So, in America, a politician takes pictures of his junk and sends them out, he keeps running for office. People laugh at him, but he does.
In Japan, a member of an idol group takes pictures of his junk and sends them out, his career is over. Tanaka Koki of KAT-TUN just had his contract ended and his association with the group severed.
Because in America, we have no shame. Remember, land of the free? We can do whatever we want and it’s ok! Not sure when it was decided that shame was a bad thing, but there you go…
I can kind-of see that, @Nabiki. Idol groups (from my understanding) are sort of supposed to be inspiration and whatnot for younger generations, and I’d imagine that flashing one’s junk around (even via phone pictures) isn’t quite the message they want to send to the young’uns.
I’ve heard similar stories that female idol groups have been broken up simply because one of the members decided to get a boyfriend.
That’s exactly what the point is. Tanaka has apparently done several questionable acts, including tattoos on his rear (and posting pictures) and this was the last straw. I think it’s a shame that he did these things, since he knew they violated his contract. I don’t think his agency did the wrong thing. The group just won’t sound the same without him. I didn’t really care when Akinishi Jin left the group, but Tanaka Koki will be missed.
I remember reading up on an actor, and his girlfriend had to retire from the idol group she was in because she was going out with him. That’s going a bit far, in my opinion. She wasn’t sleeping around, she had a steady boyfriend!
Before @Nabiki’s mention, I had never heard of idol groups.
I had to reread @MSUAlexis’s post, but I agree, shame is mostly dead, which is sad.
FWIW, I have a tendency to call people on stupid behavior IRL. I get a lot of “It’s OK” type responses, to which I reply, “NO! No, it isn’t OK. I’m sick of stupid being accepted and even glorified.” If I’m really on a roll, I’ll take it a step further and give them an example (taken from a joke about running a stop sign): What if I started whacking you in the head, and when you asked me to stop, I reply, “No, it’s OK. I like doing it, so it’s OK, I don’t have to stop.”
I was watching a show on HGTV a while back, maybe a year or two ago. Someone was having their kitchen area redesigned (totally gutted and rebuilt, probably spent $50k), so they hired an interior designer/architect and a separate consultant. The designer drew up comprehensive plans, everything looked peachy. Then the consultant reviewed everything and pointed out the problems (not enough room between fridge and island, these doors need to swing the wrong way, problems with flow, etc.) After the rebuild was complete, in the walk-through interview, as the consultant was explaining some of the fixes he ordered, he made a comment that stuck with me… something along the lines of, “I was hired to point out the problems with the design. I am paid to complain, and I’m very good at it.” I loved that line, probably because I identify with it.
“It’s a blessing and a curse” - Monk
It’s totally awesome having separate companies for the gas & electric service at my house. Even better, they’re owned by the same conglomerate! So when they introduce a new “Energy Saver” program, I don’t get one email inviting me to join, I get two!
But wait, there’s more! Despite being owned by the same conglomerate, and their websites looking and working identically, and their bills looking identical, I have to log into two separate websites to get my bills & report my meter readings!
1 Like
Bored and hungry are a bad combination. Add internet connectivity and a credit card, and it’s a good recipe for disaster.
Thank goodness my obese, dieting kitty doesn’t have hands or a credit card. 
1 Like
I’m not familiar with that phrase, but thanks, I think?
It means we feel the same way.
Ok, groovy. I thought it was probably something along those lines.
@roadrunner You will soon learn to read pretty much every one of my comments in a snarky sarcastic tone. Because that’s usually how I mean them. 
I am constantly telling my pre-teen daughter things like “See that? You see those girls over there? Never act like them. No matter what your friends say, that is NOT acceptable behavior in the real world.” Just because society has devolved doesn’t mean my standards have. Lowest common denominator is ONLY acceptable in math.
2 Likes
Nyan Nyan Nouveau. There is wine for cats. 0_0
How’s this for ironic? My company is giving us all flu shots next week. I came down with it today. Well, last night, actually. 
I hate being sick.
Get well soon.
2 Likes
Still sick. I went to work today and lasted about two hours. When the fifth person (who happened to be my boss) told me to go home, I did.
Get well sooner. 
I’m telecommuting today. I read the notes from yesterday’s meeting, and there’s a section on illness.
Don’t come in to work if you’re sick.
Don’t work from home if you’re sick.
I hope my boss doesn’t make me log off. I don’t have enough sick time to cover another day out.
@Nabiki:I just had to talk to my boss about something similar a few days ago. I was under the impression that the salaried positions in my company were allowed to work from home occasionally when ill, which I had used a few times earlier this year when I was feeling under the weather enough to not want to traipse into the office and spread sickness around but not enough to make me want to just stay in bed all day.
Turns out the position I’m in “doesn’t technically permit this” and they don’t bother telling me any of this until almost a year after I’ve taken the position and after I’ve done this 5-6 times this year. I managed to talk him down to only having each of those days take 2 hours out of my PTO time, but it would’ve been nice to know this a year ago.
They need to pay me more to put up with this shit.
Boss made me log off. It’s not stressful for me to work from home. I have tea, music, cats, and no interruptions. Oh, well. I’m going to go watch TV with all of the above instead.
1 Like