Friday, October 01, 2010

Saturday October 3, 3:05 p.m.

Got through the two lessons but I was struggling to stay awake during The Intellectual's lesson for some reason...I gather that lunch was getting digested. Well, in any case, I'm done for the day. I've started searching for that air ticket to get me back home for Xmas once more. I'll probably be dropping by No. 1 Travel sometime between The Artist's and Miss Genki's lessons on Monday.

Saturday October 2, 10:39 a.m.
Bernard Schwarz, aka Tony Curtis, has passed on. However, I did get to see the last hour of "Sweet Smell of Success", probably one of the most ironic titles for a motion picture ever produced, since the overarching thematic aroma is one of corrosive acid. Sad to say, but even the last 60 minutes of this movie was the first time I'd ever seen a Curtis movie. The only other time I did see the fellow was when he came on "The Flintstones" as "Stony Curtis". There are some more movies that I have to see of him.
I also ended up catching the last hour of "Shaft" with Samuel Jackson which was chock-filled with stars but I think the amalgam of 70s blaxploitation styling with turn-of-the-century reality didn't quite take, although it was interesting to see Jeffrey Wright hamming it up as Peoples Hernandez and Christian "Batman" Bale as one of his mid-career psycho killers.
I was supposed to have the full 3 for my Saturday shift. But The Publicity Assistant baled out suddenly last night. So it's just Miss Prissy and The Intellectual. Both are coming up to the ends of their current contracts so I'm not sure what they will do. The Intellectual will probably renew but again since I'll only be teaching them regardless for several more weeks, having either or both of them leave the nest will not trouble me too much. They put in their dues.

Thursday, September 30, 2010


Friday October 1, 1:22 p.m.
Gotta get this down fast since The Shareholder is on his way here. But it is indeed October. And still pretty warm out there but not like the hellish conditions of a month ago.
Of course, with Fall firmly settled in, it's time for all those warm dishes that Japan loves to rail about ad nauseum in magazines and on TV. For me, Fall means lots of minestrone...homemade, of course. I made my first batch in about a couple of years last weekend. Was able to get five bowls of the stuff over 2 days. Not too fussy about what goes in. This batch had potatoes, carrots, garlic, onions and a zucchini...and of course, bacon.
Had my lesson with The Bass this morning in Funabashi. Yep, he did contact The Matron's hubby who's the high-powered lawyer. But it looks like he won't be of much help since this involves an errant distributor in America. The Bass would have to contract not only him but an American attorney to track down one single person. Would be prohibitively expensive. As usual, the Bass was pretty sanguine about it and said he'll just keep plugging away.
After The Shareholder, I'll be heading over to Shibuya to pick up a CD or two and some magazines since I've just gotten paid. And then it'll be off to have dinner at The Restauranteur's in Urayasu. The Journo's inaugural class will be held off for one more week. Then, he promises to be there next week for 2 hours.
Heard over the wire that Tony Curtis has left this mortal coil. Was never a fan of his but I knew of his 50s/60s stature as one of the last great idols of Golden Age Hollywood. I may decide to watch "Some Like It Hot" one of these days. Anyways, The Shareholder is here....

Wednesday, September 29, 2010


Thursday September 30, 3:51 p.m.

It's been a nice comedown from the stresses of the last few days. I got all the translations done that The Corner had dumped on me, and for about half an hour, I had a pleasant conversation with the latest addition to the staff who'll be heading up the kids' school in about a few weeks' time. She'll be The Tahitian and will be joining Miss Sussex and The Babydoll at the new school. The bossman is aiming for a mid-October launch perhaps with the mind to get some sort of Halloween vibe going to attract the little ones.

I just heard from the juku boss that The Journo has actually committed to having his first class on the 8th. Well, we'll see. This will mean that I'll be done here at Speedy's at 2:30 tomorrow and then have the Friday night juku classes from 9 p.m. I can perhaps get some CD/magazine shopping done at Tower Records in Shibuya and even have one more dinner at The Restauranteur's place.
If the above comic strip looks familiar to you, then you're either middle-aged or a Peanuts fan. That was the first Peanuts strip ever shown on October 2, 1950, and starts the Charlie Brown legend on a pretty mild note, though the punch line has a bit of the venom which will stream through the strip for half a century. So on Saturday, Snoopy and the gang turn 60, some 10 years after their creator, Charles Schulz, left this mortal coil. Here in Japan, Snoopy remains the most beloved of the characters and I'm sure the Peanuts store in Omotesando's Kiddyland will have some sort of celebration.
Thursday September 30, 8:31 a.m.

And now we are at the end of September. Meterologically, it's been the equivalent of a blockbuster action picture. Torrid conditions at the beginning, followed by typhoons in the middle and now it's just a gloomy denouement. What will October bring?

It's been a busy week for me, I gather, to compensate for the relatively free last week. The Corner keeps sending me translations starting with the quote, "Oh, I need to send another..."; kinda like Columbo and his questions. I can now see why the criminals were driven mad. Still, it's money in the bank for me.

Just got three today but I've got that huge donut in the middle. I'll probably be using some of it for the translations but I would prefer not to end up spending my entire day inside Speedy's. I've got Grandma Dynamite for the first time in a few weeks. I've basically given up thinking of any sort of curriculum for her since she's so erratic in her schedule...maybe she'll end up practicing another show tune in front of me like last time. Later in the evening, I've got a triple in the form of The Carolinan, Mrs Thursday and The Music Man. The Carolinan has just gotten back from a trip to Thailand which she had apparently enjoyed, so I figure that some of the lesson will be centered around the report on her vacation.

Wednesday September 29, 10:22 p.m.

It's definitely been a long time since my last entry. Just got saddled with so much translation stuff from The Corner. I even had to go into the I-Cafe early Tuesday morning before seeing The Beehive.

I had a bit of a respite on Sunday afternoon, though, when I saw The Jyuppies for their regular lesson in Futako-Tamagawa. However, before the lessons, though, they were kind enough to take me to a fave restaurant of theirs in their old neighbourhood of Komazawa Park. It was called The Bowery Kitchen, and at first thought, I was reminded of old and dangerous 19th-century New York neighbourhoods, but The Bowery actually looked like a 21st-century trendy little cafe. My main course is shown in the above picture...yup, Japanese steak. I emphasize the Japanese since this is not a cut you will ever see in a typical American steakhouse. It was thin and tender and came with a huge dollar of herb butter. In Japan, steak is not steak unless it comes up with at least a pat of butter on top. At first, I was rather disgusted by the thought of adding extra cholesterol on top of something that is full of the stuff already, but I can see the madness in the method. Adding that extra bit of flavour. Still, The Bowery Kitchen really liked to slap on the Land O' Lakes. I had the waffles as well for dessert...to add insult to injury (to my heart). That also came with two huge pats of fruit-infused butter. I couldn't even eat the 2nd pat...it would've necessitated the defibrillator.

Apparently, The Jyuppies made at least 3 celeb sightings in the restaurant while we were there. There was model/TV personality SHIHO with her K-1 fighter husband, old 90s rock singer Nanase Aikawa and actor Yutaka Takenouchi. I didn't notice a soul...was just too much into the food and besides, I'm very cognizant of the fact that celebs are also people who require their privacy. I wouldn't even want to venture forth and ask for their autographs....not that I was a fan of any of the three anyways.

Anyways, the bossman wants to go home so I'll just cut it here. The Corner is still sending me translation requests, but I'm done for tonight.