2012-10-05, 17:57 | Link #6322 | |
NYAAAAHAAANNNNN~
Join Date: Nov 2007
Age: 35
|
Quote:
EDIT : According to wikipedia, they HAVE a tourism industry. In Vientiane, a mega mall is about to be built next year, something called Lao Plaza, using FDI. Where does the funds come from?
__________________
Last edited by SaintessHeart; 2012-10-05 at 18:15. |
|
2012-10-05, 21:42 | Link #6323 | |
Le fou, c'est moi
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Las Vegas, NV, USA
Age: 34
|
Quote:
They've been heavily investing in the Mekong region for quite a while now. |
|
2012-10-05, 21:54 | Link #6324 | |
Nyaaan~~
Join Date: Feb 2006
Age: 40
|
Quote:
By that, I mean, they invest in projects that are economically infeasible by profit seekers for some odd reason. Like random mining projections that generate negative NPV values .. |
|
2012-10-06, 05:22 | Link #6325 | |
NYAAAAHAAANNNNN~
Join Date: Nov 2007
Age: 35
|
Quote:
__________________
|
|
2012-10-07, 17:15 | Link #6326 |
Dictadere~!
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: On the front lines, fighting for inderpendence.
|
So I was talking to my friends about cars just a couple hours ago, and I came to the realization that despite sports cars generally being smaller and having less overall 'material' put into them, they still manage to look cooler than generic sedans you see constantly on the streets but are nevertheless incredibly expensive.
Why do car companies continually produce sedans without any distinguishing features or anything "sexy" to them? Why is it that coolness is limited to a vehicle with only two seats? I would think that if generic sedans were suddenly produce that had similar awesome designs to their sports car counterparts a lot more would be bought. I realize that much of this may be opinionated (who knows, maybe there are some who find general sedans to be extremely cool), but I honestly cannot see anyone successfully arguing that they are anywhere near as cool as a sports car.
__________________
|
2012-10-07, 17:46 | Link #6327 | |
He Without a Title
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: The land of tempura
|
Quote:
__________________
|
|
2012-10-07, 21:18 | Link #6328 |
Le fou, c'est moi
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Las Vegas, NV, USA
Age: 34
|
I don't know, there are boring sedans designed for the "class" over "style" aesthetics, or even outright utilitarianism, but there are also sexy sedans out there that incorporate sports sexiness into them. Some BMW sports sedan cost you an arm, a leg, and a liver, but you'll get back more than your fair due of, well, "compensation."
And then there is the recently released electric Model S, which looks rather sexy and apparently drives like a sports car. I'm not big on cars, but if this is the future, then sure as hell I'm catching a ride on one. |
2012-10-08, 00:54 | Link #6329 |
Knight Errant
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Age: 35
|
I'd say anything that's mass manufactured will lack "sexiness". The coolness of a car is somewhat down to it's rarity.
If you actually took a step back and thought about it, most sedans are downright futuristic looking. Also, most sports car designs are not practical for the range of driving needs that sedans cater to. They're very low to the ground, have impractically powerful motors, are fuel inefficient, and are not built for countries where the weather is at all unpredictable. Still, I'd argue that a lot of these sedans are actually pretty good looking. Of course, the really ugly class of car is the hatchback, but you can't beat that flexible space in the rear... |
2012-10-08, 08:24 | Link #6330 |
Knight Errant
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Age: 35
|
I have a question myself. Is there any reason that KDramas (and to a lesser extent JDramas and shojo manga) seem to populated almost exclusively by the uber-wealthy? If the entire cast isn't mega wealthy, then at least the male lead is almost always incredibly wealthy.
Is there a reason why the medium can't have a story populated by people of more normal means? |
2012-10-08, 09:17 | Link #6332 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Gensokyo
|
Quote:
|
|
2012-10-08, 11:10 | Link #6333 | |
Banned
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Dai Korai Teikoku
|
Quote:
|
|
2012-10-08, 11:23 | Link #6334 | |
Le fou, c'est moi
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Las Vegas, NV, USA
Age: 34
|
Quote:
I don't have an answer to Don's question, but it's pretty easy to notice indeed. Interestingly, I think it's less dominant in J-Drama by a considerable degree, though I speak without expertise. Going by Korean girls' manwha, which is heavily influenced by the drama industry's tropes, Korea really likes the super rich, the Cinderella poor, the vicious social competition and bullying, idol groups, very handsome, androgynous men, picture perfect beautiful women (not much on "moe"), and Starcraft. Oh, and Gangnam style as well. Rather literally, as in not just the worldwide hit parody song, but the actual posh, fashionable Gangnam image too. |
|
2012-10-08, 11:42 | Link #6335 | |
Knight Errant
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Age: 35
|
Quote:
In Japan you do get the intelligent and fabulously good looking, but the incredibly wealthy part is more optional. For instance you at least occasionally get delinquents and other things. Is Korean culture obsessed with wealth? Or am I reading too much into it? Or are there other factors leading to the ubiquity of wealth in Drama? Then again, now that I think about it, a lot of American soaps (the closest analogue I can think of to most KDrama), are also obsessed with the lives of the wealthy, though in the American case it's usually the upper middle class, not the uber wealthy upper class as seen in KDrama. You also see similar in Taiwanese and other Drama, but is this just a case of them copying KDrama? Either way, I don't really get it. Surely poverty presents plenty of dramatic possibilities (and not simply being rescued by some snooty rich guy)? |
|
2012-10-08, 21:37 | Link #6336 |
✘˵╹◡╹˶✘
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Australia
|
Well, I thought Korea is still in its developing stage, and leaving capitalism to its fullest. That's why they value 'being rich' so much and assimilate it to be the only way of being successful?
Will be interesting to find out, but i bet the average household income of male main character in modern Korean drama (by the ending) will always be much higher than in any other Asian countries (apart Taiwan which has similar state). Stereotypical speaking, their drama is not to make the male audiences relating themselves to (like in shounen anime/manga), but to make them idolising, those filthy rich business owner/tycoon's son who make supermodel girls left and right falling. That's why they only adapt Japanese shoujo, but never shounen But i do not "really" watch Korean drama, so I could be wrong Anyway, actually i come here to ask....
__________________
|
2012-10-08, 22:33 | Link #6337 | |
Obey the Darkly Cute ...
Author
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: On the whole, I'd rather be in Kyoto ...
Age: 66
|
Quote:
"metric ton" - Not used at all by lay people or many businesses. You will see it used frequently in engineering, science, or international business. OTOH, you won't see "megaton" used much except as a slang expression outside of nuclear or rocket science. And I've never seen it written as "M T"
__________________
|
|
2012-10-08, 23:55 | Link #6339 | |
✘˵╹◡╹˶✘
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Australia
|
Quote:
Basically in this published article i'm reading, there is this guy who (as i see) supposedly divided "3 M T" by "90 MT" and somehow got 0.3% (?!?!). Then happily declared that it 's similar to the figure of 0.5-2% from another guy So was really frustrated here not knowing whether he carelessly forgot that 3 mil/90 mil = ~3%, or it's simply a case of 3 and 90,000,000 with unknown extra calculations behind it. Of course the first make more sense to me, but it's within my interest for it to be high so can't totally trust myself
__________________
|
|
2012-10-08, 23:58 | Link #6340 | |
Obey the Darkly Cute ...
Author
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: On the whole, I'd rather be in Kyoto ...
Age: 66
|
Quote:
__________________
|
|
Tags |
problem, q&a, serious |
|
|