Thursday April 16, 11:27 a.m.

Managed to survive the onslaught that is Grandma Dynamite. Did the double lesson with her since she pulled out of last Thursday. She's a really nice lady but her energy is just flying out in all directions...just try to imagine keeping down a high-pressure water hose with a few well-placed holes.

Luckily, I've got an hour to decompress a bit before Miss Sedona comes by for her regular 60. Still have to plan some more for the rest of the lessons this afternoon. Speaking of my groovy student, I was at Tower Records Shibuya, aka the largest CD store on the planet, and came across the latest album by Superfly, the cool female Japanese chanteuse who has a Janis Joplin way about her with some Carole King thrown in. Miss Sedona has always been a fan of the hippie/70s period when it comes to popular culture...she kinda dresses as a Haight-Ashbury type...and Superfly was a perfect fit for her. Yep, when I was listening at one of the posts at Tower, Superfly does sound rather appealing. I noticed that there was one track called "Vancouver"...I kinda wonder if that tune had any influence on her decision on where to live in Canada.

Looks like Speedy ordered another electronic doodad. Yesterday, there was a new router for the computer and now I see a cardboard box containing an air filter machine to clean our air. Since hay fever season began, we've been asking students to leave their coats and jackets in the outer office so that the chances of bringing in pollen are minimized. I guess the bossman has decided to bring in the heavy artillery.

Thursday April 16, 8:06 a.m.

An appropriately early start to Mega Hump Day. Did the usual McBreakfast with the Latin Jazz BGM in the background. The Patent Attorney has cancelled his lesson for the morning, so no need to be the substitute host.

To my left here might seem like the newest kids' show hosts but they're just a happy anime fan and a large cellphone. Another pic from the Tokyo Anime Fair from almost a month ago. Speaking of which, I should be taking another look at Nakano Broadway sometime in the near future; probably Golden Week. The latest METROPOLIS issue had a nice little article about the area. According to it, the place hasn't changed in 30 years...certainly looks it.

I've come to the realization that there's a certain art to sitting down on the subways. The morning commutes aren't exactly conducive for me to sit down since all of the seats are filled by the time the Tozai reaches my station...and this is even at 6:30 a.m.! However, in the off chance that someone does vacate his/her seat in front of me, I try to gently ease myself into the usually slightly snug vacuum; I pull in my muscles like an accordion and try not to touch my fellow passengers on either side of me since they're most likely snoozing away. I keep this position for a few minutes...just think like a player of that ol' Milton Bradley game, Operation...don't touch the sides. Then, I can gradually relax those muscles and after a few seconds of adjustment amongst me and the two fellows, I'm snug as a bug in a rug.

Wednesday April 15, 6:45 p.m.

Just some of the goodies that one of the Beehive ladies made back on March 3, the Doll Festival Day. It's traditional to make stuff like fish cakes (kamaboko), special tofu and some sticky bean paste popsicles and put them in a lacquered box. Just behind the box is a bottle of sake...which would explain the looser conversation that transpired later on.

Well, I just heard from La Fille that The Fashion Designer has dotakyan'ed again for the 2nd week in a row. So I get to go home early but I kinda feel sorry for my last student since she's now given up another batch of money since she's cancelled on the day of. Must be plenty busy on the catwalk.

I've gotten back to Mixi, the Japanese equivalent of Facebook, after an absence of a couple of years. My page is still up there. Why did I go back? Well, Facebook seems to have the fun apps such as Mesmo and Metropolis, and of course, the "Star Trek" and "Doctor Who" trivia questions but Mixi seems to specialize in the individual communities. Yup, so I did join the local chapter of "Doctor Who" and my beloved singer, Ruiko Kurahashi; haven't made any intros quite yet since I have to concoct up the kanji but perhaps I can make some friends there. Ruiko is having a concert next Thursday night in an Aoyama nightclub, but again like Cinderella being stuck in the house, I've got my night classes. Would be intrigued to actually participate in a Mixi-influenced event someday, though.

Well, since The Fashion Designer has cancelled again, and 001 isn't here tonight, I've just got The Diver to focus on.

Wednesday April 15, 2:16 p.m.

Forgot to mention that I came across a funny feature on YouTube yesterday that The Bostonian had referred me to. In romaji, it comes across as "kotoba ni dekinai" (Can't Be Expressed In Words); I think if you can type the English letters, you should be able to hit it, but a knowledge of hiragana and/or kanji would help. The video is an amalgam of hilarious shots of mangled Japanese signs and cute pet incidents...basically, Jay Leno's Newspaper Headlines segments in Japanese without Jay but with titular background song by famed J-Pop singer, Kazumasa Oda (he of the "Tokyo Love Story" theme); the lovely ballad actually enhances the hilarity.

Gotta admit...Mr. Mild is becoming quite the Renaissance Man now that he's retired from his career. In the year since he left, he has gone through a DIY course which involved carpentry and painting and has just started a new job working in a gym. And last night, he told me that he's been attending a monthly series of lectures on various aspects of foreign culture. Last Saturday, he went to a seminar given by a Japanese professor who's teaching Stateside on the various religions. I'd say that he was already quite a wise man, but this is icing on the cake.

Wednesday April 15, 12:46 p.m.

Especially blustery this morning in the Speedy neighbourhood. I now know what a freshly-minted facelift patient must feel like.

I actually got my letter from the Ichikawa government stating that I'm eligible to get my 12,000-yen handout from PM Aso provided I give the appropriate information. Ichikawa TV says that I probably wouldn't get the transfer into my account until after Golden Week. No matter, my engorgement at a yakiniku restaurant can happen at any time.

Well, that friend of The Bass asked me if I could conduct the model lesson anytime other than this Friday...actually, I was hoping that that would be the case since I was worried that I was cutting things a bit close between The Bow and the Friday night juku classes.

Had my lesson with The Admin this morning. The family restaurant was truly one....since there were two tables worth of mothers and screaming kids nearby. I didn't pay it too much mind.

Mr. TOEIC has decided to cancel his lesson for early Saturday morning...thereby taking away the threat of him trying to get those early classes again. But he has booked it for Thursday night which will pretty much kill me on what will be the biggest Mega Hump Day I've ever had with this school.

Just have The Big Lug and then it'll be The Diver and The Fashion Designer later tonight.

Tuesday April 14, 9:22 p.m.

Suzanne and I have had a pretty good...platonic and professional, may I stress...relationship for the past year. I tried out both "I.G.Y" and Allen Ginsburg poem of "Ken Kesey" on her as slices of Americana. She had an unexpectedly harder time understanding the concepts than I thought she would. Then, we got on talking about her and her mother's love for singer Madonna, and we discussed about our thoughts on the diva from our different temporal perspectives which led the both of us to this computer to check out YouTube and Wikipedia. Unfortunately, since the juku computer is behind the times in terms of operating systems, there was no way for us to look at "Borderline" or "Lucky Star". However, our little chat ended up going a full hour overtime. Not that I minded at all.

But then when she finally left, the juku boss came back up looking slightly consternated at how late Suzanne had taken off for home. She didn't unleash the Hounds of Hell on me, but she did give me a warning about how I shouldn't be keeping students way past their lesson time; may not set a good precedent. I did feel a bit of a soft lashing but realized that she was right...I may have crossed a certain line in terms of professionalism with that line distinguishing between student and friend. For good or for bad, one of the characteristics in my teaching style is that I do get chummy with my charges and it's often been the case that we've gone overtime by about 5 minutes because we got into a good groove conversationally. The 1 hour was definitely a new record for me, though. I took her reprimand seriously and apologized for breaking a Prime Directive of sorts.

I taught Mr. Mild as scheduled. We also did our fair share of sidetracking since we were almost near the end of the text and I really wanted to end things with both The Milds in attendance. Once the hour was up, the juku boss came back up but this time in a somewhat more sheepish mood. She actually apologized to me for being so "harsh"; she said that it wasn't really her but her bad health today that had unleashed the so-called invective. I was a bit surprised since I'd agreed with her that I was in the wrong, but she was quite sorry and even gave me a bag of cookies as peace offering. I assured her that she had been right for giving me the warning on keeping Suzanne way past her class time...but still accepted the cookies. No harm done. That seems to be the pattern of the boss....she did something similar to Mr. Mild some weeks ago when there was a slight misunderstanding about the schedule, and later on, she asked me whether she'd been a little too hard on the guy. Nah, not at all.

In any case, I'm done here...and with a clearer sense of responsibility.

Tuesday April 14, 4:06 p.m.

It's overcast and it's spritzed a bit out there but I'm feeling a bit sticky...a sign that Spring has come and that Summer isn't too far off. Met with Mrs. Travel and Mrs. Jade for the weekly Beehive session. Slightly depressing since that was one of the topics talked about. Not too long ago, one of Jade's friends had suffered a heart attack at a nearby station and later died...wasn't too old either, just 63. Travel cheered her up by suggesting going to a gym to exercise and exorcise those demons. Not quite sure what next week will be like...Travel won't be around and it could be just Jade.

Ended up having lunch at the neighbourhood Lotteria. I have to admit that Lotteria may occupy a lower rung on the fast food chains in Tokyo, but it does have a pretty tasty burger compared to the Big Mac. The only problem is that it's quite a bit smaller and more expensive.

Last night, I had a chance to talk with La Fille in more depth since she and I were having dinner in the school kitchen at the same time. It always seems like every time a new staffer comes in, I end up sharing a table with her just once; it was the same with Ray and Bay. Anyways, La Fille is actually trilingual: fluent in Japanese, French and English. I think that may be a first with us in our crew of bilingual folk. Yup, she quite the up-with-people type although she's not nearly as frenetic as The Trekkie.

Got word from that friend of The Bass'. I thought when I didn't hear from her in the last few days, she'd lost interest since I couldn't really offer a wide variety of available days. But she did get back to me so perhaps Friday afternoon will be doable. It'll be a sliver of time...just the 5-6 hour.

The juku boss wasn't doing too well when I came in, which doesn't strike me as a good sign at all, since the boss is almost always jovial. Definitely not today...she looks like she's in distinct pain although she insists that it's fatigue; in any case, the cancer is the root. And yet, she says she still has to teach one kid and cook dinner for her husband downstairs. I'd say that hubby can get his own dinner, although it might be difficult to suddenly cancel on the kid (knowing the Japanese work ethic and giri). I hope she's OK.

Just Suzanne and then Mr. Mild tonight. I've brought Donald Fagen's legendary "The Nightfly" as the potential "poem of the week" for her. I think an analysis of "I.G.Y." is in order. Mrs Mild is off in Italy right now, although she was also suffering last week with a major headache.

Just thinking about the upcoming "Star Trek". Critics and regular folk alike have been praising the efforts of J.J. Abrams (thankfully, this new approach to Gene Roddenberry's baby is more "Cloverfield" than "Mission: Impossible 3") for a product that, if not cerebral or universally-themed, still fits in with the original idea of Roddenberry and provides a crackin' good time in terms of the action quotient. I have a feeling that this movie may actually become a bigger hit than any of the last four movies with "The Next Generation" crew. Just from what I've heard of the story and the scenes I've seen, "Star Trek", intentionally or no, seems to follow to a certain degree the storyline from "Space Cruiser Yamato". Both have got iconic ships in epic battles, a firebrand deputy captain, a wise and seasoned captain, a lone comely female officer and a humanoid deus ex machina (Startia from "Yamato" and ancient Spock in the new movie). Kinda wonder how many of the Japanese fans will be coming out of the woodwork.

Monday April 13, 10:39 p.m.

Finished for the day. Medicine Man was fine; needs a bit more practice on Reported Speech with Commands, though. Consulted with the European, our recently arrived teacher. Looks like I'll be teaching her night student on Thursday which pretty much nixes any hope of getting an early Thursday night.

Recently, I got an invititation from the U of T Alumni Association to some sort of wingding in Tokyo for the President of Vic College, my old alma mater. It's on a Thursday night which nixes any of that right off the bat...not that I would've gone in any event. And besides, I don't they would miss a fellow who barely passed the minimum GPA to graduate in any event. I don't really have many fond ties with the university.

Tomorrow, it'll be the usual gabfest with The Beehive. I downloaded the inaugural speech of Barack Obama...I'm sure there'll be lots to talk about and analyze.

Monday April 13, 8:09 p.m.

Yup, the Spring is starting to heat up. I didn't have to wear a jacket today although I've got one scrunched into the bag for the evening. La Fille was complaining of the temps; man, I hope she's used to the Tokyo variety in a few months.

Yesterday, I met up with both Tully & The Coffeemaker at the usual place for the first time in over 2 months. I didn't bother asking Tully about what had happened to his European tour; methinks that it's not something I should be prying into. He was also suffering from some rust in terms of his English, but I gather that his status as a freshman in the Tokyu Corporation may be taking up about 100% of his time.

I also got that model lesson with The Sylph's former colleague and his wife near Komazawa Park. Took the bus from Shibuya Station; since I got that commuter PASMO I haven't been taking my old bus from the school to Nakano Station, so it was nice to have a ride through Setagaya Ward. The route I was taking was dominated by that huge expressway overhead; I wouldn't want to be anywhere near that when The Big One finally hits. It took about half an hour to get to the couple's neighbourhood and the bus dropped me conveniently off just a minute away from their house. As usual, I ended up getting there a half-hour early so I wanted to find a place to grab a quick bite but I walked down the wrong side of the street since the only fast food joint was Mosburger and Mosburger always prepares its burgers fresh which means a long wait time. After traversing in a relative fast food desert for close to half a kilometre, I just doubled back and dropped by a small cake shop that I'd passed by. I never want to enter a house emptyhanded so I decided to buy some goodies there. There was a couple bickering inside; unusual in that they were two men. Nothing too violent, just the usual familiar back & forth that family members go through. If the men had actually been closer in age, I would've pegged them as a gay couple, but the two seemed to be a father-son combo. Anyways, while the staffer patiently waited for them to come to a decision, I pressed ahead and got a box of small chocolate cakes.

The Jyuppies were delighted to see this Roman bearing gifts. And I was quite happy how the two hours of model lesson went, although I didn't earn any yen. Mrs. Jyuppie was first and she turned out not to be the tabula rasa I'd been dreading but fairly good although she was still fairly low...good attitude. It was a big jump to Mr. Jyuppie's level but he really appreciated me bringing the Presentations book for him. Like his wife, he was also good student material. I'd done a lot of prep work over the past week so I was happy that things went off without any major hitches. Like a lot of other house calls I've done over the years, this place came with its pet...a very friendly little dog who wanted to get in on the conversation. Looks like my planning bore some fruit; the couple tentatively booked me in for three Sundays in May although Mr. Jyuppie said that they have one more teacher to meet in a couple of weeks.

Afterwards, I decided to have my dinner at the nearby Freshness Burger. The Komazawa Park neighbourhood is a trendy residential area that any yuppie would love to be in. It's also a pet paradise according to all of the canines I saw walking around with their masters. Would love to live there myself, but on a lowly teacher's salary...

Saw SIL this afternoon for the first time in a few weeks; some good talk catching up on the latest events. Then, I had to rush on over to teach Mr. Pronounciation before seeing The No-Timer. She's been making the transition from harried accounting staffer to jogging-and-napping unemployed lady. Not a bad way to be in, considering that she still lives at home with the folks. For some reason, we got on the topic of past pets and she told me about how she was inadvertently responsible for her pet crayfish's death. I told her that was nothing; I told her the events surrounding my pet gerbil's demise. I won't get into that online; suffice it to say that The No-Timer was somewhat shocked at the dark side I possessed as a kid.

Found out that Mr. TOEIC is coming back to the fold. He's asked for a 10a.m. class before Mr. Intellectual. I'm OK for that but if he starts trying to back up the time again, I'll have to have a word with the bossman. Unfortunately, my hopes for a very early start to my Thursday evening were dashed definitely with the sudden influx of students. After Miss Sedona, Miss Honolulu comes back followed by another visit from Mr. Pronounciation and then I gotta take over The Diva's student later in the evening.

I finally got the first big review on "Star Trek" via Dark Horizons. Up to now, it's been all the fanboys and fangirls talking, and although the critic wasn't quite as enamoured with the movie as the Trekkies were, he did say that the film provided a lot of fun and hope for the launch of a new alternate universe Trek. High praise indeed considering how the last few movies have fared. Still hoping for a sneak peek at that soundtrack.

Saturday April 11, 2:47 p.m.

Some transition taking place here. The Bostonian looked out of sorts today since she's apparently getting married...still not a done deal, according to her...the fiance has gotta meet her mother tonight. Kinda wonder why she's wearing black then. At one point, the stress of work (her firm is an insurance company...not the most stable of places to be at right now) and the stress of engagement threatened to have her eyes brimming, so the counselor's pad, pencil, ears and soothing voice came on out. Kinda gotta her out of her funk with some well-laid oyaji joke mines. So, I probably won't be hearing from her for several weeks until she and future hubby register their marriage on Children's Day during Golden Week.

Then, The Businesswoman came in. She had a good, educational time in The Windy City at the end of March. Got to dig into Deep Dish Pizza and caught a blues show in one of the nightclubs. Her business trip was basically her last act for her company; now, she's gonna pound the pavement for the next little while, so she said that we probably won't see her (if ever) for the next few months. Wasn't too surprised since she was coming up to her final paid lesson. Did get some Chicago chocolates from her as an omiyage (goodbye gift?).

As for The Publicity Assistant, she came in rather groggy due to the demands of her job and sleep. So, it was time for another round with Dancing Bear. We gabbed a lot on movies and TV so didn't make much progress but at least she stayed quite awake. Unfortunately, she's not promoting "Star Trek" here in Japan. She'll be catching "Watchmen" on my suggestion tomorrow, but she still hasn't read the book. I gave her a friendly warning that the movie may fly over her head.

Will be heading home in about 15. Gotta do some laundry before it gets dark.

Saturday April 11, 10:22 a.m.

Back to the coal mines again. At least, it's a nice day out there. And it looks like I can put away the masks and meds for now since it seems as if my hay fever has started to fade...knock on any wood except cedar. I'm sure there are still some johnny-come-latelys who will be going for O-hanami this weekend although the cherry blossoms are well into falling off the branches and littering the streets. However, when it comes to modern-day cherry-blossom viewing, most folks aren't particularly focused on the trees above but on the beer below.

Bay has come in for the first time in several days since she tied the knot. Looks like married life has been suiting her well. However, she hasn't gotten over her hay fever quite yet.

It'll be a typical Saturday lineup: The Bostonian, followed by The Businesswoman and The Publicity Assistant. The Businesswoman is looking at her final lesson before renewal today (I think I may have already pointed this out last night); not sure if she's gonna go for another round.

I got word from that friend of the Bass. Looks like she wants either an evening or Sunday. Well, my Sundays are starting to look complicated...so I may have to squeeze her in between The Bow and the juku classes on Fridays. Hmmm....not sure.

Friday April 10, 7:24 p.m.

My 2,900th entry! No, not really much to celebrate...at least for another 100 entries...I think that could take anything from 1-3 months. Speaking of milestones, you'll forgive me if I admit that I only found out now that "E.R" had finally wrapped things up after 15 years...well, what's a week late? How's that for being the video isolationist? To be honest, I never got into the series even though the show has also been a hit over here as well for the past several years. I think the last medical drama series that I was into was "St. Elsewhere" close to 25 years earlier.

Did a whole ton of copying for that model lesson on Sunday...and still have to do some more tomorrow. I sent off the tapescript to The Bass earlier. I hope I don't give him a guilt complex.

I know that I've been needing sleep. I've been nodding off on the subway very easily these past two days. I've been going through the latest book from the Speedy library. It's "Labyrinths of Reason" by William Poundstone...not the best thing to read if you want to stay riveted awake, but I tried my best. Would love to see Mr. Spock tackle this one.

I got there a bit early but I went over to The Restauranteur's place for dinner...a monthly habit now. I had my usual Sauteed Chicken course. And as usual, it wasn't all that busy...just a mother-daughter duo for the most of it before 4 kids and 2 mothers poured in. That was my cue to head back to the juku. Looks like The Restauranteur took the boss' urgent advice after all about having her head checked after that spill last week. The bruises are starting to fade away.

Tomorrow, I've just got my three students: The Bostonian, The Businesswoman and The Publicity Assistant. I'm seeing The Businesswoman for the first time since she'd gone on her business trip to Chicago. Would love to hear how she did. And it could be her last time with us...she's on her last lesson before the decision to renew, and I haven't heard anything from the bossman about her re-upping. The last few lessons have been amiable with the listening practice and all, but perhaps she may be feeling that it's time to move on. I wouldn't blame her and wish her well. I think it was also the case with The Yogist several months ago.

Unfortunately for me, being too curious about upcoming movies, I could never resist trying to get the latest info on them. And so I'm still digging for tidbits about "Star Trek"....hmmm...apparently, Vulcan gets smushed by Nero, and if the scenes look as they are, it could be for good so that this new universe's Spock may end up being truly alone. No Pon Farr, no reconciliation with Sarek, no storage of his katra. J.J. Abrams really wants to shake things up.

Friday April 10, 2:58 p.m.

Well, I'm done with the Speedy half of the lessons today. Prissy was fine and Mr. Pronounciation was in good form. It'd been several weeks since our last meeting. He has just left his firm so I think the stress levels have dramatically decreased. He'll be heading for Toronto on a long homestay in a little over a month from now so I'm sure the questions will be dribbling in.

I also got word from that word-of-mouth friend of The Bass. She used only Japanese so I'm not sure if I'll be dealing with a total beginner. Not even sure if I can even fit her into the schedule. Also that model lesson couple for Sunday contacted me to remind me of the lesson. I've got a basic idea of what I'm gonna be doing for them...just gonna have to see how it goes.

Friday April 10, 10:04 a.m.

A bit of a flurry of activity as I speak as The Music Man suddenly had to come in to see if he'd dropped an important memo last night. The timing is good for Speedy, though, since the bossman needed to give him his bill for the next round of lessons.

I've been reading about that Billy Bob Thornton kerfuffle at a Canadian radio station a few days ago. Not surprisingly, the ugly citizens from both Canada and the U.S. have plopped from their morass and started venting at each other. There's even one fellow by the code name of TrueAmerican who's not even bothering to put together any sort of cogent argument (not that the forum on which I saw the venting would particularly demand it) but just throwing his volleys of anti-anyone-not-American anger across the border...which makes me wonder if he's just doing it for the sake of winding people up or he's really a secret Canadian just punk'n his fellow Canucks or perhaps it's really Sacha Baron Cohen. As for BBT himself, he never struck me as being the most stable fellow in Hollywood in the first place, and that is saying a lot; I mean, this is the guy who was carrying vials of his own blood to profess his love for pre-rebirth Angelina Jolie, and has a phobia of antique furniture.

Mark Wahlberg was in town promoting his latest movie, "Max Payne", and gave an interview to "The Japan Times" on condition that his words would only reach the local Japanese/foreign residents. Apparently, Marky Mark must still think the Internet is only available to those folks at DARPA. Also, his agent "advised" the interviewer that Mark will not be addressed as "Marky Mark". I think Mark should just be worried that he will be addressed as Max Payne for the rest of his life.

Friday April 10, 8:27 a.m.

I gotta get out of these late night-early morning transitions...got up and out of the apartment very reluctantly at the eye-searing hour of 6:30 a.m. Had The Music Man last night...he'll be taking off for Milan next week, so he obviously won't be coming in. However, I may be spelling one of our other teachers' students around that time next week, so I don't think I'll be catching "Utaban" or the Tunnels' old variety show anytime soon.

Got word from The Admin surprisingly stating that she liked my introduction of the word "soothing" and that she would like to use it for her hubby's shop promotion. I didn't have quite the heart to tell her that the word has also been used for Speedy's school. I've always had the niggling suspicion that she didn't have as good a time in the school as some of the other staffers who have passed through our gates. However, she'll never top the manic-depressive BC.

Took a look at some of those Joanna Wang vlogs on YouTube. Yup, as just a regular 20-year-old, she does come off as somewhat self-absorbed and rambling...but hey, she's 20 and she's human. There were a couple of responders to one of those vlogs whose comments were apparently so disdainful that they had been deleted by the site managers. I checked one of those folks' sites out; yep, he/she isn't a particularly popular person...there were a lot of profane comments directed at him/her. I kinda figure the fellow is a cyber-crank...the type of person who ends up sitting next to you on a virtual park bench to harangue you about everything and everyone. As for Joanna, she seems to have been given everything to her on a silver platter according to some of the gushing notices I've discovered elsewhere on the Net (although I'm sure she's paid her dues), but I think she'll hit her rough patches sooner or later. Even the one she's been compared most to, Norah Jones, has been cruelly labeled "Snorah Jones" by her critics.

Well, I've got Miss Prissy in about 90 and then Mr. Pronounciation some 2 hours after I've finished with her. Luckily, I was able to get the needed texts yesterday instead of today, so I really only have to take care of some massive copying for the model lesson on Sunday afternoon. May just enjoy walking in Springtime.

Thursday April 9, 5:41 p.m.

Well, this could be a real kick in the pants for the Japanese entertainment industry. I only just heard (apparently, the news is now 3 days old) that Haruka Minowa of the female comedienne duo, Harisenbon, has gotten tuberculosis...the really contagious kind. Considering how close-knit the geinokai is in terms of appearances on TV and on stage, this could be a pretty tense week for everyone not just in showbiz here but for those who had been watching the duo do their shtick live between December and April. And the duo has done some photo layouts as well with gaijin tarento Marie...I wonder how she's feeling. I didn't see Harisenbon at that TBS All-Star Festival on Saturday night so at least some of those celebs can sigh some relief.

Thursday April 9, 5:30 p.m.

Did some further text buying by rushing out to Maruzen and getting that audioscript for The Bass and a potential text for that model lesson on Sunday. Still, I had enough time to enjoy lunch at Com Pho...always good to go there after the lunch crowd has disappeared.

Met up with The New Yorker in Ichigaya. Her fluency hasn't improved all that much since coming back from New York but her listening has gotten a boost and her confidence has gone up a bit as well. What she has dropped has been some weight. She's looking about as slim as I have ever remembered her. She has decided to make the leap over to The Big Apple later this year but again when I asked her what she would like to do, she demurred.

Earlier in the day, Grandma FON got me hungry for Vietnamese pho through her usual energetic attitude in class. But once again, she's gonna disappear for another 5 weeks due to her various travels. Amongst her targets will be her cottage in Nagano, Kabuki-za in Ginza, and a tour of Croatia. If that latter country sounds familiar in this blog, it is because The Beehive ladies had gone there almost a year ago.

Now that I've gotten that textbook shopping done today instead of tomorrow, I have a whole ton of hours between Mr. Pronounciation and the juku classes. I figure some of that time will be spent making copies of various texts for the model lesson on Sunday and whipping some further material for The Restauranteur.

Thursday April 9, 8:25 a.m.

Another one of those late night-early morning transitions. However, my Mega Hump Days have been downgraded to just Hump Days. The Fashion Designer pulled the dotakyan last night and Grandma Dynamite has cancelled her lesson for today. Speaking of morning students, what has happened to The Patent Attorney? I think he probably pulled another cancellation on Speedy.

Still, it'll be fairly busy today. Luckily, no model lesson...we've yet to hear back from that lady from last Thursday so I think it's safe to say that she won't be a convert. I kinda had a hint of things (not) to come when I saw a bit of a look in her face which seemed to say "Hm...nice but I dunno...." I've got Miss Sedona first off, followed immediately by Grandma FON. And then I have to run off to Maruzen since I got a fax yesterday from them stating that that tapescript for The Bass' book has come in. There was a strange excerpt of a message on the machine which I now assume to be one of the bookstore's staffers. There was a bit of background talk before a spate of girlish giggling and then the click-off. One of the managers probably had one of the newbies try to leave a message in Japanese or English and he/she couldn't quite hack it.

Then, it's off to see The New Yorker in Ichigaya. It'll be the first time to see her since she got back from The Big Apple. I had realized it was a bit of a reach for me to think that a mere five days in Manhattan would transform Eliza into a linguistic "My Fair Lady" but still it was slightly disheartening to see her confirm today's lesson with 80s-like Japlish catchphrases.

I see The New Yorker's sister here at Speedy a few hours later before Music Man wraps everything up for me. Yup, a long day today.

Since I'm here early, it was another McBreakfast nearby. This time, instead of the usual Sausage McMuffin, I decided to try the newest entry in the Golden Arches' morning menu: the Mega Sausage Hot Dog set. Yes, Virginia...there is a Homer Simpson in all of us here. Now, for some bizarre reason only known to the (probably secretive) local Planning Division in the House that Ray Croc Built, the Japanese McDonalds has decided to introduce regular hot dogs and the aforementioned Mega Sausage dogs for breakfast only. As I was in the waiting line, I was debating whether to go slow and just go for the regular dog or go for the gusto, and the latter finally won out (no cracks about compensating for something, please). In any case, the Mega came with mustard and ketchup already on it....it was pretty good, although the late and lamented Nathan's would still win out. Not quite sure if it'll win over customers here though since Nathan's ultimately couldn't do it.

I've been keeping up on the aftermath of the unofficial debut of "Star Trek". So far, all of the reviews have been quite positive with particular kudos to Karl Urban's portrayal of Dr. McCoy, although the clip that I've seen of him on Yahoo seems to show him just as a snarly hillbilly hypochondriac. At least, Urban can play a whole range of characters...I couldn't see any similarity between Bones and his characters in "Lord of the Rings" and the Bourne series. I think the only negative response connected with the movie thus far has been to just one of the fan reviews which managed to get his brethren to turn on their flamethrowers. I may indirectly ask The Publicity Assistant this Saturday if she will have any connection to the movie's promotion here. It's coming out in Tokyo on May 29th, by the way.

Speaking of J.J. Abrams, it looks like Leonard Nimoy isn't quite done with him just yet. He's apparently signed on to Abrams' latest baby, "Fringe", as probably one of the oldest recurring characters to come on a TV show. I saw a couple of episodes of the show back in Canada; it will probably end up coming onto SuperDrama TV in the near future. With Nimoy's return, it means that all of the surviving cast members of Classic Trek have found second lives, starting from Walter Koenig's role as Bester in "Babylon 5". James and DeForrest must be fuming somewhere.

Wednesday April 8, 9:52 p.m.

Surprised that I'm typing this at this time since normally The Fashion Designer would be facing me in the lesson. However, as soon as I finished with The Diver, La Fille informed me that she had called to cancel. So I'm officially done here. The Diver is coming along pretty well; certainly, she's come a long way since her nearly mute ways a year ago. As for 001, she was as genki as usual. She told me of her interest in Hokkaido food so I told her about the jaga buta dumplings I'd had a few weeks ago by way of The Restauranteur. I showed her the picture of the box that I'd taken with the digital camera so she can try to track it down at the next Hokkaido event somewhere in Tokyo.

The first cockroach sighting was made last Saturday. Yep, as is usual in Japan, she was a biggie; I could imagine this one must've had tattoos on its thorny legs. Since unlike the vast majority of the population here, I'm not afraid of the bugs, I just picked it up and put it outside like any pet. I could imagine all of my students screaming in horror at my act. I should've just taken a picture of it and put it on my Facebook.

Well, I'm headed home in the next few minutes. It'll be nice to get a bit more sleep before Mega Hump Day 2.

Wednesday April 8, 5:39 p.m.

Well, The Big Lug and I had another cordial lesson. We spoke on the Starbucks phenomenon including our favourite branches (his is in Kamiyacho...near Roppongi; mine is in Toranomon..it's often big and empty on Friday nights, perfect for teaching while downing that caffe latte) and I also found out that he finally found his new pad in Okachimachi. It's pretty close to the old Ueno NOVA branch that I'd started at over 14 years ago, so he was impressed at the places I knew there such as Takeya, a discount store that was there years before the 100-yen shop became a common part of the urban landscape, and AbAb, a Ueno department store legend. He's quite lucky to get the apartment there: he has three train lines serving the area, including the JR Yamanote Line which is probably the line that closes the latest in Tokyo, and a ton of restaurants to choose from.

Wednesday April 8, 2:36 p.m.

In between The Admin and The Big Lug right now. Just had enough time to chow down on a Filet Chicken Sandwich set from The Golden Arches. Gave my glowing reviews of Joanna Wang to The Admin much to her delight. I said I would probably get her first album; she said that she would be happy to borrow it next month. Unfortunately, my hay fever decided to strike during the lesson so in a lesson which dealt with the importance of etiquette, I was breaking a few rules right then and there.

Gotta say that it is a nice day out there, though. Plenty warm.

Read some of the first reviews of "Star Trek" from that lucky crowd in Austin. A lot of superlatives were thrown out...keeping my fingers crossed. If The Publicity Assistant could only get that assignment...

Wednesday April 7, 12:34 p.m.

Well, as I was saying...those lucky Trekkie bastards in Austin, TX got to see the full "Star Trek" with Leonard Nimoy a couple of nights ago. At least the buzz seems to be good, although a lot of Star Wars fans came out rather blissfully when they'd seen "The Phantom Menace" a decade ago; then, the realization dawned that...no...it really wasn't that good a movie.

Grandma Enka had a grand old time on Lota Island with her 14-strong family last week. The area is still undeveloped and therefore doesn't have the touristy cynicism that perhaps Guam and Saipan are now saddled with but still has the pristine nature. She was lucky in that her daughter not only works for the company which plans these tours but Lota Island just happened to be her daughter's assignment.

Anyways, I gotta be taking off to see The Admin in a few minutes...luckily, she's just over at the nearby family restaurant. May have to wait a while to get a table since it's the peak of lunch hour.

Looks like my schedule got slightly readjusted. Grandma Dynamite has cancelled her class for tomorrow and has opted for a double next week, and Mr. Pronounciation has slotted himself for early Friday afternoon. So, a bit of a respite for the second Mega Hump Day.

Wednesday April 8, 11:17 a.m.

Well, the United States has been full of surprises these past 24 hours. First, Barack Obama pulls a Uwie on Air Force One and heads to Baghdad in a sandstorm. And then Leonard Nimoy shows up in Austin to present the very first showing of the rebooted "Star Trek"

...and Grandma Enka has just come in....too early...later.

Tuesday April 7, 9:23 p.m.

Finished my day. The Milds came in with Mr. Mild getting a buzzcut for his new job at the sports facility. He's one of the many retirees who's going for a second career of sorts. He's doing everything right now from reception, taking care of IDs and Lost & Found. Mrs. Mild was suffering seemingly from a rather bad headache. She was periodically massaging her temples. However, she'll be heading over to Italy next week with her buddies; a bit worried due to that earthquake there.

The juku boss gave me an extra treat in the form of chocolate almonds and maboroshi o-senbe or The Mystery Rice Cracker. Apparently in Urayasu, this treat made from the rice usually devoted to producing rice cakes has picked up a reputation for itself as a much-savored and hard-to-get local delicacy. The rather mercurial producer refuses to say when and how much of the stuff he can make, and whatever he makes gets quickly snapped up through reservations so folks passing by the shop very rarely, if ever, can buy the crackers straight off the shelf. However, the juku boss got lucky and was able to pick up one bag. To be honest, the two crackers I ate tonight were OK but didn't seem to be worth all the hoopla, but in the interest of keeping intra-Urayasu relationships sound, I didn't say anything.

Well, heading home now but I got word from La Fille that Mr. Pronounciation wants to get another class in sometime this Thursday or Friday. I've sent word to Speedy that Friday would be the better day since I'm pretty full up on Thursday.

Tuesday April 7, 7:07 p.m.

Well, Suzanne certainly likes to punch above her weight...she's very unique amongst my students for that reason. Since she has been reading James Allen's "As A Man Thinketh" (translated into Japanese as "Cause and Effect"...a theme that is stated from the very first page) and I got my own original copy from Shard, we decided to tackle the first chapter. It was from easy for her with all of the dated English and concepts and by the end she was feeling distinctly exhausted. Apparently the Japanese translation doesn't have quite the religious slant that the source material has. In any case, we switched over to Margaret Atwood's "In The Secular Night"...which strangely enough seemed to be a philosophical rebuttal to Allen. This was easier but not easy. However, we did enjoy analyzing the poem. Maybe we have something there. I printed out an Allen Ginsberg piece for next week. But I'm now thinking if we could even do a song....let's say Donald Fagen's "I.G.Y."

Automan is back in town with his fiancee for the next couple of weeks. Looks like there may be something over at Shrek's on the 18th. The Bohemian sent me word about some sort of get-together with those Mixi buddies of his whom I met last month in Shinjuku. Not quite sure if I'll say yes to that one considering how obnoxious he was under the influence.

Apparently, there was someone planning President Obama's demise in Turkey. However, it was quickly defused. Not particularly alarmed...all US Presidents are targeted for assassination and sadly, Obama, has an even bigger bullseye on his back due to the fact that he is the first African-American president. But he's been getting the rock star's welcome everywhere he's gone in Europe. I could only imagine what it would be like if and when he lands in Japan.

Tuesday April 7, 4:11 p.m.

I think Spring has finally come. Last night, we all probably had the first pleasant night to walk home. No need to bundle up at all. And today has been a glorious day. Didn't bother to put on the tie. I met The Beehive at the usual place. They'd had a good time in Okinawa last week with Mrs. Perth and Mrs. Pottery who's now living there. I got the usual chinsuko cookies (crammed with pig lard) and a decorative binder as souvenirs. The session was a bit dominated by Mrs. Travel who was crowing about the fact that she and her husband had fought the morning after she got back. I'm not sure about relationships but I don't think boasting about her fighting techniques is particularly the most conducive to English conversation.

Did the usual I-Cafe gig in the afternoon. Seems like Joanna Wang, like Barack Obama, was using the Net to promote herself throughout last year. She had posted a number of her songs throughout her inaugural year on YouTube from the comfort of her room. She looks rather mature on her CD but on video, she comes across as the usual latter-day teen in her delivery. Nothing too profound in her statements...just straight intros.

Just spoke with the juku boss about that model lesson student. She never called back despite the boss' call to her about her interest in the lessons. So I'm assuming that she will be a no-go.

Monday April 6, 9:09 p.m.

Yeah, me again. Got a message from the juku boss. May or may not have a brief model lesson tomorrow with this young lady who apparently speaks in decibels according to a rather loud phone call she had sent the boss a couple of weeks ago. May be a gyaru. I cringe but then again, I'd thought as much about Seven and then Suzanne, and they both ended up to be decent ladies.

Speaking of Suzanne, she told me she's been reading the Japanese translation of "As A Man Thinketh" by James Allen, the same book that Shard had given me over Xmas. Small world. I'll be lending my version to her and maybe we can analyze that one.

Got the Beehive back tomorrow in Tsudanuma. I think most of the 90 minutes will be spent on their trip to Okinawa last week and my trip to Quintessence yesterday. I'll be bringing over the Exilim. Perhaps I'll bring some sort of article but most likely I won't be needing it in class.

I've gotta think about that big model lesson with The Sylph's friend and his wife whose house we all had visited a week ago last Saturday after O-hanami in Komazawa Park. Could be a big one but they still have to hear my price quote and they've been interviewing other teachers. I may be doing some more text purchasing on Friday.

I also gotta say that maybe I've passed the peak of my annual hay fever. I did take the meds but I've managed to survive the outside without donning a mask.

Monday April 6, 8:41 p.m.

Yes, I guess it's a pretty slow night but I should be getting ready for Medicine Man in the next 15 minutes.

Anyways, you can enjoy a little bit of Shinjuku skyscraper-dom. I took this on the main street between Nakano and Shinjuku. Actually, during my night out last night in Yoyogi, I took a few dusk pics which might look pretty good in future entries.

Well, in my free time, I got a chance to read some reviews on the restaurant I'd dined at earlier this afternoon, the Michelin 3-star Quintessence. Not surprisingly, the professional critics weren't as generous in their praise as The Class Act and I were. One wag even remarked that the ambience, service, and food were somewhat cold and robotic in tone so that he would more likely head out to a cheap ramen place instead of a 2nd trip to Quintessence. OUCH! However, the ones that I did read did agree that that goat's cheese with the macadamia nuts and olive oil was the hit dish. It was called bavarois. Finally, I can make sense of what the Japanese for years have been calling this dollop of slightly firm creaminess. All I could make out was the katakana pronounciation, babaroa. At first, I was wondering if this was something that the late Desi Arnaz would say to Lucy. Well, the linguistic mystery has been solved.

Also an update on that singer I've gotten interested in: Joanna Wang. It looks like a lot of folks in cyberspace have been calling her the Chinese-American Norah Jones and that she's more categorized as a folk singer. Well, I did see that YouTube entry by the woman herself armed with a guitar and singing "Dream A Little Dream of Me". Yep, she's good. Her album was just released earlier in Japan this year, while she had become quite the rising star in the rest of Asia the year before. Hmmmm....I wonder if she'll be discovered in the notoriously fickle world of Japanese music. She mentioned a singer by the name of Yoeko Kurahashi as one of her inspirations. In any case, I'll have to give my respects to The Admin for lending the CDs to me.

Monday April 6, 8:14 p.m.

Looks like The No-Timer has been enjoying her nearly one week of freedom. And it also looks like she'll be the next of a few students who will be flying the coop sometime later this year. She's been considering doing a tour of duty on Working Holiday in Singapore for about 6 months. But it is going to be a temporary deal compared to Miss Sedona who's hoping for a permanent stay in Canada, and perhaps even The New Yorker who should be back from her namesake city by now. I wonder how she got along in The Big Apple.

As I've said, I've got Mega Hump Days coming up on Wednesday and Thursday. So it was with some relief (knocking on wood) that Mr. Pronounciation decided to have his comeback lesson tomorrow with Speedy instead of me on Wednesday. With 6 lessons already, even if all of my students are great folks, I don't think I would've survived having 7 on my plate. I don't think Speedy looked too happy though.

Monday April 6, 4:23 p.m.

Had a terrific lunch at Quintessence. Made my way over to tony Shiroganedai via the Namboku Line. It was just a brisk 10-minute walk from the station to the restaurant itself. I knew I was in for something other than the usual "Is that for here or to go?" speech at Wendy's as soon as I entered the air lock and a young lady with a beaming smile in a smart suit greeted me. She looked faintly familiar as if she had been a model in the mags or on TV, but I had just enough class not to ask.

I waited in the front lounge for a few minutes. Another couple came on in and sat down but I didn't make any eye contact; I had the impression that such a place reeked of discretion. The Matron came in dressed in a kimono she'd designed herself. It had a sakura motif...I really gotta get her and Mrs. Tee together since she's also often decked out in traditional dress. The noon hour passed by but The Lady was yet to show up...very unusual for her. A phone call from The Matron quickly revealed that The Lady had completely forgotten the lunch and was now rushing to get over. On that note, the impeccably suited waiter showed us to our little chamber for lunch.

I'm not sure about the dinner part but the lunch menu is all up to the owner/chef...a genius who only uses the freshest local ingredients. Nothing frozen or artificially preserved. Of course there were the drinks....The Matron went for sparkling mineral water since she had driven over and I was gently persuaded to try some champagne (for which I downed two fluted glasses...a personal best). While we waited for The Lady, The Matron caught up on life over the past 6 weeks. She'd been busy with various parties including one graduation and one for her grandson.

We'd just finished the first course...an interesting digestif consisting of tomato-based soup seasoned with spices like paprika and some carbonation; tasty although I don't know if I'll ever across its like again....when The Lady rushed on in being absolutely contrite for having forgotten. Of course, we were just happy that she could make it at all.

The rest of our dejeuner de France was consisted of dishes that I'd never eaten and probably won't eat for the rest of my life...I told the ladies that I was getting goose bumps (not an overexaggeration) at the food I was trying. The second course was creamy goat's cheese topped with salted macadamias and drizzled with olive oil. Then came the main course of grilled swordfish steak and rare Iberian pork. Finally, we got two desserts...a tiny crepe that was made from the best sugar, butter and flour...the quality was so high that there was no need to add any filling. The second dessert was another interesting creation of layers of bitter chocolate mousse, crackling caramel and a foam made of espresso coffee. All throughout we were given the play-by-play by our waiter. Yep, he knew his stuff...and we had to have it explained since the dishes were so new to us. Not sure if some people would appreciate the commentary, though; I think there would be folks who would rather have their meal in peace, but then again I don't think such people would come to Quintessence in the first place.

As I'd been told before, we spent about 3 hours in the restaurant but the time just seemed to fly by because the pacing of the wait staff was so immaculate. The two glasses of champagne had me flushing into two shades of scarlet but I was able to hold onto my alcohol until the end. Of course, The Matron paid for everything although I tried to at least make the pretense of pulling out my wallet. The owner/chef and our waiter showed us out the door. Yep, he's a young dude...was surprised to see him own and operate his own 3-star restaurant. Would love to come here again for lunch but the reservation process is extremely strict. You can only reserve exactly 2 months in advance...nothing sooner, nothing later. The Matron was jokingly complaining aloud about that restriction while the wait staff smilingly bowed their apologies.

While The Lady had gone back to her car, The Matron and I walked up to hers. She confided that she'd been worried about her over the past month since the news came out about her husband's financial downturn. There had been some worry that her wonderful house and staff would have to be let go, but it looks like that hurdle has been cleared, thankfully. Not sure if there will be any Xmas party this year, though.

Still, it looks like I won't be resuming any Class Act lessons with them for another 5 weeks; they've requested me to wait until after Golden Week. I don't mind too much since I appreciate the late Monday sleep-ins.

Now that I'm back at Speedy's...it's back to normalcy. I've got The Full-Timer...or perhaps I should say No-Timer since she should have finished her time with her now-former company last week. And then I've got Medicine Man in the last slot.

Monday April 6, 9:33 a.m.

Well, I guess we're in post-launch Japan now. Yup, Kim Jong-Il launched his newest plaything over Japan yesterday at 11:30 a.m. local time. I just managed to turn on the telly just when the news flash came in...and this time, all of the stations chimed in breathlessly from the first reports of the launch to the Chief Cabinet Secretary's press conference at noon. TV Tokyo remained resolutely nonchalant about it, though. As usual, they provided alternate programming for those folks who preferred travelogues over breaking news.

The weekend was pretty quiet. TV-wise, we're in the Spring Specials week between trendy drama seasons, so being Saturday night, TBS put on its quarterly 4.5-hour All-Star Quiz and Marathon show. Hosted by longtime veteran comedian/commentator Shinsuke Shimada and former aidoru-turned-tarento Wakako Shimazaki, the show has 200 tarento and actors (the former vastly in the majority) answering various trivia questions for prizes while chosen celebs have to run a mini-marathon around TBS Studios in Akasaka. Of course, the governor of Miyazaki Prefecture, former comedian Sonomamma Higashi ran in it since he's a big marathon fan, and there was the throw-in of a veteran Olympic marathon runner; not surprisingly he passed through the tape first. The new things about this version is that now because my TV is part of the digital revolution, I could also play along with the other tarento through the interface. Alas, didn't do too well...I ended up in 151st place out of 201. The other thing is that they actually had some of the pretty female tarento getting down and dirty in some of the crazy races. For example, there was one race in which selected tarento had to get across a short track all slicked down in gooey lotion (guess we can thank the porn industry for that novelty). They actually had some of the prettier ladies have their own race; usually if women took part, they were the homely (to say the least) goofball comediennes. Well, this time, new half-American/half-Japanese SHELLEY got into the finals alongside two other men, one of the local Japanese comedians and transplanted gaijin tarento Bobby Ologun from Africa. Shimada astutely pointed out it was the first time that any of the special's races had a totally multicultural look. In any case, despite all the mess, Shelley won the championship but only after she got a bit of a spurt via Ologun "accidentally" poking her in the butt with his fingers.

On Sunday, it was a nice, quiet one but I did go out to Yoyogi to meet up with MB and The Sylph for dinner at a yakiniku restauarant called "Yakiniku no Ganko-chan". It wasn't the usual group of The Satyr, Miss Ivory and Skippy; this time, it was just one other person, a former co-worker of The Sylph's. I wasn't sure if MB was trying to set me up with her, but although she was a nice sociable type, I didn't get any particular chemistry between us. The yakiniku was good, though.

I'd been wondering about what the schedule was gonna be like today. I was supposed to meet up with The Class Act for the first time in a month but never got any calls. Fortunately, the call came in just as I was about to head on here from The Matron. Yep, I'm off to that Michelin 3-star restaurant, Quintessence, so I'm in my dress blues. I'm probably gonna to have take some money out of the account, though...lunch over there costs over 7,000 yen. No, not too bad for a 3-star but then I'm the type of guy who only gets to see stars in his menu when they denote spice level. Hopefully, I'll get a chance to take some pics of the fare.

Not quite sure what my fate with The Class Act is gonna be. The Matron told me over the phone that The Lady was doing quite well when she had spoken to her last week. However, since I haven't seen them and have gotten accustomed to having Monday mornings off now, the lunch may be my goodbye meal with them. We'll see.

As for new privates, I was not only surprised to hear from The Bass that he was OK with the lesson (considering how unimpressed I was with myself last Friday) but he had already recommended me to a young acquaintance of his. Yow! At this point, I'm wondering whether I should think about making moves to leave Speedy's. Nah...

Musically, I may have come across an epiphany in the form of a very young Chinese-American chanteuse by the name of Joanna Wang. In return for borrowing that Miki Imai CD from me last week, The Admin lent me a couple of her CDs. When I first put on the headphones last Saturday night, I had been expecting to just listen to the first track and then hit bed, but her voice just sounded so different and appealing that I ended up listening to the entire album without getting the least bit drowsy. The way the Admin described her, it sounded like Wang was one of those singers getting into the jazz vein but she does a wide range, including a nice cover of that old Paul Anka tune which had been used for all those Kodak commercials decades ago. Her voice has got a certain smokiness and lilt...a mix of Lisa Ono and Sheryl Crow, if you can imagine that fusion. Tried to look her up at HMV yesterday before I met up with MB and company...couldn't find her in the jazz section but found her in the World Music section. The album I'm borrowing is just her second release and discovered that she's perhaps all of 20 years of age! She looks and sounds quite a bit older (and that is a compliment, by the way). May be thinking of getting my own copy.

Saturday April 4, 2:30 p.m.

Finished all of the classes today. The Intellectual was once again dripping sweat all over the place; he seems to be one of those fellows who doesn't take to heat very well. I wonder how he survives the summers here. As for The Bostonian, she told me about what had happened at the big presentation; yep, there were the technical glitches but she said that because she'd gone over the words several times, she could get through that hurdle smoothly. The one surprise was that on her way here, she came across a former First Couple of Japan in Yoyogi Park this morning. Shinzo and Akie Abe were just walking their dog sans bodyguards of any sort; I know that Tokyo is still a safe city but for a former PM to be doing something like that would evoke a lot of envy from ex-Presidents Carter, Clinton and the two generations of Bush. But it could also be that Shinzo Abe was pretty rightwing to begin with so there wouldn't be any danger of attacks from the lunatic far right. Some high schoolers even nonchalantly asked them for a picture which they very happily granted.

The Publicity Assistant did fine on her test. The movie she's promoting, "Frost Vs. Nixon" happens to be a big hit here....strange for a movie whose topic matter wouldn't really attract much attention unless there were a lot of Japanese Watergate fetishists.

It's looking pretty gorgeous out there...for now. I'll probably be taking off in about another 15 minutes or so.

Saturday April 4, 10:25 a.m.

Yep, that is indeed a very tasty Bacon Cheeseburger in one of our great Tokyo burger joints, Brozers, in Ningyocho. I usually get a few surprised exclamations at the location since Ningyocho is one of the more traditional corners of this metropolis.

Speaking of which, the latest METROPOLIS has its annual Burger Pullout Guide Menu; there are the usual entries like ROTI and Homework's, but I also did see some new stores. Looks like MB, Skippy and I will be pulling out some more Burger Tours in the not-so-distant future.

Burgers have become the "in" food for the past few years now since the Japanese diet has become rather dependent on Western fast food. Ironically, McDonalds, arguably the first fast food place to introduce hamburgers to Japan, had to join the hamburger bandwagon last year and by so doing, finally brought over the Quarter-Pounder which is doing pretty good business out there. The American ex-pat no longer needs to head back home or go inside a US military base to get a real burger.

In that same issue of METROPOLIS, there was the cover story of Japanese Rock Girls...the J-version of Joan Jett and Chrissie Hynde. I think for all of those J-Pop fans, this issue should be a must-collect. It lists about 20 bands and chanteuses such as Aiha Higurashi, Afrirampo and Ringo Shiina.

Saturday April 4, 10:07 a.m.

Got some sleep last night but still feel tired. Going up to 18 C today with a chance of rain later tonight...maybe even a Taepaedong.

Last night, I was talking about that old lady in Shinjuku who had collapsed in front of The Bow and me. Well, The Restauranteur had her own little spill; the left side of her face was slightly bruised in places after she had slipped and fell in her eatery a few days ago. Not to say that she was anywhere near Two-Face but it was noticeable. She also tapped her head on the floor which rang alarm bells in me and the juku boss. For me, like that Shinjuku lady, I got reminded of Natasha Richardson and the two of us plus The Ace recommended that she go to the hospital. But The Restauranteur breezily but firmly said that she wouldn't go to any hospital since she hated them. I didn't press the issue since I'm also no lover of medical institutions.

Only have three today: The Intellectual, The Bostonian and The Publicity Assistant. I'll be seeing The Bostonian for the first time since she had that big presentation a couple of weeks ago. True to her luck (and mine), we did all those lessons on presentation only to find out that her computer and Microsoft Powerpoint went on the fritz at showtime thus rendering our carefully laid plans to ashes.

Since I have all three closely bunched together, I'll be able to get home pretty early. So far, I haven't heard anything from The Corner about those translations and since I won't be looking at my Hotmail, I will go home free. However, I'm gonna have two real Hump Days next week with Wednesday and Thursday containing 6 lessons each.

Friday April 3, 7:18 p.m.

It was a tale of two students today. I had The Bass this morning in Funabashi. We just went to the Doutors across the street from the station. He said that it was usually not that busy in the morning but I guess Fridays were an exception, but we were able to find a table. Hmmm...The Bass is a good guy but I also got the vibe that he wouldn't hesitate to dress me down if I got a bit lackadaiscal in the execution, not that I usually do and not that he shouldn't chew me out if I screw up majorly, but I wasn't sure if he were all that comfortable with the lesson today. He's probably one of my highest private students from the get-go, so it may be a case that I have to spin up my game. I certainly revved up my aftercare. He had asked me for a receipt, an audioscript and the next chapter....none of which I had on me (the first two I'd never been asked for before, and the third was a blunder on my part). So, even though we left on good terms, I felt like I was walking home after having been sent to the principal's office.

Got back to my neighbourhood and after I had my lunch at the tonkatsu place, I went over to the 100-Yen Shop and got a receipt book plus an envelope and then I headed straight on out to Maruzen. The Bass was only using a photocopy of the first chapter so part of my aftercare was to get him his own textbook and the audioscript. The text was no problem but I had to order the script which I'll have to pick up next Friday. I mailed the book and the receipt for today's class a few hours later.

The second student was The Bow who had to be subjected to semi-arctic temperatures from sitting outside at another filled-to-the-gills Starbucks last week since I couldn't get a table at the Maynds Tower Starbucks last week. I made sure that wouldn't happen today by getting there about a half-hour early. She showed up at 3 and we had a pretty good inaugural official class. Yup, she's low-intermediate which is more along who I usually teach so it was more comfortable from the get-go. I think she's gonna follow the pattern of The Sisters of State and go for biweekly sessions.

The Bow and I walked outside of The Maynds Tower...she was heading over to Takashimaya Times Square and I was heading over to the post office to mail The Bass' package when an old lady next to us suddenly collapsed and banged her head on the pavement. The two of us plus two other Good Samaritans helped her back up but she was feeling pretty woozy....and in fact, she was heading back to her room at a nearby hospital from doing a bit of shopping. I'm not sure if she had been allowed out since she was just wearing her hospital gown under a light jacket. We stayed with her for a few minutes as she just sat down on the steps in front of Maynds and insisted that we could go. We reluctantly left after lingering for another several seconds and then I told The Bow that I would check on her after I got out of the post office. Once I mailed the package off, I saw from across the street that another quartet of folks surrounded her, and one of them with a strong back decided to piggyback her to her hospital. Hopefully, she's OK now, but considering the Natasha Richardson tragedy, I hope she'll get her head examined.

I got over to Urayasu by around 6:30. I'd been thinking about having dinner at The Restauranteur's place tonight but I didn't want the juku boss to start panicking if I didn't show up at 7 so I just did KFC instead. When I got to the place, the boss told me about The Traveler's absence throughout April due to work. Still, she was in good spirits; she even gave me a mocha eclair for dessert...never could resist one of those. I have The Ace and The Restauranteur for their regular lengths of time....a half-hour each.

I've been reading my latest acquisition from Kinokuniya: Professor Michio Kaku's "Physics of the Impossible". It has been a good read, and the prof does explain things in a very layman style. But even on the subway home the last couple of nights, even his book couldn't stop me from nodding off. I was grateful for a bit more sleep today, and it'll be somewhat normal as well for the next day. I've just got The Intellectual, The Bostonian and The Publicity Assistant for Saturday.

Thursday April 2, 8:41 p.m.

Yup, I'm done for tonight...that model lesson zapped me. Not that it was bad or that the student was a problem. However, model lessons always take a lot out of student and teacher. But I still have Music Man...the last model lesson student; luckily, I got a conversion out of him. Not sure about this lady, though. Maybe, maybe not. However, I know that I gave it my best.

Now, I gotta get ready for my two new students tomorrow: The Bass and The Bow...both of them musicians in completely different genres.

Thursday April 2, 5:21 p.m.

It's been a lazy afternoon although I've got that model lesson in a little over an hour from now. Just had a late lunch or an early supper. La Fille, the new kid on the block, seems to be settling into her position. Ray and Day have been showing her the ropes over the past few days.

Ahhh...as for the scene on the left, that was one of my pics as I walked through Ginza. There was a bit of an Akiba performance art piece between two lacy-dressed women on Chuo Dori during the regular Sunday afternoon hokoten. A rather eager photographer was taking snaps of them while male pedestrians were shooting them with their cellphone cameras. Still not sure whether the Akiba hokoten has come back.

Got invitations from both MB and The Party Animal, an old university buddy from a couple of decades back. MB invited me to a yakiniku outing at a place near Yoyogi Station. I would've been quite content to spend my Sunday at home all day but the smell of searing beef got me reaching for the send button to MB in the positive. As for The Party Animal, she's invited me to her place for a BBQ out in her neck of the woods...presumably out in the west end of town on the 25th. Seeing that I have a day off on that day, I said that I would come on out. I have a feeling that it'll be an old U of T Alumni Night, although on a much more intimate scale which I prefer. I tend to avoid reunions like the plague.

Since Kim Jong Il announced that he was going to have a bit of fun with one of his more ballistic toys recently, the Japanese have been holding emergency drills just in case the big day happens during the weekend. So, NHK has been dutifully showing the men in their coveralls behind old machinery doing countdowns and sending out announcements. I'm not sure what more they can do. Trying to imagine an air raid warning in Tokyo on Saturday...don't think one of those has been sounded in over 60 years. I can't even imagine seeing a whole bunch of agejo trying to hit the dirt in those day-glo heels of theirs.

Thursday April 2, 12:56 p.m.

One of those nights where I had to dress up in my work clothes for today and sit-sleep on the sofa, lest I don't wake up in time to head back to work. Not my favourite environment since I usually end up quite tired. And I had the two Grandmas: Dynamite and FON. They sandwiched Miss Sedona. Since all three ladies were back-to-back-to-back, I now have several hours of downtime before I have that low model student and then the Music Man to finish up.

Grandma FON had just come back from a weeklong tour of places like Yakushima, a World Heritage Site and perhaps the inspiration for "Princess Mononoke". It's amazing how much energy she has, considering she's on a cane...perhaps I should've codenamed her Yoda instead; however, her syntax is better than the Jedi Master's.

I was able to get the remaining translations done and sent by Grandma Dynamite's arrival. Now I can just prep for the remaining two lessons and think about what I'll need to do for my two newest private students, The Bass and The Bow, whose first lessons are tomorrow.

Wednesday April 1, 5:21 p.m.

It might be April Fool's Day, but it's also the beginning of the new fiscal year here in Japan, a date of some import. So, it's rather appropriate that it's also my first day of real work this week after a couple of very sparse days. I had The Admin earlier this morning at the usual place; once again, she didn't really touch the text but she seems to be happy just recording every new vocab that pops up.

Again, I had another big donut of time so I just went over to that Chinese eatery in the Maynds Tower for lunch. Yep, crowded and this time there was also a sizable lineup in front. I had the chuukadon...basically chow mein but all of the toppings are on rice instead of noodles. There was also the usual miscue in orders although I got my dish OK.

Krispy Kreme #1 only had a 5-minute wait time during the rain but by the time I got out of Times Square, that wait increased to 15 minutes once the sun started coming out. Just did the usual tour of Kinokuniya and HMV. I actually got Michio Kaku's book, "Physics of the Impossible" since I was interested in what was the real deal on warp drive and teleportation. A bit heavy for subway commuting reading, especially round midnight but I trust Kaku to keep me entertained and informed.

I also decided to get the PASMO Commuter Pass to join that PASMO card that I'd gotten from MB for my birthday. I discovered that I was spending way too much money through the PASMO (over 20,000 yen) when I could just spend several thousand less through the commuter pass.

I enjoyed watching "Ironman" once again on DVD. Robert Downey Jr. certainly makes the part his own. There must be something about Oscar-winning stars who just want to slum through a superhero movie.

Going slowly through the latest Peanuts tome. This is the 1971-1972 book: Woodstock is now fully part of the family and Marcie has been introduced along with Joe Cool. Even back then, the strip has come a long way since its inception 20 years back.

Tuesday March 31, 7:05 p.m.



My second "weekend" day went off without any financial gouging thankfully. As I said I would, I went down to Ikspiari (yep, that's the real spelling of the shopping and dining complex at Maihama Station....I think someone just threw some Scrabble tiles on the floor to get the name; incredible that no "E"s ended up there). Actually, the bus ride down from Urayasu Station was pretty easy. It only took 15 minutes to reach Tokyo Disneyland...I think the Milds would only need a 20-minute walk from their house to get to The House of Mickey. The weather was still cool but at least there was a bit of sun poking through the clouds.



Ikspiari (it's like a mini-test for typing accuracy) fit in with the day-glo happy-happy-joy-joy architecture of Disneyland; all ice cream-coloured domes and walls. I'd thought for some reason that the complex was open since TDL was the same way, but it was actually enclosed like any other shopping mall. Ended up having lunch at Planet Hollywood, the first time I've ever been to the franchise that Bruce, Sylvester and Arnold built. Well, at about 11:30, it was pretty barren inside the huge circular restaurant. There were some displays of costumes that stars had worn; I was seated across from Jean-Claude Van Damme's outfit from "Street Fighter"...not that this is a recommendation to see the movie, mind you. I had one of the lunch specials: a pretty thick and hearty turkey sandwich with pieces of orange (!) squished inside, and a side order of mashed potatoes with bits of bacon and a huge melting glob of butter in the middle. Dessert was a very small pot of matcha pudding.Not too bad, I suppose.



I further explored Ikspiari which included the movie theatre, an avenue which looked like the bright lights of Broadway inside. It was pretty much what I'd expected...a shopping mall for the tourists: lots of restaurants, a few brand-name stores and other unknown ones. I walked outside along with the palm-lined avenue past the Disney Ambassador Hotel (looked like a giant blue-and-white supermarket birthday cake) and then I saw the huge white theatre that was the Japanese home of Cirque Du Soleil before I backtracked my way back to the other end of the mall. I went on ahead to where the main gates of TDL were and took some closer pictures of the humongous Tokyo Disneyland Hotel where Mild Jr. works. I wondered about taking a look inside but feeling like an interloper, I decided to head on back to the bus stop. There were announcements in English and Japanese stating TDL had to stop selling tickets since the place was at full capacity (kids are still on holiday...perhaps til tomorrow) and that maybe, just maybe, there may be tickets available from 4 p.m.



Headed on back to Urayasu by the same bus. Hmmm....I don't think I'll head back to Ikspiari anytime soon unless I got specific requests from either MB or Skippy. Still I'm glad that at least I could make the trip there. Since I had quite a bit of time before Suzanne, I hit the Starbucks for an hour. Still, I managed to surprise the juku boss when I came in at 3:30. Once again, she had forgotten that Suzanne was due to come in for a 2-hour session from 5. I was also told that The Traveler was supposed to come in for her half-hour. But it's now 7:25 and no sign of the lass so that's pretty much out the window. So I'm finished for theday.



The double-class with Suzanne was another one in which I felt like bringing out the psychiatrist's chaise lounge. We'd gone through the final part of "Desiderata" and then we spoke on her future, which included her fate with her current boyfriend. Yup, pretty deep. The lass is a good conversationalist, I gotta hand her that. We also covered Starbucks, US Presidential visits and the North Korean situation. Gotta try and hold onto this one as long as possible.



Speaking of The Hermit Kingdom, the rocket's on the launch pad, and the ships are in the waters. Ought to be an interesting piece of brinkmanship in a few days. Well, unfortunately, I'm due to be at Speedy's on the 4th...I can only hope that the missile decides to hit Odaiba instead...just joking.



I've gotten the first couple of pages of the latest Corner translations into Word but it's not quite ready for shipping over to my client just yet. Still, it'll help me come tomorrow...I've gotta get everything over to him before my Wednesday night gang starts up.



The Bass contacted me and it was lucky he did too since he'd mistakenly assumed that we were to meet next Tuesday. I corrected him on the right day. I'm wondering about bringing over the Discman and some clean headphones.



Well, I'm amazingly finished for the day, so I'll head on home and hopefully, I may even watch

Monday March 30, 7:51 p.m.

Well, there you see it. For some reason, my neighbourhood happens to have the only vending machines...perhaps in the entire Kanto...to sell Virgin Cola. Maybe Sir Richard Branson has some sort of kickback with the Ichikawa City government. Not sure, but MB was definitely surprised by this little piece of trivia. As it is, the cola doesn't taste quite as good as Coke or Dr. Pepper. However, as a collector's item, I'm keeping this can on top of some of the CD shelves. MB was also surprised to find out that Virgin Records had been kaput for some years. I rather enjoyed their huge store in Shinjuku back in my early years here. It was where that Marui Department Store extension is now. It occupied the entire basement floor beneath Marui...maybe the equivalent floor space of three of the Tower Records floors in Shibuya, arguably the biggest CD store on the planet in terms of area and sales. It was also where my interest in jazz started in earnest when I bought my first Bill Evans disc there. Some years later, the store moved down the street toward Takashimaya Times Square on the 1st and 2nd floors of another building, but it only lasted a couple of more years there before it disappeared for good.

Speaking about disappearing movies, "Watchmen" is probably gonna be headed for a quick box-office demise....ironic for a movie that was adapted from what has been called the "Citizen Kane" of comic books. But then again, "Citizen Kane" was far from being anointed a classic when it had been first released in 1941.

Yep, MB and I caught it at Roppongi Hills last night (with a prior mini-Burger Tour stop at Baker Bounce in Tokyo Midtown). The reviews haven't been too kind to it...I just saw the METROPOLIS review of it, and the oft-cantankerous critic slagged it off as being incoherent. Well, for folks who had never read the graphic novel, perhaps, but MB and I had read it over the years so we knew what was up; we just wanted to know how well the unfilmable could be filmed. And I think Zack Snyder did as good a job as could be hoped for. Nope, the acting wasn't the greatest so we won't be seeing any Heath Ledger moments in this one. But the film had some style throughout and even during the opening credits. And the characters...most of them...were likeable. Liked Rorschach and Nite Owl the best.

I think it was kismet that MB and I had caught "Rambo" and "Knocked Up" before catching "Watchmen". The two movies had been good preparation for what we saw in this movie, strangely enough. It contained plenty of gruesome violence (kids under 7 definitely shouldn't be catching this one...not that they would be able to understand it anyways) and the profanity, sex and relationship angst were in full bloom here. Certainly, this graphic novel became quite a graphic movie. Plus, the addition of music from the 60s, 70s and 80s was also a nice plus; it was certainly a surprise to hear "99 Luftballons" alongside Leonard Cohen. But all that aside, both MB and I had a good time with it. I don't think I'll catch it again at the theatre, but I would certainly put down the yen for the DVD. I found the "Watchmen" CD with those songs but it doesn't contain Cohen's "First We Take Manhattan" which I was disappointed about.

Today, I found myself feeling somewhat as foolish and as helpless as the remaining Watchmen after getting defeated by Ozymandias at the end of the movie. Seeing that I only had two lessons in two days, I had decided that I would visit the Lilac Forest in Sunshine City. Yes, you must be thinking that I must be off on some sort of drug-induced trip mentioning such names. Well, the two places actually do exist on this plane...Sunshine City is the large shopping complex in Ikebukuro and Lilac Forest is part of the Namjatown complex specializing in massage clinics. I hadn't had a massage in a couple of years...I think the last one was when I went over to Creambath Ebisu. I took a look at Dhora Villas, the clinic that specialized in Indian massage and decided to go for the 30-minute head session. It would only cost me 3,000 yen. However, I let the smooth-talking masseuse there talk me into getting what would be the reflexology treatment along with the head treatment and ended up paying 7,500 yen in total! I just barely avoided embarrassment in that I was able to pay for everything from the remaining 7 bills and one large coin in my wallet. I'm not sure if the lady there was trying to shake me down intentionally (can't see that happening in a place like that...that would be more the type of stuff that happens in Kabukicho) but I still felt somewhat fleeced, although she did a good job and that one hour just whipped by. I did ask for a quotation from her but she said something or other I couldn't quite catch, and unfortunately my mild-mannered self didn't push the subject. Still, a lesson was learned....I won't be going inside the Lilac Forest ever again. Didn't even have enough cash to enter The Gyoza Museum for a bit of lunch. It was just as well...the kids and their mothers were flooding the place and the upstairs Ice Cream City.

After that little financial lightening, I replenished my wallet at a nearby convenience store and headed down to Shinjuku. I figure that I could use a bit of cheering up and decided to treat myself to that buffet that Skippy had introduced me to a couple of weeks ago....The Platinum Buffet in Mylord. It was pretty much the same deal as the Sunday night dinner, except that there was no roast chicken so the cost was about 500 yen cheaper. A lot of young ladies, a number of them with their beaus. I think I was the only single guy in the place....fingers were probably pointed in my direction. And then an army of high school girls in full uniform entered looking properly mesmerized by the culinary possibilities...especially the chocolate fountain. Well, got my fill and left within 45 minutes.

As I said, I only have Medicine Man tonight and tomorrow, it's just Suzanne for 2 hours at the juku. Basically, it's a full weekend except for that couple of classes. Once I get some morning stuff done, I'll be taking a look at Expery, that shopping complex across from Tokyo Disneyland that has popped up in the juku students' conversations every now and then. I'm hoping that I won't be gouged there.

Our staff got increased by one starting from today. She will be La Fille...she spent a year in a small town in France. Ray introduced us and pointed out her Gallic connections. So there was a minute or so of La Fille and me spouting some limited Francais to each other. Basically, Ray and our just-returned staffer were showing her the ropes.

Earlier, I saw the DVD of "Get Smart". Yep, I did buy it. I caught a few of the extras, including a very unfunny short of Steve Carell espousing the benefits of the movie in mock languages; just glad that Japanese wasn't part of it. Still, it was nice watching the film again for the nostalgia value, and Terence Stamp had the best lines.