Sigla del Tg1. Eravamo un po' piu' che preoccupati, perché se doveva essere una Carrambata era fatta maledettamente bene.

Eravamo un po' preoccupati perché in genere queste cose si fanno quando rapiscono qualcuno, quando ammazzano qualche magistrato, quando casca qualche torre gemella.

E invece la presentatrice del Tg1 dice "si è conclusa la riunione del Consiglio dei Ministri".

Beh? Tutto qui? Sì. Tutto qui.

Poi alla fine mi sono ricordato che il direttore del Tg1 è quello che in una puntata di Sumo (con Gianluca Neri come contendente), un po' di tempo fa diceva che saremmo morti tutti a causa dell'influenza aviaria.

Beh, per fortuna, non ci ha preso.

Quindi ho smesso di guardare la televisione e ho ripreso a fare quello che stavo facendo prima. Tranquillo tranquillo.

While walking to the beautiful shrine of Dazaifu, there were a group of school children and they were sooo cute. So we decided to take a picture with them. I asked some of the girls, but they were saying こわい (scary) to me or King. King was saying they were saying it to me, probably he is right becuz I'm gaijin and look very different from them. I didn't think they were cute anymore then haha. But the boys were much cooler they didn't mind at all to take a picture with me. :)  I even put my hat on one of the boys head and he did the same gesture as me on the picture. The time we went to the shrine it was 7-5-3, a holiday. This is a traditional rite of passage for girls of 7 and 3 year old girls and for 3 and 5 year old boys. It was really cute they all went to the shrine in their kimono's.

The shrine was really amazing, very pretty. We got some explanation by a priest, but I really didn't listen. I was playing with Eunyoung and the explanation lasted a while so it got boring. We also went to a zen garden. Then we got free time and could eat and buy souvenirs.  We went to eat with a big group and it was lots of fun.

The food was pretty good and afterwards we went shopping, the stores there were really cute. There was a Totoro store <3 and also a very pink hello kitty store. I got a hello kitty from Kahyun and I also gave one to her. :) So nice. We all took a lot of pictures on this day. I had an awesome time that day.

When I come home from work, I have to immediately wash my hands.  After working all day handling books, I have what I call "book grunge" all over my hands.  You'd be surprised at the way books come back to us.  Sometimes, they are covered in just general filth, sometimes they are sticky, or sandy or even wet.  You just never know where a book has been, and you'll often see us cleaning off the plastic covers, or running to wash our hands.  I guess some people just don't care where they place a book.  After all, it is just a library book.  It isn't like they own it or anything.

Along with book grunge, dealing with the public leaves us rushing to the hand sanitizer bottle that we keep behind the desk on a regular basis.  From runny noses on the little ones to people who just refuse to sneeze or cough away from us, we'd rather not pick up every cold, virus or disease that walks in here.  We don't have it as bad as some professions though.

Sumo wrestler Asashoryu from Mongolia (Photo by  Gabriel Bouys)

Doctors, child-care workers and septic tank cleaners are obvious danger spots.  But what about the less obvious, like....sumo wrestler? "Scrumpox" is taking the sumo world by storm (as well as the other sports arenas of rugby and judo).  What exactly is scrumpox? It is a form of the herpes simplex virus, also known as "Herpes Gladiatorum" and is characterized by painful, fluid-filled blisters, often on the face and neck, just where sumo wrestlers come in contact with each other.  It is becoming such a deadly form of the disease that sumo handlers are resorting to quarantines for their athletes who are affected.  You can read more about the possibly deadly disease here.

So maybe we don't have it too bad here at the library. At least we probably won't die after a hard day at work.

Kotooshu, quasi inconnu sur le vieux continent, est une véritable star dans l'Empire du Soleil Levant. Représentant d'une nouvelle lignée de lutteurs sumo venus d'Europe, il devait renouveler l'image d'un sport millénaire comme le firent les hawaiiens Akebono et Musashimaru, deux dieux vivants sacrés Yokozunas ( la plus grande distinction de ce sport).

Selon l'article, Kotooshu ("la cithare d'Europe"), dont le vrai nom est Kaloyan Mahlyanov, aurait approché Gagloev cette année pour lui proposer de l'argent en échange d'une victoire.  Le géant bulgare (2,02 m pour 155 kg) traversait une période difficile au début de 2008 à la suite de blessures et avait notamment fait une piètre prestation au tournoi de mars. "Nous sommes tous les deux Européens. Si tu fais ça pour moi, je ne l'oublierai jamais. Je te donnerai un million de yens (6.900 euros). Je peux même aller jusqu'à 1,5 million", aurait dit Kotooshu au sumotori russe, cité par  le magazine.

En 2007, la revue Shukan Gendai, connue à travers le pays comme un grand pourvoyeur de scoops, avait évoqué des accusations de corruptions concernant Asashoryu, l'actuel Yokosuna et premier mongol à ateindre ce rang. Celui ci aurait tenté d'acheter des adversaires à plusieurs reprises lors de tournois Basho. Une trentaine de lutteurs ont d'ores et déjà porté plainte pour diffamation.

First up is Sumo, the three-room fest over at Cornerhouse (under the train station). The rock / metal room room usually goes crazy during the night - it's a small room, and it all ends up as one giant pit. It's always hilarious when some drunken chav or indie guy walks in by mistake, and gets pulverised by the dreadlock-wielding madmen (yes, that includes you, Sean). The electro / indie room is usually quite good as well, so we'll see ourselves veering between them over the course of the night, and it's a long night with the club usually closing around 3-4am. Drinks are usually cheap, but they always have the music turned up way too loud and you'll end up with your ears ringing for the next day or so, which can be annoying as hell.

The next drinking spot is The Crown, found on the intersection of Borough and Linthorpe, and it's a bar rather than a night club. Thursday is the rock night, with free entry before 9pm, and quite cheap drinks compared to the other two places. Music usually ends up getting played in genre blocks with random indistinguishable metal until around 11pm and then it gets better. It's more of a lazy night out, just grab a few of the sofas, talk about stuff, and chill out with some mates. Great.

For a third, I'm bringing up Metropolis over at Empire (next to the city hall) 'cause I went there for the first time last night with free entry. I didn't feel trendy enough to belong there - the music became a little better, but they were still playing way too much generic indie crap. We would have gone to the rock room... but they hadn't build it yet, despite advertsiing it on all the flyers. Pah. Oh, and the drinks are way expensive, not what you'd expect when you're paying for entry as well. Don't think we'll be going back there, to be honest.

So, that's that. Now let me go to sleep, will ya?

O torneio dura 15 dias e todos os participantes lutam uma vez no dia, durante os quinze dias.   No total acontecem seis torneios em todo o Japão e, apenas três deles, acontecem em Tóquio.

 

O objetivo e as regras do esporte parecem simples: ganha o match  (duelo entres dois participantes) quem conseguir empurrar o adversário para fora do círculo. Não precisa empurrar o corpor inteiro, apenas um toque com qualquer parte do corpo vale. Ou ainda fazer o oponente encostar qualquer parte do corpo no chao dentro do círculo mesmo.   A luta me pareceu basicamente tentativas de desequilibrar o adversário, usando apenas o peso do corpo e empurrões.   Chutes e socos são proibidos.

 

Tudo muito diferente e um pouco engraçado também.   É claro que o esporte, o torneio, os participantes e suas roupas e cabelos engraçados tem seu valor cultural.   Os japoneses parecem reconhecer esse valor, pois vimos muitas familias reunidas, jovens e idosos assistindo ao campeonato.   Mas confesso que a ignorância às vezes nos diverte.   Muitos gordos, gordinhos e gordões, vestindo roupas engracadas e coloridas, cabelos esquisitos, sandálias e meias nos pes gordos!!!!   Ah... o cabelo é uma obra de arte e quanto mais elaborado o penteado maior é o nivel técnico do participante.

 

Durante os duelos, que sao super rápidos - acho que duram uns 30 segundos- presenciamos algumas cerimônias bem significativas.   O grande campeão Yokozuna entra no centro do estúdio (o local onde tudo acontece) e faz uns movimentos meio engraçados chamando os espíritos ruins da platéia para o centro da luta.   E, ao final do dia, outro grodinho faz uma dança, ou sei lá o que exatamente, para encorajar os demais para o próximo dia de torneio.

 

Na verdade, os gordinhos são celebridades aqui, por onde passam são aplaudidos e são alvo de fotos. Não só por nós, ocidentais curiosos, mas pelos espectadores em geral.

Yo iba a hacer un post sobre punk.

Iba a ser sobre Sex Pistols. Sobre como los Sex Pistols fueron los héroes de un tiempo nefasto en Inglaterra y porqué. Sobre que al punk lo considero más un movimiento social del que se desprendió uno musical. También iba a decir que por mas documental, libro o página que veo... no le encuentro la vuelta al punk. Que tal vez no me llegó la hora de escuchar punk. Iba a explicar que siempre pensé que no es uno quien encuentra la música, si no que la música lo encuentra a uno, que el punk todavía no me llegó. Iba a explicar tantas cosas. Lo iba a relacionar con SUMO (orgullo argentino). Iba a hablar de Luca y de su hermano Andrea (que es una persona extremadamente dulce).  Iba a hablar sobre Sid Vicious y la estúpida de su novia. Sobre la moda punk y de porqué creo que hoy ya sólo es una moda y no tiene el mismo sentido que tuvo en Inglaterra en los '70. Iba a hablar sobre como evolucionamos (o no) en cuanto a las peleas contra el "sistema", planeaba decir que hoy somos más inteligentes o diferentes y que por eso muchos entendemos que el sistema se pelea desde adentro. Tal vez, algunos pensamos así porque antes existió un Johnny Rotten. Si, un Rotten que alguna vez dijo: "Cuando vi que todos se vestían de la misma manera que yo, entendí que el punk iba a morir". El mismo Rotten que hoy vi en este video:

Y no me olvido que este post iba a ser dedicado a Humber. Pero ya no sé si él lo quiere.

“I was forced to accept money and made to fight in unfair matches from the very moment I entered the makuuchi [the top rank of sumo wresting]." Wakanoho proclaimed. As well, he warned that he will later reveal “other evil things that I know.” He also took time to strike out at his former manager saying, "my stable master and others knew about the match-fixing but nobody stepped in because they had also been fighting in rigged matches themselves.”

Wakanoho, whose real name is Soslan Gagloev, insists that when he finally is heard in court he will reveal that many of his former stable-mates were constant pot smokers. It only makes sense, these are giant men who are expected to maintain their girth and what better way than to get blazed and get the munchies. Besides, their whole sport is based on just pushing one another, no reason why pot would take away from that.

The upcoming trial, a libel suit between the magazine The Weekly Gendai on one side and the Japan Sumo Association on the other should become much more interesting with Wakanoho's testimony for Gendai. Regardless, the national sport of Japan is being rocked by these scandals and the fans are starting to get disgusted. Can you imagine if our national sport had a drug problem? I mean, it'd be disastrous. Oh wait...

La Biblia no habla de enfermedades y pestes que aparecerán en los tiempos finales, hemos escuchado del ébola, del sida, de nuevos tipos de hepatitis, de la gripe aviar y michas más, ahora aparece el BgKL; y esto va para más.

Va para muchísimo más, ya que esto solo es el principio de dolores.

Veamos la noticia:

Alertan de un virus que se propaga entre los luchadores de sumo y los jugadores de rugby

La alarma se ha encendido en el mundo del rugby y del sumo profesional. según divulga la revista especializada Journal of General Virology, un virus que se propaga por contacto corporal afecta a deportistas como luchadores de sumo o jugadores de fútbol rugby.

En una información que recoge la agencia de noticias PL, cuenta que el herpes gladiatorum, conocido también como scrumpox o virus BgKL, se adquiere por el contacto con la piel lesionada y puede llegar a ser letal en los casos más graves.

Hasta ahora, dos luchadores de sumo han fallecido por causa de la infección, aunque las complicaciones severas son raras, escribieron en la revista expertos del Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Infecciosas de la Universidad de Tokio.

Los afectados pueden padecer irritación en la garganta, inflamación glandular, úlceras en el rostro, brazos, cuello y piernas.

Una cepa la BgOL ha estado históricamente vinculada al herpes gladiatorum, pero entre los 39 luchadores diagnosticados de 1989 y 1994 prevalecía la BgKL.

"Cuando la cepa de herpes BgKL se reactiva, se propaga de manera más eficiente y causa síntomas más severos que la cepa BgOL y que otras cepas", señaló Kazuo Yanagi, autor del estudio.

The great champion Asashoryu seems to be winding down his career.  He lost 4 of his first 7 fights and retired from the tournament with "injuries", the second time in a row he has pulled that stunt.  There will be pressure on him for sure to either pull up his socks or to retire.  Asashoryu has 22 Emperor's Cups and was hoping in a few years to have taken the record from Taiho's 32 wins.  However, Hakuho, Ama and a few up-and-comers will probably put paid to that idea.  Of course, if he comes back for a win in November, then all bets are off.

Hooray, the European football season is back!  It is a treat to watch good football each and every Saturday morning.  I am especially pleased that Chelsea are already top of the English Premier Division, a position I hope they hold until the end.

Also starting is the North American ice hockey season.  We are still in exhibition play for another couple of weeks, but the Canucks have begun what was supposed to be a "transitional" season for the team with a surprising 4-0 record.   Vigneault has been putting out some fascinating line combinations with our young prospects and a few of the talent acquired over the summer.   Today is the big pre-season cut day; a dozen or more players have to be cut from the roster.  It will be very interesting to see what the coach does with fewer options.

And finally, there is cycling.  Alberto Contador joined the list of only four other cyclists who have won all three Grand Tours: the Tour de France in 2007, the Giro d'Italia this May, and the Vuelta a Espagna this month.  It has been hard to follow the post Tour season.  My heavy load at work and no TV coverage has made it very difficult.  I love to watch cycling, and following it on text just doesn't cut it.  Hopefully the 2009 season will be better covered by OLN and others.

• As I mentioned in this post, the 相撲 (Sumo) wrestler 若ノ鵬 (Wakanohou) was banned for life from wrestling 相撲 (Sumo) because he was caught with marijuana.

  Well, he has just recently claimed that the 相撲 (Sumo) Association in Japan bribes wrestlers to lose matches.

  He said that if he is reinstated, he will help to clean up 相撲 (Sumo). I can't help but wonder, if he knew about rigged matches, why didn't he clean up 相撲 (Sumo) before he was caught with drugs!

• A forty-year old woman in 神奈川県横須賀市 (Yokosuka, Japan) was arrested for strangling her 11-year old son to death.
• A railroad signal in Japan malfunctioned on Sunday, 28 September 2008 forcing the Japan Railway Company (JR) to halt 新幹線 (Bullet train) services for about four hours, affecting thousands of passengers.
• The country of Austria has changed their age of suffrage (voting) to 16 years old. So now, any Austrian who is at least sixteen can vote in national elections.
• The legendary actor Paul Newman died on Friday, 26 September 2008 of cancer. He was 83 years old. He had acted in Hollywood for over sixty years (my personal favorite of his numerous movies is "Cool Hand Luke").
• A woman in America found a bat in her coffee filter after she had drunk a cup of coffee. The health department couldn't test the animal because it had been cooked by the hot water in the coffe machine...so the woman had to undergo rabies treatment.
• Four boys in Texas, America whose ages ranged from 11 to 15 often broke into the home of one their 63-year old neighbors to steal his junkfood.
  The homeowner finally caught them in the act recently and confronted them with a shotgun.
  The children were unarmed and never threatened or hurt the man, nor did they take anything except candies and cookies.
  But still, the man pointed his gun at them and ordered them to their knees. They began to beg for their lives. He hit them with the gun and kicked them...then he shot one of the boys, who was 13, in the back and killed him!

  The most shocking part of this story, to me, is that the man was acquitted in court of any wrong-doing!

Después de mi más que grata primera experiencia, después de seguir los combates por televisión, después de estar esperando que llegase el torneo de septiembre (kugatsu bashō), después de aprenderme los cuatro nombres de rigor para parecer un entendido en la materia, después de decidir de lado de cual de los dos Yokozuna (luchadores de más alto nivel) estoy,.. volví al sumo.

Esos dos rikishi de más alto rango son Asashoryu y Hakuho, ambos de Mongolia. Como ya conté Asashoryu es "el malo": dijo que estaba lesionado para no participar una temporada y se fue a jugar a fútbol a su país, no es raro que insulte incluso a los jueces, rompió el coche de otro luchador, problemas con hacienda... Hakuho es el bueno, o por lo menos el que no hace todo eso.

En las fotos de aquí abajo se les puede ver a ambos haciendo sus respectivas ceremonias de dohyou iri. En la primera Hakuho (23 años), en la segunda Asashoryu (28 años). Esta ceremonia sólo la hacen los luchadores de ese grado a las 16:00, justo después de que los de alto nivel, pero inferior a ellos, se presenten en el suelo de combate como aparecen en la foto de arriba.

... pues tras mucho deliberar conmigo mismo (vale, no tanto), me he decantado por "el malo". Desde mi punto de vista... me gusta su carisma, sus miradas temerarias, su porte,.. y me parece que Asashoryu hace el sumo más interesante. Hace que mucha gente no sólo quiera que Hakuho gane, además quieren que le patee el culo a su compatriota y si lo hace lo festejarán.

De todos modos el torneo dura dos semanas y los Yokozuna no se enfrentarán hasta el último día y el último combate, haciendo las delicias de los asistentes. Una pelea cargada de tensión.

Me acerqué un sábado, conseguí mejores asientos que la vez anterior y disfruté del espectáculo. Anduve por los pasillos a ver si me encontraba con algún luchador que conociese con quien hacerme una foto (como si fuésemos amigos de toda la vida, o de dos o tres vidas). Realmente a quien me quería encontrar era a Takamisakari... pero no tuve suerte.

Ya hablé de él en la anterior entrada... ese rikishi que dicen que es retrasado porque siempre se está riendo o haciendo tonterías... y qué si lo fuese?. Cada vez que aparece en escena, en esta ocasión con el mawashi azul en las fotos de abajo, saca una risa de casi todos los presentes...

Perdió. Además se volvió a los vestuarios sangrando considerablemente por la nariz de un manotazo que le dio su enemigo. Recorriendo el pasillo con la cabeza alta, con sangre, pasos cortos y los brazos abiertos, parecía un niño... supongo que eso fue lo que provocó las risas de parte del público. Takamisakari no destaca por acumular muchas victorias... pero es otro luchador que me cae bien y me gusta verle hacer sus chorradas o con una enorme sonrisa en la cara. Ánimo Takamisakari.

El torneo dura, cada día, desde las 8:30 de la mañana hasta las 18:00. La tarde continuó. Fueron apareciendo diferentes luchadores, diferentes combates,.. Asashoryu y Hakuho ganaron los suyos y tras el último, un rikishi de alto rango realizó el yumitori-shiki (un baile tradicional con arco) mientras en el exterior del recinto sonaban los tambores para pedir a los asistentes que volviesen.

Después de ese sábado, Asashoryu (en la foto de arriba) se lesionó el codo izquierdo y tenía un total de cuatro derrotas, demasiadas para un luchador de su nivel. Un sumotori puede bajar de rango, pero nunca un Yokozuna. Si éste acumula muchas derrotas debe retirarse. Al tener el codo lesionado el presidente de la organización le ha permitido el ausentarse de competir durante dos o tres temporadas, pero le ha obligado a recuperar su nivel de victorias.

Takamisakari ha ganado varias veces dejando un poco mejor su promedio en este campeonato.

Hakuho, con una sola derrota en todo el campeonato es el ganador indiscutible del evento que acabó el pasado domingo 28 de septiembre.

All of the sudden I am a geek. Some weirdo that doesn't have anything better to do in his spare time. Or knows too much to be considered normal. Well, I'm not like that, am I? Who knows?

I had a passion for robots since my mid grade school years when I first saw Star Wars. I got hooked, but there wasn't anything even remotely connected to what the industry offers today. So playing with my Meccano sets allowed me to build static sort of look a like robots that didn't satisfy my imagination. A few years learnig basic electronics at a school club lead to some electronic projects long lost by now. Years latter, I took a computer course and got hired as a computer technician. I have learned to CAD my electronic projects and a little procedural programming. But the spring of 2001 was actually the first moment I have built and programmed my first robot from a Lego Mindstorms kit I bought. Little by little I read more interesting things about robotics, played with my kit and by the end of that year I participated to my first robotic competition: line following. I got my first People's Chioce trophy for an unusual robot I had for that event. That boosted my desire to do more and get competitive. I have participated to many competitions and got some nice trophies and prices over the years. Maze, Sumo (several events), King of the Hill, Pipe Runners, Ocean Crossing, Trash Day, Milk Delivery, Soccer, Indy5.00, Stair Climbing, Mini-Sumo, just to name them takes a wile. All of them with Lego robots. Want to see the trophies? Take a look here. The prices were Lego kits that I have used to make more robots!

Today I still use Lego to prototype some of my creations and to participate to Lego robots competitions, but I have moved on to "sheet metal" robots (I don't know why they call it that way, the robots are built mainly from plastic...) and custom electronics. I feel more comfortable building the hardware than programming it, but when I don't know something, I am not afraid to ask. That's how I found the Society of Robots website and forum. Feeling that I have to give back to the comunity that helped me grow, I have written some robot tutorials that even got me some nice prices on the SoR tutorial contests. See the VCR robot tutorial (second price), the CD-bot tutorial (unfinished) and the Balancig bot tutorial (second price) for more information. I am also working on a bigger robot, a Personal Butler Robot, named ERIC.

After posting my creations all over the internet, I decided to get them all together here and continue to write about the new ones as they are built. Maybe this will inspire others to pursue their dreams, learn what it takes and give back to the comunity.

El Yokozuna mongol Hakuho sumó su octava Copa Emperador del Japón al adjudicarse el Gran Torneo de Sumo de Otoño desarrollado en el Ryogoku Kokugikan de la capital nipona.

Munkhbat Davaajargal verdadero nombre del aguerrido luchador de 23 años de edad quien pertenece al Beya Miyagino logró un récord de 14 victorias y apenas 1 derrota frente al Maegashira Kisenosato quien lo derrotó por "oshidashi".

En diálogo con la prensa, el campeón mongol refirió que puso su mejor esfuerzo en la competencia para limpiar la imagen del tradicional deporte nipón que se vio afectada por el escándalo de los tres luchadores rusos que fueron separados por consumir marihuana.

"Ganar este torneo me ha dado gran satisfacción porque como Yokozuna tenía la responsabilidad de liderar a los demás luchadores", dijo el mongol quien en la última fecha se impuso al Ozeki Kotomitsuki por "Yorikiri".

De otra parte, la Asociación Japonesa de Sumo entregó al Sekiwake mongol Ama el Premio "Shukun-Sho" (Mejor Actuación), al Maegashira Goeido con el Premio "Kanto-Sho" (Mejor Espíritu de Lucha) mientras que declaró vacante el Premio "Gino-sho" (Mejor Técnica).

EL DATO
El también Yokozuna mongol Asashoryu se retiró de la competencia en la novena fecha luego de caer por "okuridashi" frente a su compatriota el Sekiwake Ama debido a una lesión en el hombro.

Mata yasi!

© 2008 BLOG DEL PETA

(Photo by me)

Back in the summer of 2005, we acquired what is known as a "Sumo Tube."  Now, many people are familiar with the idea of going tubing behind a boat: sit on or lay across a tube while being pulled behind a boat at high speeds, by a driver who scores points by throwing the rider from said tube.  Quite a novel concept, surely having accrued countless numbers of injuries to its name - as all of the most fun ways to go tubing tend to be listed under the giant WARNING label, displayed prominently on the bottom side of the tube in order to prevent what is commonly referred to as "buzzkill syndrome."

Well as fun as normal tubing can be, isn't it lacking in a certain something.  I mean, sure, you can ride it left and right, jump the wake, launch the rider/riders, and create what is referred to as a 7-layer-death-ride experience:  when the driver achieves the successive layering of water-air-tube-air-person-air-person off a good wake launch.  But is that really all that extreme?  What if instead of laying on a tube, which keeps your face a safe 12 inches away from the water, you could somehow position yourself right in the center of the tube?  Imagine:  water rushing past as hard as a board just inches or less from your face!  One false move and bam:  your sinuses cleared out by 5 gallons in under .03 seconds!  If the tube decides to roll over, you roll over with it.  Enter the Sumo Tube.

Rather than laying across the tube, Sumo Tube is a tube that you put on.  It's the Moo-Moo dress of water sports.  Looking like an overblown wife-beater or A-frame shirt, you slip on the sump tube over your head, and then have your arms and head poke out through the top, your feet dangling out through the back.  Rather than attaching the tube to the back of the boat, with sumo tubing the rider simply holds onto the tow-rope, as would any water-skier or wakeboarder.  Let's watch Sumo Tubing Part 1:  An Introduction.

As you can see from the video, there's not all that much that one can do with just a Sumo Tube:  you can turn from side to side, cross each wake and come back into the center, and do a barrel roll.  That covers the extent of the "tricks" available to Sumo Tubers.  Well, unless you get creative...

The whole idea of using the tow-rope versus being attached to the back of the boat provides a wealth of potential expansions of the Sumo Tube's meager array of tricks.  Could you Sumo Tube and wakeboard at the same time?  How about Sumo Tubing and water skiing?

And, while this might sound crazy ... could one change their water sport mid run with the introduction of the Sumo Tube?  Is the water-ski to Sumo Tube change possible????  There's only one way to find out:  check out Sumo Tubing Part 2 - The Ski to Sumo Tube Transition

There you have it, the world's first documented case of a successful water skiing to Sumo Tubing transition.  One for the record books!

Or story books:  it looks like "Humpty Dumpty Goes Water Skiing"!

St. Martin’s Press 2007 422 pp. ISBN-13:978-0-312-27482-5

14^th September 2008 - this is the most productive lift I have ever done

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