m3gtr

Ive also seen a fatality on the lines. The Nambu line in Tokyo, which runs from Tachikawa to Kawasaki was a line i used for a year while i was transferring for work in 2006. I remember one day the train suddenly hit the skids and we all jolted forward, the train itself, or at least my carriage, stopping just past the crossing. People were standing around looking confused until we heard the sound of sirens and sure enough, a guy had walked right into the oncoming path of the train, spraying him all over the place. The medical crews and police come around to the left hand side of the car i was on and sure enough, there was the mangled body of the dude, down and to the right of where i was looking out the window. It was the most graphic mutilation ive ever witnessed firsthand. I spewed when i got to work that day.

Its probably already been said but, my serious question is this: What if my wife, a Japanese, was a GTR owner and wanted to bring her car over from Japan because we are moving there and she is the spouse of an Australian national? Answer that one if anyone can... Nissan would HAVE to provide a warranty surely. I completely understand she can import a car, tax and GST free. Probably the cheapest way for her or anyone on the face of the planet to get the car into the country.

The first and only Akeenan? Hmmm... I recall something in my first year here in Japan. A bit long winded but bare with me... A friend of mine who I met in Oz had returned from his working holiday and we hooked up in Yokohama and had a bit of a chat about whats going on, how life is...the usual. The subject turns to Matsuri ( festivals ) and he mentions a Mikoshi Matsuri ( shrine festival ) thats being held in Asakusa ( the Sanjya Matsuri ) and its apparently a really big deal in Tokyo. I had little idea except for the really heavy portable shrines they carry around in these events...and that was about it. It turns out that Tomo has some...how should i put this...seedier than usual connections. I always likened him to a chimpira but it turns out he was a little more than that and i had no idea. Arrangements were made and i met him and one of his buddies at the station and hes got this package for me. Inside is the full kit - a pair of Tabi, a happi and not least of all, a fundoushi. This kit basically consists of a pair of shoes, a robe and a ...*cough* nappy ( bright red by the way ) I strip off in a toilet and Tomos in there getting this crazy nappy wrapped around me and i was thinking "What the f**k is going on with this thing?" On goes the robe and the shoes. That was it apparently. Id forgotten how uncomfortable a nappy can be... Then he hands me a green bandanna and now im part of the "team"...whatever that team was i didnt know. I meet the "crew" - these guys looked hard as f**k and i have to admit i was a little intimidated at first but intros were made and beer soon came and we were chatting - me with very bad Japanese and they with patchy English. Fun enough. One guy had a plaster cast from an...altercation the month before. He participated regardless. Im wandering around soaking it all up. Theres guys with missing pinky fingers everywhere and im not kidding. Ive never seen so many hands with one digit missing in the same place, ever. I knew i was in deep with guys i wouldnt want to mess with. Being gaijin actually kept me on a different level and away from the trouble that broke out frequently. There were fights going on here, there, everywhere. It was madness. So much energy was buzzing through the 2 square blocks we were located in it was palpable... and it hadnt even started yet!! Heres an example... The "event" kicks off with a jostling challenge with some guy standing on a platform screaming at the two teams to go for it and see who is the strongest and worthy of carrying the mikoshi first!! It was crazy i tell you. You have never seen anything like it. It was like this massive brawl broke out and there were people everywhere wrestling and some throwing punches to get "control" of this portable shrine! There were people EVERYWHERE - body to body and thrashing, writhing, chanting, sweating, screaming, dancing block after block. I was in the middle of this. SO RE, SO RE, SO RE There were police but they stuck to the sides of the street and didnt even get in the way. They just stood there and watched! I distinctly remember women coming up to this pulsing throng of people, 3 month old baby in hand dancing around as the mikoshi passed within centimetres of her. Pure madness. So much energy...ive never felt anything like it. It was almost indescribable. On at least 4 occassions i found myself under this 2 tonne mikoshi straining against a massive tide of shifting weight. It was really frightening but the rush of adrenaline quickly made me forget that. Seriously, you can die at these things. One wrong move and the thing will crush at least a dozen people. Its happened before. I was pressed against a wall a number of times and was too charged up to seriously panic.. The proximity to immovable solid objects and this massive moving bouncing mikoshi was intimidating, to put it lightly. This went on for an hour at least. I dont recall when it finished but we circulated a couple of blocks and doubled back down one way streets a couple of times. The mikoshi was HEAVY. I cant explain how this crushing weight didnt give me an injury but people are subbing in and out all the time...girls too. You have to ride the flow of the bounce otherwise you get a crushing pile of downward force from the mikoshi meeting your shoulder as its coming up. Not pleasant. It hurt. A lot. Heres me in the sandwich. The expressions say it all. Soon after this, I ended up in a very awkward position. I was moving in the queue right behind one of the craziest tattooed people ive ever seen. The guy directly in front of me was HARDCORE. Full body iruzumi...all colour. Sleeve cut. Left pinkie missing. He had these massive bulges on either side of his neck that looked to me like tennis ball sized mounds of black pus. It turns out these were a by product of his training for das like this!!! Im behind this guy, cant move, being slightly suffocated by the sheer weight of the proximity to the people around me - the heat was choking and here's this guy, the scariest looking human ive come across and ive got a hand on his back trying to support myself! Its hard to find the words when I reflect on the experience. I was lucky, i suppose. We had to carry the mikoshi to a certain spot where rituals were performed and under the Mikoshi, we did a couple of circles and then a different chant was thrown out and with that, it was finally put down on the ground. Everyone was thoroughly exhausted. It was simply a massive orgy of unadulterated, unbridled energy that was channeled somehow into transporting this behemoth of a shrine in weight a few streets but the effort we all expended getting it there was huge. I have never and will never again probably experience anything like it for the rest of my life...and thats not necessarily a bad thing. Its an experience many have said i was extremely fortunate to experience and one i will never forget. At the end, were all talking in little pockets, people from green and orange, like nothing had just taken place, like the end of a football game had just been sounded...and the iruzumi man comes over with his mate. It turns out Tomo knows him and introduces me to him. He speaks English, somewhat broken English and asks my name. I reply and comment on the magnificent tattoo. It truly was a work of art. The price for this type of work he said was incredible and not just anyone can get this done to them. All i was wondering was what i was going to say next in the hope i didn't offend him. I needn't have worried. He asked me where i was from and i replied "Australia." "Australia?", he said and i wasnt sure if he hated me for being an Australian in Japan...but... "I like Australia! Nice people. Good food. I visit sometimes. But customs stops me all the time and searches my bags. I dont understand." Im speechless and let out a sigh of relief that i am in fact safe and will not die today and that he likes Oz. It was a good sign.

Its magic herbs Mike, get it right and you should see the view from here, LOL. Seriously, that report was just speculation. There is no photographic or pictorial evidence to support the rumour. I'm not going to waste oxygen on baseless conjecturing. Even if it did happen, there was no accident although i do completely agree with Roy that there needs to be stricter guidelines on the way drivers behave under the safety car. I seem to recall a seven times world champion among many others making the same mistake in a massive way. Lets single Hammo out why don't we? After all, its not like theres a reason to talk badly about other drivers, is there? They dont make mistakes after all....

LoL, Ive got a pair of those shoes...

I knew someone was going to post that... It didnt happen. End of story.

Planet f1 is your friend. lol, bit late though wasnt it?

I am so going to get a GTR in the next two years.

That IS wierd. What do you think was wrong with him>? Was he stabbed or something?

youre a lucky boy then arent you Akeenan? Bugger working at that school.

How many "unexpected blokes" have appeared mysteriously on the podium this year? Hasnt there been one in almost every race? Rosberg in Australia Coulthard in Canada Trulli in France Rubens in England Pique in Germany Sadly, Webbos not in that list...

Thats a farkin great idea! It should be higher than that. Remember The Stig threw the CCR iff the road, had Koenigg fit a spoiler and then they had another crack at it? Well, for the Nissan as well, please. kthnxbai.

...or when she hacks your body up and buries you in an overturned wardrobe and covers you with sand...

Nando had the fire on Sunday - you could see the rage in the way he was throwing the car around. He was really scruffy. Kudos to Pique though... getting Renaults first podium for the year was definitely unexpected and im sure it stung Gonzo good but lets be honest here...it wasnt really down to anything other than some good luck due to the safety car and the fact the team could fully fuel him due to the poor quali and even though his 3rd stint was great, it wasnt spectacular. Im not convinced and hardly think that one drive has saved his Renault bacon.

I distinctly remember Fisi being in front of Nando in Canada and Gonzo was screaming down the line that he wanted to get past him: "What more i have to do?" Renaults response was good: "Youre going to have to pass him on the track or in the pits." They were racing for position...thing is while Fisi wasnt going to let Nando past, and I dont think Heikki has the same size balls.

I feel sorry for Heikki... The footage from the afterparty of LH's win in England said everything i needed to know. He knows hes not the one. When i spoke to him he was looking forward to getting in the Renault race seat... such a shame hes being slightly..."overlooked" at McLaren... really nice bloke but Mac is LH's. Anyone who cares to think about that will realise LH is setting up an environment within a team that will be advantageous to him in the short and long run WDC wise, much in the same vein a certain German i can think of did. All power to him. *Attention Haterz, please clear the road.* *WDC coming through.*

Not in the mood for talking serious tonight. LH wiping the floor with em again after all the haters came out of the wood work last month has me feeling pretty vindicated right now... I couldnt give a shit what anyone thinks of his "attitude". The buck stops when the flag drops.

BWAAAAHAHAHHAHAHAH! I luv ya Ivanator.

Bwahahahahah.

Hayter. *woohoo! 100 pages strong and still keepin on truckin'*

You will have an interview... With the whole family. And you will be nervous. You will sweat. ...Good luck and may God be with you.

When a Japanese snaps, youll know aaaaaallllll about it... When shes carrying your severed head on a crowded subway in a bowling ball bag...

Fer crying out loud. The guy DID do an excellent job. Cant blame him for blowing his own trumpet... at least once in a while. And you obviously werent listening to the drivers interviews very closely, were you James?

Mate, if i were RD and LH was being held up by HK by up to and over a second a lap and a win was at stake, id be having a few words whether you like the racing or not. Fact of the matter is LH CANED em. Again. That is all.