited by badmigraine (edited 25 January 2002).]

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How about this....

 

You are too sexy for your (current) board, and need the new one.

 

And what on earth do you do if someone nicks your current board? What to do? Well, if you have the new one, you can just go to your car (go on buy one of them too) and get the new one from the boot. Otherwise you're in a right pickle.

 

eeel

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bad migraine - what agony over nothing. "need" never comes into it. the only real consideration is - will it llok good? if yes buy it.

 

the 1 billion+ female consumers out there can't be wrong about this theory and would not even blink about buying something they already have 4 of.

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homes, you need a freestyle board.

 

both your supermodel and your 550 are

freeride boards all the way. Your

supermodel floats throught the powder

and your 550 eats up the crud. why would

you get another freeride board ? ?

 

get a freestyle board like a burton dragon

(i'm selling one (shameless promotion))

or if you like sallys, a dan frzanck.

 

you simply don't neeeed 3 freeride boards,

unless you like riding on rocks.

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badmigraine, you don't need another board, and that's that.

 

The reason I'm going to be replacing my soft leather Italian-made regular boots with some stiffer Burton step-ins is safety. That's right, Safety First. I think that if I catch a crab on a tree stump I'll be better off with stiffer boots. Indeed, I'm convinced of it.

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Nice!!

 

Barok, you may be onto something here! This is definitely a shopping-positive concept!

 

What would a freestyle board do for a person?

 

Would I go in halfpipes and off kickers and ride rails and berms in the park on it? Would it make me better or more comfortable at all that than the 550 does?!

 

FYI I can't do any of that stuff yet. I just started trying recently, and all I seem to get is smashed down on concrete-hard ice!

 

I'm ready to step up with full body armor and a freestyle board, if that is what it is going to take!

 

I even read about the difference between an indy and a frontside grab. (Did I get that right?)

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I guess nobody else is reading this thread or else we drove them away through sheer boredom.

 

I was waiting for someone to point out that train-riding oyaji also invented the tail grab, the front lipslide, edge grind, boneout, and the art of discreetly filming objects above the lens of the camera without disturbing the subject.

 

Now that I have done that, and there is no steam left in this thread, I am going back to that old beer thread to read the names of all those great brews and think about what is going to start up less than 2 hours from now...

 

Beer and brontosaurus burgers!

 

Gear selection and another weekend at Kandatsu!

 

In a disgusting brown etc. etc. etc.

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Yo Migraine

 

From this question, I assume you're not the married one in your group....

 

Easy to justify a purchase if your new baby can do what the others can't. In descending order of coolness....

 

1. Split board. Coolest is to make your own, if you've got a circular saw knocking about in your oshiire. Don't forget the beacon/probe/shovel.

 

2. The gentem swallowtail board. 160,000 so buy a big lock. No, make that two big locks. They'll love you in Niseko.

 

3. Snappy freestyle board for doing flips and stuff on, like Barok says. If you're not in pow, short boards are cool.

 

4. (Obvious to an ex-skier I would have thought but) Alpine board. Take it up to Iwatake and get Chabara to teach you how to Eurocarve. I've seen vids and pictures and the boy is good. Gets the Chairman's thumbs up too. Must be pretty wild when your face is only inches off the snow (and you're not in the process of falling over).

 

Happy shopping !

 

Yo mogski

 

Saw some Pocket Rockets today and boy are they phat ! We are talking Larry Graham B-line ! cool.gif Can you get them in the slots on the gondola ? It must be like having an alpine snowboard on each leg. The ones I saw had tele bindings on which seemed kind of right. Helluva price though.

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i'm a little late with this reply,

but it's hard to keep up with the

threads when they mooove this fast.

 

plus i'm like 8 hours behind you guys/gals.

 

a freestyle board is snappier and has

quicker edge to edge, and is also lighter.

 

you just dispense with the longjohns, ditch

the jacket, put on a long-sleeve t-shirt

and you can spin and flex and bop around

with ease. a freestyle board will really

help you out in the pipe. it just really

makes turning and popping easier. you will

want to trim your edges back though - see

one of the chairman's articles - i forget

which one.

 

i am currently riding a Never Summer Premier.

it's a super stiff freeride board, and my

on-hill progression is great, but it is

taking me forever to get any speed or snap

in the pipe. so i got me a burton dragon,

but i really need to master a few things

before i feel worthy enough to ride it.

 

if you must buy a freeride board, i would

recommend something exotic. .. . Nofakie

had a good idea with the swallowtail, but

winterstick makes the original swallowtail,

and for cheaper www.winterstick.com

 

or get the lib-tech doughboy shredder 193

now that's a longboard. http://www.lib-tech.com/boards/index.html

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