Friday February 6, 7:17 p.m.

Got home, ate some dinner, did a bit more rearranging in my apartment and even started on the "Futurama" DVDs since I've started my weaning from Japanese TV. I saw that the final season had that episode where most of the Classic Trek crew showed up. Quite a few episodes away from that one. Not quite as outrageous as "Family Guy" but it has its moments.

Looks like the juku boss is very slowly easing her way back into her old job. I was expecting her to be teaching or yelling at some kid but all was still quiet. She told me that she's cutting down on the numbers and ages of her young charges so that she doesn't burn up so much energy now that she can't take in nearly as much as she used to. She was also expressing some concern about my classes but not just because The Traveler has flown the coop and Suzanne is away for the next week; things are looking pretty sparse in my area in her estimation. She asked me about how the other schools are faring. I couldn't give her an honest answer since I don't have my ear to the ground about the competition...just Speedy's place, and so far, it hasn't been too bad for us although my February is looking a bit patchy right now. Frankly, I'm not sure about what the Milds will do in the next few months. We're almost finished the current text and I'm not quite sure if they are gonna risk another year and another textbook, but I haven't told the boss yet about that.

To be brutally honest, I frankly wouldn't mind if Tuesdays suddenly found themselves open in the evening. I wouldn't mind a weeknight off although that would be financially stupid to say. Still, my classes are half of her business so she's gonna try to beat the bushes for new customers.

Friday February 6, 11:16 a.m.

I guess this has been a week of some misunderstandings. First there was that small kerfuffle between the juku boss and Mr. Mild over a still-owing lesson (the boss had actually caught me as I was going home on Tuesday to ask if she'd been a bit too direct with him...I just said diplomatically that both parties were very honest with each other) and then there was yesterday's class with Speedy's usual group. Speedy and I had been trying to collaborate on how to teach it over the past few days since he'd asked me to try it out. The class was interested in having a few teachers come in for variety's sake.

Well, as they say about best-laid plans. First, the group couldn't get the CD player from their office for listening practice which meant that Speedy had to grab the crappy old laptop which always breaks down from the school. I'd been told by the bossman that the group was a bit quiet but amiable...still I'd been assuming the good ol' days with the oil company guys who were keen as all out while I'd been planning. These guys were frankly church mice...tough crowd for a song-and-dance man like me. And then, I find out afterwards from Speedy that I didn't need to do 80% of the text since they had already done it before....thanks, boss...you could've told me that information beforehand. And finally, I just had a memory blank which almost led to a breakdown during the second hour of review. All in front of the bossman...who was in the room the whole time. Not that I really felt that I had anything to prove to him but I was reminded that I never really liked having a peer in a classroom while I'm teaching. Basically, this was a crash-n'-burn class. And the horribly ironic thing was that one of the students at the beginning had asked me how long I'd been a teacher, and I gave my honest answer of almost 22 years. Last night's class felt like it'd been taught by someone of 2 days' experience.

As usual, Speedy was infuriatingly cheerful about it all but we've known each other a long time. I was pretty quiet going back to the school with him and he probably knew that I was far from happy. However, I should consider myself lucky. I could've had one of those screamer bosses, although I most likely deserved to get my butt kicked several ways from Sunday.

And then while I was commiserating, I came across the now-infamous Christian Bale rant story. Haven't seen the video but did hear a bit of the audio during Jeannie Moos' dependably unfunny segment on CNN's "The Situation Room". And I did come across a ton of comments from both sides of the argument. The ones that I did take with more than a grain of salt were the ones from the folks who have worked in the industry and know the pressure-cooker atmosphere of a movie set. Christian Bale may have anger management issues but, y'know, I've had my regrettable moments in my life and I'm just glad that they have never made it onto YouTube; and it rather irks me that people are just making these snap judgements about Bale based on that one moment...situations like those have a past and future. If a video were made of me during one of my major blowups (thankfully very rare), then these same people would assume that I was a jerk by nature. I may feel like a loser right now, but I'm definitely not a jerk. The other point is that one of my students at Speedy's, The Publicity Assistant, has met and taken care of Bale during his time in Japan and found him to be a class act who loves his family...unlike some other Hollywood stars she's met in the past.

And so, after watching all that stuff on the Net, I didn't feel particularly any better but I did come away knowing that I wasn't alone. Still, I was up for a long time last night. Ended up downing an entire can of Pringles in 10 minutes while watching that episode of "The West Wing" where Donna Moss nearly dies in a terrorist explosion, and President Bartlet and Leo McGarry finally have that huge fight in the Oval Office over military options. Again, that helped me put things in some perspective...as silly as it may sound.

Feeling a bit better. The fact that I'm typing away here at the I-Cafe means that Swank has canned her lesson for today and will be away for the rest of February. No surprise there...I'd figured that with the fact she has put off her Eiken 1 test for another few months and that she is being stretched in all directions (not rare for a working Mom), she would be taking some time off from studying. So I may have some pretty open spaces free on Fridays for the next few weeks.

Tried to get that cheap digital camera at Yamada Denki just before I got here only to find out that it's now out of stock. Been a week. At least, it won't be too crazy for the next few days. Just have Tully & The Coffeemaker tomorrow and the usual Ace and The Restauranteur tonight.

Thursday February 5, 4:54 p.m.

Managed to finish off the latest translation but I won't be sending it off to Cozy just yet since it isn't due until Monday. I don't need to make myself appear too fast. Also had time to construct a rough outline for tonight's group lesson across the street and even make one more exercise for Swank tomorrow....provided that she will come. But she's been pretty good...she's nowhere near a Jolly. If she were to cancel, she would call the day before.

I'll probably tally up the fee for The Corner's translation tonight after I get through the rest of the workday.

Thursday February 5, 11:19 a.m.

Was reading the latest U of T Alumni Magazine and came across yet another article on an old acquaintance, Mark Roswell, or Da Shan as he's known in China as a comedian and TV host. Kinda amazing how this guy turned out over the years. I remember just having a few talks with him in the East Asian Studies Student Union at Robarts.

Thursday February 5, 10:54 a.m.

Hmmm....I realize it's only 3 weeks into his presidency but that recent "MAD Magazine" cover of Barack Obama clutching his head in The Oval Office while surrounded by every medicine that Surgeon-General Sanjay Gupta could possibly prescribe is looking pretty prescient right now. If things keep going the way they are, I wonder if that famous catchphrase "Yes, we can" may be altered to "Well, I tried".

That latter, defeatist catchphrase could sum up my class with The Fashion Designer last night. She always has the last slot as she's always finishing up things at her studio pretty late. As a result, she always looks fatigued although she's always given the best effort. Well, she was kinda flubbing up a lot in her answers last night so out of good conscience I couldn't give her the take-home. Gave her another couple of weeks to review stuff since next Wednesday is a national holiday. However, she brightened up at the end when I introduced her to The 100% Chocolate Cafe, that Meiji-produced gimmicky cafe in Kyobashi. The website is really slick and certainly she enjoyed watching the various chocolates. It's Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory for the trendified.

On the other hand, The Diver put on the afterburners in her last lesson before she got the BIG test for the entire textbook and a year's worth of self-inflicted punishment getting through it. Lucky she's got the 2 weeks to prep for it before finally tackling the monster. Keeping my fingers crossed for her.

I've got the feeling that 001 is slowly drawing out the long goodbye to us. Her allotted number of lessons are starting to dwindle down to a precious few and she's been putting in a number of absences between classes. It wouldn't surprise me if she didn't renew again since she's been with us for a few years now and it might be time for the transition. She got her official transfer orders to go to another section in her hospital, although the physical shift is just a few metres across the hallway.

Finally got word from The Corner. He said that everything was OK with the translation and that I could now get him the invoice. In fact, he gave me the heads-up that he's got another web client with pages and pages for me to translate over the next month. Aye....it'll be good money. In a way, I hope that I don't have too many classes in March.

I've just got Grandma FON and then Miss Sedona for my regulars but some hours later I'll be heading over for a rare on-site at a company just a few minutes away. I haven't done one of those in several years, since my days at the ol' school, so I'm a bit nervous but I think it's good to get shaken up at times

Wednesday February 4, 5:30 p.m.

Speedy's busily selling a potential new student; we can always use new students in this economy. Speaking of whom, The Diver has apparently pulled out all the stops and managed to buy quite a few more lessons from us. So, she'll be hemming and hawing for at least another year. I gotta give her test tonight. I can only hope she's up to the challenge. We also got a call from The Nurse stating that she'll be away for the next little while...I believe the term was "shibaraku" which could mean anything from a few weeks to several months. I guess those Dare cookies I got her will now be donated to us.

The Admin was still as enthused as ever about learning English. Like Suzanne is, or was, she's a tonic. I can only hope that this will continue for the next little while.

Wednesday February 4, 1:04 p.m.

Barack Obama must be regretting having the "-elect" taken off President. I think he was having a much more successful time during the transition than actually having the power. Let's see, the Republicans have just whiffed him off over the stimulus plan and he's lost three of his Cabinet appointees over tax illegalities. And he thought he just had his hands full with Hillary.

Grandma Fado gave us some goodies, as she usually does, by saying "Well, these pies have passed the best-by date so you can have them". Ahhh, all heart she is. I had a good monthly chit-chat with Grandma Enka...mind you, she used 60% of the time to speak in Japanese. She gave me an early Valentine's Day present in the form of Dalloyau tea leaves...probably thinking of my health. She also gave us some beans from yesterday's Setsubun festivities. She had gone to her nearest temple where there were a ton of people squeezed in trying to grab the beans thrown from the temple. During Setsubun, not only are you supposed to throw them to drive the devil out but also you're supposed to eat the number of beans equal to your age. I think I've reached the age where I have to count one bean as one decade as compared with a single year. Kinda like making sure you don't set off the fire alarm when putting the candles on your cake.

Anyways, I gotta meet The Admin.

Tuesday February 3, 9:21 p.m.

Wasn't quite an argument, thankfully, but there was a small bone of contention between the juku boss, who ws back on active duty, and Mr.Mild over a make-up lesson due to my trip back home. Since they paid for four lessons a month, they were owed at least one more lesson. So I've got them slated in for Friday the 13th. I've got a feeling that Mr. Mild is far from mild where a financial discrepancy is seen. However, things worked out OK. Not sure about Mr. Mild tonight. He seemed a little bit ill at ease towards the end; we were doing a review of Present Perfect. Perhaps, he felt that it was too bad that he and his wife have to spend a lesson going over old ground. Well, not much I can do about that....except to get them back up to speed. I wonder if they'll still have the desire to go for one more year.

Yup, as it turned out, The Traveler has joined Jolly, Miss Disney and that woman who had been placed with The Milds earlier last year. Didn't show up and didn't reply to the boss' inquiries. So, basically with Suzanne out of the country, I just had The Milds and The Beehive bracketing an empty day, some of which mind you was spent tapping out the latest translation for Cozy at the I-cafe. Got that off to him. Still have yet to hear from The Corner about his translation assignment. I may send him a friendly letter of inquiry to him tomorrow.

The YouTube safari is always an interesting one. I started out by looking at that Advanced Thesis for Dance Class video from Beyonce for "Single Ladies"; some wag laughed at it by comparing it to a kindergarten presentation. I'm sure he got quite a few nasty replies wondering if he could actually pull it off. I know I certainly couldn't...not even do a wacky satire of it a la Justin Timberlake on SNL. Then, it was to go through a whole bunch of "Doctor Who" themes before watching an ol' Karen Carpenter video before seeing a J-Pop performance by Ruiko Kurahashi

Tomorrow should be back to normal. I've got the monthly with Grandmother Enka, followed by my second class with The Admin, and then I should have the regular Wednesday lineup with 001, The Diver and The Fashion Designer. I hope The Diver is ready to take her test finally. Just not sure whether she'll continue with us after getting that test.

Tuesday February 3, 2:53 p.m.

February 3...the day of Setsubun: throwing out the Devil with dried beans while bringing in good fortune. Kinda felt like throwing out MB this morning...well, not in too malicious a way. However, he somehow got my e-mail prepositions screwed up. I had told him last night to contact me before 8:45, not at 8:45...which he did. It was all about that school visit next Tuesday for which he was still trying to sell me on. Again, show me an apartment to be moved into and some really damn fine kids, then I'll conside it. Anyways, he just kept me on for a full 15 minutes before I had to cut in and politely cut out. As a result, I was rather harried in getting out, paying off those hefty City Tax and National Health Insurance premiums and mailing out Dad's birthday present before I could get over to Tsudanuma to see The Beehive. Luckily, most everyone there is pretty leisurely about getting to the cafe. It was still only Mrs. Travel there when I rushed in. The only other two to come in were Mrs. Alp and Mrs. Jade. Mrs. Tee was caught up in work. They related about Mrs. Perth's valiant project to create her very own snow sculpture of 15 m for the annual Snow Festival up in Hokkaido. Now that's one intrepid ex-student.

Like yesterday, I also got to tuck into another rather hi-calorie lunch. Yesterday it was The Class Act and me at that spicy nabe place in Shibuya. Today it was the Chinese restaurant chain Asta across from the station. Asta is one of those faux-high-class places that's actually pretty reasonable to most folks. And the food was pretty darn good on a higher level than the average Bamiyan. The three of my students were gabbing away about their latest travel plans. The one in the immediate future is a trip to Okinawa to see their old classmate, Mrs. Potter. But the big one seems to be a Meditteranean cruise. Mrs. Travel was the only one to have actually traveled on a ship so she was providing all of the advice.

I called up the juku boss to confirm that Suzanne would not be coming tonight. Yep, I had received a message from the boss last night that Suzanne would be taking the next couple of weeks off. I'd known about the 10th since she would be in Australia by that point...musing about her future. I also wondered aloud about The Traveler's lesson tonight since she completely AWOL'ed last Tuesday. We haven't heard a thing despite the boss trying to contact her last week. The boss gave her usual quizzical "Ah, so?" when I expressed my doubts about her future with us. Too much of an optimist, she is. In any case, she'll give her another try before I get there later.

Looks like my formerly free Thursday night has now been taken up by a business class that Speedy asked me to do. I agreed since it's turning out to be a relatively light week and I figure that I'll have to be meeting those guys from time to time. Plus, my Saturday is gonna be free aside from a session with Tully & The Coffeemaker.

Haven't heard so much as a peep from those two volcanoes which stirred up some alarm a couple of days ago. Hope it stays that way.

Monday February 2, 7:36 p.m.

Good m-o-o-o-r-ning, Mr. Phelps. Your mission, if you should choose to accept it, is to apologize to the world for your emission possible. Good luck, Mike. Yup, not a world-ending disaster for MP smoking MJ...just embarrassing. And he's not gonna lose any of his medals; if there had been any chance of that happening, the US media would've already launched one of the biggest spin doctoring blitzkriegs in history.

Over the last week, we've been getting some rumbles in the Kanto. Nothing too big...just Shindo 3 at most. But then over the past 48 hours, a couple of volcanoes up north started to make their cases known in the form of ash. Even certain wards here in The Big Sushi got dry snow. I'm wondering if something is in the offing. Back on Saturday morning, as I made the commute to Speedy's, I noticed outside that the clouds looked pretty ominous...I mean, these things looked like thunderheads, not formations I would see in the dead of winter. I wonder if these clouds are the granddaddys of jishin gumo (earthquake clouds). Apparently, there is a theory that jishin gumo form like jet vapor trails going straight up from the ground a few days before any fairly major seismic events. Checked out Fuji-TV news on the web...no breaking news items there.

Met up with The Full-Timer at Doutors...and yep, my sweater is fully funky. She has finally pulled the trigger and given in her 2 months' notice at the workplace that has steadily and inexorably turned into a small Hell on Earth. She was feeling like the proverbial suddenly umemployed Atlas...a great burden has been lifted off her shoulders. She could've given a month's notice but decided to cut things off neatly at the end of the fiscal year at the end of March. Good for her, I say. Mind you, she's quitting in the middle of a recession, so I'm not sure when she'll be able to secure a new position and whether she'll have to cut ties with me to save money.

Monday February 2, 4:39 p.m.

My gray sweater is gonna smell so funky by the time I get home that it'll gain sentience. Not only is it Groundhog Day back in Canada & the United States but it's also The Matron's birthday which meant The Lady took us to a spicy lamb hot pot place near her home in deepest Shibuya. Actually, I'd passed the restaurant several times over the months but never knew what it was all about except for a cute sheep's face logo. However, The Lady is sold on it and if she thinks it's good then that's more than good enough for me.

The hot pot was like a lot of the current craze of hot pots...a large pot with a steel divider separating chicken broth from a far more spicier soup. We were then given lots of veggies (lettuce, nappa, lotus root, etc) and a small pile of thinly sliced lamb and pork. Then we all went to work. The Class Act was definitely feeling the heat far more than me; they got full far earlier and were quite a bit more sweatier. I guess I've been weatherproofed from my years with folks such as The Anime King and his Court who used to take to similar places back in Toronto. Still, it was delish and the wrap-up, or shime, was putting two kinds of noodles into the thoroughly flavoured broths. The spicy broth did leave my palate needing some sort of asbestos lining but a bowl of tapioca cooled things off nicely. Of course, the experience did leave a certain aroma into the fibres of my sweater. Of course, I'll be seeing The Full-Timer later today which means a liberal infusion of cigarette smoke and coffee at Doutors, and with the usual perspiration that comes from a day's exertions, I'll probably be able to leave my sweater on the tatami tonight standing straight up. The place was good, though, so I'll probably bring MB and The Satyr if we're ever in the area, and perhaps even The Anime Court when they come over around Golden Week 1.

I gave my olfactory warnings to SIL when I came to see her afterwards but she was graceful enough to state that she could only sense a certain curry-like aroma.

Yesterday I met up with The Bohemian for the first time this year for dinner in Shibuya...yep, same neighbourhood as today. The one weird thing about standing in front of Hachiko this time around was that the area was far less than jam-packed on Sunday than a typical Friday or Saturday. I could actually see the other side of the plaza within my range of vision. Wasn't sure if the economic situation was a factor. The Bohemian took me to a small Chinese restaurant called Goku in that slightly sleazy alley with the S&M shop and the peeping parlour that tenuously links the two diverging streets away from JR Shibuya.

Like that nabe place today, The Bohemian's choice was also right on the money. I'm sure the 3,000-yen all-you-can-drink deal also influenced his decision. Like my old friend, The Iconoclast, The Bohemian tried to use his fractured Chinese to make contact with the Chinese waitress who was perfectly fluent in Japanese. Like The Iconoclast, the waitress couldn't make heads or tails of what he was talking about. Still, the man tried. Although I'm little more than a social drinker, I made sure I got my money's worth by alternating my booze (beer and plum wine on the rocks) with cola. The dishes themselves were great...gyoza and some stir-fry were there and there was a ma bo do fu dish which initially had me wondering....it was nearly black in colour and I had some rather painful times after a similarly coloured ma bo do fu years ago with Paddy in Akasaka...let's say the words bed, bowels, void would've been liberally used to describe that experience. However, to my relief, it was hot and tasty but without any of the Jackass-like results.

The Bohemian has been enjoying his social scene over the past several months. Considering that this is a guy who was one of the earliest folks in Tokyo to get laid off, he's pretty resilient. He's been using the Mixi communities to meet up with new friends. He's been having his greatest successes with the Chinese ones and he even invited me to some gig later this month. He invited me to something next weekend involving a young lady who may or may not become a girlfriend. She's from Manchuria and she's been waitressing at an izakaya while going through school. Not quite sure whether I'll go to either one since I've kinda soured on parties over the last little while. Not surprisingly, The Bohemian struck up the friendship with her while he was a customer at her restaurant. He's never been very shy to talk with the waitresses.

After the two of us split up, I just made a quick drop-in to Tower Records to see if I could pick up anything there. I just bought the latest issue of "Total Film". Did see some blasts from the past show some new releases. The store no longer stocks those 80s compilations since they were frankly languishing on the shelves for the last several months. Those old 80s bands, Go West and ABC, put out some new stuff which didn't sound too bad. I even saw a re-release of "P-Machinery" that that seemingly one-album wonder, Propaganda, from Germany had put out 20 years ago.

Should be a fairly quiet night since I've just got The Full-Timer and Medicine Man. I'll probably be apologizing again for my sweater, though.

Saturday January 31, 1:25 p.m.

Well, it's still pretty busy but it's turning out to be not as nuts. Mr. TOEIC kept it to a single since he was going out to meet his buds in Yokohama for lunch and stuff, and I found out that Mr. Pronounciation has dotakyaned. As for The Bostonian, she had the mask on and was suffering from a really froggy throat. I needled her that she was going through a second puberty (tastefully, of course). Instead of hitting the text, she picked my brain (what little there is) about some of her work stuff. At that point, I was grateful for the Cozy translation assignments since I was able to explain some of her stuff due to the vocabulary I picked up during translations. She also confided that she was nervous about her corporate future due to the massive layoffs that have been taking place. Her old company, NEC, is now giving its axes full reign to lop off 20,000 jobs over the next year.

Ironically, the sun has come out after that mini-typhoon wracked Tokyo this morning.

Saturday January 31, 8:51 a.m.

What am I doing? That was the question I asked myself a few minutes ago. I woke up at the ungodly hour of 6 a.m., got dressed and battled a small typhoon to get here and teach Mr. TOEIC at 9:30 a.m. I got the impression from Bay yesterday that she probably wanted to ask me the same question since both of us had been under the impression that we would open at 11 a.m. Well, since Speedy himself will probably be teaching him next week since I'm off next week and he's asked that TOEIC be available for 11, not 9:30, in no uncertain terms, I'll make sure that TOEIC will be back at 11 and no earlier.

Feeling pretty tense right now...hope I can keep it together for the rest of my lessons today.

Friday January 30, 7:25 p.m.

Well, the question was floating about what could top the event of the first African-American to become the most powerful man in the world. It's apparently been answered...by Iceland. Just read that a woman is set to become the world'sfirst openly gay Premier. I would've said it was time to put on the ABBA CDs but that's back in Sweden, isn't it?

Friday January 30, 6:48 p.m.

Just returned from The Restauranteur's place where I had my dinner; it would seem that 1 or 2 of those Fridays will now be dedicated to Sauteed Garlic Chicken. The restaurant always seems to be empty or largely devoid of customers; it makes me wonder how The Restauranteur and her chef-husband manage to stay in business. Still, I can't complain about the service or the food.

Beforehand, I stopped off at the juku. The boss is still ailing from the flu; she even left a note on the whiteboard in her classroom for The Ace and The Restauranteur. The Restauranteur was asking about her at dinner tonight

I bought a couple of Kyotaro Nishimura novels for Dad since his birthday is coming up. I have to get cards for both him and for The Matron since her b-day is next week. Next Monday, The Lady is supposed to take her and me for lunch at some nabe place in the heart of Shibuya. Hard to imagine someone as polished as The Lady walking through the grunge of Teen Mecca but she was originally born as an Osakan.

It's gonna be a pretty intense session at Speedy's tomorrow with The Bostonian, Mr. Pronounciation, The Businesswoman and The Publicity Agent all smashed in a few hours. Luckily, Mr. TOEIC had decided to go with a single lesson instead of the doubles he's been pulling off recently. At least, I'll get a 90-minute respite before the tidal wave comes in, and I can get some stuff started for Cozy's next translation. I did get that last one in right at noon. I've got a feeling that Bay isn't too thrilled about coming in early in the morning for Mr. TOEIC; well, I can guarantee that I'm not all that excited about having to come out from Chiba on a weekend morning either but there you go.

Friday January 30, 8:16 a.m.

Well, I see that the Illinois lawmakers voted unanimously to oust their governor, Blagojevich. Not surprisingly, it's Breaking News on CNN. Everyone should have their day in court, but to be honest, this guy always struck me as being like Robert DeNiro's take on Al Capone from "The Untouchables": cocky, smarmy...and perhaps dangerous. And it didn't help that he and his wife were caught on tape stating some pretty "Godfather"-like stuff.

Friday January 30, 7:52 a.m.

It looks like the first month of this year will be ending on a depressing note. Experiencing Vancouver weather right now with the rains coming in today and tomorrow. So much for the customary tourist info about Tokyo Januarys being cold but clear and sunny.

My stint with The Carolinan at the Excelsior Caffe last night turned out to be the last one. Not that The Carolinan is leaving me or anything; it's just that the Caffe itself closed up its sliding doors for good at 8 p.m. That would explain the full crowd; I had to have my coffee al fresco at one of the outdoor tables. Luckily, I've been weatherproofed from my years in Toronto. The Carolinan came by a half-hour later, looking somewhat alarmed that I had been sitting outside. I reassured her that I was perfectly warm in my long coat. I'd spent that half-hour looking over the latest Cozy translation. Doesn't look great but today is the deadline. The Carolinan and I ended up going a few doors down to the Caffe Veloce...not the greatest place to have a lesson in her estimation because of the crowds, but I never thought that the late Excelsior Caffe branch was all that peaceful either. She seemed a bit moody at points in the lesson; I'm not sure if it had been the fact that her recommended coffee shop was going belly-up or the fact that she saw me supposedly freezing outside but she's gotten that way at times so I'm used to it.

For dinner, I ended up going to Foo Foo for the first time this year since it was only a 5-minute walk away. I can always get a seat there even if it's the height of rush hour and even if it's in JR Shinjuku. I had the regular tan tan men, and not the pai ko tan tan men (with the added slice of deep-fried pork). And actually, I appreciated the relatively lower-calorie ramen better. Maybe I'm getting older. But then again, I switched from rosu tonkatsu to the less fatty hire tonkatsu some years ago.

Managed to zip through all of the remaining eps from Season 2 of "Robot Chicken" before bedtime last night. It was fun to watch, or hear to be more accurate, Scarlett Johannsen and even Charlize Theron just swearing away with abandon.

I was back up with the cats and crows to head over here to teach Miss Prissy. I got the word from our newest staffer, Bay (goes well with Ray and AK), that Swank had cancelled her lesson. Well, I'm out a hunk of money then but I get to not panic about getting that Cozy translation handed in today, and I can also work on tonight's lesson with The Restauranteur.

Looks like that honeymoon for President Obama didn't even last as long as a real honeymoon. All of the Republicans rejected his economic stimulus plan, although it still passed the House due to the Democratic majority. I think that the slap in the face was a show that the Republican Party is trying to get its act together and to tell Obama that they aren't feeling cowed by the cult of Obamism...as well they shouldn't, although they may want to be careful about the electorate. And the journalists may also be starting to get on him a bit...as well they should. I saw CNN's Campbell Brown hammering at him for reneging on his pledge not to use lobbyists in any shape. Apparently the new Treasury Secretary has been clamoring to have a former lobbyist as his chief assistant. I think the problem for the new Prez is that all of the appropriate guys in the government probably have had to dip their hands into the pie at some time or other. Again, my biggest worry is that Obama may end up being like Jimmy Carter or some other form of paper tiger.

Anyways, Speedy's student should be coming in any second now.

Thursday January 29, 12:23 p.m.

Trying to get through a translation assignment while prepping for Miss Sedona's class in about 20 minutes. Then, there are those 3 high school essays that I have to comment on. I can't even touch the 2nd half of Swank's lesson until tomorrow since there's been a cap put on the number of hours put on a day.

Ray informed me that Mr TOEIC has decided to go with just a single instead of a double (this is lessons I'm talking about, not whiskey) on Saturday. Ahh...I see he's seen the light. Well, a bit of respite.

MB tried calling me last night but I was frankly too weary to pick up and insist that I come on out to his school for a look-see. So, instead he called me this morning...says that it would be a personal favour to him if I came out to the school and see what I was missing. I internally sighed and said that I would go in a couple of weeks. But the school had better offer me a darn good apartment if I were even to get slightly interested in teaching teens again. And the potential cost to the rest of my private business would be enormous. And I know that Speedy and the juku boss wouldn't be very happy.

Looks like The Bohemian and I will be getting together for a yakiniku dinner on Sunday in Shibuya.

Wednesday January 28, 7:17 p.m.

I made some good progress on the latest of the Cozy translations. Hopefully, I may be even able to have it ready to go just before I head on out to see The Carolinan tomorrow afternoon. I was even able to go through some more high school essays and plan for The Diver's lesson in an hour. She's on her very last paid lesson, by the way. Not sure which way she's gonna go...she was making noises about not having too much money to scatter about.

Grandma FON called up to state that she's cancelling her lesson tomorrow morning due to a cold...which means I'll have the rare situation of just two lessons and the ability to get home early. So, it'll just be Miss Sedona and The New Yorker.

Wednesday January 28, 1:38 p.m.

Well, met up with The Admin for the first time in over a year at the nearby restaurant at about 11. She was doing as chipper as usual although she admitted to some stress due to the rigours of her business. She may no longer be a colleague but she's now one of my students; she wanted to upgrade her vocabulary and general practice in English. Paid me in advance for the next several weeks, too. Not bad.

I got a rather terse reply from Movie Buddy about his "offer" of employment at his high school for which I'd declined. Just a thanks for my reply. I know he's disappointed but I hope he's not ticked off about it. Again, I would rather go back to the late, unlamented NOVA than teach a class of teenagers.

I'm here several hours early before my lone class at Speedy's with The Diver but I'll be busy not only preparing for her but also getting through some Cozy translations and prepping for another round with Swank. Hump Day is back.

Wednesday January 27, 9:28 p.m.

Finished another round at the juku tonight. The boss' husband did the honours of bringing over the night's coffee since the boss herself was conked out with the flu. Pretty good, may I add. The Traveler didn't show up at all and hasn't called in to say anything...which could mean anything at this point. The Milds did show up; their nephew had just had his wedding at Tokyo Disneyland of all places, which must've thrilled the women no end. They told me that Mickey, Donald and Goofy all showed up in an epic backpatting session. Mr. Mild's post-retirement education continues apace. He showed me photos of his brick and cinderblock walls from one of his DIY classes. He also has a kanji test coming up next Sunday. I showed him my 25-year-old kanji dictionary. He said that he could read the final, most difficult kanji in my book. His stuff, though, would put most professors to shame in its complexity. I asked him to bring that test in....I think this would be the environs for The Siberian...probably the King of Kanji in this country.

Heard that Heath Ledger got his posthumous awards for The Joker at the SAG and Golden Glober awards. Hmm...I think it's now possible that he could grab the Oscar; would be the first posthumous win in one of the major categories since Peter Finch in 1975 for "Network". This could be the year that superhero movies may finally get its legitimacy...Best Supporing Actor is probably gonna go to a supervillain while the show itself is being hosted by a superhero. If only Robert Downey, Jr. had been nommed for "Ironman".

Tuesday January 27, 7:08 p.m.

Well, The Traveler has yet to show up and it's now almost 10 minutes past the hour. She's only been with us for a few lessons but she's usually been on time or early. And the juku boss just called but couldn't reach her on her cellphone. Hmmm....not a good sign. Usually I would think that she's flown the coop like a number of others like Miss Disney or Seven, but I didn't get the impression that things weren't going well. She usually comes by motorcycle, so I'm a bit worried there.

Suzanne did come in for her 90 minutes. I almost put on the counselor's cap but it didn't quite that deep today. However, she will be heading for Australia once more in a couple of weeks to have another thinking time about her future. As for the juku boss, it ended up that she'd caught the flu from a kid yesterday which explains the visit to the hospital. She had the mask on and seemed rather frail today when she came in halfway through Suzanne's lesson . She's now sleeping downstairs although she was kind enough to try to make contact with The Traveler.

Well, I guess at this rate, it'll just be The Milds and then I'll be off for home.

Tuesday January 27, 4:17 p.m.

Took my shower last night and did the laundry this morning...no major cursing from downstairs, no emergency visits from Friday and Gannon. It looks like the new system is holding. The duct tape around the veranda tap has managed to keep the hose on, and the extension hose to the drain seems to be working well as well. It's just that the bottom of my washing machine is leaking...may have to get a huge sponge to lap that up.

At the Beehive session today, I told Mrs Travel and Mrs Alp of the mishap on Sunday. Mrs Travel, like the Full-Timer last night, also had a similar situation years ago. But unlike The Full-Timer, she and her family were lucky to have some very patient neighbours downstairs. We never got to the Obama Inaugural Speech; ended up just gabbing about Mrs. Tee's jewelry and how she doesn't show them to her husband.

Ended up coming home for lunch since I wanted to give Cozy's latest translation assignment the once-over. I also had a chance to take my first gander at the "Robot Chicken" DVD set that I'd bought last year. It had the gem of a "Dragonball Xmas" and the downright nasty "Unicorn and Nerd" sketch. Really haven't seen anything of regular Japanese TV since I got back here, with the exception of NHK news...after several years, I think I've finally weaned myself off of it, although I could always suffer a relapse.

The juku boss left me a message stating that she had to go to the hospital again, and so I let myself in. I hope it's just a regular check and not something of an emergency. It's been a bit eerie how some of the close people I know have ended up in the emergency ward over the past few months.

Monday January 26, 7:24 p.m.

Well, it was a Sunday to remember...although not because of the Bond movie and not for a good reason. I was just 30 minutes away from heading out for Shinjuku to meet with the guys there for "Quantum of Solace" when I got two phone calls...one was from my real estate agency asking whether there was some sort of water leak in my apartment. The only place I could think of was on the veranda where my washing machine is located since the hose connecting the water supply to the machine often tends to spurt loose. Then 5 minutes later comes a phone call from a home services company which is on retainer with the agency telling me they have to make an emergency check of my apartment for leaks.

Some minutes later, a couple of middle-aged guys in coveralls come up looking like Sgt. Friday and Sgt. Gannon from "Dragnet" and proceeded to tell me the horror story that my downstairs neighbour made a frantic call to the agency stating that his apartment was flooded due to some leak emanating from upstairs. Well, I probably did blanch at that thought since Joe Friday suddenly came out of his "Just the facts" pose and turned into everyone's favourite uncle and reassured me that this wasn't my fault. Still, I got a chill down my back as he was gabbing with the agency guy and quoted a 120,000-yen job. Friday and Gannon proceeded to look at the potential trouble spots. They checked out the veranda and quickly concluded that that wasn't the problem, although Gannon got to work at cleaning up the drain there. Friday took a look under my sink and after a bit of digging found the culprit there as a bad pipe. That bad pipe was apparently responsible for inadvertently turning my neighbour's place into a swamp.

Joe gave me a rather serious and sage look (I could almost hear the first few bars of the "Dragnet" theme) and said that they would have to pull apart the sink for a day's work to correct the problem. In the meantime, they would have to shut off the water supply for the rest of the day and night until they came back the next morning. Joe gave me his card; it turned out he was the president of his little home services company. And he was good about it...I had to go and meet MB. Other folks would've said that there was no time for that and that they would have to get to work on the double. But Joe said that they would be back the next morning; besides, the water was turned off...there could be no more damage.

The craziest thing though..and luckiest (so far)...was that the downstairs neighbour didn't come up to even talk about the situation. At one point, yesterday afternoon, Friday and Gannon and I had to step outside to check out the water line for my apartment, so the guy could've seen me and come out to eviscerate me (verbally or literally). Even though Friday told me I wasn't at fault, I wouldn't have blamed my neighbour if he wanted to use me as a punching bag for dousing his futon (and those are pretty much useless once they get very wet). But to be honest, I'm not even sure who my neighbour is. There was one meeting between me and a downstairs neighbour several years ago...all of one second...when one of my shirts accidentally flew down to his veranda. He was a salaryman who quickly came up to my place, handed me the shirt, mumbled something and then took off in his suit. There was another situation for the same reason but at that time, he just hung my clothing in a plastic bag on the doorknob after I'd left him a note in his mailbox. It's conceivably possible that this was the same guy although aside from me, most of the tenants tend to come and go with the seasons in my apartment block. But it would explain why he didn't bother to come out to talk. Maybe he knows that what happened wasn't my fault and I'm not the type to go around flooding neighbours out of their apartments. In any case, I am very grateful although for the next several days, I'll probably be walking up very quietly to my apartment and getting nervous whenever I do the dishes, use the toilet or shower, and wash my clothes. I still think I might get ambushed.

I was in a bit of a daze as I took the subway over to Shinjuku. I actually got to the theatre ten minutes into "Quantum of Solace"...just when James Bond started his chase of the MI6 turncoat. Surprisingly, I was able to find my seat at the Picadilly in the dark although I may have stepped on the toes of The Satyr, Miss Ivory and Frodo on the way. I now had an enhanced reason to watch the movie since I needed a good dose of escapism to drown (oops, bad choice of words) my sorrows. The movie pretty much succeeded at that...a balance of hard-hitting action and espionage exposition which made it feel even fuller than its length as the shortest 007 flick ever. I felt rather badly for MB since he waited for me down at the ticket booth level until the movie had already started...and he's the biggest Bond fan in the country.

The verdict on the movie was that it was an enjoyable romp although The Satyr pointed out that the herky-jerky editing that seems to be in vogue now for these action movies was plaguing this one as well. MB must've liked it since he said he would see it again...in full. And I may do the same. Amazingly, MB's wife, The Sylph, managed to pull off a nap in her seat.

Skippy was also there, and she had her own little tale of woe over the Holidays. Apparently, she'd collapsed in her apartment...luckily, while her boyfriend was there...due to internal bleeding (!!). Well, five days later, she was let out but with no clear explanation for the gusher inside...not a good sign. I noticed that she and the juku boss exhibited some similar signs. Both have outsized ebullience, both have had serious medical surprises and both have had their personalities magnify. Skippy was just bounding all over the place during dinner and dessert. I have a feeling that both ladies are just celebrating the fact that they're still alive.

We had dinner at a burger place in Hatsudai, near Opera City, called Base. The burgers there were pretty good although they still didn't quite hit the heights of Brozzers. We ended up going to Denny's for dessert...the annual strawberry festival was on. They talked about one of the trailers which happened to be for the Hollywood version of Hachiko...I'd seen the report of this a year ago on CNN. Richard Gere is supposed to be the kindly-but-soon-to-be-dead professor/master of Hachiko the faithful dog. Surprisingly, only The Satyr groaned.

I started my new life as a waterless person by brushing my teeth in the subway station washroom and then bought a couple of bottles of mineral water from the conbini. I tiptoed up the stairs to my apartment...ironically, my neighbour's lights were on. My slightly disheveled kitchen reminded me of what had to come pass earlier in the afternoon. And what continued to make my day a Sunday to remember was when MB called me up asking if I would consider taking a job teaching at his girls' high school. Apparently, The Satyr has found somewhat more fulfilling work elsewhere. MB and I bantered the discussion back and forth for half an hour, although I made my point clear in the first 5 minutes that I was allergic to teens; he really must need somebody. Along with the fact that I don't like kids, there was the fact that I don't look upon my JET days with any great pride and also the fact that his school is way beyond Speedy's area...and I had my share of commuting hell teaching my two of my first freelance students out where MB lives now. I was considerate to him, though...I said I would mull it over although I already knew I would say NO. I just have to decline it later tonight.

I took my MASH-like sponge bath with half a bottle of heated mineral water...prayed that I didn't need to go to the washroom in the middle of the night and hit bed while playing The Carpenters on the Discman...really needed Karen and Richard last night. "Rainy Days and Mondays" took on an even bigger significance.

Woke up this moring at 6:30 because I had that tingle. Put on the clothes, put the toothbrush and paste in my coat pocket and walked the 10 minutes to the closest public washroom by the station and ended up having McBreakfast. Just thought what the day would bring. 90 minutes later, I got my answer in the form of two new plumbers from the same company as Friday and Gannon. I think these guys were Adam-12. In any case, I was surprised to find out how easy it was to remove the sink from the kitchen wall. I was dreading some sledgehammer work, but all it was just a tug and the unit came out fine. However, there would be a few hours of hammering and drilling as they took out the errant pipe and put in a sparkling silvery one. Friday and Gannon actually also showed up near the end to take a look at the work which actually only took 3 hours instead of the whole-day experience that Friday had warned me about the day before. Perhaps, he was using the Scotty principle of overestimating the work time by a factor of 4. In any case, I just did some ironing and then read through several pages of "The DC Comics Encyclopedia" when at 11, Adam-12 proclaimed the work was done. When I went back into the kitchen, it looked like noone had even touched it. I asked about payment, but they said they didn't know anything about it...sounded ominous, although I've got a feeling that my real estate agency will be picking up the tab since Friday did say that it wasn't my fault. In any case, I've also got insurance so I'm still covered.

The Sunday craziness taken care of (although I'm still waiting for my neighbour to come at me with a Tomahawk), I took off for Daiei to pick up some stuff to add on the cleanup that Gannon had kindly done on the veranda yesterday. I got some electrical duct tape and an extension hose for the washing machine as Friday had advised me. Stuck the hose on and then wrapped the duct tape over the tap and tube leading to the machine.

I actually have classes today. I had The Full-Timer; told her about Sunday. She was surprised that I hadn't gotten a furious neighbour going for my blood. Apparently, her family had been the target of wrath from their downstairs neighbour when a similar thing had occurred years ago. I should be so lucky.

Now, it'll be Medicine Man in less than an hour. I've gotten some more proofreading and translation courtesy of Cozy. And I was surprised to get a lot more in my pay packet than I'd been expecting...since I was off a lot of the last month back home. Well, maybe some of that will be going for an extra futon for my downstairs neighbour if he threatens it. Still, the whole sordid tale will be one for my niece when she's old enough.

Saturday January 24, 12:24 p.m.

Finished with Mr. TOEIC who's currently Yahoo'ing something on the laptop. During the lesson, we were rather surprised when we saw a sudden flurry of snow whipping by outside. It lasted all of 10 minutes but it was something to behold in a town not known for any sort of white precipitation. As for Mr. TOEIC himself, he was having a little more trouble than usual trying to get his words out accurately. It was almost as if I were dealing with The Diver.

The next time I get that "Woe is me" feeling, I just have to remind myself of a Brazilian model, all of 20, who's had to have her extremities amputated along with her stomach because of some horrible disease.

Saturday January 24, 9:04 a.m.

Back at the salt mines a bit early today since I've got Mr. TOEIC in about 45 minutes. Even on early Saturday mornings, the subways, though not packed like sardines like during the weekdays, are still devoid of free seats...at least on the notorious Tozai. However, I was lucky on the Marunouchi since that's full only for the weekday commuters.

I've got just the three guys today: TOEIC, The Intellectual and Mr. Pronounciation. The only thing is that they're spread out over the day so I'll be here until past 5. A bit of a drag but at least the down time will provide me with an opportunity to get some more material made up for Swank's next class.

I've been going through Season Six of "Family Guy". Peter Griffin's take on "Shipoopi" from "The Music Man" has been burrowing through my brain like Brachonid larvae through a caterpillar. I've actually got some free time tonight after work so I'll probably burrow through some more.

Friday January 23, 8:42 p.m.

I'm feeling pretty knotty right now but I finally got that translation off to The Corner. Hopefully, it'll basically past muster. At least I'll only have to worry about tomorrow's classes at Speedy's instead of trying to race through a translation.

The Ace is running late so he'll just have the half-hour tonight. No particular probs. I kinda figured that he may not be able to make it out early.

Friday January 23, 1:28 p.m.

Well, sent off the bill to Cozy, do the meatball surgery version of translating The Corner's stuff and finish marking those high school essays. Just gotta type up The Corner's stuff at the juku and then send that off.

Talked with The Admin last night on the phone. It was the first time I had a chance to talk with her since she'd left Speedy's well over a year ago. She had been interested in taking private lessons with me for some time but apparently could never get around to it until now. She's keeping this on the QT from Speedy, probably to prevent the same thing that hit the fan between me and 002 last year, although she was never aware of that kerfuffle. I said I would meet her on Wednesday morning or afternoon since that's really the only open time I've got left on my schedule, and even then, she's gonna have to move over for Grandma Enka on the first Wednesday of the month.

I see that the Oscar nominations came in last night. Heath Ledger did get his nomination for "The Dark Knight" as did Robert Downey Jr for "Tropic Thunder". I guess Tom Cruise's dancing didn't quite bowl the Academy over. Still, it was nice to see Scientology's most famous disciple showing that he can still bust a move some 25 years after "Risky Business".

Friday January 23, 11:15 a.m.

For a Friday, it's feeling a whole lot like Hump Day. I've gotta hand in my translations for the Corner, then get back some marked high school essays to Speedy, and then take care of the three lessons for Swank, The Ace and The Restauranteur. Nope, not quite President Obama's schedule, but still... Speaking of whom, I saw that little awkward moment when VP Biden's mouth got the best of him at that swearing-in ceremony for the White House staff. Barack must've been second-guessing his choice as running mate at that point by the look on his face. Then again, I think I'm probably more like ol' Joe than Barry.

Went over to Akiba and had my dinner at the kaiten sushi on top of Yodobashi Camera. I realize I could ask for whatever sushi I wanted but still I was disappointed in the lack of variety going on the conveyor belt. Then, I went downstairs to check out the digital cameras. The cheapest they had was going for close to 20,000 yen. The neighbourhood Yamada Denki has gotten something for almost half the price so I'll probably go along with them.

MB got back to me about "Quantum of Solace". It'll be a late-afternoon gig followed by another round in the Burger Tour.

Thursday January 22, 11:15 a.m.

It's kinda nice not having to come in bleary-eyed in the morning...although it is too bad that Grandma Dynamite has been ailing so. I'll be having Grandma FON in about 15 minutes and then Miss Sedona before I head on out to see The New Yorker in Ichigaya once more. It's been raining off and on for the past 12 hours. Definitely feels like normal Vancouver out there. Speedy is off to the local city office to beg for money since apparently PM Aso has started giving financial helping hands to small and medium-sized enterprises.

Will be heading out to Akiba once I finish with The New Yorker for the first time in over a month. I've been kinda looking out for a cheap digital camera. I saw one at the neighbourhood Yamada Denki yesterday but just wanna see if anything in Akiba can beat that price of 11,000 yen. Plus, I'm in the mood for kaiten sushi.

Wednesday January 21, 9:38 p.m.

Just the evening classes but they've been concentrated. 001 was chock full of laughter after a somewhat lackadaisical session last week, but it was pretty intense with The Diver. Not quite a reversion back to baby steps but she hasn't mastered a lot of the basics....and she's on her last lesson next week. Not sure how that's gonna go. Luckily (or unluckily...would like to go home at a decent hour), The Fashion Designer has called in to say that she'll be 20 minutes late. Well, at least, I don't have The Smile or Grandma Dynamite early in the morning...I can be more leisurely coming in tomorrow.

Wednesday January 21, 5:25 p.m.

Well, I witnessed all of the pomp and circumstance last night leading up to the 44th President putting his hand on the Lincoln Bible and saying, "I, Barack Hussein Obama..." at 2 a.m. JST. I'd never seen an entire Inauguration Ceremony before...just saw bits and pieces live while saving the rest as highlights. But I would have been damned not to see this one. And I certainly wasn't disappointed with the crowds...although there was far fewer than the 3 million predicted to come, there was nothing wrong with having 1.5 million all along the Mall. It was still a stirring sight. The big highlight was seeing President-elect Obama placing his hand on the bible and getting sworn in, thus dropping the "-elect" part, and even a linguistic fumble by the Chief Justice couldn't obscure the history laden in "The Moment". As for the speech, it wasn't Obama's most soaring one but then again in these times, there is nothing wrong with a relatively quietly reassuring word instead of something wholly pithy. I think it was more than enough to see an African-American taking the Oath of Office on the steps of a place that had been built by slaves more than 150 years ago.

As I said, I caught all this in the wee hours of the morning, so I couldn't see the parade on Pennsylvania Avenue live but was happy to see the highlight reel this morning. The CNN coverage was still going on like a telethon; last time I saw it before leaving the apartment had the President and the First Lady dancing at two of the ten balls they were supposed to be attending.

After two years of the most historic campaign in US history, it's now time to see if Barack Obama can actually get down to business and, even more importantly, if he can actually succeed.

Tuesday January 20, 12:59 p.m.

Well, it's Inauguration Day...or it will be in a couple of hours Eastern Standard Time. The significance of the moment is not lost on the Japanese media. NHK and Fuji-TV at least are planning to have live coverage from the wee hour of 1:40 a.m. tomorrow of Obama's swearing-in. Today's session with the Beehive was pretty rousing with everyone just throwing new vocab at each other concerning the Inauguration. I've been lucky so far since I don't have any classes scheduled tomorrow until 001's night class. I'll be having a similar session with Suzanne since she told me last week that she's pretty interested in these sorts of events.

Nearly had a problem getting to Tsudanuma this morning when I saw a massive crowd of people at the entrance of my station. Apparently, there was a signal problem at Nakano Station on the Tozai Line which shut down any traffic in either direction. I had to give a call to Mrs. Alp just in case I'm late or not coming. But within a few minutes, the crowds suddenly flowed into the station like an unplugged bathtub drain. Mrs. Jade informed me that there was a problem on her line when the train overshot the platform by a good 300 m. Some conductor probably got the chewout of his career.

Monday January 19, 7:30 p.m.

Met up with The Full-Timer at the usual place...smoky Doutors. Full house there which meant full smoke. I think she was having a problem with her allergies. We traded gifts; my calendar and maple cookies to her and then a bag of whitebait with peanuts from her in care of her family New Year trip to Hong Kong. It was a miracle that she could get accomodations during that time and as it turned out, her family got housed in a dumpy hotel above a duty-free shop. At least, they got their money's worth in terms of food, such as the delectable Shanghai Crab. I would love to go back to HK...that is, if I can scrounge up the money. Don't think that I'll be going there anytime soon.

Heard rumours that President Obama may come over to Japan as early as this year. I can only imagine all of the hullabaloo that would follow his arrival. It would be a Second Coming on the order of Princess Diana's trip here 20 years ago. Obama City would absolutely demand or beg an audience with the Change man. But with an unstable leadership here in this country and the fact that the new Prez will be enormously busy saving the world, I think that trip will probably stay a rumour.

Monday January 19, 5:23 p.m.

The first day of the first full week since getting back from the Holidays. Not too bad a feeling; and certainly the weather has been cooperating. A really balmy 16 degrees C and sunny. I can get used to that.

Being a Monday, I had The Class Act for the first time in more than a month. The Matron stayed in Tokyo for New Year's while The Lady and her family did the usual pilgrimage over to Hawaii. Like everyone else there over the Holidays, they had to contend with power outages. However, with a President-elect there, the powers-that-be made sure that the electricity was back on ASAP. The Lady finally used the big "D" word to describe the breakup between her daughter and her son-in-law. We won't be meeting next Monday due to family obligations on The Lady's part but a week later, the three of us will be hitting some restaurant nearby for lunch to celebrate The Matron's birthday. I'll have to think of some sort of gift for The Matron since her family has been good to me over the years.

Had a good rap session with SIL as well. Usually I get a bit dozy even with the proffered coffee but this time, the two of us were catching up on a month's worth of news. We covered everybody from Barack to the late Ai Iijima to that Chuo University professor murder. I think we should have our own daily show.

Back at Speedy's. I met AK for the first time this year. We gabbed a bit on our respective holidays. I've got The Full-Timer and then Medicine Man. Hopefully, I'll have some more time between lessons to get further on those translations from The Corner. I printed out stuff about the Inauguration for The Beehive who'll have us working on his acceptance speech from November. I also made the same printout for Suzanne since she showed a keen interest in this event.

Yup, looks like Barack Obama's Inauguration (or should I say, Coronation?) is taking on epic proportions...even more epic than would be usual for a US Presidential Inauguration. Washington D.C. has basically sealed itself off from the rest of the States for security reasons for what could garner more ratings than the best Super Bowl game ever played. It seems to be kismet with a capital K that Martin Luther King Jr. Day is just before Inauguration Day.

I've now been going through Season Six of "Family Guy". Man, that show can sometimes even outdo "South Park" in terms of hilarious vulgarity. But Seth McFarlane can really come up with some great show tunes.

Finally caught "Holiday Inn" last night on the DVD. I'd seen bits and pieces of it over the years but it was the first time that I'd caught it whole. Yep, I'm well aware that it has the very first rendition of "White Christmas" on the big screen. What I was surprised about was that it had so much whimsy in it. Around the usual cheerfully unbelievable premise of Der Bingle open up a hotel only for national holidays, I got to see Fred Astaire as a gleefully dirty, rotten scoundrel trying to screw Bing every which way, a number of special effects including an animated turkey battling the calendar, and a meta-scene of a film of "Holiday Inn" within the movie itself. Too bad I didn't get the copy with a commentary on it.

Sunday January 18, 2:02 p.m.

Just finished knocking off those translations for Cozy. He tried to get me at 9 last night but I said that I probably wouldn't make that time getting home and he had some plans soon afterward. Still, I fulfilled my duty by coming over to an empty Speedy's.

Around this time yesterday, as I was getting ready for The Businesswoman's lesson, there was a bit of a Keystone Kops farce going on outside in the outer office...and the lobby. Speedy has been interviewing prospective teachers for lessons that neither he nor I could do for the past few days. The 2nd guy in line for the interview caused a bit of an uproar with the superintendant of the building when he screwed up the intercom to let him in and then proceeded to try to force open the door in the lobby...which was the door to the super's apartment. The nimrod could've used his cellphone to contact Speedy upstairs, but no, he had to stir up Hell. The super was far from pleased and gave an earful to Speedy; the super and the nimrod ended up in a "Lost In Translation" situation with neither speaking the other's language although a lot of confused, angry communication took place. Basically, Speedy had to rush down from his interview with the first guy to sort out the situation and then apologize profusely to the super. Not exactly a great day for him. Nimrod looked rather forlorn as he sat out in the outer office while Speedy ended the first interview; I'm sure he was thinking that he lost any chance at a job with us. Speedy pretty much reached that conclusion last night.

Movie Buddy contacted me about getting together for "Quantum of Solace" next Sunday. Yep, the flick is just gonna reach these shores next Saturday. Looks like I'll be getting a bunch of souvenirs ready for he, The Satyr and Skippy. I gave my calendars to Tully & The Coffeemaker this morning. Had a good session with those two.

Now, as I finish this, I'll be heading back home before the rains come in to see if I can get one of those plastic binnies for storage at the neighbourhood Daiei now that I've got room in the apartment.

Almost finished the Linehan bio. The book seemed to cleave away into four sections: the life of the Linehan family in Hamilton when Brian grew up, Brian Linehan the legendary interviewer and his jetsetting years, the Zane Wegman suicide, and then Linehan's doomed battle with cancer. Did get some insight into suicide and dying from it.

It may just be a cold weekend here in The Big Sushi, but over in the States, it's Obama Weekend. I've never seen such a big media deal made over the inauguration of a president, even a US president. I think CNN should just change its first letter for the next few days to "O". Well, I shouldn't be that sassy. I'm planning to be up at 2 a.m. Wednesday morning to see Barack take the Oath of Office. I'm just praying that neither The Nurse nor any other student will be making any lesson requests on Hump Day. I may even consider stating to the bossman that I won't be available on Wednesday.

Anyways, ready to head on home.

Saturday January 17, 11:04 a.m.

Here for another round of lessons at Speedy's. Fairly chilly here...which would translate as frigid for Tokyoites. I would transplant all 14 million of them over to Toronto right now and then they would realize what COLD really was.

I'm reaching the end of Brian Linehan's biography written by his good friend, George Anthony. I guess the best two words I could use to describe the late interviewer is "Glorious Bastard"...as an indirect crack at Quentin Tarentino's upcoming movie. He was a great guy to see in his element but probably someone I would end up avoiding like a plague outside. I could only imagine that perhaps someday someone might be tempted to make a made-for-TV movie of this guy...only in Canada, though.

Walking through the darkness of old Urayasu where the juku is located, I've been noticing that things have been getting a bit seedier there of late. The area has always had that inner city sheen about it, especially compared to the relative luxury of new Urayasu which is closer to Tokyo Disneyland. But on Tuesday, Suzanne and I heard a brief but intense argument outside the house and on my way walking to the juku, a couple of ladies were having a major fight on the sidewalk. And of course, the area around Urayasu Station at night is pretty raucous with kids. Not gonna say that the neighbourhood is approaching Times Square circa 1980 or even Kabukicho but I am noticing.

Friday January 16, 6:45 p.m.

The two-hour session with Swank was pretty relaxed though she still got an educational workout. As it turns out, she won't be taking the Eiken 1 test at the end of the month after all since she feels that she couldn't devote enough time for study so the next time will be June. Either she'll be hanging out with us at Speedy's for another half-year, or she'll be saying goodbye in a couple of weeks.

Had dinner at the usual Urayasu family restaurant and then I popped up here at the juku. The juku boss did some mock panicking at the fact that I'd come so early. I recall sometime last year that I arrived a little past 8 and she almost accused me of being later than usual. Just can't satisfy women.

Now that I've got a chunk of tatami space where there used to be a beaten-down sofa, I've gotta think about the storage space that I'd like to put down there along with one of those low-to-the-ground recliners. It certainly felt a a bit weird this morning sitting down.

Speedy attended that wingding at The Hotel New Otani (where I used to teach The Class Act before I went freelance) for the Prime Minister of Ireland. He was never sure why he had been given his golden invitation. STill, he went and tried to schmooze as best he could. I gather that his work for study-abroad programmes in the Emerald Isle didn't go unnoticed. Still, he felt like a fifth wheel there. I can sympathize...before I started the custom of bringing an entourage to The Lady's Xmas parties, I didn't feel too in place there.

I'm making some headway on that translation for The Corner. I've yet to hear from Cozy about my submission for his translation request. I remember him telling me that there may be a lot more to come my way...it is approaching tax season, after all.

Friday January 16, 7:55 a.m.

Yep, here bright and early. Already feel like I need another 3-week vacation. I think I did put down as one of my New Year's Resolutions that I would try to get myself out of these late night-early morning transitions...don't think that's gonna happen anytime soon. Unless my translation gigs get really enormous so that I can actually take a sabbatical from Speedy's. However, I did successfully carry out one Resolution...well, half of it anyways...as soon as I got home...past midnight...I wrestled out one of my two sofas all the way downstairs to the garbage pick-up zone. I had been thinking about doing it first thing this morning but I think it was far better to get it over with last night. Not exactly the easiest thing to do and I was worried that someone would decide to make off with it overnight but it was still there when I left the apartment at the crazy hour of 6 a.m. It was just too cold last night for anyone to go for free furniture, I guess. There has been a penchant for folks to rummage around to see if they can find some freebies...not just used manga. At this time, the sodaigomi people should have picked up my compressed furniture by now. As I left, I gave the sofa the gold-watch equivalent of a pat.

Speaking of interior transitions, the White House is now down to its last 4 days before Bush goes and Obama comes. The Inauguration of the Century seems to be taking on Hollywood proportions in the pomp and (dire) circumstances that the US is going through right now. President no. 44 is facing a Middle East crisis, a belligerent Russia, the usual threats from Muslim extremists, a couple of embarrassments in his Cabinet picks, and of course, the global economic meltdown. However, it looks like the first First Lady in American history to get a key Cabinet position will be doing so. And what got my eyes opened was hearing that Obama may be tapping Dr. Sanjay Gupta to be his Surgeon-General. Not sure if this is true news or not but if the telegenic Dr. Gupta does become Top Doc, he'll be the most famous one since his mug has been popping up almost daily on CNN.

As for me today, I've just got my usual students in the form of Prissy, the Eiken student and the bunch at the juku tonight. I'll be properly exhausted by tonight. Just grateful that Mr. TOEIC has officially switched his lesson to the last slot tomorrow instead of first thing in the morning.

Did break my first resolution of not going to McDonalds by having McBreakfast there this morning. However, I'll still hold off as long as I can from having Big Macs. And in any case, I figure if you're gonna load up on empty calories, you can do so for breakfast. Pretty nice rationalization.

Thursday January 15, 9:04 p.m.

Well, I was able to get that translation rush job done for Cozy. Hopefully, it passes muster but I think there will be a bit of a discussion back-and-forth before it's finally accepted. I've yet to really get into The Corner's translations; I may have to come in on the Sunday to get that done.

I went down to the Excelsior Cafe in Shinjuku to see The Carolinan. She's lost weight since I saw her back in mid-December. I've only got Medicine Man tonight and then I have to get back home to throw out one of my two sofas. Yes, after 14 years of good use and a lowering of several centimetres, it's time to make some more space in the living room. Paid my large-garbage payment stamps (was surprised that it doesn't cost all that much to pitch a sofa out...just 2,000 yen). But I'll be struggling to bring down the two parts early in the morning since I'll probably be groggy, and I have to be out and on the subway by around 6:30 a.m.

The big news here today is about a stabbing death of a professor at one of the big universities in Tokyo. And it happened on campus in one of the buildings which has gotten the students there pretty nervous. I have a feeling that this isn't a random act, though...maybe it was an ex-student with a grudge.

I managed to track down that YouTube video of the Vocaloid version of The Ielvan Polka that The Anime King had introduced during my Xmas vacation. Apparently, the tune originally came from one of the Nordic countries. Well, it's managed to insinuate itself into my brain like termites in a wooden house.

Thursday January 15, 4:33 p.m.

I've been doing a rush job for Cozy. I told him that I would probably be able to get it back to him on Friday or Saturday, but with a bit of luck, I may even be able to get it off to him before I see Medicine Man tonight. However, I'll be taking off in a few minutes for The Carolinan's lesson at a Shinjuku cafe. I don't want to always depend on this school to house my private students.

Looks like we lost a couple of old-time celebs: one who used to run an island, another who just desperately wanted to get off one. First off, Ricardo Montalban, famous for Mr. Roarke, Khan Noonien Singh and Corinthian leather, finally passed on. And Patrick McGoohan of "The Prisoner" has gone to that Village in the sky. I guess it'll have to "be NOT seeing you".

Wednesday January 14, 4:59 p.m.

Just finished up revising The Stick's resume. Yep, my former student sent me over her English-language of her CV for proofreading. So, happy to have gotten that done.

And it looks like Grandma Dynamite did give the cancel order to her lessons with Speedy and me for tomorrow. Well, at least I can get some more shuteye in the mornings...that is, unless The Smile requests her early morning classes again. Haven't heard from her yet since I got back. Dynamite will be keeping a low profile for the next 2 months at least.

Saw The New Yorker in Ichigaya. She had a good session today...applied the grammar pretty well. She also appreciated the calendar of Toronto. Looks like she had a fairly quiet New Year's.

Well, I'll be having my usual Wednesday night crew starting in an hour. 001 is back along with The Diver and The Fashion Designer. The Diver will be the one to keep an eye on since I'll be starting that crash review of the entire text from tonight. Not sure if the month's absence will have her revert to her Nervous Nellie of almost a year ago.

Finished the Season One DVDs of "Get Smart". Gotta say that Don Adams gets my respect for doing a lot of his stunts well despite his character as a bumbling CONTROL agent. That was him fighting a KAOS agent in the pool. That was him doing the punchups with stuntmen. I listened to the lone commentary by Barbara "99" Feldon; it was interesting to hear how she had to slouch and wear flats so that she wouldn't tower over her co-star.

Wednesday January 14, 12:38 p.m.

So far, so good for my first Hump Day of 2009. Just had Grandma Enka for the monthly chit-chat. She liberally mixes Japanese with her English to the extent that I'm never sure if she's actually getting anything out of the 60, but she seems to be quite happy. She told me that her sister, Grandma Dynamite, has been ailing of late so we're not quite sure of her status for tomorrow morning.

I'll be heading out in about a few minutes to teach The New Yorker in Ichigaya. I've got her sister, The Carolinan, tomorrow night. It's been over a month since I've taught The New Yorker so I'm not sure what her ability will be like. Probably very rusted. I did get word from Tully that he and The Coffeemaker will be OK for Sunday morning. Looks like I'm getting back into the swing of things.

And the translations are starting to pop up as well. Cozy gave me the heads-up on some work heading my way in the next few weeks. I've already got stuff from The Corner.

I heard that Mr. TOEIC will be shifting his lesson from early Saturday morning to late Saturday night. Well, at least, I'll get some shuteye on Friday night.

Tuesday January 13, 5:25 p.m.

Had my first Beehive session with the ladies. They thanked me for helping them relay the gifts and good wishes to Mrs. Tulip back in Toronto. Mrs. Travel suffered a bit of a concussion after falling on some icy ground up in Karuizawa the other day. The topic of discussion was on the effects of the plummeting economy. Each of the ladies told me about neighbours they knew who had been laid off. A couple of them were from Honda. I figure that the crime rate will go up. And CNN is reporting that the number of homeless has also gone up. I think for a lot of people, recession will be a new and disturbing feeling.

The long weekend was good for relaxing. Had a binge of shopping in Shibuya and Shinjuku. I've been trying to keep my New Year's resolution of trying to get fit again after 3 weeks of noshing back home. I've been sticking to as many stairs as possible in lieu of elevators. I've been proud of the fact that I haven't hit a McDs in almost a month.

KDDI is getting on my tail about my disconnected line since I'm now with Ichikawa Cable. They sent a notice asking for my modem back. No particular problems there....I even called the customer service centre but I could only get 50% of what the guy was rattling off his tongue, so I just went with my original plan of writing them a letter. Hopefully, I won't be getting any more red tape.

I've got the usual suspects tonight. I have Suzanne and then The Artist followed by The Milds. The juku boss is still coming back from her operation.

Saturday January 10, 4:51 p.m.

Finished up with The Intellectual and The PA. The Intellectual was as talkative as he usually is. The PA seemed a bit sleepy-headed although she did appreciate my omiyage of a Canadian calendar. My photos from Toronto helped drive the lesson throughout the day.

Over the last couple of days, I have been in surprise communication with an old high school buddy whom I hadn't heard from in about 25 years. He somehow managed to track me down on Facebook. He had some maturity issues back then but it looks like he's fully grown now with his own business to boot. He even got me onto another old classmate who's on the forum so I've sent him a message.

I had our staffer look through that letter from KDDI; apparently, they said that they would cut my service with the Internet provider that I never used so that I don't end up paying money endlessly. Serves me fine. I'll send a letter in response just so that they know what's happened in good faith.

The Corner has sent me the final 7 pages to be translated for that Hokkaido website. Nice to be able to make a bit of money on the side.

Speedy informed me that The Trekkie has left the coop since she was only meant to work until the end of the year. Pity about that...she was quite a character. I was going to ask her about what she thought of the passing of Majel Barrett.

Saturday January 10, 1:42 p.m.

I'm halfway through the lessons. Finished up my double with Mr. TOEIC and then the single with Mr. Pronunciation. Was regaling both about my culinary exploration of Toronto's restaurants, especially for the latter guy since he'll be studying there for the latter 6 months of the year. I showed him the pics from the Sunset Grill, the breakfast place that Automan had taken me, The Wild Thing and their significant others a couple of weeks ago. Man, I'm gonna spoil Mr. Pronunciation before he takes off.

Just very briefly spoke with the bossman since I'm in classes and he's in interviews for that new teacher. I figure that he'll want to talk with me after my lesson with The PA is over about what's been happening over the past few weeks.

Saturday January 10, 9:51 a.m.

Have a brief respite due to a late Mr. TOEIC. Back at Speedy's right now. Looks like it's gonna be a busy one but not just for me. Speedy is apparently going to be interviewing three folks to potentially take over for one of our part-timers who will be leaving us. I was gonna suggest that we could use another full-timer to give me a bit more breathing room.

Mr. Mild came by with all of my accumulated mail during my absence including a number of New Year's cards. I also got a letter from KDDI concerned about my decision to cut off my NTT line; apparently, they didn't get the memo about my switching over to Ichikawa Cable. I rather expected that this would happen.

Friday January 9, 8:10 p.m.

Just found out that there may be a good chance of sleet or full-blown snow heading into the Kanto tomorrow. Ohhh...just great...right in time for my first full day of work at Speedy's. And over here, if a single snowflake were to get onto a JR track, there would be mayhem. I'm gonna have to keep a good eye on the weather and traffic reports tonight.

The juku boss came in right now to give me a piece of cake, stating that she can only eat a quarter of what she could eat up to early December. I kinda wonder if she underwent gastric stapling

Did forget to mention that I'd also seen "Tropic Thunder" on the plane coming back. Yep, fairly funny and very profane. There was absolutely no way that even Air Canada censors could cut out the swearing. Otherwise, the movie would've been just 5 minutes long (reminds me of that sight gag on the "South Park" movie from a decade ago about a non-profanity version of the kids' favourite movie). So, the censors gave up and kept a lot of the potty-mouthed results in. Yep, Tom Cruise still has the moves after 25 years. I think those closing credits have garnered him more respect than anything in "Valkyrie".

Friday January 9, 2009, 7:44 p.m.

Back at the juku for the first time this year. I initially had come by around 5:30 but the house was locked and I had forgotten to put back my house key into my wallet. However, it was good that I already had a Plan B in mind. I ended up having dinner at The Restauranteur's place just down the street. Friday nights are usually pretty quiet there. I was the only one there for several minutes before some factory workers came on in. The Restauranteur became the first of my omiyage donees as I gave her my Ontario calendar. She inquired about the boss' health so obviously she hadn't seen her in almost a month. After my hearty dinner of wafu hamburger there, I spent the next hour just glancing through an issue of TokyoWalker, the weekly magazine on what to do in The Big Sushi.Most of that time was actually just spent walking through the crowded, musty corridors of my mind since I really can't read kanji all that fluently. However, The Restauranteur glanced at my supposed reading and was impressed by my Japanese ability.

I took another look at the juku after dinner, and relievedly, found the place back open. The juku boss was thinner but not alarmingly so. She was quite happy to reiterate how the surgery went. I was just happy to see that she was recovering nicely although apparently a few of her wardmates didn't survive. Just as I passed through the genkan, Mr. Mild called to say that he would be dropping by the juku at about 10, at the end of my lesson with The Restauranteur with my mail. Looks like I'll be able to give away all of today's omiyage, thereby lightening my load considerably.

Speedy left a message on the machine for the first time this year. Yep, it'll be a busy one tomorrow starting with that double with Mr. TOEIC. And The New Yorker sent word abouther next lesson.

With all of the changes going on in pop culture, the next big one I've heard is the announcement of the next Doctor Who...a much-anticipated event in Britain along the lines of a selection of a new Pope. Apparently, it isn't The Next Doctor, David Morrissey, but that was pretty obvious. Instead, the producers are going even younger than baby-faced David Tennant and going with a junior Thin White Duke type named Matt Smith. Geez, he does seem to be David Bowie's love child...he's even younger than when Peter Davison took the role. Of course, there has been some griping that the new kid simply cannot have the gravitas to play a 900-ear-old Time Lord. But then again, I'm reminded of all the furor against the new James Bond and where did those naysayers go? So, I'm not too worried and it'll probably be another year before we actually get to see the Eleventh Doctor.

Friday January 9, 3:29 p.m.

Well, I'm back after 3 weeks of Christmas vacation in Toronto! A very belated Happy New Year to you all. I was watching the first season of the original TV series of "Get Smart" with Don Adams and came across the episode in which Agent 86 remarked with some surprise and resentment that certain others were getting 3 weeks of holidays. I hope that is not the reaction I'm getting from some students...well, not that it would matter anyways...I'll get my 3 weeks every time.

Got back home last night after several hours of flight time elongated by a stopover in Vancouver and a delayed takeoff from Pearson due to the snow. I'm back here in relatively warmer weather of 5 degrees C and rain. It felt a bit weird to be back in Japan even though I've been living here for over 14 years...almost as if I didn't really fit. I guess my latest trip back to the hometown had some poignancy since my father has definitely become one of the elderly and my friends have become harder to meet up with due to the increasing demands of family life. Still, it was good seeing everyone.

The flight itself was filled with movies to watch and a book to read. I managed to see "WALL*E", "Hellboy 2" and "X-Files: I Want To Believe". "WALL*E" was worth catching twice...I realized I caught it on this small screen but it was that good....had to be for me to choose it 2 times on an airplane. Definitely will get the DVD. "Hellboy 2" was good enough to catch once although the final battle was somewhat anti-climactic...but I've got a feeling that "Hellboy 3" will be in the pipe. As for the latest X-Files movie...man, that only deserved to be shown as an extra-special TV episode, not as a motion picture. The gruesome plot was interesting but not enough to launch it anywhere as a hit movie. And it should prove as a cautionary tale to those directors on the risks of having romantic tension collapse.

The Holidays are ironically also a time in which celebs seem to die off. Just in the past 3 weeks, we've lost Van Johnson, Eartha Kitt and Majel Barrett Roddenberry, the matriarch of "Star Trek". And here in Japan, I saw the late Ai Iijima's face on a number of ads for tabloids wondering aloud about the circumstances behind her death.

I've been watching as a bit of weaning from life in North America the 1st season of "Get Smart". I had vaguely remembered the pilot episode as being the only one to be shot in black & white in the entire series. I had forgotten that The Cone of Silence was actually introduced in the pilot. Never forgot that Barbara Feldon was such a babe. And she's now even older than my Dad! I've got quite a few DVDs to get through...sets of "Family Guy", "Futurama" and the 1st season of "Mission: Impossible". Plus, I also have the classic "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" with Steve Martin and Michael Caine.

My omiyage season starts today. I've got calendars to give out to the juku boss, The Milds, The Ace and The Restauranteur. The Ace gets the added bonus of getting some Second Cup and Tim Hortons coffee since he's such a connoisseur of the stuff. Plus, The Milds get some T-shirts from me. Unfortunately, my stupidity resulted in my bottle of Crown Royal for Mr. Mild getting confiscated during the Customs search back at Pearson...I somehow hadn't realized that the restriction on liquids also extended to alcohol. Well, I'll fix that. The juku boss sounded a bit hoarse on the phone but otherwise, she was still pretty genki despite that rather major piece of surgery last month. I hope she looks as fine as she almost sounded although she had warned me that she might look a bit gaunt for the next little while.

I got a pretty full slate at Speedy's tomorrow although The Bostonian has cancelled her lesson. I've got Mr. TOEIC, Mr. Pronounciation, The Intellectual and The PA before we go into the long weekend of Adulthood Day on Monday. I fully expect to hear of delinquent teens making trouble though I will probably be curtailing viewing of Japanese TV for the next several days due to my DVD purchases.

I've been reading the biography of the late, great Torontonian interviewer Brian Linehan since I got on the plane. Probably not many regular folks would either know or remember him; it was more the media and entertainment cognoscenti who would, though. This was the monkey-faced fellow who had the mind of a steel trap filled to overflowing with all sorts of minutiae on his interviewees...a fact that got him parodied by Martin Short on SCTV in the character of Brock Linehan. Brian Linehan garnered a lot of respect and love from a good bunch of Hollywood types because of his interview style and a good deal of resentment and jealousy from his fellow journalists. He could either be seen as one of the most unique and best interviewers that the media had ever seen or will ever see or as a sycophantic suck-up with a vindictive nature against those who crossed him. I think the book shows him off as both by his best friend, George Anthony.

Not sure what this year will bring. This will be the year of uncertainty for everyone here in Japan. But I know that I will be changing a number of things about myself. My apartment...at least the interior will be one of the first things.