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George_E_Hale

insufferable blowhard

2 followers   follows 13 users  
joined 2022 September 04 19:24:43 UTC

The things you lean on / are things that don't last

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George_E_Hale


								

								

								
								
								

								
							
					
 
				


				
insufferable blowhard

				
				
				

				

					2 followers  

					follows 13 users  

					joined 2022 September 04 19:24:43 UTC
				


				
					

					
The things you lean on / are things that don't last



				

				

				

				

				

					

					

					
					
					

					
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				Aqouta goes to China part 1
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
There's an area called Shinsaibashi and also Namba that are in that area, Dotonbori is basically a famous bridge over the river. Lots and lots of Chinese/Korean and now Europeans. I know it fairly well. Even if you have something arranged I can meet for a beer if you're available. I've sent DM'd you my info.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 24, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Seconded. This sounds like bullshit.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Aqouta goes to China part 1
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I didn't remember that I had followed you but I got the notification that you had posted this. So, following people does have some value.


Immensely enjoyed reading this. Do post photos. If you haven't come through Osaka yet I am still here and would be happy to meet, or buy you a beer (unfortunately as you will see there are no Slurpees in Japanese 7-11s.) If you've already passed through, well, next time.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for March 23, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
In the first song there in your link, there is a lot of end rhyme, though in Japanese end rhyme of that sort is less the word and more the word ending, e.g. だ and さ. True, it's slant rhyme (there is no intentional insulting pun there goddamit) but it is rhyme.


I don't read Japanese poetry in Japanese, and J pop songs now are mostly background noise to whatever dance routine there may be. Unless one listens to indie or alternative, which I will if exposed to it but don't seek out. I don't even hate American pop songs as a whole, but at some point in the early oughts I started hating both rap and hip hop, though until then I had mixtapes of both (actual cassettes). Something happened somewhere in there with those genres, or maybe I just got old.


Generally my tastes run eclectic in music and my Spotify playlists are all over the shop. On this train ride at the moment I am listening to ambient. for no reason except Tuesday.


I'm sure there are differences in Japanese and English rhyming, but I don't know what they are. Even Japanese literature I tend to read in English. Yukio Mishima is not difficult to read in translation but apparently very hard to read in Japanese. Murakami is easy in both. Literary translation is an interesting field, and I wonder how well LLMs do it. Or people, for that matter. As an aside, I only realized a few years ago that Yoda, in Japanese translation, has no distinctive way of speaking. That's a small point and not literary, and now I'm way off topic.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for March 23, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Anyone who's been seriously hungry and slept hard should at least have some feeling there for a refugee (not one, of course, being housed in a hotel on taxpayer money). And some see a wounded bird and all they see is unanswered pain. Somebody else can see that same bird....and feel the glory. That last of course is a Terrence Malick line.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for March 23, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Knowing nothing about it I tossed a few queries into ChatGPT including your question. I won't just post it but I find LLMs useful for this kind of thing, in particular if you're willing to fine-tune questions.


Unfortunately I'm in no way literate enough about it to converse in any interesting way


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for March 23, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Best of luck to you!


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for March 23, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
For me it certainly depends on the rhyming. Most supposed "non-rhyming" poetry does have internal rhyme and slant rhyme.


One of my favorites from a few decades ago, note the rhyme, which is very easy to just miss:


The Beautiful Changes


One wading a Fall meadow finds on all sides

The Queen Anne’s Lace lying like lilies
On water; it glides


So from the walker, it turns


Dry grass to a lake, as the slightest shade of you

Valleys my mind in fabulous blue Lucernes.


The beautiful changes as a forest is changed

By a chameleon’s tuning his skin to it;

As a mantis, arranged


On a green leaf, grows


Into it, makes the leaf leafier, and proves

Any greenness is deeper than anyone knows.


Your hands hold roses always in a way that says

They are not only yours; the beautiful changes

In such kind ways,

Wishing ever to sunder


Things and things’ selves for a second finding, to lose

For a moment all that it touches back to wonder.


--Richard Wilbur


Wilbur was poet laureate in 1987, and deservedly so. Many of them have boggled the mind, but Wilbur was solid. I saw him read once, back in the early 90's. I did not drink white wine but I did get drunk at the reception.


Anyway compare the rhyme there to a poem like this:


Phenomenal Woman


Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.


I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size


But when I start to tell them,


They think I'm telling lies.
I say,


It's in the reach of my arms


The span of my hips,


The stride of my step,


The curl of my lips.


I'm a woman


Phenomenally.


Phenomenal woman,


That's me.


I walk into a room


Just as cool as you please,


And to a man,


The fellows stand or


Fall down on their knees.


Then they swarm around me,


A hive of honey bees.


I say,


It's the fire in my eyes,


And the flash of my teeth,


The swing in my waist,


And the joy in my feet.


I'm a woman


Phenomenally.


Phenomenal woman,


That's me.


Men themselves have wondered


What they see in me.


They try so much


But they can't touch


My inner mystery.


When I try to show them


They say they still can't see.


I say,


It's in the arch of my back,


The sun of my smile,


The ride of my breasts,


The grace of my style.


I'm a woman


Phenomenally.


Phenomenal woman,


That's me.


Now you understand


Just why my head's not bowed.


I don't shout or jump about


Or have to talk real loud.


When you see me passing


It ought to make you proud.


I say,


It's in the click of my heels,


The bend of my hair,


the palm of my hand,


The need of my care,


'Cause I'm a woman


Phenomenally.


Phenomenal woman,


That's me.


--Maya Angelou


Angelou was never poet laureate, though she did PL things, like read at inaugurations. I thought her poetry was undergrad level tripe, though her book I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is, from what I remember of it, very good. MY point is Angelou's rhyme here is clunky and obvious, and even in its clunky and obviousness, it is simplistic and dull. It makes me feel stupider by reading it. It's like a pop song on the page.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Wellness Wednesday for March 19, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Chewing. In particular my wife chewing, a moment in which I feel as if I can hear every muscle in her mouth, movement of her tongue, excretion of digestive saliva, all the way to the swallowing. Caveat: I do not always notice this. Could it be the TV? She often has the television on as well so I think the mouth noises are muted usually, but when they aren't, all the sounds set me on edge. Or maybe it's just sometimes that it's so audible--meaning not always, but only some times, and at other times my mind switches off. I do not notice chewing in other people, though just recently my son ate a doughnut there at the table as I was typing something and it was as if he were suddenly chewing just like his mother. I nearly said something, but didn't--because really it's not his problem, it's mine.


Again, is this just me sometimes? Or is it them, all the time? Do people notice their noisy mouth-noising? Do I also do this and annoy other people?  SA writes:




But some misophoniacs say that they’re only triggered by specific people - usually those close to them. If some rando chews loudly, they’ll be mildly annoyed; if their brother does, they’ll flip out. Probably there’s a reasonable explanation here too, but at this point maybe we should also be considering a larger-scale update.




He also writes in that article about background noises. Something odd I've realized is that while background noise is ubiquitous in Japan--my rice cooker plays music when it's done, my bath plays an electronic riff of Canon in D when the bath is full, you hear announcers saying: "こちらは、男子のトイレ". THis means "This is the men's toilet." It goes on and on. In some train stations there are fake bird noises. I still don't know why (Someone here will probably tell me.)


None of it bothers me. But put me on a plane to the US with a bunch of Americans, or in a public space with Americans yakking on and on, or some random person yakking in English on their phone in Cleveland, and it's very annoying. Because I can understand every word, and have forgotten how to tune out the way I can subtly tune out Japanese speakers.


Also I had never heard of the McGurk effect mentioned in that article. Weird.


Anyway the chewing thing, maybe it's something bizarre about me, my wife, and, now, my son. Thankfully I don't worry about things too much, so I tend to just let it go because fuck it.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 17, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I cannot rise to your cynicism. It would feel like trying to reason with KulakRevolt, who I do not admire and will not engage with (this is not true of you). I appreciate the long, considered response, but as a rule I dislike tribalism, and your talk of tribe loyalty flies by me. You're entitled to your wholesale rejection of everything, of course, I will not deny that to you. But I am far from that. An ocean away, as it were.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 17, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
This is the law in Japan for any non-Japanese. You must carry proof of your status at all times--the 外国人登録証 or popularly-known "gaijin card," which indicates your visa status. Everyone here who stays longer than 3 months gets one (students, those employed, etc.) except maybe diplomats. This is in lieu of carrying your passport, which visitors (under 3 months) are required to do. In the US, if I'm not mistaken, visitors can carry a paper photocopy of their (foreign) passports. Those who are born here but are not Japanese (e.g. Zainichi Koreans) have a 特別永住者証明書 card or "special permanent residency" card that they also must carry.


That said, Japanese nationals are not required to do this. The fact that all Japanese do not look exactly alike aside, it is obviously different in the US to some degree--American citizens cannot be easily dentified simply on what they look like (though jeans and a t-shirt isn't a bad profiling protocol). I would personally be at least wary of a law that by default would require everyone to carry not just ID but proof-of-citizenship.


"Reassessing the realities of the present situation" is a vague pronouncement, of the kind that is not your habit. It's also not a phrase that engenders trust. We should at least acknowledge the fact that all manner of shackles can be added in the name of "realities of the situation."


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 17, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
One has to wonder, though, if those who do the downvoting are those same users with whom you are debating. As you must realize, having been one, there are many lurkers here. I find that almost any civil reply, even if it is in extreme disagreement, is preferable to the smug dismissal, or the silent downvote.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 17, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
A bump of that sweet, smoking gun, as you write in your bio. I sense you're here not exactly as a troll, but that you don't particularly feel you're among like minds.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 17, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I find it oddly bizarre that you've been down voted here for answering a question sincerely, without rancor.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 17, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
From your data set though the AI wouldn't be looking at how the player grips the bat, but how the player writes about gripping the bat, if he does at all, or how he texts about the game, etc.  I believe @pbmonster 's point is that while "text game" may be one data point (and as far as it might get one in the proverbial door, an important one) but it doesn't read body language (gripping the bat), tone of voice, eye contact, scent, speed of talking, whether you shake your knee up and down, how she holds her hair over one shoulder, etc  etc. To say nothing of moments when the two of you laugh at the same thing, or other, small but deep indicators that may not be very legible in text interactions.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 17, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I accept this take, except point 5. While a fit of depression could explain suicide--- and that wouldn't necessarily be surprising--Epstein had (cough) gotten off before, and with considerable leniency.He couldn't expect the same freedom this time, obviously due to the high profile nature of his case, but the whole nature of the "Epstein didn't kill himself" bit isn't that depression is impossible, but that he was capable of naming names and thus too inconvenient to allow to live. Until that is put to rest the suspicion that he was eliminated will persist. And I'm not sure exactly how it could ever be put to rest.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for March 16, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Are we considering Jewish-Christian bi-racial??


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 10, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
To be sure. I'm simply expressing my own distaste, not projecting on women. Many times I've seen dudes way different than I am and suspected, "well he wouldn't be looking or acting like that if it weren't getting him laid somehow."


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 10, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
There is a certain fey demeanor in many of the young guys who join these bands, which one cannot directly relate to physical weakness--they go through extremely rigorous training or, in some cases, vetting because they've applied to an agency, to reach a level of dance skill that is deemed acceptable. I would, in most cases, disagree that many of these guys are what you are calling conventionally attractive (at least physically) unless you are including in that net the conventional attractiveness of the feminine.


I once grew my hair out long, because I was young and influenced by films at the time. My buddy used to look at me and say: "Never go to prison."


There's a prettyboy look to the boybands that is not masculine, and is decidedly, at least in my view, more feminine. And as I say, it's not just the make-up, it's their way of laughing (covering their mouths, a very female gesture in Japan), of moving as they walk with what is clearly an affected swagger that has more in common with actresses in Takarazuka who are pretending to be men than an actual man. There's a particular gesture of using one's hand to lightly brush away one's bangs or forelock from the eyes that I have noticed common in these guys, that is to me very marked as female (the guy gesture would be to run the hand through the hair straight back and clear the bangs, not wipe them with one hand very delicately, as if parting a bead curtain.)


As for gayness, there was a scandal a few years ago regarding one of the main companies that produces these bangs, alleging that the owner/mastermind--who had perhaps conveniently died four years earlier--had forced young boys into sexual acts with him. He obviously never faced any prison time or trial because he was dead, and to me at least this was less of a scandal than a revelation of an obvious process that had been covered up for years. The man who had arguably begun the boyband trend in Japan by manufacturing many such groups had been cultivating, if not the actual members of the groups (but maybe also those guys) but applicants, as his personal catamites.


To your point that these guys demonstrate gregariousness and confidence, I concede. At least in public or in publicized interviews they're pretty happy and, cough, gay. <-- Note that in this interview, with the group named "King & Prince" when there were several members (all but two have "retired") they are dressed in more traditionally masculine clothes than what you often see.


A final thought: Despite my distaste for these bands I've noticed almost all the guys have enviably really deep speaking voices.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 10, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
They have solved this in Japan by creating musical dance groups and cultivating hundreds of thousands of screaming female fans.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 10, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I find myself in the weird position of introducing Yaoi to the Motte. Or, not actually introducing, because a lot of Mottizens are far more acquainted with Japanese pop culture than I.


Yaoi, for those who do not want to click:




The term yaoi (/ˈjaʊi/ YOW-ee; Japanese: やおい [jaꜜo.i]) emerged as a name for the genre in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the context of dōjinshi (self-published works) culture as a portmanteau of yama nashi, ochi nashi, imi nashi ("no climax, no point, no meaning"), where it was used in a self-deprecating manner to refer to amateur fan works that focused on sex to the exclusion of plot and character development, and that often parodied mainstream manga and anime by depicting male characters from popular series in sexual scenarios. "Boys' love" was later adopted by Japanese publications in the 1990s as an umbrella term for male-male romance media marketed to women.




I have known some (Japanese) girls in the past who were into this genre. They were without exception very feminine in appearance, often wearing frilly dresses, a good deal of makeup, etc. The one girl I asked about this type manga explained that the love expressed was "pure," whatever that means. I have no further insight.


Edit: I disagree with the Wikipedia pronunciation of this term, as Japanese has no stress on syllables, so it should be something more like YAH OH EE. But then I could be wrong because I don't know if I've ever heard it pronounced.


Edit 2: See also Shojou manga


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for March 14, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Lots of weird food things like that here.


As you say バーモントカレー is "Vermont curry." The roux is apparently sweetened with apples and honey at some point. It's good. I prefer the 辛口 or spicy version.


There's an "Indian Beef Curry" in a heat-up pouch in the supermarket up the road. I have no idea what's going on there.


Spaghetti Neopolitan / ナポリタン is boiled spaghetti with chopped up wieners, onions, green pepper, and the sauce is...ketchup. That's like Heinz ketchup, not some special Dijon ketchup or whatever.


Though I've literally never seen a pig in 25 years in Japan (other than wild boar), tonkatsu or pork cutlet (katsu is just short for katsuretsu or cut-let and ton is 豚 which is also pronounced buta or pig) is everywhere. (Notably I have seen wild boars, but no pigs, no hogs, none of that. For that matter I've seen precious few chickens either, but chicken is everywhere here.)


One of the most revolting wines I've ever had is relatively popular here and is labeled Bon Marché, which basically means "cheap" in French.


Any new product that presumably is desired to seem fancy will have one of two words associated with it (or both): Premium, or simply the word "The" in front of it. Example 1　　Example 2


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for March 14, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Stopped reading this halfway through because I want to watch it. Will get back to you.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Wellness Wednesday for March 12, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
All your ideas sound fine. At least you're thinking about what to do. Many do not. But I am gravitating to your last bullet point about the girl in London. It chafes. I suppose you're young enough that it matters a great deal to you what her friends and your friends think of each other--I wouldn't.


I wrote a long message to you, but deleted it because it was just me imposing my values on you, and I don't know you, not even from the Motte as you haven't really posted.


I will say this: This girl you're assuming is into you may turn on a dime, and be gone, without any intention of returning. Just keep that in mind as you carry on with whatever you do.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 10, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
To some degree this is cultural, and the vehemence here on both sides can be attributed to cultural assumptions.


In Japan the school is very much (I was going to put a percent on it but that would be pushing it) charged with raising the children. If you see a kid out in the world pulling some jackass stunt, the question "What is your school and who is your home teacher?" is enough to chill their veins. You don't ask "Who's your dad?"


Enculturation in the Japanese sense cannot occur outside the context of the group, so it is within the group (i.e. the school group[s]) that this process occurs, year by year, from a very very young age.


To some degree this is how one can understand the term "bullying" in Japan. There are of course exceptions, but bullying here is largely when you have a kid who for whatever reason just doesn't toe the line after years of having the rules dinned into his or her brain. (There could of course be all sorts of reasons for this.) So you have an entire class, not just one punk, turning against a student. Bullying here is not one monster terrorizing a class, but a class "terrorizing" one individual.


Teachers here, in particular in primary and secondary education, for the most part (of course I am writing generally) take the job of raising the children (子どもを育てる) as an explicit part of their jobs. In the cases of troubled students (think fighting in school, but also just basic withdrawal) meetings are held, and there is a great deal of discussion and handwringing, often in absurd ways and resulting in very odd strategies. If a kid makes up his or her mind to just rebel, schools will eventually go through with expulsion. And compulsory education only lasts through age 15, or the first year or so of high school.


I've probably overwritten this. I am aware it's different in the US, where people have specific ideas of parenting, self-expression, individuality, and personal choice.