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  • #31
    To The good Michael:
    I hope that the story with the dog ain't true.
    I can bark and I can meow very convincingly. Once in Argentières (which is by Chamonix in the French Alps, on my first snowboarding trip, which turned out to be a life-altering and life-defining experience) we were getting whiskey shots for free and I had about 18 and afterwards when we were walking back to the chalet (which was a tiny hut, nothing fancy) suddenly I was on all fours and a friend asks “Maria, what are you doing? Are you about to be sick?“ (yeah, right), but what I did was run on all fours and climb on a natural ice wall and roll down from up there, and another friend started imitating me while barking. That was when I still couldn't even properly ride. The barking at the parking lot incident (in Les 2 Alpes, a French glacier over Grenoble where one can ride in the summer) involved climbing up and jumping 360° off car's hoods. I was jumping 360° off trucks and my then boyfriend jumped off a bus' roof. But in the last years I've stopped jumping rotations off tall obstacles without my board, as it was resulting in almost permanently having a torn kneeband from all possible directions (left, right, the front, the back). Now I only jump off kickers and obstacles WITH my board, and when it's icy sometimes I even choose to land on my butt, to spare my knees.
    But actually a torn kneeband is not so bad, one can still walk with a twisted knee. What's more of a biggie is an injury to the ankle. I've only had one ankle injury so far, from stupidly jumping high off a longboard and landing on sand as hard as cement at the end of my riding a tiny wave in small conditions in Portugal (which is invariably when one gets injured, because in “big“ conditions one's concentrating at 110% and engaging in economy of effort), and it took about 2 months until I was able to walk again normally. Initially I thought it was broken, it made this sick thud, but thank God it wasn't. There's no way one can lift the leg from the ground with a severe ankle injury.
    Best regards,
    Maria

    Comment


    • #32
      You see, there is one more reason that I've never done shots. I've had a shot from time to time, but that is only because it's required when teaching in developing nations.

      Mike
      huh?

      Comment


      • #33
        [
        QUOTE=The Good Michael;157107]organized religion
        countries that don't have cheese
        people who are anti-gay
        nationalism
        the Aberconway version
        ketchup on hot dogs
        people who are picky about food when so many people have none
        politicians
        gay people who are anti-heterosexual
        Mike[/QUOTE]

        You see Mike,we can agree ...(by the way, I really enjoyed your short animated (?) story..
        -I, personally, am very unreasonably prickly at people who chew gum..they remind me of camels..

        -I also hate 'text speak'..and 'text' abreviations..

        - Fake flowers and fake plants...

        -Sports clothes , except on people playing sport..

        -nicknames like Gaz and Baz and Shaz...and Rubes
        http://youtu.be/GcBr3rosvNQ

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        • #34
          I agree with the sports clothing. It's a form of laziness and nothing more.

          Mike
          huh?

          Comment


          • #35
            Canned laughter on TV and radio comedy shows.

            Something is funny or it isn't.
            allisvanityandvexationofspirit

            Comment


            • #36
              Stephen,

              I'm right there with you.

              Mike

              It seems I am annoyed by many things.
              huh?

              Comment


              • #37
                Hi Ruby,
                I think it's Tom Wescott who said he was annoyed by people chewing gum, and I agree, but even more I dislike chewing gum myself, although I feel a bit bad declining when people keep offering gum. I've got a friend at Mount Hood (but he's from Illinois/Milwaukee) who's only 28 or 29 but chews tobacco. At first I wasn't even aware of what was going on, then I decided to comment on the situation, and say to him “You kinda spit a lot.“ LOL. I thought “chewin' tobaccy“ is something for old yokels from the American South to engage in. But he only did that when we were by ourselves, on the next days when a group of boarders arrived to ride and he had to drive them to the hills twice a day, he kept all proper. Which was a good thing, as you should totally see the ground around where he stand – all covered in black spit.

                Ruby wrote:
                -nicknames like Gaz and Baz and Shaz...

                Ouch. Caz might not appreciate this.

                Ruby wrote:
                -I also hate 'text speak'..and 'text' abreviations..

                Yeah, me too. Except from sk8 and sk8R, which has an emotional significance for boardriders. Sk8R boi: A silly but cute song by Avril Lavigne, and it appears that she's a fake both as a skater and a guitarist/musician.

                Ruby wrote:
                - Fake flowers and fake plants...

                Happens to be the typical decorum in cheap (and even in expensive) hotels and restaurants all over Germany, particularly in small towns. In France they feature real plants instead. A question of taste, or splurging?

                Ruby wrote:
                -Sports clothes, except on people playing sport..

                Don't get me started on the current trend of people spotting Quiksilver/Roxy wear without being surfers, Vans shoes when they don't even know what trucks and wheels and skate tape is, a snowboard beanie in a disco in Madrid, etc... . The upside is, the recent popularisation of these trends boasts business and the sport itself, as it's the specialized clothes' brands who sponsor the events and comps. (Accessorily, they even sponsor many amateur athletes' trips and clothes, including mine and my friends'.) Besides, sponsored clothes and accessories are an obvious code for people to recognize each other as members of a subculture. And there's no real danger that boardsports would ever become truly mainstream, the sports in themself are simply too harsh and require too much dedication. Which is a great thing, defending us from saturation of the ressources in the ocean and on the hills (on top of global warming).
                I think it's fine for an athlete to wear his/her attire in life, like when commuting, especially in bad weather conditions. Or even in job situations, since some of the clothes provided by sponsors are not too obvious. Like during the conference I just came back from, on both days I was wearing a top provided by a sponsor for free, which both looked “decent“ enough to be worn when presenting a paper at a conference. LOL. This practice generally provides satisfying secret feelings like “I might be stuck in the city working, but I'm still wearing a snow/surf-related piece of clothing, even if it's just the socks“, or, even more ridiculously, “The corporate world can't really tame me, I'm wearing my bikini underneath“, or, as the French said, “Dessous le pavé, c'est la plage“.

                The good Michael wrote:
                You see, there is one more reason that I've never done shots. I've had a shot from time to time, but that is only because it's required when teaching in developing nations.

                I rarely do shots, only in (crazy) social situations, and although I can put away some booze, I don't drink alcohol regularly, not even every night with dinner, as the French do. (And I think the French do wine with dinner because their food is so luxurious, it requires it, otherwise they're everything but big drinkers, unlike the British, the Scandinavians, the East Europeans, and the Yanks, the Canadians, and the Aussies.)
                Michael's having shots before teaching jobs in developing countries sadly reminds me of Pro surfer icon Andy Irons' very recent death at 33 from deghe fever, on his way from Peru to the States. What a waste.
                I apologize for keep gabbing about boardsports, it's the unexpected deep snow conditions that make me all giddy (or even gaga), waiting until next weekend to hopefully go ride with my friends (who just came back from the hills, but I was at a conference).
                Last edited by mariab; 12-06-2010, 02:20 AM.
                Best regards,
                Maria

                Comment


                • #38
                  The problem with dengue fever is that there is no cure, nor shot for it. You just can't let those little bugs bite you. When I was in Ethiopia, it was during the Orthodox Christmas, so it was too cold for mosquitoes and biting flies except in the south. But that dengue is a scary prospect for anyone travelling there between April and October. I'm very surprised the guy got it in Peru. Aside from maybe the area around Puerto Maldonado, or in the jungle near Iquitos, I don't think there's ever been a problem with Dengue there. Brazil sure, but Peru? Gosh he was unlucky.

                  Mike
                  Last edited by The Good Michael; 12-06-2010, 10:19 AM.
                  huh?

                  Comment


                  • #39
                    Picky eaters who make comments about the food on my plate: you don't have to eat it. Better still, bugger off and you won't even have to look at it or smell it.

                    Track suits worn off the track: wot, no Primark in your town? No charity shops?

                    Man 'flu

                    People who iron jeans, socks or tea towels: get a life

                    Women who iron stupid things then moan about all the ironing
                    "Comedy is simply a funny way of being serious." Peter Ustinov


                    Comment


                    • #40
                      Originally posted by mariab View Post
                      Ruby wrote:
                      -nicknames like Gaz and Baz and Shaz...

                      Ouch. Caz might not appreciate this.
                      I couldn't give a toss, Maria.

                      If anyone prefers to type my name out in full they are more than welcome. Caz only came into being for morons on internet message boards who might have trouble with Caroline.

                      Now they can have trouble with Caz instead if they want.
                      "Comedy is simply a funny way of being serious." Peter Ustinov


                      Comment


                      • #41
                        Ruby wrote:
                        -nicknames like Gaz and Baz and Shaz...

                        Ouch. Caz might not appreciate this.
                        [
                        I only thought of that when I'd posted -it definitely wasn't mean't for her !
                        (it's totally irrational anyway)..but it explains why I didn't like 'Rubes'. People at work often call me 'Lez' (my real name is Lesley), and that makes me grate
                        my teeth too.

                        Ruby wrote:
                        - Fake flowers and fake plants...

                        Happens to be the typical decorum in cheap (and even in expensive) hotels and restaurants all over Germany, particularly in small towns. In France they feature real plants instead. A question of taste, or splurging?
                        [B]

                        The French are buying loads from Ikea at the mo' -and some are so good that you can hardly see the difference. I know that some would look visually great in my house....but I baulk at them. I hate those bunches of real flowers, which have loads of mixed colours in them too...still, Aldi has flowers which are real and subtle, for about £3 a bunch (under 4 euros), and you can always buy cheap pot plants with flowers and put them in a junk shop 'cache pot' -or replant them in a jug or something..;I'd personally rather see dandelions in a jam jar than a fabric flower..
                        http://youtu.be/GcBr3rosvNQ

                        Comment


                        • #42
                          Caz wrote:
                          Women who iron stupid things then moan about all the ironing

                          Completely with you on this. The only thing I've ever ironed in my life is my board (when waxing it). The only clothing item in my house requiring ironing is a dark green French cocktail minidress (costed 17-€ at the Paris Zara and looks like a million), which can be only done properly at the shop anyway (for like, 2-€). Even a white man's shirt I own gets all straight by itself. Synthetic fibers is the aswer to all problems.

                          To Rubyretro:
                          There's Aldi in France? Since when?! I thought it was exclusively a German phenomenon.
                          I generally never keep flowers at home, although there's a nice vase somewhere. I too often work with sensitive sources and the laptop on the floor by the coffee table. I also often try (double) figure skating jumps on the living room/office, and once during a double Axel attempt I went for horizontal width, ended up too far sideways, avoided landing on the TV on the floor, and almost went out the window! Would have been a slightly differentiated Dr. Bond deed...
                          I used to have cool flowers on the balcony, but in the last 2 years I've been almost constantly mobile, so not anymore.

                          To The Good Michael:
                          Actually I got this totally wrong. It was in Puerto Rico, not Peru (I mixed it up because the female Pro surfers were competing in Peru at the time), and very possible his death was not induced by his dengue fever. A.I. had retired for a year from the ASP world championships tour due to drug problems. In the room where he died (at a transit Hotel in Texas) they found methadone. He might have had a heroin (or crack?) problem. (Which I find impossible to believe for a surfer, and of such caliber.) There are even rumors that two airlines refused to accept him on board on the day prior to his death, and that he was throwing up on the plane. Maybe he was wasted? Even more of a waste.
                          You were in Ethiopia? I'm impressed.
                          There's dengue fever in Brazil? I was thinking about accepting a Visiting Professor gig in Rio for a semester (in the far future).
                          Last edited by mariab; 12-06-2010, 03:47 PM.
                          Best regards,
                          Maria

                          Comment


                          • #43
                            Maria -there have been Aldis in France for quite a few years -but the one in Avignon has only just opened..sadly most of the products are cheap but crap
                            -except the flowers.

                            My boys play football in the house, but luckily everything seems to have survived except some teeth..

                            My 'non-ironing' tips include hanging things that really DO need an iron outside, before a sunny day.
                            The dew wets the things, and the early morning sun then steams the creases out.

                            Failing sun, a trip to the dryers at a launderette with a machine load also does the job...you can read whilst the things virtually 'iron' themselves dry...
                            Last edited by Rubyretro; 12-06-2010, 06:53 PM.
                            http://youtu.be/GcBr3rosvNQ

                            Comment


                            • #44
                              Hi Rubyretro,
                              yeah, same problem with Aldi in Germany. Super cheap, but it doesn't sell anything worth eating or buying...
                              I once shot (gently, I thought) a football in my room at my parents‘ and broke a full body mirror. Totally embarrassing...
                              Usually (actually: always) when I fold or hang clothes they don't ever crease...
                              I feel so lazy today. It's a holiday in Germany too. Don't feel like working, or going out, or reading, or watching a DVD. I think I'll go to sleep.
                              Best regards,
                              Maria

                              Comment


                              • #45
                                Train Drunks

                                Special Brew

                                Special Brew on Trains

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