IIIII

ABNORMAL, adj. Not conforming to standard. In matters of thought and conduct, to be independent is to be abnormal, to be abnormal is to be detested. Wherefore the lexicographer adviseth a striving toward the straiter [sic] resemblance of the Average Man than he hath to himself. Whoso attaineth thereto shall have peace, the prospect of death and the hope of Hell. Nice.

Anyone else have any friends/colleagues who do this? Say what you want to hear rather than say the plain truch. I've got this colleague who seems to like me (not keen on them myself) and everything seems just so superficial. It's like they will not say anything negative, always what they think I want to hear rather than the reality. It drives me nuts sometimes. Is there a fairly polite way to ask them to quit that or are they unchangeable?

Can't help with the NZ stuff, but really sorry to hear about the bad news.

Tom Clancy is easier in the movies for sure. I never understood why the books are so popular - they seem very geeky.

Us gaijin don't count, do we?

"what it feels like to do it for money" I'm currently battling through the Bill Clinton book. Long-winded is the most suited word right now.

I have no idea what I was thinking when I called myself IIIII.

I'd definitely choose Chinese, I'd love to be able to speak a bit. PErhaps I should stick with the Japanese for now though.

If you include watching your own DVDs and stuff, then I probably average about 1hr a day, maybe a bit more. Pretty much the only thing I watch on broadcast programs is the news.

Only sometimes, and the place goes mad when it does fall.

This thread should be in it's own private section. When were we last, er, "on topic"?

Same happened here yama3 - it did seem a bit strange at the time but I can cope with it.

I have no idea where mine came from.

Actually they were quite nice.

Recently I've been listening to a lot of radio from back home on the internet, great to hear some of the local stuff (even the ads!)

"Naturally delicious New Zealand Cookies - as enjoyed on some of the world's best Airlines" A Japanese friend of mine just came back from New Zealand and brought me a box of cookies called "Airline Cookies", boasting that they are 'enjoyed on some of the world's best Airlines'. WTF? Is that supposed to be a selling point?! Made me laugh!

Only Fools & Horses. Classic comedy - a friend has the complete collection on dvd and I'm going through them now. So funny. I see they are making a new series based on Boycie and his wife characters called "The Green Green Grass". Some Only Fools quotes for the laffs: http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/onlyfools/quotes/

Tasty food time, yes. And putting on weight as well. I was away for only 2 weeks in the end but have definitely put on a few kg. Time to start losing that.

I watched Boogie Nights last night and really enjoyed it.

Good on ya boardbaka, I wish I was at the point where I could seriously consider that. (It only gets to the daydreaming stage)

We need some Hokkaidojins to answer this, but I suspect you'll be disappointed. When I went there was a fair amount of cheese around, but it was very predictable Japanese-style rubbery stuff.

Strange stuff. It should be in 3d.

I was just reading a few articles on the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This one in particular http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4724793.stm So here's a poll to see what we think. On the 60th anniversary of the destruction of Hiroshima, new questions are being asked about whether it was necessary to drop the atomic bomb - and whether the bomb was really responsible for the Japanese surrender.

Anyone have experience getting your vinyl records onto your computer (and eventually onto ipod etc)? I've been looking online and getting confused by it all. So any first hand tips would be helpful if anyone has any and your setup. Cheers.

I know of a womens beauty salon called "Pis".