secret_no_03

Oh, obis, almost all physical music releases in Japan have them, little pieces of paper that provide the title of the product, track listing, price, catalog number and information on related releases. I for one love these little inserts, and have kept so many over the years from releases that I have in an envelope simply called "OBIS" dating back to 2006 with DIR EN GREY's 凌辱の雨.
 
So, what's your opinion on obis? Do you keep them or just throw them away and have you ever found any cool/interesting ones? I recall a band making a poster out of obis that you could collect and put together.

If only it weren't December. Getting to Cleveland in a snow storm to see them and potentially getting stranded or killed isn't worth it. Alas, another year without seeing these guys. I'm sure I'll get the chance before they retire.

A picture of the girlfriend and I from last year, my hair changed colors three times last year, but I haven't dyed it since last July or so. I'll have to figure out what I want to do with it. 😅

I'm a fan of all of their stuff from 2009-2015, but after that point, with AVANT-GARDE and since I just can't. It all sounds the same to me now, especially when I listen to their stuff sequentially. 

I had watched the episode of the Twilight Zone called "Living Doll" last night and subsequently dreamed about a doll akin to Annabelle with the murderous intent and powers of Chucky. That fucking sucked and I just remember ripping out her heart after crushing her head and burning it on the stove top while there was evil little girl laughter and I woke up.

He'd be stupid if he gave up farming for music again, especially VK as farming is a lot more lucrative and a lot easier to manage since it seems he does most of it himself and doesn't have to deal with a group dichotomy and the uncertainty of music.

Yessir, he's a brilliant character. Could literally do a case study on him.
 
He still a hoe ass bitch tho

Alcohol and drugs, recreational or not are for the emotionally and mentally weak and are just a crutch and outside of the real medicinal benefits of marijuana, it's all just a way to desensitize yourself from the world and dull the experience that is living because people aren't happy with their lives for one reason or another. This is why I'm straight edge after having experienced both of them and opting out of the social trends of getting drunk and high as the means of having fun has helped me live a more fulfilling and genuine life.

I can't imagine how much fun it must be to do stupid shit while causing liver damage. Alcohol is shit anyway, regardless of if it gives you a buzz or what have you.

True, but it gained him iconic villain status in anime history.

in my unpopular opinion,any kind of drugs or alcoholic drinks shouldn't even exist,but it would be the same as saying that guns shouldn't exist.Guns with the right person save lives and alcohol or marijuana will only guaratee a good time for moderated people.
 
HOWEVER
 
the ease of getting access to these kind of substances can be ridiculously dangerous  and easily lead to addiction.i remember the period when i didn't care about alcohol,drinking it very occasionally,but all of a sudden shit started to happen in my life,then i simply ran onto these substances to find something that i wasn't able to feel myself or avoid things i was actually feeling.

Video games in moderation is perfectly healthy, staying up for an entire day or longer playing them or neglecting your life and responsibilities for them is harmful, or at least it used to be. Now video game addiction has been turned into a lucrative business, it's called being a Twitch streamer. At least if it's your job it's doing something useful, and you're making a living, but those who will play for days and quit eating, bathing, ignoring what they need to do, that's legit addiction and why there has been a rise of video game addiction clinics in Korea, China and other places. I guess the long and the short of it is that escapism in small doses is fine in terms of entertainment which doesn't scue the world like drugs or alcohol does, but you should come back to reality at least once every few hours. Binging media has become a big thing with Netflix, so now you can work your way through an entire show and before you know, the day is gone and you've done nothing.
 
Yeah, all things in moderation, especially this nut house. 

https://kotaku.com/man-threatens-square-enix-with-a-kyoto-animation-repeat-1837164385

It's the same thing as a drunkard, you're still numbing yourself to the realities of life because you either don't like or can't handle some aspect of your life. If you have seizures or something and you use it for that then that's fine, but being stoned out of your gourd all the time because you're unhappy with life is not the answer.
 
"Life is suffering, and suffering can make you resentful, murderous, and then genocidal, if you take it far enough. So you need an antidote to suffering. And maybe you think that you can build walls of luxury around yourself, and that that will protect you from the suffering. Good luck with that. That isn't going to work. Maybe you think that you could build a delusion and live inside that. Well, that's going to fall apart. What is there, then, that's going to help you fight against suffering? That's easy: It's the Truth. The Truth is the antidote to suffering. The reason for that is because the Truth puts reality behind you, so that you can face the reality that's coming straight at you without becoming weak and degenerating and becoming resentful and wishing for the destruction of Being, because that's the final Hell. The final Hell is your soul wishing for the destruction of everything, because it's too painful, and you're too bitter. And that happens to people all the time."
 
Jordan B. Peterson

Sleeves are fucking annoying but hardcovers are dope
 
As for which one, probably paperback. I don’t know why tbh

It depends on whether or not the hardcover in question has a sleeve. As much as I love the professional look/feel of them, I hate it when they have a sleeve because it always shifts about and annoys me, so if it does I'd go for a paperback.

I like that you can take a paperback everywhere, they're bendable, easy to pack, store and some you can even carry in your pocket, but on the other hand, nothing feels like a well made, hardcover book, some being literal art pieces besides being statement pieces. I usually buy paperbacks as they're cheaper, but if it were something I really cared about I'd probably get a hardcover or even two copies, one to display and one to travel with. 
So, onto the question, what do you prefer and why? Do you prefer the stiff, glossy look and feel of a hardcover book or do you like a malleable, portable paperback that you can just throw in a bag or store in the glove compartment and go?

I like the ease of carrying paperbacks, especially bunko-hon. It's nice that you're able to read them easily even standing up on a crowded metro. On the other hand, it takes time for new books to be released as paperbacks if they are even released in that format so I have a few books that I had to buy in hardcover. The reading experience between the two feels kind of different for me, like I'm more likely to have longer reading sessions for hardcover books. It's kind of hard to compare the two since the types of books I have for each are pretty different (novels for paperback and nonfiction for hardcover). If I had the choice I'd probably just buy paperback though.

Minimalism has become a bit of a trend in the United States with the rise of Marie Kondo's Netflix series about helping Americans tidy up their homes, several years after she took off in Japan with her two books and Fumio Sasaki's hit book Goodbye Things as well as the Minimalists documentary on Netflix as well. I've watched Marie's shows, watched the documentary, listened to the audio book and read Goodbye Things as well as the two Minimalists books, their podcast, Matt D'Avella' s YouTube channel and podcast (he directed the minimalist documentary and their sequel that's coming out next year.) as well as several Japanese youtubers like Shibu, Takeru, SHOPPIN, MIYOSHI and more.
 
Along the way I've gotten rid of hundreds of DVDs, CDs, at least fifty items of clothing, a few game consoles and all kinds of games and more and I've begun to read a lot more, listen to a lot more podcasts, movies and other things that I used to not have the patience for, so I suppose you could say to take a phrase from Jordan Peterson, I "cleaned my room" and my mind cleaned up with it. It makes sense because it's a proven fact that clutter can make you depressed, and over the course of several months my girlfriend and I have gotten rid of plenty of things we don't need, constructed a whole new cleaning routine and are enjoying each other's company and appreciating it more. I still have hiccups from time to time, but I haven't purchased a video game in probably six months, only splurged once on CDs, but I have had a few impulse buys; but it's a process. Over time I've also learned that you don't have to throw everything away because the point is to get rid of what doesn't have any meaning or value to life and replacing it with things you actually care about and bring joy and meaning to your life. Minimalism isn't the solution, it's a game plan and a template to becoming a happier, more fulfilled, and content version of yourself. Minimalist isn't your identity, just like your objects are not your identity either. The whole point is to find out who you really are when things are stripped bare and you remove all of these things that you THINK make you who you are. 😊
 
-I've attached a talk that Fumio Sasaki did for the New York City Japan Society in 2017 where he talked about his journey and his book.
 
 
 

About two years ago, I told myself I wasn't gonna have any extra salt on my dinner if I could help it because overly salty/greasy food had been giving me chest pains. To this day, that rule actually just became a background part of my life and I have never - and I mean never - had extra salt on my dinner since then; no exceptions. I don't even recognise the difference and it really doesn't feel like two years.

I've done two exercise challenges this year. Both involve doing 100 reps of an exercise that targets a specific muscle group every day for a month. In January it was abs and more recently it was glutes. The ab one helped me gain a lot of core strength and I can keep up an exercise routine much more easily now. 

30 days is a long time to go without something you're either addicted to, accustomed to, or is just something you really like. I've been a fan of Matt D'Avella's videos this year where he's given up sugar for a 30 days, nothing but cold showers, meditating every day for 30 days, waking up at five am for 30 days, journaling every day for 30 days, giving up social media for 30 days and the latest one, no caffeine for 30 days. 
 
So, my questions are, have you ever challenged yourself to give up something for a month, if so what was it, would you give up something for a month, if so, what, and why and if not, why not? 

I can't imagine how much fun it must be to do stupid shit while causing liver damage. Alcohol is shit anyway, regardless of if it gives you a buzz or what have you.

I'm saying that it tastes awful, not getting into some pissing contest about how well alcohol absorbs into the blood stream. 🙄
 
You're free to burn the candle at both ends because it's your life, but don't complain when it's time to pay the piper.

Alcohol and drugs, recreational or not are for the emotionally and mentally weak and are just a crutch and outside of the real medicinal benefits of marijuana, it's all just a way to desensitize yourself from the world and dull the experience that is living because people aren't happy with their lives for one reason or another. This is why I'm straight edge after having experienced both of them and opting out of the social trends of getting drunk and high as the means of having fun has helped me live a more fulfilling and genuine life.