Friday February 4, 8:52 p.m.

The Teacher wasn't exactly too hot today. She had some stomach problems which necessitated a quick trip to the washroom. Her reading was pretty off-balance. Went straight to the Tea Room to have their really nice salad; I got there more than 2 hours before SR's arrival so that I could eat lunch and then pore over the TOEIC material. When she did come in, we both ended up getting pretty exhausted trying the exercises.

I mentioned about that sighting of that comedian at the subway station yesterday. Well, over the past decade, I've managed to have a few other sightings. There were those two times at the Tea Room for a couple of second-stringers. One actually has the name of B-Saku Sato who, with his entourage, took over the back of the Tea Room for a rather loud chat, whilst the other time, a TV personality dressed up as a maid for some sort of variety program. Then, another time I caught one of the London Boots comedy duo in a telephone booth in Ginza for some sort of gag skit. Several years ago, I even caught the leader of the pop band, TOKIO, just sitting on a ledge of a display window of a department store in Shibuya.

On a very serious note, I turned on NHK News to find out that its first story was on some psycho who stabbed a baby to death in a department store playground. The man readily confessed but refused to give a motive. It's getting so that parents everywhere are wondering where they can actually have their kids play safely anymore. But just when I thought that this was a Japanese epidemic, CNN has just reported about some psycho Florida couple who tortured 5 kids in their house.

Friday February 4, 8:57 a.m.

Well, I guess it had to be done. Got the first word from The Entrepreneur, a fellow Trekkie from the old days, that "Star Trek: Enterprise" has officially gotten the axe. Certainly I'm a bit disappointed but frankly, the axe had been swinging over this show for well over a year. And as Jonathan Frakes once said about "Star Trek: Voyager", "I think they dipped one too many times into the well." I think that fact along with the typical-for-a-Trek-franchise first 2 so-so seasons pretty much did it in. Kinda too bad since the episodes were starting to get interesting. However, I'm sure that Paramount won't give up the ghost; probably there will be a few made-for-TV movies in the future. Just too many loose ends out there between Archer and Kirk.

There's at least one website which has been on the case to save "Enterprise". Well, they obviously weren't successful but now they're going to try to resurrect the franchise. It kinda reminds me when there was that very first fan attempt to bring back the original series. That wasn't initially successful either but a decade after the final episode of Kirk, McCoy and Spock, the first movie came out (not a great movie by any means, mind you) and there had even an animated series some years earlier. So as Spock once said, "There are always possibilities."

Thursday February 3, 10:33 p.m.

Yeah, it was pretty chilly today. Even I, a Canadian who once jogged in a snowstorm and waited for 40 minutes at a bus stop in -20-degree weather, actually felt cold. Man, I'm getting old.

I think that 12 o'clock wasn't the best move for Jazz Buddy and myself since all the eateries get filled up for lunch. Besides, she was 10 minutes late again. And those bags under her eyes are just getting deeper. Good grief. We ended up going to a small cafe in the Century Hyatt called "It's On Me". They had a lunch set for 700 yen which was OK, not great. In any case, we spent most of the time just gabbing but I did squeeze in some TOEIC practice using some ads. We'll meet at our old time of 11 again.

Did actually spend a whole 4 hours at Speedy's school doing those lesson plans. Speedy didn't sound all that impressed with my progress when I told him that I managed to finish halfway through Chapter 3. I think he wanted me to get to Chapter 4 by now, but hey, I had to re-align the format to match the other teacher's plans so it meant another look at Chapters 1 and 2.

Met the new student, Betty's friend, MK, in Kiba tonight. The only other time I've been in Kiba was last year to meet a couple of friends who'd stayed at a nearby hotel. MK took me to the venue, another Starbucks in a new mall just around the corner. She's pretty low but willing to work. Had a good inaugural lesson. Almost a pity that I can't see her every week but I've got the Carolinan and her sister from next week. I'm sure not gonna enjoy the commute home from Kiba. By that station, the Tozai is packed to the gills. I almost felt like taking the train westbound back to Iidabashi and then get back onto the eastbound so that I could get a seat.

Speaking about trains, over the past few days, I've been seeing signs at a lot of the subway stations hawking about this veteran comedy duo, Utchan-Nanchan (Uchimura and Nanbara), who would ride the subway somewhere on Feb. 18th. Well, it looks like one of them decided to start a bit early. At Iidabashi Station, I was going up the stairs to transfer to the Oedo Line when I saw Mr. Nanbara come on down with a full entourage of TV techs and one young lady with a lot of makeup and a plastic smile. I could only conclude that she must me one of those model-TV personalities. In any case, Nanbara didn't look particularly cheerful; in fact, he looked somewhat grumpy. But then again, I think a lot of TV personalities in this country aren't exactly particularly welcoming off-camera. Considering that the demands put on them by their public are even harder than those put on Hollywood A-list celebs, I'm not that surprised and I can't really even blame them. In any case, the other big surprise is that none of us mortals made so much as a peep of recognition, and Nanbara is a longtime veteran on TV. Mind you, there didn't seem to be any kids to scream shrilly but back home, there would have been at least a few yahoos who would've said something at him.

Looks like there's been another casualty amongst my students due to the cold. My ex sent me the message that she'd like to hold off on her inaugural because of a fever. No complaints on my part. I'd actually appreciate an early trip home tomorrow.

Now that I'm home, I still have to write up the lesson reports and then do a quick little lesson plan for SR's first TOEIC lesson.

Wednesday February 2, 9:11 p.m.

Did my errand trek around Tokyo. The trip to Ikebukuro was a waste of time since the Canada store has shrunk even more to just being a corner in the larger store. There was nothing of value to get that I couldn't get at the Kinokuniya. However, I did learn that the next big culinary exhibition in Namjatown is for chocolate cake.

Then I headed out to Maruzen once more to see if they had the CDs for the TOEIC text I'm giving to SR. Found 'em and bought 'em for a pretty steep price. Ugh...I hope SR doesn't balk. It was another hop over to Ginza and I got Dad's B-day present in the form of an enka tape at Yamano Music and even went over to the Ito-Ya stationery shop for a card. The walk through Yamano was interesting since there was an old geezer, obviously a few peas short of a pod disco dancing at a listening post. Ahhhh...countdown to senility, T minus 2 and counting.

I got to the Starbucks a couple of hours before OL's lesson. The manageress was there so she gave me a friendly greeting. Nice to be known. True to my age, I mixed in some drowsing with my crosswords before the OL showed up. She started off well with the new book.

Gotta get started on lesson plans for tomorrow including that new student.

Looks like the Pope is gonna come out alright after all. He had that crisis earlier today with his breathing but it looks like he's back up and running. The man may look frail but he's got the constitution of a Viagra-pumped ox.

Wednesday February 2, 11:00 a.m.

As you may have guessed, I'm not at the gym. I guess my rule is take a week off during a cold. I thought with the Hawaiian's cancellation. I could pull off a visit but my condition plus the fact that I realized that I still have a lot of other errands to pull off means that the gym is back on the back burner. Not only will I be heading out to the Canada store in Ikebukuro to buy some of that Dark maple syrup and any other doodads, but I've gotta buy a card and present for Dad and see if I can finally score those TOEIC CDs for SR before her class on Friday.

So instead, I'm just doing a bit of writing and listening to a relaxing CD that Kei loaned me last night. It's one of those Bossa Nova-tinged compilations with plenty of Astrud Gilberto and Sergio Mendes to chase away the February blahs. I actually got a call from PN just now stating that she'll probably be coming in on Sunday morning so I'll have to hit the road pretty early to meet up with her at Shinagawa Station. Maybe we'll try for one of those breakfast buffets at one of the hotels...if it's still on by the time we meet.

Tuesday February 1, 11:28 p.m.

My class with the Beehive was a bit more crowded than usual when the very first person to greet me as their teacher returned with a friend of hers who had spent 8 years in Australia. Apparently, the lady lives just across the street from the bowling alley where I teach, so she was wondering about how we operate. Well, I kinda formalized things a bit more for her benefit which may or may not have discomfited the others. But the rest of the group was very welcoming. Not sure, though, if our setup is up the lady's alley. I got the impression she would have liked a bit more structure. Ironically, the woman who's always here first didn't show, but I'd been told in advance that she was probably going to be away for a month on different trips. For some strange reason, the others thought she was gonna show up.

Got home today and decided to eschew the gym since I wasn't feeling 100%. I wasn't feeling lousy but I just didn't want to take the chance of aggravating my cold. So instead after lunch, I took a 2-hour nap before taking off for the juku.

Bought a Kit Kat since I had this sudden craving for a bit of choco and plus, it is the exam season. Examinees everywhere in Japan buy a Kit Kat for luck since the name resembles the Japanese expression for "You will succeed".

The juku classes were the usual. The Beauty Pair went off on another tangent centered around food and sickness. Yuri told me that she had a bit of a cold. And then the Mild Ones came; Mrs. Mild was still recovering from her long bout with the bug. Then I got my newest student, a strapping young lad who's a juku teacher himself. His knowledge of grammar was quite solid but he definitely needs more practice in using it. I thought he wasn't gonna bite the bait since I didn't think I did a realy good job with the model lesson. However, he decided to take a chance on me. Afterwards, the boss and I spoke at some length about our respective career options. The boss had long been thinking about expanding her operations and how difficult it was to see these other schools seemingly rake the money in as they grew all over the place. I allayed her doubts by saying that her school is in a perfect niche. The atmosphere has always been very homey, not surprising considering that the juku is on the 2nd floor of her house. When I think about the huge chains like NOVA or AEON and even my old school, there's a certain warm-hearted quality that the juku has that the others lack. So I told her that she needn't expand. The Beauty Pair and the Mild Ones like the juku because of this warmheartedness. Besides, she really doesn't deserve the extra stress. And running any sort of large business would entail a certain cold-hearted ruthlessness that she simply doesn't have. It's the reason that I'll never start up a school. I'm not saying that Speedy is an ogre-in-waiting but he'll have to make some cold hard decisions in the future when it comes to his own school.

Sure enough, the cold is affecting other students as well. The Hawaiian just told me that she'd like to cancel her lesson tomorrow since she's been knocked out by the virus as well. So I may be able to hit the gym AND get started on the annual Pancake Day project since I won't be seeing the OL until later in the evening. Stiil, I'll be playing the gym by ear depending on my condition when I wake up. Speaking about the Pancake project, the Tomboy can't make it this time around but I may have the Doll's cooperation.

Not sure what Punxatawney Phil will say about Groundhog Day on the 2nd but I think winter will still be hanging around here for another 6 weeks.

Monday January 31, 5:45 p.m.

Yes, I'm back early...I scored a double cancellation today. Not only did SIL can out but I received a message from The Company that no one is available for their lesson tonight. If my writing sounds somewhat jubilant, it's because I'm relieved. I'm not at 100% right now with this official cold in me. Slightly achy, alternately runny and stuffy nose, scratchy throat...I'm a walking Dristan commercial. Loss of income but glad to be home.

Mind you, I wouldn't be nearly this rundown if I hadn't decided to get a whole bunch of errands done which entailed a good bit of walking. Got that insurance bill paid off, bought the texts for OL and SR, and walked all the way up to Omotesando to do some recon for the Saturday trip there to buy the maple syrup. No problems...all the necessary stuff was there.

However, my stomach was getting quite growly and I was determined NOT to enter McD's after my month's ration of a Big Mac last week. So I just walked down the big avenue in Omotesando. I passed by SUBWAY (looked too small so too crowded) and foreigner fave FUJIMAMAS (too pricey for lunch). I was about to cross the main intersection dividing the classy Omotesando and the trendy Harajuku when mine eyes came across a sign hanging out just beyond the GAP. It had a picture of a hot dog (!) with the name of NATHAN'S printed on it. Well, considering that I'd given up on any good hot dogs in this country, I decided to track this tip down. At first, I saw a hot dog stand with a guy inside hawking the franks, but then I also saw a sign pointing to the basement which had the main store with seats and tables. Well, I saw the menu and definitely decided that I couldn't pass this opportunity up. There were chili dogs, cheese dogs and double dogs. However, I miraculously held my discipline and opted for a single 100% beef dog and a regular Coke (well, so I wasn't totally successful). All I can say is that I was a very satisfied customer. It tasted like the ol' Maple Leaf wieners that I can now only eat once a year. Next time I'm in the neighbourhood, I'm going for the whole shebang.

On that note, I heard from Betty Boop yesterday that her colleagues had been talking about these deliciously big donuts with slurpworthy icing that they had in the swanky Shirogane neighbourhood. Two K's zipped through my mind at that moment. It just couldn't be...so I checked out the Krispy Kreme website at length. It did mention new openings globally up to December but nothing about a new store in Tokyo. Also, considering that KK's stock has finally started dropping in the past year I didn't think the company would be opening anything in Asia. However, that description by BB was just too close to the real thing to let go.

After my text shopping at Kinokuniya, I traipsed across the bridge to Takashimaya to use the tastefully designed washrooms. The previous occupant was kind enough to leave some reading material. It was one of the loud and colourful broadsheets, probably Tokyo Sports, and on the front cover was a picture of a tall skinny girl just about to burst into tears. Well, it was none other than the last of the original Morning Musume, Kaori Iida, taking a final bow before "graduating" onto bigger and better things such as permanent exile in tarento land or somewhere in the ever chaotic food industry. Now that the original five are technically free (although the original leader is still hanging out on MM's weekly show), they could actually get back together under a new name just like the original X-Men became X-Factor whilst the new generation was busy fighting villains.

In other "only in Japan" news, there's been a bit of a feather-ruffling in the Kabuki world. One of the young turks, Shichinosuke Nakamura, all of 21 years got arrested for punching out a cop in the Otsuka neighbourhood after getting roaring drunk. Apparently, he tried to skip out on paying the taxi driver. He's out now but his father, a newly anointed master, was justifiably mortified and furious at a press conference. After apologizing profusely to all of Japan, he quietly called his son every name in the bad book before stating that he has no desire to face his son right now. Considering that the art of Kabuki seems to demand as much discipline as a Special Forces regiment does, I think Shichinosuke is gonna be eating Alpo for the forseeable future.

Ahhh...another "only in Japan" item. Up in Saitama, citizens of a certain town have been rather dumbfounded to see 20 million yen worth of 10000-yen bills floating in the river and in a drainage ditch over the past couple of days. I think that would come about to $300,000 US. If this had happened in the US, I'm sure the townspeople would have had a feeding frenzy to put most sharks to shame trying to grab the money. Over here, the reaction has been surprise and call up the cops. Every bill that was found floating is safely drying out on a floor somewhere. Makes one think of the cultural differences.

Well, what to do? I bought another Aussie steak for the ridiculously low price of 250 yen...so ridiculously low that I'm getting suspicious if it's really from Oz. A couple of years back, a meatpacking company got nailed for disguising domestic beef as Aussie beef during the BSE crisis in Japan.

Gotta get the ironing done and prep for tomorrow's lessons, provided they don't get cancelled on me either.

Monday January 31, 7:44 a.m.

Well, the Iraqi elections have ended and it seems like the forces of democracy have won. Thousands of surprised and delighted Iraqis lined up for hours to put in the most important slip of paper of their lives. The scenes of jubilant people in places like Baghdad over something like voting could give us, in the well-established democracies, pause to reflect about how much we should be thankful. Of course, I won't leave this line of thought without putting a bit of bitters into the sweets. The very cynical of us would posit that Iraqi democracy is less than a year old and would yell at those celebrants that they haven't yet encountered the phenomenon of special interest groups and spin doctoring and mealy-mouthed pols. And yet, Iraq's entry into democracy (admittedly, still early to tell if it'll hold or breakdown into civil war...but then the States went through the same process) happened in a 21st-century world of global communications, business and culture compared to the birth of the US over 2 centuries ago. It will be a different democracy if it succeeds.

Anyways, enough with the journo monologuing. My nose is feeling distinctly stuffy and my throat has a bit of a rough patch. I guess cold season has arrived. The Hawaiian was her usual sweet self and sent me some advice on how to combat hay fever by buying some sort of special tea from the drugstore. I may have to buy 6 months' worth.

Sunday January 30, 10:58 p.m.

Our trip to the dumpling place in Daimon was a mixed blessing...at least when it came to the women. The food was indeed quite good; as the matron of the Class Act had promised, the sho ron po was juicy, meaty, tasty and good n' hot. However, the OL and BB weren't nearly as impressed with the in-your-face service by the non-Japanese staff and the decor. Me, that's how I grew up with my Chinese restaurants back in Toronto. And frankly, I don't think the staff there would take too kindly to the "Do as the Romans do.." approach in Tokyo. Pricewise, it wasn't too cheap although the quality of the food was well worth it. The Class Act had said it was reasonable but I realized who I was getting this from...from a lady who could buy houses on just one credit card. Still, I'm glad I finally got to go there. I can give a good report to the ladies tomorrow.

Speaking of which, I've got them and the Company but SIL has canned her lesson. So I guess I can get some errands done such as pay my National Health Insurance premium and actually get some books for SR and OL. And I can even squeeze that little recon to Kinokuniya to see if they still have the varieties of maple syrup before Saturday's raid.

After our pricey lunch, OL, BB and I walked down a kilometre or so to the Hotel Intercontinental in Takeshiba to see if there were a dessert buffet according to what BB had said. That walk was pretty chilly since the winds were still acting up mighty fierce. We got inside and the hotel indeed looked very 5-star. We ended up going to The Blue Veranda. It didn't have a dessert buffet...just a regular one which under the circumstances we had absolutely no appetite for. However, we did pick some desserts from the tray. With that and the lunch, I did quite a blowout with the food budget; luckily, I've been quite frugal this month.

We ended staying at the place for quite a few hours chatting. One of the topics that came to mind was the girls' gripes about having to work overtime every day. It's interesting to note how things have really changed even in the last 40 years. Back in the early postwar period, everyone was working their tails off for more than half a day without any particular bonuses until Japan was on its feet again. Today, my ladies at least are complaining about overtime even though it's paid. I'm not trying to trash them (and I didn't either during our conversation) but I'm just noting it. It's also the first time in the several years I've known Betty that she actually got a bit steamed at the situation. Well, in the end, it looks like our little triangle is becoming quite the foodie group. Maybe next month, we'll try our luck again with another restaurant. Hopefully, we won't have to shuck out all that much.

Actually got some chat in with The Engineer whilst I was writing the above. Looks like he's been quite busy with his domestic travels. He mentioned that he's wondering about getting back here to help his current girlfriend move over to Canada. I wonder if this means he's finally settling down.

Looks like the second-biggest news story of the day next to the Iraq elections has been the weather. Once again, all the areas surrounding Tokyo are gonna get hit with the white stuff over the next 24 hours but Tokyo will be nice and dry...kinda like an armpit after a roll-on.

Also, my histamines are starting to dance around in my nose...which means that hay fever is just around the corner. Ugh! Well, I've armed myself with the tissue, medicine and even a special type of Febreeze which stops pollen in its tracks. I'm gonna have to spray the stuff every time I come home.

Well, looks like the ironing will have to wait til tomorrow. I just wanna take a shower now.

Sunday January 30, 9:03 a.m.

I'd been hoping to get my 8 hours of shuteye but...goshdarn it...Mother Nature was pretty cantankerous overnight. The winds were whistling by like Valkyries. I was awakened by the chorus around 4:30 a.m. and just couldn't get back my REM sleep since I was worried that my laundry poles would fly off with the winged stallions. So I ended up taking the plastic one in as best as I could as a half-drowsy man of my age could...which is not very. Then I brought back my Discman and played my Jane Monheit. It didn't get me back to REM but it almost succeeded in drowning out the gale. I hope I just don't fall over my sho ron po today.

How about that Jon Stewart? I hardly get to see THE DAILY SHOW since it bounces around the CNN schedule so bloody much but I hit the jackpot today at 8:30. Still biting...I see. He's kinda like the anti-Carson...he doesn't make people feel too comfy on that sofa. It always seems like his guests, most of whom seem to be well-starched real journos and congressmen, have this underlying look of terror. And well they should since Jon can eviscerate without leaving a scar..well, not a physical one anyways. Also, it doesn't help that a quick sense of humour isn't a requirement for public office or media. Hmmm...I wonder if he did manage to scare away Paul Begala and Tucker Carlson from CROSSFIRE. The last time I saw the opening credits of that program, the announcer only showed the other team of Bob Novak and the bald liberal guy.

Some of that wind is still whistling out there. Not a laundry day today. Mind you, I do have to dispose of some clothing that's long past its prime.

Saturday January 29, 9:13 p.m.

Forgot to add some other stuff. In other news, apparently a legendary 80s idol by the name of Kyoko Koizumi did a naughty thing and did a hit-and-run on an innocent delivery moped. I'm sure the driver was properly indignant. Of course, the gossip wags were on her like a first boyfriend for some comment. Talk about your non-news story.

I see that Movie Buddy has been developing his blog over the past few weeks. He said that he would do only weekly entries but he may have caught the bug I did 2 years ago since he's certainly logging in a bit more than once a week.

Of course, the big news tomorrow is that election in Iraq. I just hope that it is successful so some sort of hurdle can be passed. Still, I think the insurgents will just get crankier and hurt more people in vengeance attacks.

Saturday January 29, 9:00 p.m.

That older sister I teach finally grew some "balls" and actually told me what she wanted. She thought the textbook we've been using for the past several months is now too easy. Fair enough...I'll throw her the hardball. Hopefully that'll mean she's finally getting out of the shell of sullenness.

Otherwise, it was a quiet day today. That rain never came. Hard to believe, but I actually a package of sukiyaki beef and a very lean steak both from Australia for a mere pittance. Definitely no need for that 10,000-yen steak dinner unless one really wants that Kobe beef.

Boop's friend sent back a response. Looks like I've got her first lesson next Thursday at Kiba Station.

PN cancelled out on her trip here due to a rather bad cold. However, she may be suffering from something more than a cold. Looks like she left another job again due to "creative differences". I've known PN for several years now and know how her personality can grate on other people. She's usually said that it's the other way around and perhaps some of that has occurred but it's kinda hard for me to believe that she's been the suffering martyr all the time. In any case, she seems to be depressed as well as physically ill. I hope she gets out of it.

In any case, tomorrow is my first trip to that supposedly great restaurant in Daimon for sho ron po dumplings with Boop and the OL. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Friday January 28, 10:10 p.m.

Nice and easy day today. Just had The Teacher and then a workout at the gym. I have to admit that the Teacher goes into topics which none of my other students would ever approach. We actually got into the seedier side of Japanese pop culture such as love hotels and places of that ilk. Of course, there was no one else in the cafe at that time. And I would like to add that she brought it up first. Still, even I had to curb the discussion a bit when we almost went into the really nasty world of German porn videos.

Dinner was a simple fry-up of an entire can of SPAM with rice, salad and the remaining bowl of homemade veggie soup. Now, once again, I state that I didn't have the spam due to fiscal reasons...I actually dig the stuff. Movie Buddy would rather dig it underground. He's referred to it as one level up from dog food. I'm sure most people in the Western world would think the same thing, so I guess this reconstituted meat would be my own little "natto". Actually, spam is pretty popular in Okinawa. They actually sell spamburgers there, a practice that has made its way into the FREHSNESS BURGER chain here in Tokyo. I gather that spam made its way into the Japanese culinary scene because of the large US military presence in Okinawa, although I'm not too sure if spam is a huge thing amongst the soldiers either.

I spent my night watching CASABLANCA for a second time. This time, I listened to the second commentary by an unknown movie critic. Instead of Roger Ebert's "play-by-play" style, the other guy basically went through various episodes which occurred during the making of the movie. The movie is still great to look at.

I've been having a running commentary with the coordinator all day about the annual Pancake Day. Looks like I'll be making another run down to Kinokuniya on the 5th with the usual suspects. But I have to think about how to handle the logistics.

Once again, I'm hitting the hay early for another early pair of lessons with the sisters. However, unlike the past few Saturdays, this will be a Saturday spent totally home alone...knock on wood.

Thursday January 27, 10:57 p.m.

Long day. I met Jazz Buddy at the Andersens in Shinjuku. Or to be more accurate, she ran in and met me in the bakery after being 10 minutes late. The lesson was more focused on TOEIC and a chapter out of one of my texts which made for a nice surprise. However, her typical sleepy-eyed look prevailed. Luckily, our plans for the Diana Krall concert made for a nice animated diversion.

Had my first day on the job at Speedy's school. However, most of the four hours there was spent listening to a presentation to a nifty TOEIC online system. I did have enough time to get one lesson plan for the first chapter of the school's official textbook. But I was inwardly miffed when Speedy hinted that I would only be paid for the lesson plan work. I realize that it's a new school so funds aren't exactly too deep; still, I didn't exactly treat my attendance at the presentation as playtime either. At the same time, I was rather impressed at this new online system.

Rushed back to the Tea Room to teach the Carolinan. We were the only ones in the place which made for a nice lesson. We also laid the groundwork for her to introduce her sister to me...professionally, of course. If everything goes well, I'll be teaching my second set of sisters from the first Thursday of February.

Looks like I'm getting quite busy with the new students. My ex is muscling in on the Friday night slot which will mean my Friday will be quite long as well. And I had to start negotiations with Betty Boop's friend for a regular date for her lessons. She suggested Tuesday nights which is obviously not good for me since that's my time at the juku.

I actually got my first e-mail from the coordinator at the old school since this year began. She asked me how my holidays were; I didn't bother answering her. She did ask if I would pull off what will be my final Sugaring Off party at the school in a couple of weeks. I think I can fit it in.

PN contacted me again to say that's she's coming to town this weekend. I recall that she asked me once before in December if I were free for dinner but it was just before the trip back home so I had to take a rain check. Well, it's time to hand in that check. I should be able to see her sometime this weekend.

Hopefully, it'll be a fairly quiet day tomorrow with just The Teacher and then another outing at the gym.

In other news, well, BBC and CBS got nailed last year for some improprieties against the government. Now it's NHK's turn. Apparently, due to some embezzlement scandals, the NHK president has stepped down to take responsibility despite stating that he wouldn't. There are a lot of angry viewers out there who have now refused to pay up their monthly NHK fees since the scandals broke. It's rather ridiculous, actually, how NHK tries to get its funds. Back Stateside, PBS uses the annoying hard sell to get its members to cough up but it's effective...plus, the gifts are pretty good.

Over here, NHK has an army of senior citizens going door-to-door monthly to pick up the dues. Basically, if anyone owns a TV, he/she has to pay up because after all, EVERYONE watches NHK (I say that with a thick coating of sarcasm). Aside from the flimsy reasoning behind the collection of dues, the really ridiculous part is this method of collection. It's just so outdated. Perhaps in a village where everyone knows each other, this aging army can get away with picking up that 3000 yen every month. Not in Tokyo. The majority of people, until recently at least, did pay up dutifully. However, there is that rather vocal minority which pulls off a number of gags to try to avoid the NHK Reaper: pretending not to have a TV, claiming not to watch NHK (which is very possible since a lot of the programming isn't universally loved) and feigning a lack of understanding of Japanese. This last tactic doesn't really work anymore since the NHK collector can just throw out an English-language brochure.

But with the scandals coming to light, and especially because they involved NHK employees dipping too deeply into the coffers, the old collectors have been yelled at and even assaulted by irate residents. Kill the messenger! And so, the collectors have been raising hell with their employer. The whole system is just so atypically inefficient. NHK can save the labour costs by just withdrawing money straight from everyone's accounts but then I'm sure the locals would be crying foul at this Big Brotheresque collection. The craziest thing is that non-payers don't even get penalized. I think it's perhaps time for some heads to roll and overhaul the network. But NHK isn't the only culprit. The commercial networks have been in their own little doghouses as well.

Wednesday January 26, 8:25 p.m.

That snow quickly went away. It was much in the custom of Tokyo life: clean and efficient. It made for a pretty picture for that one hour, and then it quickly disappeared. By the time I got home from my lesson, the pavement was dry. There was none of that black sludge that forms after the snow just lays on the ground back in T.O.

Kinda strange this early in the year, but I've gotten requests from The Carolinan and Betty Boop about helping a few of their friends with their English. And even my ex has contacted me out of the blue for help with her conversation...up until April. Hmmmm...well, it's probable that she's just gonna get busy when the new fiscal year starts.

I was watching Larry King today. It was a bit of a sharp turn in topics after yesterday's tribute to Johnny Carson...LK was talking with the husband of a teacher who allegedly had sex with a 14-year-old. A pretty lurid case and at times, my jaw just dropped on hearing some of the recorded phone messages between the teacher and her paramour along with some of the modeling photos not too long ago. Obviously, it's not the first time this has happened as we all know from the LaTourneau case. Apparently, according to the hubby, 10% of all students Stateside are involved in some relationship with a teacher. And so far, the case that I saw on the show today along with the previous cases have been given full court press.

Over here, the same sort of thing happens but a typical case only merits a maximum of 30 seconds on the news shows here. I've even heard of a few via friends in Japan; in one talk, the teacher-student couple ended up getting married. There has even been a couple of comedies on that very topic without anyone batting an eye. Perhaps it's because Japan is a very secular country in name and practice without the feelings of cardinal sin that would erupt with the illicit couplings in the States. As a teacher myself, I'm not supporting the practice but I'm just stating an observation.

Because of the early night tonight, I was able to concoct some nice veggie soup and a main dish with lots of cabbage. Oh, my stomach will be happy. A perfect meal for a cold night.

Tomorrow should be a full day. I've got Jazz Buddy and The Carolinan bracketing my first stint helping out at Speedy's school. The money will be nice making lesson plans although my new boss has warned that the payment won't be as high as actual teaching.

I got a message from The Quarterback for the first time in a while. He just reminded us of the place and time for the wedding. That's coming up in a couple of weeks.

Wednesday January 26, 7:44 a.m.

A morning of wet snow...this has been pretty unprecedented this year in Tokyo. The fourth time we've had the white stuff this winter. And my students still say we have to go over the hurdle known as February. Speaking of seasonal events, it looks like hay fever is threatening again. One of the Beauty Pair last night seemed to be suffering from it so I graciously placed a box of tissue and a wastebasket next to her. The local media say that the pollen count could be 30 times as high as last year. Considering that Chiba is the prefecture with the largest number of cedar trees, I predict all of us here could be wearing masks this time next month.

Speaking of the juku classes, there was almost a chance that I could have a clean sweep of no students last night. The Beauty Pair was even later than usual, The Mild Ones totally cancelled, and the boss could have been saddled with a new kid to teach. However, the Pair did show up eventually and the boss was able to re-schedule. In the absence of The Mild Ones, the boss took her class in their slot so I could get home a bit earlier than usual and catch the Oscar nominations. It's often the case that unlike Stateside, a number of the Oscar-nominated movies have yet to appear here. The Aviator, Sideways and Million Dollar Baby are still not here and probably won't get here until the Oscars are already given out. At least, Ray will be hitting our shores this weekend, and Neverland is already out. However, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind will arrive in theaters in Tokyo in March, a full year after its release in the States. I'm not even sure if it will get a full release considering its esoteric nature, but then again, it does star Jim and Kate, two well-known commodities in this country.

Just have The Hawaiian today. So it'll be the gym, her and then heading straight back here for dinner. No idea what I'm gonna have. May even stop by the kaiten sushi place instead but the place doesn't seem to be jumping lately. Kinda wonder if it'll be gone by April.

Tuesday January 25, 10:30 p.m.

Y'know, as a Japanese-Canadian growing up, I was occasionally a target for racism by bullies, future sociopaths and generally unthinking kids. Names will never hurt me? Sure, they did. Nip, Jap, even Chink. It wasn't even as if the times happened during or immediately after WWII. They attacked me because I looked different and I was in the minority at my school. I've since grown up with a seething hatred of any sort of racism anywhere anytime.

So you could imagine how I felt when I came across an article in today's Japan Times which talked about the harassment that North Korean immigrants have been getting from native Japanese, especially since Kim Jong Il admitted that he and his government had kidnapped several Japanese decades ago for their own nefarious purposes. The Korean school in Tokyo has reported that it'd received death threats but the one thing that got my ire up was reading that a young girl with North Korean ancestry, probably born and raised in Japan, was spat upon by a middle-aged racist on a bus and told to go back to her "own country". Noone came to her defense which doesn't surprise me since most Japanese naturally have the "don't-get-involved" mechanism, although I'm grateful that a sudden mob mentality didn't arise. No, it was the act that got my viscera boiling. As a victim myself, I can imagine how she felt...humiliated and very vulnerable.

The aforementioned school is pro-Pyongyang and therefore teaches the Kim philosophy of juche that has made North Korea into the feared, hated and impoverished country that it is today. It can then be said that the school is an extended organ of North Korean policy in Tokyo. There has been no love from the Japanese (and I cannot blame them) over the months toward North Korea because of the kidnappings and also because the NK government tried to flimflam its Japanese counterpart with alleged remains of deceased abductees that turned out to be faked. The North Koreans have stonewalled, evaded and lied when it comes to the possibility of even more abductees who may still be alive in their country.

But we're back to the case of the spat-upon girl. Yes, her family is North Korean...yes, she's being schooled in juche...yes, she could even head back to North Korea. But the bottom line is that she isn't the one who kidnapped those people; she's just a girl living and going to school in Japan. And she's one of many targets of opportunity for a lot of pent-up anger here. What troubles me even more is that unlike me, who had been victimized by fellow kids (and as we all know, kids can be cruel), the girl and others like her could become targets of hate by an entire swath of society. I'm not saying that every native Japanese wants to tear apart a North Korean immigrant, and certainly I think something has to be done about Japan's most dangerous neighbour, but what I read was just wrong. Absolutely wrong. I hate to go on the soapbox, but....

Monday January 24, 9:20 p.m.

Been a pretty good day. The Class Act was using a bit more English than usual. One of them relayed to me about how good the jazz entertainment at the New York Grill up in the Grand Hyatt is. Apparently, one doesn't have to sacrifice a 10,000-yen dinner bill to get to listen to the music; there's the dinner area and then the bar area where the band is located. And this area doesn't even require a reservation made years in advance which would be a very pleasant surprise. Would have asked Jazz Buddy if she were interested but she hadn't been too impressed with the place when she and her Mom went there.

SIL went to that concert yesterday to hear that K-Pop group, Shinfa. She and her sister were surrounded by screaming girls which must've made for an entertaining sight. And they actually got tickets for both the afternoon and evening shows. Both times they were situated high up in the balcony so they had a heck of a time trying to see her heroes. All the kids were on their feet from start to finish with their penlights so SIL couldn't sit down for even one minute. Kinda makes that 8000 yen she paid for a seat irrelevant. Reminds me of my own sole visit to a concert a decade ago. It was for J-Pop singer Misato Watanabe at the Yokohama Arena. The four of us were thrown back way back, and the jumbotron screens would only show computer graphics so our view of the singer was limited to an ant-like presence. At least, SIL and her sister bought opera glasses during the intermission.

No Psycho Woman sightings in Shinjuku today. My Company class was another solo with the same guy from last week. We were both pretty spent by the end but at least it was because I really worked him over with the drills. Will he remember what we did today? Probably not.

Looks like the trip with OL and Betty Boop is an official go for Sunday. We're heading out for that Chinese dumpling place in Daimon so I'll be looking forward to that. Also did a moderate chat with Movie Buddy. Hadn't spoken with him for 2 weeks. He and the missus are trying to organize things now that he's officially moved in with her. Will be challenging to say the least since they live in a tiny 1K.

I don't have the Beehive tomorrow so basically I'm off til the juku. Mulling about heading to the massage clinic in the morning but I'm a bit gun-shy after getting that last rubdown. I think I ended up with some thumb bruises on my neck.

Monday January 24, 8:49 a.m.

Heeeeere's Johnny! That's one of American TV's most famous quotations. It left the airwaves almost 13 years ago, and now the man himself has left. I turned on CNN to find out that Johnny Carson passed away earlier today from emphysema. I'd known that he was a chain smoker so I can't be surprised from his cause of death, but I didn't know that he had been ailing that badly.

I got to know him regularly virtually halfway through his stint as the host of The Tonight Show when I was actually allowed to stay up past 11 p.m. He was indeed a master of timing and the perfect look, on a par with Jack Benny or Bob Hope. Some of my favourite memories happened whenever Joan Embry and her animals came on board, and whenever a particularly funny guest such as Robin Williams or Jim Carrey showed. Of course, there was the famous Indian hatchet incident, but that probably occurred a year or so before I was born.

What still amazes me about the man is that a guy that powerful and famous in Hollywood was able to remain almost reclusive when it came to his private life. He won't even any public memorial. However, I'm sure the rest of Hollywood won't let that go...at least not without a fight.

Sunday January 21, 11:15 p.m.

Just finished watching my umpteenth viewing of CASABLANCA, but this time with the added advantage of Roger Ebert's commentary. It was a very well-informed lesson in the trivia surrounding the movie, but also he gave me a good grounding in film techniques such as how Michael Curtiz filmed Ingrid Bergman with a combination of precisely placed lights to maximize the beauty of her face. The one big trivial point for me, though, was finding out that Bergman was a good couple of inches taller than Bogey which necessitated the ol' boxes for the lead and some slouching for the actress. Ebert wasn't nearly as kind to the Other Man, Paul Henreid, whom he described as so goody-goody that he was typecast as a stiff.

In any case, I thoroughly enjoyed Ebert's commentary though it's been several years since I've seen him and Siskel jousting on TV. I can only hope that he's lent his insights to the CITIZEN KANE commentary. But back to the movie itself...Ebert defined a classic as a movie that can still move a viewer despite multiple viewings. CASABLANCA certainly fulfills that definition for me, as well. Probably only two other movies can do that for me: STAR WARS and ROMAN HOLIDAY. Perhaps it's no surprise that all three show the main character going through and surviving successfully a major test of character.

Sunday January 23, 8:17 p.m.

Actually had a bit of light snow falling down this afternoon. Not a chance of accumulation but it was nice to see. Didn't realize it was quite that cold but the high today only went to 5 C. That rates as bitterly cold in Tokyo. Still nothing compared to the massive storms in North America.

Still waiting for JB to get back to me whether or not she went ahead and got the tickets for Diana Krall. If she hasn't, then I'll go send the postal money order over to the ticket agency. I don't want to keep harping about it but I've just experienced too many logistical slipups over the years to take anything for granted.

I've been watching the CASABLANCA DVD specials. Nothing particularly revealing that I didn't already know about the making of the movie. But it was nice to see some of the outtakes from this legend although it's hard to imagine something as mundane as bloopers from a movie like this one. However, there is a priceless one with Bogart reacting rather strongly after sipping a drink at the bar...a definitely un-suave look. I'll be looking forward to commentary by Roger Ebert later tonight if I get a chance to do so after the prep work for tomorrow's lessons.

Speaking of movies, how about that Samuel Jackson? He's become quite the multi-tasking pop cultural icon. The guy has not only made his footprint in cinematic history with his role in PULP FICTION, but he's become a Jedi and now he's made his mark as that superhero Frozone in THE INCREDIBLES.

Saturday January 22, 6:30 a.m.

Again up early on a Saturday. Erggh...I hope this is just a temporary measure.

Looked at some of those Peter Gabriel videos last night. I'm not a huge fan of his but "Sledgehammer" and "Big Time" are fun songs. Actually, I enjoy more of his funkier numbers which just make up a small minority of his work. But there is "Shock The Monkey" which actually scared me a bit when I'd first caught it in the early 80s. There was also his very first video back in 1977 which therefore would probably be one of the very first music videos, period. It has a lean Gabriel stalking up a moving walkway in a fencing mask and what looks like to be a hockey player's undergarments. Uh...yeah. Well, at least, he was always trying to be innovative. The man has aged considerably since then, especially in the last 10 years. He looks more like an aging ex-motorcycle gang leader than the former frontman for Genesis when the band was much more prog-rock than Top 10 pop.

Looks like JB and I are doing a back-and-forth with the ticket deal. Well, all this indecisiveness isn't too bad right now since I don't have to pull the trigger until Monday anyways.

Friday January 21, 8:43 p.m.

Had a good day with The Teacher and SR. I got an Escher calendar from The Teacher, I guess, because I gave her the souvenirs from my Xmas trip. That'll make it 5 calendars scattered throughout the apartment. Movie Buddy might think I've got some fetish for them.

Speaking of fetishes, I may have to seriously think about applying the same strict discipline to DVD purchases that I have applied to staying from McDonalds. I had a few hours between lessons so I headed to Ginza's Yamano Music. Sure enough, I took the longest time mulling over whether to get the Peter Gabriel DVD of his videos or not. I succumbed and then to add further insult to injury, I bought "Casablanca"...hey, it was the double-disc with all of the documentaries, irresistable for an old movie buff like me.

Quite a lot of customers in the Tea Room today. The manager told me that there was some sort of event nearby and so, the folks all poured into the place. There was also a slightly larger foreigner contingent than usual...there was a couple of Americans sitting next to SR and me, and further down, there was a Spanish woman.

Back home, I just finished off the last of the spaghetti along with some store-bought salad. I've gotta get those lesson plans done for the kids tomorrow. It'll be another early day for me. Plus, I've gotta do a bit of shopping for SR to help her with her TOEIC training.

I got word from a new friend, Braces, whom I met last weekend at Speedy's launch party. She's invited me to a party that won't get under way until late next month.

Friday January 21, 8:19 a.m.

Looks like the Inauguration went off without a hitch. Tried to stay up until the big swearing-in ceremony but just got a bit too late for me. However, I've got the highlights to go over again and again.

JB has done some of her own investigating about getting those tickets. Apparently, she may be able to acquire some so I'm holding off on the payment until I hear from her about what she's been able to do. I'll just pick up the postal money order just in case. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that nothing gets screwed up.

Thursday January 20, 5:37 p.m.

Well, a few changes in my teaching schedule. Jazz Buddy asked me if I could revert her lesson down to an hour instead of the two hours. To be honest, I figured that this was coming for a while. Frankly, I don't think we had made much progress for the past number of weeks and she's been in the doldrums for a while. When I suggested that perhaps the lessons should be put on hold for a bit until she's back on her feet emotionally, I swore she looked slightly teary-eyed. Apparently, she would still like to see me but she just can't afford 2 hours at the moment. Well, I'd also say that the 2 hours were just not very purposeful at all and perhaps tightening the time would actually help her cause some more. In any case, I started this new austere regime by lending her some TOEIC materials since she'd professed some problems with the reading comprehension section of that test and then we did some sample problems. Hopefully, this will rectify matters somewhat.

Afterwards, I went over to Speedy's school. Looks like I'll be starting my new stint there from next Thursday afternoon. At this early time, I'll most likely be helping in making lesson plans since the real onslaught of students probably won't be felt until the Spring. Good enough for me...producing materials and getting paid for them.

After the above two experiences, I'm now thinking seriously about how this entire freelance thing has gone over the past couple of years. I've had some pretty successful stints with the OL, SR and The Hawaiian. However, I've also had some disappointments with Arwen/77, The Stylist and now Jazz Buddy. And frankly, I kinda wonder how effective teaching The Beauty Pair, The Company and the kids have really been. I'm kinda wondering now if I should just get myself more involved with the new school and ditch some of the freelancing. I mean, my record is pretty par for the course....I know that I can't please everyone even amongst my friends but that fact plus the tax and immigration angles are making me reconsider things.

In the meantime, JB and I's plan to catch Diana Krall are slowly coming to fruition. However, I'm less than impressed with this online reservation system. Hotmail doesn't seem to be an acceptable address to make reservations so I had to call the ticket agency directly. I think I've got things OK with this postal transfer business. Unfortunately, the Friday show is all sold out but I did manage to get tickets for the Thursday night show. Up in the balcomy, but it's the best I can do. But, hey, maybe it's a blessing in disguise...Thursday night isn't the supremely crowded time that Friday is. We could probably get some dinner beforehand pretty easily.

The crimes are just getting a bit nuts here. After police had caught that sociopath in Nara for killing a 9-year-old girl last November, I just heard about some new nutso that attacked a kid within his elementary school today. Thankfully, the vice-principal managed to manhandle him down. Back in Toronto, the big crime problem there has been teen violence. Over here, it's pedophilic maniacs. It's all bad.

Wednesday January 19, 10:59 p.m.

Had my second outing at the gym in as many days. Luckily, I'm back on the reducing streak. Mind you, the next time I head out there again is next Tuesday.

My regular stints with The Hawaiian and the OL were fine as usual. The OL asked me about heading out on the afternoon of the 29th with Boop for that delayed dinner at the dumpling place in Daimon. Since I've got the kids then, that doesn't sound too likely but I did suggest either the evening or the next day. I'm waiting for the counter-counter proposal.

The Carolinan asked me about teaching her sister on the alternate Thursdays. Hmmmm...that'll depend on what happens tomorrow with Speedy and his school. The mother of the kids then sent me e-mail asking me to do the early class again with the girls. I have the impression that the early shift will become a permanent one.

One of my old students has sent me mail inviting me for a drink with some of her old mates on Saturday in Shinagawa. Always nice to be remembered so I'll be heading for that.

I finally got that reply from Jazz Buddy about Diana Krall. Kinda wish she could be a bit faster on the keyboard about replies. In any case, the tickets for the March concert had gone on sale all the way back in late November so I'm not sure if there are any good seats left but the fact that I haven't seen any SOLD OUT signs is promising. Perhaps, we may be able to nail things down tomorrow morning when I have my regular lesson with her.

Tuesday January 18, 11:01 p.m.

Had a rude awakening on the scale at the gym this afternoon. Found out that I actually gained another kilo which made me heavier than what I had been when I first started out there. Well, I gather I had to pay for the weekend's debauchery. In any case, I punished myself with an "original" session on the bike which involved a computer-randomized simulation of a hilly course. That was enough to shed some grams but I'm gonna have to hit the gym tomorrow as well AND cut down on the calories.

It didn't help that earlier in the day that The Beehive all brought goodies to the table including that bottle of wine that I'd gotten from The Class Act back in December. I made one try at The Beehive Xmas party to open up the bottle but ended up just boring some cork bits out. So, one of the ladies brought it over for a second try. Luckily, one of her mates could finally get the cork out of the bottle. And the rest of the class brought cheese, crackers, marinated tuna and Godiva chocolates. Talk about your spread. The wine certainly livened up the party...everyone got rather giggly. One lady was loose enough to rag on her husband for some malfeasance. All this was happening while they were attempting to try out a high school test in English just for kicks. I can only imagine what the kids at those university entrance exams would've done with a few good bottles of Beaujolais.

The night at the juku was a pleasant one. I got there more an hour before first class after the workout at the gym. Unfortunately, I'd left my crosswords at home so I was left staring at the walls for much of that time. However, the classes went off without a hitch. I passed a calendar to one of The Beauty Pair to relay over to Mr. Eccentric. Recently, he seems to have gotten on the girls' nerves for being a bit too nice.

Had my usual chat/lesson with the boss. She had one of her pie-in-the-sky ideas. First, it was finding that site for a second school (not sure what's happening with that if at all). Today, she was wondering aloud about purchasing a house in Canada for use as a rental to Japanese tourists. Brought her back down to Earth at least temporarily when I told her about all the paperwork and money involved in the potential transaction.

I noticed that the second season of CSI actually is showing on TV Tokyo. Well, I guess it did make some sort of impact. Too bad that it's being shown during the noon hour which means that only housewives and freelance English teachers will catch it.

Monday January 17, 10:51 p.m.

Thank the heavens for online translation services. Had to crack the last couple of lines on the application for the income tax return before completely filling it out. Even so, it's a bit of a shot in the dark. Even the accounting half of The Class Act couldn't figure it out off the top of her head. Still, she reassured me that a friend of her son's will be able to help me out since he's an accountant with several yaers of residency in Canada. That's a big shot in the arm.

Picked up a couple of CDs at Tower. One was the latest Diana Krall CD, "The Girl In The Other Room". I was a bit iffy about it before purchasing it since the songs were mostly compositions by her and new hubby, Elvis Costello, so I wasn't sure if they would really be in the jazz vein. Needn't have worried. It's a very relaxing album to listen to...and it's still very much in the piano jazz vein of Bill Evans. Now, I WILL try and grab a ticket for that concert in March.

The other CD was also a jazzy one albeit the source material is vastly different. It just happens to be the soundtrack to "The Incredibles", an homage of sorts to the spy-and-adventure swing stuff of the 50s and 60s.

I was crossing the street in Shinjuku on the way to The Company when there was a rather interesting re-encounter. You may have recalled a few months ago when I reported on a rather intriguing woman on a bike who seemed to be venting at some crows calling them "Idiots" in Japanese. Well, it looks like she was back again on her bike but this time, she was aiming her venom toward other members of the animal kingdom, notably we human pedestrians. Her vitriol now included the word "Crazy". Sad to go insane in this city. However, anyone in the Tokyo area who reads this is now well informed. And I'll refer to her from now on as the Psycho Woman.

Sent off a courtesy e-mail to a few people that I met on Saturday at Speedy's launch party. They seem to be pretty nice folk who've been to Toronto so I wanted to see if I could make some friends out of them.

Monday January 17, 7:33 a.m.

While much of the world, including Japan and Hollywood, has been rallying to help out the victims of the tsunami, another solemn moment is currently being commemorated here. It's been 10 years to the day that The Great Hanshin Earthquake ravaged Kobe and the surrounding area. Citizens there amassed at a special plaza early in the morning, and at 5:46 a.m. (the time that the tremor hit), a minute of silence was observed. Over the decade, the city has repaired and rebuilt itself; however, Kobe has 5000 gaps where people used to stand. NHK has been covering the anniversary extensively but I'm sure that the commercial stations will be providing their own special coverage over the day.

Apparently, there was a more lighthearted festival up in the Japanese Alps recently. Called Mukonage (Throw Into The Beyond), it involves citizens coming to the area from all over the country to see locals throw deserving (I guess that's supposed to be in a good way) folks down a snow-covered slope. The slope is fairly steep but not to the extent to cause any major injury. I have no idea as to the significance for the ritual but considering that the one guy I saw on TV was a recent groom, I guess it would be for luck....and possible winfalls for the local hospital.

Colin Farrell and Oliver Stone have come over to plug their critical flop, ALEXANDER. Farrell came over with a hairstyle best described as not having been washed in a week tied in a ponytail. Later that night, he was decked out in a proper suit instead of his backpacker duds; the hairstyle remained. He didn't seem too impressed with the original cocktail made for the occasion. Not enough beer, I imagine.

It's actually gonna be warmer and sunnier today. The sun has actually started to beam through my window so there's hope. I meet The Class Act, SIL and the Company for the first time since I got back. Once again, the souvenirs are coming out.

Sunday January 16, 11:37 p.m.

Glad I didn't go out too far today. Just getting to the supermarket and back was a struggle with the wind and rain. We may get some respite tomorrow since the forecast calls for some sun while the Tohoku area gets nailed with a snowstorm.

On a cold day like today, minestrone was the dish to be made along with some homemade hamburgers. The minestrone is always a no-miss in quality, but the hamburgers turned out a bit pale and raw in certain areas, so I had to re-fry those.

Watched "Spiderman 2" on DVD tonight. A good addition to any collection.

Sunday January 16, 1:13 a.m.

Cold, wet and generally miserable out there. But the snow never arrived in central Tokyo although the outlying areas got some of the wet flakes. Still, it wasn't a good day to be outside yesterday.

Did my duty and went out to the kids a good 90 minutes ahead of schedule only to find out that the elder girl pulled off another shirk and had to leave the house with only a half-hour worth of lesson. But the mother was kind enough to pull in her hubby for that half-hour of dead air.

I caught "The Incredibles" again at Roppongi Hills, the only movie in the past year that I've seen twice. This second time I was able to focus more on the animation. It was truly a marvel how Brad Bird was able to mesh the voices with the characters so perfectly. As I said, Craig T. Nelson IS Bob Parr. Bird was even able to get Holly Hunter's way of talking out of the side of her mouth incorporated into Helen's face. I think this movie should get Best Animated Feature at the Oscars, though I also enjoyed "Shrek 2". All those hoping that "The Incredibles" can actually cop a Best Picture nom can forget it. When the Best Animated Feature was made up by the Academy, that put the final nail in the coffin for any chance of a cartoon to get a Best Picture. It was a political decision; the Academy probably didn't want to have to deal with the potential firestorm surrounding live vs. cartoon.

Spent over an hour at the Wendy's (thereby nixing my attempts to stay away from fast food...but I got the simplest burger possible, if that's any consolation) just to while away the time before I headed out to Speedy's launch party. For a thankfully brief while, a bunch of US prepubescent punks sat beside me talking trash. It was either them or that Shibuya girl with that annoying teen patois sitting behind me.

Had a devil of a time finding the venue for the launch party in the storm outside. However, after 15 minutes of searching, I finally found it. Only knew Speedy, his wife and Party Hearty but PH was sitting all the way in the front while I was stuffed in the back. But I was able to make some new friends with my seated neighbours. The first one I spoke with struck me as being a real character while the two women sitting on my left were more of the usual passive Japanese types.

The food, which was Chinese, was marvelous but for some reason we couldn't polish it all off. In fact, there was still a hefty amount left on the plate when the wait staff took it away. When one of the guests asked whether we could get doggy bags, the owner politely replied that it would be impossible since, and I paraphrase, the staff couldn't handle the responsibility. The responsibility for what? Getting poisoned? Everything's cooked! Regardless, all that food may have gone to waste. Doggy bags aren't a very common custom in this country.

The storm was still raging when the party wrapped up a couple of hours later. Still, a number of us ended up going to the new school and spent another chatting before we finally broke up. I was feeling pretty exhausted after 16 hours outside. It'll still be dreary tomorrow but I plan to keep things inside and clean up.

Saturday January 15, 5:47 a.m.

An EARLY Saturday! Ugh...have to remember that the mother has been kind to me. Haven't done one of these since my early days at NOVA. Well, perhaps, this may be a blessing in disguise...we've got a possible batch of heavy snow coming our way today. Don't wanna even think about getting stuck in that during the commute. So far, I don't see anything falling out there so if I can make it across town before the stuff does, I should be OK. But, man, we could be getting as much as 15 cm! That's not too bad for Toronto but here in Tokyo, that's major cause for a panic. People and cars tend to slip and slide balls on a bumper pool table.

However, I have those several hours between the classes and Speedy's launch party so I'll have to stay somewhere in Tokyo. I'm thinking about catching "The Incredibles" at Roppongi Hills. That should kill a few hours. I'll probably keep things on the Oedo Line since both my classes and the movie are on it. It's almost impossible to get into a cafe on Saturdays; that rating will get upgraded today for sure. Well, perhaps I can peruse a bookstore for the rest of my time.

Friday January 14, 8:40 p.m.

Had my Friday lessons. The Teacher and SR were in good shape. The Teacher has become quite the buyer/seller on Internet auctions. She was able to get a barely used Gucci for 1/8 the price. I think she ought to consider writing a book; she politely demurred.

SR lost a bit of weight over the Holidays. She was hitting the gym a lot unlike me who decided to go to the other end of the spectrum.

Watched Shrek 2 on DVD. A good addition to any collection. Some of those gags are just priceless. Some of the behind-the-scenes stuff got on my nerves, though, with all of the gladhanding.

Now that I've gotten through all of the SCTV discs, I think I can give a good analysis. My first memories of Candy and the rest of the crew were from their old show on Global TV back in Toronto 30 years ago (I can barely believe it's been that long). The aptly named John Candy was merely chubby back then when the Second City folks got together to put on their half-hour of satire on a very modest budget. Back then, it was just Candy, Harold Ramis, Joe Flaherty, Andrea Martin, Catherine O'Hara, Eugene Levy and Dave Thomas (as the Beaver). The show was taped on some pretty yellowy video but it was there that the immortal characters of Johnny LaRue, Edith Prickly and Earl Camembert were born. I can remember when the show aired on Monday nights at 9, pretty much the hour of death whenever football season was on.

Then, a few years later, the cast and crew all moved out to Edmonton thanks to a wealthy patron. There was a year of transition when John Candy left temporarily to get into movies (The Blues Brothers, for one). Harold Ramis left after the first year but Rick Moranis, Tony Rosato and Robin Duke joined the cast. It was a strange year since it was between the Global days and the NBC heyday when SCTV went Stateside. Candy returned, Rosato & Duke left (only to head out to Saturday Night Live) and the team hit the big time. The budget grew, the sketches got more ambitious, sharper and most importantly, funnier. The Edmonton days were clearly the peak for the gang, especially since it was there that the McKenzie Brothers and the Great White North got onto the pop cultural landscape. A couple of years later, the gang moved back to Toronto to Magder Studios in Scarborough, a stone's throw away from my home. SCTV's parody of "The Towering Inferno" was filmed at the Golden Mile Plaza, a neighbourhood mall.

By that time, Martin Short had joined the cast. His addition was an interesting one since he was the only one of the crew to have had previous primetime exposure through a guest appearance on "Taxi" and a failed sitcom. He also gave the show one of my favourite characters, the overly verbose interviewer, Brock Linehan. But with the start of SCTV's stab at soap opera, "The Days of the Week", things started waning for me. SCTV lasted another couple of seasons with a severely decreased troupe of just Flaherty, Martin, Levy and Short and now just on a pay-TV channel. So, those are the shows that I've yet to catch.

For me, the real star of the show was Eugene Levy, although the cast as a whole was amazing to begin with. However, it was Levy who came up with the most memorably hilarious renditions of existing celebs (Perry Como, Gene Shalit) and original characters. So, I feel happy for Levy's current success as the go-to guy for comic support in movies. On the DVD specials, Levy comes across as fairly introverted, though, a fact which was confirmed by Joe Flaherty in one of the specials. So, he's all the more amazing when you consider some of his outsized characters such as Bobby Bittman. But from time to time, you can still see some of the other guys show up. Catherine O'Hara has been a steady appearance for the past several years, most notably as Macauley Culkin's mom in the "Home Alone" movies. I'm sure if John Candy had survived to this date, he would've had the status accorded Levy.

The one other notable thing after having watched the discs is that the surviving cast doesn't look all that much older. Dave Thomas may look more jowly and Flaherty may resemble more like a larger cuke than his old svelte stringbean but for the most part, the old gang have kept their youth. It's hard to believe that Levy is a bit older than my own father. Just goes to show that good humour can keep a person young without having to pay for all of those Botox treatments.

Friday January 14, 8:07 a.m.

Had my first normal Thursday classes in a while. I recall that my last set before my vacation was horribly hampered with the onset of a cold. Jazz Buddy and I went to the same Tully's in Shinjuku. Good cafe fare but it was painfully obvious that the era of non-smoking had not even approached the room where we were sitting and noshing. By the time we finished the session, the air was hazy with secondhand smoke. Plus, the stereo system kept repeating the same Norah Jones song over and over. If it hadn't been for our talk and the background chatter, I would have been left comatose by the Jones mantra. JB and I decided that an alternate location would be suitable for next week.

Had a long intermission of 6 hours between JB and The Carolinan, so I basically traipsed around Shinjuku for most of that. I bought SCRABBLE as a useful diversion for the kids and probably for me as well. The streets were bustling as usual. I even thought about catching "The Incredibles" for a second time at the nearby theater but the next show wouldn't be starting until it cut a bit too close to meeting time with the Carolinan so I had to nix that.

It was good to return to the Tea Room. It was well over a month since my last lesson there, and the staff welcomed me back with open arms. Nice to have a place where everyone knows my name. So I just enjoyed reading and having some dinner there for the two hours before my next student showed up. The Carolinan was a bit rusty initially because of the long break between sessions but she was back to form by the end.

Found out from the Net that Diana Krall is finally returning to Japan for a few concert dates in Osaka and Tokyo. I've sent the heads-up to JB although I'm not sure if she'd be interested in seeing the concert with me specifically.

Damon, Pitt and Clooney had their requisite press conferences for "Ocean's 12". Of course, the question of Brad's divorce was lingering like a ghost so the former Mr. Aniston ducked the interview session leaving Matt and George to monkey around.

Thursday January 13, 8:05 a.m.

It's been about a week since I got back so things are starting to get back into the ol' rhythm again. Technically, it's still warmer here than in Toronto but without the concept of central heating in Japan, it can be pretty darn frigid in the house.

Brad and George arrived last night to plug Ocean's Twelve. This is just on the heel of the announcement of Brad's divorce from Friend Jennifer Aniston so he may be cringing at the thought of being pelted with some rather uncomfortable questions. Matt Damon was actually here a week earlier to promote The Bourne Supremacy.

Well, had that rather heavy start to my day with a breakfast of pork kimchi...I don't feel any worse for wear but I think I'll be a REGULAR guy in the next half-hour, if you know what I mean.

Wednesday January 12, 9:13 p.m.

Went over to the bank to pay my revised (i.e. increased) premiums for the National Health Insurance. I'd already paid the original premium for December before the trip home so I thought I could just pay the remaining balance. Looks like the government has found another way to annoy me; the teller patiently told me that I still had to pay the whole amount and have the extra amount reimbursed. Once again, I held myself in check but the teller was slightly tentative.

My first workout of the year was a good one but I know my upper body will be sore tomorrow. Sure enough, I did gain a couple of kilos from my trip down Culinary Lane in Toronto. Well, at least I did shed half a kilo from my exertions.

Took my first step towards avoiding fast food joints by eating at a family restaurant a couple of floors below the gym. I know....family restaurant fare isn't exactly much of an improvement over McDs but at least the hamburger and deep-fried oysters I ate today were more lovingly crafted than your normal Big Mac.

I kinda raced it over to the Hawaiian's neck of the woods since I was a bit worried that the Hawaiian's aunt still wanted lessons from me. Odds were that I'd seen the last of her when she took that trip to New Zealand since the lessons just centered around travel vocab, but I wasn't really willing to take the chance that she was waiting at the restaurant. Sure enough, when I got to the Saizeriya there was noone there so I ended up having an extra hour to sip coffee before the Hawaiian herself came. She was her usual effusive self as ideal student. I could give her anything and she'd tackle it with gusto.

After the Hawaiian's class, I took a detour to Ginza to the HMV to do a bit of splurging. I bought the Spidey 2 and Shrek 2 DVDs and a couple of magazines before I made it over to the Starbucks. The manager recognized me with the "The usual, sir?" look. An hour later, the OL showed up. She was also in fine fettle since she passed her bookkeeping exam. OL has passed a lot since our first meeting 18 months ago and we're approaching the end of the textbook. Just like the Hawaiian, I can throw anything at her and she'll gladly respond.

Not really hungry but I did pick up a Ten-Musu for a tiny dinner and had a couple of Mandarin oranges. However, I will be whipping pork kimchi for breakfast tomorrow. Ought to be interesting to see (and feel) how my digestion will fare in the morning.

Got word from the mother of the kids. She wants me to come over to the house on Saturday at the relatively rarefied hour of 9:30 a.m. since the elder girl has volleyball practice from the late morning. This could hurt but the mother has been good to me for the 2 years I've been teaching her daughters so I didn't let her down. The thing is, though, I'll have a good 8 hours before Speedy's launch party for his new school, and that will be held just a few stations away. So, even with the long break, I think it'd be a waste to go back home. Maybe I'll catch a movie in the interim.

Currently, I'm listening to the Best of Eurythmics album that Shard gave me back home. Some great songs although I think "1984" hasn't dated too well. It is interesting to hear how Annie has made a musical voyage from early techno sounds to a more soul-based one.

Wednesday January 12, 7:16 a.m.

Well, the 2nd anniversary of this blog has just passed. I guess I'll be continuing my series of banal, unrevealing commentaries on life here in Japan...or so I'm paraphrasing from one of the reporters for the Toronto Star when he gave his Top 10 list of things to be gotten rid of in 2005. Not sure if he really meant it since he admitted that the list was just something to fill up space in the entertainment section but I have to admit that his comments stung me a bit (why did I have to have a Woody Allen-like constitution?). Mind you, he might be one of those elitist journosnobs who believe in only "trained" writers publishing anything in public over free speech for the masses.

I had my first misunderstanding with the juku boss last night. I kept my cool when she told me that she'd actually found a replacement teacher for me during the Holidays. The problem was that she never told me this and I relayed to the students that there would be no classes. It caused a bit of tumult to the schedule. I let her know my side of the story. A few years back, I would've been a bit ogre-like in my reaction but nowadays, I couldn't care less anymore. Anyways, it helped that the boss still kept a genuine smile (you could run her over with a truck,she'd be grinning like a Cheshire cat), and the students didn't mind. In fact, one of them was a bit worried that the boss had raked me over the coals.

Jazz Buddy just sent me an e-mail. She's not one to respond very quickly if at all but I did wonder if she'd given up the goat on my lessons. However, all's still in place for tomorrow. Good thing, too, since I've got her souvenirs.

Chip Guy and GC have been giving me advice on digital cameras. Chip feels that the 4 Megapixel would be ideal for me because of the resolution, but GC is more conservative for the 3.2 since it would be easier to upload. Nice to have experts in one's circle of friends.

Thus I have reported another banality for the day...

Tuesday January 11, 7:50 a.m.

Well, my first day back at work. I have yet to plan anything but I figure being the first day after the Holidays, I think the students at the Beehive will just be content talking about what they did for the past month. I've got my package of chocolates for them as well.

As for the juku folks, I think a good portion of their lessons will be based on the Holiday chat as well, so I'm not worrying too much at this point. However, being the weathered and weatherbeaten teacher, I'll get something set up.

Yesterday's b-day party for Frodo went swimmingly. MB and I met at Naka-Meguro and then we went to a cafe where the other two guests were smoking, drinking and chatting as all Tokyo girls would. As usual, I couldn't remember their names but they could peg me out immediately. After getting some extra stuff for the party, we made our long walk over to Frodo's place. His wife had sent him out on some errand so we were all able to get some prep work done. I was "assigned" to pick out an appropriate piece of b-day music to play when hubby came back home to his surprise. Unfortunately, amongst all of the CDs there was nothing that was blatantly birthday-oriented so I ended up choosing Chicago's "You're The Inspiration"...more wedding day than birthday, but what else could I pick?

Some really good fixins at the party including some chunky chicken minestrone and Vietnamese spring rolls. We ended up staying there for several hours. As would be expected of someone my age, I got pretty drowsy by the end. However, walking back to the station got me perked up again with the atypically chilly weather in Tokyo (otherwise known as downright balmy back in Toronto).

Monday January 10, 10:47 a.m.

Once again, Adulthood Day is here. As time passes, this holiday has become increasingly cynically ironic. The day's news reports usually tell of some potential Yakuza recruits who stormed the stage and made trouble as the mayor or some other probably corrupt politician hypocritically droned about the responsibilities and ethics of being an adult. A few years ago perhaps, the guilty party would show some remorse; nowadays, they show absolutely none. Mind you, the ladies look nice in their kimonos.

Still very much on the SCTV bandwagon. I've barely seen anything else on the TV...not the satellite or the regular channels. Caught the classic episode lampooning Russian TV with my most favourite sketch out of the entire series: the Perry Como concert ad. It's also been a hoot watching some of the musical acts who appeared on the show. Al Jarreau was on the Russian TV ep, and the following show had Wendy O. Williams and the Plasmatics...talk about your stretch across the musical spectrum: AOR vs. nihilistic punk. The commentary by Catherine O'Hara and Andrea Martin was illuminating in the fact that they mentioned that Williams was the sweetest thing off-camera despite the destruction she wreaked on Gill Fisher's set, but they didn't mention that Williams had to colour her bare breasts black to be allowed to sing on-camera. Even in late night, the censors are everywhere. It was also rather poignant watching John Candy as Gill, and Williams cuddling together knowing that neither of them is around.

Well, gotta head on out in an hour. Frodo has a surprise birthday party coming his way and I'm meeting MB at Naka-Meguro with a couple of other guests in the early afternoon. Today is the last real day of my month-long vacation. I'm back at it from tomorrow morning with the Beehive. Still feels a bit surreal to be back in Japan for some reason.

Sunday January 9, 12:57 p.m.

Well, sure enough, Movie Buddy was the sole visitor for hot pot last night. Good stuff we whipped up. Our double feature of "The Bourne Supremacy" and "The Manchurian Candidate" took us into the wee small hours so that MB ended up sleeping it off here. We both liked the first movie with Matt Damon, but he was very unimpressed with the second movie. When it was decided that he would be crashing here, we ended up watching the specials on the Star Wars DVD which more than made up for his disappointment with Denzel.

However, my heavy DVD viewing since my return from Canada has been on SCTV. According to the IMDB, the DVD sets have been getting rave reviews. Not being one of those folks to laugh out loud at every comedian or sketch, I've been looking at the ol' episodes with as much nostalgia as humour. There are some great sketches, though. But the biggest hit for me is Eugene Levy's classic impression of Perry Como for his so-called special. In fact, the sketch was doubly hilarious when it was shown as a clip at the 1981 Emmys. Could remember seeing Alan Alda laughing up his intestines in the audience, but the corker was seeing the real Como himself give the award to the SCTV crew. I'm sure Levy stood way back in the crowd.

The specials on the discs have been pretty enlightening as well. It's been an education seeing the roots of SCTV and the tribute to John Candy who seemed to have had a pretty sad life despite all of his success.

Well, I'll be heading out pretty soon to Akihabara to do some recon for Chip Guy and maybe even search out a digital camera for myself.

Saturday January 8, 8:15 a.m.

Looks like it'll be the usual duo for hot pot tonight. Movie Buddy will be the sole guest of honour. The ladies have either not responded or given their regrets (kinda feel like Garfield's master). However, the Chipmunk should be coming by to drop off some receipts and my revised premium schedule for NHI. Sure enough, I have a bit to pay but it doesn't sound as lethal as I had feared. I do wonder if I'm in the tax office's doghouse, though. Well, I'll get that tax return application sent in next week.

With just MB coming in, I'm wondering if he'll just settle for delivery pizza instead of hot pot, but I'm OK either way. Looks like he's set up his own blog as well. Very similar title to my own as well. I wonder if he actually discovered my little world.

Friday January 7, 9:45 a.m.

Well, Happy New Year! It's my first entry of The Year of the Cock. You can take that last statement for whatever it's worth. I'm keeping my options open considering the people of last year.

I got back from Canada last night after a pretty arduous 14-hour flight, thanks to some mighty headwinds and the consequentially emergency stopover in Vancouver for extra fuel. However, once again, the movies helped to keep me surviving. I caught CATWOMAN, ROCKY and I, ROBOT. CATWOMAN was a pretty lame movie but I have to admit that Halle Berry did try her best with her rendition of a conflicted superhero...certainly she succeeded more than Michael Keaton's BATMAN.

Had a guardian angel from Air Canada. Felt pretty woozy after sitting in Economy for several hours, and my eyes were as red as rubies. I was just getting off the plane when I heard someone call my name. This Japanese lady approached me in AC uniform; it turned out to be my former student from the school. She informed that she'd seen my name on the passenger list before I took off and made sure that I had a relatively decent aisle seat in Economy (just the second row away from First Class) so that I could get off fast. She also helped me in that after all the great times with family and friends back in Toronto over the Holidays, those post-Holiday blues were starting to impinge upon me. It was great to have a friendly face greeting me at Narita.

And on getting home, I was happy to find out that GC, who did a bit of housesitting for me, was very generous to have done some house improvements during his brief time here and he even left me a lot of food supplies. Still, I was feeling pretty exhausted. I couldn't even keep my eyes open to watch the first disc of SCTV...one of my favourite shows ever. So I finally hit bed at about 1:30 this morning (yes, I put up a terrific fight with The Sandman) and got about 7.5 hours of shuteye.

Just got my suitcase from ABC Delivery right now so I'm free and clear to get some other stuff done. Looks like my idea for hot pot has gotten one person to come out. Movie Buddy will be heading here tomorrow afternoon. I'll send e-mail over to Arwen and Skippy postwith. I'll see if the Chipmunk can come out as well since she lives nearby.

Saturday December 25, 2:56 p.m.

Well, I've reached the halfway point of my trip back home. It's been good being back in T.O....seeing the old friends and family. I certainly haven't shirked on the food; I'll probably mortify the gym staff when I get back with the amount I'll gain. Weatherwise, it's definitely Xmas-like. Earlier in the week, Toronto got smacked with an Extreme Cold Advisory. We smashed a record in the form of a -37-degree wind chill. It's been a long time since I felt that sort of burning cold. Looks like the old homefront back in Japan has been OK. Chipmunk has kept a good eye on the apartment and GC will be headed there soon enough.

I went out with my brother and his wife to attend the Xmas service at their church. The usual sermon and songs. Then we hit a dim sum place; we tried to hold off on having huge amounts since we've got the turkey dinner in a few hours. In the past couple of hours, I've come to a decision about what to do with my future.

Next week is still open for me so I've gotta get started on buying those souvenirs. Hopefully, Boxing Day won't be too nuts. Well, the stuff I'll be getting can be bought at the mall across the street so it won't be too painful.

Wednesday December 15th, 11:06 a.m.

Well, let's see....my dependable watch, which had been running smoothly for the past 2 years, decided to die today. And the knob on my door almost falls off. Hmmm...I wonder if these are omens...with my luck, I'll be on a plane targeted by terrorists or faulty engines.

Tuesday December 14, 9:32 p.m.

Well, just about all packed up and ready to head home. I've got people looking over the apartment, bills have been paid and all the presents are in. I'll be lugging three bags home. In a way, I'm happy that it'll be rainy tomorrow. It'll give me that extra incentive to take a taxi to the nearest Keisei station.

My final event today was the party with the Beehive. Everyone was in pretty good spirits with all of their food and drink. Unfortunately, my two contributions came to naught. I half-destroyed the cork of that wine before the students persuaded me to give up; we'll try again next year, and the package of Fujiya cakes were basically distributed at the very end of the party.

The rest of the day was spent just cleaning the bedroom up, followed by dinner and then packing. I still have to leave a message with GC who will be coming shortly to take care of the place and then iron some clothing. UGH!

Paddy reassured me that he's OK with the restaurant as is. I still think his tone yesterday was fairly immature but I'll let the matter go.

Monday December 13, 9:42 p.m.

Well, my day got off to a somewhat of a bad start. Sure enough, the daily horoscope on the telly said that Libra would have the worst day today. I don't believe in horoscopes and I try to avoid them as much as I can, but my eyes unfortunately caught the very moment when the report went up. My reaction was the usual...my middle finger rose up faster than the sun.

First off, Paddy threw the e-mail equivalent of a pouting fit when he found out that we wouldn't be going to the Texas Longhorn. He said that he'd been looking forward to trying the 72-oz. steak offer; to be honest, it was possible that he may have mentioned it and my sieve-like memory didn't bother to store the information which is the only thing that prevented me from chewing into him. However, I just couldn't believe how uncharacteristically whiny he was...I mean, this is my advisor who steadily helped me with everything from my physical workout to the interior design of my cubby hole. I owe him so much so it was a bit of a shock to see him act this way. After his last e-mail, I just decided not to respond to it. A year ago, I had the same reaction to The Lawyer's multi-claused reason for refusing to come to the Ballerina's goodbye party and I just vented at the Madame via e-mail. Now, I'll just vent here...I don't want to even bother anyone about it. It's all about nothing. I'll wait til tomorrow to see if Paddy sends any more e-mail.

The Entrepreneur didn't get my bile up but he did mention about some of the crime that's been going on in Toronto. And he even sent me the address for the Metro Police Daily Crime Report. What I read was pretty depressing....muggings, swarmings, home invasions and even a few attempted murders. And I'm going back to that. Sure didn't send me off to work in a happy frame of mind.

Then over the day, I thought about the situation some more. Yes, Toronto isn't really the City of Good (if it ever was), but I remember that even during my days living there permanently that there were very much the same types of crimes going on. And I still think that Toronto is a city with one of the lowest crime rates per capita when compared to New York or Los Angeles. Tokyo and Toronto are just two different cities. Tokyo is probably the world city with the lowest crime rate; due to culture, history and multiethnicity, Toronto and just about every other city will never match Tokyo in that department. However, the reports I read are the concentrated summary of a day's crimes involving (however regrettably) a handful of people in a city of 4 million. I will look over my shoulder sensibly at night in a way that I've never really had to do here in my decade-long residence but I've got friends and family looking out for me. As for Paddy, I'll just sleep on it and then I'll send him a polite and sympathetic response telling him what is going to happen on the 19th. If he wants to come, we'll welcome him with open arms; if not, I'll just let him be.

I had my final lessons with the Class Act, SIL and the Company. I got quite a few goodies from the Lady of the House including a bottle of red wine which should come in quite handy for the Beehive Xmas party tomorrow. And I also got some pretty good-sized pickled plums which should keep Dad happy...one of the few times that I'll actually do that. And that wasn't all...the Lady served me lunch again in the form of a very large rice omelette, salad and fruits.

My lesson with SIL was fairly lively. She's gotten into the Korean boom although she's not into any of the major actors. She's actually into a boy band from South Korea...a bit of a revelation considering that she's well into middle age...but hey, anything to remain young at heart.

The Company class was merely OK. The guys slogged through the lesson but basically half of it was nattering in Japanese. I hope the Holidays spruce them up for next year.

After my day was done, I didn't immediately head home but went to Towers to try and complete a request from Egg for some CDs, I was successful in getting two of the three he wanted. I also made a somewhat quixotic attempt to find some Uncle Louis pipe tobacco for The Wild Guy who's been puffing on pipes for the last several years. I tried looking for a tobaccanist in the Hyatt and the Hilton but to no avail. But I'm not really surprised; pipe smoking isn't exactly a big activity here. Most folks are pretty loyal to the usual cigarette.

Got back home in time to see Bill Hemmer at Roppongi Hills. Whaddaya know...he was outside after all. Well, to be honest, I'm kinda glad that I didn't bother heading down. I would've just seen the back of his head. But there was some film footage of him a decade earlier in a hippie head and beard walking throughout the world...revealing considering his current New York preppy style. He strikes me as being the second evolution of John Roberts, heir to the CBS News throne but formerly rock n' roll J.D. Roberts of the New Music. So far, it's been interesting to see him talk about some of his experiences in the Big Sushi so far. He's been focusing on the more traditional parts but I hope he'll also tackle the contemporary aspects as well.

Well, less than 48 hours to go before I take off for home. I'm just gonna enjoy myself at the party tomorrow and then do some final cleaning up.

Sunday December 12, 8:41 p.m.

Coldest day of the year thus far although I think Tuesday may top..or bottom..that. Only reached a grand total of 12 degrees, and it was overcast and slightly damp.

Well, cleaned up everything as best I could except for the bedroom which looks like a closet right now. However, I kept that closed from The Stick's prying eyes and I'll clean that final part up on Tuesday after the party with the Beehive. I picked up The Stick at about 2 and brought her back to my place where we spent 3 hours alternately working on her interview and just chatting. She's an interesting dichotomy...she sometimes come across as this prim n' proper bastion of social conservatism but she often reveals a more rough n' ready tomboyish side to her through her simultaneous talking n' eating and slouching on the sofa.

I have been having a lot of e-mail over the past several hours thanks to those automated replies from the MSN Greeting Card service stating that my e-cards have been picked up by some of the local buddies here, and The Entrepreneur's multiple counterresponses to my own responses. Also, a couple of buddies have been sending me some last-minute requests for stuff. I'll try but I can't promise since I literally don't have time for any more shopping.

Well, I've got my final set of lesson plans for the year done up. All I gotta do now is just whip up some chai powder and that'll be it for me.