Thursday July 23, 8:58 p.m.

Well, there he is. The 11th Doctor Who by 26-year-old Matt Smith. The pressures the actor must be having...I bet even Peter Davison didn't face this level of minute analysis and criticism when he took over for Tom Baker 28 years ago. The folks online have already started squabbling over his new costume. However, I'm sure the tweed sellers must be celebrating their lot right now. Hmm...I guess he looks sufficiently different from David Tennant's geek chic...definitely more geek than chic. He's got more of the Ivy League professorial tonsorial mixed in with a floppy hairdo and cheekbones you could cut bread on. However, I'll be looking out for what kind of personality he will be exhibiting. Hopefully, it'll be a little less manic than that of his last two predecessors. We could use a bit more Obama-like calm from this new Time Lord. And hopefully, the powers-that-be won't have me killed for using this image.

Thursday July 23, 7:13 p.m.

I'm not sure what causes these psychedelic trip-ups in my photo uploads but sometimes the results aren't too bad. This is indeed a dozen Krispy Kreme donuts from about a month ago. Ray and La Fille were quite happy.

The Carolinan showed up as scheduled at 6 tonight. I had been initially worried about her after she got word of her company going out of business at the end of September. However, true to her O-type blood, she's taking things in stride. The sounds of Hello Work are now ringing once more. Hello Work happens to be the most famous employment placement agency in the country. Kinda like Manpower back in Canada.

Now that I've gotten that mammoth translation assignment out of the way, I've been getting back into Mixi again. I made my open diary entries concerning those tsukudani grasshoppers I've been munching on along with pictures. And I've already been getting comments. There's nothing like sensationalism to bring in the masses. Speaking of which, someone from Nagoya took a look at my profile and has struck up an e-mail friendship of sorts since we both have connections with studying in Canada and jazz.

Well, time for dinner...Chip Star and soumen.

Thursday July 23, 2:28 p.m.

I do hope wherever you are taking a look at this, you haven't just eaten a meal. If you look closely at this pic, you'll find that these are finely roasted grasshoppers in soy sauce, mirin and sugar. Mmm-mmmm....dem's good eatin'. Called inago in Japanese, they've been given the tsukudani technique which refers to the stewing in the above ingredients.

Actually, they aren't bad at all. Quite chewy and the sauce pretty much obliterates any authentic grasshopper taste that may have come through. I got the package from Grandma Fado a couple of weeks ago. Apparently, inago tsukudani are quite the delicacy in some of the more far-flung prefectures. And Mom has told me that eating locusts was quite the necessity in the war years since protein was rather hard to come by. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to munch on some antennae...

It's been a fairly quiet day so far. I've only had Miss Sedona. She's been getting pretty hyped over her trip to Canada in a few months. Speedy has been counselling her for the past few weeks now. I should be seeing The Carolinan later this evening, and then it'll be The Music Man to wrap things up. The Carolinan has fallen on some hard times...actually, she and the rest of her company staff have known for a while that the axe was gonna come down, but the unfortunate announcement came a couple of weeks ago that her company will be shutting its doors at the end of September. Not sure how the lesson's gonna be like today. May have to get the tissue ready.

I've done the accounting for that huge translation project for The Cornerette. Well, if she's still willing to pay the full amount, I may be in for a pretty winfall at the end of this month. But that's still a big if. And strangely enough, Paddy, the friend who had first introduced me to The Corner over a year ago, got back to me about another possible project involving 100 pages! I sent him the immediate caveat that I would need to find out what the material involved and what the deadline was. After having to deal with pages of ceramics, I'm not quite sure if I'm gonna be up for hundreds of pages.

I checked my machine and got a rather breathless message from the juku boss last night concerning this little dinner next Friday night I had first proposed a couple of months ago for all of my students at The Restauranteur's. Unfortunately, it seems like The Restauranteur and Mr. White called her up about a number of things involving the "party". I never gave too many details to the boss since, for one thing, I never intended this thing to be nothing bigger than a few students and me having a little din-din together. However, forgetting to realize that anything called a party in this country automatically demands planning on a NASA-like level, I had the juku boss talking my ear off about how she's arranged things. I couldn't really even get half of what the boss was babbling about. And at that time, The Fashion Designer was coming into Speedy's for her lesson. I told the boss that I had a student coming right up but she just kept nattering away like a jackhammer so I just finally had to tell her that the student was here and clicked off. I was annoyed that my little get-together got bumped up higher in social status and the fact that the scatterbrain wouldn't let go, regrettably made it easy for me to hang up on her. Hopefully, she won't be ticked off at me on Friday night.

Wednesday July 22, 8:55 p.m.

There was supposed to be one of the biggest solar eclipses in human history, and Tokyo was completely overcast. Bad, Tokyo, bad! Looks like we'll have to take it on the road for the next big one. 001 told me that it would be on Easter Island. I've got a feeling that the Moai Statues will not feel so lonely in the not-so-distant future.

I had just tallied up the cost of those 6 weeks of translation when The Cornerette came back with some corrections I had to do to the original drafts. So, it's not quite over yet.

Saw the new 11th Doctor Who in his new getup. Not too, too bad although I was kinda hoping for something a bit more different than the slight variation on the theme of geek chic that David Tennant had brought in. Still, the tweed and bow tie with folded trousers makes Matt Smith a Doctor.

Saturday July 18, 3:22 p.m.

Just on the verge of heading home. Ray is still here and may be for some time. I've only scratched the surface of figuring out what I'm gonna charge for those 6 weeks of translation. Yep, it's already looking like I might get a small winfall...provided that The Cornerette still wants to pay me after running behind by over a week.

Still have to teach The Jyuppies tomorrow. Not sure about the husband; he's been having that crisis of opportunity. I may have to seriously re-adjust how to teach him.

Saturday July 18, 1:20 p.m.

Well, just a couple of weeks after Michael Jackson's passing, another legend, this time in the broadcasting industry, has died. Good ol' Walter Cronkite has just gone to that anchorman's desk in the sky. He's been pretty much out of the spotlight for the past decade or so but I'm sure all of the news shows right now in the States are giving a full court tribute to Uncle Walter, The Most Trusted Man in America.

Some 6 weeks after I got onto this Japanese ceramics project, I finally got that last kanji translated and sent over to The Cornerette yesterday afternoon. Like with any relationship, there were some ups and downs, and The Cornerette was getting fidgety about when I would finally get everything in. Well, it's in now, and I just have to now tackle the arduous task of tallying up the cost.

Got a long weekend, although I did that one lesson today with The Publicity Agent and then I have two with The Jyuppies tomorrow afternoon. Found out that she'll be putting in her hours this weekend, too. Has to do some filming with the comedy team known as Kyaiin tomorrow. And I found out that her uncle got himself into the Guinness Book for being to fold a rice grain into an origami crane.

Thursday July 16, 12:39 p.m.

Just two more topics away from finally doing away with that mammoth translation, and I just couldn't have enough time to do it. Well, looks like there will be a Part C. However, I did send Part B to the Cornerette. She'll have to wait til tomorrow to get the whole thing.

Just a few minutes away from Miss Sedona's lesson. Speedy is counselling her on that trip to Canada.

My apartment agency has been leaving messages on my machine about something. They left two yesterday...didn't say what it was about so I wasn't particularly enthused about calling them back since I had that problem with them early last year. Finally, I got that third message this morning. Apparently, they want to put in a chain lock on my door and just wanted to confirm a day and time, the workman can come on over. Could be a bit dicey but it's looking like the holiday Monday will be the only one close by.

Wednesday July 15, 7:17 p.m.

Yup, plenty hot out there. I was crazy enough to walk down from Nakano-Sakaue to Shinjuku in blazing 30-degree-plus heat after meeting up with The Admin and then lunch. But the weather was kind to throw in some stiff winds to cool us down. I ended up browsing at the Book First branch in the Coccoon Tower for a while before I took off for Ichigaya to teach The New Yorker. Actually, had three different people come and leave beside us while we had our class; I think that's a personal best for me. Not many people can stand sipping coffee next to an English lesson.

Heading back home on Monday night strangely felt like a Friday night in that I witnessed a rather nasty set of fisticuffs in Iidabashi Station (one guy flipped the other a la judo) and there was a drunk salaryman splayed out on one seat on the Tozai Line home. Of course, the surrounding people didn't disturb him. If this had been in New York City, the poor fool would've been missing several things, including teeth and limbs.

I seem to be making good progress on this last article for The Cornerette. I don't think I'll finish the whole thing off by tonight but I can probably send half of it to The Cornerette to appease her further. But I still have The Music Man's lesson at 9:15.

Wednesday July 15, 8:51 a.m.

Still plowing away at the translations; I've just got one more article to do. Luckily, 001 has cancelled her lesson for today, so after The New Yorker, I've got several hours to bash that into shape.

Last night, the juku boss showed me some of that endearing scatterbraininess that she's often famed for. She had a talk over the weekend with a potential substitute English teacher for the kids whenever I head off for home. Apparently, he's just a 20-year-old greenhorn from Hungary who's pretty much into the Japanese language. The boss was so impressed with his Japanese abilities that she didn't even bother checking into the most important attribute...can the guy speak English?

Mr. White's second class went off without a hitch. As for The Milds, we kept it nice and light. They're still not masters of Past Continuous/Simple Past contrast but after two weeks and several exercises, I don't think they're gonna get any better. On to Present Perfect next week.

I don't have The Admin until 11 today but made the trek over to Speedy's as if I had an early lesson since those translations and The Cornerette have been breathing down my neck. Afterwards, I've got The New Yorker and then it'll be The Music Man for the last one tonight.

I actually have got another O-chugen package from The Matron (remember her?) coming to me. It's now been three months since I last saw The Class Act, but I still get the little cakes. Still not sure whether The Class Act will ever get together.

Monday July 13, 10:50 p.m.

Well, finished with Medicine Man...my sole student of the entire day. Still feeling a bit down about what all of those weeks of trying to translate the ceramics website have culminated to. I never had this much trouble with hot springs, contracts and even tax lingo. But ceramics has thrown me for a loop with all of that arcane language. I've sent the message out to her...didn't give any excuses to her. So the ball's in her court.

Time to head on home.

Monday July 13, 8:57 p.m.

Well, it took a while but it looks like I finally got that e-mail of exasperation from The Cornerette just now about how long it has taken me to get through those translations. At least, I think I got one...it's hard to tell since her English is not nearly as good as The Corner's. I sent over an apology letter. I don't think it's gonna get the translations done any faster. I informed her that I wasn't a professional translator and certainly wasn't a ceramicist; I just hope that Paddy didn't pad his recommendation of me when I was first introduced to The Corner over a year ago. Well, I figure that I'll probably be no longer contacted by The Cornerette or The Corner once this assignment is truly over...hopefully by the end of this week. Ach...it was a good gig while it lasted.

Monday July 13, 3:56 p.m.

The first truly summer day has arrived. I woke up sweating...a sure sign, and yet I'm holding off the first official usage of my dinosaur of an air conditioner until tomorrow. Yep, it was about 31 C in my living room but wasn't sweating too profusely...more like a skin-shield of sweat. I've certainly gotten accustomed to the infamous Tokyo summers over the years. Another sign of that was back on Friday when The Lens and I had met in Akiba. He's far more healthier than me, thanks to his long years of kendo training, and yet he said he was mightily wilting under the sun. And the last sign that the dog days of summer have arrived: my first of two showers of the day.

I went down to my branch of the bank to transfer some funds over to the parentals. The lady who's helped me ever since I first arrived in Japan was busy with another guy, so I got a native who had a fair-to-middling ability with the language. First, she told me that I didn't need to deal with her and that I could actually go to the ATMs and get it done there. Well, quite a change, I thought...only to find out I couldn't get access to any Canadian banks on the machines. I caught the lady's eye again and told her about my predicament, and after shooting up some question marks over her head, she realized that she hadn't told me enough information....about the special bank transfer booth across from the regular ATMS.

After going through the process, I kinda wondered what was actually easier....just getting the transfer done the old way with that American employee who's been at my branch longer than probably Presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama combined or this newfangled way. I sat into the booth which reminded me of my regular visits to the I-Cafe and had that other lady looking over my shoulder while another bank employee showed up on cameraphone to take my order. As I took the receiver, the new lady instructed me to put that piece of paper on which I'd jotted down the info for my parents' bank account (and boy was I lucky I'd had the foresight to do that) and put into the scanner right in front of me. Then came about 10 minutes of digital data taking before the money was on its way. This lady's English was somewhat better than the first person, but I could hear a bit of tension underneath the professional voice of reason. Wasn't sure if she were nervous about handling my order in English or if she were terrified of my face. My default expression isn't very pretty and unless people get to know me well, they usually think I'm in a ticked-off mood....which I was, slightly. However, she assured me that the data is now a part of record, and that if I ever needed to do the same thing again, I just had to press one number and the whole structure would pop up again automatically so that I would just need to press "Confirm" and then how much I money I would send. I'm sure she was quite relieved.

Got out of there and walked up to Roppongi. Ended up having lunch at the local Wendy's. It was up to 32 C by that time and it had only passed 11 o'clock. Still, walking up the rebuilt area of Roppongi Hills, the presence of trees made a big difference in cooling things down, in contrast with the mostly concrete of Old Roppongi. Took some shots of the area.

Then, I took the Metro up to Ginza. Ginza is all concrete so the temperature was definitely closer to 40 C with all of the juicy air to boot. Took a look in both HMVs and Yamano Music for the better part of an hour there. All places were playing Michael Jackson on speakers. Next, I went inside the whale skeleton that made up the Tokyo International Forum; just aching for pictures. Then I went up to the Yaesu Book Centre across from Tokyo Station. Was surprised that I could survive all that walking in that heat. But I kept myself hydrated, thanks to the vending machines.

The week's looking pretty light for me. Just have Medicine Man tonight...yep, one 9:30 class will make up my entire work output for the day. Still, I've got translations to do. The Cornerette asked...politely...about when the last of those translations will get in. I answered...politely...that they'll be in by the end of the week (although I left out the word, "hopefully"). Basically, the only really busy day will be Wednesday...which I guess is appropriate since that was Hump Day, but even then, it's just 4 classes with plenty of space in between. Thursday (and I am keeping my fingers crossed here) may just have me having 2 classes in the afternoon: Miss Sedona and The Bow.

I got home from the latest stint at the I-Cafe last night and turned on NHK to see how those Tokyo Assembly Elections were going. And sure enough, the Liberal Democratic Party was getting trounced. I'd say it was like Hannibal Lecter sinking his teeth into those hapless guards in "Silence of the Lambs". The Democratic Party of Japan was just mauling Taro Aso's party all night, and by the end of the assault, the DPJ became the No. 1 party in Tokyo for the first time in 40 years and also got an outright majority for the first time in many years. I'm sure there was a party at DPJ headquarters. Meanwhile, the LDP could only start to lick its wounds. It took its national partner, the Komeito Party, to somehow make things from looking totally disastrous.

And the vulture was looking at Taro Aso, as it had for ex-PM Abe and Yasuo Fukuda before him. Sure enough, I saw the newspaper kiosks in the subways screaming out the headlines of the announcement of the dissolution of the Diet next week with a general election to be held in August. So, I think the country's highest manga lover will hang on and himself at the bitter end, since there is really noone there to take over. The media has apparently been doing the LDP's thinking for them and throwing out names such as Yoichi Masuzoe, the Minister of Labour, and Governor Higashikokubaru of Miyazaki Prefecture, since both have relative popularity. But Masuzoe has always gotten increasingly grayer over the months since he took over his post, thanks to that pension scandal, so I'm not sure if he could literally survive the top post, and as for current comedian-in-chief Higashikokubaru, I'm frankly not sure if CNN and the rest of the international media could survive pronouncing his name on a regular basis. Plus, Japan would wince mightily if Higashikokubaru actually got the top job and started telling President Obama to just call him Sonomama Higashi, his old comedian pseudonym. In any case, politically speaking, it's gonna be a blazing summer here.

Sunday July 12, 8:38 p.m.



Another weekend is coming to an end. Did another round at MB's place. And this time, The Satyr showed up as well and we got to see a DVD. We watched "Hot Fuzz", the latest movie with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, the British Laurel and Hardy of the 21st century. It was chock filled with a lot of the latest Brit thesps (Timothy Dalton, Paddy Considine, Bill Nighy, etc.) who've made their way across the ocean to Hollywood, and even one Aussie, a disguised cameo by Cate Blanchett. MB and I had been hoping to watch it for several months, and I guess we had our expectations ratcheted up a bit too high. After the first 15 minutes, there was nary a laugh out of the three of us, and I started to think whether we had picked up a dud. Things finally got going in the 2nd half so it wasn't a total loss, but I think "Shaun of the Dead" still wins out by a good margin. However, I think the big casting shocker was portly old Edward Woodward...yep, "The Equalizer" himself...playing a seemingly cordial Neighbourhood Watch commander.



MB did get that huge screen and has been enjoying his games online and off. I must admit that although I'm absolutely a putz when it comes to playing them, it's still pretty enjoyable. Still don't think I'll dust off my Playstation 1, though.



My session with Mrs Jyuppie was fine but Mr. Jyuppie basically put me into counselor mode once more. Apparently, he's gone into a mid-life crisis almost a decade too early. He's been wondering about how satisfied he's been with his career and the fact that he's gotten a couple of potentially good but risky opportunities. Hmmm....I listened and then referred him to "What Color is your Parachute?"



Today is the Tokyo City Council Elections...a bellweather vote in terms of the health of the governing party. It'll be interesting for me to look

Thursday July 9, 7:39 p.m.

Another pretty quiet night. Grandma FON and I had another good session. She'll be heading off to her dacha out in the wilds of Nagano Prefecture from next week so we may or may not see her again for about 6 weeks, at least. The Nurse came by...pretty lackadaiscal...I'm kinda wondering if she'll be taking off if things get anymore lax. And then, The Carolinan. She seemed slightly moody tonight....couldn't really tell why until she told me at the end that the president of her company, an alcoholic beverage retailer that's fallen on some hard times, had announced a big meeting with everyone at a major hotel tomorrow. She thinks, being somewhat pessimistic, that the big meeting will really be the excuse to bring down the axe on a lot of folks. Hopefully, everything will work out for her.

Just have The Music Man in about 90 minutes. Still slogging away at the remaining stubborn article to be translated. I got in touch with The Lens' wife just now to say that I'll meeting them for lunch in Akiba tomorrow.

The campaign trucks have once again been assaulting our ears since the Tokyo Assembly elections are on for this Sunday. I think we've had about 4 or 5 pols waving their white-gloved (oh, the irony) hands while using their megaphones like a secret weapon. The media will be keeping their eyes and ears peeled as to how the LDP fares. If the LDP bombs, as many expect they will, then PM Aso may just hold off on that call for a general election until more stable times come again.

Thursday July 9, 11:16 a.m.

Another one of those warm and humid days. Not quite the moushoubi, or torrid days, characteristic of summer in the Kanto, but we're making the transition. It'll be a somewhat middlingly busy day today. Not particularly a Hump Day but I have enough on my plate to keep things going. I've got Grandma FON in another 10 minutes, and then it'll be The Nurse a few hours, The Carolinan a few hours after that, followed by The Music Man in the last slot tonight.

I've been reading that somewhat forgotten sitcom stars from the 70s have been getting back into the limelight...but not in the most positive of ways. Eddie (Carmine) Mekka of "Laverne & Shirley" and Joyce (Janet) DeWitt from "Three's Company" have been busted for DUI in the last couple of days. I'd say that Conrad Janis, Pam Dawber and Donna Pescow better think twice about that last drink.

Well, I've yet to hear from The Lens about where we're supposed to be meeting for lunch tomorrow afternoon. I've got that day cleared for he and his wife before I have my sole classes at the juku on Friday night.

Wednesday July 8, 9:12 p.m.

Quiet ending to the night. Just waiting for The Fashion Designer to show up in about 15 minutes. 001 had one of those rollicking classes; I knew things were going to be fun when she pointed at her tummy and said in all seriousness, "I had a headache". Loved to whomp her on that one.

Well, I am quite impressed with Kinokuniya. Not less than a week after I'd ordered that CD for Mr. White's textbook, I got a call from them stating that the discs have arrived. Far better than those 2 months waiting for the DVD at Maruzen. Don't think I'll have a chance to pick it up tomorrow due to the schedule. If I'm lucky, it may be Friday before I meet up with The Lens for lunch. Most likely, it'll be Monday morning.

Wednesday July 8, 4:11 p.m.

I may only have three lessons here at Speedy, plus that private one with The Admin, but it's still feeling like Hump Day since I still have those translations above my head like a Sword of Damocles. Well, I managed to overcome another hurdle by getting another batch off to the Cornerette. Strangely enough, I haven't heard from her for a couple of days; not sure if she's run off screaming like a banshee. I still have that rather large bundle that I've let slide since the others that have come since then had higher priority. In any case, this latest assignment has been the toughest I've ever had.

The family restaurant was really bustling when The Admin and I got there. I think the lunch crowd doesn't exactly head back to work right at 1 anymore. I brought over the will of Michael Jackson that I'd downloaded from CNN.com a few days ago for a conversation piece. The Admin had seen more of the funeral than I did, and just remarked on the spectacle of it all, which is the word that I would also use to describe The King of Pop's final farewell.

Had Miss Prissy earlier in the morning so I've just got 001 and The Fashion Designer later tonight. I had a small chat with Ray who's just come back from a week vacationing in Paris. She had a good time in The City of Lights although she didn't bother going out at night due to security issues. I got a tin of mints as a souvenir.

Wednesday July 8, 8:13 a.m.

Well, the funeral of the century came and went. I let this world event pass me by as I slumbered overnight (it happened at 2 a.m. JST). Ordinarily, I would've watched it but since I do have an early class today which meant an early departure from home, I'd decided that I wouldn't risk the embarrassment of collapsing in front of Miss Prissy just for the chance of watching Michael Jackson's casket.

I think people get the funerals they deserve. I don't remember the services that John Lennon or Elvis Presley got, but I do remember Princess Diana's from 12 years ago. It was grand and laden with celebs. Terry Fox also received a fine sendoff in a church with the Canadian flag. As for Michael Jackson, from what few highlights I'd seen and the stuff I'd read on CNN.com, his funeral was as spectacular and as telegenic as any of his concert extravaganzas. I don't think I'll have to worry about missing it; I'm almost positive that it'll get repeat airing and perhaps even a DVD deal is in the works. I'm not sure if that would be something that MJ would appreciate, but entertainment is a business.

I was also drawn to yesterday's tirade by Congressman Peter King about the media's lionization of Michael Jackson. I think it was more of a venting than anything else by the politician. Nothing's gonna change about the viewing of Jackson because of one pol's dislike of The King of Pop. However, I'd have to disagree with him about his statement that Jackson did nothing good, although I can't say that I'm a fervent fan. At the very least, Jackson entertained and perhaps inspired a lot of people to do things. In the last few years of his life, he may have shown some incredible lack of judgment but if he managed to keep people happy, then that's not a bad legacy at all.

Monday July 6, 8:45 p.m.

Those translations just keep dragging on and on. I've just said the heck with it and I'm gonna shut down the translating for tonight. I've already sent in my contribution for today anyways.

Got to see SIL for the first time in a few weeks. Of course, Michael Jackson was the hot topic on the menu today. We made a comparative study between him and her idol of Elvis Presley. It'll be another 3 weeks before I meet SIL again since she and her family are on Obon holiday (for certain folks here, the Obon holiday is celebrated in July, not in August).

Met up with The Full-Timer. She's still doing the rounds of interviews with her temp company. She's been getting rather exhausted from all of the speaking in English and stuff, but she is sounding more fluent.

The Spaniard, one of our other teachers here at Speedy's, contributed some suits to me and the bossman tonight. Not quite sure if I'll be able to fit into the trousers but the blazers are hopeful. In any case, they'll all need a good pressing.

With all of the Michael Jackson news and that crisis in Honduras, it's easy to overlook what's been happening in my backyard. And what is happening in my backyard is that it's looking more and more likely that the Prime Ministerial revolving door will be turning once more in the next month or so. After a slight blip of hope a few months ago with that small scandal in the Democratic Party of Japan, the Liberal Democratic Party is once again sinking. There was a gubernatorial election in Shizuoka last night with the LDP being ousted there which can't be good news for PM Aso. And there are the Tokyo councillor elections this coming Sunday which the LDP can't afford to lose.

Sunday July 5, 2:28 p.m.

Yep, another session at the I-Cafe...trying to get most of those translations done today. Watched Episode 7 of Ken Burns' documentary on "Jazz". It dealt with the transition from swing to be-bop; for some reason, the narrator never mentions the word in the whole 2 hours although much of it deals with Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. I thought it was interesting how be-bop was to swing jazz as rock was to regular pop standards in the 50s. Would like to get the whole series...but then, I got my premium schedule for NHI. I haven't looked at it yet but I know it's gonna hurt.

Well, off to the salt mines.

Saturday July 4, 12:55 p.m.

Spent another 3 hours on what is supposed to be my first full weekend in a month just hacking away at translations. I may be able to finish it all off tomorrow although the I-Cafe staff wonder if they ought to consider giving me mileage for all of the times I've been coming here recently.

The juku boss freaked out last night during The Restauranteur's session since some kinda virus may have jammed up her Outlook Express. She kept asking me the same questions and apologizing over and over again like a really bad deja vu scene. I remarked...kindly....that it is time to get a new OS. The current one is older than most long-lived dogs.

Some domestic American news has managed to penetrate the wall that is Michael Jackson. Sarah Palin has decided to call it quits from being governor of Alaska just a few years into her first term. Not sure what she's planning to do but the pundits are just calling her an idiot...which means that she may be onto something....or just on something.

The local music video channels have gone onto heavy Michael mode. MTV Japan has even re-broadcast the coverage during the night of his death. I always enjoyed his old videos from the early 80s but some of his later ones just got a bit too maudlin for me.

Friday July 3, 6:41 p.m.

Steady day. No classes at Speedy today. I had The Bass and The Bow plus I've got the Friday night juku pair. Note that I said "pair" and not a "trio". Yes, I think the boss may pull out tonight; when she said she may not be able to come for her half-hour, I gestured toward my stomach, thinking that she may have had another relapse from her operation. Instead, she jerked her head toward the hubby in the living room. Ah.Yup, he's gotta be fed.

Although The Bass is still on, The Bow may be pulling out altogether since she may have squared a full-time position according to an interview she had the other day. Ahhh...just as well. At least, I can keep things in the neighbourhood on alternating Fridays. Between The Bass and The Bow, I sped off toward Shinjuku, and hit Kinokuniya where I got the text for Mr. White's inaugural class next week. Of course, there was no accompanying CD so I ordered one. The lady said that it would take about 10 days so I'm holding them to that promise. At the same time, I also got "The Otaku Encyclopedia -- An Insider's Guide to the Subculture of Cool Japan". I'd read the review of it in "The Japan Times" the other day, and decided to pick up a copy. It was written by Patrick W. Galbraith, who has often been seen in Akihabara dressed up as one of the main characters from "Dragonball" who often gives his fellow foreigners a tour of the area. I've only read the first several pages so far...as it is an encyclopedia, there are the various expressions defined very fully as only a true otaku could. But through the first couple of interviews and some of his own insights, he's quite honest about the lot of the Japanese geeks. A few years ago, they were seemingly the toast of Tokyo in an Elephant Man sort of way due to the efforts of that movie, "Densha Otoko". However, Galbraith points out that otaku are still very much ridiculed and have as much social eptitude as a comatose patient. An interview with one anime director by the name of Yutaka Yamamoto was quite revealing; Yamamoto comes off as being a walking and talking paradox...he slags his fellow otaku for their rudeness while admitting that he's one himself with the seeming personality requirements, and nearly has a debate with himself on the concept of moe. Yup, frankly not a guy I want to socialize with.

The bizarro sight of the week was catching the cover of one of the big fancy magazines. The cover showed Bruce Willis with his new wife (!) I guess ol' Bruno had enough of seeing his ex gallivanting with Mr. Punk'd and decided to answer his midlife crisis by wedding with a model two decades his junior. No problems here, Mr. Willis. Robbing the cradle in this country is virtually a national institution. Anyways, the bizarre part was seeing Bullethead and Emma in some weird psychosexual poses while Bruce had red nail polish on his toenails. Glad I had my Burger King way ahead.

Went up to HMV. Yup, Michael Jackson was playing on the speakers. I was thinking of buying his best album but on seeing the list, it didn't seem complete enough. I already have "Thriller". I was looking for "Off The Wall" but couldn't find it, so I've decided to hold off. Instead, I just bought one of the Ken Burns' series on jazz at nearby Tower Records. Speaking of Jackson, I hear that the big memorial will now be held next Tuesday at the Staples Center in LA. So, instead of having perhaps the largest funeral in pop cultural history in a Neverland, far away from the city, the size of Chiyoda Ward, the powers-that-be will have the big sendoff in an arena that only holds 20,000. Doesn't make much sense but I can understand the neighbours balking at having the event literally next door; they probably remember all too well when Jackson had won that court case a decade ago. However, I can see a lot of problems happening downtown next week.

Ended up having dinner at The Restauranteur's. Damn fine Beef Stroganoff. Tons of cholesterol but comfort food nonetheless. And not exactly the cheapest item, but I figure if I had to choose between gnashing my teeth about which cheapo place to eat at or eating at a slightly pricey place with good food, friendliness and service, I would know my answer.

Thursday July 2, 5:06 p.m.

Well, you can add another celeb to the obituary list: Karl Malden, dead at 97. At least, he passed away peacefully in his sleep without any major horrible ending, unlike Jackson, Fawcett and McMahon. Of course, he's known for his roles in "Patton" and "On The Waterfront", but I associate him most with "The Streets of San Francisco" back in the late 70s, when he was partnered with a young Michael Douglas...and of course, his American Express commercials. The last time I saw him was on "The West Wing" when he played a priest and showed up in the Oval Office with President Bartlett. Malden always played those very reassuring, father-type roles.

I guess it made for a very appropriate coda for my last time at Maruzen today. After 2 months of having to wait for a DVD for Mr. Jyuppie because of goofs at both ends of the distribution scene, I went to pick it up after I finally got word and an apology that it had finally reached these shores. When I reached the counter, I gave the young kid behind it the slip I'd been carrying since before Golden Week. I didn't make any trouble, even when the kid started to sweat because he was seeming to have trouble finding the disc; I just hoped that it was there so that I could just get it and go. Luckily...for that moment, it was and he gave it to me. Then, the punchline. This DVD for my Oxford "Effective Presentations" book costs a whopping 18,000 yen! I waited a sixth of a year to pay nearly 2 man for a DVD that should star Sir Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson for the price I've just paid. Well, speaking of American Express, I had to pull out my rarely-used credit card since I didn't have enough cash on hand. I had kinda figured that I would be using the plastic to pay for my air ticket home; well, it got the warmup today. Goodbye, Maruzen.

Furthermore on the segue of ironic bad twists....all those frenetic Michael Jackson fans who have been amassing in front of Neverland, thinking that they were going to be taking part in history's largest public viewing of a dead celeb, got O Henry'ed when they found out that the ceremony wouldn't be taking place there after all. Apparently, the neighbours weren't too keen on having a mass of humanity the size of a small city showing up in their backyards to sing, moonwalk and mourn at the death of their hero. I think the security guy who had blabbed the rumour in the first place is probably going to be transferred to walk the beat in Watts during the graveyard shift.

Wednesday July 1, 7:52 p.m.

I've been grinding through the translations from The Cornerette, and she threw me some more stuff to tackle...due by the 5th. Take a number.

I listened to the latest Shena Ringo album...forgot what the title was...basically it's notable for the fact that J-Pop's scariest songstresss is apparently just wearing a pink silk sheet and a frown on the cover. Compared to her last album, which was more jazz-based and had me fully awake in bed, Ringo has gone back to her old raunchiness although she's definitely multi-genre. I think I picked up chanson, rock, jazz and funk at least.

Wednesday July 1, 11:02 a.m.

Well, early Happy Canada Day. I realize that it's still 10 p.m. Tuesday evening back in Toronto. No big plans here in The Big Sushi. Maybe I'll light a jar of maple syrup in tribute. Certainly would give the apartment a much needed nicer fragrance. However, the big BBQ at Shrek's this Saturday has been called off due to heat...mostly from his kids who are undergoing a fever of sorts.

It'll be a calm day, unusual for midweek, especially since this was Hump Day earlier this year. 001 isn't in today, The Diver is now gone, and The Fashion Designer won't be in until her usual 9:30 slot...that is, if she doesn't dotakyan again. I've got Grandma Enka for her monthly chitchat with me and then The Admin at the usual place; hopefully, we won't have any bothersome intrusions by low-level chinpira like last time.

Tuesday June 30, 7:38 p.m.

Well, it's been a banner day for both the juku boss and myself in terms of our students. The hyperactive girl was totally cool today whereas Suzanne was finally able to get out of her funk by getting out of her regular shifts at that place. She was back to her considerably sunny self. And it may be the last time I see her since she'll be taking the whole of July off and then considering her options from August onwards. Of course, next week, she'll be heading for The Big Apple for about a week, so most of our extended session today was gabbing about what to do and where to go. She is considering trying places ranging from Nobu in Manhattan and checking out the gospel scene in Harlem...during the daytime, of course.

Hope my luck stretches toward the Milds as well. If Mrs. Mild can actually string some accurate sentences together tonight, it'll be a great night.

Tuesday June 30, 4:35 p.m.

Well, well, well....after 2 months of waiting, that DVD I had ordered will finally come into the hands of Maruzen. I just got the notice from the somewhat chastened staff there after they had gotten my complaint. Supposedly there was a miss on the Oxford side of things but at least the staffer who responded to my letter had the good grace to not make that an excuse for the lousy aftercare. It's coming in on the 2nd so I'll go and grab it then since I've got a huge hole in the schedule on that day between Miss Sedona and the Music Man...would love to get his thoughts on Michael Jackson.

I guess it didn't take long. Since Presley's death in 1977, there have been all sorts of Elvis sightings over the decades, and I don't mean the Elvi in Las Vegas. Now that MJ has gone off to do his moonwalking in other dimensions, according to Jeanne Moos' little highlight at the end of "The Situation Room", the whole of New York may have gotten their first Michael sighting yesterday, thanks to some unusual cloud patterns over Manhattan. Apparently, they're called mammatus clouds since they look like udders; whatever they are, they looked just plain weird...like lumpy mushrooms hanging upside down. One formation may have taken on the shape of the lately departed King of Pop himself. Thriller, indeed.

Tuesday June 30, 4:15 p.m.

The juku boss is kinda feeling troubled since that hyperactive girl who had gone into conniptions last Friday has decided to continue her lessons at the juku. The boss isn't quite sure about how to handle her and she was actually looking forward to seeing her quit...if only for the boss' peace of mind. However, she's back. I just said to the boss that if she acts up one more time, then the boss can have her ousted.

Speaking of troubled children, apparently the media has been chatting aloud about that press conference by Joseph Jackson, the father of the deceased King of Pop. Apparently, at one point, Papa Joe had to convince the media that he was actually crying on the inside if not exactly showing his grief on the outside. Perhaps he had undergone the Vulcan custom of Kohlinar. Also, he apparently decided to do a bit of self-promotion on something which had the reporters scratching their heads. Don Lemon of CNN was trying to give the guy the benefit of a doubt....maybe he was still in shock. Well, as for me, I'm in no doubt. I think Joe is a bit of a sociopath. Always has been.

And speaking of other sociopaths...one did get a very public comeuppance last night JST. Bernie Madoff (love the name...speaks volumes of his actions). got the century-and-a-half from a hanging judge in New York for that grand Ponzi scheme. Unlike what the judge thought, I don't think even 150 years will deter con artists from plying their trade. Sociopaths live in their own reality. Deterrence doesn't mean much to them. The 150 years is just a salve for the victims.

Tuesday June 30, 2:01 p.m.

Had to re-wash most of my laundry from yesterday since it got drenched in that un-forecast rainstorm last night (at least, I didn't hear anything of it yesterday morning....those were a lot of sun icons I saw on the TV).

Man, that translation of all those ceramics articles are just killing me. I almost had a nervous breakdown getting through the one on Mino Ware. I gave the Beehive ladies a look at it this morning. They agree....even Mrs. Tee was squinting at the fine print, and she's an expert. Speaking of Tee, she was in one of her doldrums again for some reason. The other ladies took it in stride, though. Just one of those phases she heads into now and then.

The Michael Jackson hoopla has finally settled down. Now it's just the interminable wait for the toxicology reports to come out in a few weeks' time. I was going over some of the various footage when the breaking news came in last Friday morning JST on YouTube. Yup, it was big. Of course, the talking heads are now starting to rattle off on his legacy and on what made him tick. There was a special half-hour on him on BBC last weekend. The panelists were just going apoplectic on whether one could divide his bizarre personal life with his professional talented one.

Monday June 29, 11:59 a.m.

The screws are being tightened on me. I told The Cornerette about those translations are taking time and that they may not be totally done until early next week. She was blissfully ignorant of my crisis and just asked if she could get them by this morning. Ah, well...no. As it is, I've only been able to get one of the remaining half-dozen articles into her. I'd be lucky to get them in by Wednesday.

A bit of the unlucky day yesterday. The Coffeemaker pulled another no-show yesterday morning. I got the e-mail stating that she had come down with a touch of food poisoning. It was unfortunate that I had to put her on notice on such a bad occasion but I frankly don't want to end up twiddling my thumbs again so I just told her sweetly to make sure that she leave a message on my machine next time.

It's been 2 months since I ordered that DVD for Mr. Jyuppie's lessons from Maruzen. And yet, no DVD. I sent them a polite but firm letter complaining about their service.

Then, I had to make haste through steady rain after The Jyuppies' lessons to try to reach the Picadilly by 5 (almost impossible) to meet up with MB, The Sylph and Frodo to catch "Terminator: Salvation". Well, MB and Frodo had their heads in their hands which meant that they weren't too thrilled with it. Frodo especially wanted to burn McG in effigy. They are definitely sticklers for a coherent plotline. I was OK with it but even I was scratching my head over the fact that Skynet had John Connor right in its sights and within itself, and chose only to send one Arnie Terminator to take care of it. All I can say is that I wouldn't want to put Frodo and Megan Fox in a room together. In her usual profane way, she made it quite clear what she thought about critics of "Transformers 2". Still, I can say that I've actually caught two Anton Yelchin movies this year.

It was ironic that I'd had lunch at the Freshness Burger nearby the Jyuppies place. After the movie, MB took all of us to the JS Burger place across from Takashimaya Times Square. My cholesterol probably shot higher than the most excessive Michael Bay explosion last night. My regular burger at Freshness Burger was very juicy while the chili burger over at JS was pretty good as well.

Today, it'll be fairly slow. I've got the return of The Nurse after more than 6 months away. Then, it'll be The Full-Timer and Medicine Man tonight.

Saturday June 27, 1:33 p.m.

I've spent the past 5 hours just puttering away at translation. I'm not quite ready to call it a day yet since I have The Publicity Assistant in about half an hour. It's gotten quite a bit more full with staff since I'd last talked. Bay, La Fille and the bossman himself have all come in in the last hour to do a cleanup before this private cooking party concocted by Speedy and Mr. Influence gets under way a half hour after I finish with The PA. I've managed to get two articles done and sent off to The Cornernette. I did get some sort of missive from her but I've not bothered to open it up. I just want to get the stuff done.

Since there will be a party happening soon after I'm done, I think getting more translation work done is now a moot point. I'll be heading home and I'll continue all this tomorrow.

Saturday June 27 2009 AD (1 ADM), 8:22 a.m.

The "1 A.D.M" stands for "After The Death of Michael"...yeah, I know I know...I'm being rather curmudgeonly here. However, you and I both know that "The Onion" beat me to the punch.

As for the aftermath of the death of The King of Pop, when I got back home after my stint at the juku, CNN and BBC were back to normal broadcasting parameters (imagine that!), and now the journalists' classic questions of Who, What, Where, When, Why and How are back to the fore. Aside from the dedicated Michael Jackson community on Mixi, it would seem that the average Joe on the streets of Tokyo have expressed mild surprise but not much more than that. I haven't seen any sudden shrines being set up in Ginza or Shibuya like they have been in Hollywood. Probably because Tokyo is the city of the young with Shibuya being the Mecca, and Michael Jackson to the current generation is probably seen more as Wacko Jacko than as The King. However, everyone that I did meet yesterday had seen the coverage.

That former student from way back in my JET days has started further dialogue with me. Apparently to her, I was the impetus for her to start her life traveling the US and then eventually find her hubby and kid. Well, I don't think I can really handle all that much responsibility so I'll just quietly demur.

Yep, I'm here way early today so that I can try to get those translations done before my lone class with The Publicity Assistant gets underway mid-afternoon.

Friday June 26, 8:29 p.m.

Had a bit of an existential storm today which may have finally abated. At Speedy's, I received a letter from The Cornerette in a tone which may have hinted at the slightly panicked about where my articles were. I had warned her the night before that it would take a few days to get them translated due to the difficulty of the material and the fact that I had a main job. I answered her query as quickly as possible so that she wouldn't have a meltdown...at least, not from waiting. I always had the suspicion that she was a bit more high-strung than The Corner. I just told her that I was sorry I couldn't get the articles done fast enough but that I would try my best to get them over to her. And then I started thinking about putting in some extra hours at the I-Cafe again and going in early to Speedy's tomorrow to get them done. And then I started getting rather depressed about things....and the thought that The Cornerette might have me dumped as Royal Translator.

And then I arrived at the juku tonight at about 6. When I came into the genkan, I overheard a rather serious discussion amongst the boss with that young hyperkinetic girl she's been teaching on Tuesday nights and her grandmother. It sounded rather stormy so I decided to quietly leave and just hang out in the nearby Tsutaya CD/bookstore for an hour or so. When I came back, I saw a van parked outside so I knew that the kid's mother had joined the fray. Well, I wasn't going to just hang back again, so I took my chances and went on in. This time, the boss could hear me do so, and the family was about to take off. Things had apparently cooled off considerably compared to an hour before. The boss told me that the little girl had a meltdown of sorts (seems to be catching these days) about not wanting to take an exam for a certain junior high school that her mother had demanded that she go for and was afraid to tell her. The tantrum made the boss call for familial support. Basically, the boss told the girl that it would ultimately be up to her to decide what she would want to do in the future...whether or not she wanted to come back to the juku.

It wasn't quite an epiphany, but after hearing that report, I decided that it wasn't worth getting all worked up about not having those translations on time. I've already proven myself to The Corner and he knows how I work. It might take time but I get the job done. The Cornerette should have known this from The Corner. My mistake was that I had decided to take on the job in the first place, but then I didn't know that it would be so hard, although the education in Japanese ceramics has been fun...really. I'll do the best I can...I will go in early tomorrow and plow through as much as I can before The Publicity Assistant's lesson some hours later, and if she feels that that isn't good enough for her, she can fire me. At my rates, she couldn't believe me that I was actually a professional translator.

I saw The New Yorker for the first time since her return from Hawaii last week. She enjoyed it immensely and so she's now hoping to get a chance out there, instead of New York.

I also found out from the juku boss that apparently Suzanne took my advice really to heart. She's skipping out from class altogether for the next month or so...and perhaps permanently since apparently she can no longer take working at the supermarket. I told the boss all about the tense atmosphere there and she was able to put two and two together. Well, my Tuesdays are looking especially sparse now.

Friday June 26, 10:17 a.m.

The Michael Jackson Mixi community hasn't been idle on the news of the death of its idol. There have been a lot of one-line comments expressing shock and disbelief. Saw some person-on-the-street interviews by Japanese reporters in the US. Comments have ranged from tearful to frankly "why-are-you-bothering-me-about-this-freak". Pretty much par for the course.

Friday June 26, 9:11 a.m.

"The day the music died...."

It's that famous line in "American Pie" which referred to the passing of Buddy Holly in 1959 in a plane crash. In that same year, a teen group called The Quarrymen was playing their brand of skiffle only to metamorphosize into The Beatles a few years later. I hadn't been born then but I was definitely on this Earth in late 1980 when John Lennon of The Fab Four was gunned down by a psychopath in front of the Dakota apartments and his wife. That line was probably used in all of the newspapers and other media outlets on that day as part of their tribute. In that year, Michael Jackson was getting his awards for "Off The Wall"; a few years later, he would hit legendary status with "Thriller".

And now, the line is probably being used over and over on CNN, BBC and elsewhere today and maybe for the next week.

I'd woken up this morning for another early departure to Speedy's. I turned on BBC to do a quick check of the headlines. I was expecting another media report on the tete-a-tete between the world and Iran. I did get that, but then came some breaking news that Michael Jackson had been whisked away to hospital in Los Angeles for what was being described as heart problems. A couple of hours later, I come to Speedy's, turn on the computer, and find out that The King of Pop has died.

The CNN and BBC sites had his face and headlines right at the top; I tried to check out his fansites but they were impossible to access for unsurprising reasons. I turned on the TV here and almost all of the Japanese wide shows had changed their schedule (talking about the latest dismembering incident or the latest hot restaurant has its limits) to cover his death. I saw a huge crowd in front of the hospital where he'd been taken. I was reminded of that morning in November 1980 when I'd woken up and my mother told me about John Lennon's passing while his songs were playing on the radio. For that matter, I was reminded of the day in August 1977 when Elvis Presley had passed on and how the masses formed in front of Graceland.

To be honest, although it was initially shocking to hear of his death (my memory still reveals him as that hurricane who whirled about with abandon in the "Thriller" video and as the guy who had brought down the Apollo Theatre some years before with his introduction of the moonwalk to the masses), I wasn't surprised. The court appearances, his facial warpage, his loss of Neverland, the downturn in his career, the media switcheroo campaign to show him not as The King of Pop but more as the Court Jester would've killed anyone earlier. And frankly, I couldn't see this guy living all that much longer; I can't imagine how he would've looked at the age of 70 with that face.

It's been 3 days of the deaths of 3 icons. I mentioned about Ed McMahon yesterday, and how he and Johnny Carson kept folks happily awake way past their bedtime for 30 years. Then came yesterday's news that Farrah Fawcett, the face and leonine hair that adorned teen bedroom walls and T-shirts in the late 70s for being the first Charlie's Angel, died at 62 from cancer. Larry King probably had some big show on her tonight. But for the world, Michael Jackson is the big one. The one who'll launch a Mississippi-sized river of tears, a sun's worth of candlelight vigils and multiple playings of his albums for the next several days. Of course, I'm sure the vicious recriminations will begin against the prosecution team and the media in due course. But for now, the theme of the day will be tears and shock.

But the tragic thing that links all three of these now late celebs is their circumstances. From what I've read on Ed McMahon, he had been suffering some horrible financial dire straits along with the bone cancer that finally claimed him. As for Farrah Fawcett, a lot of folks had been seeing her as having gone over the deep end mentally starting with that weirdo appearance on Letterman. And of course, all of the rigamarole concerning Jackson.

But for the current generation and the last, Michael Jackson will be the one today for whom the quote "The day the music died..." will be on as heavy a rotation as one of his old songs.

Thursday June 25, 7:17 p.m.

Well, my day is about to end soon. Finished with The Carolinan 20 minutes ago; she and The New Yorker had a good time in Hawaii as usual. The school got a omiyage in the form of the usual Macadamia Chocolates.

Like it when I can pull off what I set out to do. Managed to hit Kinokuniya in Shinjuku and pick up that text for the juku boss; yes, she wants to get back to learning from me again although I have my doubts whether she's the type that will continue for long. And I even managed to get into Krispy Kreme #1 and pick up a dozen for the gang here at Speedys. Both Ray and La Fille hadn't had the cholesterol bombs in some years so were quite grateful at reacquainting themselves.

Thursday June 25, 11:08 a.m.

Last night, as I was just about ready to go home, I came across a sight that would've chilled La Fille, AK and Bay to the bone. Saw 3-4 cockroaches of mini-Toyota size skittering around the kitchen. Speedy and I decided to see how many of them we could catch, but at our advanced age, we were only able to maim one and then throw him/her out the window...kinda like what's happening in Iran. Of course, since I don't have any fear of gokiburi, I had no qualms of picking up the critter by hand and then giving him the heave-ho. Well, this morning, I brought in 3 Roach Motels and set them up. I'm pretty sure within 24 hours, we'll have some vacancies filled.

It'll be a fairly slow day. Just Grandma FON and Miss Sedona, and then The Carolinan a few hours later. Miss Temporary and The Music Man have canned their lessons, so I may find myself heading home quite a bit early tonight. Not too much time to do the translations but I hope to have at least a few hours. I have to head into Takashimaya Times Square in the interim to get a text for the juku boss. If I'm very lucky, I may just be able to grab some Krispy Kreme for the gang back here....but not the roaches.

Gotta give my tribute to the late Ed McMahon since I used to be an avid Tonight Show watcher during the Johnny Carson heyday. Always loved his gravelly, barely-c0ntained laugh, especially when Johnny was bombing with a joke. Ed, you were right, sir!

Wednesday June 24, 10:18 p.m.

Well, this has been one for the record books. Not only have my two students for tomorrow cancelled out, but in one fell swoop, The Fashion Designer cancelled for tonight. And the kicker is that tonight ended up being The Diver's final lesson. I'd been wondering how she was going to pass the test I had for her considering that she couldn't even construct a decent question after one year of coming here, and she solved the problem by pulling out. Of course, the bossman was fairly panicky about the reasoning, but as it turned out, she's leaving for a good reason (that is, besides the fact that she was frankly spinning her wheels here)...she found a job at a hospital that starts from next Wednesday. I wished her well...she's a nice lady but I think it's time for her to get back into the swing of things.

But that was plenty weird with all of these cancellations. I would almost think that someone up there seeing that I had all of these translations was giving me a hand with some extra time, although I've called it a night for translating tonight. However, I still have to head on out to Shinjuku tomorrow afternoon after Miss Sedona's lesson to pick up a textbook for the juku boss. And then I have The Carolinan, post-Hawaii.

Ah, as for that latest warped picture...that is Le Petit Troquette, a French restaurant just on the outskirts of gyaru-and-tout-boy infested Shibuya. Last Saturday, the entire crew of Speedy's went out there on La Fille's recommendation for a bit of a dinner. The interior definitely had its Gallic charm. I had the course for about 2,800 yen...reasonable as far as French cuisine goes in this burg. Got my terrine, got my stewed beef in wine sauce.

Well, it's the time where I would've wrapped up with The Fashion Designer. However, I had a good time just decompressing from all of that translation work tonight over the hour. But now, I'll just head on home.

Tuesday June 23, 9:05 p.m.

Man, the drama keeps on going. Well, I exaggerate a bit with The Milds. Mr. Mild was feeling a bit out of sorts since his e-mail to me didn't get through for some reason. I checked my Gmail to make sure that it hadn't been neglected, and sure enough, there was no such message from him. I decided to send him one of my own in good faith. Mrs. Mild wasn't laden down with a migraine but she was still pretty weak grammatically.

Looks like that model lesson student from last week is a lock. He'll be starting from July for a 45-minute (!) session. Apparently, according to his wife, he can't really deal with an hour. So, Mr. White has entered the juku....which means it's time to get him a textbook as well plus CD. This time, I'm doing business with Kinokuniya. I'm still waiting for Maruzen to get me that last DVD for Mr. Jyuppie and it's approaching 2 months. Not sure what is up with that store. I don't think even places in the States are that slovenly.

Anyways, I'm heading home to decompress before hitting bed.

Tuesday June 23, 7:46 p.m.

Well, found out why Suzanne has been so down in the dumps in the last couple of weeks. Looks like that stalker co-worker has been hassling her again. Although I think it's more a case of mutual dislike now. But from what she told me, it's part of a rather larger, more disturbing pattern in her workplace involving racism. I think what's eating her more is that it all started from an attempt to help him. Those proverbs come to mind: "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions" and "No good deed goes unpunished". Far from happy witticisms but all too true. It was definitely me as counselor today. She even asked me if I knew any psychologist. I know rich folk, coffee enthusiasts, singers and doctors but no mental health professionals. I don't think she needs one quite yet but I did tell her that if she allows herself to continue on in this way, she will need one.

The juku boss is entertaining some mothers about their kids' class downstairs.

Since I don't have The Admin tomorrow, I'm pretty much free and clear until the Wednesday night lineup. I may actually pick up a dozen of those Krispy Kreme donuts in Shinjuku if my theory on the relatively sweet spot hour of 12-1 holds out.

Tuesday June 23, 4:05 p.m.



I remember a movie from a couple of years ago called "A History of Violence", directed by David Cronenberg (director of all those 70s horror movies and "The Fly"...I met him once; nice guy, not as tall as I'd thought he'd be) and starring that actor who had played Aragorn in "Lord of The Rings". It's about a mild-mannered cafe owner whose very sordid and heretofore hidden past comes racing toward him at warp speed to haunt him. Watched it with MB in one of the tiny artsy theatres just south of Ginza; good, violent and underrated movie.



Then, there are other similar movies and TV episodes ranging from "Casablanca" and that Classic Trek episode called "Obsession" and that TNG ep called "The Pegasus". All show one of the main characters getting hit with a past that one would rather forget.



Well, I've just had a similar moment. And it came out in TV-friendly cliffhanger fashion. I was just wrapping another 3-hour cycle at the I-Cafe. Got one more article translated, watched the usual YouTube shenanigans, and checked what was up at Mixi. I decided to check Gmail one more time before signing off. I got a message there that a new person had sent me a message onto Facebook. Gmail gave me the full account of the message, and so I found out that the messagemaker is an old student, in fact one of my very first ones in my career, during my days as a JET teacher in the far-flung mountains of Gunma Prefecture 20 years ago. She has a first name that I came across a lot amongst the students there, but her last name is firmly Western, so obviously she tied the knot with someone distinctly un-Japanese. Facebook may have sprouted roots in Japan recently but it's still firmly American so I gather that she may not be living in this country. When I logged on there, I checked her account. Restricted access...fine, her picture showed presumably herself with two other ladies. I couldn't really recognize who she was since she was obviously no longer wearing the junior high school uniform...at least, as long as she's not working in that industry. In any case, I sent out a rather neutral sounding reply confirming her question that, yep, that was who I was.



Now, why do I sound so glum about this? Well, I'm not exactly proud of my time there in my very first post-university job. One of my old colleagues in the programme who was about a good decade older than me talked of the Arrogant 20s when he referred to the younger folks in JET. I guess to him I wasn't nearly as bad, but to me I would have to disagree. One of the big criticisms I have about the Japan Exchange and Teaching programme is that it takes (or took) these university grads with degrees that often didn't have anything to do with teaching and souls that were still in adolescence, shipped them over en masse to The Land of The Rising Yen every August, and then unleashed them into the public education system with tons of money, a car and even a free house to boot. Talk about introducing nitro with glycerin. I wasn't quite as bad as some of them, but I still look upon my time there with little pride. All teachers start out as bad teachers...that's a fact, and that's just the folks who did come out of teaching school. I was basically a walking "Airplane" movie...throw out the stuff and see what sticks to the wall. Well, I had my successes but a lot of screwups as well, not just professionally but personally. All that money, privilege with the typical cocksure attitude of a typical guy in his twenties didn't make for a great mix. And by the end of my tenure there, I think both me and my town were quite happy to see the backside of each other. I made one more return to that town a few years later....the start of my current tenure here 15 years ago...a few of the former students made it fairly clear that I wasn't exactly welcome, although it was a student (not the student who sent me today's message) who had invited me to her seijinshiki (adulthood day ceremony) in January 1995. Since then, I've had no contact. And so here we are. Not sure what to make of the situation. Today's message read quite well; obviously, she'd had much better education since junior high school. Well, I guess I'll just do the Facebook equivalent of

Tuesday June 23, 12:15 p.m.

Spring may have come in with a whimper, but Summer has certainly come in with all guns blazing. It's going up to 32 degrees C today. Just about time to turn on the AC but I'm gonna see if I can hold off for at least one more week...just until Canada Day comes around.

Medicine Man got a nearly perfect score on the test last night. And he seemed to be more forthcoming in his answers in class. We were doing the chapter on wealth...considering his profession, I think we were well within his income bracket. Speaking about my more medically-inclined students, The Nurse is coming back next Monday after well more than 6 months away. Hope she's doing OK. Now, if The Yogist makes it back, it'll truly be ol' Home Week.

The Entrepreneur and his wife are making their big move into a house out in Mississauga next week. Ah...must be nice to have the funds to do that sorta thing.

I was wrapping up things in the main lounge after Medicine Man's class when I heard a shriek from one of our staffers from the kitchen. Another roach decided to make an unwelcome appearance. Pretty big critter, too, as they all are in this country...could be the water. Anyways, since I have no fear of roaches, I just nonchalantly picked it up in my hands and let it go out the window. It'll be back, probably.

The Admin has cancelled her class tomorrow which means that my schedule is getting even lighter. So, it'll be another night-class-only session for midweek. Can't complain since I still have another batch of translation assignments from The Cornerette.

Monday June 22, 9:00 p.m.

Good golly. We are officially in summer now. Outside of the air conditioned zone in Speedy's, it feels like someone has been perpetually spraying warm mist into the air. Not quite ready to throw on the AC quite yet but I bet within a week or so, I'll be crazed enough to throw away some yen for it.

Mr. TOEIC came in tonight...smelling rather rank as he usually does after a day on the job. He spoke a bit on the Orquesta De La Luz CD I'd lent him last week. He said it was pretty interesting although he didn't mention about the Keisuke Kuwata-penned final song.

Just have Medicine Man. I have to check his test. And hopefully, he's passed with flying colours.

Monday June 22, 6:32 p.m.

Well, just one of those things, I guess. The Full-Timer never made it to the station though I waited til 6:15. She called up the school and then I got an e-mail from her saying that there had been a schedule change in her interview which meant that she was still at another subway station when I'd already got back here. No big problems, though. She's already earned her trust from me.

I got some emergency translations into The Cornerette just now so I hope that she will give me a bit of leeway with those two remaining articles from last week. However, I have a third batch in my e-mail right now.

Monday June 22, 2:39 p.m.

Humid as all hell out there. Just a prototypically moist day in Rainy Season. However, it looks like my week won't be too busy although I've spent a fairly hectic 3 hours at the I-Cafe once again trying to get those never-ending translations done for The Cornerette. I've only got three tonight: The Full-Timer, Mr. TOEIC and The Medicine Man. And I've also got a very late start for tomorrow as well with just the juku classes.

Saturday June 20, 1:47 p.m.

I'm halfway through the lessons. I had the guys earlier with Mr. TOEIC and The Intellectual. Mr. TOEIC and I didn't make much headway into the text since we got into our occasional sidetracking. This time, it was hats since he was sporting one when he came in. Looks like he's been into Trilbys lately. As for The Intellectual, he has the constitution of Mr. Freeze. Even earlier in the winter, he always came in profusely sweating. I can only imagine the hell he goes through during times like these. I turned on the air conditioner extra strong for him.

Bay had quite a thrill the other day at her other job working at a museum. Apparently, former PM Koizumi...the charismatic Lionhead himself...strode in for a look-see at the exhibits. She assured me that he didn't get into any Elvis renditions.

Saturday June 20, 9:16 a.m.

My shoulders are feeling especially granitic today. Don't know why...maybe age is sending me a message. The juku boss noticed my groaning as I tried out that yoga move that The Yogist had taught me last year. She took a few pokes at my back and proclaimed that she found a new geological formation. Well, another surprise came in the form of The Ace who actually didn't come. Just about 10 minutes passed into his lesson time, and he's the one who usually shows up 10 minutes ahead of time. Well, with only a half-hour lesson, that's a mighty large chunk of change that he's given up. Then at the 15-minute mark, the call came in to say that he was just leaving work at that moment.

I've got four today...Mr. TOEIC, The Intellectual, The Publicity Assistant (it's been almost 2 months for her since she'd come in last time) and The Smile. Then, it's a French dinner for us here at Speedy's...La Fille came up with this idea since she's the local expert on all things Gallic. We're supposed to be going to this place in Shibuya after work. So, I had Italian last night and it's French today. It's gonna be a high-cholesterol weekend.

Strangely enough, The Bow and The Bass were talking about mortality yesterday, and this morning the news came in that the world's oldest man finally bought that long-awaited farm...of course, he's Japanese. For a 113-year-old, he looked pretty good...no more than 105, I'd say.

Friday June 19, 7:24 p.m.

The sun was back which means so was the heat. Definitely needed the GATSBY wipes today. The nights are still cool (sounds ominously like an Air Supply lyric).

It looks like my alternating Fridays will have both The Bow and The Bass. Strangely enough, though the two have never met and several kilometres separate them in terms of teaching venue, we ended up getting into the talk about whether they would be willing to live to 100. The Bass said what most people would say in that as long as he was fairly lucid and walking about, he wouldn't mind. As for The Bow, she came up with a rather interesting answer; she said that she would probably like to die within 20 years. I guess living with one's parents that long would do that to one. If I had still been doing that, I wouldn't haven't been here....in every sense of the word.

Between The Bass and The Bow, I stopped off to get the final phase of my passport renewal done. And that was to drop off at Ichikawa City Hall and get my gaijin card updated with the new info concerning the new passport. The young lad who took care of me didn't retch when he saw my passport picture....rather sporting of him. Now, that the passport is now officially in service, I'll have to get that Air Canada ticket.

A better part of an hour later after that interminable ride on the Sobu Line, I did my regular visit to Takashimaya Times Square. It was definitely a typically June day in The Big Sushi...sunny, plenty of strategically placed green trees, and a thin film of smaze throughout the atmosphere Didn't see anything worth buying at Kinokuniya so just went over to HMV. I was a bit interested in the latest Shena Ringo single...the one with her provocatively looking rather lacking in clothing and showing her back scar from a childhood operation. However, it wasn't the song that I'd seen via her latest video clip on MTV Japan last night...I guess she may be in her mid-Madonna or mid-Cyndi Lauper phase...y'know, do a video without any clothes (maybe I should also mention Alanis Morrissette)...she seemed to have been just wearing a silk sheet for the entirety of the video and making some rather suggestive moves with an electric guitar plug-in cord (you just have to see it). In any case, I'm pretty certain she'll be going completely starkers one of these days. I held off on the purchase since there is a full album coming out next week.

Along with the topic of mortality, The Bow and I also spoke on prodigies, since instead of joining The Sisters of State and me for burgers a couple of weeks ago, she went to see a virtuoso violinist perform. Apparently, the violinist had been one of those child geniuses. Also, there was that news of that homegrown 20-year-old blind pianist recently who had gotten one of those huge world prizes. When I mentioned that tried-&-true proverb about that fine line between genius and madness, the name Yayoi Kusama came up. She is this artist who's had this reputation for using nothing but polka dots in her works. She's also probably a schizophrenic and currently lives in an asylum. The Bow had gone to an exhibition at a cafe in Roppongi Hills a few years ago. I'd also heard about this exhibition. The cafe chinaware and even the dessert had the signature Kusama polka dots imbued in them. Also, she told me that there had been a song writte and sung by the artist herself on heavy rotation within the cafe. The song was on suicide and apparently the lyrics were so appalling that the staff begged to just play it once per hour...lest the song became self-prophesing. Another local on the fine line that came up in conversation was Fujiko Hemming, a famed classical pianist. Apparently, her choice of clothing comes from a century ago and probably hasn't been washed in that time frame.

Had my usual dinner at The Restauranteur's place again. I went for the Chicken Saute. The place was slightly more bustling with one middle-aged lady nearby, and a mother with her two children in front of me. That's about as busy as I'd ever seen it there.

"Terminator: Salvation" is coming our way from tomorrow. The crusty reviewer in METROPOLIS gave it a firm thumbs-down, calling it boring. Meanwhile, the folks in EMPIRE Magazine gave it a very big thumbs-up. So, anything goes really.

Thursday June 18, 11:14 a.m.

The student dropout rate continues...at least, where my schedule is concerned. Now, Miss Honolulu has cancelled today....which means I'll be done by 1:45. At this rate, I may even enjoy an aperatif before the sun goes down. Nah, I exaggerate...still have to get on the second batch of translations. And I have to get some exercises done for The Restauranteur for tomorrow night.

Wednesday June 16, 7:55 p.m.

Ugh! What a night last night. Stepped out of the juku to head back home...ended up soaked to the bone within 2 minutes, thanks to that deluge. Some of my texts were partial victims. Luckily, things are a lot drier today.

I met The Admin for the first time in over 2 weeks. Both of us have been busy. We had a great time chatting about music once more. However, the nice fuzzy atmosphere in the family restaurant was somewhat shattered while The Admin was paying the bill when what looked like another yakuza-esque thug was in the lobby screaming into the phone. If there was one thing that I would've loved to have seen exterminated during The Occupation, it would be these monsters.

I got those last two articles done for The Cornerette. Most of my afternoon was devoted to getting all those kanji changed into English characters. I was so lucky that Mr. Mild provided the furigana; otherwise, my work would've gone far into the next day. As it is, I sent the completed translations about 30 minutes ago. The Cornernette threw me another batch, but it looks like these ones are far smaller than the behemoths that I got earlier this week.

And it looks like I'll be getting a lot of time to get them done in. Both The Cracker and The Music Man, my Thursday evening students both cancelled today. Which means I'll be done by mid-afternoon. If I get those translations done, I may actually enjoy an early Thursday night off.

The Diver should be headed into the door any minute now. And then it'll be The Fashion Designer to wrap up. Both have got tests coming up, but as usual, I'll always be worried about The Diver.

Tuesday June 16, 9:21 p.m.

Well, the Rainy Season has truly made its presence felt in The Big Sushi. Right now as I type, it's just pouring just about every cat that's not Toonces along with every dog out there. I'm trying to delay my departure for home until I get a lull in the maelstrom; with my luck, that probably won't happen. Yesterday was pretty bad, too, but tonight is taking the cake with a lot of thunder and lightning.

The Milds came in with Mr. Mild having a lot of legwork for me with that translation on Japanese ceramics from The Cornerette. He also informed me that there were some vital errors in kanji in the original which (sigh) explained why I spent several minutes racking my brains on the weekend about them. He was even kind enough to throw in pictures and furigana, which basically cuts my racking time in half.

About that new guy....The Man From Glad....he's prematurely gray, as I have mentioned. The juku boss gave me some further insight about him. Apparently, he was a real go-getter in his company; certainly, I saw some of that tonight in his model lesson. But he burned himself out which would explain his hair...the man's younger than me!

Tomorrow (weather permitting) should be a strangely quiet day for me, compared to the Hump Days that I'd had recently. Not only will I not need to get in early, but I only have three lessons tomorrow: just the morning kaffeeklatsch with The Admin and then two-thirds of the usual Wednesday night crew since 001 is now showing up. Should have lots of time to get that last batch of translation work done.

Tuesday June 16, 7:39 p.m.

Well, Suzanne was atypically irritable. Not that she took it out on me or anything but she seemed to be ill at ease. Not sure if it was that stalker co-worker of hers or some consternation about her upcoming trip to New York. However, I did say that I would concoct some stuff to help her prepare.

As for that model lesson student, he's a pretty gregarious fellow...prematurely gray for some reason; he did say that he's had to take time off work due to some sort of illness. However, he seems promising but said that he won't start til July, so the jury's still out whether he will truly become a regular.

Tuesday June 16, 4:22 p.m.

Good news on Toonces the Juku Cat. He's back at home, safe and sound. The boss told me that the poor puss had gotten himself trapped in an abandoned house not 50 m away from here on Friday night along with a black Persian. The boss was lucky that her neighbour had heard Toonces' plaintive wails and called her up. It was then just a matter of heading over there and plucking him out.

I got that model lesson in about 40. Just a half hour, though, so not all that much we can do. I made copies of the 1st chapters of a few texts, but I think I'll do my old faithful of Adverbs of Frequency.

Happily, my cable company has finally been able to solve that automatic bank transfer problem with my monthly bills.

Tuesday June 16, 12:39 p.m.

Incredible though it may seem, we're already halfway through the 6th month. Incredible thought it may seem, I survived a 20-hour day yesterday. Yup, woke up at the eye-blearing hour of 4 in the morning so that I could have breakfast and head on out to Immigration in the boonies of Shinagawa to get my visa and re-entry permit transferred into my new passport. It was the usual snake-like line of foreign residents in front of the doors of the massive centre (I think if the government ever allows Hollywood to film there, the Tokyo Regional Immigration Centre can easily pass for the Japanese equivalent of the Pentagon). At 8:30, the line quickly turned into a gigantic scrum up the escalator. Luckily for me, my task didn't necessitate speed. All I had to was fill out a Transfer of Information form and then line up initially at Station A. And then 15 minutes later, the transfer took place. I was out of there by 9:18 a.m.

One of the reasons that I can tolerate the early-morning trek to Immi is that afterwards I can have some sort of meal in the restaurant area of JR Shinagawa. As expected, Nathan's the hot dog chain was officially dead and buried, in terms of its life in Tokyo. Now there was a New York's Subs. Took a look at the menu...didn't seem like the stuff that I would have for breakfast so I ended up having a buffet brunch at the larger restaurant...the one that usually becomes an oyster bar in the evening. The brunch there cost me just 880 yen; it wasn't a particularly rich selection: no greasy sausages, no pancakes or Belgian waffles. However, it did have the requisite toast, corn soup, and various other carbs. I had a Japanese-style pasta with shirasu...the tiny white fish....it was slightly disconcerting eating my noodles while several dozen pairs of eyes were looking up at me, but I got over the guilt trip pretty quickly.

Took the Yamanote Line up to Yurakucho and walked around Ginza for a while. Picked up a Father's Day card at Ito-ya the stationery shop and mailed it out a few minutes later from the adjoining post office. Often on the main corner of 4-chome, there is a TBS film crew getting some man-on-the-street interviews done; this time, there was a bit more of a celeb element in the form of bilingual TV personality Lisa Stegmeyer posing the questions. She was able to wrangle a trio of well-heeled middle-aged ladies into talking into the microphone. Before I hit the Yamanote again, I took a look downstairs in the basement of Itocia. Krispy Kreme #2 was doing business...not at the huge lineups that it had to handle last year but still it was too long a line for me to wait. I'd been thinking of perhaps grabbing a dozen for the gang at Speedy's.

SIL was fine. We spoke on the usual news of the day including the sudden resignation of the Internal Affairs Minister, Kunio Hatoyama. Not sure if he was trying to emulate the ministers in Gordon Brown's beleaguered Cabinet, and not sure if his dropping out will start a chain reaction. I doubt it, but PM Aso must not be in a good way.

Hit back to Speedys. Had The Full-Timer; she's in the middle of meeting up with a temp agency. Then, I had Mr. TOEIC for a night time class. I lent him my CD of the legendary Japanese salsa band, Orquesta de la Luz, since he had shown some interest in the genre. Finally, the Medicine Man came to wrap things up. Man, still like molasses when he answers.

Over the weekend, I contributed 6 hours of Internet time to help get those translations done for The Cornerette. I finally got a draft done last night at the very end of my shift at Speedy's. It's not very pretty but at least I got it in the day before it was due. May have to do some tweaking here and there. During that time, I met up with MB for what was supposed to be another DVD night but it actually ended up being a nice dinner with him and the missus at a great Italian restaurant near their place. Then, I just played some computer games with him on his PS3. I've been out of the PS loop for over a decade, but I had to admit that it was fun playing "Watchmen", "Lord of the Rings" and the latest "Star Wars" game.

Found out through Mixi that my old student, The Ballerina, was having some problems. I couldn't quite understand what she'd written in her diary so I sent her a private message asking what was up. Apparently, it's some labour problem at her workplace; I know all about those things too well.

This morning, my session with The Beehive was particularly lively since I showed them what I was translating for The Cornerette. Ceramics is just up their alley so they had a ball discovering how to say all that jargon in English.

Got my model lesson student at the juku tonight, just before Suzanne comes in. Have to lug in all the books. I hope the juku cat did return home.

The Bass told me about yet another student who wants my services. Well, after the protracted effort with The Action Freak, I'm gonna have to decline this time. Unless he's got time during the daytime, he's out of luck, and I believe The Bass said that the lad had just started work at his company.