Las Vegas Weekly Meet - Thursday nights - See first post for details
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speaking of vegas. there's been a lot of talk about vegas lately. meeting tons of ppl who went to unlv, live out there etc... all very interesting..
but in an odd way it makes me really want to go back!
but in an odd way it makes me really want to go back!
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Dubai desert gives way to ski resort
DUBAI : Nothing could be more bizarre than a ski resort in a desert but Dubai is making it happen later this year when residents and tourists will have the option to don salopettes, boots and woolly hats and hit the slopes. Ski Dubai is a formidable engineering feat, an incongruous 25-storey structure rising from the Gulf emirate's sands as some 1,000 labourers work round the clock building the Middle East's only indoor ski resort and the world's third largest.
The brainchild of Majid al-Futtaim, the mountain-themed resort is being built within his group's billion-dollar Mall of the Emirates, partly to lure people to what will be the third largest shopping centre in the world, and to make it downright different. In September, the state-of-the-art resort, boasting a slope with an overall length of 400 metres (yards), will allow enthusiasts, beginners or those merely curious, to experience real snow, complete with falling snow flakes and a log fire under sky blue panels to give the ideal outdoor effect. And all this as temperatures outside soar.
"This isn't just about skiing but an opportunity to introduce winter activities, and snow play to a lot of people that have never seen snow before in their lives," said Phil Taylor, Ski Dubai's chief executive. "We're really trying to introduce people to winter sports and fun in a way they have never had an opportunity" to experience before in the region, he told AFP. The resort will feature five different trails of varying gradients. The slope itself is not straight but with a 60-degree bend.
Steep areas necessitated building sections of the slope in steps, compared to the majority of it being built on a smooth profile, "because there's actually a risk of an avalanche if we weren't careful," he said. "It's quite amazing to be tackling these sorts of problems and challenges here in Dubai," said Taylor, no stranger to huge projects, including the London Eye observation wheel. The resort will feature a midway cafe while the space underneath the slope will be used for the changing rooms and an outdoor play area, with hills for sliding and tobogganing, as well as an ice cavern. There will also be a snowboard stunt park and 90-metre-long quarter-pipe.
"Dubai is growing rapidly which is really creating an opportunity for an attraction like this," said Taylor, adding that Ski Dubai will target an equal mix of residents and tourists, some five million of whom visited the bustling emirate in 2004. "We're hoping that for people familiar with skiing it's a novelty factor to have been able to go skiing in the morning and sunbathing in the afternoon," he said.
"It's a great place to polish your skills if you're going on a winter holiday or planning one, or if you want to learn to ski, because we control the conditions and have a team of professional instructors, it's perfect for learners. "We really have got this opportunity to be both a sports facility at one end of the scale and pure play and fun at the other," Taylor said. Ski Dubai, covering an area of 22,500 square metres (242,000 square feet), or the equivalent of three football fields, will use 6,000 tons of real snow settling 50 centimetres thick. It will have a capacity of 1,500 people at any one time while the objective is to try and attract 500,000 visitors a year, Taylor said.
Thirty tons of fresh snow will be made every night to replenish the slope when the indoor temperature will be reduced from minus one Celsius (30
Fahrenheit) throughout the day to about minus seven. The slope will be visible from two levels of the mall and four floors of the adjoining Kempinski Hotel. A professional team of instructors and staff will be on hand from countries including France, Lebanon, the Netherlands, South Africa and the United States. "One of the things that we've really tried to put quite a lot of emphasis on is that... coming inside is an experience.. Ski Dubai has got so much more to offer than just skiing," said Taylor. - AFP
DUBAI : Nothing could be more bizarre than a ski resort in a desert but Dubai is making it happen later this year when residents and tourists will have the option to don salopettes, boots and woolly hats and hit the slopes. Ski Dubai is a formidable engineering feat, an incongruous 25-storey structure rising from the Gulf emirate's sands as some 1,000 labourers work round the clock building the Middle East's only indoor ski resort and the world's third largest.
The brainchild of Majid al-Futtaim, the mountain-themed resort is being built within his group's billion-dollar Mall of the Emirates, partly to lure people to what will be the third largest shopping centre in the world, and to make it downright different. In September, the state-of-the-art resort, boasting a slope with an overall length of 400 metres (yards), will allow enthusiasts, beginners or those merely curious, to experience real snow, complete with falling snow flakes and a log fire under sky blue panels to give the ideal outdoor effect. And all this as temperatures outside soar.
"This isn't just about skiing but an opportunity to introduce winter activities, and snow play to a lot of people that have never seen snow before in their lives," said Phil Taylor, Ski Dubai's chief executive. "We're really trying to introduce people to winter sports and fun in a way they have never had an opportunity" to experience before in the region, he told AFP. The resort will feature five different trails of varying gradients. The slope itself is not straight but with a 60-degree bend.
Steep areas necessitated building sections of the slope in steps, compared to the majority of it being built on a smooth profile, "because there's actually a risk of an avalanche if we weren't careful," he said. "It's quite amazing to be tackling these sorts of problems and challenges here in Dubai," said Taylor, no stranger to huge projects, including the London Eye observation wheel. The resort will feature a midway cafe while the space underneath the slope will be used for the changing rooms and an outdoor play area, with hills for sliding and tobogganing, as well as an ice cavern. There will also be a snowboard stunt park and 90-metre-long quarter-pipe.
"Dubai is growing rapidly which is really creating an opportunity for an attraction like this," said Taylor, adding that Ski Dubai will target an equal mix of residents and tourists, some five million of whom visited the bustling emirate in 2004. "We're hoping that for people familiar with skiing it's a novelty factor to have been able to go skiing in the morning and sunbathing in the afternoon," he said.
"It's a great place to polish your skills if you're going on a winter holiday or planning one, or if you want to learn to ski, because we control the conditions and have a team of professional instructors, it's perfect for learners. "We really have got this opportunity to be both a sports facility at one end of the scale and pure play and fun at the other," Taylor said. Ski Dubai, covering an area of 22,500 square metres (242,000 square feet), or the equivalent of three football fields, will use 6,000 tons of real snow settling 50 centimetres thick. It will have a capacity of 1,500 people at any one time while the objective is to try and attract 500,000 visitors a year, Taylor said.
Thirty tons of fresh snow will be made every night to replenish the slope when the indoor temperature will be reduced from minus one Celsius (30
Fahrenheit) throughout the day to about minus seven. The slope will be visible from two levels of the mall and four floors of the adjoining Kempinski Hotel. A professional team of instructors and staff will be on hand from countries including France, Lebanon, the Netherlands, South Africa and the United States. "One of the things that we've really tried to put quite a lot of emphasis on is that... coming inside is an experience.. Ski Dubai has got so much more to offer than just skiing," said Taylor. - AFP
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Let me introduce you to a game Japanese kids like to play called "Kancho."
Actually, it's not so much a "game" as it is kids clasping their hands together, sticking out their first fingers, and shoving them up your butt. I'm really not joking.
You know, before we come to Japan, they tell us a lot of ultimately useless stuff. What kind of computer to bring, if our DVD's will work, clothing sizes, that kind of nonsense. Nowhere, and I mean nowhere, in the 3-4 months of orientations did anyone ever mention that at some point, a Japanese kid may try to stick their fingers up our butt. That's something I would have liked to know, personally.
It's called Kancho, and just about any kid can be a Kancho Assassin. Even the sweetest little girl may be prone to jam her fingers up your *** the second you turn around. This happened to one of my friends, which just goes to show - don't trust anyone. I'd say the little girls are the most dangerous cause they have natural ways of lowering your defenses.
I was pretty lucky. Before I came, I bought a really big, really baggy pair of pants. The kids try to Kancho...but they just have no idea where my *** is! It's beautiful! I had one kid try and find his fingers hit nothing but jean fabric and air. Yes! But I've actually gotten pretty good at dodging it, much like Spider-man I have developed a Kancho Sense that tells me where and when it's coming before it comes. I parry fingers like a pro. My record is still 100% Kancho Free. Ha! America 2, Japan 0.
Actually, it's not so much a "game" as it is kids clasping their hands together, sticking out their first fingers, and shoving them up your butt. I'm really not joking.
You know, before we come to Japan, they tell us a lot of ultimately useless stuff. What kind of computer to bring, if our DVD's will work, clothing sizes, that kind of nonsense. Nowhere, and I mean nowhere, in the 3-4 months of orientations did anyone ever mention that at some point, a Japanese kid may try to stick their fingers up our butt. That's something I would have liked to know, personally.
It's called Kancho, and just about any kid can be a Kancho Assassin. Even the sweetest little girl may be prone to jam her fingers up your *** the second you turn around. This happened to one of my friends, which just goes to show - don't trust anyone. I'd say the little girls are the most dangerous cause they have natural ways of lowering your defenses.
I was pretty lucky. Before I came, I bought a really big, really baggy pair of pants. The kids try to Kancho...but they just have no idea where my *** is! It's beautiful! I had one kid try and find his fingers hit nothing but jean fabric and air. Yes! But I've actually gotten pretty good at dodging it, much like Spider-man I have developed a Kancho Sense that tells me where and when it's coming before it comes. I parry fingers like a pro. My record is still 100% Kancho Free. Ha! America 2, Japan 0.
Originally Posted by joltdudeuc
Wow, the things you learn at the Las vegas meet.
any of you guys want to meet up at Rim and wanna BlaZE!
any of you guys want to meet up at Rim and wanna BlaZE!
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so i was in a huge bus (like a greyhound sized bus) and the driver was nuts. we were turning into a hotel entrance (driver took a hard left), and the entrance was all tile. it was raining out, and all of a sudden i notice the back end of the bus swing out... i see the bus driver start to countersteer and give it more gas and i'm thinking: holy sh*t! he's drifting a BUS!!! filled with ppl too.
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Originally Posted by babysmurf
so i was in a huge bus (like a greyhound sized bus) and the driver was nuts. we were turning into a hotel entrance (driver took a hard left), and the entrance was all tile. it was raining out, and all of a sudden i notice the back end of the bus swing out... i see the bus driver start to countersteer and give it more gas and i'm thinking: holy sh*t! he's drifting a BUS!!! filled with ppl too.
Damn they don't play in the H.K.
