What exactly are the "structural problems" with the city of Portland building? Or is that just a misnomer, meaning it's a problem with the enclosure or the usability and adaptability of the design/scheme? I didn't know it held the distinction of being the first major po-mo civic work. Structural systems are meant to last longer than 32 years. Wait. It's that too many hipsters have plied its floors over the years. The girders, beams, and joists* couldn't "stand" them, either.
if it's a race between hillary and christie, christie will get the moderate and independent votes and win by a good margin.
The solution is for Christie to get past this current scandal, lose some weight for his health, and go Dem, but the latter won't happen. He's too close on the continuum of liberal-conservative to the Democrats, or the people of NJ would have never embraced him. They are certainly not a conservative group,as a whole. Slam dunk victory for Christie. Even if he is who the Republicans run and it can be ascertained that the ADA won't be eliminated, I will be voting for him. Got a few generic scrips tonight. They were cheap before. They were even cheaper tonight, being my first post 1-1-2014 refill.
I adore the Portland Building. But it's probably a case where facadectomy makes sense: hollow out the box, install a new interior that allows lots of daylight from above. I'm generally stridently opposed to facadectomies but there are a few cases where they make sense and this building could be a really interesting example of doing one in three dimensions.
One of the values of the Portland Building is how much it allowed Portland architects to bring color into their buildings afterwards, and color is a of a very different importance in the grey and gloomy PNW than in a lot of other cities.
I thought today was going to be blah when I left the house, but when I got to school, a student brought me some home made chai, and another left himself logged into Facebook on my computer. Ha! Good times.
Given its birthday vis a vis some events, this makes sense.
10/17/89 - San Francisco, CA - the Loma Prieta Quake - we all know what that one did to the Marina District and requiring that the East Span of the Bay Bridge, in which a segment collapsed, be replaced. Under the old seismic zone rating system, even used by engineers then in their calcs, SF was clearly a Zone 4 and remained a Zone 4, as does L.A.
3/25/93 - Portland, OR - the "Spring Break" quake, at 5.6 Richter - it was south of the city and damaged a few masonry belfries in churches, if not more. Mostly, I think it caused Portland to be reevaluated as to its seismic zone label. It may have been a 2, but moved up to a 3, or it could have been a 3, and moved up to a 3 with an asterisk. Either way, the seismic map made for these swales in which high seismic values moved outward from California once on the Oregon Coast and then moved back inland into the Puget Sound.
2/28/01 - Seattle, WA - an earthquake to the magnitude of 6+ Richter - again, it was south of the city, but it caused older masonry buildings to shed some bricks downtown, though no one was hurt. I think it made the city and area aware of its vulnerability, having last been hit by a quake in 1965, such that it assessed which structures needed to be reevaluated. That's why the stacked Alaskan Way Viaduct at the water's edge is going bye-bye. I believe the city was Zone 4 and has remained so.
That's a lot of major seismic activity in a span of not even a dozen years. So, the City or Portland building needs a seismic retrofit. My guess is that the way it is cladded does not make it easy to design after-the-fact seismic braces, as would be more easily done if it was glassier. When buildings get these retrofits, they sometimes don't do good job of hiding them and alter a building's looks. While some of the braces are placed inside, some go at the perimeter. It's sort of mix and match, depending on the calcs. It would be weird to retrofit the Portland building, I guess. And, yes, I think it's a blob. The colors and detailing don't upstage it's ugly massing and resemblance to a jukebox.
There are other issues with the Portland Building including structural settling of upper floors that would exacerbate seismic concerns.
The then unknown (for good reason) Graves was selected because the design was cheap and loud. The idea was to do something outrageous to attract tourists. It seems the cheap aspects are coming back to haunt the city.
I'll wager that the vast majority of modern starchitect buildings are torn down or require major overhauls within 25 years. If that last even that long. Disney Concert Hall, MIT Stata Center, WTC, etc.
The cheap upfront costs of Porland Building are definitely coming back to haunt the City now. But in the go-go 80s no one worried about the future (it was so bright we had to wear shades).
Disney, Stata, et al, by comparison, are *not* cheap buildings. They may have been poorly constructed (we'll find out soon, I guess), but they were very expensive. We're seeing it now at City of Arts and Culture by Calatrava, yes?
Calatrava's reputation is budget-busting. Too bad, I actually liked some of his work.
Gehry on the Stata Center lawsuit (settled out of court for an undisclosed sum):
"These things are complicated," he said, "and they involved a lot of people, and you never quite know where they went wrong. A building goes together with seven billion pieces of connective tissue. The chances of it getting done ever without something colliding or some misstep are small." "I think the issues are fairly minor," he added. "M.I.T. is after our insurance."
That's what they paid you $15 million for, dipshit.
The then unknown (for good reason) Graves was selected because the design was cheap and loud. The idea was to do something outrageous to attract tourists. It seems the cheap aspects are coming back to haunt the city.
Well, he, and it, had their time in the sun, so to speak. The yellow bumwad era is over. All those buildings relied on yellow bumwad and Prismacolor for their appeal, it seemed. It's almost as if that's where they needed to remain.
More Costa Concordia craziness. It is indeed upright; however, a large portion of the hull remains submerged. It needs to be moved. Various large Italian ports are bidding to dismantle it. It will be floated in June to the selected port, moving there with its hull largely submerged. That will look patently bizarre. I hope they are successful. Even more interesting is that other countries are bidding to dismantle it. It's not as if Italy doesn't need the work and it certainly doesn't need the risk of an environmental mishap on the open seas from moving this ship too far. Someday, there will be a book and a movie on this, and we will know the whole story, right down to all the subtleties.
I'll wager that the vast majority of modern starchitect buildings are torn down or require major overhauls within 25 years. If that last even that long. Disney Concert Hall, MIT Stata Center, WTC, etc.
Well, you've got to figure that the "terrorists" will blow up the WTC agin. Seriously, how could anybody voluntarily work in that location? I'd be too busy keeping an eye on every f'ing airplane in the sky trying to figure when I should make a run for it.
Gehry has his problems but it seems that he put a lot of work & effort into the enineering side of things. I suspect that the structures will hold up well, although the style will probably sufer a prolonged backlach that may be it's demise. We'll see.
gehry is very professional. Buildings take maintenance. Anyone who lives in a building with any history knows this. Portland mucked up by going cheap, which is a pity. I admire that crazy building for what it represents at the very least. Calatrava seems to be caught with buildings that were expensive but still built cheaper than they needed to be. which is amazing. He needs to live in the age of cathedrals instead he is in the age of portlandia...
for next couple days am running a symposium I co-organized, on the latest buzzed word - resiliency. Some great speakers I am very much looking forward to hearing, including one of the planners working on reconstruction of NY after sandy. NY seems to be dealing much better than we have so far - definitely hoping we can steal ideas to take to Japanese Government.
Whatever the downside of academia it offers the opportunity to become much better at dealing with the real world outside details and doorknobs.
If you spend 30 minutes on an elliptical, at challenging enough settings, AND do a resistance circuit, you may just work off 540 calories. I only use that # because it is how many calories my beloved Big Mac contains. My motto is "Not having a Big Mac a day keeps the doctor away," Obamacare, lower copays, and all.
Scratch that Big-Mac, double-cheese burgers are where it's at. Nothing better than grabbing a bag of those blessed sandwiches. As for workouts at lunch, I work though all my "lunch-breaks". It's ok, I do mad indoor bouldering 2 to 4 times a week in the evenings.
Argh, still can't shake the feeling that I'm going to hell for having a MoMA membership and 'helping pay' for the demo of the FAM... one of the few buildings that you have to be in to really appreciate (though the screen to filter the sunlight from the skylight was rarely open. The resolution of the circulation and sectional relationships inside were divine. Tearing it down to extend the art warehouse as museum just seems awful, condos even worse. I guess business is business.
I do spin classes with coworkers a few times a week. It's tough but a great stress relief!
NS - Bouldering is amazing! Just recently got into that again. It's just like working out....without the boredom. Ever tried climbing with an auto belay?
I wonder if there are any interesting examples of architecture and rock climbing out there. I have always thought there could be a lot of potential...
SneakyPete, I am a member at a local gym in Ottawa, Canada. I've been going there for nearly 10 years, on and off at times. I've also climbed in Guelph (Ontario again) 5 to 6 years ago while completing my thesis.
If you're in Paris, for example, and overwhelmed by making a simple choice as to where to have lunch, either because you don't have a good grip on the menu or the prices are in nosebleed territory, seeing the golden arches, Frenchy style, and a Big Mac or McRoyale on the menu, which will set you back about 5 Euros, is a refreshing sight. They did their marketing.
NS - I am in Waterloo. I have climbed at the Grotto in Guelph many times. A friend of mine opened a rock climbing gym in Kitchener. Stop by next time you are in town!
Ben, I loved the Grotto even up until I fell and badly injured my ankle. I was just under 3 years without the ability to climb or run. I was not even able to hold open a door with my foot. Anyways, I have heard good rumours of this new place in Kitchener.
Just across the river from where I am and into the Canadian backcountry (Gatineau: Quebec), someone retro-fitted an oldish church into a climbing gym. The climbing is so-so but having to use an old wooden pew in the change-rooms is pretty neat.
I climb mostly trad. I'm not a huge fan of gyms and bouldering because I feel the reason I climb is to get to see parts of the world from new angles. I've also not spent much time in Canada.
SneakyPete, I do not have the geographical luxury nor the time to dedicate to climbing-related travel. Perhaps one day but for now, I am rather found of my climbing gym.
Will about what you said re: resiliency "Some great speakers I am very much looking forward to hearing, including one of the planners working on reconstruction of NY after sandy. NY seems to be dealing much better than we have so far" be interested to hear more. do you mean from crafting follow-up policy perspective or actual rebuilding?
@nam, both actually. reconstruction is still just get started here. We lost a huge swath of the country and the problem is massive. The government is mostly focused on building sea walls that make no sense and planning is not really taking into account the future (the term planning is falling down a bit here). It's amazing we can spend so much effort fighting about the stadium by Zaha and not really try to affect reconstruction policy in a meaningful way. None of the big players seem to be interested. NY had Bloomberg, who had a vision, like it or not. Here we have a glaring lack of an intent to have a vision...
Japan has a rigid and highly stratified social class system that prevents much of anything intelligent from happening. Between that and corrupt forces ranging from multinational banks, industry and Yakuza there is zero possibility of anything getting better. Same applies here, except the Yakuza have a different name and the class system is based on wealth rather than birth (as if ther4e was any real difference).
Yakuza - now that's a group few know about. More should. Especially the in-town bohemian crowd. They could take some cues from them on tattoo design. I sort of don't understand the fascination with Japan, and everything Japanese, especially if someone's anthropological roots are European. Sure, if someone handed me a free ticket, I'd go to Tokyo to check it out. It's a world city. However, if I didn't go, it would be ok, too. I grew up with a lot of Japanese kids, of the second-gen variety, and we just enjoyed being American kids. I heard one story that pissed me off to no end. A woman whose native tongue was one of the European languages became enthralled with Japan and learned the language. She then obtained work that involved business contact with the Japanese. They were very dismissive of her and her language ability. What a waste of time. I felt bad for her. It reminded me of the movie "Breaking Away" where the teenager in the Indiana town went berserk over all things Italian, because of the cyclists from Italy on tour, and was then shit on by them. Moral of the story: don't unnecessarily and exaggeratedly ingratiate yourself with a culture that is not your own, unless absolutely necessary. They will give you honorary token status, at best.
miles, where did you get that idea from? Japan is not the usa. social stratification is not the problem it is in much of the world. There is some of it, but its not a defining characteristic of life here. Less than the USA (and Canada) by a real long shot.
However we do have hair in a can that people can buy over the television. I would say that is more of a problem in need of addressing, if anything is.
Will, hard to understand how you could live there and not be tuned in. Try Benedict's The Chrysanthemum and the Sword: Patterns of Japanese Culture. A little dated but highly pertinent.
Thread Central
@miles - the portland building might come down.
^ Wow. That's big news from PDX.
What exactly are the "structural problems" with the city of Portland building? Or is that just a misnomer, meaning it's a problem with the enclosure or the usability and adaptability of the design/scheme? I didn't know it held the distinction of being the first major po-mo civic work. Structural systems are meant to last longer than 32 years. Wait. It's that too many hipsters have plied its floors over the years. The girders, beams, and joists* couldn't "stand" them, either.
* remember the G>B>J hierarchy from school, no?
further explanation of structural problems
basically - it doesn't meet seismic code.
That PoS is on the National Register?!
Demolition is one way to fix that.
if it's a race between hillary and christie, christie will get the moderate and independent votes and win by a good margin.
The solution is for Christie to get past this current scandal, lose some weight for his health, and go Dem, but the latter won't happen. He's too close on the continuum of liberal-conservative to the Democrats, or the people of NJ would have never embraced him. They are certainly not a conservative group,as a whole. Slam dunk victory for Christie. Even if he is who the Republicans run and it can be ascertained that the ADA won't be eliminated, I will be voting for him. Got a few generic scrips tonight. They were cheap before. They were even cheaper tonight, being my first post 1-1-2014 refill.
I'm having a bad case of the Fridays. Perhaps it is due to the week and a half vacation I had or the sub zero temps at the beginning of the week.
Irregardless, good morning TC, it's been a while. Hoping I will be more inclined to contribute in 2014
I adore the Portland Building. But it's probably a case where facadectomy makes sense: hollow out the box, install a new interior that allows lots of daylight from above. I'm generally stridently opposed to facadectomies but there are a few cases where they make sense and this building could be a really interesting example of doing one in three dimensions.
One of the values of the Portland Building is how much it allowed Portland architects to bring color into their buildings afterwards, and color is a of a very different importance in the grey and gloomy PNW than in a lot of other cities.
And speaking of an older, grittier ny, here is link to a tour of te East village 1993 with Iggy Poop. I wonder if Iggy has since move up to hudson valley?
Donna, it's called "paint". Not exactly a new concept.
I thought today was going to be blah when I left the house, but when I got to school, a student brought me some home made chai, and another left himself logged into Facebook on my computer. Ha! Good times.
basically - it doesn't meet seismic code.
Given its birthday vis a vis some events, this makes sense.
10/17/89 - San Francisco, CA - the Loma Prieta Quake - we all know what that one did to the Marina District and requiring that the East Span of the Bay Bridge, in which a segment collapsed, be replaced. Under the old seismic zone rating system, even used by engineers then in their calcs, SF was clearly a Zone 4 and remained a Zone 4, as does L.A.
3/25/93 - Portland, OR - the "Spring Break" quake, at 5.6 Richter - it was south of the city and damaged a few masonry belfries in churches, if not more. Mostly, I think it caused Portland to be reevaluated as to its seismic zone label. It may have been a 2, but moved up to a 3, or it could have been a 3, and moved up to a 3 with an asterisk. Either way, the seismic map made for these swales in which high seismic values moved outward from California once on the Oregon Coast and then moved back inland into the Puget Sound.
2/28/01 - Seattle, WA - an earthquake to the magnitude of 6+ Richter - again, it was south of the city, but it caused older masonry buildings to shed some bricks downtown, though no one was hurt. I think it made the city and area aware of its vulnerability, having last been hit by a quake in 1965, such that it assessed which structures needed to be reevaluated. That's why the stacked Alaskan Way Viaduct at the water's edge is going bye-bye. I believe the city was Zone 4 and has remained so.
That's a lot of major seismic activity in a span of not even a dozen years. So, the City or Portland building needs a seismic retrofit. My guess is that the way it is cladded does not make it easy to design after-the-fact seismic braces, as would be more easily done if it was glassier. When buildings get these retrofits, they sometimes don't do good job of hiding them and alter a building's looks. While some of the braces are placed inside, some go at the perimeter. It's sort of mix and match, depending on the calcs. It would be weird to retrofit the Portland building, I guess. And, yes, I think it's a blob. The colors and detailing don't upstage it's ugly massing and resemblance to a jukebox.
There are other issues with the Portland Building including structural settling of upper floors that would exacerbate seismic concerns.
The then unknown (for good reason) Graves was selected because the design was cheap and loud. The idea was to do something outrageous to attract tourists. It seems the cheap aspects are coming back to haunt the city.
I'll wager that the vast majority of modern starchitect buildings are torn down or require major overhauls within 25 years. If that last even that long. Disney Concert Hall, MIT Stata Center, WTC, etc.
The Stata Center already has some problems.
The cheap upfront costs of Porland Building are definitely coming back to haunt the City now. But in the go-go 80s no one worried about the future (it was so bright we had to wear shades).
Disney, Stata, et al, by comparison, are *not* cheap buildings. They may have been poorly constructed (we'll find out soon, I guess), but they were very expensive. We're seeing it now at City of Arts and Culture by Calatrava, yes?
Calatrava's reputation is budget-busting. Too bad, I actually liked some of his work.
Gehry on the Stata Center lawsuit (settled out of court for an undisclosed sum):
"These things are complicated," he said, "and they involved a lot of people, and you never quite know where they went wrong. A building goes together with seven billion pieces of connective tissue. The chances of it getting done ever without something colliding or some misstep are small." "I think the issues are fairly minor," he added. "M.I.T. is after our insurance."
That's what they paid you $15 million for, dipshit.
The then unknown (for good reason) Graves was selected because the design was cheap and loud. The idea was to do something outrageous to attract tourists. It seems the cheap aspects are coming back to haunt the city.
Well, he, and it, had their time in the sun, so to speak. The yellow bumwad era is over. All those buildings relied on yellow bumwad and Prismacolor for their appeal, it seemed. It's almost as if that's where they needed to remain.
More Costa Concordia craziness. It is indeed upright; however, a large portion of the hull remains submerged. It needs to be moved. Various large Italian ports are bidding to dismantle it. It will be floated in June to the selected port, moving there with its hull largely submerged. That will look patently bizarre. I hope they are successful. Even more interesting is that other countries are bidding to dismantle it. It's not as if Italy doesn't need the work and it certainly doesn't need the risk of an environmental mishap on the open seas from moving this ship too far. Someday, there will be a book and a movie on this, and we will know the whole story, right down to all the subtleties.
http://news.yahoo.com/shipwrecked-concordia-removed-june-114517651--finance.html;_ylt=AwrSyCMrZ9BSynMAs9rQtDMD
I'll wager that the vast majority of modern starchitect buildings are torn down or require major overhauls within 25 years. If that last even that long. Disney Concert Hall, MIT Stata Center, WTC, etc.
Well, you've got to figure that the "terrorists" will blow up the WTC agin. Seriously, how could anybody voluntarily work in that location? I'd be too busy keeping an eye on every f'ing airplane in the sky trying to figure when I should make a run for it.
Gehry has his problems but it seems that he put a lot of work & effort into the enineering side of things. I suspect that the structures will hold up well, although the style will probably sufer a prolonged backlach that may be it's demise. We'll see.
gehry is very professional. Buildings take maintenance. Anyone who lives in a building with any history knows this. Portland mucked up by going cheap, which is a pity. I admire that crazy building for what it represents at the very least. Calatrava seems to be caught with buildings that were expensive but still built cheaper than they needed to be. which is amazing. He needs to live in the age of cathedrals instead he is in the age of portlandia...
Why has TC moved down the board? Is it a respite from will? Hi will. You like Gehry? Seriously?
Happy Sunday, folks. Go to church. Go as a proxy for me.
Any gym regulars here? I'm going to the gym soon. How do you all get your exercise?
yes, big fan of fog.
for next couple days am running a symposium I co-organized, on the latest buzzed word - resiliency. Some great speakers I am very much looking forward to hearing, including one of the planners working on reconstruction of NY after sandy. NY seems to be dealing much better than we have so far - definitely hoping we can steal ideas to take to Japanese Government.
Whatever the downside of academia it offers the opportunity to become much better at dealing with the real world outside details and doorknobs.
@ Observant
Lunch hour. That's the only time I can consistently get to the gym. I'm not saying it always works, but that's the theory...
Benjamin - a lunch hour at the gym can do a lot.
If you spend 30 minutes on an elliptical, at challenging enough settings, AND do a resistance circuit, you may just work off 540 calories. I only use that # because it is how many calories my beloved Big Mac contains. My motto is "Not having a Big Mac a day keeps the doctor away," Obamacare, lower copays, and all.
Scratch that Big-Mac, double-cheese burgers are where it's at. Nothing better than grabbing a bag of those blessed sandwiches. As for workouts at lunch, I work though all my "lunch-breaks". It's ok, I do mad indoor bouldering 2 to 4 times a week in the evenings.
Big-Macs are so gross. I can't figure out why its still on the menu. Ewww.
Argh, still can't shake the feeling that I'm going to hell for having a MoMA membership and 'helping pay' for the demo of the FAM... one of the few buildings that you have to be in to really appreciate (though the screen to filter the sunlight from the skylight was rarely open. The resolution of the circulation and sectional relationships inside were divine. Tearing it down to extend the art warehouse as museum just seems awful, condos even worse. I guess business is business.
I do love a Big Mac every now and then.
I do spin classes with coworkers a few times a week. It's tough but a great stress relief!
NS - Bouldering is amazing! Just recently got into that again. It's just like working out....without the boredom. Ever tried climbing with an auto belay?
I wonder if there are any interesting examples of architecture and rock climbing out there. I have always thought there could be a lot of potential...
Non Sequitor, where do you boulder? I'm a bit of a climber myself.
SneakyPete, I am a member at a local gym in Ottawa, Canada. I've been going there for nearly 10 years, on and off at times. I've also climbed in Guelph (Ontario again) 5 to 6 years ago while completing my thesis.
you?
I do love a Big Mac every now and then.
Yes, qualified with every now and then.
If you're in Paris, for example, and overwhelmed by making a simple choice as to where to have lunch, either because you don't have a good grip on the menu or the prices are in nosebleed territory, seeing the golden arches, Frenchy style, and a Big Mac or McRoyale on the menu, which will set you back about 5 Euros, is a refreshing sight. They did their marketing.
NS - I am in Waterloo. I have climbed at the Grotto in Guelph many times. A friend of mine opened a rock climbing gym in Kitchener. Stop by next time you are in town!
Ben, I loved the Grotto even up until I fell and badly injured my ankle. I was just under 3 years without the ability to climb or run. I was not even able to hold open a door with my foot. Anyways, I have heard good rumours of this new place in Kitchener.
Just across the river from where I am and into the Canadian backcountry (Gatineau: Quebec), someone retro-fitted an oldish church into a climbing gym. The climbing is so-so but having to use an old wooden pew in the change-rooms is pretty neat.
Observant, don't forget that you can also get a beer with that for an additional 1 Euro.
Mddonad's is run by elite satanists. every euro spent there feeds the beast and further degrades the world for the rest of us.
I climb mostly trad. I'm not a huge fan of gyms and bouldering because I feel the reason I climb is to get to see parts of the world from new angles. I've also not spent much time in Canada.
SneakyPete, I do not have the geographical luxury nor the time to dedicate to climbing-related travel. Perhaps one day but for now, I am rather found of my climbing gym.
hi TC!
Will about what you said re: resiliency "Some great speakers I am very much looking forward to hearing, including one of the planners working on reconstruction of NY after sandy. NY seems to be dealing much better than we have so far" be interested to hear more. do you mean from crafting follow-up policy perspective or actual rebuilding?
also @observant re: Concordia's semi-submerged state, this photo is wild...
What I like: Working with people who like things defined and are confident about what questions need to be answered to get there.
What frustrates me: leaving everything to be figured out until the last minute.
We'll catch it in shops.
@nam, both actually. reconstruction is still just get started here. We lost a huge swath of the country and the problem is massive. The government is mostly focused on building sea walls that make no sense and planning is not really taking into account the future (the term planning is falling down a bit here). It's amazing we can spend so much effort fighting about the stadium by Zaha and not really try to affect reconstruction policy in a meaningful way. None of the big players seem to be interested. NY had Bloomberg, who had a vision, like it or not. Here we have a glaring lack of an intent to have a vision...
@Donna, Agree completely!
Japan has a rigid and highly stratified social class system that prevents much of anything intelligent from happening. Between that and corrupt forces ranging from multinational banks, industry and Yakuza there is zero possibility of anything getting better. Same applies here, except the Yakuza have a different name and the class system is based on wealth rather than birth (as if ther4e was any real difference).
Yakuza - now that's a group few know about. More should. Especially the in-town bohemian crowd. They could take some cues from them on tattoo design. I sort of don't understand the fascination with Japan, and everything Japanese, especially if someone's anthropological roots are European. Sure, if someone handed me a free ticket, I'd go to Tokyo to check it out. It's a world city. However, if I didn't go, it would be ok, too. I grew up with a lot of Japanese kids, of the second-gen variety, and we just enjoyed being American kids. I heard one story that pissed me off to no end. A woman whose native tongue was one of the European languages became enthralled with Japan and learned the language. She then obtained work that involved business contact with the Japanese. They were very dismissive of her and her language ability. What a waste of time. I felt bad for her. It reminded me of the movie "Breaking Away" where the teenager in the Indiana town went berserk over all things Italian, because of the cyclists from Italy on tour, and was then shit on by them. Moral of the story: don't unnecessarily and exaggeratedly ingratiate yourself with a culture that is not your own, unless absolutely necessary. They will give you honorary token status, at best.
miles, where did you get that idea from? Japan is not the usa. social stratification is not the problem it is in much of the world. There is some of it, but its not a defining characteristic of life here. Less than the USA (and Canada) by a real long shot.
However we do have hair in a can that people can buy over the television. I would say that is more of a problem in need of addressing, if anything is.
observant, you're as convinced by the tiny number of examples that reinforce your predetermined world view as ever. Please don't change.
Those pros and cons threads are fun! Like Archinect of old. le-sigh….
Will, hard to understand how you could live there and not be tuned in. Try Benedict's The Chrysanthemum and the Sword: Patterns of Japanese Culture. A little dated but highly pertinent.
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