Dating AKB48: the J-pop cult banned from falling in love 2inShare Jump To Close A Japanese pop idol, hair freshly shaved to the skin, takes to YouTube and bursts into tears as she begs for mercy over her transgression. "My name is Minami Minegishi of AKB48 Team B," she says, referring to the hugely successful group she became a founding member of seven years ago. Minami Minegishi had just been accused of having a boyfriend. "As an original member of AKB48, I am supposed to set an example for the junior members," she continues. The article in question came out in the Shukan Bunshun magazine last week, and showed alleged photos of Minegishi leaving the house of boy band member Alan Shirahama. Such "scandals" are common in Japan; despite the flagrant marketing of J-pop idols as sex symbols, any hint of them engaging in an actual relationship is harshly frowned upon. Minami Minegishi just turned 20 years old. Make no mistake — taking over Japan is exactly what AKB48 has achieved in recent years. The no-relationship rule may not even be legal.
Andrew Niccol Andrew M. Niccol (born 10 June 1964[1]) is a New Zealand screenwriter, producer, and director. He wrote and directed Gattaca, S1m0ne, In Time, and Lord of War.[2] He also wrote and co-produced The Truman Show, which earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay in 1999 and won a BAFTA award for Best Screenplay. His films tend to explore social, cultural and political issues.[3][4][5] Biography[edit] Filmography[edit] Awards[edit] Wins[edit] Nominations[edit] 1998 Paris Film Festival: Grand Prix Award for Gattaca1999 Academy Awards: Oscar Award for Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen The Truman Show1999 BAFTA Awards: BAFTA Film Award for Best Film The Truman Show (*Shared with Scott Rudin, Edward S. References[edit] External links[edit]
Learned Optimism: Martin Seligman on Happiness, Depression, and the Meaningful Life by Maria Popova What 25 years of research reveal about the cognitive skills of happiness and finding life’s greater purpose. “The illiterate of the 21st century,” Alvin Toffler famously said, “will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” Last week, Oliver Burkeman’s provocatively titled new book, The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking, prompted me to revisit an old favorite by Dr. Seligman begins by identifying the three types of happiness of which our favorite psychology grab-bag term is composed: ‘Happiness’ is a scientifically unwieldy notion, but there are three different forms of it if you can pursue. He then defines optimism and pessimism, pointing out the challenge to self-identify as either, and offers a heartening, heavily researched reassurance: The optimists and the pessimists: I have been studying them for the past twenty-five years. Optimism is invaluable for the meaningful life. Donating = Loving
The Most Isolated People in the World The part of the Indian Ocean encapsulated by the eastern shore of India and the shores of Bangladesh and Myanmar (Burma) is called the Bay of Bengal (map). The eastern edge of the Bay of Bengal is defined as a set of islands called the Andaman Islands, an archipelago, most of which are under control of India. North Sentinel Island, a small dot of land, is part of the Andaman Islands. Between 50 and 400 people are estimated to live on North Sentinel Island. In 1967, Indian authorities began their first meaningful attempt to engage the Sentinelese by leaving coconuts as gifts on the island’s shores. More recent events strongly buttresses that this decision to cut off hopes of contact is just fine with the Sentinelese. What do we know about the Sentinelese? And that, unfortunately, is all we may ever learn. Bonus fact: Just south of Newfoundland, Canada, are a group of eight small islands collectively known as Saint Pierre and Miquelon.
Teaching ate me alive It wasn’t one single incident that made me quit teaching in a public middle school. It was the steady, moldy accumulation of dehumanizing, lifeless, squalid misadventures of which I was a part. Like that time with “Carlos,” to pick an incident more or less at random. I can’t even remember what it was that happened between Carlos and me. Anger, impatience, frustration, stupidity — and that was just me. The next day I saw my friend the Dean of Students. My friend the Dean of Students had diplomatically suggested that Carlos’ father and a couple of his uncles accompany him to his office, where the matter could be discussed at leisure. “Mission accomplished,” I said. So, I have to leave the Los Angeles Unified School District. The end of winter break came last January, and my wife saw the state I was in, and she said, “You’re not going back.” In the final analysis, I’m too sensitive for a public, inner city, “high-needs” middle school. That was not what I had envisioned. But, heck!
The Sublime Sci-Fi Buildings That Communism Built The House of Soviets in Kaliningrad. Photo by Frédéric Chaubin, from "CCCP: Cosmic Communist Constructions Photographed." The architecture of the Eastern Bloc—a conundrum of impossible complexity, or at least that's what it looks like judging from the daily view of my collection of coffee table books. Yes, that's right, coffee table books. These are not your parents' dour architecture monographs, complete with such entries as "On the problems of developing the center of Kishinev" or "Approaches to using the vernacular in Tashkent and Navoi" (real items from a 70s-era release) but are lavish, glossy, and handsome. The 1975 Soviet film The Irony of Fate, a Russian favorite for Christmas season viewing to this day, boasts a Twelfth Night-like plot that turns on the anodyne similarity of Soviet housing. Milan Kundera wrote, in The Unbearable Lightness of Being, "in the realm of totalitarian kitsch, all answers are given in advance and preclude any questions." The Druzhba sanatorium.
Seven Gripping Photos Of Homeless Los Angelenos Will Change The Way You Look At A Stranger Photographer Michael Pharaoh is only 22 years old. Yet already, he possesses the uncanny ability to capture the story written on a stranger's face. New Zealand-based Pharaoh created the gripping series "The Homeless of L.A." while on vacation in California. The photographs evoke, in tremendous detail, the identity of Hollywood's homeless population in a series of muted yet stylistically gorgeous up-close portraits. "[The project] was fascinating to me because we don't have the same plethora of homeless people as L.A," Pharaoh explained in a statement for the series. While the homeless population is all too often treated as invisible, Pharaoh's high definition portraits explore every facet of their visages to capture a striking and honest portrait of a complete stranger.
The New York Times > Arts > Art & Design > Rock, Paper, Payoff: Child's Play Wins Auction House an Art Sale Published: April 29, 2005 t may have been the most expensive game of rock, paper, scissors ever played. Takashi Hashiyama, president of Maspro Denkoh Corporation, an electronics company based outside of Nagoya, Japan, could not decide whether Christie's or Sotheby's should sell the company's art collection, which is worth more than $20 million, at next week's auctions in New York. He did not split the collection - which includes an important Cézanne landscape, an early Picasso street scene and a rare van Gogh view from the artist's Paris apartment - between the two houses, as sometimes happens. Instead, he resorted to an ancient method of decision-making that has been time-tested on playgrounds around the world: rock breaks scissors, scissors cuts paper, paper smothers rock. In Japan, resorting to such games of chance is not unusual. Officials from the Tokyo offices of the two auction houses were informed of Mr. They were told they had until a meeting on Monday to choose a weapon. Mr.