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Most foreigners interested in working in Japan's entertainment industry have heard or will hear of the agency known as Inagawa Motoko (aka IMO).  It's one of the largest, if not the largest talent agency specializing solely in foreign talent.  But this does not mean it's respectable or professionally managed.  In fact, the reality is quite the opposite.

In writing this I hope to expose this sham of an agency for what it really is--a den of common thieves.  Furthermore, it is my wish that others sharing my plight may join my crusade to spread the word about these con artists.  Ultimately, my goal is total shutdown of their unethical business practices--which equates to their entire business model.  If nothing else, I want the public made aware before more unsuspecting foreigners are

Growing up I never considered my home country to have much of a culture of its own.  Elementary school textbooks described it as a "melting pot" of other cultures, or more accurately, a "salad."  However, much to my chagrin, America does indeed have a distinct culture of its own; and it's one of those things I never realized until living abroad.  I have collected several points to ponder regarding American's unmistakable culture.

A Puritan Culture
America was founded on Puritanism--a conservative Christian doctrine expounding the depravity of mankind and infinite sinfulness inherent in all things sexual.  In other words, all souls are forever dangling over the fiery pits of hell because of inbuilt moral corruption.  Thanks a lot, Adam and Eve!  Like it or not Puritanism flows

I went through a really weird phase my first year of college.  Maybe it was the unchecked freedom granted after high school graduation, or an overdeveloped need to assert my individuality, or the weed I was smoking--but in short I became a freak.  I still am a freak to this day, but 1995-1996 was on a totally different level of freakishness.

The Pekkle Pager Case
Like I said I just had to be different.  I still had a pager while most were already converting to cell phones.  My pager was encased in a bright blue nylon Sanrio "Pekkle" pager case [Pekkle was Sanrio's duck character counterpart to Hello Kitty].  It was quite an odd sight for an 18 year-old guy.  I think those that saw it (including my family) questioned my sexual orientation.

Facial Hair
Like every boy in 1995, I tried to grow a goatee.  But in my case I didn't quite have the hormones for it.  The beyond-platinum blond hair above my upper lip refused to

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Has anyone besides me noticed the uncanny resemblance between Google and "Skynet" from the Terminator movies?

It's no secret that Google's ultimate goal is control of the world's information through the proliferation of "cloud computing."  On the surface Google's core business looks like a simple search engine; however, their true mechanics lie within their massive Skynet-like datacenters.  They construct the web infrastructure allowing you to surrender your information up to the cloud, promising unparalleled "access anywhere" convenience and data resiliency.

Think about it.  Some people's entire lives are on Google's systems--email, calendar, photos, address book, blog, discussions, videos (Google owns YouTube), and soon even your operating system will be Google (Chrome OS coming soon).  Google will no doubt eventually sell their free OS and cloud computing model to small businesses and enterprise customers as well--demolishing Microsoft's antiquated client PC model.

Google is an information vampire, implementing info-harvesting services wherever the opportunity exists.  Here is a breakdown of a very realistic future scenario: