Friday September 19, 7:41 p.m.

Did forget to mention that I dropped into Oazo in Otemachi for the first time in a while. Definitely had to go for my pho ga at Com Pho on the way to Maruzen. Not a guilty feeling inside of me as I slurped down my rice noodles with steamed chicken and veg. I was actually searching for some of the English translations of popular manga for my brother but couldn't find anything that he would like. I doubt that he would be very interested in "Nodame Cantabile". So, I'll see if I can drop by Kinokuniya on the way back home from Speedy's tomorrow.

Speaking of books, I'd only found out just a few minutes ago from "The Japan Times" website that the book distributor, Yohan, went belly-up. That probably explains some of the signs apologizing for the dearth of some foreign magazines at Kinokuniya the other day. However, it seems that I might be OK for now. My movie magazines are still popping up and, of course, TIME and Newsweek are always there.

I was going through the latest issue of METROPOLIS on the subway and came across the usual "Last Word". This one was straight vitriol...apparently, a "loving father of two" gave a Dark Knight-like manifesto to the nation's closeted pedophiles and warned them that their days were numbered. He didn't hold back on his punishments either....castration, slavery and amputation of hands were his choices. Not that I disagree at all with him, and I'm definitely one who wouldn't mind having those sickos put in the lowest Circle of Hell, but I just wonder what kind of responses that this would get, especially from those folks who are those human rights-types. However, knowing METROPOLIS, they'll probably show a letter from some wacko apologist next week. Ironic about this article, considering that a 6-year-old boy had been found strangled to death in Fukuoka just a few days ago.

In the same issue, there was a special pullout on job recruiters and there was one of those cute USA TODAY-like graphs measuring which industries were hot and which were not. The education industry...i.e. the one I'm in...was at absolute zero. The glib comment was "Thank you, NOVA". Yup, no doubts about that, although I think there are other factors as well. In any case, I've sometimes wondered when the lights would finally go out on language teaching in this country. Folks are no longer all that enchanted with the world's lingua franca and some of the sordid tales of incompetence and teacher-student non-educational fraternization over the years haven't helped matters either. The Bohemian once said that I would always have a job here in Japan....considering the fate of NOVA and Lehman Bros, that comment could be the kiss of death for me. But then again, the shrinking of the industry may not be a bad thing...get rid of the schemers who just want a fast yen, and for that matter, those folks who were really not all that much into the learning. Now that I'm getting used to some students coming for a few months before disappearing into the ether (unfortunately), perhaps I would prefer having a smaller circle of very loyal students who actually do have an interest in communicating in English.

The juku boss was a bit concerned for me about the coming typhoon. I didn't correct her, but it's just a tropical storm now.

Saturday September 20, 9:51 a.m.

Managed to dodge a bullet since Sinlaku decided to veer east a bit ahead of schedule. We did get our rain last night but nowhere near the amounts of what a full-blown typhoon would've brought. So, it's back to sunny and humid today. Just have The Intellectual, The Publicist and The Businesswoman today. The first two are on their last paid lessons today before renewal so things could be a bit tense for us in terms of whether or not they would like to continue.

Friday September 19, 4:54 p.m.

Well, got my two done today here at Speedy's. The Big Lug and I had a talk about his trip to Hong Kong...all he said was that it was delicious. I can imagine. Then we chatted on the current economic situation and the upcoming elections for LDP President.

That model lesson student left rather quickly after I finished the lesson with her. Not sure if that's good news or bad. However, I feel that I did do my best on the lesson so I don't feel particularly down.

I got that translation off to The Corner. I now just have to finish up a number of other assignments before the end of next week.

Friday September 19, 1:30 p.m.

Typhoon Sinlaku has been downgraded to a mere tropical storm, but that doesn't mean it won't be all sweetness and light tomorrow. Unfortunately, I've got commuting to do on Saturday.

At least last night was a rare night off...just spent it having a tonkatsu dinner (to hell with my low-cholesterol diet...for now) and then vegged out in front of the telly.

Today, I've got The Big Lug in about 1o and then a model lesson student before I head on out to the juku. I've managed to translate and type out the latest translation assignment. Just gotta do one more quick read-through before I can send it out to The Corner.

Thursday September 18, 11:36 a.m.

The rain is coming on down now...looks like Typhoon Sinlaku has sent us a preview for this weekend, Saturday at least. Grandma Dynamite talked about her nephew's wedding on Sunday. Apparently, it's one of those shotgun weddings. She remarked that his blushing (and knocked-up) bride would probably need one of those gowns for two. It's interesting that even in custom-heavy Japan that nowadays folks don't even really bat an eye when their progeny fess up that they need to get married because of a broken condom. Dynamite said that in her youth, such an announcement would've been a social devastation but now, the in-laws go into celebration mode.

Well, just The Dentist in a few hours. Hopefully, if I can get through the latest round of translations by the time she comes over, I can get on home early.

Thursday Sept. 18, 8:54 a.m.

I ended up playing babysitter to The Patent Attorney for an extra 20 minutes. Speedy did come in but he suddenly got caught up with a telephone call. Basically, The Patent Attorney got my take on Canadian politics and the Lehmann Bros. fiasco. Maybe I should think about getting my professorial credentials.

Well, my computer station seems to be back online again after that migraine it suffered yesterday due to some cruddy update of a VirusBuster. Keeping my fingers crossed on that one.

I checked out that website of Danny Choo...the son of shoe designer Jimmy Choo...after watching his exploits as The Shimmying Stormtrooper on CNN. Yup, he's an otaku all right according to what I glimpsed....all the cute anime girls and figurines were in place there. I sent word to The Stick, who's as huge a Star Wars fan as The Trekkie is to Star Trek. Not sure what she'll make of the anime stuff, though.

Thursday September 18, 8:05 a.m.

Rainy out there...as expected since Typhoon Sinlaku is on its way to the Kanto. It should be over us by Saturday; unfortunately, the forecast calls for a smattering of classes with occasional breaks here on that day.

I got pretty burnt out from the translation activities so basically I had just taken that hour off before The Diver arrived to veg a bit. The Diver was fine, by the way. The Fashion Designer was looking pretty haggard though due to the demands of her job. I mentioned it to her although in retrospect that may have been a risky move. However, the lady took it in stride. She might be looking at those dark circles under her eyes a bit more closely, though.

During that big clean on Monday, I came across "The Definitive Star Trek Trivia Book" that I'd gotten from someone as a present. I've decided to loan it to The Trekkie via Ray who'll give it to her next Tuesday. From retired geek to geek.

Speedy has been hoping that I might be able to move around my schedule a bit. He got half his wish. He's asked me to teach The Magician next Wednesday which meant pushing The New Yorker's lesson an hour later. Luckily, The New Yorker had no problems with my request. I'm awaiting SIL's response, though, about getting taught an hour earlier than usual next Monday since Speedy needs me to teach the new kid on the block, The Singer, in the late afternoon. I'll probably be OK, though. Still, I have to contact The Full-Timer to see if she can see me about 15 minutes later than scheduled.

Well, The Patent Attorney should be here any second...

Wednesday September 17, 6:39 p.m.

Pretty much burnt out after several hours of translating, and I'm still only halfway through the page...just too many obscure kanji. My usual computer is still on the fritz although Speedy made the effort to call up a computer service to get the thing rectified. I'm just gonna coast the rest of the time before The Diver comes in since I think I need the transition time to psyche myself up for the lesson.

Wednesday September 17, 1:26 p.m.

Last night, I had The Traveler by herself at the juku. Actually, she's coming along pretty nicely. Fairly soft-spoken but her use of Simple Past and Present Perfect were pretty good. At this rate, maybe she'll be able to hold her own with The Milds. There'll be lots to talk about in a couple of weeks (next Tuesday is a national holiday, so no lessons then) when my senior couple talk about their trip to Kyushu.

That model lesson student was a real sweetie. She's this middle-aged lady with the mannerisms of an ojosan who runs her own pasta restaurant nearby the juku. As usual, my initial reports on her were pretty understated. She's nowhere near the tabula rasa that the boss had threatened. She could understand pretty much everything I said but she doesn't have the confidence to respond back in a timely manner. So, it'll just be a matter of helping her along and giving her the practice. When she starts for real in October, I'll be teaching the practical matter of Restaurant English to The Restauranteur.

As for Jolly, he seemed to have been a bit obsessive about some bites he'd gotten from various ticks and mites in his apartment. Unfortunately, an analgesic is one thing I don't carry in my black bag. He's been enjoying his newly-purchased souped-up racing bike. Managed to do the Urayasu-Makuhari Messe run in about 30 minutes.

I just have two students tonight...The Diver and then The Fashion Designer since 001 is off in the Middle East. Quite a few changes in the schedule...I found out from Speedy that The Yogist has cancelled her lesson for tomorrow afternoon which means that I'll only have Grandma Dynamite and perhaps even The Dentist.

My computer at the school is on the fritz due to some dodgy free offer of updating the VirusBuster that the boss took up. It has now clogged the log-in so I'm now on one of the other stations doing this. Luckily, I've got all of my translation stuff in the Central Share so I can access it from anywhere.

AIG became the latest Wall Street company to be hit with potential meltdown. But in its case, the US Government has stepped in to bail it out, unlike the fate of Lehman Bros. The general thinking is that an AIG collapse would create far more harm worldwide than that of Lehman Bros. In today's paper, the front page was just covered in articles about the current economic malaise.

Well, I've got another 6 hours before The Diver gets in, and I've got those translation assignments.

Tuesday Sept. 16, 6:53 p.m.

Just finished with Suzanne. Always an interesting one to rap with....not sure how much longer she'll be with the flock. She's getting that feeling of wanderlust. We spoke on the tried n' true tradition of the high school prom. Proms don't really exist here in Japan, although graduation ceremonies exist for each level of formal schooling (elementary, junior high and high) although they're heavy on the pomp and light on the fun. Perhaps the only equivalent of such a thing would be the celebration of turning 20 on Adulthood Day in January. And usually that just means having a special dinner with the family or a few friends. There's nothing of renting limos, wearing tuxes and gowns, and discovering how debonair or beautiful respective dates can be. I told Suzanne that if she ever infiltrated a high school, she should start the ball rolling for a prom revolution.

Mild Jr. dotakyaned his lesson which isn't too bad; I get an hour's respite before The Traveler comes in. As for this model lesson, I'm not sure how much I can do between The Traveler and Jolly. I would like to check her level and see if she's really the tabula rasa that the boss says she is. The boss doesn't even know her...not even her name. She just goes to her Italian restaurant nearby.

Ray's sent in word that The Dentist has had to cancel her lesson with me this Saturday and she'll have to go with Speedy on Thursday since I have to take care of my own cadre.

Tuesday September 16, 3:01 p.m.

Just heard that George Takei (Hiro Nakamura's father on "Heroes"...and he apparently appeared as some sort of space navigator back in the 60s) got married at the ripe ol' age of 71. Isn't that like almost John McCain's age? Man, talk about late bloomers...mind you, that'll probably be the age I finally tie the knot, if at all. Although the 2nd season is well under way here on SkyPerfect, I just haven't gotten into it. Just don't get home regularly enough at night to make it my while.

Tried to get a complete copy of that Tina Fey and Amy Poehler skit from "Saturday Night Live" on YouTube, but I guess NBC has been trying to keep it from circulation. Instead, I just keep getting inserts from some of the other news stations. Ugh! Apparently, Gina Gershon (!) has tried to get in on the Sarah Palin parodies as well.

I finally got word from The Corner about those translations. Everything checks out.

Tuesday September 16, 12:49 p.m.

Well, 3 days from this and teaching. Not too bad...it was nice to get away from lesson planning. Quite a few things have happened, too, over the long weekend in my own world and out in the world.

Out in the world, we had Hurricane Ike and then it was Sarah Barracuda, now it's the Lehman Brothers. Looks like the Great American Economic Implosion is progressing rather nicely. I remember less than a year ago when that English-teaching colossus here in Japan, NOVA, went belly-up. The Lehman Bros' debacle kinda went the same way...everyone said that it was too big to ever collapse...well, look at those latte-carrying analysts now...they're carrying cardboard boxes out of the place. And Merrill-Lynch could've easily ended up the same way if it weren't for Bank of America. And look out, AIG. The media hounds here were amassing outside of Roppongi Hills like vultures yesterday where Lehman Bros Japan is (or was) located. Of course, the staffers were as mute as church mice. It would've been nice to have spoken with The Class Act about this since Lehman Bros occasionally popped up in conversation but I won't see them for almost 2 weeks.

Then there is yet another reason not to buy China...tainted milk powder. Of course, Japan shouldn't be tsk-tsking either. The government here has been wrestling with another food-related scandal...this time, it's tainted rice by a company called Mikasa Foods. Its president looked like an old version of a brat who was caught stealing from the cookie jar; he's probably only sorry that he got caught and not for the crime itself.

Another fatal knife-wielding attack off at some festival in the far-flung prefectures. Some psycho got it into his head that someone was making fun of him and so decided to show how sharp his sickle and ended up hacking one guy to death while slashing 6 others. I wouldn't be suprised if there were two or more of these before the year is out.

Sumo is back in town after those marijuana scandals with those Russian rikishi. The new head of the Japan Sumo Association gave a rather sober pronouncement in the dohyo on the first day to the audience to reassure that the sport will stay clean. I guess Roppongi is now off-limits to the young'uns.

I also saw that formal signing ceremony in Zimbabwe between Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsangvirai on CNN and BBC last night. Man, that had to have been the most painfully awkward example of pomp I'd ever seen. It was headshakingly obvious that formerly President-for-Life Mugabe and his wife were about as enthusiastic about being there as two homophobes being forced to go to a Gay Pride Parade on Castro St. But Mugabe got a bit of spite back by giving out this marathon, often-rambling speech in which he railed against everyone outside of Africa much to Tsangvirai's discomfort. I can say with some confidence that the trouble is quite over in that country.

And then, I came across this little feature that's been making the rounds on CNN about Jimmy Choo's son not only coming out as a full-fledged otaku but as the Shimmying Stormtrooper. Yep, he's living and breathing Akihabara as he dances around in his Star Wars armour.

Now, in my little world, it was far calmer and a bit more profitable for me this long weekend. For one thing, I finally cleared my point card at the hair salon I go to. This time, I had the other fellow cut my hair...interesting...I've been going there for 3 years now under the new management but the other fellow treated me as if it had been the first time to go there. I'm not sure if he were being tested by the boss. The two of us actually negotiated how to cut my hair; I was surprised that I could spit out the Japanese vocabulary necessary to get my dome shaped. Still, after all was said and done, I got a supply of shampoo, soap and an etiquette kit from the manager as a reward of 3 years' loyalty.

On Sunday, I went out to that Speedy brunch in Omotesando. It was at a place called Beacon just off on a side street next to the United Nations University. The location had seemed familiar, and it turned out it was the former site of Lunchan, an American-style eatery that I'd last gone to 11 years ago. They served some good meat loaf...not hamburg steak, but real meat loaf in good gravy. The last time I'd gone there was when I was between NOVA and the 7-year stint at the ol' school...a real long time ago, just before Princess Diana's death. I'd met an Aoyama Gakuin professor, an acquaintance of Paddy's, who was gonna help me find someone to teach in the interim. Boy, was she a namedropper (I'd been warned by Paddy about her)...every other word was some celeb's name; she was a rather well-connected teacher.

But I digress. As for this new place, Beacon, it was somewhat classier with the de rigueur dark wood paneling and staff dressed up in dark dress shirts and slacks. Our party of 8 ended up in our own room with a glass door. Basically, I felt like the other folks outside could stare in and throw food bits at us. Speedy and I were the only teachers there. The rest were Mrs. Speedy and the admin staff: Ray, AK, Betty, The Lab Assistant and...the Trekkie. The Trekkie was the only one that I hadn't really gotten to know, outside of the perfunctory quick intro during her job interview at the school several weeks ago. The only thing I knew about her was that she was tall and that she was aiming to become a lawyer someday. She was hired but she only works the Tuesday night shifts so I can never see her since I'm at the juku. Speedy had told me a few days previously that The Trekkie was quite the gabby one which was an image I couldn't really imagine from that admittedly minute time with her, since the other staffers were pretty much the prim and proper types. Well, she made quite an entrance...she apparently had to come in a half-hour later due to some volleyball practice...she just burst in huffing and puffing like Darth Vader looking like a cross between actress Shinobu Otake and one of the medal-winning Japanese Olympic wrestling athletes with a spiky haircut. Personality-wise, she definitely came across as a potential life-of-the-party...and she's a huge fan of "Star Trek". Being a retired Trekkie, I did some light grilling about her love of Trek...yup, she was able to rattle off the characters' names (her favourite is Data) and even talk about Gene Roddenberry's use of a sci-fi backdrop to address the injustices in the world...ironically, she got her love from her mother...not her father...who's also a huge fan. Maybe it's just as well that I'll never been able to work with her in the office...the two of us would probably end up just gabbing about Mr. Spock and warp envelope signatures and not get any work done.

Monday was strictly a stay-at-home day...I never got a response from MB about that offer to see "Hancock". Just ended up heading to the nearby Daiei to get a plastic storage box to clean up my lone closet. I got a lot of the books stuffed in the box now; the closet looks slightly less cluttered. The rest of the day was just watching Lehman Bros die.

Back at work today. It was the usual chatfest with The Beehive. This time, Mrs. Alp was there and she spoke about her trip to Germany and The Czech Republic. Was able to get a mug and three Ferrero Rocher as souvenirs. I ate the latter in about 10 seconds flat since those things would've melted into a puddle in my bag. I've got the juku gang tonight. The Milds are away on a Kyushu excursion so I've got The Traveler all by her lonesome so I hope to help her catch up grammatically. Plus, I've got a half-hour model lesson between her and Jolly with the boss' buddy...apparently, according to the boss, she's as low as anyone could be. I have been warned.

Ray contacted me to say that Miss Sedona and The Big Lug have reserved lessons later this week. Pretty good since I'm looking at a rather sparse week. At this point, I've got nothing until The Diver tomorrow night for classes and then I'm finishing pretty early on Thursday.

Typhoon 13 (aka Sinlaku) may be headed our way in the next few days. Not good.

Friday September 12, 7:47 p.m.

Looks like I got a bit of a second wind back. I was feeling ready to go into suspended animation at Speedy's after all that transcribing of that translation. But I had some dinner at China Quick and waited for that bus to take me over to Nakano Station. Note to self: don't bother taking that again during rush hour. It felt like being back on the ol' TTC. Best take your chances on the Oedo Line. However, I did get some shuteye on the Tozai.

As I said, I just have The Ace here for only 30 minutes since he's caught up on all of his lessons. For some reason, the juku boss has yet to greet me. I'm pretty good with the stealth mode when padding up to the 2nd floor where I teach but she's usually found me out by now.

The next three days will be the long weekend since Monday is Respect-to-the-Aged Day. No income whatsoever...so I'm gonna have to be careful with the savings although I have to get my hair cut tomorrow morning and then there may be a movie outing on Monday with MB for "Hancock". There is also that Sunday brunch with the staff at Speedy in Omotesando but the school's picking up the tab. Speedy jokingly warned me that I could only have one, just one, entree.

Friday September 12, 3:12 p.m.

Well, I'm ready for the old folks' home. Man, coaching Mr. TOEIC on his presentation to some Chinese customers and then having to grab a bit of shuteye before heading for Immigration early this morning to get my Multiple Re-Entry Permit. To be honest, I didn't really need to get up that early to head on out since this wasn't a visa renewal situation. But old habits die hard and I just get a bit jittery if I don't get out there and get this out of the way as early as possible. It was the same ol' hourlong wait outside of the the bureau in Shinagawa with folks from what seemed to be China and other Southeast Asian countries. As usual, a couple of folks remarked on the folly of actually lining up outside the glass doors since once 8:30 comes around, people just run on in regardless of order. As with most bureaucratic and medical procedures, most of the time was spent just waiting for the number to come up, and by the time I got the paperwork and paid my fee, I was out of there by 9:30. I was definitely 6,000 yen lighter.

Ended up having brunch as it were at the Shinagawa branch of Hansen's...the New York hot dog emporium. This was the sit-down version with waiters, so I didn't get fries with my dogs but minestrone soup. Interesting. The dogs were actually warm, instead of hot, but the taste was still there.

Just hung about Takashimaya Times Square for an hour or so. That lineup in front of Krispy Kreme #1 was even punier than I'd ever seen it. Just a 10-minute wait now. I was tempted to actually add my own cholesterol-laden corpse but decided that even 10 minutes out in the hot sun (and it is hot today) wasn't worth it. Still waiting for that 5-minute drop.

I spent the past few hours just writing up that second translation assignment for The Corner. I just sent it out now. Not sure how good it is but since it's a translation of a contract, I made it as legalese as I could. The Corner sent me three more documents but I think these can be better handled.

Looks like that singer has decided to sign on with Speedy. Wow...good taste and brains to go along with beauty and a voice. However, Speedy will be the teacher for The Singer's first class since it's on Tuesday and I'm stuck out in my neck of the woods on Tuesdays.

MB sent me his typically terse cellphone memos about catching "Hancock" sometime over this long weekend. I said that that was fine and I suggested the holiday Monday. Haven't gotten a response yet.

I've just got The Ace at the juku later tonight so I've got some more hours to kill before I go. I will have to think about something to eat for dinner since it's now approaching 6 hours since those two dogs.

Thursday September 11, 8:06 a.m.

A cool morning...hadn't experienced one of those in a few months. It's nice...reminds me of a typical September morning in Toronto. However, I still have that lingering phlegmy throat, and at around 4 a.m., my sinuses suddenly ballooned to the size of marshmallows and was throwing forth nice cupfuls of snot. Lovely image, don't you think? Downed the pills and within the 90 minutes that I'd resided in half-sleep/half-wakefulness, my nasal cavities toned themselves down.

The Diver did well on the test....85%. The only three errors mostly dealt with Adverbs of Frequency. Still, she maintained her pose of low confidence...even asking me not to throw so much homework at her so that she can absorb what she'd learned at a more leisurely rate. Not quite sure where her logic springs on that one.

Still gotta bulldoze through that translation. I've got one document done. If I'm still pummeling away at the second one, I'll have to type the first one up and send it over so that The Corner doesn't get into panic mode.

The official five candidates to try and succeed soon-to-be ex-Prime Minister Fukuda had their photo-op yesterday. One was notable in that she is a woman...former Defense Minister Yuriko Koike. The odds of her getting the top job are very long...it's definitely not a Hillary Clinton era in this country. The Matron told me that the old fogies in the Tokyo Rotary Club threatened to defect en masse when the idea of allowing women into the upper echelons was dared to be thrown onto the table. And the Liberal Democratic Party, despite what its name may imply, is probably even more conservative than the American Republican Party. The fact that Koike got a high post in the Cabinet (and for that matter, Makiko Tanaka was Foreign Minister several years ago, although the fact that her father was legendary PM Kakuei Tanaka probably had a lot of pull) made for a media cause celebre. But to see Koike as even a potential Prime Minister took a lot of handwringing and twisting of arms. Still, aside from the fact that she's a woman, there is also the point that she's just not experienced enough (not gray or wrinkly enough). Then again, the previous and current PMs kinda make that argument rather moot.

What is also moot is that there may actually be a close horserace in all this. In the next two weeks before the decision (not election) day on Sept. 22, there will be the usual harangues of these pols on top of their vans in major meeting points in Tokyo. But everyone and their dog are ready to give current LDP Secretary-General Taro Aso the big job. Yuriko Koike will have to settle for hoping and currying favour to keep herself relevant. However...and this is admittedly very cynical for me to say...Koike may have a chance to grab the brass ring if there is any growing chance that the Opposition could topple the LDP in the general election, now rumoured to be held by the end of the year. If Ichiro Ozawa of the Democratic Party of Japan threatens to win big, then the cronies of the LDP could pull a page out of the playbook of John McCain and throw Koike out there, a la Sarah Palin. Perhaps the thinking would be that the novelty of having a woman as Prime Minister would be good enough to keep power in the LDP's hands, but still have the cronies remain as puppetmasters. Plus, Koike might only last a year anyways...and that's nothing new...and the upper echelon would only be too happy to throw in a guy to replace her. Yup...pretty cynical.

Wednesday Sept. 10, 9:58 p.m.

Man, I've only got 2 more days before that translation assignment is due. It'll be ready but it's gonna be rough. Still, I don't have much choice.

The Diver got a clear pass although she's still fretting and fussing as usual. However, I'm finished for the day until my Hump Day tomorrow. And I've got my 5: Grandma Dynamite, Miss Sedona, The Sisters of State and Mr. TOEIC.

Wednesday September 10, 4:57 p.m.

Well, that CERN atom smasher project must've gone off without incident since all of us are still here.

Just came back with the bossman from a rare on-site model lesson. My model lesson student happened to be a professional singer of some fame. She was quite nice and not a tabula rasa when it came to ability. The president of her production company was paired up with her...probably for minding reasons. He was your typical blustery shacho...a rowdy, randy guy who has a passing resemblance to Leonard Nimoy. I think we've been given the OK to teach her; just wonder how frequently I can teach her due to the nature of her industry.

Afterwards, we had a late lunch near Nakano Station at a Zat's Burger...in fact, it was the one where MB, Skippy and I, along with some others, had gone to some years ago. Since it is a Wednesday afternoon, there was noone when we got there. I had the Sasebo Burger (onion, tomato, fried egg, bacon, and the like with home fries....there goes my first attempt at being cholesterol-free.

Still have The Diver tonight. I hope she did OK on the test...I really don't feel like holding her hand. 001 is off for the next two weeks because of her trip to the Middle East and The Fashion Designer is in Shanghai, so it'll be an atypically early end to my Wednesday night. Speedy himself wants to hi-tail it out of here soon after I finish...something that I'll second.

Tuesday Sept. 9, 9:19 p.m.

Looks like I may have a full slate tonight. Mild Jr. pulled off a surprise appearance...no problems since we basically just go over stuff he brings over. And I never got a phone call from Jolly, so I assume he'll be here in the next 10 minutes. Suzanne was her usual laid back self, and the new triumvirate of The Milds and The Traveler. The Milds were fairly exhausted so again the playing field was pretty even. And it may get even easier for The Traveler since The Milds will be off on vacation next week. Not sure, but The Traveler looked a bit pensive; I wonder if she's thinking about taking solo classes. It wouldn't be a bad thing for her.

Tuesday September 9, 2:31 p.m.

Had the first Beehive class since summer hiatus at the usual place. Mrs. Travel, Jade and Tee showed up. Mrs. Alp was in Europe, and of course, the others have gone back to their wayward places. Pleasant session. Ended up having lunch at the ol' Tonki, despite the fact that tonkatsu shouldn't be on my menu anymore. But when meat is one of the major sources of bad cholesterol, that really is too limiting for me.

I'll be just a solo at the juku tonight since the boss is off at a musical. It'll be the usual suspects with me wondering if Jolly will show up.

Well, the head of the Japan Sumo Association, Kitanoumi, is the latest domino to fall in this annus horribilis of what is one of the oldest sports in history. It's a sad way for this former yokozuna to be remembered. He still remains the youngest rikishi to be promoted to the top rank of his profession...at the tender age of 21. But those halcyon days are truly over now, with all of the scandals that have wracked sumo in the past several months. Politics looks a whole lot cleaner compared to the state that sumo is in. And so, he had to resign.

Monday Sept. 8, 4:29 p.m.

The Saturday lessons with The Intellectual and The Businesswoman went well, but that model lesson turned out to be a waste of time. For one thing, the lady was one of those high-level persons who just felt that the textbook really wasn't all that useful for her...I'd been warned by Speedy that she wasn't too up on taking English again but had this vague feeling that she needed a brush-up...never an easy model lesson to do. For another, I think she was more Speedy's type of student than mine. In any case, as soon as the lesson was over and the student left, I gotta out of Dodge pretty quickly as well.

On Sunday, I saw Tully & The Coffeemaker for the first time in about a month. Happily, it was a good class. They weren't too lively for the discussion on the soon-to-be introduced lay judge plan here in Japan but they kinda jumped on the cute little exercise on recognizing symbols...go fig. Still, it was a nice confidence boost for me after that crappy model lesson.

The weather had initially been pretty decent that afternoon so after lunch at the Sozaiya Kitchen at JR Ichigaya (never cheap but healthy), I decided to walk from Ichigaya all the way to Shinjuku...ended up being a 45-minute journey....a nice if sweaty way to walk off the calories. I passed by the Ministry of Defense whose big boss was rumoured to be yet another entry in the LDP Presidential Race scheduled for Sept. 22. Walking from Ichigaya through Akebonobashi (001's hospital is in the area) to Shinjuku was interesting in that the entire neighbourhood was pretty dead on a Sunday....at least in the early afternoon. By the time I got to Takashimaya Times Square, my shirt was carrying more water than a camel's hump.

I met Movie Buddy, The Satyr and Frodo in front of the new and vastly cleaned-up Picadilly movie complex on Yasukuni Drive in Shinjuku. We used to go to the old Picadilly when it was just a really seedy-looking pile of brick which could have easily housed porn films. There was a Wendy's beside it which is now gone which is a pity. Now, the place looks like Roppongi Hills North; it was a 21st-century cineplex with reserved seating. The 3rd floor looked like the arrivals lounge of an airport. I hadn't seen The Satyr in a couple of months since he was off traveling in England and some other parts of Europe. As for Frodo, I think it had been a good year since I saw him last.

Our movie was "The Dark Knight" again but for Frodo and The Satyr it would be their first crack at the much-vaunted Batman movie. The plan had initially been for the significant others (The Sylph, Miss Ivory and Frodo's wife plus Skippy) to go watch "Sex and The City" while we testosterone-dominant folks would go see "The Dark Knight" but since Skippy couldn't make it on Sunday, the ladies saw Carrie and the girls the night before. So, it was an entire boys' day out.

I'd thought about whether I would get bored seeing "The Dark Knight" a second time but it actually held up very well. Still got as much of a thrill watching the action scenes and the Joker hamming it up as I did the first time...and I actually was able to figure out all those scenes involving Batman's sonar-in-a-visor without getting seizures. MB said that he enjoyed it even more while Frodo was slightly more sanguine (though he also liked it) in his review, saying that he felt Michael Caine kinda distracted him while Heath Ledger wasn't all that impressive with the hype. The Satyr enjoyed this entry far more than "Batman Begins".

When we did get out, the new tropical weather pattern of sudden squalls had started up again but luckily the four of us managed to get through the slight rain to get to The Clubhouse, the Aussie bar in Shinjuku. It had been several years since my last trip there. I was surprised to see the place nearly empty on a Sunday but there weren't any pressing sports events to see yesterday. We tried out the usual stuff: meat pies, fish n' chips and the buffalo wings. MB had said that on his last time to The Clubhouse a few years ago, he'd been greatly disappointed at the quality of the food, but it seemed like things were back to normal. The wings were amongst the hottest that I've tasted on either side of the Pacific, and the meat pies were sufficiently meaty. We were able to gab on movies for a good few hours. For some reason, the management decided to put on a "Sunrise Semester" type of program featuring some ol' Japanese professor exhorting the video students on the merits of the turbo engine. Wasn't quite sure if that was the management's way of trying to get rid of us. It took another hour but we finally did leave. Still, it was nice to have been back to The Clubhouse.

It's a full Monday. I saw The Class Act today as usual. The Matron was late but for good reason. She became a grandmother just an hour before...even showed me her first grandson's pic via cellphone. Then over at SIL's, we managed to carry on a chat without needing to go to the newspaper article. We gabbed on the upcoming elections in both the US and Japan and a comparison between "The Seven Samurai" and "The Magnificent Seven". I can only hope that my remaining lessons tonight are as fruitful (The Full-Timer, Mr. TOEIC and Medicine Man).

Saturday Sept. 6, 10:41 a.m.

Just finished Part 1 of that translation assignment given by The Corner. Not too, too difficult but it's always a good challenge of not just translating Japanese into English verbatim but also to get the right tone of what they are trying to say. The Saturday admin staff, Kay, has come in. She's definitely a quiet one...I think although she's come for the past few Saturdays now, we've only exchanged "Good morning" to each other.

I think I heard something that could be a cinematic car crash. Dark Horizons just posted that "Ghostbusters 3" is in production. Now, rumours being rumours, most likely the story behind it probably has more air than actual substance, but apparently the original cast of Murray, Ackroyd and Ramis are getting back together. Not sure if Ernie Hudson is also coming back; he may still be recovering from "Oz". Although I did like the first one (although the hype overrated it) and parts of the second, I'm not sure if doing another one with the original cast is probably the best thing...for one thing, both Ackroyd and Ramis are as globby-looking as Slimer now, and Murray has kinda gone into that serious, quirky movie area now. Probably a reboot a la the new "Batman" series is more sensible...get a new trio to portray Venkman, Stantz and Spengler...and definitely better and sharper writers.

Speaking of which, MB has confirmed the second viewing of "The Dark Knight" for tomorrow afternoon at the new Picadilly in Shinjuku. This time, The Satyr and Frodo will be joining us. It's been interesting...all the news has been that the movie has experienced flop sweat in Japan due to its overly dark nature, but the TokyoWalker satisfaction tracking system has shown its highest ratings for it. In any case, I'm wondering if it will stand up to a second viewing.

Saturday September 6, 10:07 a.m.

Saw The Ace last night. He and his girlfriend had a good time traveling through rural Fukushima Prefecture which is about a couple of hours north of Tokyo by Bullet Train. He got me and the juku boss a couple of packages of Mamadoru Cakes...pretty dense numbers which require a good strong cup of coffee.

Back for another round of Saturday classes...ugh, my shoulders are killing me. I'll be looking forward to my free Saturday next week. I've got The Intellectual for his first class in about a month, followed by The Businesswoman whom I also haven't seen for a month, and finally a model lesson student. It would be interesting comparing The Businesswoman with the Hip-Hop Girl...probably just 7 years separate the two but you couldn't find more contrast than between these two. The Businesswoman looks like she was born to wear power suits while Hip-Hop could immediately bust a move on the streets of LA.

Well, the search for the new President of the Liberal Democratic Party is starting to look like an American Presidential Primary....or the cast of "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World". Apparently, some more folks have entered the fray besides the five who have already announced a run to fill Fukuda's soon-to-be vacated post. Maybe Aso should start polishing off his policy positions after all. Maybe it won't be so much of a coronation.

Ah...new congratulations to Shrek and Fiona. They got their second kid just a few days ago.

Friday Sept. 5, 7:35 p.m.

While the US elections have finally entered the final phase of their 2-year battle for The White House, over here in Japan, the government has started its own search for a replacement PM in earnest...well, in point of fact, the president of the leading party, the Liberal Democratic Party, who will be the de facto Prime Minister. Just a few days after PM Yasuo Fukuda threw in the towel, three men have thrown in their hats. Kaoru Yosano is the Economics Minister. Of course, Taro Aso is the man to beat since he was seen as the guy waiting in the wings last year after Fukuda got the nod. And there is Nobuteru Ishihara, a former minister and member of a political/show business clan...a J-Rat Pack, if you will. Nobuteru is the son of the current firebrand governor of Tokyo, Shintaro, the elder brothre of the Fuji-TV weathercaster and tarento, and nephew of the late legendary Yujiro Ishihara, the singer/hard-boiled actor. Couldn't get more connected than that. And CNN is reporting that Yuriko Koike has also decided to officially join the fray. She's currently a minister of something but was once a newscaster for TV Tokyo and speaks fluent Arabic.

Friday Sept. 5, 5:42 p.m.

Finished the final class of The Hip-Hop Girl. Gotta admit that for a teenaged girl who dresses like Beyonce, she was actually good people. I downloaded sheets of the TV Guide listings for Orange County for her since she was rather keen to know about what television was like over there. She immediately circled MTV and VH1...as I figured. I hope she does well over in her new school.

Well, I'm just about ready to head over to the juku...

Friday September 5, 2:57 p.m.

The rest of my time here yesterday was pretty good. The Yogist and The Dentist were fine; as it turned out, The Manhattanite pulled out her appointment as quickly as she had put it in. Miss Sedona used her return from the States to show me five full albums of her pictures in San Francisco and Sedona, Arizona (I think one of John McCain's houses is in the area)...as I figured she would. She had a grand ol' time there and her pics reflected some very good angles of the two cities. It was obvious that she loved Haight-Ashbury and cable cars. Her pics in Sedona had the familiar ring of Mrs Travel's photos in the form of lots and lots of Big Sky and mesas. She even showed me an embedded church in one of the bluffs in Sedona; apparently, one of Nic Cage's houses is right across from it. My souvenir from her was a box of Ghiradelli Chocolates, and I also got this tidbit from her....she now aims to pursue her dream of actually going over Stateside to live there...at least for a while. I can understand her feeling.

Right after Miss Sedona, the Hip-Hop Girl came in for her second of three lessons. We went over some hairstyling vocabulary involving lots of hairstyles. We were able to wring out some good talk about it. She was rather shocked about how many channels one could get on American TV; I didn't quite tell her that often enough there was still nothing to watch. She then showed me one of her videos on YouTube performing her dance with her best friend/partner which got her second prize.

Got home at a nearly obscenely early time last night...around 8 p.m. Caught that music program "Utaban" with Takaaki Ishibashi (the Japanese fellow from "Major League 2") and the SMAP leader, Nakai-kun, on TBS. I hadn't seen the program in several months. The kid who sang the theme song from the latest Studio Ghibli flick, "Ponyo", was there. Of course, Ishibashi didn't fail to tease the heck out of her. Then, it was one of those awkward meshings between the Gold Medal-winning Women's Softball Team with the band Every Little Thing whose lead singer, Kaori Mochida, has about as much enthusiasm for TV appearances as she would for a colonscopy.

About 11:00, just as I was about to enjoy the first good night's sleep in a couple of days , my telephone rang. I'd thought it would be Speedy to tell me that someone had cancelled a class or that someone had put in a last-minute reservation. However, it turned out to be The Bohemian which was a bit of a surprise. I thought he was gonna try to ply me with another request to meet him for dinner. It turned out he was out in East Tokyo at some sort of izakaya and he actually asked me if he could crash at my place for the night. It wasn't very Christian of me, but I rejected him immediately. Afterwards, I felt kinda bad about not accomodating him...even him, but frankly his request came in a bit too late for me to oblige.

I actually was able to watch some of the final night from the Republican National Convention. Things did liven up considerably since that mausoleum-like first night due to Hurricane Gustav. Sarah Palin had shown why she is called The Barracuda the night before by plowing into Obama and the Democrats. And then I saw some of John McCain's acceptance speech. No, he will never be compared to Obama when it comes to oratorical skill but he still gave a pretty good accounting of himself and his past as a war hero.

And I'm back here to have the final lesson with The Hip-Hop Girl before seeing The Ace at the juku tonight.

Thurs. Sept. 4, 11:28 a.m.

Pretty much a fun ride for Grandma Dynamite and myself. Just gabbed on Canada and her son's secretive approach on his fiancee. Always like it when things click from the get-go. Hopefully, the rest of today's lessons will be like this one.

Haven't seen any of the Republican National Convention in St. Paul but according to the CNN website, it looks like McCain's bunch are out hunting wabbits and Senator Obama is getting whacked. Obama didn't get that much of a bounce despite his rock-n'-roll convention last week, so just wondering if this fusillade will really hurt him.

Thursday September 4, 8:37 a.m.

Typical start to a Thursday morning. Got into the office at 8 after a McBreakfast and then just gabbed with The Patent Attorney for a few minutes before Speedy spelled me. Since my dietary regime changed, I've been taking more notice of the calories. In fact, I checked out the caloric intake of a Big Mac set...as expected, it came to around 1000 calories. There is also nothing like a few friends to bring one down to earth, either. Over the past couple of nights, I've been showing my results to a few of the students due to their connection to the medical industry. Mr. Mild was a medical supplies sales agent, 001 is a medtech and The Diver is a full-fledged nurse. All of them whistled when they saw my LDL Cholesterol numbers and told me to get on that treadmill lickety-split. This reaction was in great contrast to the doctor at the clinic who had told me that things weren't too bad.

The next few Wednesdays could be a bit sparse. 001 will be off on her Middle East trip for the next couple of weeks while The Fashion Designer is off to Shanghai next week. Today, though, will be a Hump Day. I've got Grandma Dynamite, The Yogist, The Pharmacist and The Hip-Hop Girl...and then The Dentist had to cancel her lesson on Saturday so she's slotted herself in as my last lesson. Speedy even tried to get me to teach The Manhattanite tonight. As much as she's a good lass, I just wasn't willing to give up a rare Thursday night off.

Wednesday Sept. 3, 12:15 p.m.

Finished up with that Hip-Hop Girl for her first official lesson. She was 5 minutes late, so I was cynically wondering if she'd just decided to abandon her attempts to brush up on her English since she hadn't paid anything yet. But she did show up and we talked a bit on her American education in a Paul Mitchell school. We went into the different types of hair and I've just downloaded an entry from Wiki. That should keep us going for tomorrow's session.

Well, got basically nothing until 001's lesson at 6 but I'll be busy getting ready for the evening lessons and slogging on with those translations for The Corner. I may find out what was possibly eating 001 on Sunday after Baker Bounce.

Wednesday September 3, 8:54 a.m.

The Milds and The Traveler had a pretty good lesson together last night. Again, it was a case of leveling the playing field a bit...making it a bit easier for The Traveler while making it a bit more challenging for The Milds. The Traveler had encountered a bit of drama over the weekend by apparently falling down a flight of stairs and breaking her fall...with her head. She found out what the inside of an ambulance looked like, but otherwise nothing serious.

Jolly did show up for his 90. It was a freewheeling session. The first third of the class was going over the diet counter thingie that I'd received from the clinic earlier yesterday. Since the two of us seem to be brothers-in-arms when it comes to metabolic syndrome, we were marveling at some of the caloric surprises of the dishes. For example, a bowl of tonkotsu ramen...long reputed to be loaded with calories...is actually considerably lighter than a typical Big Mac set. However, it contains a king's ransom of cholesterol; looking at the soup makes that rather evident. The last third of the lesson contained talk on his somewhat latent otaku-like tendencies. He was intrigued about the main Mandarake HQ in Nakano and the old CD store, Otokichi. He was definitely curious about Halloween and the goings-on in Roppongi during the witching hour. That will probably mean yet another run to the supermarket for pumpkins.

Well, I started my first full day in the new dietary regime by heading for that Jonathan's family restaurant branch near Speedy's. That slacker-ish waiter was there to lead me in. I ended up having the Scrambled Egg Breakfast Plate for 598 yen and 600 kcal. According to how much I should be eating, I've already used up a third of my daily allowance.

One would think that the resignation of PM Fukuda would still be consuming the news but now it's been hijacked once more by allegations of drug use in the sumo world. Now it's a couple of Russian brothers-turned-rikishi who were spot-checked and discovered to have marijuana in their blood. Probably from some guy in Roppongi...yeah, that's the ticket.

Tuesday Sept. 2, 7:02 p.m.

Suzanne and I are getting settled into that comfortable pattern of chatting and practicing that Seven and I used to over a year ago...except that Suzanne actually does speak English for most of it. Now that she's had her taste of life in the outside world, she's expressed a desire to live overseas for a bit longer...say 1 or 2 years. I told her to go for it. She was a bit worried about the age situation since she's at the "ripe old age of" 26. I reassured her that she wouldn't end up as a modern-day Urashimataro or Rip Van Winkle. She's also gotten into "The O.C." big time...I kinda teased her about the big shock at the end of the final season (she's only in Season 1 right now)...where Mischa Barton's Marissa ends up dead....but didn't give the reveal.

Now, in less than an hour, I've got The Milds and The Traveler. That'll be a bit more challenging...could help lower my cholesterol.

Tuesday September 2, 4:12 p.m.

Yup, the summer is indeed back....Mr. Mild need not panic about the quality of rice after all. If this week keeps up with these temps, there should be a nice bumper crop this Fall...that is, for those rice paddies which weren't inundated by the floods of last week. As for me, I'm trying not to wither too badly.

Tell you who's not coming back, though. Prime Minister Fukuda tendered his resignation last night after less than a year in office. With him and previous LDP stooge leader Abe, it's starting to harken back to the 90s when it seemed like there was a revolving-door policy when it came to leading the nation...before the age of Koizumi. The Opposition was shaking its fist in indignation at the "sudden" departure of Fukuda. To be honest, people were saying some months earlier that he was probably gonna be flying the coop sometime in the Fall.

So, now we come to another Autumn for not just picking fruits and veggies, but also of Japanese Prime Ministers. The wide shows this morning were already making their bets. It looks like Taro Aso...the heir apparent who lost to Fukuda last year...will finally get the nod. China and Korea weren't thrilled....the former labeling him as "a big mouth" and the latter stating that it would be a nightmare if he were to come into power. Even some folks here, including me, think he looks not unlike a thug in a polyester suit, but apparently he has some popularity across the board since he's pretty rightwing in his thinking...along the lines of Junichiro Koizumi. Kinda wonder if he will suddenly create a cult following like Koizumi did in his first year in office. He does have his love of manga and can speak English well but I think he looks too much like a regular LDP hack to generate much charisma. I can also imagine that a lot of English-speaking detractors will be more than willing to use a common epithet that sounds like his last name to describe him.

The interesting thing, though, is that, according to one wide show which had the pictures of possible contenders for PM, there were two smaller pictures of women politicians behind the big one of Aso. Seiko Noda and Yuriko Koike may be in the wings for now.

All of this political intrigue was happening while I was stuck on CNN looking at the latest in Hurricane Gustav and its effects on the Republican National Convention. There was quite a difference between it and the rock concert that was the Democratic National Convention last week. The RNC looked like the annual stockbroker's meeting for not a particularly popular company. However, I'm sure all that talk about Bristol Palin and her pregnancy will keep the media enthralled for the next few days.

As for me, I went back to the clinic where I had my checkup a few weeks ago to get my results. Happily, the damage wasn't too bad at all. I'm only slightly higher in one form of cholesterol. In reaction, I bought a simple, cheap broiled salmon on rice bento with a salad.I also found out that I am 22 kg overweight....about 44 lbs. Ouch! Well, having to juggle The Milds with The Traveler, teaching that Hip-Hop Girl for the next three days and dealing with the summer heat and humidity may help shave some more weight off.

Monday Sept. 1, 10:39 p.m.

Medicine Man has gone home so we're basically ready to wrap things up here. Both Speedy and I are feeling pretty tuckered out. Kinda wondering if the ventilation is to blame.

Tomorrow, I gotta head on out to the clinic and get the bad news on my checkup...and I'm sure there will be a good deal of tsk-tsking in the report. We'll see...I'll probably be heading on out around the same time as I did when I went to the checkup a few weeks earlier...but I'll be having breakfast for sure this time.

Back on Saturday night, I actually caught that ol' Will Smith chestnut, "Independence Day". Yup, it had plot holes as big as those spaceships but I think it's just like "Star Wars" in that it was another one of those homages to hokey and wholly entertaining sci-fi invasion movies of the 50s. And for some reason, I still get rather verklempt near the end when Randy Quaid's character comes racing up in his jet for that final strike against the saucer...must be the soundtrack. As MB would say to me, I cannot and will not defend it against the naysayers but I've seen far worse and duller wastes of my time.

Anyways, time to close down...

Monday Sept. 1, 7:18 p.m.

Just finished with The Full-Timer. Looks like she's ready to fly the coop come the end of next month. She and her colleagues have been suffering from the classic work-related disease of "My supervisor is a psychopath".

Only Speedy and I are in the house. Betty is ailing tonight and can't come in for her shift. Just The Medicine Man in a couple of hours. The weather today has been fine, though we're back to hot and humid again. In fact, I think it's the first day in over a week that we haven't had any precipitation...knock on wood; there are still 5 more hours in the day.

Monday Sept. 1, 5:43 p.m.

Just tackled a bit of that translation project. It's on hot springs...man, a lot of diseases for me to decipher there.

Read something on "Dark Horizons" about how much of a flop "The Dark Knight" has been in Japan. Earlier, The Publicist had also said that it was not doing very well here. The reason stated in the article was that it was frankly too dark. I don't think that's necessarily the case...the one film that launched that brief spate of J-Horror remakes and pale children with heavy mascara, "The Ring" didn't exactly end in sweetness and light either. I think it's because Japanese audiences don't have any particular connection with American comic book characters; the mythology just hasn't been in this country long enough and I don't think it ever will. The Publicist also said that "The Incredible Hulk" was a flop here, and most likely, "Ironman" won't make too much of a dent here either when it comes at the end of this month. I'll have to get confirmation from The Publicist next class, but it seems, though, that "Spiderman" is the one exception....perhaps because Peter Parker is a relatable, attainable character.

Monday September 1, 4:30 p.m.

September 1...Disaster Prevention Day here in Japan and the kids are back in school. Meanwhile, Stateside, it's probably the Jerry Lewis Labour Day Telethon and perhaps the Republican National Convention, depending on what Hurricane Gustav does.

Yesterday, I met 001, 002 and her hubby, plus Speedy and his wife for some burgers at Baker Bounce in Tokyo Midtown. Surprisingly, the manager there was very accomodating and managed to get us a table to seat all of us. 001 even tried some root beer for the first time while 002 and her husband gave some really dry Wilkinson Ginger Ale a go. Everyone except me had burgers while I, in the interests of trying something different, went for the Fats Waller Triple Decker Sandwich. It was good...and easier to handle than the usual gloopy burger. I also had a large chocolate milkshake which probably didn't help my cholesterol count any. It all went well but 001 suddenly shut down and got rather distant near the end of our binge...not sure if I'd offended her in some way or the root beer didn't agree with her. Maybe I'll find out on Wednesday. As for 002, I won't see her for about a month since she's busy at work and she and hubby will be headed out for the Maui Marathon later this month.

Things got back to normal for a Monday. The Class Act got together again...for some reason, The Chef was maganimous enough to make lasagna for both The Matron and me. Still, I ended up using a coupon to get a double decker burger set at Wendy's....I'll never learn. Gonna have to memorize the fact that Wendy's burgers are just a bit too greasy for my liking. I prefer the chicken burgers much better. I also saw SIL after a month off. Gregarious as usual.

I have The Full-Timer in about 80 minutes and then it'll be Medicine Man to wrap up later tonight. I actually got a job for translation on Saturday. The Corner sent me some stuff based on Hokkaido for which I have two weeks to get translated and back to him.

Saturday August 30, 1:57 p.m.

Finished up with The Publicist. A bit more of a slog due to the material. Also gleaned some information about her job. Apparently, all of the celebs under her charge have rejected the sweet bean paste known as anko here...no big surprise, although I think it's really no different from chocolate....but they crave the famous Kobe beef.

I actually got word from my old student, The Stick, from my ol' school days. She's a huge Star Wars fan and asked about my trip over to Makuhari Messe several weeks ago for that Star Wars convention there. I told her that she'd have to be the biggest collector or the biggest groupie to appreciate it. I'm neither...which is why I only stayed an hour and donated my 4,000 yen. Speaking of which, "The Clone Wars" did start up a couple of weeks ago in Japan. MB and I had been thinking of catching it, but the reviews have been horrible to say the least, and since MB had a very bitter taste in his mouth about "Revenge of the Sith", we've decided to wait until it came out on DVD.

And also speaking of blasts from the past, Slim actually did call back after his no-show a couple of weeks ago. He came up with this rather cockamamie excuse that he completely mixed up the dates although we made sure of it a couple of times during his last lesson. A bit of an idiot, he is.

Saturday August 30, 11:33 a.m.

We were pretty squally last night. During the wait for Jolly and Jolly's lesson itself, Urayasu seemed to get periodic orchestras of precipitation. I swear that Japan is becoming increasingly tropical in terms of weather. I can imagine that a number of national weather forecasters will be making appointments with mental health specialists in the coming days.

Jolly was his usual eponymic self. He was regaling me with his love and access to golf. He went up to some course up in Tochigi Prefecture the other weekend. It only cost him 5,000 yen to do 18 holes...that is indeed a miracle worthy of Tiger Woods in this country, considering that club fees in Japan usually have three more zeroes. Also we got into the differences between Japanese comedy and American comedy. The former is all about either: 1) one-person pin geinin who get their fifteen minutes of fame by just spouting out some inanity which ends up becoming one of the catchphrases of the year here, or 2) comedic duos who do the same shtick a la Abbott & Costello over half a century ago. Folks here usually can't seem to decipher some of the humour from sitcoms like "Friends" or "Seinfeld". And jokes that seem to fall flat at the various drinking parties often get tagged as "American jokes" Jolly admitted that when he was a high school student, he couldn't understand what was so funny with Jim Carrey's "The Mask". I feel like I'll have to be a bridge between our two cultures. In any case, I directed my padawan's attention to Robin Williams on YouTube.

It's still pretty cloudy but not sure if it's gonna rain or not. Recently, it's been a crapshoot about the probability of precipitation...which is probably why the weather folks have probably been running for their Ritalin. One thing for sure, though. The humidity and some of the heat have come back. I'm starting to get that sticky gum feeling again.

Ahhh, gosh-darn that John McCain. You can always depend on him to pull one of those way-out stunts to get the media attention back on him, after all that Obama-mania in Denver several hours before. Case in point: bringing in Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska to be his running mate. The surprise for me was slightly blunted since I'd read a headline about her being considered as a dark horse on CNN.com at the juku last night. However, when I got home and turned on the cable channel itself, the BREAKING NEWS sign was flashing with its bumblebee colours and crowing that Palin was no longer a longshot but a potential heartbeat from the presidency. The pundits were, to put it in a word, gobsmacked. Even veterans like David Gergen admitted that they could've been knocked over by a feather when they got the news. McCain's choice was so far out of right (remember we are talking about the Republican party) field that he would've gotten a calmer reaction by nominating Michael Palin from "Monty Python".

But, y'know...despite Governor Palin having even less experience on foreign policy and national politics than Barack Obama...her selection could perhaps pay off.

And that is why I have my own TOP 5 list of reasons that Governor Sarah Palin may actually get John McCain the presidency:

5. She has that special gene that Mary Tyler Moore has of being able to turn the world on with a smile.

4. She will introduce the wonders of Mooseburgers and Arctic Char to the continental U.S.

3. That cute way she'll scrunch up her face in intense study when her advisers teach her about taxation.

2. Palin is eminently more parodiable by the "Saturday Night Live" performers than Joe Biden.

1. At her first Vice-Presidential press conference, all the reporters will be looking forward to her saying "You like me, you really like me."

Friday August 29, 7:29 p.m.

At the juku now. After having one final Big Mac lunch with Speedy before the price hike takes place on September 1st, I ended up playing some of those Mesmo TV games via Facebook for about an hour. I'm sure Ray must've been thinking about why I got to play computer games. I would frankly have no self-control in Vegas...which is probably the reason that I'm the only one in the family who still hasn't been there.

In any case, my pay from the juku this month is quite a bit lower due to the O-Bon holiday but I more than made up for it at Speedy's, so no big problems here. And I've got The Class Act and SIL coming back on Monday, plus The Beehive in the 2nd week, so that'll be some welcome income back.

Just have the one lesson at Speedy's tomorrow...The Publicist. A bit of a bummer although I don't blame my student at all. Just the circumstances.

Friday August 29, 3:07 p.m.

She came in rolling in like Beyonce. Yup, the model lesson student traipsed on in in her hip hop duds...extra large T-shirt and short cutoffs with huge frizzy hair and eyelashes that could sweep dirt off the wall. I thought "ooooh, boy...got a live one here".

Well, she turned out to be a pretty decent person actually. Man, 19 years old...felt like a grandfather already. Pretty fluent but with the usual linguistic deficits that would mark her as a foreigner. She'll be heading off to the wilds of California and learning hairdressing and dance. Basically, for the set of three she's reserved our school for, it'll be an "anything goes" attitude.

Saw just a bit of the Obama acceptance speech on CNN.com. Yup, it's definitely a historically Obama moment. The baritone voice, the stentorian delivery. Obama Girl will be swooning as 80,000 people were.

After that rather whirlwind hour with Beyonce, I'm just decompressing and waiting for Speedy to grab some McD meals. Then, I can think about heading over to the juku.

Friday August 29, 11:35 a.m.

Barack Obama is probably nearing the end or has finished his acceptance speech. I was able to catch Al Gore and Stevie Wonder do their thing for him before I had to take off. As the end of political conventions go, it sure didn't look like a typical meeting of dark-suited pols; it was more like one big New Year's party. Still, it was good that David Gergen brought things down to earth and said that the decision is far from made. Apparently, Wolf Blitzer was even having a bit of a dance with Donna Brazile. I think that would be a truly YouTube worthy scene, only topped by seeing Jack Cafferty actually tapping his toes.

While Toronto might have had the rainiest July in its history, it looks like all of Japan may end up with the wettest August in its history. Warnings have been scrolling across the screen all morning on almost all of the channels. I was kinda hoping that would kill this model lesson in a couple of hours with that hip-hop high school student, but such has yet to be. It was certainly raining a menagerie last night in Ichigaya when I had The Carolinan. Not a great lesson...since the ambient noise level was pretty high. I think both of us were getting pretty annoyed by the end of the lesson.

Aside from the model lesson, I've only got Jolly tonight...supposedly at the juku. I'm kinda hoping that he does dotakyan but unfortunately, he only does so at the 11th hour.

Thursday August 28, 2:10 p.m.

Finished up with The Yogist just now. Still as giddy as ever. We spoke on her better-than-average celeb sightings. Her latest sighting was jazz pianist Chie Ayado at an Azabu-Juban boutique (for those fellow Torontonian Canucks who need a cross-reference: Azabu-Juban is kinda like Yorkville). She's seen three Prime Ministers and the comedic duo Downtown, among other folks. She's also rather fond of that lost art known as the afternoon nap. She's lucky enough in her schedule to take a nice 2-hour siesta almost everyday. For me, I'd be lucky if I could get one nap a year.

Been checking out the CNN videos of the DNC. Over the past several weeks, the McCain camp has been needling Obama and his crew about his supposed status as a vapid celebrity. Well, John may have a case considering that Barack pulled a surprise appearance after his running mate, Joe Biden, had finished his nomination speech. It reminded me whenever Frank Sinatra or Bob Hope crashed "The Tonight Show" during the years of Johnny Carson. In any case, all that's needed now is for the official Democratic nominee to give his big speech tomorrow. I may be at home to actually catch that one live.

Thursday August 28, 11:57 a.m.

Grandma Dynamite was all right today...no major lapses in memory. She could be on a streak. The Carolinan confirmed the lesson back at the old place. And it looks like 002 will be unavailable for the entirety of September. Urk...there goes that income. Mind you, she had said that she would've only been open just twice next month, so it's only 7,000 yen out. However, I'm not sure how Speedy would feel about that. The Satyr gave his first response after getting back from London; looks like he wants to see "The Dark Knight" on the 7th.

I've been enjoying my old compilations of "The Onion". Those guys are fearless...just 2 weeks after the events of September 11, 2001, they were at it again poking fun...not sure how much security they needed and how long they needed it for.

Thursday August 28, 8:40 a.m.

Man, those late night-early morning transitions are gonna be the death of me one day. I'll probably enter the subway and never leave it.

The Diver was kinda having one of her neurotic nights...lack of sleep, she said. She certainly sapped my energy reserves...plus, it didn't help that the laptop computer was also as neurotic as her. Luckily, The Fashion Designer was a nice way to end the night on. Always easy to converse with her.

Got Grandma Dynamite as usual...followed by The Yogist, also one of my favourites. Then, it's The Carolinan but since I'm finishing up here early I'll have to see her at our old haunt. Will mean that extra 500 yen for the latte but a change in venue is never bad.

Finally got confirmation from 001 for Sunday; she was never one for e-mail. She did say that she was a bit nervous about Speedy joining us but I told her that Mrs. Speedy would possibly join us so she can keep the leash on him.

Kept The Patent Attorney entertained for about 15 minutes before Speedy took over. Today's topic was on the neighbourhood of Nakano for which I've become a fairly frequent patron of late. Although he said that he'd never been there before, he did know that it was a second Akihabara in terms of manga and anime supplies, and even mentioned the Maid Cafes. I told him that there weren't any such cafes there...as far as I knew, although I did tell him about that mama-san cafe I glimpsed some time ago (he readily shuddered at the thought). And then I told him about the Butler Cafes populated by handsome, well-coiffed men in tuxes. I warned him not to tell his wife and daughter about them.

Well, I guess Hillary Clinton really did have that secret weapon. And it wasn't the speech...that was no secret. She did get that game-winning RBI last night. Nope, the secret weapon was kinda short-circuiting the roll call by proposing that Barack Obama be nominated by acclamation. Again, since I'm pulling early duty here, I couldn't see the mayhem that must've followed but apparently the audience gave a resounding YES and exploded in ear-shattering cheering. There were some boos when Massachusetts proudly touted its sports teams like the Bosox but that was probably a bunch of New Yorkers. So, members of the feared anti-Obama contingent have now been either been assuaged or permanently thrown into the McCain camp. In any case, Barack Obama is now officially the first African-American candidate for US President. And the Republicans now have to work to do.

Wednesday August 27, 6:54 p.m.

Found out that I've gotta do a model lesson on Friday with a hip-hop kid who'll be heading over to Orange County for a 1-year homestay. Ugh! Both Speedy and I agreed that neither of us are quite ideal teachers for a kid like her. And I still have (non-)memories of that slacker hip-hopper son of that ol' school student who basically never showed up for my private lessons a couple of years ago. Well, we all gotta suffer for our art.

Finished off my salad and so-men just now for dinner. I think after having a Big Mac set just a few hours ago, that probably should fit the bill for the rest of the evening. I've just got The Diver and The Fashion Designer.

Wednesday August 27, 5:09 p.m.

It's starting to cloud over something fierce. Once again, we may be given that dinnertime deluge that's been marking most of August. Good timing that I got back into the school.

Pretty much nothing came out of my 3.5-hour recce through Shibuya and Ginza. Went over to Tower Records, HMV and Recofan in Tokyo teens' answer to Mecca and found nothing that I needed to get. Plenty of gyaru strutting about in their makeup and hooker boots, though. Wondered how much they charged per hour.

Stopped off in Shiodome to see if I could grab some hot dogs at Nathan's, but it looks like the summer holidays were still going on for the families. The place was packed so I just ended up going to the local McDonalds. Walked down the Ginza strip and took a look at Krispy Kreme #2 in Itocia. Yup, still lining up around the corner. It's a wonder that the customers still haven't started looking like the donuts themselves.

It sounds as if Hillary Clinton hit that deep-to-right triple. Nope, it wasn't a homer...CNN said that there were a few pockets of folks in the convention centre who stubbornly refused to give, but I think they made their minds up long ago to either not vote or go with McCain instead. Still, the pundits gave her the high marks so that little mission is now over. Now it's Obama's turn to seal the deal.

Wednesday August 27, 12:06 p.m.

Received a minor bombshell from The Pessimist...but I guess from my code name for him, it shouldn't have been too surprising. He's decided to give up the goat, so to speak, for the time being. He cited a number of personal reasons...busy schedule, depression, money, etc. And he isn't exactly near the end of his contract; he still has 10 more lessons coming to him, but he said that it could be a few months before he decides to come back again; I think he will since that's a good chunk of yen he's leaving in limbo. He was acting more forlorn than usual so I had to do The Dancing Bear with him and talk about ramen throughout Japan. We're both tonkotsu fans...that is, we're great connoisseurs when it comes to the famed ramen hailing from Fukuoka in Western Japan with that bone-white soup leached from pork bones. I learned from him that the real tonkotsu soup is actually quite watery although the great flavour is still imbued in it. I had always thought that tonkotsu was nearly globby. So, then I gather that the shop, "Akai Noren" in Maru Biru near Tokyo Station really does sell the real McCoy.

In any case, I'm out another student. Speedy will not be too happy about this state of affairs although his renewal was still several weeks away. And my Friday will now be nearly entirely empty except for Jolly's 90 in the evening...that is, if my juku student doesn't dotakyan.

Wednesday August 27, 10:26 a.m.

Had the second lesson with the newly-improvised trio of The Milds and The Traveler. That was more in keeping what I'd feared about the new addition. She can understand pretty well but her vocabulary is way lower than The Milds, although in terms of fluency, she can hold her own. Afterwards, the boss and I agreed that if anything is gonna change, it'll happen in the next couple of weeks. As for Mr. Mild, he did go up Mt. Fuji a couple of weeks ago. He continued his image as a quietly tough ol' bird...didn't suffer any altitude sickness at all although he saw a lot of folks heaving on the side of the road. Apparently, the cup ramen at the canteens along the way cost 700 yen...7 times more than they would down at sea level. Talk about price gouging.

Will have The Pessimist in about half an hour. Then, it's pretty much nothing for 8 hours and change. May drop down to Shibuya for the first time in a number of weeks since The Class Act has been on hiatus.

As usual, I've only been able to catch the pre-game parts of the Democratic National Convention in Denver. So I'll be missing out on what could be the decisive speech of the entire left-wing love-in...Hillary Clinton's speech telling her rabid supporters to let her go and take hold of Obama. She'll need to hit a home run...if she's lucky, she'll probably get a triple. However, possibly to James Carville's possible relief, there has been some red meat thrown out there to the party faithful by Governor Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania and Congressman Dan Kucinich. But it'll be Hil's speech that Barack's fortunes may be hinging on.

There have been a couple of more apartments going up in the last several weeks in my neighbourhood. One is being built over a parking lot while another is being constructed over what used to be a disused lumberyard. The latter one actually looks pretty enticing but I'm sure the key money and other security payments will mean that I'll never get a shot at it. Also, the fact that it's across from the elementary school definitely makes it a no-go.

Tuesday August 26, 7:07 p.m.

As expected, Jolly has dotyakan'ed. I get to go home after The Milds. However, he did say that he would come for Friday night. Therefore it'll be the second Donut Day of the week.

Had Suzanne for the hour just now. Interesting kid, that one. She admitted that she had been groped by those subway chikan in the past...back then, there hadn't been a law banning the activity. I finally learned from her the meaning for that most teenage of epithets, "Uzzai yo!" It just means "What a pain in the ass!" It may not sound like much in English but has quite a depth of meaning in the original Japanese. Suzanne is also one of those millions of women here who have taken up the wonderful world of yoga.

One of the nice benefits of working here is getting free food from time to time. I always get the free iced coffee in the summers. And now I have a plate of sliced pears on my table. Never a problem.

Tuesday August 26, 4:33 p.m.

Kinda misting out there right now. It may be cooler but the humidity is still just as oppressive. Almost feel like turning on the AC but I'd be afraid of ending with a layer of frost all over me.

Got the word from Speedy that Prissy has canned her lesson for tomorrow...which leave me with yet another Donut Day to deal with. Between the Pessimist and the Diver, there will be an 8-hour and 15-minute hole. I think it may be time for another recce out there, provided that the weather is better.

Came into the juku to see a quiet pooch in a cage at the genkan. The boss had told me last Friday night that her niece would be back in town with her dog in tow. Not really me for me to say, but I'm not too comfy with a dog in a cage. However, the boss' cousin's family has flown the coop after the weekend. I caught just the beginning of their invasion into the house. Apparently, one of the little tykes had a bedwetting episode on one of the futon, so right now, there is a rolled-up mattress beside me that would want to get dry but can't, because of the weather out there.

Forgot that Jolly owes the juku an extra half-hour so I've gotta teach him for 90 minutes tonight. UGH! But he could always cancel at the last minute.

Tuesday August 26, 1:04 p.m.

Went off to see 002 this morning. The night before I'd invited Speedy and his wife to the burger lunch at Baker Bounce this Sunday. 001 and 002 have traditionally been a bit skittish about the bossman...I guess, sometimes, Speedy does show an overabundance of personality, but that's true for any entrepreneur. 002 was quite nervous when I told her but she reassured that she would be OK. I've also sent advance word to 001...to be honest, I'm pretty sure she'll still come. I also got a melon bread from The Baker in tribute. Unfortunately, she won't come since she's got family obligations that day. In any case, I'm still OK with the invitation to the boss; he told me that he was going to be Tokyo Midtown that day anyways, and I would prefer to avoid any potential awkwardness....for example, if he showed up at Baker Bounce by coincidence while we were noshing away.

Have the juku folks tonight. As usual, it'll be a waiting game to see if Jolly shows up again. However, Suzanne will be there, as well as the new trio of The Milds and The Traveler.

The Democratic National Convention launched on schedule today. Woke up to see Wolf and Anderson start the CNN proceedings. Didn't get to see Ted Kennedy give what could be his very last speech or Michelle Obama tout the strong points of her husband. But I did catch James Carville on CNN.com write about how the DNC dropped the ball by not going on the attack immediately. I wasn't too overly concerned about what Carville said since he seems to love to create trouble for just about everyone, regardless of political affiliation. However, I do believe that if Barack Obama wins or loses the election in several weeks, the pundits will be looking at this week as the key defining moment.

Monday August 25, 4:48 p.m.

Well, The Beijing Olympics are now history, and whaddaya know? They were a runaway success by any stretch of the imagination. And the Chinese could not complain at all; they were basically the winners of the competition with all of the Gold medals they raked in. Of course, the Communist treatment couldn't totally be avoided. I almost had to laugh when I heard about the government's "offer" of letting protestors do their thing in protest parks. All the "Free Tibet" people and other such organizations had to do was apply and then show up. Of course, most likely the applications ended up in the round file and the few folks who did gullibly show up at the parks were rounded up faster than Admiral Ackbar could yell "IT'S A TRAP!" and kept on very cold ice for the duration of the Games.

I was surprised to find out that the winner of the Men's Marathon, a Kenyan by the name of Samuel Wansiru, was also once a high school student up in Sendai, and he could do a pretty good post-race interview in Japanese with NHK.

Japan, though they weren't anywhere close to their heyday in Athens 2004, did quite well in the medal standings. 25 medals was a good turnout and a good 25 times better than their pathetic performance in the Winter Olympics a couple of years ago. Of course, the athletes are now going through their endless round of television appearances in the home country. We'll probably be inundated with the usual interviews for the next week.

Of course, for CNN...it's now going from sports to politics with The Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado, starting from tomorrow morning, local time. The Obama-Biden ticket is gonna really have to dig in, though.

Since things are on summer hiatus, I had lunch at Baker Bounce in Tokyo Midtown today. My timing couldn't have been better. Things were pretty empty when I entered the burger house but then a few minutes, the lunchtime crowd rushed in. I had their Burger Lunch at 1,050 yen...nice big burger with bacon and Monterey Jack but a bit chintzy on the fries, though. All of this was just a recon mission of sorts before I bring 001, 002 and her hubby there on Sunday. Afterwards, I just walked through the mist and browsed at Aoyama Book Centre before settling in at the Starbucks in Roppongi Hills for an hour with one of my old copies of "The Onion".

I'm back at Speedy's. I found out that The Full-Timer has cancelled her class for tonight so I've gotta wait for more than 4 hours before Medicine Man comes along. At this rate, Wednesday and Thursday will probably be the Hump Days of the week. There's a chance that The Pessimist may be my only class on Friday. I will need to check on the results of my checkup on that day.

Monday August 25, 4:39 p.m.

When the DVD Nights were over at my place, it was always takeout pizza as the main course. But now that the Nights have shifted over to MB's place for the time being, MB and I have had the run of the far more culinarily interesting Jiyugaoka. Just before the Timothy Dalton Bond-fest, MB took me to this Chinese restaurant with great dishes and surly service. I half-agreed with his assessment. The food was indeed excellent...tofu with chopped spring onions and thousand-year-old eggs was sublime (MB was grateful that I've become a recent convert to the admittedly acquired-taste eggs since he can't order them while The Sylph is around...she refuses to even see the dish), mabo dofu, deep-fried chicken, etc...but I had no problem with the service. Sure the waitresses weren't the usual smiley automatons and the vocabulary was terse, but that's what a Chinese restaurant is...at least the ones my family had eaten at back in Toronto.

The next day, MB took me to a small one-man-operated ramen restaurant which had a reasonable deal in the form of a hefty bowl of ramen with fried rice on the side. He was a bit disappointed that none of the side dishes were available during lunch but I had no complaints. Yep, my neighbourhood definitely lacks in the fine dining department when compared to Jiyugaoka.

Monday August 25, 4:10 p.m.

It was a James Bond view-a-thon at MB's second DVD Night...more accurately, it was Timothy Dalton's James Bond night. Finally got to see the only two 007 flicks that I'd never seen. I only got to see "The Living Daylights" partially and had never seen one iota of "License to Kill" despite it approaching two decades since their release. I only heard about how mediocre they were and just gave up on them.

However, Movie Buddy, being the biggest James Bond fan this side of the Pacific, has been far more charitable and after finally seeing them, I can say that I agree that they've been left underrated to a certain extent. Almost 20 years before Daniel Craig's somewhat more actorly turn on one of cinema's most famous characters, Timothy Dalton had given Bond a more thespian grounding by returning to Ian Fleming's original roots for the character. All of the actors who had done Bond before, including my favourite of them, Sean Connery, were either former models/TV stars. Dalton was the first stage-trained thesp to take on the role, and he actually gave the character more dramatic heft. He even had to tear up briefly in "License to Kill" and looked convincing. It's a pity that he wasn't allowed to keep on doing the character. Pierce Brosnan, as about as perfect for the 007 role as could be, was still a return to the model school and I just remember that as much as he tried to really bring more gravitas to his Bond, he was still trapped in his Bond-as-a-superhero.

"The Living Daylights" definitely took James Bond into a different direction from the several movies with Roger Moore during the 70s and early 80s. I'd heard about how seemingly important it was for Bond to be monogamous in the frightening days of AIDS. And despite the climactic high-altitude battle between James and Necros the henchman, the plot of the movie was a lot less fantastical than the supervillains and the almost-impossible-to-believe situations that were concocted. "The Living Daylights" dealt with arms dealers and Afghan mujahdeen.

But ironically, it was "License to Kill" that was the one true revelation for me. It had been criticized for looking a lot less glossy...almost on the level of a made-for-TV budget. But after having seen it, I've been convinced that it and "The Living Daylights" were more on the vibe of Sean Connery's second Bond outing "From Russia With Love"...considered to be one of the best spy movies, period. Yep, there were indeed weak points in the latter movie (Q being allowed to have a larger role [that was a surprise!]; a bar brawl), but the overall "Yojimbo" aspect of it with Bond being the puppetmaster was quite a revelation. However, I think the 180-degree turn in tone from the cartoonish Roger Moore years to the far grittier Timothy Dalton period was all a bit too much for fans and moviegoers, and so five years had to pass by before a more cinema-friendly Pierce Brosnan entered in "Goldeneye".