Random Thoughts: The Next Mutation

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Cerceaux

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Gackt has gotten weird lately. I mean he's always been weird, but all that FriED ChikkENZ stuff is just bizarre. I lost whatever interest I had in his music a long time ago.

So today I'm leaving a store and I hear some guy calling out "Hey Miss!" etc, and I ignore it (there's always panhandlers hanging out in that parking lot and they always start off like that) and keep walking to my car. The guy follows me all the way to my car, I keep ignoring him, get in, lock the door, and then he's right there knocking on my window asking me to give him money so he can buy a sandwich.
Yeah, you want a sandwich? HOW 'BOUT A KNUCKLE SANDWICH?! ::hora::

I haven't been that tempted to run someone over since that asshole trying to get my train ticket a few months ago. ::cop::

@ Shazzer: Your life sounds fun and cool.
 

shazzer

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@ Cerceaux It was a hard way to get there. I had to leave University, became depressed, was unemployed and the people at the job center bullied me. But then I pulled myself together and accepted every job I could get, saved as much money as possible, got a working holiday visa and left my country.

Therefore I want to enjoy my life here as much as possible in order to forget the troubles I had before getting there. I have to say my hard work pays off. I love every second I have gone through in Japan, even the scary ones.
 

Iskanderia

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flowersofnight wrote:
shazzer wrote:
criticised his heavy drinking
Well geez, you might as well have said "STOP GIVING US YOUR MONEY" XD

Yeah, I was gonna say that, while I agree that most of the other reasons for her firing sound really crappy (I like that the refusal to respond positively to sexual harassment is grounds for dismissal in Japan), criticizing a customer's drinking when you work at a BAR is a pretty ridiculous thing to do. The last thing you want when you go to a bar is to feel like your mother is nagging you. If I were her boss, I would've had a talk with her about it.
 

shazzer

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^ you guys got me wrong. I critizised my boss due to his heavy drinking. He passed out twice while working. for me, if you work in a bar, you should be able to handle your drinks. it is not good when the boss falls asleep in front of the customers or is not able to open the bar the next day due to a hang over.
 

Iskanderia

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Oh, sorry. That makes a lot more sense. Whether your boss drank like that only while working at the bar - to keep up with the customers and encourage them to drink more - or he drank like that all the time, he sounds like he's got a problem.

The idea of bar staff drinking with customers to get them to spend more money isn't really something we do in the US and your getting fired in part due to your unwillingness to be more flirty with the customers is weird too. It's almost like, even when they don't work in hostess clubs, female bar staff are expected to act a bit like hostesses anyway.


Speaking of hostess (or, in this case, host) clubs and excessive drinking, I highly recommend people check out this documentary: The Great Happiness Space: Tale of an Osaka Love Thief. It's about the workers in this popular Osaka host club and the crazy women that blow thousands of dollars every month on them.

It's effing bananas. A lot of it is about the ways the guys (who aren't even that hot) manipulate the women into spending more and more money and to keep them coming back night after night. In a hostess club, this is done by always hinting at the possibility of having sex if just a little more money is spent (though it rarely actually happens), but at the host club they are always hinting at the possibility of the host falling in love with the customer and becoming her boyfriend.

Halfway through there is a pretty fascinating/depressing reveal that ratchets the craziness of the whole thing up even more. Seriously, anyone interested in psychology, the weird/dark side of Japan or just good documentaries, check this shit out.
 

flowersofnight

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Iskanderia wrote:
Speaking of hostess (or, in this case, host) clubs and excessive drinking, I highly recommend people check out this documentary: The Great Happiness Space: Tale of an Osaka Love Thief
I second this. I actually bought the DVD from Canada XD For you cheapskates out there, it's also on Youtube or one of those Youtube knockoffs somewhere, I forget where.

Cerceaux wrote:
panhandlers
Now that the weather's getting warmer, the amateurs are coming out XD The other day I saw a fake homeless guy with a cane that he wasn't even touching to the ground, just kind of swinging and pretending to use ::meev:: This is New York, you'll have to step up your game to make it here XD
 

faith

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I think I've seen that...does it talk about how the hosts totally mess up their bodies from all the alcohol and end up with emotional issues?

My boss at Karen Millen used to get drunk and then come in with a hangover, throw all the clothes on the floor out back, and fall asleep on them lol Damn she was awesome. Wish I knew her last name so I could contact her.
 

Cally

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The ferrets have their spazziness amped up to freaking 11 today. The boy's doing little somersaults on the bed and the girl has taken to playing with a new cardboard tube I brought home from work.

@faith: jesus christ is that avatar a recent picture? Didn't he learn from the -last- time he had that look? He looks like my aunt Colleen ::meev::
 

Iskanderia

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@Faith: yeah, that sounds like the same doc - though probably any doc about host clubs would have to bring up the damage they do to their livers by drinking like 5-10 bottles of champagne a day and their inability to have normal relationships with women outside of the club.

The most shocking thing about it is when they reveal that, of the customers they interviewed for the doc (maybe 10-15 women), ]all but a couple (spoiler in black: quote this post to read it) ] are prostitutes. Several of them talked about wanting to leave the profession but were unable to because it was the only way they could afford to regularly visit the host clubs. A couple of them became prostitutes only after they became addicted to the host clubs and fell in love with their host. The craving for attention and feigned love and affection from their host literally drove them to sell their bodies. It's so sad.

The two customers who aren't prostitutes are hostesses themselves. This is particularly bizarre because you would think they would be too savvy to fall for this nonsense. I mean, who knows better than them what bullshit those places are and what tricks the hosts play to hook their clients? This is also sad but I feel less bad for them because they should really know better.


Anyhow, if anyone wants to watch it and can't find it on Youtube or elsewhere online, it's on Netflix streaming and disc.
 

faith

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Yeah that's the one. Spoiler response to spoiler:
I wonder how reliable those girls were though. I mean, there are obviously a lot of prostitutes who use the host clubs, but at the same time maybe they were the only ones willing to be interviewed. So there could definitely be other wakes of society that go too, but just wanted to remain anonymous.

Also, one has to wonder how much of the girl's stories were true. As the host said, they knew they would be watching the video and so they could just be saying things to get attention from the hosts or the listeners. As a study I felt like it was good to some extent, but it left me with a lot of questions as to the methods.

And I don't think the girls are completely clueless or falling for anything per say. I mean they didn't even get into the girl's psychological profiles - that would have been way too detailed and all that - on a level where it really treated why they did it. Other than that, of course, they were paying for a fantasy.


Did anyone read about that man who got kicked out of Saudi Arabia for being too hot? Personally I thought he was ok looking, but not amazing. Anyone else?
 

Lem

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That was a good watch, I wish they did go deeper into the background and psychy of the women interviewed.

What makes me gag are weeaboos that talk about how cool the idea of host clubs are. This video certainly showcases just how twisted the whole thing is.

Funny enough, I find it amusing how the host club culture easily overlaps into the Visual Kei scene. I mean, most VK bands now look like host boys with instruments just in fugly clothes. So to me it's not all surprising when you hear stories of bandmen also working in host clubs or scandelous stories of bandmen coning girls out of money for either sex or faking interest in being their boyfriend.
 

Phantom Pabulum

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*sorry to change the subject*

Ugh my god someone on Reddit is angry with me for recommending MALICE MIZER and Buck tick and stuff as goth bands hahaha

I made a thread to promote bands like Malice Mizer and Velvet Eden.

http://www.reddit.com/r/goth/comments/1 ... ic/c9nme0y

I'm a little embarrassed that I care so much (lol) but it... is.. so.. infuriating...
 

flowersofnight

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Oh God, Oh God ::meev:: You stumbled into a pocket of "Who's a TRUE GOTH" wars XD This can never end well XD

Haruhiko "Gothic Master ::ash::" Ash helped produce "memoire" and he said (years later) there is no goth in Japan. As for me, I'm not even going to pretend to know What Goth Is, but I think you're not supposed to say music is goth unless it's a lot like the 80s goth heroes, or something. *shrug*

Some people count Ér under "gothic", for what that's worth - they're closer to those 80s if nothing else.
 

Phantom Pabulum

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TELL ME ABOUT IT!!!!! Also- wow I did not know he helped produce memoire.

It's so infuriating especially when he calls me a twit or prick or whatever. I know you're supposed to brush such things off but I really want to strangle something right now!!
 

Lem

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That subreddit has the worse layout I have ever seen. Did they let some Geocities kid make it? What's with the stupid anime goth girl on the side too.

Also replied and said you need more Deshabillz. I would read your goth fight with that guy but the text in that subreddit hurts my eyes and I'm closing my browser now.

*edit* Well I guess if I set RSS to night mode, that subreddit isn't so horrible looking.
 

Iskanderia

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Jesus Christ, why is that guy so mad about genres? I like how he says Buck Tick isn't goth but then compares them to The Cure. Since when is The Cure not goth?

Also, his spelling is atrocious.
 

PureElegance

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Geez, ain't nobody got time fo dat!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nh7UgAprdpM
I didn't know there was a song for this, oh my lord jesus.

We performed our traditional Chinese fan dance yesterday and we won first place! :grin: While we were performing and doing one of the cool moves at the end, I heard everyone clapping really hard and being all, "WOW!" and I knew we had done it right! I got the "Best Smile" award since I was so cheerful and smiling throughout it all XD Everyone was so impressed by how graceful we were and our cool jumps and spins :D I'm so proud that I got the fan combinations right too, I was right on time! We each got a cash prize too and we did a bit of shopping afterwards, haha. All the work really paid off for our moment of glory! ::batsu:: I also won two things at the auction NYU held for the Sichuan earthquake. I didn't mind spending the money since it was for a good cause and I love the Sichuan province and Chengdu. I literally held my dance fan up the whole time for the massage.

Then we had oodles of fun at karaoke where I sang more Britney Spears (the day before I went with my Chinese class)... One of the most memorable moments yesterday though was at a party I went to. It was a fun party even if everyone was just mingling and talking, and I liked seeing some people really nerdily drunk. At one point I wobbled to the side because of my heels, but it was a tiny wobble, just a step to the side, and I felt a hand catch my shoulder and I looked and it was Lord Swanson (::meev::). He had turned around and asked me, "Are you okay?" I said yes, but I was really surprised he noticed my wobble. I don't usually wobble.

He wasn't enthralled with the party since he was exhausted from his dance and singing performances. Earlier when he, a friend, and I were walking back home from karaoke, he started singing "I Dreamed a Dream" on the street so beautifully. Wow! It's one of those things you wish you had recorded. It was such a beautiful day too, it's warm, but not too hot, so it was great :D

Hours later, still at the party, I asked if he was going to the club afterwards, and he said he didn't feel up to it tonight, and I didn't either! I was having fun, but I wasn't up to staying out till dawn and my legs were super sore from dancing and practicing for days XD So we left together, but his friend Vanessa suggested we go first to find this amazing sesame noodle place. It was a fun adventure XD We ended up exploring and then sitting on plastic stools eating street food at 3am. Vanessa talked to some men eating and she was amazing with her Chinese! She spoke to them about love and marriage, what they want in life, places they went to, it was really impressive. She was great! They actually thought I was Indian at first, OMG. At the end they said I was very pretty and nice to look at, so that's good XD;; What a super nice ending to a great day ::squee:: Sometimes I can't believe all these things happen in (mostly) one day, haha.

Darn, I got an invitation to see a photographer I really like here in Shanghai, but I'm going to be in Nanjing! ::batsu::
 

faith

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Lol dude. You have so many first world probems

i heatd back from an association I had contacted about volunteering and I start saturday! It's a house for abandoned and maltreated cats. I dunno. I feel like I'll finally be doing something worthwile with my life
 

faith

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