Friday March 13, 7:25 p.m.

Apparently, there are gonna be some meterological fireworks going on later tonight; perhaps just after I get home. Perfectly appropriate considering the date today. Just wonder what it's gonna look like tomorrow. I've only got the one class tomorrow at Speedy's...The Publicity Assistant.

After my lone stint there with Prissy, I went down to Shinjuku, over to Mylord to see how the Platinum Buffet was for lunch. Yep, it was cheaper than the dinner but being the noon hour, it was packed to the gills and so were the other restaurants which occupied the three floors of the complex. So I quickly eschewed that thought and just went all the way down to the basement level where my beloved Foo Foo was and had my usual tan tan men. My point card was filled to the brim so I got 50% off my lunch. Afterwards, I checked out the Starbucks in the Maynds Building over the Oedo Line part of Shinjuku Station as a bit of recompense to MB's friend for perhaps not giving the best impression yesterday. I think for the time we're looking at, that branch of Howard Schultz's favourite coffeehouse should do OK. I'll have to let him know tomorrow...that is, if he hasn't already ditched me. By chance, I ran into Mrs Speedy since she works in the same building. Speaking of Schultz, I've been reading his book on how he took this little Seattle coffee distributor and made it into the global cafe that it is today. His account isn't nearly quite as creepily cultish as that other book I'd read a few weeks ago, but I sometimes think his agent must've advised him to embellish or adopt an "It's A Wonderful Life" tone to it. For a page or so, he even had his own evil Mr. Potter to go with his George Bailey. Kinda weird reading this Starbucks history inside an actual Starbucks.

Then I met The New Yorker in Ichigaya as usual and gave her the latest White Day box of chocolates. It was a good day for me in terms of having point cards. I not only got my 50% discount for filling up my point card at Foo Foo but I reached 20 stamps on my Tully's point card which got me a free Honey Milk Latte. The New Yorker wasn't exactly firing on all cylinders but she was excited about heading to The Big Apple in less than 2 weeks by herself. We're gonna squeeze in one more lesson before she takes off.

I hit Urayasu a number of hours early before the juku lessons, so I ended up walking for over an hour down the main street where the Restauranteur's establishment was, and just walked straight towards where Tokyo Disneyland is supposed to be although things started getting rather deserted before I decided to turn back. I had my second dinner at the Italian place in the past month. This time, I did go for the hefty Sauteed Chicken, though not as massive as that pasta I had a couple of weeks earlier. The Restauranteur was more than happy to banter with me in English in front of her other customers. I remarked that my so-called curse as the ameotoko (Rain Man) was finally broken since I wasn't carrying an umbrella with me today, but she countered that she'd heard the news that rain was on the way at 11 tonight. I hadn't been aware that there was an non-presence clause in the contract. During dinner, I leafed through the latest TokyoWalker that was in the magazine rack and discouvered that Tokyo will not only be exploding with cherry blossoms in the next few weeks but there will also be a ton of new store and mall openings including a major underground facility in JR Ikebukuro and a huge glass tower where the original Kinokuniya Supermarket used to be in Omoteasando. Even Omotesando Hills, which couldn't have been built more than 3 years ago, is apparently undergoing a renewal of sorts. That's Tokyo for you...ever-changing. Maybe calling it The Big Sushi isn't quite the word for the world's largest metropolis...perhaps it should be known as the world's Doctor Who. I bet Skippy is just salivating at the possibilities right now. The Restauranteur, by the way, said that she would be bringing something called jaga buta or pork & potatoes, from a Hokkaido retailer.

Satisfyingly stuffed, I ambled to the juku where the boss told me about that kid she'd been teaching on Tuesday nights. Surprisingly enough, she told me that she had let him go. Apparently, the kid's just hasn't been getting with the program and has been giving my boss a bit of surliness. Usually, she would have brushed this off and given him some tough love, but she realized that since her serious operation back in December, she hasn't been quite at full power, hence the heave-ho. I listened to her since she needed someone to listen whether she'd done the right thing. I told her that she did since it was obvious that things weren't working out and there was no need for her to suffer physically because of a kid who was going through a phase that could last a few years at the very least. It sounds like he's gonna go through his teen angst and get out of it, or he'll end up stabbing people at a shopping mall. But he's no longer welcome here. In a way, it was somewhat reassuring to know that not even the juku boss can win everyone over.

I've gone through my fourth cup of caffeine and sugar today, thanks to Starbucks, Tully's, The Restauranteur's place and now the juku. It's definitely gotten my insides churning a bit (I had to take a brief respite from this entry for a much-needed washroom break).

I did get that payment from Cozy for those February translations. Quite a relief.

Friday March 13, 11:59 a.m.

Just about ready to go. I finished up with Prissy; also gave her her White Day present since she was kind enough to give me a Valentine's Day gift last month. And I gave the staff White Day contribution to Ray. It was a workout for Prissy since she got hung up on pronouncing liaisons.

I'll be heading off to see if I can try some lunch at the Platinum Buffet, although I know that the place will probably be packed to the gills with hungry folk. Still, if it doesn't work out, there's always Foo Foo. And I plan on trying to check out the Starbucks in the Maynds Building as a possible site for MB's friend; that is, if he still intends on using my services. I'm still stinging a bit about how that meet-and-greet went. But I kinda think now that perhaps our personalities may not mesh all that well...he's a hard-rock drummer, while I'm strictly a jazz/J-Pop man.

Friday March 13, 9:00 a.m.

Another early one here. Saw quite a few folks with the masks on...I've got mine on as well, and Speedy seems to be suffering mightily from hay fever. In fact, he sent a missive to everyone about asking students to hang their coats up in the outer office instead of in the classroom to minimize the pollen spread.

The Bostonian last night did quite well with her presentation. I'm hoping that all goes well with her in a few hours when she gives her magnum opus.

Figured out how to upload photos from the digital camera...gotta be careful about how big these photos get, though. I think the computer may have torn a muscle lugging one of my shots to Skippy. So as my test bed, I've uploaded Kripsy Kreme #1 in Shinjuku....even it is starting to feel the economic pinch...the lineup is just a measly 15 minutes now...my, what times have befallen us.

Thursday March 12, 7:12 p.m.

It's been an interesting day...somewhat bipolar. From the high energy of the Grandmas, I've gone into a funk about what may have been a less-than-stellar sales job with MB's buddy, and then The Carolinan got into a slightly depressed state about her job future and some of the things she's had to do to save money. At one point, I thought she was going to burst into tears like BC. Still, she and I managed to hold on through. But yes, this economy here hasn't been too good to us this year. All I need is The Bostonian to show up to say that she got axed and this night's fate will be complete.

Thursday March 12, 4:37 p.m.

Came back from meeting up with MB's friend in Shinjuku. Not sure if I made that good an impression on him. I was feeling a bit weird after 5 hours of sleep plus a double espresso within me. It never occurred to me to take notes as I was talking to him; it would've at least given an impression that I was serious but frankly I didn't think I really needed to do so in any case. He's a fluent fellow who sounds natural (though not perfect) with only a few structural errors. He's probably one of those guys who's gonna be a challenge to keep motivated. In any case, I sent him an apology and a thank you for today.

I did pick up the White Day chocolates for the female staffers at Speedy's. The bossman was worried that the chocolates may not last til Monday. However, I think the ones that I bought should be ample; their best-by date is February 201o.

I guess I'm coming down from that double espresso high; I'm feeling pretty worn out now, and I still have The Carolinan and The Bostonian to teach.

Thursday March 12, 12:45 p.m.

Both Grandmas were cooking with propane today. Grandma Dynamite has gotten her groove back, and Grandma FON was going off a mile a minute about her upcoming trip to Yakushima, a World Heritage Site which is a 10-hour ferry ride from Kobe. FON has got gumption...I'll give her that. She's gonna try to trek through the rugged terrain despite having to use a cane to get around in Tokyo.

Bay told me that she could see Mt. Fuji outside the kitchen window. I could second that observation. It's quite rare to see the most aesthetically beautiful mountain in the world from Tokyo usually due to the smog, but it's been exceedingly clear today. I quickly made a wish to get some money...most likely, it'll come in the form of the government handout.

Well, I'll be heading out in a few minutes for lunch and then to meet MB's friend for that initial meet-and-greet at JR Shinjuku.

Thursday March 12, 10:28 a.m.

My lack of sleep is starting to catch up with me. Have that feeling of droopiness. Still, it was nice to have Grandma Dynamite since she's gotten her mojo back. The review went quite well and she even gave a recipe of some sort of fruit jam for which she'll make a sample for me next week. And who says English teaching is a thankless job.

I've been hearing about these spree killings all over the globe over the past couple of days. Japan seemed to have cornered the market on that last year all on its own but we've been spared that bit of psychopathy this year so far.

Thursday March 12, 8:09 a.m.

An "unprecedented" 2nd sunny day in a row; may have to get that lottery ticket. However, that also means the pollen is probably flying out there today. Last night, The Fashion Designer was suffering mightily during the lesson with her hay fever. It's a wonder that she got through it at all.

I've got five in all today...the busiest day this week. I've got the Grandmas in the morning, then MB's buddy as a potential student, followed by The Carolinan and The Bostonian in the evening. I could be properly chuffed by the time I finish tonight. Thankfully, The Bostonian will be finished by 9 p.m.

Wednesday March 11, 5:49 p.m.

Well, the good news is that The Carolinan got back to me and said that her friend would be available during the daytime so that opens up a whole world of possibilities for us. The bad news is that Speedy received word that he won't be getting nearly as much as he had hoped for in his latest bank loan. I've been reading another book on the Starbucks phenomenon; this one written by the president himself, Howard Schultz, in which he states that trying to keep a company afloat on loans isn't the best way to go. Perhaps, the bossman may want to re-read his book again since it came from the school bookshelf.

I just tried to help Bay with some English description in terms of where Hackettstown, New Jersey is located. We had to download the Google Earth map of the area to get the best view. Never a dull moment in this job.

001 should be here pretty soon.

Wednesday March 11, 4:38 p.m.

Feeling pretty full from the buffet, I tried to walk some of it off by heading eastward toward the Yaesu Bookstore near Tokyo Station. I realized that at the intersection just before the bookstore, I saw the 100% Chocolate Cafe just down the street. After doing a quick browse at Yaesu, I decided to get the goodies for The Sisters of State and for The Bostonian there. Instead of the smaller pieces I got on Sunday, I went for a slightly larger package for each of them. The Carolinan, by the way, had asked me if I would be willing to teach one of her colleagues. I responded that my weeknights were all filled up but if she were interested in a Saturday night, I could oblige her.

I walked down the main street over into Ginza once more and went into Yamano Music. When I got into the basement where all of the Western CDs were sold, I heard what sounded like one of my favourite J-Pop bands, Sing Like Talking, but it was actually a new unit called Wagner Love. It was uncanny how similar the band and lead singer sounded like SLT and Chikuzen Sato; so much so that I made the impulse buy of their disc from a lady with a pretty face but a terrible manicure (she was a nailbiter, to be sure).

I listened to the first couple of tracks from that Dip In The Pool CD I got from bargain basement Recomints. It was one of their later efforts, "KM 93.11". Yup, Miyako Koda has an ethereal but earthy voice, and the tunes sound somewhat European, perhaps in a Shibuya-kei way. From what I've gleaned from the Net, it seems like a lot of their albums are now out of print so I'll have to rely on stuff I can find at places like Recomints, Otokichi and Liberty.

When I got into Speedy's, Ray told me that one of our old staffers, Marcie, will be coming into the fold after a few months in Europe taking care of the affairs of her recently departed mother-in-law. That should ease things for the bossman and Ray since both AK and Bay will be off on holidays.

Heard from one of my old buddies at the ol' school, The Captain. He's just gotten onto the Facebook bandwagon so we've had that usual Facebook welcome chat.

Wednesday March 11, 4:30 p.m.

Choco Claus was back in action this morning. I gave The Admin her present this morning. Afterwards, I went down to Ginza to see if I could gain access to Pierre Marcolini, the famed chocolatier. It's on Miyuki Avenue between the main 4-chome intersection of Ginza and Yurakucho. Well, there was a rope line to handle the lineup and I could barely make out a counter behind the stained glass. There didn't seem to be any price list outside which probably means a very hefty one once you enter, and I didn't want to be forced into a decision so I gave it a pass.

Ended up having lunch at that Chinese buffet place in Ginza Inzs across from Yurakucho Mullion. For the regular price of 1480 yen, the restaurant has added a small shabu-shabu option. It is small and you only get two strips of fatty beef to swish for a few seconds in some heavily anise-d stock, but for vegetarians, it's a godsend since you can have access to all of the nappa, pumpkin and tofu; just glad that they didn't add to the price.

Tuesday March 10, 4:06 p.m.

We've been having a sunny day so far, but I did feel a few rogue raindrops on the way to the juku. I can only hope that they stay that way but knowing this month so far, we may be heading back to rain again.

Had a minimal crew for The Beehive this morning. It was just Travel, Alp and Jade. Mrs. Alp was walking and sitting in pain throughout the lesson. Apparently, she may have stretched a rib muscle or even broke a rib after a bit of overexertion in some sort of exercise with her mother. I think she may have been better served by heading straight to a hospital.

Had another 3-hour stint at the I-Cafe. As usual, cruised through some YouTube, and came across Dip in the Pool, that eclectic 80s-90s duo whose CD I picked up at Recomints yesterday in Nakano Broadway. Quickly scanned through a few of their videos; very laidback style...music to have brunch by and the lead, Miyako Koda, has a fairly good hold on English pronounciation since she seems to sing all of her tunes in that language. She's also a former magazine model and certainly looked it in the videos; quite different from some of those models-turned-singers who came after her like Yu Yamada who's more into the hi-techno stuff. I'd say DITP is far more ethereal. At the other end, I caught an old Art of Noise video for the "Dragnet" movie. Pretty lousy visuals and lousy version of the song considering the remixes have been very toe-tappingly danceable (remember...I was in a cubicle watching this; not much space in there). I think a contemporary elementary school student and a decent software program could make a far more accomplished video.

Perhaps I should start calling myself Chocola Claus. I've given out my third box of chocolates to the juku boss for White Day, after The Publicity Agent and The Full-Timer. Bought a couple of more boxes at Seiyu for The Admin and 001 tomorrow. It will keep on continuing from there. I had a late powwow with Speedy last night about what to do with the female staffers (AK, Ray and Bay), and basically we decided to go halfsies on a nice box of chocolates from either Godiva, Leonidas or Pierre Marcolini. Most likely, I'll only be able to pick it up on Sunday, the day after White Day due to scheduling, but the bossman feels that the ladies aren't all that enthused about the day itself; Ak, for example, has had an engagement cut off so I'm not sure if she's been feeling particularly all that romantic.. BAy is de facto married to her American guy so she's most certainly not feeling romantic and I think Ray has always been hiding a 50-year-old cranky guy in her. On second thought, perhaps I shouldn't bring any chocolates for them.

So far, it'll be the usual Tuesday night crew at the juku: Suzanne, The Traveler and The Milds. Got their chocolates right here.

Those Paramount Studios marketers must be doing triple duty on the new "Star Trek" movie. They just put out their 5th trailer (or perhaps that should really be 4.1 since one just has the additional scene of ancient Spock). This may be a Shock & Awe attempt to soften all of us (not just the Trekkies) and get us accustomed to the new Classic Trek crew 2.0 before the movie comes out in May. Either that or Paramount is just showing us the whole movie over several months.

Monday March 9, 7:40 p.m.

My first class with The Full-Timer went well as usual. I gave her the White Day chocolate (I hope she likes marshmallows) and she gave me some cookies from Hawaii. She and her family only spent a couple of nights on the island but made the most of their time there. In actuality, her grandparents are...or were...Hawaiian. Despite the brevity of their time there, The Full-Timer felt refreshed...also, I think the fact that she only has another couple of weeks at her company and lousy boss (I know a bit about lousy bosses) before she finally flies the coop has also given her some impetus to get through the month.

The Full-Timer is also heavy into kickboxing, and she reacted with some surprise to find out that one of her favourite boxers may have a training gym right in my neck of the woods. I just told her that a gym had been started up recently nearby by the name of Kohiruimaki. She quickly remarked that there was a famed kickboxer by that name. Now, Kohiruimaki isn't exactly a common Japanese name like a Saito or Tanaka. The only other Kohirumaki I know of is an old J-Pop singer from 20 years back. So the two of us are assuming that this gym's owner is the guy himself. I pass by the place almost everyday and it's been doing a good job of marketing by having the entire front of the gym decked out in glass so walkers-by can see the young turks working out via skiprope or kickboxing gear. I have a feeling that The Full-Timer may actually make the trip out to my neighbourhood sometime to see her hero.

I learned that the government has passed that cash handout bill. So, all Japanese citizens and permanent residents (that would be me) are eligible to get 12,000 yen transferred into their accounts. May make up a bit for all the tax I've just paid today...plus, I've still got Cozy's fee coming in. Not too bad at all.

Well, waiting for The Bostonian to come in worrying like a Nervous Nell about her presentation.

Monday March 9, 5:02 p.m.

Spent the majority of Sunday just traipsing around Ginza. First, I went over to The 100% Chocolate Cafe in Kyobashi. The place is half-Starbucks, half- Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. Since White Day is just around the corner, I went out to get some goodies for the juku students. I'd been wondering how the little place was gonna handle the overflow of White Day customers and their regular cocoa-sipping guests, but luckily, management had the good sense to set up the White Day wares outside, although the staff must've been pretty chilly out there. I managed to buy four cute little boxes of White Day Chocolates for the occasion for 2,000 yen altogether. I remembered from my first visit there a few years ago that we'd went to a Subways for lunch so I repeated history.

Walking from there to Ginza only took a couple of minutes. As usual, from around noon, the powers-that-be closed down the main road to vehicular traffic. A number of the bakeries and chocolatiers were also in the White Day mood. I also caught a bit of Akiba hokoten in the incongruous environment of Ginza. There was a young lady wearing something very frilly lying down on the pavement like a dead body while a grungy photographer was taking shots of her. Certainly attracted the cellphone cameras.

I searched through all of the music shops like HMV and Yamano Music for that elusive "Best of The Art of Noise" disc but just couldn't find it. But I did get a good walk out of it. Outside of Fukaya Books, a bookstore on the main Ginza drag famous for having celeb book signings, there was a rather large crowd amassed outside. Apparently, local young haafu tarento, Becky, was inside doing the honours. I did have the digital camera with me but decided that waiting for several minutes for her to come out wasn't worth it so I just went over to Shimbashi where the Shiodome City Centre was. I found out to my disappointment, although not surprise, that the NTV Plaza branch of my favourite hot dog place from Coney Island, Nathan's, was gone. Now, there might only be the one in Shinagawa Station. I ended up sitting sipping coffee and having a couple of snacks in the nearby branch of La Vie De France. It was pretty chilly outside and gloomy, much like the weather that has been characteristic of the past several weeks.

Took the Oedo Line to Shinjuku and waited for MB, The Satyr and their significant others to show up in Wald 9. We saw "U23D"...nope it ain't a tax form; it was the live concert coverage of the famed band with those 3D glasses. Even though I was never a fan of Bono, I had to admit that the band gave a great concert and the 3D effect was impressive. Thankfully, Bono, The Edge and the others didn't fall into the usual cheap 3D manipulations and start pressing their faces up at the special cameras like Dr. Tongue. MB liked it immensely while his wife, The Sylph, ended up sleeping (!) through most of the concert, despite all the raucousness of the Brazilian audience. When The Sylph isn't impressed, she doesn't hesitate to nod off. I also had to admit it was a surreal feeling being silent witnesses to one wild concert in 3D. The movie was surprisingly quick-paced; it didn't seem all that long before the end credits started rolling up.

We met Skippy in the lobby afterwards (guess she's not a huge U2 fan either). Her choice of restaurant for us last night was a buffet place up on the 9th floor of the Mylord complex in JR Shinjuku. The place was called Platinum Buffet and had all the trimmings for a 21st-century all-you-can-eat place including chocolate fountain. I had never had the privilege of trying one of those. As buffet dinners went, 2,100 yen was a bargain and the menu was good although it will never reach the decadent heights of the late, lamented Farm Grill. Still, I wouldn't mind giving the Platinum Buffet another shot in the near future.

Looks like the next meeting of the movie group will be when "Watchmen" comes around later this month. We're looking forward to catching it. However, it seems as if the film will be nowhere near its graphic novel ancestor in terms of classic status. Apparently, even the audiences have come away feeling decidedly mixed and there has been a massive dropoff in viewers since it got started a couple of days ago. I'm sure Alan Moore is cackling his "I told you so"s.

Well, today was Tax Day for me. I checked my numbers and then brought the completed return along with my hefty payment to the tax office. I was very glad that I had collected the paperwork when I did since there was a mammoth lineup to get the returns whereas the line to hand them in zipped by quickly. I was in and out of there within 10 minutes...noticeably lighter in the wallet, mind you.

Took the Sobu over to Akihabara to the Tower Records over there. I finally succumbed and just got The Art of Noise's first effort, "Who's Afraid of The Art of Noise" since it had "Beat Box" and "Close to the Edit". It didn't stop me from combing over the other CD outlets. I had forgotten that there were a couple of Doner Kebab places in Akiba...if I'd remembered, I would've gone for one of those instead of doing The Colonel again. Even though it was a Monday, the maids were out there in force giving out the flyers. I had quite a bit of time, so I was perusing the various disc shops such as Ishimaru, Liberty and Sale. The last place had Season 4 of "Doctor Who", the one with Donna Noble. I would've loved to have gotten my hands on that one, but at 14,000 yen, that's just a little too rich for my blood....especially after my taxes.

Hit the Sobu once more to head over to Nakano, that other otaku haven. Checked out Otokichi but couldn't find the Naoko Kawai discs I wanted and so I headed upstairs through Broadway. The three different branches of Recomints, another one of those discounted CD shops had a lot of their wares outside in wagons for the perusing. Ended up getting 5 CDs for 500 yen...the cheapest you can get in The Big Sushi...one of which was an old Jody Watley album. I also got a release by an old eclectic group called Dip in the Pool. I'll be doing a lot of listening over the next few days.

I've got all my three in the next few hours. The Full-Timer ought to be back from her trip in Hawaii; I've got her White Day treat ready for her. And then I have The Bostonian for another round of presentation practice before Medicine Man is back in the saddle.

Saturday March 7, 10:51 a.m.

Back at Speedy's for another Saturday round. I've got The Businesswoman, The Intellectual, The Publicity Assistant and The Bostonian...it's Archetype Day!

The weather is sunny and will get quite balmy at 14 C. So, thankfully, no wet clothes and umbrellas, but the pollen will no doubt be floating all over the Kanto so I've taken my meds and my mask.

"Watchmen" has gotten mixed reviews so far, but I'm not too surprised by that. The original graphic novel got its legendary status because it delved so deep into the superhero mythos. A number of critics have panned it for being too reverent toward the source material, but Alan Moore never particularly made it for the casual reader, and certainly wasn't thinking about a movie deal...at least, not publicly. "Watchmen" is for the heavy-duty comics diehard, period. So what if it comes off like a Chris Columbus treatment of the first two "Harry Potter" movies? Never read those books, but still enjoyed the first one, to be sure. And I'm pretty sure I'll be OK with "Watchmen". Alan Moore may not be, but I will.

Friday March 6, 7:56 p.m.

Very Vancouver out there today. Just nothing but rain almost all day. Only finished up a bit by 6 tonight. Luckily, I had most of the day off although I had to make one round to the supermarket for dinner. Got slightly doused.. Last night, The Music Man's inaugural lesson went off without a hitch, except for the fact that he had shown up a half-hour earlier than expected. No big problem. He's got the latent ability...just lacks confidence and practice. That's true for a lot of students.

The annual White Day purchases have begun. I bought my first present of choco on the way here to the juku tonight. It's for The Publicity Assistant who was kind enough to give me a little something last month. Purely giri, I assure you. In the next few days, I'll be picking up boxes and packets of chocolates as we approach March 14. LIke last month, the chocolatiers will be pummeled once again by purchasers but it won't be women but probably a lot of men. Then again the rates won't be as high for us since men aren't really into the chocolate-buying...must be in the genes. Nope, expect a lot of dinner reservations next week. I've been given a bit of a reprieve in that some of the folks who had given me stuff last month won't be around at all next week due to other matters. I may visit The 100% Chocolate Cafe, that theme place in Kyobashi on Sunday before I meet up with MB and The Satyr; they may have some pretty gimmicky things there.

I took the extra time off today to do a dry run on my income tax return this morning. Not too difficult but not surprisingly, I'll have to pay quite a bit more than last year since I made a bit more, thanks to Speedy and the translation gigs. Still, I gotta contribute to the city somehow.

I got off at Urayasu Station to hear some high-pitched squealing by the gates. There was a whole bunch of agejo, those Shibuya-inspired women dressed up in blonde bouffant hair and eyeliner. Not sure if they were getting ready for a rumble or a group hug. However, I didn't stay there long enough to find out.

Heard that Sanjay Gupta isn't going to be the most high-profile Surgeon-General in US history after all. Citing family reasons, the smilingest of all of the CNN crew said that he would rather remain close to his family. Speaking of Darth Vader's favourite channel, the two Canadian anchors who take care of the international broadcast during the wee hours here were virtually cackling to themselves (and opening themselves up to a ton of hate mail) about Wacko Jacko's annoucement about his curtain call to do some concerts for a worthy charity....himself. I'd say that The Political Mann should be prepared to be suddenly smacked by bejeweled gloves.

"Watchmen" is only hours away from its debut Stateside. It's getting here at the end of this month....which is surprising since it's a far-from-known commodity here in Japan, and even "The Dark Knight" took longer to get here last year. And yet, Tower Records had a sizable display devoted to the movie which not only included the graphic novel, but also two books on the movie itself. Kinda wonder how it will do here; maybe it's something for me to ask The Publicity Assistant tomorrow....after I give her the chcolates, of course.

Thursday March 5, 10:24 a.m.

Grandma Dynamite was back with a renewed sense of purpose in terms of her English which helped my work considerably. Since she'll be off to Honolulu in a few months to see her son married on the sands of Waikiki Beach (the trendy way to get hitched these days for young Japanese), she wanted to brush up her Travel English. Good to have her back the way she was instead of the sluggish old lady that finished up the year last year. If Grandma FON is the same way, this could be the start of a good day.

Thursday March 5, 9:16 a.m.

Well, the Patent Attorney never showed up. Just checked my messages and found out that the bossman had left one stating that he had canned which would also explain his absence so far. And I'm still waiting for Grandma Dynamite to show up, and she usually does comes over 5-10 minutes early. I'm starting to wonder if this is gonna be one of those days.

Ahh...the doorbell just rang. She's here...

Thursday March 5, 8:03 a.m.

A long day today. I've got the Grandmas plus Miss Sedona in the morning, and then I gotta wait several hours before The Music Man's inaugural lesson in the final slot of the evening. Means I'll probably head on down to Shibuya to check out the CDs...still looking for that Art of Noise disc. I don't get out to Teen Mecca all that much these days since lessons with The Class Act are now few and far between, and I think Tower Records down there is still the final word on CD shopping.

The political intrigue keeps on rolling in Nagatacho. The secretary of the leader of the Main Opposition Party was caught with his hands in the cookie jar, so to speak. Probably the vast majority of the pols and their assistants do that on a daily basis, but Mr. Ozawa's aide was the unlucky one to get caught this time. Anyways, the media is now on that story like an oil stain. The governing LDP cannot be that sad about the diversion from PM Aso's sorry state. However, just to keep that thorn pricking at the government's side, the media focused on an empty seat in the Lower House during a major vote...Junichiro Koizumi's.

The Tulip actually contacted me from Toronto after a long while. She's finally found some breathing room after caring for her family to send me word. I told her about the lunch over at Jade's house a couple of days ago.

The Patent Attorney ought to be coming over pretty soon.

Wednesday March 4, 8:17 p.m.

Well, the night's done at the unbelievably early hour of 8. I just saw off 001 out. She and her ski buddies had a great time up in Rushtu in Hokkaido and I got my usual omiyage in the form of those decadent Marusei Butter Cookies; those things cut out the middleman by having the filling look like the stuff in your veins after you had too much of them. Somehow during the lesson, we managed to talk on the resemblance between Bjork and Yuki of Judy & Mary fame.

So, I'll probably be taking off in about another 10 minutes in the cold, cold rain. I heard that an asteroid came within a relative hair's-breadth of Earth back on Monday...now that would've been a Manic Monday. However, a scientist laughingly calmed us all down by stating that the chances of the big rock actually hitting us were something on the order of millions to one. Basically I would have a likelier chance of winning the lottery.

That friend of MB finalized the details of our meet-and-greet for next Thursday in the afternoon. I'll be meeting him at JR Shinjuku and we'll just see how compatible we are.

Wednesday March 4, 6:00 p.m.

Pretty wet and dreary out there. Much of the afternoon was spent just browsing the Net. Speedy caught that and gave me some tests to mark which took up an hour of my time. Unbelievably, 001 will be my last student today. And then I'm planning to head on out with all due haste so that I can get some rare Wednesday night sleep.

Wednesday March 4, 1:52 p.m.

Just finished off lunch on this Pimple Day. Speedy has just finished interviewing a potential new staffer since Bay will be busy guiding her new husband around Japan and AK is heading for another trip in New York. Apparently, she's a real genki type almost on the level of the recently-departed Trekkie. However, her English ability is somewhat suspect.

I had my monthly chat with Grandma Enka. I did what she asked me to...catch her if she ever lapses into Japanese...which she did a lot as usual. Believe me, it was a bit like trying to grab the tiger by the tail. Finally near the end, she seemed to be getting a bit flustered at my new "attentiveness" so I laid off and smiled inwardly. She will be the latest to do a trip out of the country; she's heading to the tropical island of Lota at the end of the month.

Now, I've got a few hours before my remaining student, 001, shows up. I got the invoice off to Cozy...I'll be looking forward to that money coming into the account. Meanwhile, The Corner got back to me to say that the new assignment...a pretty hefty one...will be heading my way next week.

Wednesday March 4, 11:12 a.m.

My Hump Day should really be called Pimple Day. Last night, I got a call from Speedy stating that The Diver has canned due to a cold. So, I've only got Grandma Enka and 001 for the whole of today. Well, at least, I can get home quickly so I can get some decent shuteye for another early one tomorrow....Grandmas Dynamite and FON are returning to the fold...health permitting.

The snow that came down last night was really more sleet...some new vocab for The Milds there so I ended up getting home rather drenched. My Canadianness was showing since I refuse to open an umbrella for anything less than rain. However, in my case last night, I didn't have much of a choice since I was laden down with The Traveler's oranges, a bag of detergent and bathroom cleaner and groceries.

Ah, I see Grandma Enka is here....

Tuesday March 3, 9:47 p.m.

The Past Perfect...the bane of every English learner. It had been coming along swimmingly for The Milds until we hit the acid test of the lesson tonight: a comparative exercise between Simple Past and Past Perfect. Well, things were far from perfect....especially for Mrs. Mild. I had to give some special homework in terms of comparative temporal relationships.

Beforehand, I'd had The Traveler. She's recovered from her illness and she even gave both the juku boss and myself some special oranges which ought to keep the scurvy away for a while. Her bane is still with the numbers.

It's snowing lightly right now. Not sure what it'll look like tomorrow morning since there's still a snowman on the weather map for the next day. But for right now, there doesn't seem to be any chance for accumulation. The boss gleefully remarked that it looks awfully romantic out there...but she doesn't have to commute home like I do.

Well, I was able to tally up the fees for Cozy's translations. I'll be sending him the invoice tomorrow morning. It should be an atypically light Hump Day since I only have three lessons. Grandma Enka (whom I'm still a bit annoyed at right now), followed by 001 and The Diver. 001 ought to have some good stories from her Hokkaido skiing trip last week.

Tuesday March 3, 5:11 p.m.

It's confirmed...yesterday's sun was just a cameo. We're back to back gloomy and rainy....and did I see a snowman on that weather map for tonight?

Got the call last night from Mrs. Travel of the Beehive that the venue was changed from the usual Tsudanuma joint to Mrs. Jade's home in Funabashi. So, I just met the ladies down at JR Funabashi and made the 15-minute walk down the main road. It was the first time in over 10 years' of teaching the Beehive that I'd ever visited Jade's house. Her family's place is quite old but very comfy...the main living room had shoji (paper sliding doors) and ranma (elaborately carved wooden structures over the doorways...no connection with the manga).

As usual, the ladies brought out some of their cooking. Mrs. Travel brought three lacquered boxes of chirashizushi while Mrs. Tee contributed deep-fried aji (horse mackerel) doused in a sweet-sour sauce, and Mrs. Alp brought some oysters stewed in a combination of sake, shoyu and grated ginger. I usually cannot eat any form of oysters other than kaki furai but these ones by Alp certainly did well by me. I put my digital camera to good use in taking some photos of the traditional spread.

Mrs. Perth had come back to Tokyo from up in Hokkaido where she now lives. She showed us her pics of that snow sculpture that she and 150 others had built for the Snow Festival up in Sapporo. Took them about 2 weeks to build. After lunch, I basically disappeared into the woodwork while the ladies did a combination "The View/Sex In The City", having their little kaffeeklatsch, although the drink of choice was some pretty high-priced wine. Basically, it was the rest of the ladies providing some Girl Power advice to the ever-timid Mrs. Tee about how to handle her husband. I was surprised to find out after my semi-narcoleptic state that 3 hours had passed and it was 3:30. AFter one more trip to the can, I was out of there. The ladies remained to chat some more.

I'd found out the night before that Suzanne had cancelled today's lesson which would explain me writing at this late time. She's apparently got a fever, and today's no day to be outside with the prospect of wet snow on the way. So, it's basically just The Traveler and then The Milds.

I got word from that MB's friend about private lessons. He's truly his own company's president...he pointed out that the first meeting will be a first meeting and not a lesson. I told him I totally agreed with him. We've tentatively set up a meet-and-greet for sometime next Thursday. Hopefully, Speedy won't have any bright ideas to put in any students at that time although I would refuse any requests since I've got the friend down on paper now.

Also I got final word from Cozy that all those translations from the last couple of weeks finally passed muster so I can start calculating the fees. Very good to know.

Monday March 2, 9:35 p.m.

Had a pretty intense one with The Bostonian with her presentation practice but she's still hanging in there. She's booked in an extra lesson for Saturday.

Grandma Enka sent a request via Speedy for me. Apparently, I'm not hard enough on her to stop the Japanese. Nothing gets lower sympathy from me towards students than that sort of request. She has the willpower to come here every Wednesday, she should have the willpower to use more English. I gave Speedy a snarky answer which he didn't appreciate too much. But hey, I'm not taking any blame on that one...that's not MY job! And she's the one who requested me to listen to her babble every 1st Wednesday.

Monday March 2, 4:50 p.m.

Well, March has rolled on in. It would be considered balmy in Toronto, but over here 9 degrees C is shivering weather as far as the average Tokyoite is concerned. However, it is sunny out there, something we haven't seen in some time, and something we probably won't see again for the bulk of this week. The pollen is flying out there, though. My eyes were itching up something awful this morning and the nose wasn't too far away so I dosed myself with the hay fever medicine as usual.

Watched "Young Frankenstein" on DVD on Saturday night. Yup, it was more nostalgic than rip-roarin' funny although there were a few scenes...spearheaded by Marty "Igor" Feldman...that tickled my funny bone. Gotta say that Teri Garr was a dish. And those deleted scenes were interesting to watch although I can understand why they were taken out. Hopefully, I'll have time to catch "Ronin" sometime this week.

Yesterday was the day of Ai Iijima's funeral. The late former J-Porn queen-turned-tarento-turned-author drew over 700 celebs along with 1,500 fans (not sure which phase of her career they represented). Her old show before she retired from show business a couple of years ago, "Uchi kuru?" (Won't You Come Over To My House?), a Sunday afternoon variety show on Fuji-TV had a final retrospective on Ai with some tearful goodbyes from past guests before the show cut away to live coverage of the funeral with her co-host, Hideki Nakayama, providing his very emotional eulogy in front of her giant photo. Although the turnout didn't come anywhere near the 50,000-plus fans who had come out for the funeral of X-Japan's hide years ago, it was remarkable to see so many of Japanese celebdom show up for a woman who had initially been more famous being on the VHS covers in pink-lit backrooms of video shops. The wide shows this morning were covering the event; there was just one panelist, the ever-opinionated Terry Ito, who said that he would have chewed Iijima out for not taking better care of herself and thereby causing all of this grief but everyone else looked properly morose.

Later in the day, I went out and met The Bohemian in front of Shinjuku Bus Terminal, across from the west side of JR Shinjuku. He'd also invited a couple of his friends from his vast collection of Mixi communities. He told me he did so since he thought that I was rather devoid of friends recently and that he would do me a favour by introducing some new blood. One of his buddies was already there...The Bohemian identified him as being a military otaku...something that his buddy tried to deny half-jokingly but rather vociferously; a bit of a character...somewhat frenetic in personality but a nice bloke. The other guy wouldn't show up for about an hour or so. We went to a Chinese eatery nearby...not surpringly, the place offered an all-you-can-drink option for 2,980 yen which sealed the deal for The Bohemian. His other Mixi friend was a more subdued but also amiable type who was into soccer and looked a lot like local cool actor, Hiroshi Abe. The four of us noshed on all sorts of little Chinese goodies and talked up a storm. The Bohemian definitely held court and tried to talk me up to the other two...something that I felt rather uncomfortable about...I felt like a commodity to be sold. The entire grouping was basically a 3-way blind date of sorts since except for our babbly host, none of us had met each other. Our host also showed his casually gleeful racist and sexist side of himself since he was taking full advantage of the all-you-can-drink policy, and he was hitting on the cute waitresses...even giving one of them his phone number. I've gotten used to it (or maybe it's better to say resigned to it) but I'm not quite sure if his Mixi buddies have gelled as well as he thinks; while he was in the can for the 4th or 5th time, the military otaku and the Hiroshi Abe-clone were kinda trading notes where they had met him and referring to his rather large beer belly. I was surprised at the beer belly...The Bohemian had been pretty intense about hitting the gym and entering all those dance classes in the past. But in any case, The Bohemian looked pretty happy when we all said our goodbyes at the station. Not sure if I'll be hooking up with him again anytime this month but it was nice of him to try to get me out socially.

Got home and got the call from MB. It was the first time since I'd declined his offer of employment at his high school that he called me up. Thankfully, the topic didn't come up again. And we instead got into our old stuff of talking movies. In fact, he asked me if I would be interested in catching that U2 3D concert movie on the weekend. I'm not a U2 fan by any means, but I said I'd take a look-see. However, he did mention that a friend of his was interested in private lessons so I gave MB the say-so to give him my address. Sure enough, his friend contacted me a few minutes ago. In these economic times, it doesn't hurt to stock up.

Just had SIL this afternoon and I've only got The Bostonian in a few hours. Probably the quietest Monday I've ever had...not complaining, mind you. I will be looking forward to head home at the early hour of 8:30. That model lesson student became one of the converted. So my Thursday nights are pretty much settled for the next little while. The Music Man will start up this Thursday.

Saturday February 28, 4:09 p.m.

Well, he did it...Mr. Pronounciation pulled off a dotakyan (the sudden cancellation) during my lesson with The Businesswoman. So, I'm now officially off for the weekend. I was kinda thinking that he was gonna do something like this today...a bit Daphne Moon, I know. As soon as I heard that phone ring in the outer office, I kinda figured something was up. A pity for him, too. If he'd called the day before, he could've kept his money but since this was on the day of, he lost that. Speedy may be rather surprised to drop in and see that everyone's gone home.

Saturday February 28, 2:42 p.m.

Just 20 minutes away from The Businesswoman coming in. Bay is in the house and I've handed off her the translation.

On the way over here, I came across something that might become disturbingly more common as the economy continues to worsen. I mentioned about the Central Park/Hibiya Park similarity where the homeless and breadlines are concerned. Well, now another New York phenomenon came to my eyes this morning on the Tozai Line. Some clearly unhinged fellow came onto the train and started spouting some stream-of-consciousness gibberish. At first, he sounded like someone talking on his cell with the diction of a TV announcer. Then, I started hearing his content of penises, masturbation and drugs and discoverered that the fellow was talking to noone in particular...at least noone tangible. Just like the New York commuters, the Tokyo commuters uncomfortably tried to pay him no mind.

Saturday February 28, 1:08 p.m.

Well, well, well....look who comes back. I think it's a fuzzy, lighter patch in the clouds. And there was a strange orange ball icon on the weather map on TV this morning. Ahh...it's the sun. We're actually gonna be able to use the adjective "sunny" again before this month peters out in less than 12 hours.

I did get my wake-up call this morning from The Matron. She'd left a couple of messages for me on the phone over the last couple of days...most likely about the future of our lessons since the bombshell concerning The Lady's husband. Not surprisingly, The Matron said that there would be no lessons for March (at least) but she has made a reservation at that 3-Michelin star French restaurant in Shirogane called Quintessence. My student also mentioned that her classmate is doing fine under the circumstances; no word on her husband, though. Kinda amazing that she would even think of doing a swanky lunch in these times. I will lament the loss of income but at least I will get extra sleep on Mondays for the next few weeks.

Speaking of the economic horror that noone will stubbornly call The Great Depression of the 21st Century, I was watching a CNN feature on the trials and tribulations of Japan. It was sobering to see that, like Central Park during the first Great Depression exactly 80 years ago, Hibiya Park in Tokyo has now become home to bread lines and the homeless. There was one interviewee in the piece who used to be an art director with his own gallery and a cushy lifestyle. Now he has none of that, plus his family has left him. The way the reporter put it, it sounds as if his wife and kids cruelly deserted him, but I think it's also possible that the separation was on mutual consent and that his estranged family is living with the in-laws somewhere in the boonies. The man now scrubs rooms in modern flophouses for folks who may also be in his situation. Quite a fall from grace but he's not alone by any means. I can't even sure what my fate will be in 6 months.

It used to be the fact that even during recessions, I cheekily remarked "Recession, what recession?" whenever Tokyo entered the discussion. Even during low times, the nightlife here had been bustling in places like Shibuya and Roppongi. Now, although I haven't visited those places at night in some time, I kinda wonder if reality is finally going to step in. The news has been reporting that Japan is going through its worst economic times since World War II and it's getting even deeper. There will be changes here in the next several months...I know this. Suicides in this suicide-happy country will further soar, and I just can't see some of these pop cultural trends continuing for too much longer. Stuff like the agejo; these are the Shibuya punk gyaru who dress up in huge blonde wigs and wear more mascara than Gwen Stefani...can't see how much more makeup they can afford, let alone those fake designer bags. And I'm not even too sure if the Maid Cafes will survive...even the most diehard otaku won't be so desperate to part with 500-yen coffee and 500-yen table charges at the AtHome Cafe in Akiba.

It's ironic then that the various local TV stations such as Nippon Television and Fuji-TV are currently celebrating their 50th anniversary since they went on the air. Or is it? When TV stations came on during the postwar period, Japan was also the down-and-out country. TV was probably needed to give the masses some form of respite while they worked themselves out of misery. The two stations have been doing 3-hour retrospectives over the past few days and I think Fuji-TV will be pulling out all the stops on March 1 since that is its official birthday. And it must be a weird experience for some of the oldtimers watching the specials seeing these feelgood black & white variety and music shows all over again in an economic morass all over again. But the younger generations...if they're not working their second jobs or just working extremely hard at the office in their first one...will now also partake in this video morphine. Last night, Fuji based its latest special on music over the past 50 years...too bad I couldn't be home at that time...since I have an interest in the ol' Showa pop, but then again on the telly I was watching the segment where TV drama stars were plying their musical prowess...or lack thereof...I quickly went back to CNN. Tonight, Fuji is focusing on the variety TV programs...a genre that may have died out decades ago in the States but is still going on pretty strong. I think that variety shows may have to work extra hard to keep the masses happy, but then I came across another article last week which said that the powers-that-be at the stations are now thinking of cutting back on their services, putting more pressure on their relatively low-paid tarento celebs to do more live shoots and to be funnier. Strangely enough, just when TV may be needed the most to comfort the audience, TV may also be heading for the scrap heap.

Anyways, I got word from The Bohemian. Looks like we're on for another dinner tomorrow in Shinjuku. I'm trying to be careful with the funds but I was happy to get that payment from The Corner last night. Not sure when the next big assignment is coming in, though.

Friday February 27, 8:22 p.m.

Well, the earlier Toronto weather has given way to Vancouver weather...which means that the fluffy snowfall of this morning has turned to the usual cold rain. I left Speedy's mid-afternoon and headed for Shinjuku to see if I could find that "Art of Noise" album but I only came across the individual albums and not their best compilation.; ended up getting a couple of old DVDs at 30% off at HMV; a lot of sales going on with the economic downturn. Got "Ronin", the final movie by John Frankenheimer and a classic spy tale with one of the best team-ups in movie history to boot: Robert DeNiro and Jean Reno. The other disc was on the other end of the scale: "Young Frankenstein". Continued the search at the other HMV above JR Shinjuku but that branch was pretty small-scale. Made one more attempt at Tower Records but couldn't find Art of Noise so I ended up getting the latest Best Of disc of Earth, Wind & Fire. Did blow half of my tax rebate.

Had my dinner at the pasta place run by The Restauranteur. Man, this has been a heavy protein-and-carb day for me. Succumbed to hunger and ended up having a Big Mac set for lunch, and then it was Meat Sauce Spaghetti with Corn Soup at the pasta place. I'd forgotten that the portions of spaghetti over there were hefty...easily for two normal people. Luckily, I'm not exactly normal...I was able to down the whole bowl although I was wondering if I were going to end up like that first victim from "Seven". The Restauranteur pointed out that whenever Friday rolls around and she sees me, the weather is always bad. She's been calling me ameotoko, the Rain Man, but nothing to do with that Dustin Hoffman character. I don't think the moniker is particularly negative, and certainly my student didn't mean it that way...it's just an indicator of meterological tendencies.

Still, there's a good chance that we'll have a repeat of today tomorrow. More snow possibly. Luckily, I will be able to get a very sound round of sleep tonight unlike last night since I only have 2 classes at Speedy's on Saturday and they're solidly in the mid-afternoon.

It's been pretty quiet here at the juku. The boss initially cancelled all of her classes tonight since she'd thought that that she would be needed at a funeral tonight for a friend's mother. But that deal fell through and so the boss tried to call up at least one student to say that the juku's back on. However, the kid had yet to return from school and he still hasn't shown up, so I gather that I'm the only game in town tonight. Culinarily, when it rains it pours, too, apparently. After surviving my massive spaghetti dinner, the boss handed me a large ice cream cone from the conbini.

Friday February 27, 11:44 a.m.

Snow, snow. SNOW! Just like the song from "White Christmas". The wet fluffy stuff started coming down in droves just before Miss Prissy arrived and has yet to stop. Not sure if this is a local phenomenon or metro-wide, but it definitely got Ray's attention for several minutes. Nice to watch from inside a heated school, but I hope the temperatures don't start dropping so that accumulation might actually occur, thereby screwing up the entire public transportation network of Tokyo.

Basically, I'm done for the next several hours so I'll just get to work on Bay's favour and then I'll probably head on out to Shinjuku.

Friday February 27, 8:07 a.m.

The "Blade Runner/Black Rain" weather continues to plague the Kanto. In fact, the weather forecasters have even placed a snowman where Saitama is. The high is supposed to be just 5 C in Chiba, but I frankly think we surpassed that already...just doesn't feel that cold to me right now. But for the natives, they must be cursing "samu, samu" under their trenchcoats.

Well, the big night of the week has passed. That model lesson in the last slot was taken care of pretty workmanlike by me. The guy was pretty reticent about his job...probably a spy or something...and he does like his DeBussy; don't know yet if he's gonna take my bait and sign up. That plus the previous lesson with the Nervous Nellie Bostonian (due to her upcoming presentation in English) pretty much drained the calories away from me.

Since I had the late slot, I once again came home past midnight and had to come back here for the early slot to teach Miss Prissy this morning. Knowing that I would only have 5 hours of sleep, I decided to just take my shower and get dressed up in today's work clothes and just sleep sitting on the sofa, thinking that if I were not that comfortable I would be able to get up a lot quicker. Well, my plan...regrettably...worked brilliantly. Didn't get much shuteye at all. And even a seat on the subway didn't help me catch up on the sleep. My hunger from last night was sated by the MegaMuffin at McD's...my first time there in about 2 weeks (that is a record, by the way). But again, that McMuffin on steroids is just a huge grease bomb. I don't think I'll be tempted to have another one of those for at least 6 months.

Now that the big night is out of the way, I can relatively coast with just 2 hours' worth of classes today...Miss Prissy in about 2 hours and then the usual Ace/Restauranteur combo much later tonight. But Bay gave me some of her own translation request in the form of her koseki tohon, which translates as "family register info". Every citizen has one. She needs hers translated since she's apparently gonna tie the knot with her American boyfriend. Found that out from the congratulatory messages on her Facebook (I sometimes do some trolling through the Friends).

From my pay packet, Speedy informed me that 20,000 yen of that is pure rebate from the government so I'm sorely tempted to get me some CDs later on today. That "Best of Art of Noise" sounds like the beginning of an apt reward.

The Patent Attorney should be here any second...

Thursday February 26, 3:50 p.m.

Finished with The Big Lug nearly an hour ago. He said he's been busy with work...no mention about that death in the family, and I didn't pry. He's heading off to The Big Apple next week for about a week for the very first time, so we used some of the hour on the stuff that he will...and won't...look forward to. Speaking of which, 001 is probably already on the plane for Hokkaido for another round of 3-day skiing. She must not have any other hobbies except for saving up for big trips.

I finally got off that last of this month's Cozy translations...keeping my fingers crossed on that one. If it passes muster, I can get that invoice written up and sent away for money. I'm still waiting for the next big assignment from The Corner.

Thursday February 26, 1:14 p.m.

The gloom and rain will just not end here in The Big Sushi. In fact, it'll be March 1 before we see any glimmer of sunshine. Such is February.

Got the pay packet from Speedy last night just before going home. The timing was good. The 25th of each month is usually pay day for a majority of the companies here, and so the banks and the ATMs are packed tighter than a Barack Obama event. But on the 26th, it's the eye of the hurricane. And so depositing my hard-earned cash only took a minute.

Speaking of the US President, apparently he's gotten good marks from pundits, pols (even Republicans) and the public. And so I figure, the marketers and marketeers will be gurning their hands in Uriah Heep glory as they introduce the sequel to the bestselling Barack Obama's Inaugural Address DVD that's been playing ad nauseum in all of the bookstores in Tokyo. It doesn't matter that he'll be talking about what to do with Medicare, the economy and the War on Terrorism; as long as those dulcet tones waft down from the speakers and into your hungry ears, the Japanese yen will be satisfying the Japanese yen...to listen to their political Barry White.

Well, it won't be as busy as it was scheduled. Strangely enough, as Grandma Dynamite signaled her intention to return to the fold, Grandma FON called in sick last night. Her trip to hot, dry Morocco and her return to cold, wet Japan knocked her metabolism for a loop so she's recovering in bed today. Instead, I'll be starting with The Big Lug; haven't seen him in nearly 3 months. Then, The Carolinan will be making a return appearance here, followed by The Bostonian in her attempts to be presentation-ready in a couple of weeks. And I wrap up with a model lesson. Always nervous about those.

Wednesday February 25, 5:45 p.m.

Yup, it's been a quiet Wednesday, judging by the number of my entries.

Well, I've been reading "Eats, Shoots and Leaves", the bestseller by Lynne Truss. Not exactly the rip-roarin' gutbuster according to the tributes, but that's probably the handiwork of her agent and my comedian's vow to keep a straight face. Still, interesting timewaster on the trains to and from home.

Interesting observation of the cast of characters on the I-go and Shogi TV channel that I now have as part of my regular cable (yes, I am truly a deprived person socially). For some reason, it would seem that a lot of the women who play the two traditional Japanese games are just darn pretty. There are some women who...well...look like the ones I would expect to see play I-go or shogi, but there are some lookers, for the lack of a better word, in front of the brown gridboard and they have standing in the dan class. Kinda too bad for them, though, that their male counterparts look like the salarymen who would buy the girlie magazines.

Anyways, time to get ready for 001's arrival.

Wednesday February 25, 4:52 p.m.

Spent most of the afternoon working on the last of the latest translations from Cozy. Still gotta tweak it a bit tomorrow morning; I think I can still hand it in a bit late but I'll be waiting for Cozy's reply on that. Thought I would be rushing through prepping for the regular Wednesday night lineup but managed to get that done within 5 minutes. 001 is mostly gabbing...and since she'll be off to her second ski trip to Hokkaido from tomorrow, she'll probably be trying to get away from the text. The Diver will be straightforward text with lots and lots of practice and application, and the lesson with The Fashion Designer is just checking her latest test followed by the new chapter.

I remember the earlier lesson with The Admin. Next week, we don't have a lesson together since AK will be visiting The Admin's home around that time. Though The Admin didn't go into details (obviously not any of my business), AK is apparently harbouring some sort of problem. Not sure if it's romance-related or if it's anything to do with Speedy himself. He can be pretty demanding of his staff. Ray just had an intense talk with him not too long ago; and I know that Bay is probably the most vocal of the lot in terms of objections.

Also remember the fact that "The Revenge of the Sith" played for the first time on Japanese network TV on Saturday on Fuji-TV. It just seems that every time I watch it, it gets worse and worse...mostly because of the acting which is horrendous. Hayden Christensen didn't help his career get any further with that sort of performance, although Lucas' writing provided plenty of excuses.

Wednesday February 25, 2:48 p.m.

Turned in the 2nd draft of the latest Cozy translations over to the guy himself. That took about a couple of hours right there, and I still have the first draft of that other thing for Cozy to hand in. Luckily, I decided to come into Speedy's early today instead of just traipsing around Shinjuku to walk off that curry buffet lunch. Yup, I did it again. This time, my timing wasn't as good. I went in just smack dab in the middle of a major scrum of folks. I had to sit next to a burly guy who was grumbling at the waitress about still waiting for his naan; the guy looked like he already had too much naan in him. But within 10 minutes, most of the lunch crowd cleared out.

Well, President Obama gave his not-"State of the Nation" address earlier today. CNN and the government were adamant in saying that this was an address to Congress about his plans for the economy. Looks like the people are still happy with him; fully two-thirds of the audience gave him thumbs-up. Notably, the official Republican rebuttal was given by Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, the first Indian-American governor and one of the youngest to boot. Not too many years ago, I couldn't have imagined that an Indian-American of political stature would be giving official rebuttals to African-American US Presidents. And ol' Bobby may be following in Obama's footsteps someday.

Looks like Grandma Dynamite will be returning from hibernation from March but at an earlier time. Ah, my early wake-up calls are coming back...sigh. However, in this current economic state, I cannot really gripe about the fact that I have lots of work.

Tuesday February 24, 4:20 p.m.

At the juku. On the way over, I think I saw Suzanne in the Starbucks across from Urayasu Station. Didn't bother going anywhere near her since she would probably want to enjoy her private time, but I'll check her on it in an hour or so. The boss finally got that Japanese-style peanut brittle she'd been raving about to me for the past couple of weeks...just when I got my bag of kaki-P (salty peanuts and rice crackers) for dinner. It's called Nankyo Tsukune and it's pretty darn good. Basically, it's like kaki-P except that it's been drowned in hardened syrup. I'll probably share it with Suzanne since she was kind enough to bring over those Black Forest Tim-Tams last week.

Was doing my share of YouTube surfing at the I-Cafe. I did find the coverage of Mokkun and the gang behind "Departures" getting their Oscar. I was interested in hearing how their English sounded. It was kinda like listening to those annual English recitation contests that I'd been forced to hear back on the JET Programme. Mokkun sounded like the most earnest Berlitz student ever groomed...kinda like Judy Garland. Meanwhile, the two female co-stars, Ryoko Hirosue and Kimiko Yo, sounded like a couple of high school girls suddenly being ambushed by by a gaijin tarento and forced to speak something in their second language. Speedy to the rescue.

Also came across some ol' Art of Noise remixes on YouTube, courtesy of Trevor Horn...specifically, "Dragnet" from their Best Of album. Argghhh....not another reason to part with my yen. Then, it was a hilarious George W. Bush "tribute" done a la the opening credits to "Space 1999".

Heard that while the Oscars were going on, the current President had the ultimate R&B kings, Earth Wind & Fire, up at the White House as the musical entertainment for the big powwow for the State Governors. I think even John McCain would've started doing a jig to these guys but it seemed a bit strange seeing EW&B boogying Wonderland in such an enclosed space. It was almost like watching a hired band at a bat mitzvah.

Unfortunately, PM Aso won't be in time for any remaining cake when he gets to Washington in the next several hours. He's probably been crowing that he's the first Head of State to meet Barack Obama since he took office. last month. However, the experts are saying that Aso won't leave too much of an impression with the far more charismatic Obama. I think even Junichiro Koizumi would prostrate himself in front of the President while crowing "I'm not worthy!" Basically, President Obama will have Taro scheduled between nap time and his colorectal examination.

However, I do wonder if this love affair between America and Obama is starting to reach saccharine levels. CNN has been practically working as his press agent, announcing the big State of the Union address for later today. I don't think Bush or any other US President ever got that much advertising for his big speech to Congress.

Anyways, I got the usual cast of characters tonight: Suzanne, The Traveler and The Milds. And the boss' student should be coming up any minute so I'll head back into my room.

Tuesday February 24, 1:25 p.m.

Back at the I-cafe again. I had vowed that I would only come here twice a month since I now have a slightly heavier payment for TV and phone now. But with my translation gig, I needed to get that second of three assignments in today before the last of the three gets out tomorrow. I like Cozy to know that I'm on the ball.

Had The Beehive: just Jade, Travel and Alp, but the talk was pretty lively on two main topics. First, of course, was about the collapse of the company that The Lady's husband used to own. I was kinda surprised that they hadn't sent me a message the day before. The second was about the Oscar win by "Okuribito" (known as "Departures" in English), the Best Foreign Film.

It was rather surreal to see Mokkun (the nickname of the star of the movie) and Qui-Gon Jinn on the stage together. Hell, it was just surreal to see that star, Masahiro Motoki...a former member of 80s Johnny's Jimusho boy band, Shibugakitai...along with pop aidoru/actress Ryoko Hirosue dressed to the nines on the Oscar stage. Both Mrs Travel and Mrs. Jade had seen the movie and gave it an enthusiastic thumbs-up. Both remarked on its whimsical and tragicomic tone (it's about a cello player who ends up becoming a talented mortician). Though I'm not one for dramas, especially J-dramas, I have to admit that seeing one scene of Mokkun's protagonist dress up a dearly departed person for the funeral has gotten me a bit interested. I don't think I'll shuck up the 1800 yen for it at the theatre, but perhaps I'll get the DVD for the parentals. According to Jade and Travel, the only cast member who let down the side is Hirosue who's apparently not the greatest of acting talent (not saying much, I suppose); but they think the world of Motoki's performance.

Masahiro Motoki certainly has come a long way since his days as a Johnny's aidoru. I remember him as the one truly good-looking kid in the triumvirate known as Shibugakitai; the other two were merely cute boys-next-door types...just like most of the other Johnny's guys. The group bleated out the usual overproduced pop ditties in their day-glo striped T-shirts and white pants like Menudo on acid. Then, Motoki had his wild solo days which not only featured him doing weirdo roles in movies and TV shows and commercials, but also a notorious performance on the annual Red&White Song Festival on NHK one year in which he jiggled around in pants that showed off his bare buns. The phones didn't stop ringing...although I think some of those folks were quite praiseworthy as well as condemning. But now, it seems like he has reached his post-"Forrest Gump" Tom Hanks phase. He certainly did look good in that photo on the Oscar stage last night....pretty classic looks in that tux. Maybe he might do a Ken Watanabe?

In any case, he and the director have been assaulted by the media pretty much nonstop for the past 24 hours. It seemed that every TV station drilled onto them in interviews whenever I clicked through the remote. They should sleep well tonight. And speaking of Oscars, apparently host Hugh Jackman will be coming over to Fuji-TV in the next couple of days...probably to promote "Australia". Yeowch!

Monday February 23, 9:15 p.m.

Have started the week off losing. Lost one of my gloves, maybe even lost a client. As for the glove, I lost it in the rush to get to the subway. I was grumbling about it on the train over to Otemachi...until I realized I was grumbling about a stinkin' glove that cost me 500 yen. It's not as if I were Michael Jackson pulling a hissy fit for accidentally flushing a jewel-encrusted glove down the toilet.

As for the client part, well, when I got off the subway at Otemachi Station, I saw one of the headline banners at the kiosk state that one of the big companies had gone down in what has become a disturbing sign of the times. And it turned out that the company belongs...or belonged...to the husband of The Lady. Eeowich! Well, maybe it was a good thing that I didn't have her class today; otherwise, I would've had to fight off the media hordes outside her house. However, I'm not too worried about losing her since compared to what she pays me for my services, I must represent a mere millionth of their total expenditures. We'll see...I sent a letter of condolences to her.

I had my first Com Pho bowl of pho noodles of the year. The economy may be tanking but I'm always ready for a good bowl of their stuff. I also went upstairs to Maruzen. Picked up the weekly METROPOLIS; there was a photo book of a lot of Japanese actresses playing dead all over Japan. I'm sure for a lot of J-drama fans, this must be Xmas...I'm sure for a lot of anti-J-drama fans....this must also be Xmas.

Taught SIL....she didn't mention anything about the collapse of her brother's company, so I didn't say anything either.

Saw The Full-Timer. Looks like she'll be taking another trip to Hawaii on her freebie ticket courtesy of her soon-to-be-ex-company next week. Gotta use your opportunities when you can.

And I've got Medicine Man any minute now.

Heard that the Oscars were another snorefest. Nothing new there...even with Hugh Jackman as the host. I was happy to hear that "Departures", the Japanese entry for Foreign Film got the big prize. And of course, Heath must be quite happy in Heaven right now. He pulled off the second posthumous Oscar after Peter Finch.

Friday February 20, 7:58 p.m.

Just finished some more stuff for The Restauranteur. I came across that article on that Doctor Who website about that new companion who'll be played by an actress named Lindsay Duncan. I saw her picture and had remarked that she was closer to Donna Noble than Rose Tyler in the age sweepstakes, thinking she must be in her 40s. Then I Wiki'ed her and was rather surprised to find out that she's 58! Pretty darn good for 58! Wasn't William Hartnell 56 when he became the first Doctor?! And considering that the new kid on the block after David Tennant will really be the new kid on the block...well, that oughta put the Doctor-Companion dynamic right on its pointy ear.

Friday February 20, 7:13 p.m.

Enjoyed a good long sleep...actually got out of bed at the downright decadent hour of 9:30 this morning. Good day to stay in, too. It had been raining steadily outside though it subsided several hours ago. Just picked up some extra hangers and envelopes for some photos to be sent back home. Listened to Chaz Jankel's Best Of...still think the Quincy Jones' take on his "Ai No Corrida" is the one to beat.

The juku boss had initially informed me about a possible translation gig through her friend who's a member of some volunteer group taking care of stray dogs who would otherwise be put down. Apparently, someone there wanted a 68-page book translated. But after talking about it with her friend on the phone just now, things still seem unsettled especially when it comes to remuneration...there may be none. Sorry, can't afford charity right now, especially where 68 pages are concerned.

There was some sort of kerfuffle over Narita Airport today when a Northwest plane from Manila to here had gotten caught in a bad patch of turbulence just over the Pacific Coast. There were several people injured, mostly because the idiots didn't bother to put their belts on even when the sign was on. Not a whole lot of sympathy from me.

The other patch of turbulence is in Nagatacho. Former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, the last head of state here who actually gave the appearance of doing a decent job, stirred up a hornet's nest in Moscow earlier this week (I've got no idea why he was there) when he said that he would abstain from a vote on a bill allowing bailout money to be sent to all citizens (just 12,000 yen...a mere pittance). Well, the man's still an MP in the Diet so his remark caused a noisy rip within the LDP and more headaches for current PM Aso who really can't afford even a twinge of pain right now. Unfortunately, he'll need to get an extra bottle of Advil since it's been reported that recently-defrocked Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa had done a 2-hour tour of The Vatican in Italy right after he had given that Foster Brooks/Dudley Moore impersonation instead of a press conference in Rome. Even the Italians were saying "What was up with that?"

Thursday February 19, 1:55 p.m.

The lesson with Miss Sedona was fun and laugh-filled as always. She's now the 14th student on my White Day list after her belated gift of chocolates. She even got one for Speedy which got some quiet groans of "Not again" from him...of course, out of eyeshot of Miss Sedona. Well, I know the sources of chocolate; it's just a matter of how much money I have to get the stuff.

Ray and Bay (especially Bay) have been griping about some matter on the other side of the business...most likely about some unreasonable request from a client. Time for Speedy to work his diplomatic magic.

The emergency translations for Cozy have been proceeding slowly. I've even sent a small SOS on one word to Cozy himself. Hopefully, he'll have some time to respond before I head on out to meet The New Yorker in a couple of hours.

Looks like a few weeks after the new Doctor Who actor has been selected, some actress has won the Companion sweepstakes. Kinda closer to Donna Noble than Rose Tyler in the age category by the picture I saw.

Thursday February 19, 11:20 a.m.

Still back in the relative cold of the season. Gotten back into the routine of downing three pills and donning the surgery mask to keep hay fever at bay.

Pretty quiet Thursday...just have Miss Sedona and then The New Yorker later on.

Glad to say that The Diver passed her test on the level of an Obama over a McCain. Speedy had made a make-up test just in case, but it was pretty obvious as I was marking that she didn't need to do it. Of course, she was wincing each time I came across an error. So, now she's graduated to the next level. The Fashion Designer had to come in about 10 minutes late; ;no problem since I rarely leave the office on Wednesday before 11 p.m. (really gotta do something about that in the next year or so). Not surprisingly, having gone through another night of overtime, she was tired. Still, I gave the lady her own take-home test.

Speaking of the world's most popular Head of State (for now, that is), he's going over to the Great White North in several hours. I've been watching some of the coverage about his arrival in Ottawa. Man, I guess Canadians are gonna be Americans for one day, at least. And then I came across one of the most hilarious headlines on "The Onion" (and that is saying a lot) in which African-Americans are getting majorly creeped out by the tear-filled eyes and wide-as-the-Mississippi smiles they've been getting from white Americans since Obama's election. I can just imagine that from now on in any awkward multiracial conversation, Caucasians will no longer fall back on "I like hip-hop and Stevie"; instead, they'll just say things like "I voted for Obama" or "Yes, I can".

Wednesday February 18, 6:46 p.m.

Received some more Cozy translations, and this one is on Priority One...and much to my luck, it's got tons of arcane financial expressions. Well, at least I've got the one that Cozy had assigned me last week translated through its first pass. I'm all translated out right now, so just gonna enjoy some surfing before The Diver gets here in about 80 minutes. The Fashion Designer may or may not show up tonight depending on how much overtime she gets through. But Bay said that she'll be getting the call sometime during The Diver's lesson.

Looks like Facebook lost a bit of its first four letters in the past 24 hours when it came up with its rather unseemly and quiet changes to its Terms of Use. Well, people power was in session and Mr. Zuckerman has decided to revert back to the old ways...for now.

Wednesday February 18, 3:15 p.m.

Well, the big 2,800th entry. Am celebrating with an ice-cold peach nectar.

While I was making that earthquake analogy for the Nakagawa Incident, I did forget to mention that we did have a wake-up jolt of a Shindo 4 in Chiba yesterday morning. Tells you how jaded I've become when it comes to earthquakes. I wonder how Secretary Clinton reacted in her hotel room; she must've felt something in bed (insert your Bill Clinton joke here). There has been a rash of tremors recently, and I gather that if we do have a rash of them, it means that the earth has released enough energy so that there won't be a huge one in the Kanto for the next number of days, at least.

After The Admin's lesson, I decided to try out the curry buffet at the Indian place downstairs. Pretty good for 1,000 yen. I got my choice of three different curries (keema, vegetable and bean) along with saffron rice, salad, naan, and tandoori chicken. Got my money's worth of stuff and I'll probably not need any more food for the rest of the day.

I walked most of it off by walking through Shinjuku. Noticed that Takashimaya Times Square was all closed; still, took some pics of the area including the front of the very first Krispy Kreme branch in Japan. The lineup is now down to a miniscule 15-minute wait. Compare that with the near 2 hours of just a year ago. Ended up browsing through Tower Records across the street.

Tuesday February 17, 9:21 p.m.

Well, to noone's surprise, the Japanese Foster Brooks known as Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa decided to fall on his own sword and leave the Cabinet. I think when he got his 15 seconds of fame via CNN's "The Situation Room" this morning, that pretty much did it for him. That may have improved PM Aso's standing a bit but that's kinda like saying that Shindo 7 quake was really just a 6.9 after it had destroyed Kobe. Still, in the typically Japanese determination to make sure that still waters run deep, Nakagawa refused to acknowledge that alcohol was the culprit...instead blaming it on "...too much cold medicine...". Well, he can take all the Nyquil he wants now with that chaser of whiskey.

Of course, the Beehive ladies were grousing about him this morning and I made a little dig at him tonight in front of the Milds. Mrs. Mild was back after her spate of dizziness subsided. And Suzanne was back in the house after her 5 days of R&R in Australia. She was luckily nowhere close to those horrendous fires, and she had a very nice time just relaxing on the beach on The Gold Coast. She brought back a box of Black Forest Tim Tams which made for an especially decadent snack. She's really gotten the bug about possibly studying and working abroad sometime in the near future. I'm glad that she took my advice and got the Japanese version of "What Colour Is Your Parachute?" I'd like to think that my advice has some merit sometimes. The Traveler also came by...she's doing quite well wiht the numbers.

Finally got through all of the "Futurama" DVDs and commentaries. It kinda sounded like the guys on those discs had more fun than the "Family Guy" folks with their commentaries. It's hard to believe that over 5 years have passed since Billy West and Maurice LaMarche actually did them....tells you how much of a television Rip Van Winkle I've been. I definitely have a soft spot for HypnoToad. I did take a look at some of the surprising music clips the guys put in...such as the Pizzicato Five tune at the end of "Leela's Homeworld". Made sure I checked that out on YouTube. And then there was the theme tune itself done by The Beastie Boys.

Well, now it's Season One of the original "Mission: Impossible" and I almost forgot about all those Marvel movies that my brother had given me for Xmas. At this rate, I may not be finished til Golden Week.

It'll be another quiet Wednesday. I've got The Admin in the morning and then The Diver and The Fashion Designer tomorrow night. I just hope that The Diver was able to handle the test. It's been a quiet month which has gotten Speedy starting to chomp on his fingernails again. Well, I kinda figured that with this economic mess, things weren't going to get too crazy as time went by. However, I do have those Cozy translations to take care of.

And I picked up that expenditures sheet from the Tax Office today. Looks like I'm really into the season now...the tax season, that is. I've already started Hay Fever season. Had to ingest the pills and put on the mask this morning.

Monday February 16, 7:23 p.m.

More chocolate via The Full-Timer. Had to leave her Hershey's Kisses and SIL's Pierre Marcolini on the kitchen table, lest I really go into sugar shock. However, I am keeping The Matron's chocolate spoons for myself. Lots of choc to go around here, though.

The Full-Timer had a bit of gastrointestinal distress during yet another trip to Korea which would explain her absence last Monday. Had to cut short her travels. I also asked her about the trials and tribulations of Finance Minister Nakagawa, and she thought maybe he was having a stroke due to the slurring of his speech; in which case, I hope that he did just have a lapse in judgement and overdid it on the wine.

Feels like the bottom fell out on the temps. Feeling pretty cold out there.

Monday February 16, 5:27 p.m.

Continuing to get the chocolates after the fact. SIL gave me a small box via Pierre Marcolini, a chocolatier (now a word in the Japanese vocabulary) located in Ginza. I passed by the place once last year...tons of women were lined up for a taste of their wares which included ice cream cones. I think I'll be paying a lot come March 14. Actually, The Matron also gave me her contribution for Valentine's Day...in the form of pure chocolate spoons. That is to say, four spoons made of chocolate. They are designed to be stirred in coffee to impart a mocha flavour. Pretty nifty...surprisingly, they're not from Japan but from abroad.

Looks like hay fever season has started for me. I was sniffling a lot yesterday morning before I went to see The New Yorker but my wonder medicine kept me sane although I had a brief relapse for a few minutes at the beginning of the lesson. I took the trio of tablets just now since it looks like I'm coming down with it again, and the last thing I need is to be horking up snot in front of The Full-Timer in a place that's already unconducive to the nose.

Just wrote up a letter to my cable company. When I signed up with them last year, the bills were supposed to be deducted straight from my account, but for some reason, although the company has been sending me the account deduction notices, they haven't been deducting and my first bill has been in the form of one to be paid at a convenience store. Not a huge problem but I just want to make sure of the payment policy.

Monday February 16, 4:17 p.m.

I know one Japanese politician who is looking for a room at the Under-A-Rock Hilton. Apparently, the mass media here is abuzz about that bizarro press conference that Shoichi Nakagawa gave yesterday...or tried to give in Rome . The press wasn't sure whether he was drunk or high on something else but he certainly wasn't coherent. And photogs were also snapping shots of him sleeping at a meeting of the finance ministers. One thing for sure...the guy is gonna have one big hassle going through Narita when he gets back home, and it won't be the Customs and Immigration guys.

The Lady was the first to bring up the topic with me this morning. She said that she'd caught part of it on YouTube. I tried to look him up but couldn't really find it. I'm wondering if the authorities decided to do a sweep under the rug, so to speak. SIL also mentioned him as well. Nakagawa should count himself lucky, though. His antics could've had longer play if it weren't for the fact that Hillary Clinton wasn't coming into town. She should be coming in pretty soon tonight. SIL thinks she'll be staying at the Hotel Okura since it's one of Tokyo's most venerable hotels and it's just across from the US Embassy.

Nakagawa's cockup can't really help PM Aso's standing right now. According to one of the Canadian newspapers, his popularity rating is now in the single digits....just barely under 10%. I think PM Mori had a slightly higher rating and he got dethroned. Wouldn't be surprised if The Diet were dissolved in less than a month.

The Class Act has decided to have another day off next week...which makes me wonder if twice a month will become the new schedule for me when it comes to them. It's really just chatting in half-Japanese/half-English now so I can't be that surprised. SIL is still hanging in there. It'll be a regular day for me, though. I've got The Full-Timer today and then Medicine Man to wrap up tonight.

Yesterday was a disappointment, though. After The New Yorker, I headed out to Akihabara to see if the hokoten were running. It wasn't exactly beaming in sunshine but nowhere near gloomy; however, no whirling costumed women or grungy otaku with cellphone cameras to be found. Just a lot of cars zipping by on the main drag. Ah, well...will have to look elsewhere for scenery to be shot by my new camera. Speaking of the New Yorker, it looks like she may have an opportunity to gain in fluency. She told me that she may be heading to The Big Apple for a week or so to meet up with a nail artist there. If everything looks right, she might be looking forward to a 6-month stay there later this year. And speaking of students staying over in New York City, Speedy tells me that The Singer's fluency has shot up somewhat after her 2 months there; didn't say whether she sounds like Joan Rivers, though.

Ethereal actress Rie Miyazawa is apparently going to be tying the knot some 15 years after breaking off an engagement with yokozuna Takanohana. It's one of those shotgun weddings; she's 6 months into pregnancy. I'm not sure how her hubby feels about the fact that most every guy in Japan saw her naked (via her "Santa Fe" photobook) before he actually did.