Monday June 1, 5:39 p.m.

Well, what was the quote from the trailer: "The wait is over."

The wait is indeed over. On Saturday night, I caught "Star Trek" after what has to have been several months of trailers, rumours, and pictures. It was almost a pity after becoming comfortable seeing the USS Kelvin for so long to see it getting trashed in the first 10 minutes of a 2-hour movie.

In any case, I digress. I caught it with Movie Buddy, Frodo, The Satyr and MB's new buddy teacher at his school at Wald 9 in Shinjuku. We had our own short crisis just 20 minutes before showtime at the theatre when for some reason, MB couldn't get the tickets from the computer due to some password snafu. However, our Starfleet training kicked in and none of us so much as lifted a Vulcan eyebrow and once we got up to the 11th floor, MB spoke with a staffer and the tickets were in our hands with 5 minutes to spare.

As for the movie itself, I have to give J.J. Abrams full kudos. He should get a Golden Globe nomination for being able to craft a fun movie that I want to see a second time despite a smirkworthy and eye-rolling script...even for a Star Trek flick. As one reviewer over here put it, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman are pretty pulpy writers. I'd been warned in advance of the amount of suspension of disbelief needed to accept the fact that a Starfleet Academy cadet, and a failed one at that, could become Captain of the USS Enterprise in less than a day; well, that suspension bridge snapped near the end of the movie. I've heard of fast track promotions but warp track?! The number of coincidences that popped up in this movie was such that there must have been a major rip in the probability field to accompany the space/time one that brought over the Narada.

I've been to enough movies with Movie Buddy to know whether he liked or disliked a movie. When he likes a movie, he's absolutely still and then as we're filing out of the theatre, he gives his compliments. When he dislikes it, he puts his head into his hands and silently files out of the theatre before letting me have the quiet diatribe (et tu, "Sweeney Todd"?). For this one, it was leaning toward the latter. I could see through my peripheral vision during the latter half of the movie that MB was starting the cephalic cradle which had me thinking, "Uh, oh". MB has always been more attuned to and demanding about directing and writing. By the time the credits rolled, he and Frodo were snickering and giggling away. Yep, the two of them were taking some well-aimed potshots at Orci and Kurtzman (deservedly so) but they still enjoyed the flick as "the most expensive comedy" they'd seen this year. Well, they may get some death threats from the diehard Trekkies, but I can see their point.

However, as I did say in the first paragraph, it is a flick that I could...nay, will...see again. The reason is that despite the film's glaring flaws (and even The Entrepreneur, a huge Trekkie, has even stated so), "Star Trek" was fun. This was a Kirk film from the get-go, and I'm not referring to the plot. This was a Kirk film in that J.J. Abrams has seemed to have shaped it in the mold of James Tiberius' personality: bold, bombastic, fun-loving, emotional, and often devoid of logic. This was a guts movie. More later...

Friday May 29, 8:18 p.m.

Ugh! I think I'm starting to understand what President Obama goes through day by day. So many decisions, so little time. Well, perhaps a bit of an exaggeration. Of course, there was the boomerang commute. I went over to Maruzen to see if I could pick my month-long order. I could get half of it, and at least, it was the right half...the audio CDs for Mrs. Jyuppie. The DVD for Mr. Jyuppie's lesson is still in stasis somewhere but I was planning to work on his intonation and stress anyways so I might still be able to get away with it for yet another week. I'm not sure if month-long waits are the norm for Japanese book orders but the rather cool attitude on the part of the staff didn't help their reputation in my eyes. I also got the text and CD for The New Yorker for which she was quite happy to get. Perhaps that may have explained a better result on her delivery today.

Then it was off to Tsudanuma to see The Action Freak. It was the first time I've seen her in over a month. A bit of a frustrating meet, to be honest. She's only in her twenties but just seems to want me to make the decisions about her future with me. The month between her model and official first lessons told volumes about what erratic appearances would mean to (low-level) students. She was 15 minutes late in coming in, asked me to make the decision on the textbooks; she has potential but she needs the heavy-duty practice. And then we went half an hour overtime just having her gnashing her teeth about where she could find the consistency of time to make it for my lessons. The answer is: she doesn't. She's in nursing training right now and her mercurial supervisor has told her that she wouldn't have any time for even part-time jobs, let alone playing around with English. I tried to tell her easy but it looks like she's gonna have to make the decision to either cut out English altogether for the next several months (or years), or find a teacher with a much more favourable schedule for her. I just can't open the time for her.

I sped back to the juku. The boss has been searching for a new kids' teacher since the regular one won't work on Saturdays anymore. Maybe there could be a new student for me in the offing. However, once I get The Ace and The Restauranteur done tonight....I'll finally be able to chill a bit...until tomorrow's lesson with The Coffeemaker.

Friday May 29, 8:18 a.m.

Looks like Rainy Season has come a bit early this year. It's been doing the cats-and-dogs thing for the past several hours. My "good" shoes are waterlogged which pretty much means that I'll be replacing them sometime next week. I'll be getting rid of the sneakers, too, since they're starting to resemble Birkenstocks.

MB has advanced the time tomorrow for "Star Trek". Apparently, Roppongi Hills is all booked up, so we got Wald 9 instead. It's all good. I'm pretty much ready to ask Ray to close down the school on Saturday since we haven't got any classes booked...knocking ferociously on wood.

Got a message from Mrs Travel of the Beehive last night. Since Mrs. Perth is making one of her semi-annual pilgrimages to Tokyo from this weekend, she suggested having a lesson/luncheon over at her place instead of the usual cafe. No problems on my part; I'll have to confirm with her before Miss Prissy comes in.

Yup, it'll be another long day. After Prissy, I gotta run on out and find out what the heck happened with my Maruzen order. I really don't want to face The Jyuppies again this Sunday and tell them that their discs have still not come in. Plus I gotta pick up a new text for The New Yorker...whom I'll be whipping back to Ichigaya for her lesson this afternoon. Then, the bungee commute continues...perhaps...with The Action Freak. Finally, it's the usual The Ace/The Restauranteur tandem at the juku. After this lineup, I may actually think of demanding Ray to keep Speedy's closed tomorrow.

Found out by chance that today is Jay Leno's final bow on "The Tonight Show". Can't believe it's been 17 years since he took over for Johnny Carson...mostly because I've spent most of his tenure here in Japan. Always enjoyed his newspaper headlines.

Thursday May 28, 8:29 p.m.

That Cracker...my newest student in the Thursday night lineup is just a heck of a tonic. Basically, beat my vitamin drink in revitalizing me. Works hard, great sense of humour, and sounds a whole lot like Andrea Martin's Pirini Scleroso character from "SCTV". Could use more like her.

Earlier I had The Carolinan. Looks like my introduction for The Sisters of State to the wonders of Baker Bounce is slowly getting under way. I just have to ask The New Yorker tomorrow about what her schedule will be like.

Thursday May 28, 2:36 p.m.

In the midst of a 4-hour holding pattern until The Carolinan shows up. The return of Grandma FON was pleasant but she was showing a bit of rust. The good thing is that unlike a certain other Grandma, when we get into a lesson, FON focuses like a laser and holds on a like a Rottweiler. She's gonna be heading onto another excursion in July, though.

Then, I had Miss Sedona. Was really pelting her with the jokes today for some reason. She was floored by the fact I possessed neither a cellphone nor a driver's license. I politely remarked that I'm a bit special, although I'm sure other folks term me a freak.

The 4-hour first half of my Hump Day tapped almost all of my reserves so I was lucky to have had that burst of vitamin drink energy earlier today. I've got a bento and salad within me now so I should be good to go for the final half tonight.

Thursday May 28, 10:58 a.m.

My shoulders are so tight, they can crack walnuts. Lack of sleep, being planted in front of a computer, and ambient tension do not help.

Managed to survive the double with Grandma Dynamite. She wasn't exactly bouncing off the walls but neither was she planning to collapse either. Did a pretty good round in the first hour, but I guess that taxed her enough in the second hour; just languidly turned the pages in the textbook before deciding to call it an hour after 45 minutes. I wasn't about to disagree. Plus, she's heading out to Hawaii next week to celebrate her son's wedding.

Next, it'll be Grandma FON...hopefully...not sure if she remembers today's session since it's been over 6 weeks and she's not exactly the youngest spring chicken on the block. Just wonder if I'll be sentient by the time Miss Sedona gets in.

Thursday May 28, 8:48 a.m.

A long day ahead of me. I thought I was gonna see Bay at McD's for breakfast but alas, she couldn't muster the strength to wake up in time so I just did the usual Sausage McMuffin set and headed over here. Speaking of strength, I downed a vitamin drink to get me through some of the day at least; it actually has perked me up. At least, my eyelids aren't threatening to collapse anymore.

Got a full six lessons including a double in ten minutes with Grandma Dynamite. Hope she's more in her perky mood today, although I'm not all that hopeful considering the weather is pretty dank and gloomy outside. Afterwards, I have Grandma FON for the first time in almost 2 months and then Miss Sedona. Then I've got the night crew with The Carolinan, The Cracker and finally The Music Man.

Wednesday May 27, 2:26 p.m.

Got through the first half of the day without too much of a problem, although I was a few minutes late getting out of class with The Big Lug...there was a counselling session in the next hour, and the potential student was sitting outside; luckily, she was writing down the survey. And I think Ray isn't the type to fly off the handle whenever the schedule gets a bit askew. As for The Big Lug, he's been in his new digs for about a month. He's been enjoying it and says that there has been some sort of festival nearby every Sunday since he's moved in.

The Grandmas were fine although Grandma Fado (sorry, that was Fado not Tango) had some memory lapses which slowed the class down considerably.

I'm thinking of hitting out to the conbini to pick up some lunch once that counselling student gets out and under way.

MB has sent word about "Star Trek" on Saturday. Looks like I'll be able to see it no matter how many students end up showing up on Saturday here; he's pegged it for 6:40 at Roppongi Hills.

Wednesday May 27, 8:06 a.m.

Here early for the first of three straight early mornings...ugh! Actually, today isn't too bad, but tomorrow will be the Hump Day. Not very sporting of me, but I kinda hope that Grandma Dynamite actually cancels her double tomorrow...at least, if she still has that attitude from last week.

It'll be Grandmas Tango and Enka this morning, followed by The Big Lug (first time for him in over a month; kinda interested in hearing how his new loft is shaping up), and then a few hours of respite before 001 and The Diver show up. The Fashion Designer has also canceled her lesson for tonight, so I can get home a bit early which means that much more needed sleep before another 6:30 a.m. exodus.

Saw The Milds last night. Mr. Mild got himself a military-style buzzcut; if he weren't so self-effacing and so interested in being the Renaissance Man, I would've said he had been converted into a ultra-rightist. But he just decided to jump the gun on the heat and humidity, and shaved most of his locks off. I told them about the dinner at the end of July; everything rather hinges on their schedule since they are my most senior and loyal students. Happily, they agreed to the date and time. I also inquired about a fire that had occurred not too far from their home last Friday. The Restauranteur had first told us about it when she had come in for her lesson which prompted the boss to call The Milds up. Luckily, though, The Milds reassured me it was more smoke than actual flame. Apparently, a low-rise apartment some 30 metres away got a bit smoky. It looked scarier than it actually was.

The news announced a 7-year-old kid has become the latest victim to catch the new flu. However, I think the rate has started to decrease; not surprising since the weather is warming up. And the North Korean situation has put the flu news solidly in the background.

I listened to the remainder of that Kaoru Sudo album, "Hello, Again" last night. Actually, it is starting to grow on me. There is that City Pop flavour to it, and one of the tracks is quite a winner. I'll have to send further compliments to that Mixi fellow, though I don't want to seem fawning.

Tuesday May 26, 7:39 p.m.

Not sure what's worse...having too many lessons to teach or having too much time on my hands. Now that The Traveler is history, I have to spend my hour cooped in my section of the floor as the juku boss teaches that little girl every Tuesday. Suzanne was in a rare mood of dropsy today since she felt mentally tired because a co-worker seems to have been making goo-goo eyes at her. Well, she won't be here next week either as her real boyfriend is taking her to a Lotte Marines game in Makuhari Messe. I've told her about the 5th anniversary party at the end of July. She's game. Hopefully, the Milds are as well.

Had to make my way out to the conbini just to get some air. Picked up a small cup of Dean & DeLuca Strawberry Ice Cream...yup, even our stores carry those. Pretty good and saved about 20 yen compared to the usual Haagen-Daas.

North Korea is continuing to rattle its sabres by throwing a couple of more missiles. May be thinking bomb shelters soon.

Tuesday May 26, 4:37 p.m.

Several years ago...11 years ago, in fact...I went to the wedding party of a former student from NOVA. During the party at the former Twin Star nightclub in Kagurazaka (supposedly the launching point of that late 90s dance boom called Para Para), the emcee exalted about the fact that the happy couple were enjoying their most important day in their lives and then the groom and bride also gave their speeches about how happy they would be from now on with each other. A few of the male students and I at the party muttered half-jokingly "...yeah, for now".

I had a talk with the juku boss just now about the woman who had first brought us together almost 5 years ago. I did have a code name for her but since I lost touch with that lady, her name has been lost somewhere in my calcifying neurons...I guess I'll have to re-name her The J-Brit. In any case, The J-Brit got married a couple of years ago and then just last night, she phoned up the boss out of the blue, and a few minutes later, the boss switched her over to me. The J-Brit was always a bit of a sensitive type....absolutely hates the concept of staying over at a friend's house since she's extremely uncomfortable about imposition.

Today, the juku boss and I brought her up again in conversation, and the boss wondered aloud about whether marriage is all that it is cracked up to be. I mean, she herself has been married to her salt-of-the-earth husband for several years and everything has settled in for them. However, she believes that it seems to be a shame that a lot of these women, who are highly educated and talented, seem to end up in divorce court after perhaps getting a bit suppressed by alpha male tendencies (not a new concept at all even in this country....Italy or Brazil machismo, though, Japan has not). She feels that women end up being very unhappy in marriages. I could totally empathize with my friend's opinions....guess why I'm still a bachelor. I've never really seen much advantage in the so-called sacred institution, and probably won't at this late date. The juku boss has always admired The J-Brit for her talent and vivacity but also feared for her well-being since she's a bit emotionally fragile. During her part of the conversation on the phone back on Friday night, she implored The J-Brit to come on over and unburden any heavy loads. The J-Brit may just do that since she has said that the boss' house is the only place where she has been able to relax.

Tuesday May 26, 12:55 p.m.

Well, if there were one way that the news of the Swine Flu in Japan can be overshadowed, North Korea found it yesterday. Yup, Kim Jong Il decided to play global kick-the-can again with the can being world public opinion and the leg being a combined nuclear test and missile launch. I was out all day yesterday so I only found out about the afternoon incident several hours later. I can imagine all of the media was going haywire about it. Kinda wonder how much more brinkmanship the world can take from this guy.

Yup, yesterday....went over to the usual family restaurant to meet The Admin instead of the usual Wednesday morning since I've got the Grandmas at Speedy then. The Admin never showed up; when I called her later, she sheepishly got the days mixed up. She thought it was gonna be today; lucky I did call her then. Still, I got to try some lunch at the famiresu since The Admin and I usually only go for the drink bar. But The Admin was very magnanimous by insisting that I take the 3,500 yen from the advance that she always pays me.

I went down to Shinjuku. It looks like the 12-1 hour is the sweet spot for getting into Krispy Kreme #1. No line whatsoever. If I had been heading back to the school at that time, I would've gotten a dozen for the ladies back there but just wasn't meant to be. Instead, I went over to Kinokuniya and got that official graphic novel prequel to "Star Trek", "Countdown". It gives a good elaboration on how Spock Prime got himself into Nero's bad graces. Rather tragic story, really. Bought books 13 and 14 of the "Hikaru no Go" series. I'm now caught up with the distribution of the English version of the manga which means that I'll probably be waiting a lot longer for those future editions to come out.

After getting some ink cartridges for the juku boss' printer, I ended up going to HMV upstairs again before walking over to Tower Records. There, I ended up buying a disc by 80s J-pop singer, Kaoru Sudo, on the recommendation of one of my new Mixi acquaintances. I don't think it's quite the bees' knees that the acquaintance is saying but, Ms. Sudo has a pleasant enough voice. For me, I'll still take Akiko Kobayashi or Ruiko Kurahashi anytime.

My Mixi habit is partially responsible for why I didn't blog in yesterday. I'm just getting so caught up in virtual conversation in the various communities. I made a new friend yesterday with some lady who apparently read my profile. She's not only a Trekkie but also a fan of a lot of old TV series from America, such as "The Untouchables", "Perry Mason" and "Ironside" (man, she's really into Raymond Burr....kinky. Wonder if she knows that Ray was gay.). My new Mixi friend seems to be somewhat younger than me which is a bit of a surprise.

I finished off that Mo Hayder novel, "Tokyo", that The Satyr had lent me a few weeks ago when we all met for dinner at Meat Yazawa. Yup, it turned out pretty well. Didn't exactly end the way that I had expected (which is good) and didn't end happily (which is even better), but I was a bit annoyed by that character, Nurse Ogawa, since she seemed to be there just as a token supernatural killing machine with no explanation of who she ever was. I certainly didn't expect her to be killed off in a hail of gunfire and a smart-alecky crack from the heroine, but I would've liked some more information on her. Even Wolverine would've had trouble with Nurse Ogawa, let alone a guilt-ridden neurotic woman.

Up at Tower Records, one of the small screens was showing what was a Japanese take on "Hostel" called "Grotesque". Ironic, since the "Hostel" and "Saw" series kinda mined the splatter horror series from Japan for ideas. Even the cover of the DVD was done up almost exactly like the one for "Hostel". Apparently, the talk on the Net is that this Japanese movie is so filled with gore that it makes any of the torture porn stuff in America look like a picnic in a park. And Tower Records was showing this in open public?! Well, I only saw up to where the deranged surgeon was showing his weapons to the poor couple so I'm not sure whether the video stopped at that point and went back to the tame hospital scene.

Anyways, The Beehive was doing fine. Even Mrs. Tee was there for the 2nd time in as many weeks. Mrs. Alp was beaming since her daughter got married over the weekend. She was proudly showing off the photos. Mrs. Perth will be making one of her occasional and welcome visits to us next week, so definitely won't be doing an I-Cafe session. Got the usual juku folks today. I'll be talking with them about their schedule at the end of July. It'll be 5 years since I joined up with the juku so I wanted to have a bit of a dinner at The Restauranteur's place with everyone.

Got another promise of translation work from The Corner. Always nice to make the yen.

Saturday May 23, 5:44 p.m.

Finished for the day and for the rest of the weekend. Speedy's having a fairly serious talk with Ray, being his administrative major domo. Not sure if that kerfuffle involving Mr. Pronounciation's visa has something to do with it. But I gather since he's holding this session with the door wide open, then it can't be all that bad.

Met The Smile at last. She's been doing OK; in fact, she's due to participate in a relay marathon (an ekiden we call it here) tomorrow. She seems to be in fine fettle although she admitted that she'd looked pretty gaunt some months earlier due to the rigours of being in the sales division. However, she got transferred to a less stressful section back in April, so she said that the colour is returning to her cheeks.

Well, I intend to head on out sometime in the next 10 minutes since I would like to see any remaining "Star Trek" episodes in that viewing marathon on SuperDrama TV tonight.

Saturday May 23, 3:08 p.m.

Yep, kinda scary spending two of the last hours toggling away on Mixi, although it is much harder typing in Japanese legibly. Made a somewhat (hopefully) humourous entry about my time at Krispy Kreme yesterday and then spent the rest of the time trying to answer questions and make comments throughout the various communities. Facebook is kinda like a game centre but Mixi is definitely more of the community centre for me. Quite glad that I've come back.

Another reason I'm glad is that my premonition came true and Speedy handed out the pay packets. Looks like I got a pretty handsome sum, despite the fact that Golden Week was during this past period. Not that I'm complaining.

Super Drama TV has started up its usual "20 Hours of Star Trek" marathon over 2 days. Good and appropriate timing since the movie hits these shores in another week. As for me, I'm hoping to catch "The Doomsday Machine" sometime tonight. The news has not been lost on the Star Trek community crowd. Ray was kind enough to give me The Trekkie's e-mail address so I sent her a friendly message about her thoughts on the upcoming flick.

Saturday May 23, 10:43 a.m.

Starting off at Speedy's in a bit of a dour mood....at least, the rest of the staff are. Apparently, today is, or was, the day that Mr. Pronounciation was supposed to take off for his odyssey in Toronto, but unfortunately the e-mail came in that his visa has still yet to show up. So, Ray and Bay are kinda grumping about...the bossman has called in as well; he should be dropping by sometime later today. The ladies have been muttering "Komattemasu ne..." (Man, what a mess...)

I've got The Intellectual in about 15 minutes for his usual biweekly lesson. Then it'll be another 4 hours before The Smile comes back for the first time in over 6 months.

I did get some new quickie translations from The Corner for that same website. Nice to get a bit more yen. Speaking of which, I checked my bank account last night; yep, that government handout of 12,000 yen did get in there. 11,100 yen was spent already in getting my new passport processed. What shall I do with the remaining 900?

Since Speedy is supposed to be heading out for his 2nd big business trip today or tomorrow, I'm wondering if I might be able to get my paycheck today. Would be nice.

I had mentioned about watching the long-running music show "Utaban" on Thursday night on TBS, but was surprised to see "Tokyo Friend Park II" in its stead; usually that game show comes on Monday nights. Well, checked out the Japanese Wiki and found out that its long run came to an end back in April. Well, I guess even Takaaki Ishibashi has limits to his manic energy.

Friday May 22, 8:12 p.m.

Well, it's been an interesting few hours since the last entry. As I was making my way out of the Microsoft Building, just across from Times Square. I noticed a most shocking development: Krispy Kreme #1, the donut shop that started the phenomenon of undeservedly long lineups, the place that I couldn't even think of entering for 2.5 years, had no lineup. I was glued in front of that shop for a full minute, musing about my options. I had my lesson with The Bow later that afternoon at Starbucks...another place with coffee...and I'd just had lunch. However, that part of my brain which controlled the entry of opportunities finally won out overwhelmingly. And I entered the donut emporium that I'd thought I would never be able to enter; mind you, I did get to go to the branch out in Funabashi's LaLaPort several months earlier, but this was the Big Time for me.

Of course, I got the free regular donut before I even uttered a word of my order. I decided to go for the Cherry Pie donut and a coffee....and I went all the way and had them "for here". I took my first steps into the world of Krispy Kreme upstairs in the mondo lounge. Pretty spacious, all told. I actually got a window stool so I could see the folks walking past downstairs. All of them had some rather surprised looks on their faces...as I had...at the fact that KK was line-less. And a few of them decided to take up the same opportunity.

Both my Cherry Pie Donut and coffee were along the same lines as the Krispy Kreme philosophy....just overwhelm the taste buds. The donut had some sort of Cinnabons-like icing with nuts on top while the inside was just gushing with cherry sauce....a sugar nuke. And the coffee seemed to have been fortified in a reactor. I was pretty much on a buzz when I got out some 10 minutes later. And the opportunity part of my brain was correct; when I exited the place, there was a 10-minute wait line forming outside.

I actually had to walk off some of the ultra-caffeine, ultra-cholesterol and ultra-sugar by heading over to Kinokuniya. The bookstore finally got the "Star Trek" novelization and that prequel graphic novel, "Countdown" on the shelves, but I'll be holding on until I finally see the movie. I did spend some money on getting a CD of some R&B hits...I forget the name and I'm too lazy to bother checking into my bag. I heard some of the tracks at the HMV listening station. Pretty darn good stuff that sounds like it came from my good ol' days of the 80s.

I ended up having another coffee at Starbucks while I waited the 2 hours before The Bow showed up. I was getting pretty jittery by that point. I thought I was gonna end up rapping my entire lesson to her, but I held steady for her.

With all of those empty calories inside of me, I ended up just having a couple of rice balls for dinner. No need to completely end up on a slab this weekend.

I've been reading that novel that The Satyr had lent me a couple of weeks ago, Mo Hayder's "Tokyo". At first, I thought I wasn't gonna last the first 20 pages since I didn't think much of the heroine, Grey. But over the past week, I've been getting more and more drawn into the story, despite the fact that I could pretty much figure out how the story was gonna come out pretty early. That one rave comment from one critic alluding to Thomas Harris pretty much telegraphed it to me. The other thing is that considering the yakuza have a good role to play in this, the gangsters seem pretty tame.

Friday May 22, 12:02 p.m.

Over here at the Shinjuku Kinko's. Wouldn't usually be paying the high prices for Internet usage but I just had to check my e-mail since Miss Honolulu did a dotakyan, thereby negating my need to come into Speedy's and getting Internet access. The reason that she cancelled has both the bossman and I wondering....she had a fever. And Tokyo, a couple of days ago, announced their first official cases of the shingata (new strain) flu through a couple of high school girls. Then, last night, it was some woman in her 30s from neighbourhing Saitama Prefecture. Hmm...wonder if Miss Honolulu will be the latest one on the news.

Speedy had jumped the gun (he should know better) and automatically put Miss Honolulu in for next Friday, but I let him know that I already had The New Yorker in Ichigaya that day. He wasn't too happy (and I can't blame him) but he has to be like all of the other students and wait in line.

I called him from The Canadian Embassy in Aoyama. Yup, I got that passport application done. Luckily, I got that nice lady whom I'd met a couple of weeks earlier, so she got everything all squared away. So I should see my new shiny passport with the ugliest pictures I've ever taken mailed to me in exactly 3 weeks. Then, I have to head on over to Immigration in Shinagawa and Ichikawa City Hall to take care of things about my new passport there.

Since Miss Honolulu cancelled, I suddenly found myself with not much to do for several hours. So, I took a long walk from Aoyama all the way to Shinjuku. Some pretty interesting urban scenes. Ended up having lunch at a local Wendys in Shinjuku 1-chome before making my way over here. Having that wind tunnel from all of the tall skyscrapers made for a nice air-conditioning effect since we're getting quite warm now. At least, I don't have to worry about rushing it for The Bow's lesson.

But I gotta wonder...will this flu start hitting some of my own students now at the juku, Speedy's and beyond? Enquiring minds want to know...

Thursday May 21, 10:09 a.m.

Well, here I was wondering about how to get through a Grandma Dynamite double lesson without thoroughly exhausting myself to an early grave, and then she solved it for me. As soon as she came in an hour ago, she promptly proclaimed that she wasn't up for studying English today. OoooooK...kinda put a pall on things. And then some minutes later, she just requested to cut the double into a regular single. She hasn't been feeling too well, and it showed. Her memory was phasing in and out and word order resembled a verbal Jumble Puzzle.

Just gonna decompress right now, and since I now have a full 90 minutes, I'll probably just finish off that passport application.

Thursday May 21, 8:54 a.m.

Just a month before summer officially arrives but it's starting to get that warm and humid feeling out there. I think we've served our last hot drink for the next several months.

Well, it looks like I'll be out of here by early afternoon...hopefully, Mr. TOEIC doesn't decide to pull a sudden request for a reservation.

Wednesday May 20, 9:44 p.m.

Obviously since I'm able to type this, The Fashion Designer has dotakyan'ed. And she's also cancelled the next week as well. The only reason that I haven't fled from Speedy's is that I've gotten obsessed with my Mixi habit. Good heavens...and to think that a month ago, my account was dead as a doornail. Now I'm handling Internet conversations like an old-style telephone operator.

The Cracker was a bit off today but the lesson was still fun as usual. As for The Diver, we were putting along nicely until we got majorly sidetracked by the news on Swine Flu. Then, we were both commiserating about the chances of Tokyo getting hit by the bug. I say that the chances are 50/50; it will all depend on how the weather warms up over the next few weeks.

Well, I'm taking my opportunity and getting home so that I can get some sleep. Looks like I may just get that evening off tomorrow.

Wednesday May 20, 6:07 p.m.

Another quiet afternoon gone by. Ray and La Fille have been quietly gabbing away about where to go for La Fille's official welcome lunch or dinner. Meanwhile, you can admire the up-close-and-personal photo of that 300 g hamburg steak I devoured at Meat Yazawa a week and a half ago.

I've been gradually getting deeper and deeper into the Mixi communities. It almost feels like I've entered a virtual community centre and it's eternally an Open House. Now, I've joined up with the AOR community...a pretty natural extension since I'm in the Japanese equivalent.

I did actually plan for my 3 lessons tonight. They'll be back-to-back-to-back so I'll be weaned off of the computer soon. And I did a dry run on filling out the passport application forms. Hopefully, everything will be OK by Friday morning.

Wednesday May 20, 12:54 p.m.

Met The Admin for the first time in almost a month. She's been pretty busy between doing stuff for her father's temple and for her husband's design business. Not sure how she pulls it all off, plus do the homework I assign her. I returned the favour and lent her my own CD of Joanna Wang, her first release, since she had introduced me to Wang with her second release. I also informed her that the chances of me heading over to that NASPA Hotel in Niigata are nil due to my other financial obligations such as paying for my new passport and then the twin horrors of National Health Insurance premiums and Citizen's Tax. Basically, I find myself in the situation of saving money just to pay the government. Why do I feel like I should have the term "serf" put on my gaijin card?

However, I did get my notice in the mail last night that the government handout of 12,000 yen is on its way to my bank account. Ironically, that money will be used to pay the Canadian government to renew my passport instead of going to some worthy yakiniku restaurant.

Still, I should be getting my share of the yen in next month's pay packet since I'll be spelling Speedy for two weeks with all of the Grandmas while he does his usual business trip. That's the theory, anyways.

I've actually brought over all of the fixins to fill out my passport renewal form today since I've got bupkiss until 7 tonight when The Cracker comes in. Strangely enough, although I've got Grandma Dynamite for a double tomorrow morning and then Miss Sedona, after that I've also got absolutely nothing at all (knocking most rampantly on wood) for the rest of the day. May actually get to see "Utaban".

Speaking of Miss Sedona, I went through her Superfly DVDs over the past few days. Yep, Superfly, aka Shiho Ochi, is a talented singer who liberally channels her idol, Janis Joplin in her music which evokes the roots rock of the late 60s and early 70s...also dresses like a hippie. In her DVD, she travels to San Francisco and actually meets some of Joplin's old bandmates and jams with them. The cynical side of me figured that there was major begging and handing over of money, but the band actually looked quite appreciative of Superfly's love for their old friend. Both Miss Sedona and I hope that Superfly doesn't end up getting homogenized into a slightly R&B-tinged J-Pop singer; she's perfectly fine bringing back the 70s.

I finally got word from Maruzen concerning my long-awaited orders. One of them has arrived at the store but the other disc will be arriving in a couple of days, so I figure that I'll pick them up over the weekend.

Tuesday May 19, 7:41 p.m.

Just 20 minutes away from The Milds; not sure what I'll be doing with them. They are in a limbo of sorts since, for all practical purposes, they have finished their textbook, but they said that they didn't feel too comfortable about the grammar to move on ahead. And I'm just 29 entries away from hitting the big 3,000 in this blog.

Suzanne was fun as usual. Just worked solely on Pronounciation. Meanwhile, the juku boss' newest charge, this cute little munchkin of a girl with a voice that a Sunday morning anime would just love, was plugging away at mathematics. She kinda reminds me of a preteen Skippy.

Was briefly on Mixi since there weren't too many new entries in the communities. One fellow wrote into the Toronto community to ask about any cheap hotels in the ol' hometown. I don't think I can help him there. I would've recommended the Madison Ave. Boutique Hotel but although that was just great for The Beehive when they did their big swing into Eastern Canada a couple of years ago, that's just not within the budget of the average young student.

Got a Donut Day of sorts tomorrow instead of a Hump Day. I've got The Admin for the first time in nearly a month tomorrow morning but then there's a huge hole in the schedule until 7 when The Cracker comes in lieu of 001; then it's The Diver and The Fashion Designer. The Smile is coming back though for the first time in 6 months (!)...I had to go through one of my other logs just to track down her last lesson. She'll be coming in on Saturday afternoon which is a bit of a relief since she used to come in at the bleary-eyed hour of 8 a.m. on Thursdays. I'll take the former position anytime.

And my somewhat troublesome student, The Action Freak, called in after several days to say that, yes, she's cool for the 29th. Well, there goes that theory. But if she dotakyans on me one more time...

Did forget to mention that just before The Beehive came in for their lesson, I managed to spill all of my iced coffee onto the floor for some gravity-warping reason. However, the staffer came by, smilingly reassured me that everything would be OK, had me re-positioned to another dryer area of the restaurant, asked whether my pants were OK (they were splashed with the coffee), proceeded to clean up the mess, and even got me a free iced coffee. I realize that this country is known for its service, but even I was impressed by that sort of attitude. Never thought I would ever see the day that I would get a replacement drink for something I goofed up on. I may have some gripes about living here, but service isn't usually one of them. However, there is still that outstanding order of my Maruzen request.

Tuesday May 19, 4:20 p.m.

At the juku. With some tea and a couple of aspirin, the remnants of Montezuma's Revenge have gone away. However, my back and shoulders are feeling pretty knotty. Any resemblance between them and a piece of California Redwood is strictly coincidental. I tried doing my usual thing and watching some massage videos on YouTube as a visualization substitute but to no avail. After my ripoff at that massage place in Namjatown the other week, I'm pretty tense about going to any such place again.

The juku boss approached me just now about teaching her and that kids' teacher who comes here, Mama Cass. Mama Cass is originally from Iran but has been teaching English to the tykes for twice as long as I have been here. But apparently, the lack of opportunities to speak adult English has sent her speaking abilities into a tailspin of sorts, and thus the unusual request from the boss. After that last attempt to teach the boss a few years back, I was a bit hesitant about the idea (although I kept my face as still as possible), and I'm always leery about teaching teachers. However, at this point, it's moot since none of us can find a time mutually advantageous for any of us. Perhaps it will stay that way.

Spent a lot of the second hour at the I-Cafe going through the Mixi responses. Yup, having even the small number of communities that I do can keep me rather busy. But the Star Trek community has been getting together on that question of Star Trek-loving celebs. Completely forgot that Whoopi Goldberg and Christian Slater are big Trekkies.

The boss gave me some beer chocolates. Yup, you heard me...they're wrapped in a foil resembling the Asahi Beer can. She reassured me that they're non-alcoholic despite the beer jelly inside. I'm gonna have to save one for Mr. Mild since he has his love of drink.

Nothing big on the news front today. Haven't heard any encroachment of that flu into the Kanto area as of yet, but give it time. However, the Democratic Party of Japan has got its new leader, Yukio Hatoyama, after an internal vote on Saturday. Not as if they had much choice.

Tuesday May 19, 1:00 p.m.

Ach....that news about plug-ugly comedian Hitoshi Matsumoto finally getting married has an unsurprising postscript. His wife is 4 months preggers.

Met up with The Beehive this morning. Mrs. Tee actually showed up; since she came back from her first trip ever to Italy, she was giving out some souvenirs. I gratefully accepted a small bottle of olive oil infused with white truffles...not sure what the heck I'll use it for, though. She also handed out some chocolates filled with dried orange peel. Not sure if it had been them or the fact that I didn't exactly have the healthiest breakfast on the planet (instant tonkotsu rice soup with a chocolate bread stick and 2.5 cups of coffee), but perhaps the combination gave me a bit of Montezuma's Revenge for which I've hopefully alleviated with some aspirin, two trips to the bathroom and some roughage in the form of the shredded cabbage that always comes with my tonkatsu lunch.

Over the weekend, I saw "The Da Vinci Code" on Fuji-TV. Japanese TV always shows the original movie of any franchise whenever a sequel gets put out in the theatres, and yep, "Angels and Demons" was released last weekend. I'd never seen the Ron Howard adaptation of the Dan Brown novel in the theatres due to the horrible reviews. Well, after catching the three hours with commercials on Saturday, I've found it to be not too bad, although I am saying this after watching it from the comfort of my apartment and a remote control in my hand. In other words, I wasn't a captive audience member. However, I have to say that the biggies in the Roman Catholic Church are a bunch of humourless nitwits for making such a furious hew and cry about this movie. I mean, as I was watching Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou running around like headless chickens, I was thinking that this story is nothing but hilarious claptrap...the contents of an airplane flight pageturner, albeit a very profitable one for Mr. Brown. Even the cast was saying that the so-called conspiracy was just all smoke and mirrors; Sir Ian McKellen read the book and then remarked that the plot was "total codswallop". And it is, and the critics also thought so as well. On "Larry King Live", the cast of the new movie were on going into full defense mode by also saying that the plot of "Angels and Demons" was also just all in fun. But humour be damned, says the Church.

In any case, I've made some more money by doing some quick translations of recommendation letters for Speedy. Still, after checking the Net, I don't think I'll be making that trip up to that hotel in Niigata after all. Just too much for my budget, especially with a passport renewal coming up and then the dreaded arrival of those National Health Insurance premiums.

Monday May 18, 10:20 p.m.

Man...I'm starting to really get into the Mixi communities. May need to be deprogrammed sometime in the future. I may have hit pay dirt with the Star Trek one. I came up with the topic about which famous people are closet Trekkies. I mentioned King Abdullah II of Jordan. In the 5 minutes since I put it up, I already got two responses.

The only reason I can write this at this minute is that Medicine Man pulled off a very rare dotakyan...only the 2nd time in a year that he's done that. I got paid for it. And yet here I am still.

It was a summery day today. It went all the way up to 29 C...however, I was doing alright in my apartment...the key: dryness. Once the humidity comes rolling in next month, my place should take its usual place as the local sauna.

The big news over here has been that despite all that "Outbreak" approach at the airports, Japan managed to get its first several cases of Swine Flu patients amongst high school students in Kobe over the weekend. The principals of the schools are just flabbergasted as to how they got it. Well, I figure it'll be a matter of time before Tokyoites start getting some sort of effect as well.

The other big news is that Hitoshi Matsumoto of the veteran comedy duo of Downtown finally got hitched at the ripe old age of 45. Hooked himself a fine filly as well in the form of a former NTV weather announcer. Some weeks ago, I came across an excerpt from an interview with Seth Rogen, the lovable slob from "Knocked Up", where he said that women will only dig hunks....homely guys with a sense of humour don't have a chance. Well, he hasn't been to Japan. Matsumoto is definitely no prize in the looks department, but he was able to get his match thanks to his sense of humour, as crass and Osakan as it is.

AK finally came back from her month in New York City. She and I had a long talk in the kitchen about our thoughts on The Big Apple. She was able to catch several musicals there, including a musical adaptation of "9 To 5", that old movie with Jane Fonda and Dolly Parton. This one had Alison Janney, the former C.J. Cregg from "The West Wing" as one of the characters. For such a tall person, Janney apparently can hoof it up on stage and belt out a tune, too. I guess AK knows me too well...she got me an "Entertainment Weekly" issue covering the new "Star Trek" movie.

Anyways, gotta head on home.

Friday May 15, 7:09 p.m.

It's been a cool pleasant day today. Best to savour these since within a month, the mugginess will roar in like a pride of lions. My subway was a good 7 minutes late for The Bass' lesson. I'd been a bit afraid that I was gonna have to do some major apologizing, and sure enough, by the time I reached JR Funabashi, I saw him going up the escalator heading over to the bakery from last lesson thinking that I'd gone there by mistake. Luckily, I go t him just as he was about to enter. Apparently, there was another in a rash of jinshin jiko (personal accidents); a lot of times, it's a euphemism for suicide jumper. The station official stated that this jinshin jiko was on the tracks which pretty much sealed my thoughts. Anyways, The Bass thanked me for attending his gig at the beginning of Golden Week and took me to a far quieter place down the street. This place was one of those tiny 2-floor European-style cafes that come with a small electric sign by the door. Up on the 2nd floor, there was only an older man, and he soon scurried out once The Bass and I started gabbing in English. He didn't ask and I didn't mention about The Action Freak, whom I'd officially struck out as a student since she never returned my e-mail for the next lesson...which suits me fine. I prefer to have a little cushion of time between The Bow and the juku.

After The Bass, I had to rush on back to Speedy's. With some good timing in arrival of trains and a wise transfer to the express at Urayasu Station, I was able to make it to the school 15 minutes before Miss Prissy's lesson. On the walk over from the station, there was a thuggish fellow wearing an oddly-coloured cardigan just screaming into his cellphone. I could only peg him as a mid-level yakuza since the gangsters seem to have a strange predilection (that is, besides their obvious sociopathy) for weirdly loud clothing; he couldn't have been a low-level chinpira since he looked too old and polished, and I can't imagine an oyabun doing something so gauche out in the open. Lately, there seems to be a trend in middle-aged men to rant and rave out in the open in the plaza near the station.

Miss Prissy kept my record of successful test passes going by scoring a perfect 100% on her inaugural test. She's definitely a keeper. Great student to have. Just some minutes later, Miss Honolulu, arrived for her regular Friday. She's less avidly earnest than Miss Prissy but still a good student to have around.

It was just the bossman and Ray taking care of the administrative duties. It was pretty hectic at one point with phones ringing off the hook; even I had to take care of one call although it only entailed me asking the lady to hold on...that's about all that I will trust myself to do. As such, none of us did any conversing with each other today. Still, I hung around for an extra hour after Miss Honolulu since I had to kill time before heading back to Urayasu, and I wanted to see what Mixi was up to today. B2 is now officially my Mixi Friend; she seems to be looking forward to her time as a full-time housewife. The "Star Trek" community folks are still talking to each other in very detailed kanji....a bit of a wall for me, but I was brave enough to contribute one topic. I've got a feeling, though, that these guys won't be quite as welcoming as the folks at the Ruiko Kurahashi community.

The Wild Guy was the last of the four friends I needed for my passport renewal references. He also caught "Star Trek", and he was absolutely ecstatic about the movie unlike the slightly more reserved response from The Entrepreneur.

Headed back to Urayasu and did my monthly visit to The Restauranteur's place for dinner. She noticed straight off that I looked pretty tired after those early wake-up calls and late-night arrivals. Had my wonderful usual of Sauteed Chicken; she even brought over a new copy of "TokyoWalker" for me to page through while I waited for my meal. I was only one of three customers in the place; by the time I finished up my coffee, I was the only one in there. I realized as I get older and more alone, I'll be relying more and more on the kindness and hospitality of folks like The Restauranteur. I can see myself in 20 years becoming a fixture in some cafe or restaurant with my own coat of dust.

The juku boss was quite envious by my dinner. I reassured her that within a few months, she can join me there. She did say that she felt some sort of growing back of her GI tract. I wondered if she were part flatworm in regenerative abilities. She told me that she put a wooden chopstick in her ice cube tray so that the ice cubes can come out clear. I'm not sure how that is possible, but I reckon I'll have to try it out sometime.

Thursday May 14, 10:48 p.m.

Once again, I'm here to lock up the store after a long day. Both Miss Sedona and The Music Man have passed their tests with flying colours. I'd like to think that I had some influence on their results.

That student of Speedy's may look like she's heading into my circle permanently since Speedy will be too busy on his second business trip to teach her. I'll have to come up with some sort of name for her, too. Well, why don't I just call her The Cracker since she is one.

B2 has sent me the official Mixi request to be her Mixi Friend, and she told me that she and her new beau are tying the knot. I wonder what her ex, B2B, is feeling right now.

I was a little disappointed not to see the Enterprise at the Kabukicho Plaza this afternoon, but apparently I was correct in the location but not the timing. The Enterprise was there but I guess the powers-that-be only meant it to be there for a one-nighter.

Anyways, I'm heading home. Hopefully, I can get some extra sleep before I see The Bass in the morning.

Ahh...The Cracker has asked to be put into 001's slot since my most senior student won't be here next Wednesday, and The Music Man has said that he won't be able to come next Thursday. Plus, the fact that The Carolinan just had her lesson today means that there is a possibility that I may actually have Thursday night off. Wouldn't that be something? Well, better log off here before my shoulder finally cracks.

Thursday May 14, 7:13 p.m.

Finished with The Carolinan. Showed her the pics from Meat Yazawa...there is the pic on the right. Got me thinking about taking The Sisters of State to another restaurant...to Baker Bounce in Tokyo Midtown. Unlike the Greek place I took them to about 18 months ago in Roppongi, I think Baker Bounce will be easier on the wallet.

I've cooled down a bit since I quietly seethed at The Automan's sister's insinuating criticism about my refusal to carry a cellphone, but I've still left the status bar as is on Facebook. She can take the high road and not deign it with a reply.

Thursday May 14, 5:09 p.m.

Came back from a walk through Shinjuku since my fatigue has been wearing me down. Just walked straight down on the main road into Kabukicho, only to find there was no Enterprise sitting in the main plaza. But there was a large poster for the movie over the Milano theatre. Walked down to Tower Records above JR Shinjuku...not much going on to promote the movie; just the soundtrack selling on the shelves.

Over at Facebook, I had received a message from someone that I'd never expected to receive one from, Automan's sister. She's well connected within a number of areas that I'm at the fringe of, and occasionally we meet up when either The Lens or Automan comes into town. I'm not sure why she contacted me (she said she wanted to drop me a line, but...) but then she brought up the topic of cellphones (I'm allergic to them) to which I gave my opinions on them and home computers and then she gave me her rebuttal. At the same time, she also mentioned that The Lens and his wife were soon coming back into town, and his wife and I had gotten a bit snippy with each other over a little kerfuffle concerning a missed meeting a few years ago. I then put up a status report giving my opinion on cellphones once and for all; the ones that matter will understand what I'm trying to say.

Also in the "thanks, but no thanks" category, I sent my polite rejection of 002's invitation.

Thursday May 14, 9:58 a.m.

Just realized that I still had to make an invoice for those translations I did for The Corner's client. Grumbled a lot until I also realized due to the fine print on those pages, I may make quite a bit of yen. Just the first page alone contained close to 1,500 letters. And I think I have 7 more pages to go through.

I've been reading through some of those Mixi Star Trek community topic pages, especially concerning the new movie. Urk! One guy at least is using some pretty high-falutin' kanji...maybe he's the equivalent of Comic Book Guy. I may actually traipse down to that plaza in the heart of Kabukicho to see that model of the Enterprise that's sitting there.

Grandma Tango should be making her way here in the next 15 minutes. Speedy would be teaching her but he's got a ton of after-action stuff to go through after his trip, so I'll still be taking care of her.

Thursday May 14, 8:38 a.m.

Another long day here at Speedy's. Only thing is that I was expecting to unlock the door, only to see that the door had already been open. The bossman, getting over his jet lag, had already gotten in after his annual epic business trip. He said that it was the usual hectic and sleep-depriving experience...whoever said that business trips were exciting must have been insane. Aside from work, he had no time for any sort of fun.

For some reason, my e-mail messages have been of the "Long time, no see" variety. I got one from The Anime King whom I hadn't heard from since January; unfortunately, he seems to have become one of the many to be restructured, but I've got no worries about him...he can find something or make something on his own. Then, it was a message from Chip Guy. He's been on the Speedy level of things...ever-busy, no time to chat. Even my erstwhile student, 002, sent me an invitation to her party in late May....strange, since I thought since that rather chilly sendoff she gave me due to the kerfuffle last year, our friendship was at an end. And to me, it still is. Even another former student, B2, gave me a greeting via The Ballerina's string on Mixi. Maybe I'm gonna die soon.

Wednesday May 13, 10:44 p.m.

Started up the school today, and will be closing it up some 15 hours later. I had my usual midweek triumvirate of 001, The Diver and The Fashion Designer. 001 was her usual dependably jolly self, The Diver was wringing her hands about the miniutiae of the lesson, and I tried to move the pace some more with The Fashion Designer but we could just make it halfway. I'm not sure if she were a little resentful, but I tried my best.

Didn't want to or intend to but I ended up seeing a few vital plot points on that "Star Trek" movie. Not surprising for the most part but rather wished that J.J. Abrams hadn't changed one of them that drastically. But from the director's point of view, I can understand that after 44 years of history, perhaps a drastic tug is what's needed.

Anyways, time to go home.

Found out from La Fille that Grandma Dynamite has once again cancelled tomorrow. I still have to come in early, though, since I got Grandma Tango within the early zone. I figured that there would be a cancellation of sorts.

Wednesday May 13, 4:23 p.m.

It's been a quiet afternoon. Just Ray, La Fille and myself typing away since there have been no classes, counselling sessions or the bossman around. I've been jumping about Mixi and Wiki. I joined up with a far more hopping Star Trek community...translated, it comes out as "The Star Trek Friendship Association"; sounds far stiffer than it really is. Since that first community of Star Trek seems to be as dead as a Romulan in a Klingon prison, I decided to check out the TSTFA. Hopefully, I can get a bit more talk in there.

Speaking of "Star Trek", I was surprised to learn that the most financially successful of the movies was "First Contact" which made about $146,000,000 worldwide. The new movie made half of that in its first 2 days in the States alone. I rather doubt that it'll be any threat to what "The Dark Knight" made last year, but I have a feeling that this Chris Pine movie has already broken the record set by "First Contact" by a good parsec.

Wednesday May 13, 1:20 p.m.

In the long holding pattern that has often been my Wednesday afternoons, especially since The Admin had to cancel today's lesson. Had my two Grandmas: Fado and Enka. They're both sweet old women but it's certainly not easy to keep them from speaking Japanese.

One of my topics in the Mixi community for The Carpenters seems to have taken on a life of its own. I just asked about good cover versions of Carpenters classics by the J-Pop community, got a whole ton of YouTube links and discussion. Miki Imai, the wife of Tomoyasu Hotei (the guy behind the big theme song in "Kill Bill"), came up with a couple of covers over 20 years ago, and Shonen Knife had its own take on "Top of the World". Apparently, the guy who put up their video on YouTube got some sort of "Cease and Desist" order for some reason.

The Ballerina has her own page on Mixi. Her diary entries have garnered her own cheering section. Her latest entry has her coming back from a vacation in Thailand with a photo of her decked out like some sort of Siamese princess. The Ballerina was always an attractive young lady; and this picture takes nothing away from that.

Wednesday May 13, 9:01 a.m.

Ah, thou art a cruel mistress, McDonalds! How darest you to tempt me with Golden Hamburger Week specials like a 200-yen Big Mac!

Ack! Only fell into temptation once via that flyer last week, and that was actually for the Quarter Pounder. Well, if you're go for sin, go for it whole-heartedly.

As for last night, I did get home before the clouds finally did open up luckily. And the rains had stopped by the time I left for work at the ignoble time of 6:30. I did have my McBreakfast for the first time in 2 weeks. Absence truly does make the heart grow fonder since I really enjoyed my Sausage McMuffin this time around.

The Entrepreneur told me that while he did enjoy "Star Trek", he said that it was merely good, not great. Like me, he's one of the die-hard Trekkies and didn't appreciate too much twisting of the canon, even though it's been news for some time now in the Trek community that this was a new universe and not the Shatnerverse. Heard the Michael Giacchino soundtrack once again last night before bed...yep, she's a keeper. In other news, The Entrepreneur and his wife have bought a townhouse out in Mississauga. So, he's heading out west again. I'm happy for them but it'll be too bad that I won't be able to see them up at Yonge & Sheppard. Made things a whole lot more convenient for me. Yup, I'm selfish, I know...

Tuesday May 12, 7:40 p.m.

This entry will probably also be a rush job since The Milds should be here in about 20 minutes. Finished with Suzanne almost an hour ago. Another good session. She's the type that can make a Pronounciation lesson fun. Always like to keep those around as long as possible.

Had The Beehive earlier this morning. I had the full group of Mrs. Travel, Mrs. Alp and Mrs. Jade. I think Mrs. Tee will be joining the ranks of Mrs. Perth, Mrs. Pottery and Mrs Tulip from now on and just make cameo appearances due to the demands of her job. Didn't touch Obama's Inaugural Speech at all but gabbed on everything under the sun, including Mrs. Alp's daughter's upcoming wedding and Mrs. Travel's trip up to Iwate Prefecture during Golden Week. Afterwards, I made an appearance at the monthly lunch with them at the nearby Denny's. The Japanese Denny's is nothing like the original American's slate of slams and good diner food. It's just the usual family restaurant fare with lots of hamburg steaks. I actually take more part in the Japanese part of the conversation this time around, although when the three got into their usual gab about griping, I started tuning out.

Actually had a bit of time to do some shopping and crash at home for about 45 minutes before heading out here to the juku. The day was warm and wonderful but supposedly the rain will be hitting us within the next hour, although I'm hoping the weatherfolk miss on that forecast.

Got word from Speedy who's been on one of his annual business trips. Looks like I've got an addition on my Thursday schedule. I've got that really filled-with-beans woman that I'd taught a few weeks back in lieu of the bossman. I've got her between The Carolinan and The Music Man. Filled-With-Beans is also not a bad student to have, since she grabs everything I throw at her and runs with it.

However, I've got Grandmas Fado and Enka tomorrow since Speedy won't be back until Thursday. It'll just be a gabby morning then before my usual Wednesday night lineup returns....unless there's a sudden cancellation.

Tuesday May 12, 4:41 p.m.

Well, there's sad, and then there's pathetic. The sad part was that funeral sendoff to recently departed J-rock legend, Imawano. About 42,000 fans showed up in warm and humid weather on Saturday to take part in the ceremony in Aoyama; the funeral was set up like a day-and-night-long rock festival...just the way he'd wanted to go out. That figure of 42,000 is still a ways below the 56,000 goth fans who showed up for hide's funeral several years ago, but I'd have been brave and foolish mentioning that amongst those Imawano fans. Actor Naoto Takenaka was basically gushing up the waterworks during his elegy...both SIL and I (being really, really cynical) couldn't help wonder if some of that acting school stuff came into play.

The pathetic part was seeing two famous folk who had been on top of the world ending up being crushed underneath it. It was with some irony and coincidence that I saw the pictures of both defrocked Democratic Party of Japan leader, Ichiro Ozawa, and music producer Tetsuya Komuro on the front page of the Daily Yomiuri this morning. Ozawa, barely 6 months ago, was so close to becoming the next Prime Minister of Japan that TIME Magazine had him on his cover (well, TIME Asia anyways); now, because of a little scandal involving his secretary, he's now on the ashheap of Japanese political history although he'll still keep his seat in Parliament. As for Komuro, this is a guy who was once the Svengali of J-Pop in the 90s....he helped out TRF, Globe, Namie Amuro, Hitomi, among other stars. But after an idiotic foray into financial larceny, he's just barely escaped jail time and his reputation is in tatters for now.

The boss' student is in the house so I've gotta shut off.

Monday May 11, 7:36 p.m.

Ah, yes. The Great Burger Tour...a mission that is neverending and ever-popular. Today was our trek to a place called Meat Yazawa in a residential neighbourhood near JR Gotanda Station on the Yamanote Line. As you can see on the right hand side, Meat Yazawa's reputation has preceded itself. Skippy was somewhat surprised by the lineup...about 30 minutes, par for the course for a popular joint on a Sunday.

As you can see on the left side, it wasn't the usual hamburger joint. Nope, this one was the Japanese style of hamburg steak. Still fine eating, though. Meat Yazawa prides itself on using a brand of beef called Kurobe Wagyu. For a not-too-bad price of 3,000 yen, I could get myself a 300g slab of burger on a hot plate along with the set of beef broth, salad, drink. The place also brags that the burger is so juicy that the so-called fountain of juice that pours out once the knife is inserted is called "Niagara". Well, it wasn't quite the Falls but let's say that any resemblance between it and the scene of Jed Clampett hitting that oil patch on the opening credits of "The Beverly Hillbillies" was purely coincidental. The burgers also come medium-rare with more stress on the latter...the texture was quite chewy. Meat Yazawa also serves steaks but one of equivalent mass to the burger that I ate comes to about 6,000 yen so I think that would be one left for a special occasion. Still, for a nice Sunday dinner, I could hardly complain.

Monday May 11, 5:11 p.m.

Gahhh...what is the problem with this uploader? Anyways, this is the Michael Giacchino album of the new "Star Trek" movie...the movie that has apparently recharged the franchise if the box office numbers are to be believed this weekend. I came across it at Tower Records on the way to my first lesson with The Jyuppies yesterday. Often since Hollywood movies come here several weeks to several months than their releases back Stateside, we have to listen to the soundtracks first before we see the movies. So we can basically imagine what each track is trying to describe. If the movie is anything like what Giacchino has interpreted, I should be having a rollicking ol' time in a few weeks when the movie premieres here.

I already have Giacchino's other effort, his soundtrack for "The Incredibles", another great soundtrack to have. And that with the "Star Trek" CD share one thing in common. The score reflects his obvious love for 50s jazz/action movie music. Jerry Goldsmith may have had epic space opera in mind, James Horner may have been evoking swashbuckling high seas adventure, but Michael Giacchino is mining Hitchcock-like suspense and adventure; his score reminded me of Bernard Herrman's work on "North by Northwest". And that meshes well with J.J. Abrams' approach to the new movie...keep it movin'--and fast! There is the new theme which covers not only the movie but seems to be Kirk's theme (finally, Tiberius gets his own song...some 27 years after Spock got his in "Wrath of Khan"), much in the same way that John Williams' iconic "Star Wars" theme is basically Luke's song. There is also a niko in there, which for some reason didn't get credited, which may describe Spock and the Vulcans. Of course, there is a sweeping version of Alexander Courage's original theme in the end credits. As much as I enjoyed that last track, I kinda thought that Giacchino was being a bit too Pavlovian with the Courage tune. He seems to throw it in three times, almost note-for-note, just to see if we Trekkies will start salivating. Still, a fine disc and I'm really looking forward to that movie now.

As for the rest of the weekend, on Saturday night, I got a call from The Matron stating that The Lady's situation still hasn't settled down yet so it'll probably be a few more weeks before I get a chance to see The Class Act again. No surprise there so Monday mornings will remain free.

On Sunday, I got to see The Jyuppies for their first lesson. Looks like things will be OK. I didn't have their software for them as hoped, but they were cool about it. I could've prepared a bit better for Mr. Jyuppie but Mrs. Jyuppie's lesson went smoothly.

More later as I upload the latest chapter from the Great Burger Tour...that is, if the uploader will allow me.

Saturday May 9, 4:42 p.m.

Still inexplicably here....after The Bostonian left Speedy's almost 2 hours ago. Just got too much into Facebook and Mixi, I guess. Speaking of The Bostonian, she technically tied the knot with her fiance over Golden Week by registering over at the nearest City Hall...in their tracksuits. Talk about laidback. It was another counseling session with me, and with 2 more lessons left in her current set, I'm kinda wondering if she'll just be flying the coop once she gets through with them.

As for The Intellectual earlier, the lesson was atypically sloggy to a small extent. We finally got to the finish line a few minutes earlier than usual.

Still haven't heard from either Maruzen about my order or The Action Freak about what to do concerning her still-yet-to-be inaugural lesson.

Well, The Entrepreneur is the first out of my group of friends on either side of the Pacific to see the new "Star Trek" movie. As a fellow Trekkie, he was absolutely ecstatic about it. The lucky bastard!

Sent the word to Mr. Jyuppie that I'm coming over tomorrow but sans software for their texts. Well, we can still pull off the lessons.

I'm outta here for dinner. I've already spent too much time here today.

Saturday May 8, 10:15 a.m.

Got through my Indiana Jones-like odyssey of lessons last night. Luckily, The Ace and The Restauranteur were the good....dependable...soldiers. The juku boss wondered about The Traveler's status. To be honest, I'd completely forgotten about her. She hasn't responded to the boss' messages, and I've frankly already written her off.

I received a couple of e-mail from The Action Freak about whether I got those phone messages. I just sent back a neutral reply stating that I got them and inquired about whether the 29th would be open for her. I have to teach The Bow's next lesson pretty late on the 22nd which pretty much nixes any chance for The Action Freak then and I'm simply not gonna give The Freak any more opportunities to hang herself for the next week. Perhaps asking her whether she would like to attend at the end of May would give me some indication about how really interested she is in English.

So instead of my myriad lessons and commuting yesterday, I just have the two here at Speedy's: The Intellectual and The Bostonian and a straight back-and-forth commute between here and home. I was hoping that I would already have the CDs for The Jyuppies' official inaugural lesson tomorrow but it looks like that won't materialize so I'll have to improvise. But there shouldn't be any big problem.

Friday May 8, 7:19 p.m.

April showers bring May showers, too, apparently. The clouds have been opening up on us for the past few hours now. Kinda fits my mood...The Action Freak once again left me at the altar. Mind you, she did leave a message on my machine just after I'd started with The Bow. I just didn't bother checking it since I felt I had to get on the Sobu Line to head over to Tsudanuma as quickly as possible. My plans would've been drastically different obviously if I had checked (which is what has gotten me into this mood) but what hasn't and what wouldn't have changed even if (try to follow the syntax if you can) is that I'm even more skeptical about this girl now. She said that she had some sor t of class again that she had to attend or some sort of thing and that she'd like to re-schedule once more. Well, I kinda wonder about how available she can be if she keepsdotakyan'ing like this. Mind you, I haven't made it easy for her since I can only give her that one-hour sliver on Fridays but that's my schedule. Well, in any case I was able to try that Becker's burger platter while I was waiting in vain.

Also had a few more changes to tomorrow's schedule. Initially, it had been The Intellectual with The Publicity Assistant. Then, Mr. TOEIC entered the mix as the first student. However, The Publicity Assistant pulled out due to work (I wonder if Mr. Hanks or Mr. Howard had anything to do with that). Then, I found out today that Mr. TOEIC once again did another one of his quick cancellations, so I thought I was gonna have the one student. But then, Ray informed me that now The Bostonian has requested a mid-afternoon appointment. I'm pretty sure the stage is set; no more shell game. At least, I can get an extra hour of sleep.

Sounds like CNN, at least, is swooning over the revamped "Star Trek". My Trekkie appetite is getting whetted. I can only imagine how The Trekkie is feeling just about now.

Heard about the passing of Dom DeLuise yesterday. Nope, he really wasn't too much of the comic force for the past 20 years but for those of us who grew up in the 70s, we really appreciated the fact that a fellow fatso could be loved. I might watch "Silent Movie" again tomorrow night.

Friday May 8, 12:53 p.m.

Writing this on the fly since Miss Honolulu should be in here at any minute. My marathon commute all over Tokyo is now in session. Finished off with The New Yorker earlier today in Ichigaya. The aforementioned Miss Honolulu, then it's off to Shinjuku to teach The Bow and then off to the wilds of Tsudanuma to teach The Action Freak before landing in Urayasu for the usual juku classes. I should be earning points from JR and Tokyo Metro for this!

Tom Hanks and Ron Howard were in town last night or the night before for the Tokyo premiere of "Angels and Demons", the sequel to "The Da Vinci Code". More later...

Thursday May 7, 7:23 p.m.

Ahhhh....that wonder of Turkish cuisine that has invaded Akihabara: the doner kebab. Layers of meat with veggies and a zesty sauce stuffed in a pita. All for just 500 yen...a bargain in this town. Not quite sure what happened with that left picture, but it is one of one of the many doner kebab stands in Tokyo. Doner kebab has become a fixture in what has been the ever-cosmopolitanization of the world's largest city in terms of food culture. Doner kebab used to be just served from various trucks but now enterprising folks have set up more permanent roots in Akiba in the tiniest of nooks and crannies. However, I do remember seeing a similar place in my neck of the woods near Moto-Yawata Station.

Well, I made my way in the spitting rain down to the Canadian Embassy. The receptionist directed me to head down to the 4th floor. 4 was pretty dark since consular services were over for the day; they're only available from 9:30-11:30...go figure on that. However, I only needed to pick up the necessary documents to start the passport renewal process going. There was a couple ahead of me getting advice from the person behind the glass and since there was actually an Alex Ross book on "Superman" on the shelves, I was almost disappointed that the couple didn't stay talking with the staffer. However, the embassy official was very friendly and helpful to me...reminded me of me when I was helping out years ago at the university. She told me about all of the necessary references and identification that I would need to bring once I had everything written out. And then I was off around the corner to get my passport photos done. That old studio on the 2nd floor of the Aoyama Twin Building closed down so the official directed me to another place around the corner. I got my photos lickety-split but boy, do I take some horrible photos. I look like I should be on the Aum Shinrikyo wanted list. But passport photos are not supposed to be model shots in any case. I ended up having lunch next door at a cheapo soba restaurant. For 700 yen, I was able to get some mori soba with a bowl of rice with a patty of negi toro and one croquette. Looks like I've been getting some food bargains this week.

I stopped off at Kinokuniya to see about getting a new book for The New Yorker but looking through the prospective text, I decided that it was just as well that I could just photocopy from the stuff here at Speedy's. A number of the pages wouldn't be too relevant for her and I could save myself some yen. Speaking of texts, after asking The Action Freak a couple of times over e-mail, I finally got the word from her that I should pick out the right text for her. Man, I wonder if I'm biting off more than I can chew with this one. After all, The Bass couldn't really make this a personal recommendation since she'd only met her once and that was under a stage name (since The Action Freak was working in a bar of sorts...I kinda wonder what kind of establishment this was). In any case, I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

It's gonna be a pretty hectic day tomorrow. I have to do a lot of fast commuting to get to see The New Yorker, Miss Honolulu, The Bow, The Action Freak and then finally The Ace and The Restauranteur at the juku. Luckily, Ray told me that my Saturday load got a bit lighter because The Publicity Assistant had to cancel due to the rigours of work. I wonder if she's getting a ton of Hollywood celebs coming in....uh, celebs with the names of Chris and/or Zachary, perhaps?

Thursday May 7, 8:07 a.m.

Well, back to the grindstone again after almost a whole week off. No income whatsoever but I did catch up on some sleep. Woke up bright and early at 5 this morning though. No McBreakfast since I had the time to down Corn Flakes and those Betty Crocker Muffins. Man, I didn't realize that the American stuff could be so dense. I could feel the gravity getting heavier.

Looks like I'll be the only show in town as far as the school is concerned today since Speedy himself is on his annual round of business trips. Just have Grandma Dynamite, then Grandma Tango, Miss Sedona followed by Music Man some hours later. In between those last two, I gotta head on down to the Canadian Embassy to start the process of renewing my passport. Would like that stuff to be done by the end of May since I should get my ticket for Christmas by June if booking last year was any indication.

Saw my last Hexagon show for the next several months on Fuji-TV last night. Yep, some of those folks are as dumb as wood planks.

Kept on the listening path. Listened to that Best Of compilation of all of 80s aidoru Naoko Kawai. Well, all I can say is that I guess I collect some of my CDs for cultural posterity than for actual enjoyment. I mean, I like some of her earlier stuff like "Smile For Me" but when she started making that transition from run-of-the-mill teenybopper to artiste like so many of her compatriots have done, the results can be wildly wacky. One of those transitional singles sounded so much like WHAM's "Careless Whisper" that my ears were cringing throughout.
However, I also listened to one of those 100-yen discs that I'd gotten at Recomints in Nakano Broadway the other day, Miki Imai's live offering from 1993. That CD was far more satisfying.

Watched through "WALL-E" twice in as many days. I think that movie will go down as one of the flicks that I regret not catching at the movie theatre. A lot of those jaded critics were screaming CLASSIC in the mags; although I'm not quite ready to say that yet...I have to wait a few more years..."WALL-E" is definitely up there in great entertainment. It did what any movie is supposed to do and more....made me forget about the outside world for 98 minutes. Lots of heart, that one.

Speaking of flicks, "Star Trek" is now just less than 72 hours away from general release Stateside. I kinda wonder if the Trekkies are decking the halls with their Starfleet braids in anticipation.

Skippy has made contact. Not surprisingly, it's for another in the great series of The Burger Tour. Looks like she's making it for Sunday night in Gotanda. Interesting area.

Wednesday May 6, 11:59 a.m.

Been a while. I've been enjoying the first extended holiday without any classes since Xmas and it's almost over. Yup, it'll be back to a regular work schedule from tomorrow and I start off with another early one with Grandma Dynamite. Golden Week has been mostly fine in terms of weather although today and yesterday have been filled with rain.

Last Saturday, I went to the Bass' gig in Otsuka at a small club called "Welcome Back". I'd never been to Otsuka, just the next station east of Ikebukuro on the JR Yamanote Line. Well, at least I know where Tokyo's lone streetcar begins. It just comes off as a regular little commercial hub, although I've heard that it's also another centre for the tons of love hotels along with Shibuya and Ueno. As I said, "Welcome Back" is a small basement live house and Saturday proved to be Amateur Night for which The Bass was acting as drummer for his band. The gig was about 45 minutes and there was a small but dedicated audience; he said that his band was a tribute group for a UK unit called Porcupine Tree but I definitely heard elements of The Who from the waling guitars...and yep, they were waling away. However, I was most surprised that there was a couple with their infant son. Apparently, he wasn't too upset at all by the sonic assault on his tiny ears. Must be getting him primed for his adolescence. I had a chance to speak to The Bass briefly before I made my way back home.

On Sunday, I decided to check out Akiba again with my digital camera. Unfortunately, the powers-that-be still won't bring back the hokoten. However, I did manage to take some shots of the area. Did see some maids handing out flyers but I'm not sure if the Maid Cafe phenomenon is heading onto the J-Pop Culture garbage heap along with loose socks and Amurers. Then again, the pheonomenon may have become so ubiquitious that it's part of the landscape now. I had some lunch from the just-as-ubiquitious doner kebab sites; man, at 500 yen a pita, the doner kebab can beat a Big Mac anytime. I walked all the way down from the Otaku Mecca to the thematically opposite Ginza...a 30-minute trip on foot. Akihabara may have been packed with otaku, tourists and Maids but just a few minutes away, the neighbourhood was pretty deserted. I did come across the actual Nihombashi along the way. It's a pity that the original bridge is now overshadowed by massive highways while underneath it is a river that can rival Toronto's Don River in terms of pollution. Tokyo is too warm in the winter but I'm sure that river would probably gel instead of freeze. And yet, I saw a couple of folks actually jet skiing...I wondered if the Cloverfield monster would end up devouring them.

Ginza, ironically, still has a hokoten on Sundays but didn't see any Akiba-like performance art. I did pick up yet another CD (an old Naoko Kawai) and the DVD of "Wall-E" at HMV. No sign yet, though, of the "Star Trek" soundtrack. They're having the sneak previews here next Monday, but of course any chances of me catching them are close to nil since duty calls.

Yesterday, I headed out all the way to Hiroo to drop in at National Azabu Supermarket. Since it was Children's Day, I saw a lot of the little ones scurrying around with balloons and ice cream cones (there's a Baskin-Robbins next to the supermarket). There was even a catering truck containing a coop's worth of chickens roasting on spits. Now that is a fine dinner takeout! I went all the way out to this supermarket just to get a box of Betty Crocker's Blueberry Muffin Mix. Yep, when I get obsessed on something...well, I hadn't baked in several years and since I wanted to try out that function of my oven...

I was wavering about it but after Hiroo, I finally made the choice to head on out to Nakano Broadway to check out the second Geekville in Tokyo. It was raining but there were a ton of people coursing through one of Tokyo's oldest covered malls. Nakano Broadway had a lot of the geek factor along with French nationals milling about on its four floors. My main reason wasn't to observe them (although I did take my fair share of photos) but to see if I could pick up some diamonds in the rough at that CD shop, Recomints. Spent a good half-hour filtering through the various bins...found a lot of old discs from the early 90s such as Pizzicato Five and Miki Imai. Cost me just 100 yen per disc. The bins are perfect for picking up those CDs that you've always been curious about but not enough to shuck out 3,000 yen. I always enjoy walking through the corridors of Broadway...someday I may even be brave enough to try out some of the local fare.

On my way back I came across yet another young bickering couple. I'm not sure if it's because of the law of averages of walking through the masses in the largest city in the world, but I've been encountering a lot of these argumentative nitwits lately. Just emphasizes how happy I am to be single and unattached.

Over the past week, we've had a celeb death or two. One was the passing of the very first chanson singer of Japan, some fellow who died in his 90s. This French form of enka-like balladry has had a huge niche of fans...usually amongst the older crowd. The Prez is one. The other obit comes for an arguably much more famous person. The name Kiyoshiro Imawano may sound like a name for some kabuki actor for those outside of these shores, but he was actually one of the big names in Japanese rock. He died over the weekend from cancer at the still fairly young age of 58...a shock since he does appear on TV from time to time. I'm not sure if he predated David Bowie in glam rock but he was well known for his war paint of eyeliner, mascara and nail polish, literally decades before the hip-hop guys decided to do the same. The song that I always associate him with is "Ikenai...Rouge Magic", his duet with Oscar-winning Ryuichi Sakamoto who was going through a New Romantic/Glam Rock phase himself.

I've been listening to my latest cache of CDs over the past few days. Happily, most of them do very well by me, although the latest Pet Shop Boys release seems to be going more Art than Pop. Joanna Wang and Yuming also did well although I'm still a little creeped out by that 50s-style cover girl look of The Queen of J-Pop on the cover. However, Superfly is quite a revelation. That 70s style that Shiho Ochi takes isn't quite as hard as Janis Joplin but she is sure fun to listen to. I'll have to give my compliments to Miss Sedona tomorrow.