pimon comments

Stay at one and two star hotels. Never been disappointed.

Couldn't agree more. The first couple of times I came to Tokyo, I stayed at some of the nicer places (on expense, of course). But you have to put up with all of the pretentious people in those places (the other guests I mean).

Of course, another valid approach is to just sell those puppies (the hotels)

Terrie Lloyd, did you really need to use the phrase "sell those puppies"? What is this... 1995, and you're writing a newsletter for your sorority?

Are the subcultures of cosplay and hipsters related?

Ziemann told investigators she met the man online through Craigslist, fell in love... Then last Wednesday, she learned from the man’s wife that he was married...

Hang on a minute... then it says:

Ziemann’s husband answered the telephone at their home and declined comment.

So the lady that was so mad because he was married, the one who glued him up, was also currently married?!

iPhones are the top-selling phones in Japan, I believe.

Hard to say, since Apple and SoftBank refuse to disclose sales numbers. This article in Wireless Japan Watch (http://wirelesswatch.jp/2009/06/09/iphone-in-japan-past-present-and-future/) claims to shed some light on sales, but it requires a paid subscription. I read in the WSJ that iPhone sales had tanked last fall, but not sure now. Honestly, I have never seen a single one here.

Don't forget apps.

Indeed. The Twitter feeds and "pull finger for fart" best-selling apps. Not sure what I would do without a smart phone... hold on, I don't have one.

I haven't heard anyone oohing and aahing over my iPhone

Are iPhones at all popular here in Japan? Honestly, I haven't seen a single one, but I am way out of the city.

Japan is nowhere near as annoying as the US with cell phones. Here in Japan, mostly people are sending messages, browsing, or playing games quietly. I was back in the US on a college campus last year for the first time in a few years and can't believe how no students there goes anywhere now without talking constantly on a mobile phone. Same with the airport in Detroit and Newark, everyone walking around between connecting flights all day in America with big baggy pants and talking on their phones.

I am so glad to not be a fashionista! I am a humble university professor, so of course you know that I have no fashion sense. However, I did ask my students (in Japan) what they think of the outfit and all were appalled! It is so cheap and stereotypically street-walker looking. They all hate it.

If Ines Ligron and others are serious about this being fashion, then I honestly believe that the human race has already split into two distinct species. Hers includes people who like this detestable kimono, along with Paris Hilton, and beauty pageants in general. In my camp, all I ask is that you let us have Albert Camus.

This was a really weird article that made me shiver... I thank goodness my wife and I love each other and do things to help one another out of joy. The people in this article sound very twisted.