George_E_Hale
insufferable blowhard
The things you lean on / are things that don't last
User ID: 107
George_E_Hale
insufferable blowhard
1mo ago
Also God damn I just saw the price tag on Tabarome and now I feel like a pauper touting Old Spice.
George_E_Hale
insufferable blowhard
1mo ago
Possibly you wouldn't. Or possibly you would. I feel like this is another way of dividing the world--those who appreciate it, and those who don't. Many don't. Many horrible reviews. And part of me really does think Fuck those Philistines.
George_E_Hale
insufferable blowhard
1mo ago
Ambroxan, which is a synthetic form of ambergris, tends to induce temporary anosmia, but then comes back to you later. The key is not to bathe in the scent. I remember my older brother in high school got a hold of my bottle of Polo, which in those days was what the southern girls loved (or claimed to.) When he stepped from the bathroom, presumably going out to do something social, it was as if he were trying to gas us all. It shamed me to be the author of his effort, having been the one who bought the stuff to start with. Anyway the point is don't overdo it. Put the stuff on and forget about it.
George_E_Hale
insufferable blowhard
1mo ago
Interesting. I will admit to first scanning the list, looking for what I will call The Scent. It was not there. I did eventually locate it in the world and buy it though. I did. Some have described it online as smelling "like glossy magazines and cocaine." I am not sure I agree with that. But it is something else. @daguerrean would no doubt recoil, like the proverbial vampire to a braid of Spanish Roja. His good right.
A more generous man would just tell you what in the hell it is that I got. But I feel like it's one of those things that I cannot reveal directly. Anyway the "That sucks are you joking me?" kind of retort is inevitable, as is the justified taunting mockery for the price I paid. I'm probably a romantic, but then only fools would admit to, or, indeed, be that. Plus now you have the descriptive quote and hey, Internet. I will neither confirm nor deny queries, but of course the cat is out of the bag.
I will also say that unlike your approach, mine was to hunt down the thing and bag it. Now that I have it, I am not interested in anything else. The princess was in the castle. Appreciate the time and effort to write it all up. A year ago I would not have even bothered reading it because I didn't give a damn about smells until the Korean guy got on the train that morning. I feel the need to spit and pepper this post with swear words to reassert my heterosexuality. Fuckin' oath.
George_E_Hale
insufferable blowhard
1mo ago
I sympathize. Just trying what often works. Best of luck.
George_E_Hale
insufferable blowhard
1mo ago
Well I don't know how sorry I feel for them. You can mourn a world where they feel that's their lot in life, but no one's twisting their arms (as far as I know) to take off their tops. It's lucrative in the short term and I think historically very much exposed the girl to abuse (from agents, scouts, management) as well as public ogling. In the sense that an unworldly or unsavvy young woman is duped (or drugged!) sure, it's too bad. It's potentially tragic. It's infuriating. But there's a naïvete that I find a bit cloying in certain girls, if it is naïvete at all--it might just be that they're disingenuous in the style of the burikko if you're familiar with that term. Add to that a certain different cultural approach to sex and it is what it is. Outright rape and abuse certainly does exist, though, and I suspect was more of a common routine in the past. If there's anything good about Post your own porn sites or camgirl type business, it's that to some degree the girls can have more control and not be gang raped on camera for ten grand or however much a pittance they have historically been paid.
Exceptions in my mind, or situations where I'd genuinely feel pity, are where the girl, due to her endowments and the sleaziness of those around her, was, at puberty, treated as a sexual plaything by a relative (fondled or worse) and internalized this pathologically. I've heard terrible stories.
George_E_Hale
insufferable blowhard
1mo ago
I probably knew that, thanks.
George_E_Hale
insufferable blowhard
1mo ago
Here's my pep talk one man to another: Just fucking stop drinking it. You're a German for heaven's sakes, since when is your willpower weak? Job done. Onward
George_E_Hale
insufferable blowhard
1mo ago
As usual I have to insert that I cannot speak for Japan, but in my my experience Japanese don't make much commentary on Chinese models, actresses, etc. The same cannot be said about Koreans--meaning Koreans are regularly commented on as kirei or kawaii, or, since I am in Kansai, meccha kirei na hito. (Lit. very pretty person.) I guess there were some Taiwanese who were known --notably Vivian Tsu, though I haven't seen her around in years (probably because she's about 50 now and has no doubt had facial surgery which irrevocably altered the cute image she had in the 90s/2000s). Some women are probably part Chinese though, and just don't trumpet it over PR.
A side note: More buxom (by Asian standards) women are rarely top tier actresses or models here. They end up, in their brief career spans during youth, doing so-called "gravia" or semi nude books and calendars (グラビアアイドル is a term) or pornography. At times they transition to the mainstream (as in the late Ai Iijima) but that's almost unheard of.
George_E_Hale
insufferable blowhard
1mo ago
George_E_Hale
insufferable blowhard
1mo ago
I may be contributing more than necessary to this thread but in my experience girls are awful at seduction unless they're very quick studies or have a lot of practice.
George_E_Hale
insufferable blowhard
1mo ago
This seems to be the basis of what used to be termed "the neg." I've no idea if it's still called this, and general knowledge of the technique surely must render it ineffective now.
I don't want to insult anyone's intelligence by defining it, but basically it's a plausibly real but very subtle put down of the girl (this could be something as innocuous as briefly looking at your phone instead of her), ideally right around the time you've said something to get her interest, and presumably said something nice. Push pull, tsundere, whatever we're saying now. The unexpected, when being fawned upon is her norm. I certainly get it.
George_E_Hale
insufferable blowhard
1mo ago
Men stating their interest directly is almost always a terrible idea except when the event occurs as the result of a screenplay and the speaker is darkly mysteriously handsome confident and charming, and the woman gorgeous and available, i.e rare as hell. I suppose it has happened. Intrigue and some sort of two-step is far more common.
George_E_Hale
insufferable blowhard
1mo ago
That's the beauty of it. It may have simply been an unconscious sign of trust and affection, which in this case you were wise not to have acted on.
I suspect that there are all sorts of social mores at play here that prevent women from making what could arguably be considered a "first move," up to and including a reputation among...other women, who would (or might) judge them for this. I was a trainer in a large group for a while (mostly women) and the one woman who was demonstratively affectionate toward me and the other male trainers was almost unanimously turned on (that is to say, turned against, thanks @urquan) by the rest of the female trainees. This was always done subtly except behind closed doors. There might also be the notion that a girl wants to play hard-to-get, but I'm not sure how far that goes.
A woman who communicates interest with a stranger even subtly is rare, outside an alcohol-drenched setting. Prolonged or repeat eye-contact, a smile, these can be very fetching. The nuclear arm touch. And of course sometimes it's the talking loudly to another female friend in your presence about some topic in which you may have interest, and deliberately avoiding eye contact with you when doing so. The modern equivalent of dropping the handkerchief.
Then of course there is the fear that if you show interest a guy will turn into a slobbering handsy weirdo who turns stalker. This is I think overblown but I do not deny it happens--it's certainly the scary version of why to be demure.
Note: Sometimes a smile and an arm touch is just a smile and an arm touch.
George_E_Hale
insufferable blowhard
1mo ago
Indeed. I have often noticed how men who seem reasonably picky can be seduced by a very plain woman who is intent on it. As has been discussed many times, men are usually doing the work of pickup and seduction. When a woman makes an effort, especially if she knows what she's doing, it's all too easy. Add in a midlife crisis and/or marital doldrums and a lonely dude is an easy target.
George_E_Hale
insufferable blowhard
1mo ago
In my view the same character aspects that make Trump a gauche, offensive, tone-deaf goof are what allow him to say "I'm gonna bomb the shit out of them," "Grab em by the pussy," and on and on up to the repost of himself as a healing messiah-- but also to stand up defiantly to the crowd who is saying the (naked) Emperor's new clothes are fine and beautiful. He can and does reject out loud many of the progressive left points of faith, with no apologies. Whether he does this because he's old and isn't interested in adapting, is simply preaching to what sees as his support group, or has thought it all through, Motte-Style, and reached his own conclusions, I cannot say.
In usual terms we would say "He has no filter." Which in many, many cases is refreshing and admirable. His standing against transgender ideologues is probably the one issue I really have to respect him for (if respect is the right word). He has walked a more ambiguous line on race issues, but certainly doesn't mouth the pat opporessor and oppressed line of most of his antagonists. Etc.
I would normally say it took great courage in a politician to be so contrary so publicly, but he isn't really a politician in the sense I use the term, and I'm not sure courage is the right word (maybe fearlessness).
As for narcissism, let's remember it's just a word a bunch of "mental health professionals" agreed on how to define. He's definitely full of himself in an almost pampered child way, though he also has a resilience and toughness that allow him to withstand repeated verbal assaults on his character by everyone from the NYT to mainstream comedians to any rando who wants an easy butt to his joke, jibes about his appearance that would be deemed hateful if directed at anyone else, and at least one fast-moving bullet. This would have mentally crushed any normal (sane, if you like) person years ago. I hesitate to say anyone is one-of-a-kind but he's certainly close.
George_E_Hale
insufferable blowhard
1mo ago
The Last Temptation of Christ did not depict Jesus struggling with homosexuality. The book itself was deeply spiritual and I personally found it incredibly moving.
The film was not bad either and had a great soundtrack by Peter Gabriel.
The temptation of the title was a sort of alternate reality where he wed Mary Magdalene after having been deceived by Satan. I recommend the book in particular.
This does not speak to your point but I wanted to make the correction for the sake of accuracy.
Edit: He does not remain in the alternate reality.
George_E_Hale
insufferable blowhard
1mo ago
Well, not AI, but now since you mentioned it.
Daily I am reminded of how I am fortunate to live in Japan. There are of course drunks and lunatics here as well, and entitled pricks are not difficult to find, but generally service is superior and customers are gracious. Even--maybe even most noticeably because they're just workaday usual-- in regular retail jobs.
edit: Japan is fucked in many ways.
George_E_Hale
insufferable blowhard
1mo ago
We just told our sons the cat died, and there are ceremonial things in Japan if you want (there is a cremation service). We buried her ashes out in the flowers under the mailbox.
Just a word of caution, Golden retrievers are my favorite dog, but are, at least in recent decades, prone to cancer. I am not sure why.
George_E_Hale
insufferable blowhard
1mo ago
I felt like I had read that book but I'm probably thinking of Night Shift. Anyway now will read.
I couldn't keep watching Black Mirror as I became convinced that its production team actually has a visceral dislike, even at times contempt, for humanity, and I don't need my own misanthropic tendencies given any more fuel (misanthropy eventually logically ends up in self-hatred.) But it is at times really well-made, and if I had to recommend one episode it would be "Be Right Back." We're not quite to the world of the episode yet but we're barrelling toward it. Hayley Atwell, Domhnall Gleeson.
Very interesting. And notably the "faggy nu-males" happen to have many hot chicks as their coevals. If one notices that sort of thing.
--Orwell, The Road to Wigan Pier
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