ANY OHER HOBBIES BESIDES COFFEE????

[Hugo]

I remember spending days trying to get the hang of deep powder on skis, knackering and frustrating but eventually the most sensationally satisfying aspect of the sport, especially If you get to be first down a clean, track free mountain in bottomless champagne powder on a crisp, clean spring morning.

I hired a snowboard with a bunch of mates and we were hooning it in powder straight away. Admittedly I was a confident skateboarder/surfer/wakeboarder so the instincts were already there.

Must admit to coming a cropper lots.... and not being able to tip my head back for a week having seriously knackered the muscles in the front of my neck from tripping on my back edge... didn't make that mistake again!

Not saying it's not fun or difficult to master, just far easier than skiing.

Coming from a country with mountains isn't really the basis for authority on the subject though is it?

Tee hee...

[fred25]

wadda ya mean - didn't you know being born with skis attached to the feet is one of the prime causes of caesarean section in CH?

More seriously though, I must agree that powder is the one aspect of the thing where skis are a hell of a lot more difficult to use than a snowboard.... But on the slopes I don't think skis are much more difficult, especially the new 'carving' ones. At any rate I must say I prefer the sensations you get with a snowboard - but then, that's only MHO!

[Hugo]

I had a day in the Canadian Rockies a few years back and tried parabolics (carving skis) for the first time. I was giggling all day, couldn't believe how easy they went round corners, bumps were hilarious and off piste was bizarre. It made me incredibly sloppy, didn't have to try very hard. Almost felt like they were mind controlled; just think about turning and you've turned.

Not like my trusty old Salomon F9's, proper skis them.

I'd love to try snowboarding with a powerkite.... now that could be fun.

[Gouezeri]

Hmm, still think I agree with Hugo (despite his pole dancing tendencies ). I (kite)landboard and kitesurf, but I'd rather ski than snowboard. What I need to try and sort out this winter is some decent snow kiting, the problem is finding somewhere suitable. If anything, the best countries are places I wouldn't normally consider for skiing (vast wide open spaces). Not sure whether I'd be better on skis or a snowboard then. For anybody who doesn't know what this looks like, here's a vid of snowkite God Guillaume Chastagnol.

[Hugo]

You sail boats too, no?

[Gouezeri]

yeah, but it doesn't require prancing around the mast quite so much

[Hugo]

So you don't monkey gybe yer boat then?

[Gouezeri]

More of a flying duck kinda person

[SlowRain]

Reading. I'm always on the lookout for good novels and authors, so I'd appreciate any recommendations. Here's a list of my favorites to go by.

Smiley's People and A Perfect Spy by John le Carré
The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene
Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

The rest in no particular order:

The Mission Song | The Little Drummer Girl | Our Game | Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy | The Honourable Schoolboy | The Night Manager | The Constant Gardener | The Tailor of Panama by John le Carré
The Quiet American | The End of the Affair | The Power and the Glory | The Comedians | The Human Factor | The Honourary Consul by Graham Greene
Love in the Time of Cholera | The General in his Labyrinth | Memories of My Melancholy Whores by Gabriel García Márquez
Gorky Park | Polar Star | Red Square | Havana Bay | Wolves Eat Dogs | Rose | December 6 by Martin Cruz Smith
The Hunt for Red October | Patriot Games | The Cardinal of the Kremlin by Tom Clancy
Vengeance: The True Story of an Israeli Counter-Terrorist Team by George Jonas
The Human Stain | The Plot Against America | American Pastoral by Philip Roth
High Fidelity | About a Boy | How to be Good by Nick Hornby
The New York Trilogy | The Book of Illusions by Paul Auster
The Blind Assassin | Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
Blood of Victory | Dark Voyage by Alan Furst
The Elfstones of Shannara by Terry Brooks
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
The Angels of Russia by Patricia le Roy
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Høeg
The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford
Burr | Lincoln | Empire by Gore Vidal
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
The Turn-around by Vladimir Volkoff
Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow
Ripley's Game by Patricia Highsmith
Theft | Jack Maggs by Peter Carey
Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
The Innocent by Ian McEwan
Noble House by James Clavell
In a Free State V.S. Naipaul
March Violets by Philip Kerr
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
Prague by Arthur Phillips

[fred25]

Gore Vidal - I find the rest of the historical series is pretty good too, as are Julian and Creation . His crime novels - written under the name Edgar Box - are quite fun too, and bloody well written!

As for suggestions, I don't know much but I like Rupert Thomson's books, and Naguib Mahfouz (the Cairo Trilogy is really great stuff IMHO). There's also a novel called A Void, by George Perec that's... well quite amazing in many different ways (!) - don't know how much more stuff by him is translated.

Some of Murakami's novel are quite fun too (A Wild Sheep Chase in particular, and Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World). Italo Calvino's great too - for sheer brilliance If On a Winter's Night a Traveler is quite impressive - and Pirandello's not bad either!

On the other hand, and if you don't know him, for sheer laugh-out-loud comedy Tom Sharpe IMHO is the man! (the two first book from the 'Wilt' series in particular)



....Really need to get into more English Literature.... if only I had the time, and no television!

[Gouezeri]

Got to say, I did find this recent outburst by Vidal very funny.

[fred25]

It seems like he hasn't lost the knack for confrontation

[leecb]

Steven Erikson- Tales of the Malazan Empire! Absolutely brilliant!

[SlowRain]

Yeah, Vidal can be like that. I actually can't watch any interviews with him for more than a minute or so. He's a feisty, arrogant one, that's for sure. Every once in a while in reading circles the discussion comes up whether it's possible to dislike an author but still like their writing. Vidal is a good example of that.

I enjoy his historical novels quite a lot. However, while the events are accurate and a good way to passively learn about American history, you can see his controversial attitudes and opinions shining through regarding the characters. A good example of this is his overly sympathetic presentation of William Randolph Hearst in Empire, as well as his scathing presentation of Theodore Roosevelt. It's interesting to see the similarities between Hearst and Vidal, which helps explain his approach.

Having said that, Vidal is still a brilliant writer. He is able to instill his characters with unique and vivid personalities, and to develop them as the novel progresses--albeit at a slow pace. He's good at capturing the life and times of each segment of history, and his somewhat over-punctuated narrative is teeming with vast amounts of commentary and wit; I've never seen so much wit and subtle humor from a writer who is so highly regarded.

A great writer and a complete jerk: that's Gore Vidal.

[Hugo]

I've only just finished reading The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. I'd put it on my list of must reads... I could hardly put it down.