Monday September 7, 5:30 p.m.

And even before all the MB weekend, I had found myself with a rather empty Friday since The Bass decided to cancel his class on the 4th. So I decided to take a recce and did a couple of walks in The Big Sushi hours before my stint at the juku. I started out in Shibuya since I hadn't been there in quite a while (my stints with The Class Act all seem like a faded memory now). Just started clicking away at the camera like a regular tourist before I walked up Route 246 Aoyama Dori towards Aoyama and Omotesando. Came across some funky architecture such as the Ami Hall in the left picture. Continued walking up 246 until I made it to Gaienmae. Then I hit the subway and took it up to Ginza.

After checking out Yamano Music as usual, I just walked it up all the way to the Imperial Palace. That's Nijubashi you see up on the right...Nijubashi is translated as "double bridge" since the real thing clearly reflects its image in the moat water. Of course, the usual tourist groups were there walking around the area since they couldn't go inside the compound itself.

Despite my large amount of faux-sightseeing, I did purchase some stuff. At Tower Records, I picked another couple of discs from Ken Burns' "Jazz" epic documentary, along with Michael Jackson's "Off The Wall" album. Have yet to hear the whole disc though I did listen to "Rock With You". I also picked up a J-Pop album from Mariya Takeuchi from her early years: "Miss M". I can safely say that noone could ever mistake that album with any by The Divine Miss M, Bette Midler. I'd been getting the latter releases by Takeuchi from the 90s onwards which has shown her to be a serene middle-aged beauty just lounging about. "Miss M" was released in 1980, when she was all of 25 years of age and perhaps just before marrying her equally famous husband, Tatsuro Yamashita. Young Mariya looked like a prettier and classier type of pop aidoru back then...all twinkling eyes, teeth and bangs with that look of "Aw gosh...I really am in Hollywood!" expression, all wrapped up in a suit that a member of a barbershop quartet would just adore.

The early 80s, as far as Japanese New Music was concerned, was practically synonymous with American AOR. It seemed as if a lot of the Japanese singers at that time like Takeuchi, Hiromi Iwasaki, Anri and Naoko Kawai were just begging to be produced by the likes of David Foster who had been behind a lot of the hits for AOR/R&B legends like James Ingram and Bobby Caldwell. "Miss M" was Mariya's contribution to binational AOR diplomacy. Half of the songs were done in LA with the aforementioned Foster and a lot of the familiar names one would see in American AOR album liner notes. What got me to buy the album was the first track, "The Sweetest Music", which I'd seen via YouTube last week with Mariya and backup girls sashaying due to a disco beat....yup, she's been around that long. At that point, Mariya had already been giving her tribute to the Great American Songbook via the Connie Franklin chapter, but with "Miss M", she didn't just throw herself into AOR but also into a bit of disco, balladry and even cool jazz. Quite a revelation for an old kayo kyoku fan like me who's been accustomed to seeing 54-year-old Takeuchi being most notable recently for her annual Xmas jingle for KFC.

Monday September 7, 5:06 p.m.

Now that I've gotten the food reviews out of the way...

the non-culinary portion of my weekend at MB's consisted of movies and video games, the usual itinerary at my friend's home. Saturday evening was a double-bill of "The French Connection"...1 and 2. As a movie buff, I have to admit to some embarrassment at the fact that I'd never seen Gene Hackman's magnum opus of the early 70s. Of course, I'd heard of what had been cinema's greatest rendition of a car chase in the first "French Connection"...that is, until the car chase in "Ronin" eclipsed it.

The first "French Connection" gave a gloriously gritty depiction of New York jungle life. And Gene Hackman's Popeye Doyle was one of its most dangerous beasts. I hadn't realized what an anti-hero Doyle was until finally watching it. This guy could give Vic Mackey of "The Shield" a case of cold sweats. Doyle is NOT a nice man. Even after getting kidnapped, forcibly hooked on drugs and going through withdrawal in the sequel, Popeye remains a jerk throughout. I could've imagined any other writer or producer showing that arc of redemption, but it would seem that the producers were hell-bent on ensuring that he never becomes a new good man....even to the point that the movie finishes off extremely abruptly half a second after he finally gets his man in Marseilles...no chance to see any tender moments (not that the character would probably ever show them) at the airport between him and his French hosts. It's kinda no wonder that Hackman seemed to get more villianous or morally conflicted roles ("Superman", "The Firm", "Unforgiven") later in his career.

However, it's with the first movie that Popeye is obviously in his element and that the story shines with Manhattan acting as a supporting character...it's fascinating to look at but I wouldn't ever want to step into it for real. I could see where the contemporary police procedural shows like "Law & Order", "Hill Street Blues" and "Third Watch" found their muse. Ironically, a TV version of the movie quickly went down in flames in the 80s.

Monday September 7, 4:58 p.m.

My weekend at MB's was definitely a gastronomically satisfying one. I had El Pescador on Sunday night, but the night before, MB, The Sylph and I had another fine dinner...this time, at a yakiniku shop.

It'd been a few months since our last trip to Korean BBQ...I think the restaurant was in Yoyogi and one of The Sylph's friends had introduced us to it. Grilled and marinated beef is one of those food items that, along with peanuts and chips, can never be stopped at just one slice. It turns us fans into devouring machines. For some reason, there seems to be a direct relationship between the number of slices of yakiniku eaten with the increase in capacity of the human gastrointestinal tract. Luckily though, MB and The Sylph are more gourmet than gourmand, so they helped me keep in culinary control. We had the de rigueur plates of salted beef tongue, kalbi, bulgogi and chicken with generous helpings of salad and kimchi, and MB & I drank it all down with Guinness (!) Of course, my way to end the feast is to always order kalbi kuppa, the hearty stew of marinated kalbi beef, rice and veggies. Despite the amount of cow that we all had, we were still able to take down the kuppa just fine.

Monday September 7, 4:43 p.m.

The restaurant so nice, its photos I put up twice. Yup, the Burger Tour Gang followed the clarion call of Movie Buddy about this place, El Pescador, in Jiyugaoka and amassed last night for what would become a symphony in culinary expertise. For days, MB and The Sylph raved about the fare there. Since they went there as a couple, their choice in dishes to enjoy was limited....unlike me, they don't have black holes where a G-I tract should be. So, they decided to call in the whole gang of me, Skippy, The Satyr and Miss Ivory and Frodo along with his wife.

We weren't disappointed at all. In fact, even the guys were raving throughout the dinner at the various dishes that came out one after the other. Usually, the squeals of "Oishii! Oishii!" are from the domain of the women, but this time the men were also more than happy to echo the sentiments. And for good reason....there wasn't a false note struck during the entire meal. From the above shown Lamb Chops to the two brands of paella to the salad to the bountiful dessert plate and others....this would go down as one of the best repasts I've had in the many years I've been here. Usually I'm not a lamb person since the rather pungent aroma and taste have turned me off in the past. But this tender and juicy dish pretty much destroyed that myth as completely as having that uni at that sushi restaurant that The Jyuppies had taken me to a couple of weeks before. There was the usual amount of chatter amongst us, and Skippy was getting giddy as she usually does, but there was also a lot of appreciative talk about the food. Heck, even Frodo was getting high on his espresso...even had a second cup, which would mean that sleep was probably non-existent for him that night.

During the evening, the chef and other staff had to turn away a number of folks who had erroneously thought they could get in sans reservations. No can do at this place....it's just too small and too good to pull that sort of thing off. Reservations are mandatory. Jiyugaoka has had a number of gastronomic pleasures for me each time I've visited the area with MB, but El Pescador comes down as one of those places I would go for a second trip the next time I head out that way.

Thursday September 3, 7:14 p.m.

Another one of those long, lazy days in the office chair since I've had the Mother of All Donut Days. To remind you folks, a Donut Day is one in which I've got a student at the beginning of the day and then have to wait several hours before the next one. Between Miss Sedona and The Music Man, I've got 8.5 hours. That's a lot of computer time.

Meterologically, the alternating hot and cold cycle that Tokyo's been getting finally got broken today...on the side of Fall. It went up to just 25 C yesterday and that's what it was today as well. I went out a half-hour ago to grab a bento from the local Lawson's and it just felt pleasantly cool. That might be de rigueur in Toronto, but over here that's about akin to an early frost.

During the long break, I took care of some odds and ends such as taking care of the Advance Information Form at Air Canada and finishing up on that project for Speedy. I've got all the bare bones for this potential course for study-abroad students who may be a bit nervous about their English ability, but I just gotta come up with some skin and tissue to put it all together. Sometimes, though, I wonder if the bossman just gave me the assignment so that he could have a reason to pay me since I've been scarce on students recently. He even said that most likely there would only be a few students who would want the service. Usually the students who sign up for studying abroad are already pretty lucid.

While both Ray and La Fille were here, the three of us got into the topic of natto, that love-hate Japanese food of rotten beans that seems to be the Manna of Heaven in the Kanto while it was until recently the universal culinary equivalent of wolfsbane in the Kansai. I'm definitely of the latter persuasion...as is Ray, which is a bit unique since she hails from the Tohoku area. La Fille is just in love with the stuff...a lot of the natives here eat it on rice with a bit of karashi mustard...but she goes for it au naturel; just the stuff itself. When I told the both of them, however, that I'd seen a variety show in which some enterprising fellow came up with the idea of natto chocolate cake, they both gagged. The conversation then sidled into my recent trip to Nakamizo, the sushi restaurant in Chuo-Rinkan that The Jyuppies had taken me to the other Sunday. They marveled at the photos of sushi I'd taken. They were also talking about the near-legendary Carrot...a restaurant near Nishi-Ogikubo (not too far away from here) that is famed for its large Japanese-style hanbaagu (hamburg steaks). I'd first heard about it from The Matron some years ago since her hefty son had been a regular customer (figures). The place also got onto some of the variety shows as well. Lineups at Carrot are an inevitability. Someday all of us here at Speedy's may get out there for lunch...provided we survive our current financial crisis.

Just a point about Speedy's financial crisis...it goes quite a ways to say that I'd earned more in the last month than the entire school did in the same amount of time...that's how bad it is now.

Also came across the Wiki entry for "Burn Notice", that whimsical spy series from FOX. The show's starting to be advertised here; there's the picture of the main character played by Jeffrey Donovan up next to his popularity predecessors, Jack Bauer and the guy from "Prison Break". I first caught it on the plane headed home last year and found the first two eps a hoot-and-a-half. Any show on a personal screen which can make me forget about the arduousness of air travel for 13 hours has my respect and enjoyment. And it looks like the show has been doing well...it's entered its 3rd season. If it gets popular here like "24", I figure Donovan will be next in line to do a silly Calorie Mate commercial here in Tokyo just like Kiefer Sutherland.

Speaking of foreign celebs who've come in recently, I caught Hugh "Wolverine" Jackman on the NTV morning wide show yesterday. Of course, he was in to promote his latest "X-Men" movie which is coming out in general release next Friday....yep, late as usual. I think he, along with Will Smith, is one of the few Hollywood types who actually relishes kidding around with the local tarento. Of course, the folks went wild at the rumour that the next "Wolverine" flick may be filmed partly in Japan....usually those rumors fly out like so much dust at any movie series such as Bond. But this time, there may be more than a kernel of truth since James "Logan" Howlett has had his connections with Japan over the years in the comics. I rather doubt that there will be anything here in The Big Sushi. Getting permission to film here in the largest city on Earth is harder to get than getting permission to get into Fort Knox.

Well, since tomorrow I've got nothing until the juku classes, I may just enjoy myself in the sunshine and go around Tokyo for at least part of the morning and early afternoon and give my digital camera a workout. I figure why not? Every time I start wondering whether I'll be financially solvent by the end of the year, I get rather whimsical and decide to do something for the heck of it.

Movie Buddy's big weekend is officially on. He sent me the e-mail asking what time I would be coming in on Saturday and then telling me how much he's looking forward to the big dinner at that much vaunted Spanish restaurant with me, The Satyr, Miss Ivory and The Sylph.

Got a lot down in 30 minutes...

Thursday August 3, 11:24 a.m.

Well, after the equivalent of a seasonal quarter, my odyssey with Japanese ceramics translation finally came to an end when the payment finally got transferred to my account this morning. I'm sure Ichikawa City was equally as happy to get my money.

However, Speedy is singing the blues. Apparently, the news didn't filter to him that The Fashion Designer had decided not to renew, although Ray was right there with the after-action survey. He had a rather blank look on his face for a couple of seconds before he sank into his recently customary moroseness about the situation. As for the a-a survey, I got top marks as her teacher but under the category of personal progress....she only rated herself at 3 out of 5. A bit of a kick in the pants...I really have to stop sidetracking. 001 even lamented the fact that she hasn't been progressing too far into the book.

I've only got two students today: Miss Sedona and The Music Man. Miss Sedona only has two more lessons to go, but we all know that she'll be heading for Canada to start a new life in less than 2 months so it would be no surprise if she decided not to re-up. As for The Music Man, he had just bought some more lessons so it will be several more weeks before the topic of renewal comes up again.

Wednesday September 2, 8:35 p.m.

Finished up with 001 a half-hour ago. Mostly another free-for-all gab session running the gamut from the names of the world's intelligence agencies to the karaoke stand at Mandarake in Shibuya. Yup, we really go far afield conversationally. The lass will be headed for a solo trip to Australia in a couple of weeks, so there's a very real possibility that the 16th may have me heading home very early, since I believe that The Fashion Designer will be no more as of tonight.

Just had a couple of rice balls for dinner. Not that I'm trying to prep especially for that checkup next month, but perhaps getting prepared for what I may be forced to eat if sales don't improve at either Speedy's or at the juku.

Wednesday September 2, 5:08 p.m.

To the left of me is the entrance to Nakano Plaza, home of everything that is otaku that isn't in Akihabara. I go there occasionally to see all the old-fashioned Japanese popular culture stores. One of them is...or was...Otokichi. It's actually located just some metres back from Broadway, the home of Mandarake and all other subculture shops.

Otokichi was the shop where all the old J-Pop CDs were sold...even before it was called J-Pop. Back then, it was just known as kayo kyoku, and featured singers from the immediate postwar era up to the 90s. I often went there to see if I could scavenge some gem from the 70s/80s or even the early 90s. I came across some of those unsung heroines that never really became superstars but I tend to love anyways such as Ruiko Kurahashi, Reimy or Kanako Wada. When I actually ordered a disc via Net, I even got a message from the owner asking how a Canuck like me could even hear of Ruiko Kurahashi.

Well, all good things must come to an end. And I got a blanket e-mail from the owner stating that the Tokyo branch has closed down for good, the reason being that he and his family are heading back to Hiroshima to be closer to the larger family since his father had died a few months ago. But I also noticed that Otokichi was never that full of customers although I realized that the shop was pretty small to begin with. However, the mail order service will still be online. Still, a Nakano Plaza institution has come to an end, and I'll have to try my luck with that shop I discovered in Jimbocho.

Wednesday September 2, 2:27 p.m.

Well, I did the deed. Purchased the air ticket from Air Canada...heading back home again for another 3 weeks of binging and guilt trips....oh, yes, and also the Holidays. Cost me an extra 23,000 yen now compared with the price, pre-potential strike call. So, on Mrs. Lens' call, I held back until we were sure that AC would survive. I guess the 23,000 yen can be considered my ghost legal fee.

So, I guess out of the payment from The Corner, the air ticket and the two premiums for City Tax and National Health will pretty much take a majority of that with about 50,000 yen left for savings.

Wednesday September 2, 1:17 p.m.

"Taught" Grandma Enka for her monthly...really, it was a gab session, and it is basically meant as one since Speedy has to do the dirty work with her in the other weeks. Enka keeps on complaining about how boring the text is, so to keep her happy, I'm the exhaust valve. Mind you, she seems to just want someone to talk to in Japanese although I respond in English.

Speaking about the grandmother students. we got a surprise package from Grandma FON who's been away all these weeks in the wilds of Nagano Prefecture in the form of various crackers and snacks. She'll be away for the rest of this month but may be coming back in October. As for Grandma Dynamite, Enka informed me that her sister is still ailing. She said that just when Dynamite feels up to coming back to the school, she suddenly gets those pains again. Uh-huh....

Got the response from The Corner lickety-split about the payment. It had been forgotten about but it should be in the account in the next 2 days. Well, the fact that he responded quickly enough is good, but the Dark Side in me is grumbling a bit.

I remember that poster for "Spiderman 2" in which we get a close-up of Spidey's face and reflected in his two eyespots is Doctor Octopus. Well, I'm sure some enterprising political cartoonist has already replaced Doc Ock with Mickey Mouse. Yep, I'm talking about The House That Mickey Built annexing The House That Stan Built. I can just see it now...the next time kids go to Tokyo Disneyland, they can shake hands with Goofy or get them torn off by Wolverine. Marvel Team-Ups may now actually include The X-Men and The Seven Dwarves joining forces: "Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to world domination we go..." Pluto, meet Hellcat. Doctor Doom, meet Doc. Donald, meet Howard. I hear that the synergistic forces have prompted a reboot of "Fantastic Four"; Mickey, Donald, Goofy and Minnie....your comeback vehicle is here. I guess you can insert your own drum rimshots after each of the last several sentences. I can only imagine how the comic book guys are responding to this news. I can imagine how Comic Book Guy is responding to this news: "Worst...Team...Up...Ever". We shall see.

Well, tonight I've just got 001 and The Fashion Designer....that is, if she doesn't dotakyan and thereby avoid saying goodbye.

Wednesday September 2, 11:23 a.m.

Well, I checked my account this morning again to see if The Corner had transferred payment. Nada. So, I finally decided to send him an e-mail about it. Strangely enough, he sent me an e-mail about a wholly different matter...which made me wonder if he actually did send it or completely forgot about it. In any case, I politely reminded him of it and hopefully he'll let me know in the next few hours.

In any case, Grandma Enka is here...

Tuesday September 1, 12:51 p.m.

That dreaded Typhoon 11 fortunately left us a lot sooner than expected last night. By around 9 p.m., things looked wet but significantly windless and no one was opening umbrellas. Best scenario possible. However, the war between man and nature left the corpses of umbrellas all along the way to the subway.

Not surprisingly, today is back to sunny and hot, as it usually is after a summer typhoon. Got some laundry done and did the lesson planning for the juku students. The cancellations keep on coming, though. The Admin is gone for this week along with The Bass, and even SIL has canned for this month since her mother had injured herself. And I'm still waiting for that payment from The Corner...I'm really hoping that that money is in the account right now; I tried to check but there was a long line at the ATM.

The LDP is still licking its wounds after the beating it'd gotten on Sunday night. A former Defense Minister, Ishiba, sounded a bit petty but basically repeated what everyone else has been thinking in saying that the DPJ won only because the people wanted to punish the LDP more than it thought that the DPJ was any good.

Quiet on the SNS front. Had a number of Mixi friends looking in but not commenting. Well, I guess I can do a lot of YouTube today then.

Monday August 31, 8:44 p.m.

Well, tomorrow is September 1st. For a lot of folks here, it's Earthquake Drill Day (just feel the excitement....or the artificially induced shakes in the quake simulator). However for me, it's time to play two songs with the same title, "September". One, of course, is the one made classic by the guys to the right of me here, Earth Wind & Fire. Just hearing the few beats of quiet intro followed by the racing horns brings out a few quakes in me. "Do you remember...?" I surely do.

The other is by one of the few J-Pop songstresses to last through 3 decades and still keep putting out the hits. This "September" was by Mariya Takeuchi, and it's a vastly different number. Kinda evoking the novelty teen idol sound of the American 50s, young Mariya released this nearly 30 years ago when she was harking back to the sounds of Annette Funicello and Connie Francis. Still, the two songs reflect the various aspects of Americana pop music. She's still releasing pop tunes even now in her mid-50s alongside her contemporary, Yumi Matsutoya. But she's probably famous recently for her KFC yearly Christmas jingle. If a J-Pop tune could sound like a Norman Rockwell painting, it would be this one.

Typhoon 11 has suddenly veered off a little ahead of schedule. As I look out the window, there isn't only not any rain (ouch the syntax) but I don't even see any umbrellas, living or dead. There may be hope yet for the commute home. But I'm still lucky that I don't have anything until the juku.

Monday August 31, 6:41 p.m.

Looks like that direct contact with Typhoon 11 has been delayed by 6 hours! AAUGH! I might have to run smack dab into it on the way home. That is, if the Tozai Line allows me...when I was heading to the office, I saw the announcment that Tokyo Metro will be cancelling all of the express trains (as is usually the case in emergencies) because of the typhoon. It might be rather dicey getting home...I may actually even have to grab a cab. La Fille had come back from lunch looking rather drenched. She reported that it took an Olympian effort to return to the school, and noticed that there were the carcasses of several umbrellas littering the sidewalk. So far, mine has held out for now. Speedy's regular student at this hour has dotakyan'ed, but then again, she tends to do that at the drop of a hat.

On Saturday night, I came across the rerun of "Star Wars: Episode 2" on Fuji-TV....I assume, as counter-programming against that 24-hour telethon on NTV. Fuji needn't have worried...as bad as the prequel trilogy is, I still won't get anywhere near something as maudlin as the NTV telethon. Having said that, hearing some of the horrible lines that Hayden Christensen had to vomit out in his scenes with Natalie Portman just had me rushing for the MUTE button. Still, I have hope that some enterprising young director/producer will decide to re-imagine the entire prequel in the near future....probably when George Lucas has gone to that Death Star in the sky. I figure if it could work for "Star Trek" and "Battlestar Galactica" (the latter having been inspired by the original "Star Wars"), it's gotta work for "Star Wars". Just a tragedy how the talent was wasted.

Monday August 31, 4:19 p.m.

It's gonna be another one-class night. Just The Medicine Man. I shouldn't expect any cancellations from him since Typhoon 11 will have gone north into Tohoku by that time. However, I did get one from The Admin due to a business trip this Wednesday. So, it'll just be Grandma Enka for her monthly with me followed by 001 and what I assume to be the very last lesson with The Fashion Designer.

Got word from Cozy thanking me for that quickie translation request on Saturday. It's nice to hear, especially after that arduous assignment from The Cornerette. I have yet to see the money although The Corner said that I would be paid at the end of the month. Well, I'll check the account later tonight or tomorrow. If I don't see anything there, I will probably need to think about our professional relationship.

Monday August 31, 3:41 p.m.

Back on the 11th during my mini-trip in Yokohama, I faced Typhoon 9 and a real earthquake. Today, I'm facing Typhoon 11 and a political earthquake. As for the former, the hurricane is making a beeline straight towards the Kanto and should be on our doorstep in the next few hours...the signs were right there from yesterday as I was heading off to my haircut...slight rain with a translucently white overcast sky and an eerie calm. Now, I had to do some fighting with the wind and rain between the subway station and Speedy's. As for the latter, Yukio Hatoyama of the DPJ is making a beeline straight towards the Prime Ministership and should be making his Cabinet choices in the next couple of weeks.

But enough of the comparisons...last night, all of Japanese TV went on red alert and their seemingly designed-by-Starfleet studios to provide coverage of what was basically a landslide for several hours. Even the English interpreters of NHK were making overtime up to 4 a.m. this morning. I can imagine that the 7 p.m. broadcast tonight will start off with one of those interpreters going "Good evening, and welcome to the.....YAWN....7 p.m. NHK news".

The landslide was not surprising (the media had been predicting for several days that the Democratic Party of Japan could get 300 seats in the Lower House...so much so that the blitz probably outdid the global one for "300" the movie), but not insignificant. Folks here generally despise change...it is (or was) very much "the Devil you know" type of society. So, it was not an inconsiderable feat that the DPJ managed to get the largest turnout of voters in 13 years to oust definitively the Liberal Democratic Party which had been in power for almost all of the last 54 years. There was a brief hiccup in 1993-1994 when Morohiro Hosokawa, not of the LDP, became PM but with a coalition government and a far less definitive margin. This time around, the DPJ did it all by themselves, getting 308 seats out of a possible 480, and in a truly O. Henryesque ending, with a leader whose grandfather was the first PM under the LDP banner in 1955. The feat was such that even Typhoon 11 has had to take a back seat behind the supposed winds of change.

Last week, I was hearing the tones of The Jazz Singer in Roppongi; well, last night I was hearing the opinions of far less pretty pundits throughout the media spectrum. NHK was putting up election results almost every second. And I just kept seeing the kanji for the DPJ, or "min"; it was just, "min, min, min" all night long....I figured I was seeing the graphic version of cicadas crying. Even though the final result was never in doubt, all of us were watching the benchmarks slowly being broken like multiple racetrack tape: the DPJ hitting the 200-seat mark, then the 241-seat mark signifying an absolute majority and finally the 300-seat mark, proving the media-inspired prediction of a landslide. Even the BBC and CNN got into the act and even had Yukio Hatoyama's victory (yawn) speech. Hatoyama may have been born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but charisma is sorely lacking. He's about as glum as former PM Shinzo Abe, the human Cigarstore Indian. But then again, Japanese political victories aren't about balloons and cheering crowds and 70s/80s songs used as campaign themes as it is in the States. Over here, it's three yelps of "Banzai!" and perhaps the coloring in of the second eye of the giant daruma doll if we're lucky to see it.

Now, that the DPJ has won, what next? Well, perhaps, it may resemble President Obama and the Democratic Party of the United States. Tons of promises by the inarguably more charismatic and articulate Barack Obama but everyone has been asking about where the money is gonna come from to pay for all this. Everyone will be asking Hatoyama the same thing probably within the next several hours. DPJ folks have been saying that they think they know where they can get the money; they say that since the LDP has been so corrupt and loose with their projects, Hatoyama and the gang can just tap that supposedly existent giant slush fund like an overripe maple tree. As for me, I'll believe it when I see some actual reform and help for the average guy. Being the cynical type, I predict that the DPJ, having had no leadership experience will probably stumble around like the Keystone Kops, will end up losing 4 years later in the next election, and that the LDP, which will have been ruminating in the political wilderness for that time, may get their act together and win and perhaps even improve this country's fortunes. Nope, I don't have a whole lot of faith in this new regime.

Saturday August 29, 4:05 p.m.

During my lesson with The Publicity Agent, I found out that the lass has become a fan of the re-imagined "Battlestar Galactica". Well, I managed to spend the next several minutes regaling her about the original and simpler version with Lorne Greene (although I didn't mention his name). However, I did mention that Dirk Benedict of "The A-Team" was the original Starbuck which elicited some surprise since she has only known Kara Thrace. I asked her if she knew anything about "Doctor Who", but I regrettably got a nada there. I wonder, though, if my former Anglophile student of a decade ago, The Stick, would be a Whovian.

Well, I got that translation request from Cozy done and sent back out. And I managed to get a couple of more sections done for Speedy. I'm just about ready to head on home.

Ahhh...did forget to mention that Noriko Sakai finally got that indictment for drug possession. However, the amount that she had on her person was far, far lower than what a regular addict would have. But it would seem that an atom of the stuff is enough for Japanese police (perhaps Sir Paul McCartney may have some input on that) to convict. I kinda wonder if there is a bit of that desire to make an example of a celeb. In any case, her talent agency didn't waste time; after all that time of publicly worrying about her, the president made what was probably his last press conference and announced that she was fired.

Saturday August 29, 11:56 a.m.

Another hot one out there...The Japan Times laughingly forecast a high of 26 C today...I guess it's not only Kyung Lah who's screwing up figures in this country. It feels more like a 32 C, which is what the local channels are saying. So much for a cool transition into September. However, there is a typhoon on the way, straight towards the Kanto. Could be fun on Election Night.

Speaking of which, the men of SMAP put out a huge ad in the papers exhorting their young fans to go and vote...nominally for the LDP. They didn't mention Aso by name, but just to give the guys in power a chance and support them. Not sure what their popularity is like right now, but I think it could actually get voters choosing the DPJ instead. In any case, the papers and pundits are still predicting a landslide victory for DPJ's Yukio Hatoyama. I saw an article in the paper about his wife who's seems to come off as a bit of a new-age flake. Since I made a Canadian referral to Hatoyama as being similar to the ineffectual Joe Clark; maybe his wife could be Japan's version of Maggie Trudeau.

The Carolinan mentioned on Thursday night that although she did receive a ballot, she wouldn't be voting. Normally, I would internally tsk-tsk her decision, but when the top two choices are Hatoyama and Aso, I guess I couldn't really blame her.

At the juku last night, the juku boss told me that she'd never given up on searching for a new place for the juku, which was news to me. When I started up there 5 years ago, she'd exhorted that she was searching for such a place but that talk seemingly petered out. However, she has said that she just didn't mention anything more to me. She's looking for a house in the Urayasu area. So I guess both of my main sources of income may be on the look for new homes.

I only got The Publicity Agent today, but I have some more of that extra work in making up the prototype handouts for study-abroad students who may need some remedial English help. And I just got a translation request suddenly from Cozy.

Friday August 28, 12:13 p.m.

Death by alternating weather....that would seem to be the message for us for the remaining weeks of Summer. Yesterday was warm but dry and comfortable. Today is back to the normally torrid weather of Tokyo summers past. At this rate, I can expect a major snowstorm for Election Day.

It'll be my busiest day, relatively speaking. I've got The Nurse in less than 15 minutes, and then I gotta rush out to see The New Yorker in Ichigaya as usual, followed by the mini-lessons with the juku boss, The Ace and The Restauranteur.

Speaking about Election Day, the coverage is starting to pick up steam internationally. CNN has started talking about it, although the current reporter for the Tokyo office made a big bungle by stating that the only time the LDP hadn't had power in its half-century of dominance was in 2003-2004. She was a decade off...it was 1993-1994. C'mon, Kyung Lah...you could do better than that.

I was just getting out of the shower at the stroke of midnight when I got the call from The Romantic. Don't get any ideas...I've known the guy since university when he was wooing one of our club members. He was definitely one of those "a jug of wine, a loaf of bread and thou" types. I was...and still am..."a bottle of Coke, a chocolate bar and youse" type. Anyways, I digress...he's married to Automan's sister now. He had been trying to contact me without success for the past few weeks only by phone for some reason...I don't think he's a Luddite like me...but finally got me at home. Apparently, he's asked for some help in some various research projects for his company. He didn't go into much detail about these projects...as far as I'm concerned, they could be on anything from current macroeconomic models to assassinating dictators. Still, the money sounds good...on a par with that last translation project....just don't know if I'm the one to do this.

Thursday August 27, 7:56 p.m.

Not only did I finish my dinner of Bacon Epi (it's from the neighbourhood bakery, La Vie Du France...bacon-wrapped bread...genius idea) and salad, but also finally got rid of that last peach we'd gotten from Grandma Fado a couple of weeks ago by splitting it up and feeding it to La Fille and Speedy. After more than a fortnight, I think that pome was ready to evolve. Luckily, our resident cryogenics chamber managed to stave off any cellular disruptions.

Just read on the Fuji-TV site that singer/actress/commercial queen Aya Ueto had received a major death threat via Internet. I would think that death threats were a normal thing for any celeb in this country. As for that latest banner of Noriko Sakai's getting into S&M, my only question would be whether she was Master or Servant...cue Depeche Mode.

Thursday August 27, 7:19 p.m.

Yes, we do have those elections coming up this Sunday, don't we? A choice between the Devil we know or the Devil we don't. In a way, it's almost like having the US elections but with McCain vs. McCain. I can even inject a bit of Canadian political history into this as well: Taro (Jean Chretien) Aso vs. Yukio (Joe Clark) Hatoyama. The LDP's Taro Aso has that swagger, arrogance and that sideways talking of Chretien while the DPJ's Hatoyama seems to have that somewhat clueless fragile look of Joe Clark. I'd been thinking of putting my digital camera to use on Saturday since I only have The Publicity Assistant at Speedy's so I can track down where the candidates may be doing their final round of stumping in Tokyo; however, when I looked up the schedule for the probably-soon-to-be-former PM Aso on the Liberal Democratic Party website, his only appearance in Tokyo is at the east exit of JR Ikebukuro at 7 p.m. I don't think I'll wait quite that long for him, thanks. No appearance in the capital at all for the challenger from The Democratic Party of Japan.

Had my lesson with The Carolinan. Seems like she's come out of the blues since she found out that her company was bought out by its rival. Since she finished and with both lessons by me and the bossman cancelled, that means we're technically done for the day, but I've got some more paperwork to do and with the evening rush hour at full bore right now, I'm not that eager to commute just yet.

Thursday August 27, 4:59 p.m.

Yes, please look at that rather glum fellow on the right. He's glum for a reason. His name is Nozomu Sahashi, and he used to be the President of what was the largest English conversation school chains in Japan, NOVA...which, ironically, imploded into a black hole of bankruptcy almost a couple of years back. A lot of foreign residents ended up finding out how tough it was to be poor in the world's most expensive city while Mr. Sahashi lived high off the hog in his gold office...that is, before the end came. Well, the courts slammed him with a 3.5-year prison sentence today (most likely to be appealed...cell walls aren't gold unfortunately). Luckily, I was far gone from my former employer by the time the axe came, but even during my time there in the mid-90s, I'd thought that things were somewhat spread too thinly. I'm always reminded by that joking response by the orientation manager on my first day in the former Harajuku offices, when some greenhorn dared ask whether NOVA would ever collapse: "Pshaw! NOVA is too big to go down!" Kinda reminds me of the Titanic.

Well, met up with Miss Sedona this morning. Her time with us is fast approaching its end. Looks like Toronto will be her destination; she'll be heading for Seneca College. When she mentioned Finch Station, I reflexively mentioned the Mr. Greek's there. I may have one more person to meet during my vacation back home. Maybe by that time, she'll be ready for brunch at The Sunset Grill.

Since The Music Man has canned for tonight, I've got just The Carolinan in less than an hour. I came back from teaching The Bow in Shinjuku.

The last of the original generation of the Kennedys has passed on. Edward Moore "Teddy" Kennedy passed on yesterday. The writing had been on the wall for the past several months concerning the senator's brain cancer. The death immediately signfied a media response usually reserved for those of presidents: long-term coverage of his life and half-mast flags. The funeral, slated for this Saturday, will probably be as lavish.

As I was coming back from Shinjuku, the kiosks had the banner showing the latest headline concering NorikoGate: "S&M with drugs!" Talking about way too much information....if it's even true.

Wednesday August 26, 9:02 p.m.

Just waiting for the last student to show up, The Fashion Designer. She just has two lessons left, including tonight. And provided that she shows up next week, that'll probably be it for her according to what she'd told me a couple of weeks ago.

My session with 001 was the usual loosey-goosey one with lots of back-and-forth, and a bit of work on the actual text. Looks like one of her co-workers got Swine Flu...not good, especially she works in a hospital.

I actually caught one of the third-season episodes of the re-imagined "Battlestar Galactica" on Super Drama TV yesterday. It was "Collaborators", and though I read that it was one of the lowest-rated episodes in the entire series, I was definitely quite impressed by it. But trying to keep up with the series is liking trying to keep up with series like "24" and "Lost"; almost impossible with my schedule. Someday, when the prices of those DVD sets plummet, I'll probably invest in them.

Wednesday August 26, 1:52 p.m.

A bit of whimsy to start off this entry. On the right is good ol' Colonel Harland Sanders in a happi coat (and yes, he certainly looks happi). I took this shot at Chuo-Rinkan Station on Sunday when I met up with The Jyuppies for sushi. My childhood love for the chicken covered in 14 (15? 25? 399?) herbs and spices has shrunk to the occasional craving...ever since I picked up a breast (chicken, hee hee) and it just oozed grease. Still on that occasion, I get my money's worth. However, my days of grabbing a bucket are now over, along with ingesting supermarket day-glo birthday cake and butterhorn danish.

Apparently, there was some hooha over the national Earthquake Early Warning System here yesterday, when it had mistakenly predicted an imminent Shindo 5+ in the early morning for the Chiba area. Since I slept very soundly until 10 a.m. yesterday morning, it was obviously a glitch in the system. A couple of sheepish officials from the Meterological Agency did their deep bows in apology; one guy looked like he was on the verge of tears over the mistake...he did say that he'd gotten a lot of "concerned" calls. More likely, they were screamouts by frightened citizens. Still, the big one will be hitting our neck of the woods sooner, rather than later.

I posted up a lot of the photos from The Jazz Singer's gig onto various arenas. Found out that the lass is also up on Mixi...she was able to track me down and thanked me for the free publicity. According to her Facebook page, she's also quite a cook.

It was just Mr. White and Mr. Mild for their respective lessons last night. Mrs. Mild was out sick with a cold. Her husband figured it was from fatigue from their hike up a mountain in Toyama Prefecture last Wednesday. With the fears of Swine Flu edging closer as we approach the Fall, I couldn't quite keep that thought out of my mind. Also, the juku boss had a bottle of ethanol for sterilization purposes on a chair in the genkan for anyone going up to the 2nd floor. I got a box of dried apple senbe from Mr. Mild via their stay in Nagano Prefecture. Pretty tasty.

And I also got an omiyage from The Admin whom I met for the first time in about 3 weeks. It was an idea from her stupid son (her words, not mine...it is almost a duty to put down one's children...something that I don't agree 100% with; there's being humble, and there's being downright nasty) in the form of ramen with the taste of the famed Ise Prawn. The Admin's family had been in Kyoto, partially on business. Would like to go to Kyoto one more time someday.

Just the usual reduced schedule today...001 and then The Fashion Designer. I've already gotten one cancellation for tomorrow. The Music Man has decided to not come so The Carolinan will be the last student. And I got my pay for this month from Speedy; as expected, not nearly the winfall of last month, but I've got that translation pay still pending along with the juku pay packet on the way on Friday.

Monday August 24, 10:48 p.m.

Finished off with Medicine Man just now. He was a bit more forthcoming today. Meanwhile, Tokyo got hit with some a major squall which has thankfully abated, so I won't have to fight the elements on the way home. We had a similar situation earlier this afternoon in Chiba, but I also managed to elude the worst part of that.

It'll be another quiet Tuesday tomorrow, but I got word from The Admin that she'll back ready to talk on Wednesday morning. Still, this week is looking pretty sparse, except for Thursday.

Monday August 24, 6:37 p.m.

Before heading out to see The Jazz Singer, I had met up with The Jyuppies for dinner in Chuo-Rinkan. I'd gotten there about an hour early since I didn't want to cramp The Sylph's style. MB certainly didn't mine me staying over at his place since I make for a good video games partner, but I think the missus wanted a bit more personal time.

For years, I only knew Chuo-Rinkan as the distant endpoint of the Den'en-Toshi Line, the extension westward of Tokyo Metro's Hanzomon Line past Shibuya. With the express train, it takes 30 minutes from Shibuya to Chuo-Rinkan. Basically, the place is just another suburban commuter hub with the requisite shopping mall surrounded by all sorts of apartment complexes. I found out from Mr. Jyuppie that Chuo-Rinkan is in the city of Yamato, a smaller urban area just north of Yokohama.

It was just The Jyuppies themselves, sans baby daughter and dog. They took me up to their favourite sushi restaurant called Nakamizo. Mr. Jyuppie swears by the fare in this place...all other sushi places can take a very far backseat in his estimation. He'd been going there since he was a teen. The place is pretty small...just a counter for five or six and then tatami seating for just two groups.

I have to say that it was a treat eating at Nakamizo. For one thing, I was able to eat two dishes that I wouldn't normally go anywhere near anywhere else: kanimiso (crab brains) and uni (sea urchin). In my (former) estimation, they were about as close to Klingon ga'gh in desirability. However, the versions at this place were on a different playing field. The crab brains I had for an appetizer were creamy and delicious with some very rich crab flavor that would make a Boston crab cake lover swoon. And I was definitely impressed by the uni. As Mr. Jyuppie had insisted at his last class, I would be made into a convert by this sea urchin. And he wasn't wrong. There was no strange smell with this stuff and the taste was far better than sea urchin from other shops...it was almost a different animal. However, the effect was that I now know that I will never try any uni at any other sushi shop.

Of course, since Nakamizo is a sushi restaurant, we of course had the sushi platter with toro, ika, kinmedai and aoyagi...all very good. But I was especially taken with the osumashi, the clear soup that's de rigueur at any sushi shop. Usually the soup is basically just gulped more as the ritual culinary entrance to the bigger dishes in store, but I had to remark to my hosts about how rich this soup was. There were several big hunks of bony fish inside which helped to bring out the flavour of the soup.

As a finish, the waitress then brought out a big bowl of anago-don...grilled sea eel on rice. Another hit out of the park. Mr. Jyuppie had been worried whether I would like the taste and the portions. He needn't have worried....it was about as 5-star a place in terms of ambience and taste as Quintessence, the Michelin-anointed French restaurant that The Class Act had taken me to back in April. Mr. Jyuppie told me that restaurants in the Chuo-Rinkan area come and go, but Nakamizo has been around for well over a decade and it often gets lineups. In fact, the owner-chef had to turn down a few folks who had come in during our 90 minutes there. Always a good sign.

The Jyuppies, as all Japanese hosts would, apologized that I had to come out all the way from Chiba for dinner. But I reassured them that good food was good food. I don't think I would make weekly trips across two prefectures for sushi, but I wouldn't mind seasonal trips to this place.

Monday August 24, 6:26 p.m.

Well, it was a busy weekend socially. After my two classes here at Speedy's on Saturday (BTW, The Intellectual did sign up...a drop in the bucket in terms of our finances, but like a thirsty man in the desert, we'll take it), I had that DVD Night with MB in Jiyugaoka. Ended up staying perhaps a bit too long at his place than I should've. I think I got too much in thrall with MB's games. "Watchmen" was quite a bit of fun; I had a good rapport with my character of Nite Owl, although I have a bit in common with Rorschach as well. Also, the new "Wolverine" game was addictive...kept me there until past 3.

In any case, the little lady, covered in sparkles...is The Jazz Singer, my former student. After my dinner with The Jyuppies last night, I rushed over to The Satin Doll in Roppongi for her debut performance, although she said that it would probably be her last performance there as well. She was just in the Sunday amateur night. Still, she did a fine job in her gig, and it looks like "Summertime" may be her theme song...at least with me. The Satin Doll is a pretty nice place to listen to some good jazz. The performances there were along the lines of Cool Jazz of the 50s. I went to DUG, the jazz bar up in Shinjuku several years ago, but I like The Doll better for its space and ambience. They also serve up some French fare which her contemporaries had already ordered; they offered me to dig in but I politely declined since I'd already eaten.

The Jazz Singer sent me a thank-you e-mail for coming out last night. Hopefully, she'll get that CD out so I can have some bragging rights.

Sunday August 23, 1:34 a.m.

Yesterday was truly a day that has been surprisingly rare this season...a truly blistering hot and humid day, typical of a normal summer in the Kanto. I was feeling pretty drippy by the time I got to Jiyugaoka. The station was packed nearly to dangerous levels with folks, apparently heading to one of the last fireworks festivals this season. I still managed to get to MB's place OK, though.

As usual, MB has been enjoying the world of computer games. He showed me the surprisingly good "Ghostbusters" game....in fact, the game was so good that I think this should've been the sequel made instead of the 1989 "Ghostbusters II". Almost all of the original actors are back on voiceover duty...except for Sigourney Weaver (who later said in an interview that she actually regretted not helping the boys out).

Then, MB, his wife and I made our way to dinner....to a ramen shop that MB and I had gone to about a year ago when I'd first visited him in his new neighbourhood. At that time, we'd gone for lunch so the full menu hadn't been available. Well, the dinner menu definitely had a lot more going for it. Some really fine piitan, gyoza, fried chicken wings and BBQ pork made our way to our stomachs before we all finished off with some savory ramen. I know a ramen shop is really good when the slices of char-siu are thick, tender and juicy.

The movies for tonight were Jason Statham's "Death Race" and that "Clone Wars" movie. The former had the ol' Transporter racing through psychotics-in-Mad-Max cars and plot holes the size of grottos; didn't make much sense at all but it was worth it just to see an incongruously cast Joan Allen being evil and profane.

As for "Clone Wars"....the film had come out last year here in the theatres. I'm glad that I didn't fork out the 1800 yen for what was basically little more than a Saturday morning cartoon with fancier special effects. It seems as if the more "Star Wars" movies come out, the worse its reputation gets. MB and I marveled at the fact that the last decent movie in the series had come out almost 30 years ago.

In any case, it's time to call it a night....luckily, I've got nothing until I meet The Jyuppies for dinner in Chuo-Rinkan.

Saturday August 22, 12:03 p.m.

Once again hot and humid out there. Just after boarding the subway at the station, my undershirt was already fit to be considered a life form. It may rain a little later on today; it would be the first time for precipitation in almost a week. I don't think we've had such a long stretch of dryness in this odd summer.

I've only got The Publicity Assistant and The Intellectual today. The Intellectual is on his final lesson with us, and I'm not sure whether he'll be re-upping. And The PA is just a few lessons away from her day of reckoning herself. Not sure if my Saturdays are gonna be a whole lot emptier from now on.

The session at the juku was pretty cut-and-dry last night. The juku boss started making noises about not having had any time to study for her half-hour with me but she did show up. The Ace was fine...he's probably my best student in the entire group I have. The Restauranteur was a few minutes late since she had some latecoming customers but no problems.

Friday August 21, 12:02 p.m.

Well, last night I saw some rather dramatic stuff on the news. That Lockerbie bomber got released from Scottish prison and has now headed home to Libya to a hero's welcome. Saw the actual announcement from Scotland's Minister of Justice and then after having caught the last several minutes of "A Few Good Men" on cable, I saw the plane taking off from Glasgow Airport.

What are my thoughts? Well, I first couldn't believe that the Minister actually let the guy go...after several years of bringing al-Magrahi to justice and then finally incarcerating him in 2001, only to see him get popped out in a few short hours. I guess that physics law is true...it's always been easier to destroy than to create. The minister pounded the message into all of our heads that though this terrorist had shown no mercy to the 270 people he'd killed in December 1988, he wouldn't stoop to his level and not show any mercy to his request to be released on compassionate grounds and head home to Libya to die within the next 3 months from prostate cancer. He said that he would follow the law and show the world that Scotland is a just and moral land by giving this man leniency.

Of course, the media went nuts. Wolf and Jack on "The Situation Room" could barely contain their shock and awe towards the minister at his decision. I could just see the thought bubbles above their heads...."WTF WERE YOU THINKING?" I could only imagine how the folks at FOX took the news....they probably declared war on Scotland. The BBC newscaster at the time of the press conference also seemed about to burst a blood vessel.

Then, there are the families of those who were killed on Pan Am 103...a number of them American. I can only imagine how they must've felt when they saw footage of al-Magrahi coming down those steps in Tripoli to a large group of celebrating well-wishers....most likely extremists themselves. I'm sure the moderates were at home cringing in their houses wondering what this could mean about traveling overseas. But back to the families...to see all their years of efforts of getting him into jail, only to see this one man unlock the cell and send him off home for what little time he has left. I'm sure a lot of them would like to head over to Scotland right now and say some very unkind words to the minister. I wouldn't blame them.

But then....this brings up the question about whether there is a price cap on forgiveness and compassion. The United States is probably the most religious country on the planet...with the majority believing in Christianity. I haven't read my King James in many a decade but isn't there a phrase that Jesus Christ espoused about forgiving all sins? Of any of the sins that have been perpetrated this year....isn't allowing a mass murderer to go back to his homeland to die the perfect opportunity to show how forgiving, how compassionate, how wonderful The Lord is? Or is forgiveness just for taking care of marital spats and forgetting anniversaries? For me, if I'd had a loved one on that Pan Am plane when it went down in flames, it would've been a no-brainer...I would've cursed the minister for the rest of our days (and in fact, my brother's old elementary school classmate was on that plane); but then again, I'm not religious....I don't believe in ultimate forgiveness. I am not divine...I am human...I err....and sometimes, I err gladly and without remorse. So, as for the Obama government's official response to the release as being a tragic mistake, and I'm considering America's status as a religious country, its supposedly official policy of separating church and state, and Obama's pronouncement that he is a Christian, my counterresponse would be, "Don't you think you're being a tad hypocritical?"

Just as the line between genius and madness is microns-thick, I think a similar line exists between bravery and foolishness. Although there are many out there who will think the Scottish Minister of Justice took the latter side in his decision for the rest of their lives, perhaps over the years, decades, and even centuries, there may be some (even now) who feel that he made the bravest decision of his career...and perhaps his life....to prove that even an evil man is deserving of the good policy of mercy....that evil will not necessarily beget evil....and I'm referencing the phrase of "the banality of evil" when I write this.

Thursday August 20, 4:39 p.m.

Finished with The Nurse. She had only gotten a couple of hours of sleep after her last shift, so she was doing a lot of yawning in class....which is why she's scheduled her next lesson to come a bit earlier in the day when her energies aren't flagging so much.

Well, off for home. I have a sudden craving for ramen....kinda weird in this weather.

Thursday August 20, 2:49 p.m.

Well, it's been a while since I made my last NorikoGate entry, so apparently the police have found trace amounts of amphetamine in hair samples. More ammunition.

Overseas voting has begun for the August 30th General Elections here in Japan. The pundits are still calling it overwhelmingly for the Democratic Party of Japan. I'm still doubtful whether the change in name will mean an actual change for the better. Hatoyama reminds me of a Japanese Joe Clark.

The Nurse should be here any minute.

Thursday August 20, 11:35 a.m.

Well, got through the first lesson pretty well. Miss Prissy managed to pass the role-plays on restaurants and shopping. Just needs to pick up the pace, though. Perhaps the service industry in Guam is pretty patient, but I know folks in the continental U.S. of A won't be as generous.

Got a surprise e-mail from Cozy. He was hoping that he, the juku boss and I would be able to get together sometime in the near future for dinner once again. Hopefully, the boss will be up to the challenge.

Speaking of food, I'll see if that bento place is open or if it has indeed shut down for good. I can't imagine it doing so; I think they were doing a brisk business selling their 500-yen lunches.

Thursday August 20, 8:58 a.m.

Back for another round. I was able to down a vitamin drink so I'm a bit peppier than I have any right to be right now. The McBreakfast helped, too. I've been reading the oh-so-serious "The Official CTU Training Manual" based on "24"; always enjoy reading manuals based on various spy/sci-fi shows (see "Star Trek"). Jack Bauer gives the foreword...I could imagine him screaming it out in any audiobook format. Kinda too bad that I've only seen the first 2 seasons, and that was several years ago. With my life, I just can't spare the time or the desire to shuck out the yen to buy the DVD box sets. That's kinda the same with shows like "Battlestar Galactica", "Lost" and "Heroes". I think I'll be in my retirement before I finally get to see any of them in their entirety. Still going through the manual but I'm pretty sure there isn't a section referring to any CTU agents involved in bar fights or alcoholism...although there should be (et tu, Kiefer).

Referring to "Modern Times", the Charlie Chaplin classic that I'd caught on cable yesterday, I was also surprised at some of the daring stuff that got passed the censors. For example, when Sir Charles accidentally ingested that heroin...innocently referred to as "nose-powder". And then there was the scene in which he tried to screw those well-placed buttons on the portly woman's coat.

Well, I just have Miss Prissy and then The Nurse later this afternoon. I'm still working with Miss Prissy on her Travel English for her upcoming trip to Guam in a couple of weeks. Then, I have the night off. Not too bad...knock on wood.

Wednesday August 19, 9:21 p.m.

Got the news from La Fille that Grandma Dynamite will be holding off on her umpteenth return to Speedy tomorrow due to health issues. Still, I'll have to make the early arrival since I have Miss Prissy. However, although I am worried about the Grandma, I'm also a bit relieved since I really don't know how to approach her anymore. Her memory isn't what it used to be.

So, I gather that tomorrow will also be a 2-lesson day.

The Fashion Designer ought to be here any minute.

Wednesday August 19, 5:47 p.m.

It's been quiet here lately...not just today. As it is, our staff here at Speedy's have never been all that raucous. Everyone does their own thing. Perhaps during BC's tenure of manic depression here, there was somewhat more tension, but overall it's been serene. However, with the Sword of Damocles hanging over us in terms of our survival over the next few months, the quietness has been somewhat wistful, especially while I was having my dinner in a sunset-glazed kitchen. Not sure what my pay packet next week will look like; I'll just be grateful that I've got that payoff from translating to be put into my account.

Not sure, either, about what will happen if the school does decide to move elsewhere to get a fresh start. If it's somewhere by the Yamanote Line or even within it, I should be OK. However, if Speedy decides to move it ever farther west...or if he decides to make it into a kids' school, well I think I may have to move on somewhere else. And I'm not sure what will happen with the remaining students. 001 still has quite a few lessons left with us, along with The Patent Attorney. The Fashion Designer has all of two left, and I'm pretty sure she won't be re-signing.

Wednesday August 19, 4:29 p.m.

Since I seemed to have had a pretty quiet week of few classes, I've been able to catch a few movies on cable. Well, two, to be exact. Both of them are absolutely different from each other but they both have made their mark in cinematic history. The first one was "Blue Velvet", the one with Isabella Rossellini, Kyle McLachlan and Dennis "Mommy" Harper. Very Lynchian although the plot was easy enough to understand. I can see where "Twin Peaks" came from. The other I just saw earlier this morning: "Modern Times", what could arguably be considered to be Charlie Chaplin's magnum opus. I'd heard of both over the decades, but it was "Modern Times" that made the bigger impression on me. Considering that it was made in 1936...well into the "talkies"...Chaplin insisted that it be kept silent, and yet, he still allowed for some sounds and speech to be added although there was a purpose to this. There was the iconic scene of Chaplin traveling through the cogs of a machine, but the two scenes that popped out at me were the one in which Chaplin's character was victimized by the automatic feeding machine and the one in which he was rollerskating blindfolded perilously close to the edge of an unprotected floor in a department store. I was also struck by how similar his co-star and then-wife Paulette Goddard resembled a young Maria Shriver (1st Lady of California) and Monica from "Friends", and the fact that despite the typically Chaplinesque bittersweet ending, both Chaplin and The Gamin walked away into the sunset together; usually the femme would be taken away from The Little Tramp for whatever reason. And it was nice to know that the classic jazz ballad, "Smile" originated from the movie. May consider picking up the DVD someday.

It'll be another Humpless Wednesday. I've only got 001 and The Fashion Designer tonight. Although it's about 30 degrees right now, I still wouldn't consider today to be a typically blazing Tokyo summer day.

This will be an entertaining weekend. After my classes at Speedy's on Saturday, it'll be another DVD night with MB, followed by dinner with The Jyuppies on Sunday, and I sent my change-of-mind notice to my old student, The Jazz Singer, and said that I would attend her gig in Roppongi since she'll be starting late and since I've got nothing again on Monday until Medicine Man. The Jazz Singer is a contemporary of SR from the ol' school. The last time I met her was at that year-end dinner that The Carolinan had planned in Ebisu last year. I listened to The Jazz Singer's rendition of "Lullaby of Birdland" and said that I gotta check her out.

My few months of getting back into the swing of things on Mixi has had me periodically swapping messages with various folks. Looks like right now, a fellow "Doctor Who" fan, Romana, and I are trading time tales.

Tuesday August 18, 12:59 p.m.

Yup, I'd say that this season is definitely a reika (cool summer). Came home last night in very comfortable air; didn't even need the fan during my sleep time...just opened the window. In fact, that's been a common occurrence for me over the past several weeks. Usually a Tokyo summer without a fan on overnight is tantamount to suicide by heatstroke. Even coming to the I-Cafe today wasn't too bad at all. We're only going up to 29 C today.

Well, I got that letter from The Corner. Yup, my money will be heading my way at the end of the month. But I also got that hint that not all was well between his company and the client for that ceramics job. I think that the assignment was frankly over my punching weight in retrospect, but I wouldn't have found that out without doing it, so I'll have to slot the whole experience in as a learning one. Still, he was generous enough in saying that there may be more translation assignments in the near future....which is a relief for me, especially with business so down at both Speedy's and the juku.

Got another invite from MB about another DVD Night this Saturday. I'll be coming over a little later since I've got classes at Speedy's til 5 then. Strangely enough, the next night I've got that sushi dinner with The Jyuppies.

The Medicine Man was back to his unimaginative ways. The hour passed by rather quickly since he took so much time trying to formulate his answers.

Monday August 17, 7:08 p.m.

Had a very full weekend. With only The Nurse on Friday and just Medicine Man here tonight, I felt like I had more than 3 days off. My weekend was spent at home, catching up on a lot of movies via cable. It was kind of the weekend for sequels....and not the greatest sequels, at that. I watched "Back to the Future II", "Matrix Reloaded", and "Ocean's 12" amongst others. Yes, they were pretty mediocre efforts. Well, perhaps I'm being a bit harsh with the first one. "BTTF 2" was OK, but the tone just seemed to be yanked a little too far from the swashbuckling & lighthearted one of the original to the heartcrashing darkness of this one. I finally figured out the plot of "Ocean's 12" and just concluded the execution was bad. For the rather intriguing reason that it's now 64 years since the end of WWII, Super Drama TV has been putting on several episodes of a show called "12 O'Clock High" starring blandly handsome Paul Burke and a very young Chris Robinson (he would later be known as not only one of the cast of "General Hospital", but also as the infamous "I'm not a real doctor, but I play one on TV" guy) as bomber pilots in the war. Always kinda liked the old school TV shows.

NorikoGate seems to have finally gone on to the back burner. But it seems like the former aidoru has started to fess up that her history with drugs goes back a bit further than originally reported...a good 4 years earlier. May explain not only that Farrah Fawcett-like interview last year but also her hyperactive dancing as a DJ back in 2006.

Although I've got the juku back from tomorrow, it's still gonna be just that. Way open week. Even my dependably busy Thursdays look mighty hole-y this Thursday. Just two classes before I get to home for dinner early.

Looks like I'll be having dinner with The Jyuppies this Sunday instead of the regular lessons. Last lesson, Mr. Jyuppie was telling me about this great sushi restaurant at the end of the Den'en Toshi Line...pretty much in Kanagawa Prefecture. And so, he threw me the proposal of meeting there for dinner. Hmmm....kinda wonder if the end is near when it comes to me and them. I'm having a purposeful time with Mrs. Jyuppie but Mr. Jyuppie, since his midlife crisis began last month, hasn't been as forthcoming. Usually when my time with a certain student is ending its half-life, I get the invitation-to-a-meal notice in lieu of a regular lesson. It was true with that couple in Jiyugaoka early in my freelance career (for that one, they showed interest in my bartender's guide and wanted to make cocktails in English...yup, that was a most interesting lesson). Soon after, it was bye-bye for me. While I was still at the ol' school, I had been assigned a corporate class at a company in Osaki for which every other class involved me and the few students who would show up having dinner at a buffet place in the JR station plaza. While I enjoyed the free food, I knew my days were numbered.

Speaking of The Jyuppies, they live near Komazawa Park. After that one lesson at the end of last month, I was walking back to the station when I saw a whole cadre of TV trucks and cops across from the park. I overheard some folks talking about a jiken, an incident in the university. It wasn't until just recently that I'd heard that some young psycho, feeling jilted from not being able to participate in the university festival, decided to take his frustration out on some folks via a knife...or attempted to, anyways, before he was handily subdued.

Today, since I had a lot of time, I stopped by Kinokuniya's annual discount English-language book sale on the 11th floor of Takashimaya at Times Square. It was the last day but there were still plenty of books of all genres and sizes. I actually got three of them: last year's edition of "What Color is Your Parachute?", "Living With Star Trek"....a dissertation on the American cultural implications of one of my favourite shows, and "The Official CTU Operations Manual"; that last one just seemed so over-the-top in its earnestness over the universe that houses "24" that I just had to get it. It comes in its own hardcover case, too.

Friday August 14, 12:21 p.m.

Pretty darn quiet. Only had The Nurse. She'd just come back from a bit of an O-Bon holiday in Ishikawa Prefecture with her mother. Ishikawa is a remote province on the other side, the Japan Sea side, of the country. I don't really know what happens out there, but the school did get a souvenir in the form of some soft rice cake covered in bean paste called ankoro. It is, despite the description, quite good.

This past week hasn't been quiet seismologically in Japan. There was the Shindo 4 on Sunday night, then the biggie on Tuesday morning which rocked me from my sleep in my Yokohama hotel room, and a couple of more last night. So talk of The Big One has come up once more in the media, although it still hasn't bested the darkening story of NorikoGate. But are we ready for either The Great Tokai Earthquake I or The Great Kanto Earthquake II? It would seem not. The Japan Times just wrote up an article that the government hasn't printed nearly enough evacuation maps for the citizens just in case The Big One does happen. I think frankly that the Japanese have a rather fatalistic view toward quakes....if it's gonna happen, it's gonna happen. People talk about home earthquake kits (canned bread, bottled water, flashlights, etc) but how good would such things be when everyone is out at school or work? Plus, luxury apartments keep getting higher and higher on reclaimed land in Tsukiji and Odaiba when there are signs on the street openly warning that in a major quake, the land will liquefy. Those apartments will certainly get lower and lower in mere seconds. So, perhaps the government is taking a rather lackadaiscal attitude....but it seems to do that with a number of issues....except, of course, for its own election later this month.

I'll probably be headed home in the next half hour or so. There's a discount book sale in Takashimaya Times Square. I may head on over there, but still waiting for that translation income from The Cornerette, I'm not sure it'll be worth going over if I'm just gonna watch.

Friday August 14, 8:28 a.m.

It's one of those in-and-out transitions today. Both Speedy and I had left the office at 11 last night and I was back in by before 8. The steamy Tokyo nights are back as well....I was peeling off my clothes to take a well-needed shower. To try and get some decent sleep despite the heat and humidity, I followed some methods that I'd seen on that TBS info show, "Hanamaru Market" yesterday morning; the theme was on just that....how to survive the night without sweating to death. I put my fan near my feet (I did take a shower so there wouldn't be any risk of death by foot odor) and had the flow bounce off the closet so that there would be forced air circulation, and I didn't bother to drink anything cold since that would effectively turn off the sweating mechanism. It worked pretty well; despite the fact that I only got 5 hours of sleep, I don't feel too badly.

However, Speedy may not be feeling too good right now. He all but conceded that perhaps our days are numbered here at our current location. The school has been suffering financially....a lot of it due to the current financial malaise. Students are simply not renewing. Although he hasn't officially started yet, he's now thinking about alternate locations such as on a major train line which would mean higher rents. It would be a pity, but frankly I can't see us staying in the Nakano area either. The neighbourhood is pretty much dead at night, and heck, we lost one of the cheapest and nicest Chinese restaurants a couple of years ago. The bossman is also considering drastically changing direction, including even becoming a kids' school (gulp). If so, adios.

Sad sign of the times....apparently, there was an actual mugging in my city of Ichikawa, and not too, too far away from my neck of the woods. Some psycho with a metal bat managed to break a kid's arm and run off with about 15,000 yen last night. Times are tough, and so the especially weak-minded will take the easy way out...on someone else's head. Back in Toronto, every time I came home at midnight, I always kept a good eye on my surroundings for anything bad. I may have to do that now here as well.

Despite my early arrival, I've only got The Nurse in about an hour and that will be all she wrote for me for the entire weekend. Yep, real quiet week.

Finally got through the "Verified by Visa" process. I kept getting rejected by the computer for some reason when it came to my information to the extent that I was wondering if the name should be "Harassed by Visa" instead. However, after three phone calls, last night's operator came through for me.

Thursday August 13, 8:51 p.m.

Nearly finished my lone busy day of the week. Got through Miss Sedona, The Bow, Mr. TOEIC and The Carolinan. Now it'll just be The Music Man in 20 minutes. We're approaching the end of Miss Sedona's time with us. She only has about 4 more lessons and she hasn't given any indication whether she'll bother hanging on for the next few months before she takes off for The Great White North. She has been with us for over a year...kinda hard to believe that this was the shy pharmacist who was itching to visit San Francisco and Sedona, Arizona.

The Bow has been doing OK at her new job although she's been complaining that there has been a war of sorts amongst staff who want and don't want the AC on. As for Mr. TOEIC, he had a nice time resting up in his home prefecture of Fukushima; definitely came in today looking all summery instead of his usual suit. And the good news with The Carolinan is that she's secured a position with the company that's gonna take over her old one...well, at least it's OK news for her. She has some second thoughts whether she wants to continue there for much longer.

The O-Bon holidays officially started today, and the highways look it. 54 km-long traffic jams have certainly contributed to the parking lot-like atmosphere of holiday commuting.

Thursday August 13, 12:26 p.m.

May not be too easy to see, but there are several small jellyfish swimming around in the waters surrounding the vessel "Nippon Maru" in the Minato Mirai harbour of Yokohama. Just caught them with my eye while I was taking a walk around the vessel. There was a bit of an ethereal beauty to them but I don't particularly want to find out if someone falls into the water.

We've been having a problem with jellyfish. There have been some humoungous ones playing havoc with fishermen's nets recently. These things look like Portuguese Man O' Wars...these jellies look like the Spacedock from the "Star Trek" movies and are probably a whole lot more lethal. I'm kinda wondering if the fishermen should just switch from catching plain bluefin tuna and go for the jellyfish...which make a fine appetizer at Chinese buffets and courses.

I've got Miss Sedona in about 15 minutes. She's had to do two tests before she goes onto the next text. I hope she did pretty well. Then, I gotta rush out to the Shinjuku Starbucks to see The Bow and then rush on back for back-to-back lessons with Mr. TOEIC and The Carolinan. The only real respite I'll have is after The Carolinan and before The Music Man.

Wednesday August 12, 8:37 p.m.

To the left of me is the quake report map from early Tuesday morning when that M6.6 came rumbling by. Honshu looked like it had a skin condition. I showed this to 001 during the break; she pointed out that the bottom right hand corner bunch of kanji was her city, Sagamihara. The other three are areas in Yokohama.

The person in charge of earthquakes for the government gave his press conference as he usually does after a major temblor. He insisted that yesterday's rumble was not a sign of the approaching Tokai Earthquake, the Big One that is supposed to be crashing into the area....which only makes one wonder: if the quake on Tuesday wasn't the sign, then how much stronger is the next one going to be?

Over the weekend, I actually caught an oldie of sorts: the original "Back to the Future". It still holds up remarkably aware despite the very 80s references to Huey Lewis & The News, the DeLorean time machine and Pepsi Free. It's just too bad that its 2 sequels didn't quite make the cut. In a way, it was a precursor of the fate for "The Matrix": great original, so-so sequels.

Wednesday August 12, 8:21 p.m.

Well, 001 has come and gone. And The Fashion Designer has cancelled her lesson for tonight. So, I'm basically done. I'll head on home in about an hour...just want to let those rush hour commuters go home ahead of me. But then I hear that the O-Bon holidays have started so there may not be too big a rush tonight.

Getting back to NorikoGate...I think the biggest image of the week concerning this sad story will be the one taken a few years ago in which Noriko Sakai was in natty dreads and other assorted DJ wear including the mandatory huge earphones around her neck, just dancing about like a reject from EXILE on speed. Then again, maybe she was. Or so the media would like to have us believe. The assorted talking heads on the wide shows have been building up their own case to indict the singer way before she ever sees a courtroom. No surprise there....gotta rake in the ratings, y'know. They've even gone into overdrive over the fact that she's had some tattoos emblazoned on her ankle and ring finger. To hear them describe it, it would sound that the tattoos automatically label her as a mass murderer. The New Yorker has far larger tattoos all over her person, and she's one of the mildest-mannered students I've ever known. Having said that, though, this is a country where, despite the slowly growing acceptance of tattoos as a fashion accessory, tattoos are still frequently seen as a bad news signal of yakuza and teen gangs. Still, I'd hardly mistake Nori-P as a thugette.