Friday May 30, 7:13 p.m.

Looks like Urayasu is sprucing up for its quadrennial festival again. All the lanterns have been lit up and ready to go.

I printed out Cozy's latest assignment so I'll be getting to work on that in the next few minutes. With luck, I should even get it back to him translated before The Ace comes in. I got a message from BC stating that Grandma Dynamite will be returning to the fold from next week. Looks like both Speedy and I will be having a date with her once more. She's not nearly as proficient as Grandma Tango but not as structurally over-the-place as Grandma Fado...and she's quite the firecracker when talking. Should add to the caffeine buzz in the morning.

Skippy finally got back to us about Sunday's outing to see "Narnia". We'll be at the Wald 9 complex in Shinjuku. Not sure what the dinner plans will be since The Satyr wants to have a little something for MB's birthday.

I've been reading on Dark Horizons that Harrison Ford wants to revive Jack Ryan; maybe all those millions going ka-ching at the box office for his other major character, Indiana Jones, may have perked him up. He'll be joining Sylvester Stallone in that department of hoary ol' action stars of the 80s trying to get their groove back. On the same site, I read that even "Beverly Hills Cop" is getting its own look-see. Man, never thought that studios could have Mid-Life Crisis themselves.

Friday May 30, 12:12 p.m.

Apparently, the cops have caught some sociopath who had been committing a series of stab-and-run robberies throughout the country. Looks like the usual schlub. He tried to make a getaway in Saitama but it was a simple matter for the police to tackle him...these guys aren't known for working out too much. As for the psycho, Hoshijima, who stabbed his female neighbour to death and then chopped her into bits to be flushed down the toilet, the cops have been able to find bits and pieces of her bones in the sewage system. Crime in Japan, everyone...

Yesterday's time at Speedy's was nice n' quiet. I had what was the first satisfying session with The Magician, normally Speedy's student. I've had her in the past whenever the bossman takes off for his annual business trips...it had always been stop n' start with her, but yesterday, I was able to take things nice n' easy. She even did some impressions that she does with her audience including the characters of Baikinman (Bacteria Man) from the anime, "Anpanman" and Chibi Maruko-chan. In return, I gave her some English tongue-twisters. Although The Magician is a university graduate, I kept the juku boss' advice from Tuesday keenly in mind when I was teaching her. Since her appearances at the school are rather sparse due to her job, she's still a fairly low student and so I was just as much entertaining her as educating her.

The Carolinan made her debut at Speedy's, a week after her sister came by herself. She remarked that it was nice to have a quiet lesson for once considering our usual sessions at the cafes in Ichigaya. Afterwards, she, BC and I headed for that Indian fusion cafe nearby for dinner. It was an achievement of sorts for BC to come out with us considering her personal problems right now. She thankfully didn't blurt out the real reasons for her depression to her friend although The Carolinan probably did realize something was up. BC and I exchanged some secretive glances.

The rains have gone away although the cool weather is still here. And it was nearly scorching on Tuesday as well.

Cozy has contacted me again after a few months. He sent me a short little memo to be translated by tomorrow. Will just be a drop in the bucket in terms of earnings but I'm grateful that he still remembers me.

I've only got The Ace and then Jolly tonight, although the latter guy still has the penchant of cancelling at the last minute, and it is a Friday night.

Thursday May 29, 12:39 p.m.

Just 20 minutes away from The Yogist's lesson. It's still raining domesticated animals out there. Grandma Tango came in for her usual hour of rustic homily. We made an agreement that we would actually try the text for my last time with her before Speedy gets back, but she's not really a big fan of it.

BC is still pretty glum but at least she's more communicative and no longer having crying jags. And maybe the fact that her old colleague and friend, The Carolinan, will be having her lesson here at the school tonight will buoy her spirits a bit. Actually, we've also made dinner plans once we're done here since The Carolinan will be the final student of the night. Most likely, we'll be heading to that cafe where BC had first introduced me to The Temp.

Thursday May 29, 8:37 a.m.

Back at the school again after less than 5 hours of sleep. Yep, I feel accordingly tired and achy although the breakfast at La Vie Du France helped. It was a chili dog (yes, you read that right), a salad and a raisin danish with coffee...good quality stuff but it was more than twice the price of a McDonalds Sausage McMuffin Set. I don't think I'll be doing La Vie all that often. Arguably, the nutritional value may be better but spending nearly 1,000 yen on just a morning meal is a bit too rich for my blood.

It's raining again....to quote an old Supertramp song. And it'll probably continue doing so for the next couple of days. I have yet to hear from Skippy about the "Narnia" outing on the 1st but then again, the theatres are notoriously coy about releasing times for their movies until the last minute

Wednesday May 28, 10:42 p.m.

Well, all of my guys are great ones but still it was a long day today. I had the Grandmas, that little crisis with The Nurse, another mirth-filled lesson with 001, an angst-filled one with The Diver and then a very dutiful one with Slim. He's definitely back humming a happy tune after that little hiccup a few days ago. He's quite the Columbo of my students, though...asks a lot of questions if invited.

001 has been quite busy with the American TV programs. She's just scoured through the first 2 seasons of "24" and been watching the reruns of "Heroes" off of tapes via NTV. She was rather surprised to hear that former idol Eriko Tamura would be appearing in the 2nd season.

And I finally found out what has been eating BC all these days. Looks like she's been stuck with a jerkoff for a boyfriend. I think the solution is rather clear but she's still stuck in neutral about it. I just hope there's a resolution to it soon. In any case, BC has cancelled her lesson tomorrow. So, it'll be The Carolinan to finish up. Not sure what'll happen while she and BC are here.

Gotta go home for 5 hours of shuteye before coming back here again.

Wednesday May 28, 2:10 p.m.

Well, it's been a while but I finally had a true Crash n' Burn class at this school. And ironically, it was with The Nurse...one of the best I've got. First, she didn't pass her test...well, actually, she got 68% but over here the line is 70%...which meant an automatic make-up test, the first time I've had to invoke that rule. And then we had to tackle the next chapter which deals with graphs, never an easy chapter. Then, she got really mute and muttered a whole bunch of "I don't know", before I finally asked her to close the book and asked her what the matter was. I kept a pretty good lid on my emotions but my temperature was going up, since The Nurse seemed to be acting like The Elder, that teenage brat I'd been attempting to teach for 3 years. Basically, the rest of the time which I extended by another half-hour was salvaging the lesson through free talk. We eventually did get things back on course by the end, but nope, I'm still feeling like a damp dishrag, considering I also had the grandmothers before The Nurse. All I wanna do is just decompress for the next few hours. Unfortunately, I don't think I have that option.

Wednesday May 28, 9:50 a.m.

BC just came in and she looks like Death warmed over. Not a nice thing to say but she's in a major funk. Maybe I can't really risk leaving her in the office alone today. However, as long as I keep her distracted with talk about the bossman (frequently, her favourite punching bag...well, not that bad, but there are a few issues) and stuff other than her own plight, she should be OK.

Speaking of punching bags, it looks like I've been really missing out on "Lou Dobbs Tonight" on CNN since CNNj decided to go almost wholly international. He went mano a mano with some sort of media fellow about this long-standing immigration platform he's been on, and now I've been reading regular CNN contributor, something Klein or other from TIME Magazine, is targeting Dobbs for criticism. Certainly the responders to the Klein blog entry are no fans of ol' Lou or for a number of the CNN USA folks like Candy Crowley or even mild-mannered John King (Mr. Telescreen Guy).

Wednesday May 28, 8:30 a.m.

Another start to a 2-day marathon of classes at Speedy's while the bossman is away. I'll be spending more hours here than at home. I've got 6 of them today alone but all of them are good eggs.

Looks like I've got another OldFacebook Friend from the days at uni. Like The Dancer, The Singaporean was in our club and has moved to London. GC has actually been keeping a running commentary with me for the last few days.

Not sure but I may just head out to Kinokuniya during the small break between The Nurse and 001 just so that I don't go completely stir-crazy, but then fragile BC may not like that too much. Speedy says that BC is much more emotionally stable when I'm around the farm.

Tuesday May 27, 9:16 p.m.

Just had another rollicking good time with The Milds. I may have lost one student to unfortunate circumstances so you hold onto your fans even tighter. I'm approaching 4 years with this couple. Just waiting for Jolly...hope he's in better form today.

Actually did get a call from BC from the school earlier today. Looks like The Big Lug wants to get a lesson in. He may have to squeeze himself in the traffic jam that is representing June 4th. Tomorrow should also be another tight one. I've got Speedy's grandmothers, The Nurse, The Magician, 001, The Diver and then another appearance by Slim.

I heard about Sydney Pollack's passing today on CNN. I was never a huge fan of his...not that I hated him or anything...I just didn't watch most of his movies. He was notable in that he often came in as a supporting player as much as he was a director.

As expected, the morning wide shows were all talking about the suicide of that former TBS announcer yesterday. But they were also agog about the latest scandal involving the two Mongolian yokozuna, Asashoryu and Hakuho. Apparently in the shadow of Kotooshu's resurgence, one of the two decided to clop the other on the last day of the tournament which led to some angry stares. And there's been another bizarre murder case...or alleged murder case...in Tokyo. Some computer dweeb has been arrested for his fessing up to the murder, mutilation and then flushing down the toilet of a female neighbour a couple of months ago.

Tuesday May 27, 7:06 p.m.

As expected, Miss Disney has flown the coop. I got the word from the juku boss this morning when I called her about whether or not she would occupy the slot vacated by Mild Jr. for tonight. The boss informed me that she'd "gotten a new job and wouldn't be available for a while". The fact that I've put her reason in quotes can tell you how much I believed it. I could put that between two slices of bread and have it for lunch. As usual, my brain went into analysis mode about how I could've improved things...and I'm pretty sure that she won't be back.

When I got to the juku today, I was expecting the boss to do her usual thing and la-di-da it away. Instead when I told her what I really thought of the situation, she and I had a heart-to-heart talk about teaching and students. And for a woman who I've often called a scatterbrain (not to her face), she hit it on the head like NASA launched and landed The Phoenix on Mars. She told me that the students who generally stuck it out with me were those with a higher educational background...Obama types, if you will. People like 001, 002, The Milds and The Siberian not only had the accumulated learning knowledge but had also had the appreciation of my teaching style which is admittedly pretty heavily based on grammar. I teach conversation but I'm of the opinion that if you wanna learn a language, grammar has to be the foundation. The boss feels that people like Miss Disney, Seven and even The Beauty Pair, the very first students in my juku career, were not the greatest students in grade school and therefore could've been intimidated or turned off by my approach. The Beauty Pair actually hung on for 3 years with me, but in retrospect, the last year or so with them was basically just chatter with some English expressions thrown in. Seven lasted a year with me but we also used the textbook "Expressways" which wasn't grammar-based. There is the matter with The New Yorker, but no theory is perfect. However, I do remember that rather lousy time with that kid of my former student at the ol' school, Mr. Hip-Hop. He was truly a hip-hop kid with little interest in studies and much more interest in hitting the Roppongi nightclub scene. He and his mother had said that he would have liked some English lessons from me, but as it turned out, he kept putting things off until I decided to call the whole thing off. Under the juku boss' explanation, he definitely fit the category of someone that I really couldn't teach with my approach. Yep, she really nailed it on the head, and so, although I have as much talent reading people as I do reading Arabic, I'll have to put my new practice to use to try and avoid anything like Miss Disney's situation. It is a pity but it is also an opportunity.

Having said that, Suzanne came by for her final lesson before hitting that plane for the Gold Coast next week. Though she might have a passing resemblance for that supposedly ditzy tarento, she's definitely not a Clintonian student. She'll be back and we actually did go through both grammar and conversation.

I would continue but I should get some grub before The Milds get here.

Monday May 26, 7:23 p.m.

Sure enough, Slim called in to say that he would be 10 minutes late. No problems since he just works across the street.

The Full-Timer told me about her experience on a Hato Bus tour about a decade or so ago. She actually participated in the one designed for the English-language tourists. I asked her whether the tour guide was miffed about having one of the natives on board, but apparently he didn't mind at all. In the late 90s, it was about 10,000 yen for the all-day tour including dinner at a Japanese steakhouse....not bad at all, considering that dinner at a Japanese steakhouse alone would probably cost the same price. But it did get me thinking about trying one of those out. Certainly, I'd like to try the double-decker bus ride that goes around Tokyo Station.

As I was waiting for The Full-Timer at the station, I read a banner at the subway kiosk stating that a former TBS announcer, Ako Kawada, had committed suicide today. She was apparently found dead in her car...probably from exhaust poisoning. She was only 29. I'd never really gotten to know her but I think I saw her on a variety program or two on the network. I checked out the headlines on Yahoo Japan and found her blog. Her latest entry was just on Saturday...no mention about any difficulties. I'm sure there might be some news about it on the morning wide shows tomorrow.

Well, Slim should be here any second now. Hopefully, he'll be in a better frame of mind tonight.

I actually got word from GC...the first time I'd heard from him directly in several months. He has his birthday today so I actually did send him a card. He has also been suffering some financial setbacks recently so I gave him some encouragement. Not that I'm particularly out of the woods, but I'm still standing...to quote an old Elton John tune. I don't think he'll come back to his old semi-annual pilgrimages...not that summer is a good time to spend a week in my apartment. I certainly cannot afford to pay a lot of AC now that the TEPCO bill has gone up.

Monday May 26, 4:44 p.m.

Not sure about the timing of this entry....the time has all "4" in it...four is the death number here. No quakes, please.

Still, it's been an auspicious day for NASA, and they've certainly needed all the good news they could get in the past few lean years. The Phoenix Lander actually made it through the "7 Minutes of Hell" and landed with flying colours on Mars. I was lucky to see the whole thing live on CNN. Even BBC was covering...the Brit announcer was positively glowing about it...rather unnatural thing to see on him with all that "stiff upper lip" stuff.

On the other hand, reality brutally invaded the "Harry Potter" family when the news media reported that one of the actors in the newest movie got himself killed in a bar brawl in London. The CNN scroll just said that a "Harry Potter" actor was stabbed to death. At first, I wasn't sure who it could've been, but I figured it wouldn't be any of the major stars since their names would've been front and centre.

Well, pretty quiet today so far. The Class Act and I basically chatted on all sorts of things. I did talk about Mom and how she managed to complain about every little thing in my apartment. Not that I was griping myself about that...it's just the mother's way. And then I let slip that all Kansai people tend to gripe easily, which brought a friendly but strong denial from The Madame who is originally from the area. I still maintained my position.

SIL and I went back through US Pop Cultural Memory Lane again...a frequent pastime of ours. We discussed a lot of TV shows from the 60's in America such as "Hawaii Five-O", "Leave it to Beaver" and "Gilligan's Island".

I've got the usual lineup tonight: the Full-Timer, followed by Slim and then Medicine Man. Hopefully, Slim is feeling a bit better after that slight setback on Saturday.

Apparently, a Takashi Kurosawa film got the Best Director Award at Cannes...something that none of the media here failed to miss reporting on. Of course, CNN and BBC covered the Palme D'Or winner. I also read the article about Ziyi Zhang having a meltdown there when she realized that a lot of folks at the movie orgy didn't really know about the Chinese earthquake. Not quite sure how true it is, but if it is, I can only say to her, "What did you expect at Cannes?" A lot of those folks are probably so self-absorbed that their mouths and anuses probably have tea together daily.

Sunday May 25, 5:43 p.m.

7 months before Xmas and I'm already going through a letdown, but not a pre-holiday one. More like a post-relative one. I saw Mom off at Narita yesterday after her 2 weeks here in The Land of The Rising Sun. It's always a bit sad seeing off any of the family although I know that I'll probably be seeing everyone again in December. We actually went off in some style from the apartment. Mom splurged the 20,000 yen on a taxi that I had ordered to take us from home all the way to Terminal 1. Actually, the ride didn't take that long at all...just 40 minutes via the highway. It usually takes me the better part of 90 minutes at least via subway and train lugging my ancient suitcase (no strap and dead wheels). Still, I only pay a fraction of what Mom did. We were lucky that the monsoon-like conditions of last night and early morning magically parted by the time the taxi arrived.

I finally got to treat Mom to kaiten sushi on the 5th floor of T1. The place is quite good as conveyor belt sushi goes. I noshed away quite a lot although it was my money...don't get quite the chance to eat sushi anymore. Although the maguro was curiously devoid of a lot of oil, the rest of the fare such as the negi toro and the shake aburi were delectable.

It was the usual nutso lineup when check-in started up at the Air Canada counter but things moved as smoothly as they could. There was the one cranky oyaji giving a petite ANA staffer a hard time, but I'm sure everyone is trained in anger management.

One interesting observation about Narita Airport...and this is its 30th anniversary (I wonder if the ousted farmers there are gonna throw firebombs in tribute) this year....for such a supposedly modern facility, it doesn't seem to have Internet booths...or at least, Terminal 1 doesn't. I was able to find one at Pearson in Toronto with little problem.

I finally bought "Warped Passages" by Lisa Randall at the airport Tsutaya. I'd been wanting to get it for some months since it boasts her ability to talk about extra-dimensional universes (yes, I do have a pointy head) in a language that a layman could understand. My geekdom will show, but I do have a passing interest in the subject.

Of course, Mom being Mom, she gave me money to pay for her time at my place...despite that she only crashed here for 4 out of the 14 nights. I duly protested but I've learned not to argue with a Kansai mother. It was a generous stipend, nonetheless, so I'll get my "revenge" by searching for some goodies for the family in the coming weeks and months.

I've discovered that both parents have become rather interested in sumo since they've got NHK International being piped into the apartment. It was a good time to be interested, too. This has been a comeback story of sorts for Bulgarian ozeki Kotooshu. On the verge of being demoted (a fate worse than death in the sumo world...it usually means retirement is just a throwdown away), the big lug not only staved off demotion but he won the entire tournament, the first European to do so. It wasn't a perfect record...the bout before his clinching victory was one of those "What the hell was that?" losers, but the main point is that he's now a hero again and he can make those Bulgaria yogurt commercials once more. And the media, I'm sure, will be even hinting at possible yokozuna-hood, although that will take a number of more yusho before the Sumo Association even considers it.

Also, another foreign hero has been making inroads in another formerly Japanese-only field. Jero, the first African-American enka singer, has been the big guy on campus with his hit, "Umiyuki" (Sea Snow). And he has done so by not wearing the typical suit or kimono that vets like Hiroshi Itsuki or Shinichi Mori sport; he looks more like The Fresh Prince. He's gotten his own iced coffee commercial now and it's a given that he'll be on the Kohaku Utagassen on New Year's Eve. I learned from Wiki that his stage name (sounds like the stuff I used to see Bill Cosby hawk years ago) is short for Jerome White. Of course, the enka experts are hoping that Jero will bring back its genre to the fore. I don't think enka has ever been eliminated in the first place although I don't think it'll ever regain its place as pop music; it'll be something like jazz...there will always be an audience for it. Certainly, CD Countdown has shown a number of enka singers up on the top 50.

Saturday May 24, 3:09 p.m.

Slim had his first tough lesson since he started coming here. He was kinda cruising through the first several lessons although cruising is a relative term...it was still fairly challenging to him. But because of a combination of one error by me (for which I apologized) and some misunderstandings of instructions, the lesson was a bit of a slog. Didn't exactly destroy him a la Simon Cowell but his confidence took a hit, I could tell.

Well, I'm hoping that The Bostonian will go a bit better.

Saturday May 24, 1:04 p.m.

Yesterday was a first sighting of summer. It was warm...perhaps even warmer than the 27 C that was forecast. A bit cooler today since we've got some rain coming in later.

I picked up Mom at Tokyo Station. Before that, I had a good chance to do a recce around the newly built-up area surrounding the station. Nothing particularly special...just that hoary ol' Daimaru the department store got a major facelift. After the pickup, I took her back to the apartment and we had dinner at the restaurant just a minute away. We had been thinking of sending one large piece of luggage to the airport a day ahead by Yamato but basically the message was that it would be a bit risky just 24 hours before, so it looks like we're gonna taxi it tomorrow. Mom apparently doesn't mind splurging 20,000 yen. Dad called again, and this time there was a bit of that usual bickering over the phone...old Japanese folks like to do that. There was another series of back-and-forth....of the nice variety...between Mom and her host for ten days, my uncle and aunt. The previous generation is still very much of the protracted osewaninarimashita conversations.

A bit of a hopping weekend for me. While Mom is taking care of packing at home, I still have to do my job and teach 3 lessons. I saw just The Coffeemaker at the cafe today; it's been a month since the last meeting. And I've got Slim and The Bostonian here at Speedy's in about an hour. Then I gotta run out to Ginza Yamano Music afterwards to pick up an enka CD or two for Dad. I wish there were a closer place but Yamano is the only major outlet to have enka CDs in big numbers. After that, it's back home for dinner with Mom, though, I think the only other option is tonkatsu. She's not big on ramen.

Thursday May 22, 5:53 p.m.

Well, my Thursday shift ends in a few minutes. It was interesting in terms of comparing students. I had Grandmother Tango...nearly an octogenarian but she could probably blow off most of her compadres in terms of her English fluency. She spoke about her English experience during and after the war...World War 2, that is. And then I had The Yogist, who was even more hyper than she usually is...I guess she was worried about her test results. She ended up spending 40 minutes trying to decipher what to do with one question...not her fault but the badly-worded question stymied her there. I'll have to talk with the bossman about that when he gets back. But she aced it...in fact, she got a better mark than she did on her first one.

Then, I brought over The New Yorker over here for the first time. She's the first private student since The Full-Timer to have come to the school for a lesson with me. Despite the lack of surrounding ambient noise here at the school compared to a cafe, she still lacked a lot of volume. But we got free coffee and peace of mind. I gave her the grand tour of the school and together with BC, we chatted for several minutes. Her sister, The Carolinan, has also said that she would be able to come here next week for her lesson. Coincidentally, as soon as The New Yorker left for home, California Girl contacted me via Facebook Chat so we did just that for about 15 minutes. California Girl had just finished a late-night gig on the keyboards.

Already behind schedule getting my place in order but there's still the morning tomorrow before I head over to the station to pick up Mom.

Thursday May 22, 8:28 a.m.

Another straight-home and straight-back transition. I think I should really consider getting just a dormitory if I have any more of these 5-hour sleep breaks between work periods. However, on the flip side, it is nice to be able to come in early and enjoy some solitude instead of having to deal with the fellow customers at McDonalds for 90 minutes. And I won't have Tango for another 2 hours.

The Entrepreneur chimed in to say that he'd caught "Ironman" with Chip Guy the other day. He said it was very enjoyable...almost as good as the first "Spiderman" and even better than "Spiderman 2". I frankly have the opposite opinion on the two Tobey flicks but I will take it as a good sign for the new Marvel franchise.

The Satyr also sent e-mail saying that Movie Buddy had been itching to go back to Mo-Yan, that funky curry place that Skippy had introduced all of us to last year, but not necessarily as a birthday venue. Still, I'd say that would be as good a place as any to enjoy dinner after "Narnia".

I may be feeling the creep in my bones but at least I'll be finished after The New Yorker's lesson and then I can head on home and get the place prepped again for Mother's arrival tomorrow. It doesn't take long for a home to go to seed for a single guy...even if Mom had 2 days to straighten it out.

Wednesday May 21, 10:23 p.m.

Well, coming to the end of another Hump Day. Slim was his usual dutiful self while The Diver was her usual uncertain one. I've had a cuppa with Mrs. Speedy who'll be closing up the shop in her husband's absence. I was able to get in contact with Mom to confirm her arriving Bullet Train on Friday. I guess I'm gonna also have to think about getting a better faxphone since the message machine is starting to go senile on me. Even Speedy called up to check on things. He was sounding like his usual chipper self despite the usual long flight from Tokyo to Toronto.

Wednesday May 21, 5:20 p.m.

Kinda glad that I'm not Bunny's regular teacher...and I mean that in the most complimentary of ways. She and I are pretty big movie buffs...on the level of MB and The Satyr. We got majorly sidetracked. However, we've still got one more gig together in a couple of weeks.

Well, I'm starting to hit the wall since I haven't eaten anything since breakfast. Will probably be hitting the Lawson's for a bento before Slim comes into town.

Wednesday May 21, 3:13 p.m.

It's been a nice n' quiet afternoon. Got the 2nd call from Mom about her train coming in. Luckily, she was able to get the particulars in for that, although it still managed to cut her off at the end. I'll probably a small tongue-lashing from her since I'll be calling her up at Uncle's to confirm everything.

I've been reading up on the remake of "Get Smart" on Wiki and then at a website dedicated to the original series. Not surprisingly, what I've heard has been pretty dire. The author of the site was pretty scathing...and he did see the preview. To be honest, movie remakes of old 60s spy shows have had a horrible record (et tu, "Mission Impossible" and "I Spy"), and something like "Get Smart", fetching Anne Hathaway aside, won't have a chance to buck the trend. I saw the trailer...and there's nothing there to recommend it to me. Don Adams' magnum opus was itself a parody of the then-in-vogue spy programs, and parodying a parody is kinda like trying to make copies of copies. I'm even surprised that it's gonna get a release in the theatres here early in October...."Get Smart" isn't anywhere in the Japanese pop cultural zeitgeist, unlike old imports "Bewitched" or even "Knight Rider". Noone in Tokyo, except for foreigners who adore reruns, will get the expressions "Missed it by that much." or "Would you believe...?" Methinks it's getting the first-run treatment because both Hathaway and Masi Oka are not only in the movie, but are also quasi-famous names in this country.

Speaking of upcoming movies, it looks like Skippy is getting things moving on the next outing for June 1. The target will be the second "Narnia" movie. The Satyr has also suggested doing something for Movie Buddy, since his b-day has just passed. Skippy had initially given the choice of either this Sunday or the 1st, but I can't make it out for the former date since I gotta be escorting Mom back to Narita then. And MB wisely pointed out that the first of every month is half-price day for flicks.

I recently also got some of the first coverage of that new subway line, the Fukutoshin Line (geseundheit), which will be getting its debut in less than a month. There were rumours flying about the trains for that one will be looking distinctly futuristic. But that's what they were...just rumours. What I saw is just the run-of-the-mill platforms and subways...but they'll be even deeper than the Oedo Line. At this rate, any other new lines built in the next decade will end up having stations in South America. It's gonna feel like what Woody Allen had described about being on a jumbo jet. By the time you get to your seat, you will have to get off at the destination already. Walking from the Tozai Line to the Oedo Line at Iidabashi Station takes 5 minutes easily to traverse the 455 metres. Before Tokyo Metro extended the service hours of its trains, many was the time around midnight that a whole bunch of slightly inebriated commuters would dash for the Tozai like whippet hounds chasing a rabbit around a racetrack. Now, with this new line coming out, commuters will be clamouring for another train just to take them from one line to another.

And speaking of transportation, I heard from Jolly last night that things were even whacked out on the JR Keihin-Tohoku Line due to the typhoon. Commuters were stuck on that train for 2 hours before things got better. The Keihin-Tohoku is one of the crosstown lines which go all the way from Saitama to Kanagawa Prefectures, so if that one goes down, millions of commuters get pretty cranky.

I heard recently that Wild Thing finally got his job in Hong Kong...it isn't what he was looking for, but considering how long it's been since he had work, I'm sure he wasn't too picky.

Wednesday May 21, 1:25 p.m.

Well, pulled off a coup of sorts. I was able to persuade The New Yorker to come over to Speedy's for her lesson tomorrow. The opportunity to teach her in a quiet setting without having to pay the high prices for coffee and worrying about getting attacked by other patrons was too tempting to pass up. If everything works out tomorrow afternoon, I may try the same tactic with The Carolinan. Plus, their friend, BC, is here.

Averted a minor crisis with one of the Grandmas this morning. I was supposed to have her between 10:15 and 11:15; Fado usually gets here about 5 minutes ahead of schedule and we just start then and there. When she finishes, she usually heads out to La Vie Du France afterwards to chat with Enka and Tango, the other grandmas over coffee. Like a tag team, Enka relieves her through her class after Fado. Enka came in and remarked that she was surprised to see Fado show up after the lesson so early which got me and BC in a temporary tizzy. At first, I'd thought that I may have inadvertently cheated her out of 10 minutes of class time. Enka reassured me that Fado wasn't miffed and that she had felt satisfied with the lesson. I think it was just that Fado got there even earlier than her early arrivals. Tango will be tomorrow. Next up in a few hours will be Speedy's long-time student, Bunny. I've seen her countless times but it'll be the first time for me to teach her.

I've been going through the latest volume of "The Complete Peanuts: 1967-1968". The foreword comes from none other than the notorious John Waters, he of "Hairspray". He and I definitely agree on one point...Schulz went a bit more haywire with his pencils in '67. Linus, Lucy and Snoopy go through some pretty extreme emotions in this one. And I finally got to meet the short-lived Jose Peterson.

Looks like it's becoming more inevitable that Barack Obama will be sewing up the nomination. Hillary may have gotten Kentucky under her belt, but Obama has gotten Oregon. As much as I would like to see Obama get it, it's still a pity not to see the first woman getting the nod from either the Democratic or Republican party. However, I am hoping that what Obama and Clinton have done these past several months will start bringing out more women and minorities into the mix. There will be a shadow overlooking the runup to Denver...the main bulwark of the Dems, Ted Kennedy, has been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour after his sudden collapse on the weekend.

Found out from Enka that she's a huge fan of veteran chanteuse Mariko Takahashi. That would make it a triumvirate consisting of Enka, Mrs. Mild and myself. I first heard of her from multicultural radio back in T.O. a quarter-century ago...she is a vocal powerhouse of J-ballads and used to belong to a folk unit with the bizarro name of Pedro and Capricious. She brings out the crowds...of a certain age...to the music halls and has even played Carnegie Hall in NYC. In a way, I could say that she is the proto-Misia.

Wednesday May 21, 8:28 p.m.

Exactly one month before summer officially arrives, but it looks like we're gonna get a small taste of it today after the crazy weather of yesterday morning.

Jolly actually did arrive last night...I think he needn't have bothered. Unlike his fully-rested self when he had come first in the lineup on the last day of Golden Week, he was in even more slovenly shape than he usually is when he comes in the last slot. Didn't do his homework...didn't even have his homework...wasn't even aware that he had received his homework. And he was just stumbling over his words like Dudley Moore in "Arthur". That was frankly one hour I would've liked back.

Got a partial message from Mom about her arrival back in Tokyo. Unfortunately, my cantankerous message machine only got the greetings and not the vitals. I'll have to call my uncle up tonight.

It's been amazing how many old faces I've been hearing from on Facebook. Just a few minutes ago, I got a Friend Request from an old U of T mate, Gold. I've tagged him that since that was what he was back in the day...one of those golden guys born with a silver spoon in his mouth, along with an innate ability for languages including Japanese. But he's now living in New Zealand. Go fig on that.

With the bossman off on his trip, I've got the keys so I won't have to lounge around McDonalds for 90 minutes. Now, I just get the Sausage Muffin Set polished off there lickety-split and just lounge around here. I've got the grandmothers first up....they will probably tire me out soon enough.

Tuesday May 20, 4:41 p.m.

Had my lunch at Tonki after the I-cafe...good timing since there is barely anyone in the place during the mid-afternoon there. I ate a nice combo of tonkatsu, fried chicken and fried fish. My metabolic syndrome won't be any better but I'm satisfied.

Got to the juku. The boss suddenly realized that she'd forgotten to get some senbe for Mom, so she rushed on out before I had a chance to stop her, and she got these delicious rice crackers. Also, I asked her to send a reminder to Miss Disney that I won't be here this Friday since I'll be taking care of Mom when she gets back. I'm kinda wondering if Miss Disney is starting to tire of English. In any case, I have the usual lineup today: Suzanne, Mild Jr., The Milds and Jolly. Hopefully, the juku cat won't be showing up when Mild Jr. comes by; he had a rather bad allergic reaction to him. A fellow who's trained in martial arts and looks it is felled by a feline. Oh, the irony.

Tuesday May 20, 12:38 p.m.

Back at the I-Cafe. 002 cancelled out due to her work schedule so I've got the hours to waste away. It seemed a bit iffy, but I did make it to Tsudanuma to see The Beehive one last time before they head off to Croatia on Saturday. The major rains had stopped by the time I left the apartment but the winds were whipping up a bit which, of course, meant that the JR was heavily delayed. But I was lucky that The Sobu Line did get me to Tsudanuma in good time. It was just Alp, Travel and Jade today. They were getting pretty excited about the flight over, but we still looked at an article on the lives of John and Yoko. Not surprisingly, the British press at that time were calling them all sorts of names for their so-called horrific romance. It seems that Fleet Street has a penchant for being particularly nasty against "the other woman". Yoko was called downright ugly....well, I never thought that she was all that good-looking, but I think "ugly" is a bit harsh. Of course, a couple of years ago, Camilla Parker-Bowles was often referred as being somewhat equine in looks herself.

The conversation then turned to the broader meaning of that age for The Beehive, since the ladies were all college-age students. I remarked that their time in higher education was far more exciting and tumultous than my university years of the mid-80s. They had the student movements to deal with. Travel had often been asked by her fellow classmates about her allegiances...either to the establishment or the students.

Monday May 19, 9:37 p.m.

During my talk with The Class Act this morning, we touched upon music near the end. I was surprised to hear that The Lady enjoys Feist's "1,2,3,4..." from last year's iPod commercials. I'm trying to get the CD of her here. And she also apparently enjoys the tunes of some singer from Israel. The Lady hummed a few bars of the tune, and both The Matron and I remarked that it sounded almost like Japanese enka. In fact, a lot of this genre's tunes have a very Meditteranean feel. Enka singers such as Teresa Teng and Hiroshi Itsuki have liberally borrowed melodies from the Old World. And even now, I saw the name of a sub-genre pop up for an atypical singer....former Morning Musume member from the very 1st generation, Kaori Iida. Ms. Iida sings Euro-enka....tunes that kinda take from sources such as Greek music and Julio Iglesias. And years ago back in university, an old friend of mine once remarked that one of WHAM!'s later hits, "Where Did Your Heart Go?" or something like that, sounded suspiciously like an enka tune.

This brings up an observational comparison between American pop and J-pop. American music has brought jazz, rock n' roll and hip-hop into the world. They invented whole genres of music. Japan seems to do the inverse....they bring in elements of music from different cultures and innovate existing stuff here. It's no wonder that the Japanese seem to be into all sorts of genres to a bigger degree than in the States. I've learned more about jazz, bossa nova, and Latin here in Japan than I ever did back in Canada.

Monday May 19, 9:18 p.m.

Did forget to mention about the latest METROPOLIS issue I read this afternoon. Man, it's good that the free English-language magazine for Tokyo goes into all sorts of stuff about the city. However, I gotta admit the cover story of doll fetishism was pretty...urk! The first paragraph talked about how a temple in Akiba performed a ceremony for a well-used sex doll after its master decided to marry a real live woman....speeeew! Talk about Too Much Information.

I purchased something that was a whole lot more conventional and much more indicative of Americana. It was the latest issue of "The Complete Peanuts" with Violet being the cover girl here. However, knowing some of the underground sordidness of the otaku industry, somewhere out there, there is probably some manga with the Peanuts gang involved in stuff that would make Charles Schulz die a second death.

Monday May 19, 9:06 p.m.

It's raining out there. At least, I was spared it when I taught The Full-Timer. I was somehow able to pull the lesson off despite being seated between two gabby pairs. And they were so self-absorbed that they weren't particularly bothered by the sight of an English lesson being performed. Slim was his usual proficient self. If I had more of him, I would consider myself a most fortunate person.

Speedy and I made a final run-through of the students I'll be teaching in his stead while he's away on business. Should be OK, although I may be exhausted after teaching his cadre of grandmothers.

One thing I noticed that is a good sign of improving Sino-Japan relations. After the tragic earthquake of last week in Szechuan Province, the Japanese rescue team made its way there. And the Japanese Embassy in Beijing got lots of phone calls from grateful Chinese. That's a far cry from the scary moments of angry Chinese a few years ago smashing up Japanese establishments in the country in cities such as Shanghai. No comments from either former PM Koizumi or current Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara, who's pretty rabid about his anti-Chinese feelings.

Skippy sent the feeler out about catching the second in the Narnia series. She asked about this coming Sunday but that's the day I escort Mom back to Narita. So, June 1st will be the alternate. And I also threw out the possibilities of catching the new Indiana Jones flick when it comes out in late June. So far, what I've been hearing is that the movie is getting respectful, but not glowing reviews. But then again, another view is that it's pretty much critic-proof.

Monday May 19, 4:43 p.m.

Just waiting for that Typhoon No. 4 to come roaring in...maybe. The NHK guys were warning that things would be deteriorating around this moment, but so far, things are still looking dry thankfully. I'm sure it'll probably be nuts tomorrow, though. Just my luck, since I gotta drag all of Mom's omiyage for the Beehive ladies tomorrow morning. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Yesterday was a nice and quiet day. Ended up cleaning up the room and then watching a Yellow Magic Orchestra concert DVD on the player. Rather natsukashii seeing very slim Hosono, Takahashi, and Sakamoto on the synths as well as realizing how cutting-edge chromakey was at that time.

Had The Class Act and SIL this morning. Got some omiyage myself. Whipped butter and other little sundries from The Matron, and some usual Hawaiian goodies from The Lady. As for SIL, we just talked about current events as usual. Apparently, some AV actress exposed herself in Akihabara recently according to the news which traumatized SIL's mother. I would've thought that was pretty usual now there.

I guess the entertainment showbiz types here must've had a field day today with the announcement that legendary band, Southern All Stars, is taking a long break as of next year. Yup, Keisuke Kuwata will be hanging up their hoopla and scantily-clad women after their usual round of summer concerts is done. I was never a huge fan of the group although I like some of their songs such as classic "Itoshi no Ellie". And I have to admit that Kuwata is, so far, the only guy to successfully cover Donald Fagen's "I.G.Y."

Well, in about an hour, I've got The Full-Timer as usual followed by Slim for another one of his lessons. Speedy is off getting the bunch of us McDonalds fare via coupons since he'll be heading off from tomorrow for his annual business trip to the West.

Saturday May 17, 2:29 p.m.

Finished off the two lessons. The Businesswoman had a good business trip to Atlanta although she had to go through the ordeal of traveling in a plane back to Narita during a storm...one of my biggest fears of flying since that arrival I had to endure back on September 11, 2001. Yep, that 9/11. In both her and my cases, there was a lusty round of applause when the plane finally hit the runway. As for Slim, back on Wednesday just after my lesson with him, he actually helped out a foreigner at the station who needed to get to a station. Somehow, he was able to help the man out despite my student's limited English which left both people feeling pretty good.

Speedy took the news about me not being able to teach The Manhattanite and Mr. TOEIC on the 24th in good stride, as he usually does. We're seeing what the 31st sounds like for both students.

Did a bit more digging about that Huckabee gaffe at the NRA meeting. After checking out what the former Arkansas governor had truly said, yep....that was a really idiotic thing to say. He did apologize for it, though. Not sure if Jack Cafferty will forgive him but then again, he had to suffer the ignominy of having one of his superiors apologize for him to the entire country of China for what he had said about them several weeks ago. I wonder if Jack is really sorry about his comments and whether that superior and him had a few words for each other before airtime.

Well, just hanging about for another half hour or so before I head on back home.

Ahhh...did want to say that I enjoyed "Last Destination" for the first time back on Thursday night. I had just come back home from that first lesson with The Temp when I turned on the TV and saw that first victim being garroted in the bathroom by Death. I'm not a huge horror fan per se, but I actually saw the movie as more of a thriller/suspense than an out-and-out horror. Some pretty fun ways to die. And there was Ali Larter as a young co-ed before she became the household word she is now.

Saturday May 17, 10:28 a.m.

Back here at the school. I've got The Businesswoman and then Slim for two. Speedy has asked me to squeeze a couple of more oldtimers for next week's slot: The Manhattanite and then Mr. TOEIC. Unfortunately, I'm gonna have to turn him down since I've already got one with Tully & The Coffeemaker although if last month's lesson was any indication, it might be time for my privates and me to part ways. However, I'll see how the bossman reacts...I did say that I would be open from 11 to 5 three Saturdays a month.

Man, it almost felt like I was watching ol' Lou Dobbs' show on "The Situation Room" this morning. First, John Edwards starts acting like a potential VP candidate for Barack Obama (though he maintains that he wouldn't accept the invitation again) and pounces like a Rottweiler on President Bush. And then grumbly Jack goes medieval on Mike Huckabee's butt (deservedly) for a lame joke that he had made at the NRA. I would have to side with Jeff Toobin, though, that Jack Cafferty didn't really to call the former Republican Presidential candidate an idiot-for-life (yes, I know, I know...Jack didn't say that exactly but the sentiment was evident in his voice). I've got a feeling that the curmudgeon has more things to say about Mike than he's letting on.

Speaking of ol' Lou, now that we here in Japan don't get to watch him anymore, I sometimes do miss his tirades beginning with "What in the world....!" and "The idea....!" Mind you, Kristi Lu Stout is much easier on the eyes, though.

Got a request from my brother for Mom when she gets back here next Friday. Apparently, my niece is looking for some cute bunny slippers. No better place than this country to find them.

Friday May 16, 8:20 p.m.

Basically a day off today. Just The Ace in 40 minutes and that is all she will write. I spent the whole day catching up on some needed sleep and then listening to music.

Last night, I had The Temp for her first official lesson. It was a Starbucks lesson in Shinjuku. She's one of those folks who is frustratingly in the middle. Her comprehension and pronounciation are quite good, and grammar is solidly intermediate but she's also underconfident which wrecks her fluency. I could do a lot better with her if I had her in a classroom. However, we did get a bit of excitement near the end of the lesson from a woman who suddenly "Urusaiiii!" (SHUT THE F**K UP!) and then stormed out of the place. At first, I'd thought that the time had finally come for a coffee drinker to protest English teaching in coffeehouses, but actually one of the baristas had approached her politely that the place was closing when she snapped. Not unduly surprised...a lot of kooks and angry people hang about Shinjuku. Although The Temp said that she would like to change the venue since the place closed up a bit too early, I kinda wonder if the angry woman had kinda spooked her out.

Mom called to say that she was enjoying her time in Osaka with the relatives. And she said that she would be returning next Friday...a whole week from now. This, considering that for weeks before the trip, she was griping about trying not to stay any longer than possible in the Kansai. "Meiwaku kaketaku no wa yada!" was her mantra (I hate having to be a burden!). Well, I guess having to be cooped up in my apartment by herself for one day showed her the errors of her thinking. Plus, I don't have to worry about her being in my apartment alone.

The big news tonight was that a Disaster Relief Team from Japan has reached Sichuan Province, the site of that M7.9 earthquake. Nothing but horrors there. That government policy of one child per family has had terrible consequences.

Recently, I've been noticing that there has been a lot of bird poop ending up on the ground outside of my building and some more on my outside washing machine and balcony railing. Either one of the crows is having a bad case of Montezuma's Revenge, or there may be an infestation of birds in progress. I've seen cases of these horrible bird swarms in places like Fukuoka and even in nearby Tsudanuma where literally thousands of the flying rats take up roost in the trees and use the neighbourhood as their toilets.

Thursday May 15, 4:18 p.m.

In the middle of a lull in the action between The Yogist and The Dentist. The Yogist was fun as usual...she's a real free spirit; kinda wonder if she would've loved being at Woodstock. In any case, she's got her 2nd test as a student here.

The juku boss told me that Miss Disney has cancelled her lesson for tomorrow which means that I've got a grand total of 30 minutes' worth of teaching time with The Ace. Nothing against The Ace, of course, but geez, a half an hour's worth of class?! It's quite a switch when compared to the scrums of Monday and yesterday.

As mentioned, I've got The Dentist for the first time since February. I have a feeling that a quarter of the lesson at least will be spent on re-acquainting ourselves. Then, I gotta rush off to that Starbucks where I'd once taught Jazz Buddy to start work on The Temp. However, I have sort of feeling that that branch closes up pretty early. In any case, I hope it isn't too crowded in there; it's not one of the largest cafes. The old Starbucks in Toranomon where I'd once taught The OL and the UL for some years was the biggest one for me.

That Chianti place next door to us has finally re-opened after a couple of months in limbo. Looks like they've gone completely Italian now. I didn't see that burger that they had used to sell. It was probably the biggest of the burgers I'd seen in Tokyo, but I guess that was its downfall. Noone except Speedy and myself probably dared to order it.

After that inaugural with The Temp, I'm done. I'll get home by 9 but it will still be the earliest I've been home all week. I'm feeling the sleep catching up to me, so I'm grateful that I'll be able to catch up on it tomorrow.

Thursday May 15, 12:07 p.m.

Ugh!...can't believe we've already arrived at the middle of the month. Things are warmer, though, than they were up to last night. 001 was her usual jolly self...both Speedy and I talked to her about her upcoming trip to the Middle East in the Fall with Speedy showing her some of the pics from his vacation in Dubai last year. I joked to her that I don't want to see her and her friends' pictures on an NHK bulletin. Unfortunately, since that little kidnapping (which was resolved happily thankfully) of a couple of Japanese women there last week, the joke can become all too real.

The Diver was less angsty than last week but she still has her underconfidence issues. And Slim has been proceeding apace. He's gonna end up having 10 lessons in his first month here. That's dedication!

Well, when it rains, it pours for Hillary. Barely a day after she's taken some solace from her overwhelming win in West Virginia on Tuesday night, John Edwards goes off and endorses Barack. And to add insult to injury, CNN pre-empts her interview with Wolf to make that endorsement announcement. The timing couldn't have been random. Barack's minders were not gonna give Mrs. Clinton any breathing room and the announcement and subsequent official endorsement by Edwards made that interview look nearly concessionary. I'm currently thinking of Off-Course's "Sayonara" as I type this up. However, the die-hard supporters of Hillary must be absolutely livid at the media....months ago, FOX and CNN were cloaking her in the mantle of inevitability, and now it seems that they're ready to put the rose and headstone on top of her political grave.

Wednesday May 14, 5:06 p.m.

Back at the school smelling a mix of tobacco, coffee and Febreeze (the last one was voluntarily added). Yes, I'm back from teaching The New Yorker. We were back at the Tully's and we were down in the dungeon of cigarettes. There was one of those rumpled salarymen (definitely not a 1st-year) a few tables down smoking away, but as soon as I started bantering away in English, he rather huffily took off (as have many a coffee drinker in previous visits); as usual, I just flipped him the bird under the table.

The New Yorker and her sister, The Carolinan, had caught Blue Man Group during Golden Week in Roppongi, replete with all of the ponchos and flying paint and bananas. Still, The New Yorker thought that her first sight of them back in The Big Apple a decade ago was somewhat more thrilling; the far more reactive audience back Stateside was the key...kinda like having a sandwich with far better bread. Also, I'd asked her about the big M6.8 quake last week since she was far closer to the epicentre than I was, and my apartment was throwing CDs around then. She said that she clutched her doggie and just waited it out.

Got back to get a barrage of questions from BC about when The Manhattanite could next have her lesson with me. We've had to run through the scheduling land mine due to our conflicting agendas. However, I will be seeing The Dentist for the first time in a few months tomorrow just before my first official lesson with The Temp, BC's old colleague.

Wednesday May 13, 12:03 p.m.

The Nurse was a bit on the spacey side or she was just having an off day in terms of English proficiency this morning. Still, I managed to hand her the test for the first 3 chapters. BC is back; she seems to be back to her usual self...she says that she's calmed down. Ah, we are content.

Wednesday May 14, 9:46 a.m.

Looks like more students are piling onto my schedule at Speedy's since the bossman will be going on his business trip. I've got The Magician now. The rain has been coming down and it's still pretty wet...not exactly conducive to a happier state of mind. Speaking of which, Speedy informed me that BC had one of those crying jags again yesterday....man, is this girl really ready to study overseas? Speedy has pretty much given up since she'll probably be leaving us in June.

Got the call from Mom last night that she got into Osaka yesterday and she's enjoying her time with the relatives. I enjoyed sleeping in my bed.

Tuesday May 13, 9:12 p.m.

Well, all that gnashing about that mystery model lesson student came to naught. He was a no-show. I was relieved and annoyed at the same time, but I should've figured that out when he didn't bother to leave a name with the boss. Plus, Jolly has dotakyan'ed again so I'm finished for the day. Suzanne was her studious if slightly spacey self. Mild Jr. recoiled in some horror as he met the juku cat for the very first time....regrettably, he has an allergy toward cats which manifested itself as the lesson wore on...his throat started getting hoarse and his eyes watered. Lesson learned there for sure.

That no-show student was the big existential obstacle of the week. Now, that he's been unplugged, it's not too bad now; however, there is what to do with The New Yorker and of course, The Diver and her angsty self.

Tuesday May 13, 4:32 p.m.

Got home at midnight as I usually do on Mondays. Of course, Mom stayed up and waited for me. And it was less than 6 hours later when I woke up again. I had a rare Japanese-style breakfast of broiled aji, rice and a potato croquette thanks to my house guest. She's now off in Osaka with the relatives for the next number of days. I hope she does OK there.

I met The Beehive for the first time in 3 weeks at the usual haunt. It was a venting session for Mrs. Travel and Mrs. Alp; they were majorly griping about their husbands...especially Travel. Apparently, she and her hubby are in a cold war right now about a recent House Guest from Hell. Not surprisingly, said guest is a card-carrying member of the Japan Communist Party. In any case, in another couple of weeks, they'll be heading out on their big excursion to Croatia. They did a lot of their planning during lunch which I joined for the first time in several weeks. For me, I was grateful that I was now out of debtors' prison with these ladies. I got my first batch of cash in nearly 3 months.

002 was also another student I'd not met in a few weeks. I had a much more jovial time with her...the 70 minutes just flew by. She talked about a documentary she'd seen recently about the foreign otaku element invading Tokyo to make their pilgrimage to Mecca...i.e. Akihabara. According to her, seeing these Europeans, Asians and other such ilk prancing to the ditties of the Maids was a supremely cringeworthy moment. Mom had told me that on the flight, there were a few young men sitting near her who were breathlessly talking about their imminent arrival to Mecca.

And now I find myself here at the juku waiting for Suzanne. However, the big test for tonight is that new model lesson student who wants to join The Milds...well, actually, he just wanted to join any group lesson, and since The Milds are the only non-man-to-man lesson I have here, he'll be coming in for them. She didn't even get his name...it's never easy to plan for one of these lessons but I've got contingencies.

Slim was good last night in his second lesson overall and first one with me. Speedy told me that he'd underestimated his ability. I'm hoping he'll do very well before his first business trip to Germany in July. The Bostonian is approaching the likes of 001 and 002...she seems to be quite happy to be sidetracked and laughing all the way.

Tomorrow will also be a pretty busy day. I've got The Nurse, The New Yorker, 001, The Diver and then Slim again to wrap up. BC left me a message...obviously she's back at the school...stating that The Tippler, that talkative new student, has to cancel her lone May lesson.

It really hasn't been China's year, considering that this is its turn to shine for The Olympics. All those consumer product nightmares, then the kerfuffle over the Torch Relay and then now this huge quake in Szechuan Province.

Monday May 12, 2:52 p.m.

Just went over the lesson plans for the next few days. I may be spinning my wheels right now, but it sure looks like my week is gonna be a full one. I've got that friend of BC's, The Temp, whom I met almost a month ago for her first lesson this Thursday night. But the problematic one is that model lesson student who wants to join The Milds tomorrow night. Not sure how that one's gonna do.

Speaking of BC, she's not here today. I'm hoping that she's well on the mend after visiting the hospital for whatever's ailing her.

The Summer Drama season is revving up tonight. Actually, a few dramas have already jumped the gun and started last week. But tonight is the big gekku (Monday at 9) drama on Fuji-TV, the sweet spot for all such programs....kinda like the position that movies such as "The Dark Knight" and "Indiana Jones" would occupy for the blockbuster season. And this one is called "Change" with the King of the Dramas, Takuya Kimura...he of the snarly constitution and all of the concept titles such as "Hero" and "Good Luck". KimuTaku plays an elementary school teacher who ends up having to teach another group of children...i.e. the Cabinet...as he becomes Japan's next Prime Minister. This time, though, it won't be Takako Matsu who'll be his signficiant other but Eri Fukatsu from "Bayside Shakedown", who has also come across as pretty snarly in previous characters. The theme song is provided by none other than Madonna herself. No idea whether the title was thought up by an Obama supporter.

Monday May 12, 2:03 p.m.

Well, I picked up Mom at Narita yesterday. It's been a pretty cold past few days...more like March than May. When I got to Terminal 1, there was a small press presence by the South Gates; I hovered there for about 15 minutes until my need for food overweighed any chance of catching a glimpse of my first celeb arrival. After handling my Big Mac attack, I returned to see that the little scrum had gone. I wasn't too disappointed. There had been no mass of kids which would've meant a huge movie star or singer, and there were no middle-aged women which would've meant a Korean movie star.

Mom finally made it through the gates at about 4 p.m. Looks like that new security system of fingerprinting and eye scan wasn't too painful for her. After we took care of currency exchange, baggage delivery and JR Railpass, we made our way home where we just supped on supermarket sushi (Mom was never much for being made a fuss over...even on Mother's Day, which she had even forgotten until I gave her the card).

Looks like that dreaded (though potentially profitable) overloaded schedule today will not come to fruition. Both SIL and The Class Act cancelled their lessons for this morning, so I've yet to have my first class. That will come in about 2 hours with The Big Lug. From there, it'll be straight on til late with The Full-Timer, Slim, The Bostonian and finally Medicine Man to clean up.

I'll be meeting up with The Beehive tomorrow morning for the first time in 3 weeks and then it may be another 2 weeks before I see them again since they're supposed to be off for their big trip to Croatia.

Friday May 9, 9:47 p.m.

Finished up with Miss Disney and The Ace. She said that she went to TDL at least once a week. I asked her if she would ever consider working there and she gave a most adamant NO. I'm not surprised since Mild Jr. who is now working there has said that working there has rather spoiled the illusion. It was good timing that The Ace has returned to half-hour lessons since we only needed to wrap up things with one chapter. Since he's a tennis player, I asked him about the re-birth of Kimiko Date's career. He said that he was amazed at how she almost pulled off a championship considering her age and how long she'd been away from the game.

Well, I'm off for the weekend since everything has to be in readiness for the arrival of Mom. Not exactly gonna be easy though with all of the cleanup involved.

Looks like another couple of superdelegates have jumped ship from Clinton over to Obama. One of the guys is named Payne, and I'm sure Hillary is feeling his name right now. I think the end is nigh now. Heck, even this week's TIME has pretty much blurted it out in big white letters.

Friday May 9, 7:01 p.m.

Back at the juku. Apparently, all of the boss' students are off on shuugaku ryokou or the annual school trips to Kyoto. It's another one of those rites that all third-year junior high school students go through. Here in the Kanto, the kids and teachers all hop on Bullets and head over to Kyoto or Nara...or if their schools are really doing financially well, they may even hop across the ocean to Hong Kong. If the kids are from the Kansai, well, they probably head over here to The Big Sushi or head off to Hokkaido. Of course, the kids are more sussed than a 3-Coke (that's cola) head trip, since it's their first big trip without their family and, more importantly, with their friends. I remember when I participated with one trip back on the JET Programme almost 2 decades ago. We were walking through Kyoto, all the kids were in their uniforms and some guy handed out tissues with ads for sex clubs. Even back then, kids could learn pretty quickly. They also gotta kick out of seeing a bunch of abekku on the concrete bank on the other side of a river. Abekku is the katakana-ization of the French word avec meaning "with". However, over here abekku refers to a couple making out. I assumed that the teachers didn't mention any of this in their after-action report to the PTA.

Unfortunate segue, but speaking of kids and sex clubs, the police busted some place in Tokyo called The Peach Club, a kyabakura or cabaret club, for employing 14-year-old girls as the hostesses. The manager feigned innocence about their age. Uh huh... In any case, the employees were apparently raking in thousands of dollars per month....somewhat better than the usual McDonalds part-timer.

Just have Miss Disney and then The Ace...back to his half-hour format since he managed to catch up in terms of his lessons.

Friday May 9, 3:54 p.m.

Had another slight jolt this morning. But the epicenter was so close to home that it just felt like a seismic kick and an especially loud slam of a door. No wits were damaged. When I was teaching The Yogist and The Carolinan yesterday, they were pretty ho-hum about the M6.8. Heck, The New Yorker was basically near ground zero and her sister told me that she'd suffered no hiccups. But I did get some concerned e-mail from a few of the other guys back home.

Started Phase 1...more like Phase .5...of Operation Cleanup for Ma this morning. Managed to clean the kitchen mats and hose down the floor before giving the new vacuum its first assignment in the bedroom. The big job starts tomorrow morning. Not exactly spic and span yet but at least a lot of detritus from my living room is now in the garbage where it will be picked up the next day.

Caught the latest trailers for both "The Dark Knight" and "Ironman". Dang, I can hardly wait to see those two flicks.

I've been continuing to read through Malcolm Gladwell's "Blink". There was the chapter concerning the error of electing Warren G. Harding as the US President in 1921. Basically, it was the adage of "You can't judge a book by its cover". Gladwell labeled him as the worst president in American history....that label changed hands a week ago. But the intriguing part was where the author cited the national mistake of falling for Harding's tall, dark and handsome look....and I started thinking of a current presidential candidate. As much as I like Barack Obama, there is a part of me inside which wonders how much of him is substance and how much is actually just oratorial style. Still, barring any major miracles, he's headed for the Democratic nomination.

We've been having a spate of very sad murders in the last several days. Last week, a girl who had just started high school was slain in Aichi Prefecture through strangulation and her knapsack's contents were strewn everywhere except for one item which is now curiously missing. And then yesterday morning, another girl was found murdered and buried in a deserted area near Kyoto. A misogynistic pedophobe?

Then there is the truly ridiculous. A deluxe restaurant chain which last year had been cited as one of the corporate entities found guilty of serving food that had gone past its "best-by" date got nailed again for serving uneaten leftovers to its patrons. The head of the chain, an old woman dressed in a kimono rather whined at the media for using such a harsh word as "leftovers". This was the same woman who openly and literally put words into her imbecile son's (the former president) mouth during the last apologetic press conference.

Speedy contacted me this morning. Looks like I've got another student on next week's schedule. It's The Dentist, a lady whom I haven't seen in a few months. The bossman also told me that although BC has decided to not come to work, she has decided to make the visit to a doctor today. Not sure if my message to her had anything to do with it but as long as she's going, I'm happy enough. SIL also cancelled her next lesson so I've got a bit of a respite in what will still be a loaded Monday.

I was watching NHK news last night and saw that Okinawa has been trying to put back the 2,000-yen bill back into circulation in commemoration of the last time that the G8 Summit was in Japan in 2000...this year, it's at the other end of the nation...up in Hokkaido. I've seen my share of the bill thanks to The Beehive's habit of paying me with them.

Thursday May 8, 12:50 p.m.

Just sent BC an e-mail of concern and a bit of a chewout for continuing to stay sick and not seek any medical help. This was triggered when the bossman lamented (as he is wont to do from time to time) about how the office is going to run when he goes off on his long business trip. He has asked me to come in as much as possible...which frankly isn't going to be possible, especially with Mom in town. Therefore, the letter. Sobbing and caterwauling about being sick while there have been ample opportunities to get to a doctor doesn't get much sympathy from me.

Thursday May 8, 12:28 p.m.

Ahhhh....BC...she was Guilt personified for the brief time she was in the office. She was also Death warmed over...still ailing from that mystery disease and feeling darn bad about letting people down and having to cancel her class with me tonight. She's started to get into one of her sobbing jags again before Speedy gave her the day off. But she refuses to go to the doctor since she hates them....you can check my last entry about the possible reasons, and I could understand since I have the same reluctance as well. So, it's just the boss and me again.

Thursday May 8, 11:35 a.m.

Well, rock me Amadeus! I thought my long day at work would end quietly but the entire Kanto got a roller coaster ride, courtesy of a Shindo 3 after 11:30 last night and then the biggie, a Shindo 5- (M6.8), at 1:45 a.m. And here I thought that they usually decrease in intensity. No supreme worries...a picture fell off a wall along with some CDs and the remaining contents of my air freshener got dumped onto the tatami, and of course, NHK was on the ball although this supposedly new-fangled early warning detection system failed once again. Not sure if this is the beginning of another seismic cluster headache.

I've been reading Malcolm Gladwell's 2nd book, "Blink", which is a diverting read on what is basically the art of sizing people and situations up and making snap decisions well. I'm pretty sure it isn't the first and last of this type of theorizing. And though it is engrossing, I know that one chapter wouldn't work...at least for now...in this country. Gladwell talks about the probability of dissatisfied patients suing their doctors being dependent on their bedside manner; the relationship is an inverse one in America. And in one of the most litigious nations on the planet, I could see that theory having legs there. Over here, though, lawsuits are rare against the doctors...good bedside manner or not. For one thing, the average case takes far longer and more money than the average fellow can afford thereby discouraging a lot of people from taking on the bad guys, and doctors' ivory towers are still pretty massive (though, those towers have gotten some significant cracks recently). Plus, the MDs got that sensei label, a tag that still (deservedly or not) carries a lot of weight. So, even if the doctor is one of those arrogant sons (or daughters) of bitches with a lordly manner, the patients will usually accept them. Heck, even getting a second opinion is a major, major decision.

BC has yet to show up so Speedy has been off his feet answering phones. I just hope that she's well enough for the lesson tonight.

Wednesday May 7, 10:42 p.m.

Ahhhh....and another Hump Day comes to an end. It was the usual...001 was lots of fun, The Diver had her usual grammatical angst (she can find so much turmoil in things that others just glide through) and Medicine Man and I had a very nice slide through the half-chapter. However, next Monday is gonna be a wringer. I've got 7 lessons that night. Will make a good pile of money but at the possible expense of my sanity. Hopefully, Medicine Man will have a good bedside manner since he'll also be coming in as cleanup that night.

001 told me that she's started watching "Heroes" via one of the commercial channels, NTV. She's lucky that she won't need to shuck out the 20,000 yen to buy the 1st-season DVD set. She had quite a few questions about Hiro and the gang; plus, she expressed some shock at some of the gruesome nature of some of the deaths, and she's only seen Episode 2. I warned her that there was quite a bit more to come, especially when Sylar finally makes himself known.

Gonna have to talk with BC tomorrow during her lesson since it'll just be the two of us in about a couple of weeks when the bossman takes off for his business trip.

Anyways, I'll be taking off soon with a good book in hand...Malcolm Gladwell's "Blink".

Wednesday May 7, 2:10 p.m.

Currently in the holding pattern between The Nurse and 001. I'm slightly worried about BC, as is Speedy. She's been ill and I was wondering during her last washroom break if she were heaving. I asked her and she says she's surviving. Not exactly the best of segues, but the bossman is asking me indirectly about McD's for lunch....and I had my McBreakfast. Well, I've done an all-Golden Arches Day once before; once more unto the breech.

The bossman also informed me that Mr. TOEIC wants to come back to the fold since he's been transferred to a section which will require English. Unfortunately, my nights have gotten quite packed since his last lesson all the way back in January. On the same note, The Manhattanite is finding the same pattern.

I see, as expected, Barack Obama has gotten North Carolina as the latest of his Primary trophies, but Indiana is still too close to call. Another nailbiter under way...and I'm sure the CNN folks are just frothing at the mouth. But frankly, even if the junior senator from Illinois gets this state, Hillary will not roll over and die.

I've been looking over the Wiki entries for the new (and supposedly) improved "Battlestar Galactica". It has been running here for its first time in Japan on Super Drama TV for the past few months. Not sure how it's been faring but generally Western sci-fi shows don't really hit a chord with the public here...plenty of the domestic fare to keep the otakus busy. As for me, I've seen the pilot and the final episode of the 1st season; I always seem to follow that pattern with these shows...I have done the same with "Heroes". Anyways, from what I've read on Wiki, I don't think I'll be all that enthused to catch up with the intervening eps or the next few seasons. This re-imagined series just seems too grim...almost like the Mirror Universe version of the original series, though I don't particularly look upon Lorne Greene's "Galactica" with any particular nostalgia either. If I were writing the series finale, I would probably end it like "Blake's Seven" from the UK....everyone dies trying to grab their own agenda only a few light-years from Earth with the guys at SETI none the wiser.

Speaking of TV imports, "Ugly Betty" has also made its way onto the satellite channel. We've had the original Columbian version on repeats here for some years now. I hear that Lindsay Lohan is slated to be a mean girl on the 2nd season back Stateside. Good casting.

Wednesday May 7, 12:05 p.m.

Things are back to normal in The Big Sushi. When I got onto the subway, there was the plethora of suits and pantsuits with a smattering of school uniforms. And the McDonalds near Speedy's was filled a bit more with the customers; I guess there were a lot of corporate types who had to catch up on paperwork there.

Just finished up with The Nurse. She's been having some problems with adverbs. For her Golden Week, she took a workshop in making sandals at Japan's mecca for DIY, Tokyu Hands. Now, I've got several hours to kill before 001 comes in later tonight. It'll be a filled evening, though. After 001 comes The Diver and then Medicine Man.

Last night, The Milds came in. Mrs. Mild looked like she was going through a bout of pinkeye. She just said that it was fatigue. Meanwhile, Mr. Mild informed me that he had enjoyed his trial lesson of yoga in Kudanshita but will probably be joining a yoga program within Urayasu since it is far cheaper....in the neighbourhood of 500 yen for 8 weeks. Let me say that again, 500 yen for 8 weeks. Man, that teacher must be really doing it as a labour of love. I gave the couple a heads-up about a model lesson student who'll be sitting in on their class since he requested a group lesson. Not sure how that's gonna go...their last addition happened to be The Ace whom Mrs Mild found intimidating. Not surprisingly, both Milds are feeling a little trepidatious about this next potential classmate.

The Chinese President has indeed gotten a "welcoming committee" of pro-Tibetan protestors following him. They even trailed him to a French restaurant where he and his host, PM Fukuda were dining at last night. I think he met the Emperor either this morning or last night.

Facebook is indeed the site to meet up with old friends. In the past couple of days, thanks to California Girl, I've been hooked up with a couple of fellow teachers from the ol' school, Slowhand and The Lawyer. The Lawyer even sent regards from The Captain.

Well, gotta be prepping for the rest of the day.

Tuesday May 6, 7:28 p.m.

Finished off with Jolly and Suzanne. Jolly was definitely more like his name; not only did he arrive at a more decent time, he has also just come off some R&R in Kyushu where he partook in the area's various hot springs and had some of their delicacies. He even visited Miyazaki Prefecture currently ruled by one of the most recognizable and popular governors in recent history, former comedian Hideo Higashikokubaru. Jolly had the famous chicken there and even tried the (overpriced) mango for the grand price of 2,500 yen (that's $25 CDN per fruit). Mind you, the mango was indeed super juicy and sweet so I guess for a vacation, the price wasn't too painful.

Suzanne's trek for her upcoming homestay in Australia is perhaps hitting a snag. Her homestay father, a friend of her relative, has said that things could get a bit dicey since his wife is just going through the first trimester of pregnancy...which means morning sickness. So, he suggested having her stay in a separate apartment alone, which would probably negate any meaning of homestay. She has yet to tell her folks about the situation for obvious reasons; heck, if I were her father I would be bristling to tell my relative off for screwing up the timing so badly. Hopefully, things will resolve themselves.

Obviously, I'm typing this at this time since Mild Jr. pulled out, probably due to work. So it'll just be his parents.

Tuesday May 6, 3:21 p.m.

Well, Spring has already started making some major noises about morphing into Summer. One sign of this is that when I put out my wet laundry out on the line, it went bone dry in about a couple of hours instead of the usual daylong wait. It certainly felt very stuffy here in the juku when I came in a half-hour ago. Yup, it may still be officially Golden Week for another several hours but I'm working today. Actually, I'd almost forgotten that it was a national holiday today except that there was not all that much traffic on the streets (although I'm sure on the highways, JR tracks and at the airports, it's been another U-turn nightmare) and there was hardly a necktie or briefcase to be seen.

Strangely enough, Jolly will be the first in the batting order. He'll be coming here right at 5 since it is a holiday after all. It may be an interesting lesson since the two of us will actually be lucid. Then, it'll be Suzanne, perhaps Mild Jr. and then The Milds to wrap up. The early start helps me since I'll be teaching The Nurse early as usual tomorrow.

Even though the media has said that this has been a somewhat truncated Golden Week, I've been fine with the three whole days off. The new microwave has been working out well. I noticed that for such an inexpensive model, it seems to have a lot more capability than my old one; then I realized that my old one was truly an ancient one since it was produced in 1991. A lot of functions have been added since then. I've yet to turn on the new vacuum full throttle since I'm waiting for the big clean on Friday and Saturday before Mom comes to town.

I've basically been coccooning at home for the long weekend. But I did give "The Bourne Ultimatum" another look-see on DVD, with and without commentary. It's definitely one of the best thrillers I've seen although what keeps it from being classic is that the final car crash in New York is a bit too similar to the one in Moscow in "The Bourne Supremacy".

And I listened to the Best of M-Flo on CD. Y'know, listening to Verbal, Taku and their harem just reflects how the Japanese can adopt various cultural trends such as in music and twist them to make them their own. I think Namie Amuro said it best in one of her titles, "The Queen of Hip-Pop". M-Flo's oeuvre takes on the hip-hop/R&B/rap trappings but I couldn't really see the boys (dare) opening up for any of the hardcore equivalents in the US. J-Hip-Pop seems to be the happy-go-luckiest take on black music when compared to the much more aggressive versions Stateside. I mean, I could invite Verbal to my family's place for dinner.

Well, the Chinese President, Hu Jintao, has arrived for 5 days of goodwill posturing in Japan. A lot to do for him and Prime Minister Fukuda. Still, it's a major achievement since nothing like this could've been envisioned while Junichiro Koizumi was still in power. At the same time, I'm not gonna expect the Governor of Tokyo, rabid Sinophobe Shintaro Ishihara to come within five metres of Hu. And I'm sure the ultra-right wing will be giving him a welcome of a different sort via their black trucks.

Friday May 2, 6:30 p.m.

At the juku...it's just spritzing right now. Although the umbrellas are up, I haven't put up mine. In my hemisphere, we don't bother with the brolleys when it's merely spritzing. It's simply not Canadian.

Well, the boss told me to expect a new student with The Milds come the 13th. This, considering that Mrs. Mild is pretty skittish about newcomers and that they're well into the 2nd half of the text. At least, I can warn The Milds about the new guy next Tuesday. Speaking of them, I wonder how Mr. Mild did at his trial yoga lesson on Tuesday.

Friday May 2, 3:40 p.m.

It's fairly warm out there but overcast and some dribs and drabs of precip. May need to bring out the brolley by the time the juku comes about. I've got 2 classes tonight...Miss Disney and then The Ace who has come back from Australia. He should have some interesting stories for me tonight.

Yesterday I pulled the trigger and bought the new microwave and vacuum from Yamada Denki. The oven was just a bit over 10,000 yen ($100 CDN). Unlike my old one, it doesn't have a clock but it promises a bit more flexibility in what it can do. The new vacuum cleaner is a standup number with a collapsible handle and cyclone-like pickup system. And it doesn't smell whenever it's in operation. Unfortunately, with the old vacuum which I'd had for well over a decade, the last time I watered down the filters, a permanent stink was left with them. I had the new oven delivered this morning, and they kindly took away the old oven. No major recipes are in store for today and tomorrow but I may try something out on Sunday....provided I have the funds.

I watched the DVD of "The Bourne Ultimatum" last night. Although I did see it at the theatre last year, it still packs quite a thrill on the small screen. I checked out the deleted scenes as well. Yup, I can see why they were taken out. I also listened to my other purchase, Jane Monheit's "Surrender". Very soothing music....good for the dinner table with a glass of wine.

Not too soothing out there, though. The gas rates went up and apparently, there was quite a hew and cry in The Diet over the bill to pass it. There was the usual literal scrum in chambers, although the Japanese will never come close to the major fisticuffs in Korea and Taiwan. However, some news coming out is that the former Minister of Defense in the defunct Abe Cabinet, Yuriko Koike, may be getting groomed to take over for politically ailing PM Fukuda by LDP sage, Hidenao Nakagawa. We may yet see the first female summit between the United States and Japan in the near future.

"The Prisoner", that weird countercultural British sci-fi series from the late 60s with the notoriously cranky Patrick McGoohan, is back on SkyPerfect. I saw the pilot ep yesteday. It was one of the first TV shows that I remember seeing as a child...a mere tot, actually. Of course, I had no idea what it was all about back then, but I knew I was pretty scared by the big white bouncing ball, Rover. Rover, along with Balok from "Star Trek" (who always popped up as the final freeze frame during the end credits), were the two images that would have me scurrying into the sofa. It's a bit eerie now as well since I'd made a reference to the show a few days ago in an entry without knowing of its return.

And speaking of weird, I can now understand why many a Japanophile author always refer to their adored adopted land as one of paradoxes. I was having lunch in a Japanese-style family restaurant having Japanized western food of Tatsuta-fried chicken and croquettes while the theme song from "Dallas" was playing as the Muzak. One piece of rumoured trivia about that show when it came to Japan. Apparently, one of the most popular dramas in the 80s back Stateside, it never managed to do well here just because Charlene Tilton's character always laughed out loud without covering her mouth....very crude manners...back then. Nowadays, a girl would be seen as a fossil if she did cover her mouth while laughing.

Well, officially, we'll be entering Golden Week from tomorrow although some lucky ones started from the beginning of the week. For me, I've got three whole days of nada. Just gonna cocoon but I do have the juku classes on Tuesday although it is a national holiday.