Yaezakura

As a lurker, I couldn't agree more. Thanks to everyone for putting all this great stuff here, even for lame people like me with nothing to contribute. (Spooky TV program...) Back to actual lurking mode... :-P

Thanks from me as well, I loved the interview. Kokkai is my favorite! ;-) I bid $25US.

I'm considering it. I hate my cable company with a firey passion (evil overpriced monopolistic JERKS! ahem sorry...) , so I don't WANT to give them more money. But it would be awesome to see sumo on my television screen. And then I could record it, and watch it again and again and again... Best of luck to you and the others in your tournament!

1. Where do you live? - near Detroit, Michigan 2. How are you watching it? (banzuke.com, satellite, cable, etc.) - Stream, and banzuke.com. I just found out that I can get TV Japan through my cable company, so I'm considering doing that in the future. At $30/month, it is pretty pricey for one channel, though. I don't pay that much for my entire current cable service! 3. Cost of watching it? - $0 4. Do you stay up to watch it live, or record/watch the next day? I work nights, so when I'm at work I watch it live, when the boss isn't around, when I can get on the stream.

I never understood the Kotonowaka thing until I saw him in Las Vegas. In pictures and video he isn't bad looking, but in person, he made me (You are going off-topic...) I was too shy to say hello or get a picture, but wow, so cute. As far as the hottest/sexiest/manliest, I have weird taste in men, so I will just admit I like Kokkai best. B-) B-)

Pistons lost to Miami on Friday night, 95-78, and are now out. Very sad and disappointing to me after such a great regular season. B-)

Can I vote 1.5? They were fun and had good fight scenes and were nice to look at, but they weren't nearly the calibur of Pulp Fiction or Resevoir Dogs. I used to love Tarentino; his movies were so different and edgy. But I was DEEPLY disappointed when I finally saw the Kill Bill movies, maybe because all I heard for years was how AWESOME and AMAZING they were. They're fun to watch, and I thought the ending of volume 2 was kind of interesting. But the Kill Bill movies are basically four hours of cool fight scenes, and Uma looking hot. That's it.

I've seen quite a few tv ads for the Detroit/Auburn Hills event; one station is giving tickets away, and I keep getting friends offering me discount coupons they picked up at other events at the same arena. I'm a little surprised at the amount of publicity, but I don't think it will change many minds about sumo. I would go despite the cheesiness, because there isn't any other financially-viable way for me to see live sumo. Even if there is stupid showy crap around the sumo, the sumo itself is still okay. But I'm going to be out of town that day.

Looks like they changed the url. I found the updated login page here: http://www.sumotalk.com/login.php

I've read several of the Discworld books. They're great fun, though I don't really remember a lot of specifics from the books I read, so they don't stick in my mind much I guess. I loved "Good Omens", though; read that many times.

I've never seen it written as Turkiye, but I like that better too! :-D Is Umut a very common Turkish name? I used to work with a Turkish guy named Umut. Anyway, welcome!

You're not kidding. Wow, do those guys go on and on about the evils of henka... (Yawning...) (Showing respect...) And Iwagakki, I totally agree with you. The only thing I dislike about henka is that it can make the match end too quickly if it works. But I'm not going to label someone evil or dishonorable or whatever just because I wanted to watch a long exciting match, and he has the NERVE to win quickly. There's no morality related to henka; it is just a technique that most rikishi use at some point, and that doesn't guarantee a win anyway.

I enjoyed the koen a lot. A whole lot. Wow, seeing sumo live does not compare with watching it on video, let alone watching the internet stream. I mean, I knew it didn't compare, but actually seeing it was amazing. The exaggerated staredowns were strange at first, then kind of amusing to see one rikishi trying to start a staredown with an opponent who hadn't noticed and had already gone back for the salt. The matches were great to watch. They seemed a bit longer than the honbasho matches I've seen, not that I am complaining about that. Maybe the rikishi felt like they could take their time a little bit, and did not need to go all out for the quick win...though Roho made sure I got to see a live henka! (Henka!!!) Definitely agree with everyone on the awfulness of the "singer" of the U.S. national anthem. Konishiki was hilarious the first night, amusing the second, and okay the third after I'd heard all his jokes twice already, but overall he was good enough. I wish that everything hadn't been dumbed down quite so much for "the Americans who wouldn't know any better." Half the crowd was either Japanese or Mongolian, and I'm sure most of the rest of the crowd understood the basics. Maybe it was dumbed down for the American press more than it was for the fans, because I'm going to scream if I see one more article that calls rikishi "sumos". :-S And the gaudy trophy with the lights in it was perfectly representative of Las Vegas. I just hope visitors don't think that the U.S. is actually like Las Vegas. I'm picking nits, though. I really really really really enjoyed it. My throat is still slightly sore from yelling so loudly. I left Vegas wondering how long it would take for me to save up enough cash for a trip to Japan.

It shouldn't be a matter of whether he would look any better or worse or the same. Why does his hair color matter at all? The only reason he should color his hair is if he wants to color it. It seems like a minor thing for people to worry about.

That was painful to watch... (Blinking...) San Antonio looks AMAZING. Wow.