sydenham comments

WTF???

Fadamor, thou speaketh the truth, too.

My wife's company president is a grad of Manchester, and boy does it make a difference!

He is capable of taking private Japanese language lessons for 3 years without actually improving; trying to eliminate face-to-face sales/client meetings (in Japan!!!!); proposing flaky motivational retreats that people refuse to participate in; giving speeches that his secretary has written; messing up the product lineup; and leaving the company after 3 years for another one that pays more for him to accomplish nothing.

That's what I like about Tokyo. The constant change, and the ability of residents to live with impermanence.

That's life. And that's exactly what makes life worth living.

Islam needs more tolerance. Blasphemy is the exact opposite of what should be regulated.

Shaolin, thou speaketh the truth.

ashika1009, with engines these days, you don't have to worry about wear and tear from simply turning off and on at traffic lights. Idling is actually worse for the engine.

Yelnats, apparently Japanese were doing the job. So no worries about sticking out.

Want to complain? Go to Montreal and try to take the Metro. Then come back and take the train here. No comparison. It's sad to say, but the Japanese image of foreign barbarians is probably based on some tourists' experience in my home town. People don't even bother lining up!

Lou Reed was the heart and soul of that band.

looks to me like a pot shot at both the golf and the fashion industries.

I think they hit a hole in one. "nice shot," indeed!

This need for constant connectivity is disturbing. People need to get a life (he typed while on a 10 minute break at work).

Toecutter, you aren't the only one. I was wondering what "exceeding classy" means. Going above and beyond the call of classy?

And how does Aponte "find himself against his own odds?"

And this classic: "is both breathtaking, refreshing and shocking" I mean, I thought "both" meant only 2 things.

And that statement about Tokyo having migrants from "the rest of Asia over the centuries."

I have yet to read about any history book supporting this "fact."

And one does not "prize" oneself, as in the first paragraph, one "prides" oneself, as the reviewer writes near the end.

It's almost as if Chuck, here, was writing a bad post... like me...

When I was 12 I saw a guy die in a hang gliding accident. Got caught by a downward gust headfirst into a boulder. His helmet easily cracked open like a watermelon, as did his head. It's a beautiful, dangerous sport. No thanks, I have kids.

RIP

Deep stuff. It's been downhill ever since Reservoir Dogs, and he hit rock bottom long ago. Ergo..."deep," and still digging.

Incredible performance. Give him a 1 yr contract with the Yanks, and then let him finish out in Japan.

Anomaly Jr.

They're buying the BS.

Here's an example of what happens: An old high school friend recently got into this and posted her video on her Facebook page. Nobody commented directly on her page (of course, that's Facebook for you), however, every single guy I talked to that had seen her video had nothing but negative thoughts about it. Most said something along the lines of it being unbelievably stupid that she thought imitating strippers was "cool," or "sexy," and how it's just more evidence of the dumbing down of what constitutes dance, or sport, or even fitness, for that matter. People buy into any crap these days as long as it's pushed to them through the right messenger, be it websites, magazines, or the boob tube.

Frankly, I agreed with them. It's no less stupid than middle class white men imitating like inner city gangsters. They'll defend themselves by saying they like the "music."

Wow, real modern-day Robin Hoods.

I admire their elan.

evaganda. "so...?"

pole dancing is just striptease, and no amount of after-the-fact effort to legitimize this so-called "sport" can take that away. This is a farcically obvious attempt to make money by gaining mainstream approval of women cheapening themselves under the laughable guise of "empowerment."

In essence, it is saying that all women should take part in this and become strippers, get boob jobs and do lap dances for strangers. those who deny this are either naive, or charlatans.

I don't know which is more pathetic, the women who sell this to other women, or the women that buy into it.

BS.

striptease by any other name is still striptease. the first pole dancer i ever saw did exactly the same position as the the one in the photo above... plus many more. and i was fairly certain at that time that even without any prior knowledge of the eastern influence in this "sport," that I could see all the way to China.

The song was "Lucy in the sky with diamonds," her name was Marie-Claire, and there were free shots of peach schnapps going around the room, for a limited time only, ladies and gentlemen. "Free peach schnapps."

Montreal is not the birthplace of the Cirque du Soleil for nothing.

2.5 mil per month. 30 million per year. Any company renting those things for their execs is a company in need of overhaul.

yes, part of it is jealousy, but the other part is just disbelief at how companies can lose money and still hand over the big dosh to those who usually do the least work. average salary 30 million~100 million plus an extra 30 million for accomodation alone is the biggest waste a company can make.

My wife's (foreign) company hands over the presidency of the J-branch in karaoke style for 2-3 year stints. They live in the types of places described above but slightly more expensive. None of them can speak a word of Japanese, and instead spend their time planning out flaky managerial/motivatinal retreats that the Japanese themselves used to do but abandoned after the bubble burst. When they're not deciding which 5-6 poor slobs (slaving away for the company for much longer than themselves) should get the ax in order to increase "profitability," (conveniently disregarding their own ridiculously oversized salary/living allowance situation) they're pretending to look busy learning basic Japanese for 2 year-olds, in full knowledge of the fact that they won't even be there 3 years later, when their private lessons actually bear fruit and they can start to speak at the level of a 5 year-old.

60 million for that?

yeah, i don't need typhoons either.

This kind of ceremony is held for many things. From sewing needles to carpenters' tools.

jason 6.

I agree with all of what you wrote.

nemoflow,

it occurred almost halfway into the 20th century, way after the west emancipated itself from such medieval ways of operating.

You didn't write that statement seriously, did you?

poor guy. probably put too much msg on the yaki-tori, not knowing buddy was allergic...

The obvious reason for the media hype is to play on people's fears that their children will imitate the behavior of celebrities, which is hardly unfounded.

You can debate all you want about which drugs are harmful or not. It's beside the point. Someone who relies on cultivating a public image in order to make a living has a responsibility as a member if the society that has essentially promoted them to such status.

This guy Morisu doesn't get it. Compare the numbers of young people who aspire to be musicians versus those who want to be politicians.

I can't wait to see comments by the celeb-defence league.

"How dare the media write such slander about the poor woman! Just leave her alone!"

yada yada yada

live by the media, die by the media.

I do believe I would let her ride and whip me for exercise. even though I'm not into the latter.

Interesting how people on this thred like to portray the US as a kind of unified, monolithic entity.