Saturday October 31, 11:57 a.m.

Yep, it's another Halloween. I'm pretty sure places like Roppongi and Shinjuku got a head start last night and maybe from earlier in the week with all of the partying. I've even done my own contributions with my own pumpkin carving as you can see in light and night modes. Didn't take too long...just a little under an hour before my pumpkin from National Azabu Supermarket was transformed into a Jack O'Lantern.

Conversations with the students this past week have touched upon on how Halloween has quickly insinuated itself into the Japanese festival season. Just within the last decade, the annual Witching Hour has gone from one of the many curious little things that gaijin celebrate (usually for one circuit on the Yamanote Line here in Tokyo) to this annual event that frenzies all of the major entertainment areas in the big cities. No big plans here for me, but I just plan to hit Roppongi at the right time tonight and see if I can take some pics of the hilarity that will ensue.

Yesterday, I just had one student at Speedy's...Miss Prissy, who had kindly given me a no-calorie chocolate cake for my birthday (gee, how did she ever pick up on my need for no-calorie?). She's also one of those students who has a molasses-like fluency but at least she makes an overtly gigantic effort while The Medicine Man just sits there with a perplexed look on his face for several seconds (perhaps even a minute?) before he gives up. Guess which one I'm more impressed with?

Only have The Publicity Assistant today. Not sure if she'll be attending any of the Halloween activities tonight. Afterwards, I'll probably be working on some more stuff for Eiken before I take off.

Thursday October 29, 12:02 p.m.

Finished with Grandma Dynamite. Again like the last time, the two hours went pretty smoothly more or less. Looks like she'll be going with the double-lesson format. Officially, I'm now off for the day, but I wanted to tackle a bit more of the Eiken 1 project before heading on off for National Azabu Supermarket.

Like Mr. Mild, Grandma Dynamite has taken up the slow, graceful hobby of tai chi. She's been going to a neighbourhood park, Zenpukuji Park, on Sunday mornings and practicing with 29 other folks. Unlike Mr. Mild, she's gotten into it. Mr. Mild told me on Tuesday night that he probably won't continue it himself since it just seems a bit too languid for his style. He's more into cycling all over the place, so just standing still and moving in slow motion would seem a bit out of league with him.

Thursday October 29, 8:12 a.m.

Ahhh...Tokyo truly has the plethora of cuisines. Burgers with Shrek at Brozer's and then pai ko tan tan men with The Carolinan at Foo Foo. It is no wonder that metabolic syndrome has taken permanent hold on the populace nowadays, yours truly included.

Found out via Mixi that The Bohemian is currently in Vietnam to meet a friend. Apparently, he has overindulged himself in Ho Chi Minh City...hopefully, just of the culinary variety. I really don't need to see him on TV.

Since Daddy's Girl has once again gone into hiding, I've only got Grandma Dynamite for the two hours this morning. I'll probably spend some time afterwards doing that Eiken 1 project, before I head on out to Hiroo to pick up a pumpkin. I'd entertained some second thoughts about going, since it seems rather frivolous to carve a pumpkin for oneself, but then I figured, it's my life and I can do whatever I want. Plus, National Azabu Supermarket has far more variety in its stock (no pun intended) of Campbell Soups than any other regular supermarket. And in addition, it'll be nice to be focused on something other than teaching on a Thursday night.

Wednesday October 28, 8:37 p.m.

Did forget to mention my night at the juku last night. It was perhaps the first time that I'd actually seen the boss look pretty frustrated. Apparently, she hasn't been having a good time with her new computer...I think she upgraded a little too high with that MS Vista, and she's nowhere near a computer expert. The last couple of times I've come over, she's sheepishly asked me to help her out on some rather simple tasks. She apparently got into a bit of a fight with an old friend who had come over to help out on Sunday because her friend thought the boss was getting herself too much of a tizzy about her new electronic monster. I would tend to agree to a certain point. I'm no expert myself but I at least know the meaning of the word "scan". The boss is a bit worried about her emotional state since pre-operation, she would have let such a thing just slide off her back. Now, she just gets herself into a lather about one simple operation on a computer.

Wednesday October 28, 7:58 p.m.

These two pictures are from my Saturday foray into Akiba at that festival. The one on the left is of the Tokyo Anime Centre. Since the government has officially cancelled the project to make that huge museum devoted to anime, it looks like the TAC will be it for the next while...or the next election. The one on the right is of that concert outside of the UDX Building where these two performers dressed like anime space pilots were plying their stuff while the rabid fans were literally throwing themselves all over...a lot of them looked a lot older than teenagers, too.

It's been a pretty nice day. Had a bit of a logistical nightmare earlier in the day, though, when I ran a bit overtime with The Magician and had to race to the station to pick up The New Yorker. Hopefully, The Magician wasn't too offended if I'd seemed to have been rushing things. Otherwise, The New Yorker was in fine fettle and then The German and I had a lot of things to gab about as usual. The Businesswoman came in for the first time in 4 months. Looks like she's coming back into the fold since she's started at a new position at a university. She's going away from the Business English and just wants to work on general fluency.

001 cancelled...no surprise there. And even Daddy's Girl has canned her lesson for tomorrow night, which means that after Grandma Dynamite tomorrow morning, I'm done. It looks like I can just head over to National Azabu and grab that pumpkin. Basically, I've been doing a lot of housekeeping on Mixi and here for the past few hours, but I should be headed on my way home in another hour.

Mao Asada, the world champion figure skater and national darling, seems to be in a tailspin instead of a triple axel. A sports columnist for "The Japan Times" wrote an article pleading with the skater to dump her current coach, a famed Russian woman who now seems to have lost her edge. If even the English media are starting to get worried, then I can only imagine how the Japanese media with their jerky knees must be feeling. They probably want to hang the Russian by her thumbs at this point, especially since it's Mao. I was struck by one comment by Jack Gallagher: "Mao is revered in Japan because she possesses the unique combination of beauty, ability and innocence that this country so loves." I can imagine that point for a lot of folks...including currently defrocked Noriko Sakai. That so-called unique combination goes a long way in explaining everything from aidoru to Maid Cafes. As for Ms. Asada, she's virtually a tarento with all of the appearances she's made on TV...mostly in commercials. For her to lose her place at the Olympics would send the sponsors into apoplexy. I think Gallagher also made an interesting point in that Mao is back here in Japan where she's got as much celeb clout and attention as Brad Pitt does in America. That would definitely distract the kid...better that she's out of the nation as a virtually unknown presence in either Canada or the States.

Monday October 26, 8:39 p.m.

It's been a long, soggy Monday. I guess that would be perfect for the Carpenters ditty "Rainy Days and Mondays". Typhoon 20 is supposed to be just grazing the Pacific Coast tomorrow morning, but it's been leaving quite the calling card so far. My shoes are gonna be properly waterlogged by the time I get home tonight.

I had Cozy for his regular early-morning lesson. Despite the bleary-eyed nature of his classes, he's been a fine student. Can't really complain. Afterwards, I just headed straight back home; it's saying something when I'm coming home from a lesson and the supermarket is still not open yet. I spent the next 6 hours just doing some household stuff.

Once again, fallen aidoru Noriko "Nori-P" Sakai has usurped the news cameras from PM Hatoyama. Our new "alien" leader launched the first day of an extraordinary session of Parliament with his policy speech. However, NHK was the only one to pick it up as the commercial networks en masse went with Nori-P's first appearance in court to face the music against those drug charges. Since this isn't America, cameras weren't allowed in the courtroom, so it was left to young athletic reporters to come charging out in relay teams to breathlessly spit out the goings-on inside. Hatoyama was talking about the future of Japan, the reporters for Nori-P were talking about her clothes and make-up. Such is the state of J-journalism. BTW, the prosecution is calling for 2 years in prison for Sakai, although most likely she's gonna get it suspended. All she has to do is to flash that cute smile of hers, and the judges are hers.

Well, I've got The Medicine Man in about 40 minutes. I'm hoping against hope that he'll be far more lucid than he was last week. I've got some more review with him before I give him the big test. I just heard from Speedy that The Businesswoman may be thinking of coming back into the fold again...after the paycheck I got today, any return by long-lost students would be very welcome.

Monday October 26, 8:24 p.m.

Sunday may have been the visit to Omotesando but the day before was something different altogether. After my session with The Intellectual, I decided to take the train over to Akihabara, as I am occasionally wont to do. Apparently, during the same time that The Tokyo International Film Festival was on, the Otaku Mecca had its own Entertainment Festival. I went there on the 2nd last day. Most of the festa (as the Japlish would have it) took place at the UDX Building, one of the two twin towers that now occupy like Akiba like two dismembered legs from a Gundam. There was a huge mass waiting for some sort of event while there were some stands selling anime stuff but otherwise, there wasn't a whole heck of a lot going on inside.

However, just outside of the UDX was another matter...and that refers to the upper-left hand picture. The 1st floor is occupied by a Chinese restaurant and a Tully's so the crowd is atypically (for Akiba) well-heeled showing some of the new Akihabara. However at the time I got there, some of the old Akiba showed its well-worn face. What looked like something that usually takes place in front of the @Home Cafe was happening in front of that Tully's. A couple of women in space-age outfits was strutting their stuff in front of an adoring (all male) mob. While the girls were wailing away in their mikes, the fan(atics) were just throwing themselves all over the place; I would say that they were just as entertaining as the girls on stage. It's become a custom for Akiba idols to have their cheering section throw their bodies around like interpretive dancers and spit out practiced lines and slogans like a bunch of hirsute cheerleaders. Of course, there were quite a lot of folks training their cellphone cameras on the sight of otaku going nuts. There were a number of uniformed teens looking on rather amusedly and bemusedly. I think a teen's biggest fear would be peering into that mass of black-shirted otakudom and then suddenly crying out "DAD?!"

Monday October 26, 6:31 p.m.

Rotten weather outside due to the effects of Typhoon No. 20. Must be Halloween Week. Went to Omotesando yesterday morning before my session with The Jyuppies to see if I could take some pics of the annual Halloween Parade there. The rain and gloom certainly added to the festive mood but I'd had doubts whether the event could come off. However, when I saw the steady stream of kids and parents come up from the subway, I don't think the organizers could've cancelled it if they had tried. Yup, the entire city has its fair share of orange-and-black decorations, including Jack O'Lanterns strewn all about.

It's amazing how Halloween has taken hold here...at least in Tokyo...in the past 15 years. When I came here in 1994, there was no sign of the Great Pumpkin anywhere. There was that custom of drunken foreigners hijacking one car of the Yamanote Line for one loop on the 31st, much to the bemusement of normal passengers and JR staff. That may have been nipped in the bud, but since then, Halloween parties have been popping up like mushrooms over the last decade-and-a-half.

When I was at the old school, I started up the tradition of carving pumpkins and getting the students in their Halloween finest. No such luck here at Speedy's since we don't have nearly the quantities of students. No new students to show my Jack O'Lantern abilities but I may still brave the elements tomorrow after my physical (provided that I can still walk after that and no breakfast) just to head over to National Azabu Supermarket in Hiroo and pick up a gourd to carve all by myself. I've already gotten into the spirit of things by watching "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown".

Saturday October 24, 1:30 p.m.

It was an interesting Thursday. I saw The Bow for the first time in about a month...she'd been working on the campaign for her soon-to-be former company, Dyson, to get the word out locally about James Dyson's latest revolutionary invention, the bladeless fan. The Bow spent half the hour on the schematics of the device...basically a large ring on top of a cylinder containing a powerful impeller sucking air in and throwing it out through a gap in the ring. The official launch came out in Omotesando Hills about a week ago with the man himself making an appearance, but sales in regular electronics shops won't be starting until early next year.

Then I took The Carolinan after her lesson to my favorite ramen joint, Foo Foo. Yup, she enjoyed the pai ko tan tan men...just slurped up the spicy broth right up.

I gloriously enjoyed my late Friday. Actually got 9 hours of sleep in bed since I decided to stave off the physical until Tuesday. The need for sleep and the ramen within me made the point rather moot. The juku boss seems to be still suffering from the effects of her operation nearly a year ago. She said her blood pressure was dangling quite low last night. The Ace and The Restauranteur were fine.

This morning, I got up early and headed down to the Shin-Takanawa Prince Hotel in Shinagawa to meet up with my old friend, Paddy. The Prince Hotel chain seems to really want to get that prize of Japanese Holiday Inn. The interior of this one, along with the very first one down in Shiba Park, seems to be stuck in the 60s. Years ago, it was pretty much known as the premier hotel chain in the country, but now it just seems to be hellbent on staying in faded mediocrity. In any case, Paddy was just here to get some family stuff done so we met up in the lobby before heading for one of the small restaurants for breakfast. We made the usual chat on catching up and finding out what's become with some of our old cronies. Since my old friend is now based in London and uses Virgin Airlines fairly often, I was wondering about introducing him to The Ballerina since she's now working in a supervisory position there at Heathrow.

Had my lone lesson with The Intellectual. I'll probably be heading out at 2 to go to Akiba. Apparently, it's the last day of some sort of festival over there. I just want to take some pictures since it's been a while.

Looks like this Monday will be a Donut Day. Both Swank and Daddy's Girl have re-scheduled their classes for later dates, so I'll just have Cozy for the early slot while Medicine Man will come in for his usual last slot.

Thursday October 22, 12:49 p.m.

Yup, Grandma FON was in the house, and true to her Force of Nature title, she was just off and running. Almost didn't need to refer to her text. She'd gone to the Basque region of Spain (not sure if she ran into any ETA types) over the summer, along with her frequent hops up to her house in Nagano Prefecture. She'll be heading there next week as well since she loves the countryside so.

Just gotta ingest some lunch and then I'll be headed out for Shinjuku. Feeling a bit weary from the lack of sleep, so it looks like it'll be a heavy coffee day. Thankfully, my remaining 2 lessons will be at Starbucks.

Thursday October 22, 11:14 a.m.

Another early wake-up call to teach Cozy. My shoulders are definitely getting that petrified forest quality. It's been a long time since I had a massage...ever since that financial gouging I got at the Lilac Forest, the massage clinic area in Ikebukuro's Sunshine City, earlier this year, I've been rather trepidatious about entering one. However, Cozy is one good student. Barely got through the one page but only because we were just riffin' on the conversation.

I've got Grandma FON for the first time since July. Wonder how she's gonna be. Most likely, we'll just be gabbing on her latest trips, so probably no need for any textbook but just in case, I've got it with me. Then, after lunch, I'm off to Shinjuku to teach The Bow and The Carolinan. And then good ol' Foo Foo for dinner. I'll be definitely holding off that physical til next Tuesday. When I've got the early wake-up call for a physical plus the requisite of not eating for 10 hours before the checkup versus a fine ramen tonight followed by several hours of good sleep, I think the choice is obvious.

Wednesday October 21, 8:00 p.m.

Basically got some stuff done: a bit of planning for that long-range project of devising an EIKEN 1 course, proofread the latest report from The Croatian, and looked at what I'll have to do with The Music Man. Yep, 001 is off for the 2nd week in a row...ostensibly for a workshop tonight, although I do wonder if there is any alcohol involved.

I've also been wondering if I ought to join the "NCIS" community on Mixi. Yep, even here in Japan, Mark Harmon's magnum opus has got an in-built fan club. Last year during my time in Canada over the Holidays, it was "CSI: Miami" that I was glued to on the tube. Well, thanks to the good folks at Fox Japan, I've been catching the funnier and more action-packed spinoff to "JAG" pretty regularly. And I guess in deference to both the Cate and Ziva fans, FJ has been showing eps from Seasons 2 and 4 (pre- and post- Cate's death) at different times of the day. Ironically, I think FJ will be showing the tragic season finale to Season 2 tomorrow morning. Tragically, I have to be out by 6:30 a.m. tomorrow to teach Cozy.

It's been interesting how "NCIS" has slowly come up through the ratings eclipsing its parent show, that had often been referred disdainfully as the program for retired folk just after Pablum time. "NCIS" just seems to be a different show altogether...it consistently has elements of "CSI" and "Moonlighting" and even, to a certain crazed extent, "Sailor Moon", just in its plotting. I don't think anyone has ever seen such a fusion of drama, thriller and comedy in one series, and I think the viewers have finally seen the light, judging from the Neilsen ratings.

Wednesday October 21, 5:06 p.m.

A rather Humpless Day with only The Music Man as my student of the day. However, I've kept it interesting. Went over to the Gyotoku annex of Ichikawa City Hall, just one station over and a 5-minute walk, to renew my Gaijin Card. I was apparently taken care of by a reject from the Japanese rock band, GLAY...fiery Dragonball hair, open shirt and a pimp moustache. Nice enough guy, though.

Then, I headed to Kanda/Jimbocho and took a long browse over at Sanseido Books, one of the most famous bookstores in Tokyo. I hadn't been there in years...not too many changes, and still doesn't have quite the English-language book section that Kinokuniya or Maruzen does. Still, my main mission was to meet The Carolinan at 1 for lunch since she works nearby. She took me to a soup curry restaurant (the Japanese seem to like to reverse their word order for compound word dishes) which apparently had been recommended on TV by the currently "in" comedy duo, Audrey. The restaurant itself was one of the usual places squeezed in between old buildings. It had quite the Showa Era air about it...a lot of wood, old 20th-century art and kayo kyoku from the 60s playing in the background...very natsukashii.

Soup curry is as it sounds: it's not the usual spicy and thick concoction poured over a mound of rice. The rice is set aside while the curry is much more watery though it still retains that spiciness. I took the hamburg set, so there was a thick patty doused in my soup, while The Carolinan had the veggie set with carrots, potatoes, and broccoli. It was quite a good lunch to have in such an appealingly old-fashioned environment. Definitely worth another visit. I told my lunch partner that I would have to take her out to Foo Foo to return the favour tomorrow night. Since I only have one lesson at Speedy's in the morning, I'll be teaching her at the Shinjuku Starbucks a couple of hours after I'm done with her friend, The Bow. It would just be short walk to get to my favourite ramen place afterwards.

I've been teaching for over 22 years now, and I've had my spectrum of students: angry, overly peppy, nearly mute, very engaging, etc. But last night at the juku, I had my very first morbidly depressed session. As I've mentioned before, Mr. White has been battling his depression, and he came right at the time where he must have been at rock bottom. He came in hunched over, shuffling and shaking, and as soon as he sat down, he just started breaking down, wracked in sobs. Oh, boy...I kept myself calm since I'd already been advised about his condition by the boss and just let him get it all out, before I asked the boss to get a glass of water and call his wife.

I'd thought that it was probably prudent to have Mrs. White come with the car and pick her husband up, but instead, the missus advised me to teach him as long as possible to help get his confidence up. Apparently, Mr. White has been battling depression for five years, so if anyone knows how to handle him, it would be his wife. So, there was no protest from me...I just set back to work. Used kid gloves on him, of course. And I managed to get him through the lesson. His mood lightened somewhat although he was still very down on himself and spoke in little more than an anguished whisper. I offered to walk him home, but he politely declined. I just hoped he can control himself. After that class, I gained a lot of perspective in terms of my own life.

After lunch with The Carolinan, I went over to Shinjuku and picked up the CD for Cozy's textbook at Kinokuniya. I noticed that the days of the snaky lineup at Krispy Kreme #1 are over. There was only a 15-minute lineup. Also to use up some of those soon-to-be deleted points on my HMV card and bought a couple of jazz discs, one of them being the legendary (and legendarily complicated) Miles Davis' "Steamin". Just don't think I'll be able to listen to it until Friday at least.

Tuesday October 20, 2:47 p.m.

Finally get to use the I-Cafe for a bit of recreational surfing other than the slog of translating as was the case last week. Haven't heard anything from The Cornerette yet so I can assume that she's making a long count to 10 before replying back.

Had The Beehive this morning. Mrs. Tee dropped in and was mostly mute for which she got a royal teasing from her friends. That's usually the case for her....not really much for conversing. She and The Medicine Man could make an Ingmar Bergman film just looking at each other. Yup, it was another teeth-pulling session with him last night.

I've got the usual juku crowd...or perhaps it would be more accurate to say just The Milds tonight. I'm not sure if Mr. White will be coming today on account of his depression. This could be the 3rd week running for him. I'll give the boss a call and see if he's indeed coming in.

Well, lunch is confirmed with The Carolinan for tomorrow in Jimbocho. I'll head over after I get the ball rolling on renewing the Gaijin Card. Yup, I didn't bother going after The Beehive session. I figure that I do have some time.

Monday October 19, 8:55 p.m.

I guess I really am making up for lost time. Daddy's Girl showed up...sign of the times...the reason she was absent for 5 months is that the entire temp staff got laid off so the permanent stuff, including her, had to pick up the slack. As it was, she was a bit more conversant than I remembered her back in her first two meetings.

It's just the Medicine Man now and then I'm done for the day.

Monday October 19, 6:06 p.m.

My second entry of the day...the first time I can boast that for a while. Daddy's Girl has delayed her arrival by an hour, so I'll be able to digitally twiddle my fingers for a bit longer.

La Fille and I shared the kitchen table for dinner. We had some of that cheese with those little peppers that Grandma Dynamite had given us last Thursday. Warmed up, it made for a fine topping on cracotte wafers. We also talked about the upcoming Halloween celebrations. La Fille and a friend were thinking about throwing a party on or near the day. She'd never carved out a Jack O'Lantern, so I gave her the basics. I think this might be the first year in a long time that I won't be pumpkin carving...kinda too bad since I now have a digital camera. I would've loved to have taken some photos, but then again, I can just bring home one for myself. There will be the annual Halloween parade down Omotesando...I may put my camera to good use there just before I head on over to The Jyuppies for their lesson on Sunday.

Had a level check last Friday with that high-powered lady Speedy had been talking to me about. She's the president of her own consulting company and used to be a journalist. She's quite the cheerful talker with a confidence not quite bordering on theh cocky. Pretty good English, too...kinda wonder why she would need lessons. It was almost like talking with a female Speedy. Not sure what she's gonna do and even if I would be able to squeeze her into my schedule.

Monday October 19, 4:23 p.m.

Man, what a week. Hardly blogged in since I was spending most of it tackling that supposed translation from The Cornerette, only to get the equivalent of a cease-and-desist order from her. Too late, I spent 10 hours over my weekend getting it done and sent over to her. It turned out that I misread her instructions, and that the assignment hadn't come in yet. I think this would be the point where that muted trumpet sound would start sounding. Well, I sent my apologies and just said that if the assignment does come in, she's lucky since it's already done. I was perhaps a bit cheeky about it, but that is a much preferable reaction from me compared to how I would have reacted a decade ago, when I would probably have sent every epithet imaginable at her.
But then again, it may be just as well that I did jump the gun since I'm not quite sure what the next few weeks are gonna bring in terms of teaching work. For some reason, I've started getting rather busy again with Cozy and Swank becoming regular students among other things.

It's another different scene now on Monday mornings. Up until the Spring this year, for the past decade, it was the sessions with The Class Act at The New Otani and then The Lady's palatial mansion. Now, it's meeting Swank at Roppongi Hills. I've just had her for the past month, but it's looking pretty good. She loves to absorb vocabulary, the more complex the better, and we usually start gabbing about our own personal situations. Today, it was on how much our mothers annoy us. So I get a psychology session AND money. Speaking of Roppongi Hills, the annual Tokyo International Film Festival has gotten under way, not that I'd heard much about it. However, I did notice an increase of well-suited foreigners in the plaza.

This week will be government stuff. Tomorrow, I gotta go to Ichikawa City Hall and renew my Gaijin Card (officially the Alien Registration Card). I got the ball rolling today by taking a few passport photos at the automatic machines...man, did I get old, and it looks like 5 years of orthodontics were largely wasted since it seems that my lower jaw has decided to move back a few degrees left of centre. The trip shouldn't be too painful, but then I've got my annual physical in Gyotoku on Friday. Oh, that should be a barrel of laughs...for the nurses. Ever seen what an E.T. body really looks like?

In the midst of all of the craziness surrounding that translation, I did manage to watch a couple of flicks on cable...both of them would probably be considered to be "No Cigar, but Nice Try" movies. One was "Spy Game", that flick with Robert Redford and Brad Pitt (two generations of heartthrobs) directed by Tony Scott. It was good enough to watch at home, but I think the marketing department had screwed up. It's really not that much of an action flick, more of a 70s-style intrigue with most of the movie being devoted to flashbacks and intra-Langley hijinks. It was almost pathetic how Redford's character managed to make his colleagues look like the Keystone Kops.

The second flick was "The Black Dahlia". The powers-that-be really turned on the 40s film noir for this one, maybe even more so than "L.A. Confidential". Still, I think the writers got a little too carried away with the de rigueur plot twists at the end. It turned out to be a ping pong game with Josh Hartnett as the white ball.

I have The Medicine Man tonight in the final slot, but before him, I've got a student who'd only been here twice before putting on a disappearing act in late Spring. I can't even remember if I even gave her a code name. I just remember her telling me that her father had given her a BMW. So I guess Daddy's Girl might be good for her.

Thursday October 15, 8:01 a.m.

Ah...the big 44...apparently, in Japanese culture, the age of 42 is the yakudoshi (the bad year) but I would have thought that this year was the Year of Hell (knocking on wood most loudly now), since the number 4 is considered a bad luck number on the same level as the number 13, and, heck, with "44", that's a pretty double-barreled numeral.

In any case, it's been about a week since my last entry since I've been away from Speedy's for about that long, and I've been hard at work trying to get The Cornerette's latest epic translation ready to go by tonight. Not sure if I'm gonna make it, but I'll certainly give it my best despite the first truly heavy schedule in some time here. I've got Grandma Dynamite for two hours (oh, boy), then The Nurse, The New Yorker, The German, and finally The Music Man.

In fact, this is all that I can afford to write right now since I'm gonna have to hit the translation for the next several minutes before Grandma comes in.

Saturday October 12, 10:27 a.m.

Last night for a couple of hours, CNN, FOX and all those alphabet media outlets could've been forgiven if they'd decided to change their call letters into "HUH?" or even "WTF?!" I was at home watching The Network That Ted Turner Built when the live news feed came in from the chairman of the Nobel Committee stating in his native Norwegian something about Barack Obama, followed by a major inhalation of air from the amassed journalists. Jonathan Mann of CNN probably echoed millions of viewers when he looked rather stunned when he had heard the most famous name this year. And then the chairman confirmed it a few minutes later in English when he declared that the US President has gotten the 2009 Peace Prize.

Well, after resetting my lower jaw, I echoed what a lot of the CNN and BBC folks were talking about...first and foremost, the question "WHY?" Or "Why now?" There were indeed a lot of folks who were trumpeting the accolades of the decision, but there were even more people, including myself, asking "What has he done?" and "Why does he deserve this?" I think even Obama himself was thinking that as he was told the news when he woke up. He probably thought one of his siblings was playing a practical joke on him.

The chairman of the Nobel Committee (sorry, can't be bothered to look up his name) stated soberly as he brushed off the near-incredulous questions from reporters that Barack was given the Nobel Prize for Peace because of his effect on the world, and apparently his gosh-darn great speeches. Pundits educated me that the Nobel Committee often roll the dice on winners in the hopes that the award can provide some existential nuclear fuel to do more of the right think. News to me...I always thought that that heavy medal was for deeds done, not for deeds to be done. I got pretty much the same reaction from the juku boss and The Restauranteur last night. Y'know....I like Barack Obama, I really do. But I just don't think this was particularly the right choice at this time. I think the slogan was "Yes, we can!", not "Perhaps, we could."

All I can say is that Sasha and Malia now have some pretty powerful bragging rights in the schoolyard. Their father has become the US President and a Nobel laureate in less than one year.

Thursday October 8, 7:21 p.m.

Saw The Carolinan for the first time in about a month since she couldn't make it for the latter half of September. For some reason, she was still rather blah or blase...although the Beard Papa cream puff I plied her with helped a bit. She's now getting used to her new circumstances in Jimbocho, and since I sometimes have a bit of a shopping trip there, she told me that if I'm ever in the area around noon on a weekday, I should look her up for a bit of lunch.

Ahhh...The Cornerette sent me an e-mail. Haven't heard from her since that little kerfuffle from the ceramics translation project. Can't say that I was too enthused about hearing from her, but she sent me her own personal thing to translate....all of 14 pages. Should be fun.

I was able to tunnel through The Croatian's sample of writing and get it off with remarks. So, basically, it's just working on The Corner's and The Cornerette's translations until The Music Man comes on in.

Thursday October 8, 4:44 p.m.

Well, Typhoon 18 has come and went. Looks like we got the 2-tiered deal. The sheets of rain last night followed by sun and warp-drive winds from this morning. In an O. Henry moment, all of the folks due to go to Speedy's earlier in the morning had no problems, but although I could sleep in, I ended up riding a morning rush hour peak train at 12:30 p.m. since the Tozai Line stopped due to lingering high winds. It was a distinctly uncomfortable experience breaking laws of physics with my fellow passengers on the subway...something that I hope to not repeat tomorrow morning when I go and see Cozy for his first lesson.

Luckily enough, I was able to meet Bay just in time at Nakano-Sakaue despite the turtle-like Tozai. Yes, she contacted me last night to say that she needed my signature for verification for some of those translations I did for her a few months ago. Bay is basically an ex-employee of Speedy's since she's now full time at another place, but she had a day off so she decided to come over with me to Speedy's with a ton of Beard Papa Puff Pastries for presents. The Japanese sure love their shuu kurimu. I'll have to remember to give one to The Carolinan. Yep, she finally replied to my summons...no explanation but she said that she'll be here by 6.

Only have The Music Man as the official Speedy student tonight. Perhaps he'll have some opinions on the Suzuka Grand Prix.

Wednesday October 7, 8:23 p.m.

Well, the day's done for me...001 has left the building, and will be gone for the next couple of weeks. She has her annual all-day barhopping tour in Suidobashi next week, and then has a meeting at work the week after that. Speedy and Ray are just talking logistics about the next big step to salvage the school.

I think Mixi has gotten rather dead when it comes to the communities I've joined. Even the Star Trek community has gone dark after what seemed to be interminable chatting amongst the local Trekkies for the past several months. Basically, the only one of my communities that has remained quite active is the one for jazz...and I haven't contributed anything to that yet.

The rain has stopped for now....not sure what it's gonna be like tomorrow morning, though. But as far as I'm concerned, I'm gonna enjoying lounging in my futon for a few extra hours.

Wednesday October 7, 4:16 p.m.

Well, I thought as much. We'd been expecting Grandma Dynamite's grand return to the fold tomorrow morning. However, there is also Typhoon 18 with its own grand entrance, and her sister, Grandma Enka, along with Speedy and I were wondering if the former would brave the latter. A few minutes ago, we got the answer. She canned and she'll be doing a double next week instead. So, instead of having to slog myself here early in the morning fighting sturm und drang, I can actually get a decent round of sleep and not show up until 6 p.m.

Speaking of which, I haven't heard anything from The Carolinan about confirming for her lesson tomorrow night. I did send a message to her a couple of days ago but have yet to hear back. Pretty unusual for her. Hope she's OK.

Got that translation done for Shrek...at least, I've sent it off for him to peruse. Hopefully, it passes muster. I've got that other one for The Corner but that one's considerably smaller than the one I've just done and it won't be due til Halloween. However, The Croatian sent me his first official assignment, so gotta get that copied out and analyzed by Friday.

At the juku last night, Mr. White dotakyan'ed due to his illness...which both the boss and I suspect is depression. He's almost 4 years younger than me, but his hair has gone stark white (hence the name). The two of us then had a brief but deep talk on the nature of depression. As for The Milds, the three of us basically devoted most of the class on talking about his performance on Sunday. Apparently, the leader and conductor of Mr. Mild's glee club was not too complimentary about the first part of the show...I have to admit that the early stuff did come out off-tune...but by the end, the group was humming like a well-oiled machine. Strangely enough, the talk turned to my Mixi experience, and they both got really interested. I may have created a couple of online monsters here.

It was Miss Sedona's final lesson with me before she heads off to Toronto for what could be her new life. Not too much studying...pretty laidback class and then the usual questions about my hometown.

I've only got 001 tonight and then I plan on getting the heck out of Dodge by 9 before Typhoon 18 pummels on in.

Tuesday October 6, 1:25 p.m.

A bit of a bummer....I wanted to use today's session at the I-Cafe to get some more translation done, but this computer won't download the file. Just a bit of a bummer, since I'm "resigned" to a bit of surfing instead.

This week may actually turn out to be the busiest week I've had since early summer. I've got 3 early wake-up calls, plus Shrek's translation, one small one from The Corner along with the regular student classes. Unfortunately, this will all occur with the backdrop of a major typhoon coming our way tomorrow. I just saw the icon on the weather map with a diagonal umbrella and driving rain to realize that it could be rather hard commuting on Wednesday.

David Letterman's being doing a lot of mea culpa over the past few days since it was revealed that he hadn't just been relying on certain members of his staff for jokes. I think "The Late Show"'s new slogan should be "Stay up for Dave. He certainly has." Of course, some of his fellow late night host have declared a feeding frenzy and jumped on his tribulation like a cat on juicy mice. A bit sad but the late night show host fraternity has been anything but....more like a fracternity. Plus, as one lady said on Jeanne Moos' report, "If he can dish it out, he should be able to take it." And certainly, former New York governor Eliot Spitzer is probably not crying too hard for ol' Dave.

Monday October 5, 10:45 p.m.

Finished off The Medicine Man tonight. Man, it was another slow one with him, but then again, the two of us were beat.

I received a great line from Mrs. Jyuppie just now. She couldn't do the test, not because the dog ate it, but her baby daughter did! Ahhh...my job just gets more and more interesting.

The news has been buzzing about the sudden mysterious death of ex-Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa. A couple of years, it was Agriculture Ministers who were falling by the wayside, but now it's the money men. Apparently, he was a real nice guy in the political world and in the world of constituents, but he regrettably lost it all earlier this year with his inadvertent Foster Brooks impression at the G-8 Finance Ministers meeting in Italy. Not sure what he died from...could've overdosed on medicine.

Cozy is now officially my newest student. And he wants to get the earliest slot on Friday. So it looks like I'm gonna have three consecutive early wake-up calls for the latter part of the week. But at least I'm gonna be making some money again after a lean couple of months, and Cozy told me straight out that my usual wage is too low and that he would give me a whopping 5,000 yen for 60. Gotta keep this guy.

Monday October 5, 8:33 p.m.

May have the prelude to a typhoon outside of these walls right now. It's been raining the proverbial cats and dogs for the past several hours.

However, yesterday was quite pleasant for Mr. Mild's debut as a basso profundo member of his chorus. The juku boss and I made our way to Urayasu Culture Hall in the afternoon and got to see my student in full James Bond tuxedo get up on the stage with a few dozen other middle-aged fellows to sing a number of Japanese folk tunes as well as UK ditties such as "Loch Lomond". Strangely enough, at the same time as this concert, there was indeed a festival held in Chiba City organized by the Japan-Scotland Friendship Society. Some cabers were thrown, some kilts were raised, but there were no panic-stricken starship engineers. In any case, both the boss and I were surprised to see Mr. White and his family show up as well. Mrs. White is quite the opposite of hubby...garrulous, opinionated and with a machine gun for a voice. I thought she came from the Kansai.

It's been a busy one today. Although two lessons are on the slate today (Swank and The Medicine Man), I finally got that meeting with The Romantic and his boss...seems that research project is indeed a research project looking for raw corporate data. Looks like I'm the newest unofficial member of their network. And I'm grinding through Shrek's translation of that rental contract. I'm halfway through, so it looks like I may be able to finish it tomorrow at the I-Cafe.

Anyways, would love to write more but still busy.

Saturday October 3, 10:07 a.m.

The feeling among some Tokyoites today might be similar to the tone of "Casey at the Bat", in which The Big Sushi must feel like Mudville. Yep, after years of hoopla and having to hear Governor Shintaro Ishihara's stentorian and strident demands for an Olympics in 2016 in his fair city, the largest city on the planet got the ultimate thumbs-down from the IOC early this morning in Copenhagen.

To be honest, there was no surprise from me on that point. Tokyo's support rate for The Games from its own citizens was the lowest of the 4 cities bidding for 2016 at 72%. But even that percentage seemed quite a bit overinflated considering the very tepid...cool...response from their own residents. There was never a huge upswell of emotion for The Games in the past few years, and it only seemed within the last couple of weeks that even the media and any athletes showed any real passion to get them. In the last couple of days, I saw Sydney 2000 Women's Marathon winner Naoko Takahashi and Hammer Throw champ Murofushi finally come out to cheer on the bid...where were they months or years ago?

Back in the early 60s, when Tokyo did host The Games, the metropolis, and the entire country for that matter, had something to prove by getting The Olympics. Japan had spent nearly 2 decades in getting out of the shadow of World War II, and the '64 Games were the debutante ball. There isn't really anything for this metropolis to prove today...outside of slapping on some solar panels on a stadium. Tokyo continues to metamorphasize, with or without a major sports event as impetus, and the country's athletes show up at just about every international competition around the planet. As for the lack of passion within the city...well, that's just comes with the territory, societally speaking. Japanese on an individual level can be just as berating, weeping and explosively humourous as anyone else. But when it comes to the society at large, they become the equivalent of the polite, demure spinster at a tea party. It would take something on the level of a stinging defeat from a war to shake societal passion from them.

I didn't wait until the 1:50 a.m. JST announcement of Rio getting the Olympics. Have classes to teach, y'know. However, I did get one of two surprises live at about 11:30 p.m. Chicago got ousted in the very first round. The media had been reporting that The Windy City was one of the two favourites. And there was nothing like the Obama Factor to help kick in a bit more juice into the bidding. But President Jacques Rogge didn't feel the love from The City of Da Bulls, deep-dish pizza and jazz, and it got the bum's rush. One of the truly rare sights is to see a crowd in a major American city left speechless...I got that sight last night on CNN. I found out this morning from its website that the support rate there had probably always been inflated, too. I'd heard percentages like 92%...but it was actually more like 55%. Ouch!

The only other surprise was finding out that Governor Ishihara could actually speak fluent English. I'm sure the next week will have me finding some sympathy for his direct staff as he probably mutters and screams in two languages at City Hall.

So, all those banners that had been hanging throughout Tokyo for the past several months will come on down....perhaps to become someone's dusty memento in a closet along with Nagoya's 1988 poster and the one for Osaka some years ago. There is no joy in Tokyo today...for some people. But the rest of us will go on quite well without the Olympics, thank you.

Thursday October 1, 8:23 p.m.

Looks like my ode to Chudleigh's got some notice from one of my Mixi friends...the one who's the huge "Doctor Who" fan. It was a pretty rich description, rich enough to match the consistency of a Chudleigh's pie crust. I did get my compliments from her. She couldn't quite understand my phrase of a burstworthy apple pie so I sent her the web address of the Chudleigh's website showing one of their magnificent pies; she should get a pretty good idea from that.

When it rains, it pours...I now not only have a rental contract to translate by next Wednesday for Shrek, but The Corner has just sent me an e-mail after several weeks to ask me to translate one page from their own site. Luckily, that page is nowhere near the monster that the ceramics project was. Still, I can't get upset about the increase in work, especially that powwow earlier today with Speedy about the declining fortunes of the school. And speaking about the boss, he gave me the direction I needed with that Eiken 1 project. I also now have inherited his two students, The Magician and The German, who I've taught in the past.

Saw The New Yorker. May have to think more about having her classes in the late afternoon rather than in the mid-afternoon. The Tully's there seems to be more amenable for conversation classes at 5. The only problem is that getting back to Speedy's on the Shinjuku and Oedo Lines is an exercise in Hell.

Thursday October 1, 3:29 p.m.

Well, it didn't quite come out right but at least the object is still showing. That might look like a dish of sliced peaches, but it sure ain't. That, my friends, is a plate of hoya shiokara...in plain English, it's Sea Squirt Innards. Perhaps if you haven't gagged, then you don't know what it is. Let me elucidate. Sea Squirt is basically an upright Sea Cucumber....just a living tube from the bottom of the ocean.

Never had the stuff before so The Bohemian and I ordered a plate of it. The stuff was so salty that we automatically ordered another couple of bottles of Asahi Dry...now I know the restaurant's secret weapon to get people to drink. Not something that I would order again initially.

However, I did wax poetic over at Mixi about the wonders of one of the few consistently happy memories from my childhood...Chudleigh's Apple Farm in Milton, Ontario. If anything says Fall in Ontario, it is this place. My family used to go there like clockwork every October to pick up a ton of apples from the trees. The mornings were always the same...cool, sunny and crisp just like a Red Delicious. And then there was the visit to the local farmhouse and shop with the aromas of hot apple cider and warm apple pie wafting into our nostrils. I was virtually heady and floating in the air on that stuff. The crumble top apple pie was, and is, especially the favorite. If there is one thing I miss about Autumn in Toronto, it is these yearly visits for apple picking.

Thursday October 1, 2:23 p.m.

Speedy brought me in for a small tete-a-tete...nothing particularly new, just that the school has fallen on hard times. Apparently, the bossman got an earful from the investors on how the bottom line has been sagging this past year, so there will be a few changes in store in the foreseeable future. Obviously the economy has been a major factor but also it seems that the freelance teachers-and-cafes format has also taken a few chunks out of us...and since that would include me, the bossman shot one across my bow by asking that I ramp up my ball game whenever I'm in the school.

Thursday October 1, 9:14 a.m.

Hadn't had one of these early wake-up calls in a while. Felt like it, too. I hit the hay at about 11:30...got up at 5, and just felt really woozy. Had to eat a pre-breakfast of cereal and blueberry juice before I left the apartment, so my eyes were feeling pretty perky; unfortunately, the rest of my body had to wait until I got the McBreakfast near the school.

It'll be another Donut Day. I have The Nurse in about 45 minutes and then nothing til The New Yorker at 5 and finally The Music Man at 9:15 tonight. Since Miss Sedona cancelled her lesson today, the donut hole is that much wider now. But I should have plenty on my plate. Shrek sent me an entire rental contract to be translated via fax so when I got home last night, there was a bunch of fax paper reamed right out of my phone. I did a contract for The Corner last year so I have the experience; all I need to know is how fast Shrek needs the translation. Then, I've got this guy in Eastern Europe who's studying over there and needs to have some proofreading done for his thesis. He had sent a sample earlier in the week...he definitely has the vocabulary but his structure is a bit haphazard, something that theses can't afford to be. And then there is Cozy and his request for classes. He's asked for either early mornings or evenings. Well, the latter option is off the table for obvious reasons so I may be seeing McBreakfasts on a more regular basis.

Well, tomorrow (or actually, Saturday morning at 1, local time) will have the IOC decide on which city will get the 2016 Olympics. Will it be Tokyo, Chicago, Madrid or Rio de Janeiro? The good money is probably on Barack Obama's neck of the woods since it has the highest local support at 92% and of course, it just simply has Obama behind it. I've been rather ambivalent about it. Tokyo's got the lowest support rate at 72%...still not bad, almost 3 out of 4 people want the Games here. But The Big Sushi has also got the advantage that it is, bar none, the safest big city, not only of the 4 applicants, but in the world, period. Still, I think the folks here are rather leery about having to entertain the entire world for 2 weeks. A lot of folks have been talking about just vamoosing into the countryside for that fortnight in 2016.

I finally got that condolence card done up for my late uncle's wife. Man, it wasn't easy to pick out the right words and write them down in kanji, especially when I'd only met the man 2 or 3 times in my life. Still, once I finish with The Nurse today, I'll head on out to the post office.

Wednesday September 30, 8:40 p.m.

Yup, that's the fare I had with the juku boss and Cozy back on Sunday at Sazanka, that swanky restaurant up at the top of the Hotel East 21 in Toyocho. The sushi platter is on the left while there was some truly tender grilled beef on the right. I think that was the winning dish for me.

001 came in, and it was the usual fun and games. She had a fine time in Australia and she actually missed out on the orange sandstorms in Sydney by just a few days. It was quite the hike for her up Ayer's Rock, though, since she had to scale slopes as sharp as 53 degrees for the first leg. Speedy the school got some Macadamia Chocolates while I personally received some Emu Jerky...somewhat more tender than the usual beef variety. I had to relay the bad news to her that I wouldn't be coming to 002's party this coming Sunday although I didn't mention anything about the current troubles I have with 002. 001 looked disappointed but I'm just not too interested in anything to do with my former student right now.

For some reason, it would seem that I've suddenly been getting some requests for teaching and proofreading over the past few weeks. A friend of a friend has asked me for some proofreading work of his academic thesis (not sure if that's gonna come about as of yet since he's asked me for my credentials, and I told him that I'd never really tackled anything as big as a thesis before), Cozy has asked me to teach him from next month, Swank has returned to the fold, and even Shrek has asked for my translation services (also iffy since it's legalese and his minders want it quick). I wonder if that means that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

I've got that card of condolences all made up and ready to go; just have to address the envelope.

Wednesday September 30, 4:53 p.m.

Getting some steady rain...a bit of a relief since this month has been rather dry. Nice to get some precip.

Not exactly back to Hump Day levels, but I do have 001 back from Australia. And that will be all she wrote for today's lessons. However, it should be interesting to find out if she had been engulfed in all that red dust which choked Sydney last week.

My SOS to my Mixi friends about what to write for my late uncle brought in a number of useful replies. I've actually written a rough draft which should be good enough to transcribe into good onto the card. The juku boss told me last night that even native Japanese sweat blood trying to think up of the best words to put down in such situations. In a way, I am glad that I didn't have to go to the funeral.

Miss Sedona has once again cancelled her lesson for tomorrow morning. I have a feeling that she wants to cut her final class as close as possible to her departure date in October so she doesn't have to put herself under any pressure about renewing for a few more lessons.

We had tsunami alerts all along the Pacific coast this morning due to that massive quake in American Samoa. It's pretty rare to get tsunami warnings here and at this point, the rise in water levels should only get up to 50 cm at most.

I had The Milds for their last lesson before Mr. Mild has his debut as a chorus singer this Sunday in Urayasu. He's got his fair share of butterflies in his stomach...a slang term that I did dutifully teach in last night's lesson.

Anyways, I should finish up that card of condolence.

Monday September 28, 3:29 p.m.

It was a dinner-out weekend. Saturday was with The Bohemian; it was the first time having dinner with him in over 6 months. The Bohemian has on-and-off days. On his off days, he can be cheerfully (to him) and offensively (to me) racist, anti-Semitic, sexist and borderline pedophilic after which I would rather not see him for a very long time. Luckily, Saturday night was him on his on day. He was better, although some of his anti-Semitism did manage to leak out. We had dinner in Shibuya near the new Yamada Denki in a basement izakaya. Of course, The Bohemian chose a place that had an all-you-can-drink option for 2 hours. The food there was pretty good, although the hoya shiokara (sea squirt in innards sauce) was way too salty. There was also the ad running about the 10th being an anniversary celebration so that there will be a 2,000-yen all-you-can-eat as well. Since The Bohemian behaved himself, I may take him up on his offer to head there again with him. He also said that he would like to bring over some of his other Mixi friends.

The other outing last night was with more stable folks: the juku boss and Cozy. Like last year, it was at the East 21 Hotel near Toyocho Station. Unlike last year, Cozy took us to the very top of the hotel to a great Japanese restaurant called Sazanka. Since Fall has come, all of the dishes were seasonal including something could never be brought over to Japanese restaurants overseas: dobinmushi. It consists of seasonal favorites such as shrimp, matsutake mushrooms and other ingredients steeped in a light broth in an iron teapot. And the broth is poured out into teacups and drunk as such. Once the broth has been completely drunk, I just ate the ingredients from the pot. Absolutely delicious. Strangely, just like The Bohemian on Saturday, Cozy also suggested inviting me to some sort of food critic enclave event so that I could imbue myself with some gourmet cuisine and make friends at the same time. I don't think I feel anywhere near quite that lonely.

This morning, I met up with Swank for the first time in several months. We met in an outdoor plaza right by Roppongi Hills. Still very pleasant and fluent although she doesn't think it...at least not nearly as much as I do. Still, it looks like I've patched that hole in my Monday schedule that The Class Act has now vacated. And maybe Grandma Dynamite will be coming back into the fold as of next Thursday. That's a big if since she tends to cancel at the last minute.

And that is basically it for me for the rest of today since The Medicine Man has cancelled his class for tonight. So, I'm just enjoying my time at the neighbourhood I-cafe and will have a rare Monday night at home.

Friday September 25, 1:03 p.m.

The Nurse was one of the millions who braved the Kan-Etsu Highway up to Gunma Prefecture during Silver Week. It took her 8 hours round-trip to stay 2 hours there. I think the payoff was somewhat lacking.

Well, the pay packets are almost done. Once I get mine, I'll probably take off soon after since I still gotta get the bereavement card for my late uncle...I went to Ginza's Ito-Ya yesterday but although I could get a birthday card for my niece, I couldn't find anything remotely appropriate to send to my aunt. My only other choice is the Matsuzakaya Department Store in Nihombashi.

Also, during my short recce in Ginza, I found out that the HMV in the Mosaic Building in Sukiyabashi had received the axe a couple of weeks earlier. The music store had once taken up the entire 4th floor but then several years ago, the place was downsized to just a third of its original size, and then the final farewell in early September. To be honest, I guess there was a certain inevitability since there is a more accessible HMV just down the street in the Ginza INZS complex.

Spoke to Ray about her going to Akihabara to help out the bossman tomorrow at the fair. She's not looking forward to it because of the weekly infestation of otaku.

Friday September 25, 10:40 a.m.

The end of a 2-day work week. Not surprisingly, not feeling all that tuckered out. Just have The Nurse in about 20 minutes and then it's just the juku folks tonight. And that is with The Ace out of the picture since he's got plans.

Heard that the bossman and Ray gotta head out to a study abroad fair out in Akiba tomorrow. Oh, joy! In the midst of Otaku Central on a Saturday. Hope Ray doesn't go into Maid Rage there.

Thursday September 24, 10:30 p.m.

Had my lesson with The Music Man. Yep, Renault came up. As expected, both of us agreed that the car company got off with a slap on the wrist after what will probably go down as one of the most egregious scandals in any sport. He also mentioned that he thought that Michael Schmacher is truly a dangerously competitive driver.

A bit of an odd topic to finish the day on, but it's been something that's been trying to get out of my mind and onto blog for a while, so I'll see if I can get this written down before I get out of here. Being a veteran Trekkie and a soundtrack fan, I was intrigued by the reactions on YouTube concerning the Michael Giacchino score to the current reboot of the franchise. Excerpts of the CD have found permanent status on the site. There have been a lot of raves about the tracks including Track 5, "Enterprising Young Men", which is also a favourite of mine. But there are those who think that Giacchino's accomplishments pale in comparison to Jerry Goldsmith's contribution to Trek Lore with his famous theme for "Star Trek: The Motion Picture". There was even one nod of support to the score for "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" (the one with the whales) which I frankly likened to a DeVol score for a late 60s sitcom. Not that I hated that one, but let's say that neither Giacchino nor Goldsmith should be particularly threatened.

For me and for the record, I think there is room for not just Giacchino and Goldsmith, but also for James Horner, the composer for the score for what is arguably the best of the entire franchise "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan". The score fits the movie. Goldsmith's majestic score fits in with Robert Wise's laudable but doomed attempt to create a space opera out of hammy acting and a huge space turd in a cloud. James Horner created a swashbuckling seafaring motif which goes hand-in-glove with the adventure and space battles that characterized "The Wrath of Khan". And then you have the most recent contributor to Trek Music, Michael Giacchino, who has whipped out this frothy, frenetic and fun score to celebrate Star Trek's return to its roots. Giacchino even gets all illogical...much like much of the plotting of the movie...by thrusting in the legendary Alexander Courage TV theme in various parts three times. I was somehow able to get over that strangeness and have listened to the CD now even more times than I have Giacchino's other great soundtrack, that for "The Incredibles".

So, Trekkies, rejoice. You can enjoy all the pieces of Trek Music without guilt.

Thursday September 24, 7:48 p.m.

Well, I guess I had a lot of energy all stored up from Silver Week. Used it to get ready for lessons, come up with a strategy for Swank who I'll be seeing next Monday (actually, she'll be the only student I'll be seeing on Monday...The Medicine Man has cancelled his lesson), copied off a couple of tests for Mrs. Jyuppie this Sunday and Mr. White on Tuesday, and got the final part of the review done up for The Restauranteur's lesson tomorrow night. Not too bad.

On my way to Speedy's, I came across a rather unfortunate scene on the opposite platform. It looked like some high school kid had stopped breathing. He was splayed out unconscious and the paramedics were applying the defibrillator to his bare chest. Never a good sign, but I hope he's OK.

Should ask The Music Man about that Renault verdict. Earlier in the week, Renault missed the proverbial bullet by just getting a suspended sentence for intentionally asking a driver to crash for the company's benefit. The Music Man is also an F1 enthusiast, and in fact, he was the first to tell me about this scandal.

Thursday September 24, 4:45 p.m.

Back at the grindstone, as it were. Just today and tomorrow before another weekend crops up. Silver Week was basically made up of my cocooning at home for the most part (except for a Tuesday afternoon outing to Jimbocho) while the rest of the Kanto apparently enjoyed parking out on the highways for 5 days. Basically that is it for the very first extended holiday in September...I guess Silver Week will only occur when the holidays align themselves like they did this year. Newswise, it was also the week when PM Yukio Hatoyama played debutante at his ball at the United Nations. His English was pretty darn good...but then again the lad did go to Stanford for 6 years. Also, domestically, the new Prime Minister faced his first big challenge to his administration by proxy...Land and Infrastructure Minister Maebara got the screws tightened on him by a good chunk of the people of Gunma Prefecture as he had made the decision (or that is, his party made the decision during the election campaign) to cancel one of the big projects that had already been started by the name of the Yanba Dam near the city of Naganohara. This project had been tossed about for half a century before it finally had been accepted by the locals, then last week came the axe by Maebara. He's not a popular figure out in the boonies. And he had probably been feeling more sorry for Pension Reform Minister Nagatsuma for getting such a cold welcome by the bureaucratc staff.

Also, the countdown has begun before the IOC Selection Committee makes the final decision about which city gets the 2016 Olympic Games. Tokyo is in the final running and the choice will be made on October 2nd. I'm sure Governor Shintaro Ishihara will be feeling pretty cranky next week.

Got the call from Mom this morning that one of my uncles had passed away earlier this week. I had met him a few times early in my childhood and adolescence, but like with virtually every relative that I have, I was never very close to him. However, I am sending his family a card of condolence.

Just have The Music Man tonight. However, I did go out earlier today to wire over my airfare back home to the parentals. Made another recce through Roppongi, Ginza and Shinjuku. Had some lunch at Stackers, the small sandwich shop on the 12th floor of Takashimaya Times Square. Their burger plate doesn't really stack up (oops, sorry) but the BLT plate fits the bill. I was also in the nearby HMV. Looks like Madonna has released her best album in a single and double-CD format.

Tomorrow is the official last day for that old CD shop, Otokichi, in Nakano Sun Plaza. I may just take a gander there tomorrow since I have a big chunk of empty time (sign of the times) between The Nurse's lesson and my lessons at the juku later in the evening.

Monday September 21, 1:36 p.m.

The first day of Fall and, more importantly, smack dab in the middle of Silver Week. Due to a fluke in national holiday scheduling, Respect-for-the-Aged Day and the official First Day of Fall fall in the same week and just one day apart. So, there is a so-called Citizen's Holiday on Tuesday to buffer the two. However, throw in the weekend, and we've got ourselves a Silver Week. For the first half, though, I've been basically coccooning in my neighbourhood. The I-Cafe has been as far as I've gotten out of my own apartment in the past 3 days. The weather has finally become more suited to a Fall. Meanwhile, being a major holiday week, the highways have once again become the largest parking lots on the planet.

A lot of time with coccooning, there's a lot of watching of movies on cable TV. I had my own share on Saturday. I actually finally caught "When Harry Met Sally" in its entirety. Up until then, I'd only seen the famous faked orgasm scene. I have to say that I did enjoy the 20-year-old flick by Nora Ephron. The director seems to be (or was) the female Woody Allen, at least in terms of her directing style. I'd seen "Sleepless in Seattle" before, and it comes off as being a sister movie to "When Harry Met Sally" (and perhaps a godmother to the illegitimate brat known as "Knocked Up"). Ephron likes tons of banter with her romance, New York City, and jazz music as an underscore. Plus, she apparently liked Meg Ryan as well. Being a score guy, I'm now rather interested in acquiring the soundtrack. I liked the leads of Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan...they came off as likeable and real people with all of their strengths and weaknesses shown to the fore. Enjoyed the quip of "the white man's overbite" and I'm sure all of the women in the audience back in 1989 all sighed wistfully when Harry gave his short and sweet reasons why he loved Sally at the end of the movie. Just a pity that Ephron couldn't bring some of her magic when she did "Bewitched"; I think she just just overreached herself there.

Sunday was just a lot of US crime dramas on Fox Japan and Super Drama TV along with a couple of I-Go games. Yup, "Criminal Minds" and "NCIS" have kept me entertained...almost felt like I was back in Toronto. And just this morning, I caught a NFL game. I've never been a huge fan of American football, but the game between Dallas and New York did have quite a bit of everything. It actually came off as what a Super Bowl should be more like.

Newswise, it's also been a bit of everything. The Perils of Noriko Sakai continue apace...her cottage deep in the wilds of Chiba was torched by an unknown arsonist....perhaps a fanatic with feelings of betrayal. Yoshito Usui, the creator of the comic with the Japanese equivalent of Bart Simpson, "Crayon Shin-Chan" was killed when he'd fallen off a high cliff in Gunma Prefecture...there have tributes from all over East Asia. And buried in all that, is new PM Hatoyama's first trip to the United Nations since getting sworn in last week. Talk about hitting the ground running.

What little of a work week I have is gonna get even smaller. The Carolinan just called in to say to cancel Thursday's lesson since she will be busy making the transition from her old workplace in Aoyama to Jinbocho.

Automan officially got hitched last weekend. I got some of the first photos from the wedding via a mutual friend. Her brother-in-law called last week to say that Automan and the missus may be coming over to Japan next month, and maybe even The Lens and his wife again. Plus, Mom also called to let me know that the VISA bill has come in for my air ticket. So, I'll be shucking over some cash at my bank on Thursday. At this rate, I'll probably be ready to declare insolvency at the end of this year.

Thursday September 17, 8:45 p.m.

Just another 30 minutes before The Music Man finally gets here. Well, I got to see the Noriko Sakai act of contrition. It looked like everyone was in a hotel ballroom...those places are usually used for celebrations, not for humiliations. The cameras were flashing so hard and so frequently, I was afraid that another Pokemon incident of induced epileptic fits was gonna happen. In any case, since the sound on my computer has been turned off for some reason, I could only watch Nori-P looking shellshocked and tearful as she bowed beyond the contrite 60-degree angle and mouth her apologies. She's apparently put herself in the hospital for the next little while to recover. The person I feel for most of all is the new prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama. He had just become only the 2nd non-LDP PM in the last half-century, only to be upstaged on his first full day in office by a former aidoru-turned-drug addict.

Well, it looks like Swank is definitely coming my way again. La Fille handled the rendezvous. I'm supposed to be meeting her not in Hiroo, where she now lives, but in the relative anonymity of Roppongi Hills since she doesn't really want to be seen there by any of her neighbours. As if I could ever be mistaken for a paramour. Kinda nice if I got treated to lunch there...

And that meeting with The Romantic and his friend will have to be put off til a later date. He left the message saying that the 28th won't be possible. He suggested the 29th but I've got my classes with The Beehive and then the juku. No can do.

Thursday September 17, 7:28 p.m.

The face that launched a thousand cameras...finally came out after several weeks in the hoosegow. Yep, that's right...Noriko Sakai was released from from Bayside Police Station a few hours ago to a lightning storm of flashes and then off to a press conference to show her contrition (and perhaps some of those dance moves?). She didn't look too much the worse for wear but the sadness on her face was all too apparent. I've only been able to see screen captures of the press conference but it looks like she's had to pause a few times to dab at some tears. I've got a feeling that her story will be on all night.

Thursday September 17, 6:02 p.m.

I've managed to get pretty much everything done that I needed to: prep up for lessons for The Bass and The New Yorker tomorrow, set up the next stage of review for The Restauranteur, upload the photos into Facebook, and even sent Speedy some ideas for that Eiken 1 course. Not bad for 6 hours. And I still have over 3 before The Music Man comes in for his lesson. One big Donut Day.

That picture on the left is one from the Takeshita Dori leg of my big walk on Monday. It shows a couple of stores that provide the lifeblood for the typical Japanese teenager in Harajuku...the cream-and-banana filled crepe. I'm sure that there are a whole lot more of these shops riddling the entire neighbourhood. I've had my fair share of the thin pancake filled with stuff, but I couldn't see myself even entering the lineup for a crepe in Harajuku. With all of these kids, I'd probably be seen as a pedophile on a fishing expedition.

Had a young mother with her kid come in earlier in the afternoon. Cute kid but I was surprised to find out that he was still only 18 months old. This boy looked like he was 3 or 4 and could walk quite well. At this rate, he should be eligible for military service by the time he hits 10.

Thursday September 17, 1:50 p.m.

Just a couple of shots from that recce I took from Shibuya to Roppongi on Monday. The orange Slinky on the left is that tunnel just beyond Aoyama Cemetery and a click away from Roppongi Hills. The one on the right is one that most teens in Tokyo would know on a weekend. That is indeed Takeshita Dori...on a Monday, no less...still packed to the gills with the girls.

Yesterday split up my week into 2 mini-work weeks since I had nada on the schedule. I'm sure 001 is enjoying coddling koalas and climbing Ayers Rock in Oz right now. As for me, it was just cleaning the apartment and watching the relatively quieter pomp and circumstance (well, relative to the party atmosphere of a US Inauguration) of the swearing-in of the first non-LDP Prime Minister in 16 years into the Japanese Diet. Pretty much by 3 p.m., all of the TV stations were glued to the Lower House Chambers where Yukio Hatoyama shyly stood up to accept the accolades and, of course, the responsibility of becoming the 60th PM in charge of the 93rd Cabinet. However, things for the newbie DPJ parliamentarians got started all the way back at the ungodly hour of 3 a.m. when two (relatively) young Diet folk showed up at the gates of Nagatacho...along with some bleary-eyed media types. At 8 a.m., the full media and newbie scrum finally got let in like a bunch of kids at Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory.

Of course, the up-close-and-personal stories of the new Cabinet officers...including PM Hatoyama were put up on display. Watch young Yukio at the tender age of 9 with Grandpa Ichiro, the first LDP Prime Minister. Then see him 21 years later with his baby son, Takarazuka Troupe-trained wife, and the worst haircut ever seen, and then come the glory political years of the 90s and 00s. Then, there was his first primetime news conference as PM at 6 p.m. followed by the official investiture of him and all of his Cabinet by the Emperor before things came to a close with the group photo on the steps in the official residence.

But have a bit of heart for the outgoing Prime Minister, Taro Aso (well, I won't but you can feel free to). He gave his farewell speech in the morning and was probably very moved by the line of Aso fans who did come out to say goodbye. He was in the chambers later that afternoon, looking rather glum with some of his other fellow LDP'ers.

For several days, there had been some tabloid reports on this Mieko Tanaka and the fact that she had been in some softcore romantic movie not too many years ago. I had no idea who this person was until yesterday. It turns out that she is now one of the Ozawa Girls, a freshly-minted DPJ parliamentarian....not too old, either...only 33. Unlike some of her new colleagues, she quickly gave the press her back since she probably didn't want to go over any old ground about her movie career. But she did fess up back some days ago, stating that at the time that she had needed the money....which would probably put her incongruously with Anna Nicole Smith. Ironic, since new Deputy Prime Minister Kan lectured the young 'uns about not providing the media with any cannon fodder.

But even with all of the coverage focused on Nagatacho yesterday, Noriko Sakai could not be denied. Or that is, her husband, to be more exact. Yup, the surfer dude-crackhead, Yuichi Takaso, finally got bailed out last night at 5 p.m. from his Shibuya holding cell. Not only were the media, passersby and cops outside in force, but apparently some disgruntled Nori-P fan who took a page out of that Iraqi reporter's playbook and tossed a shoe at the departing van with Takaso in it. He got hauled in pretty short order. As for Sakai herself, she's supposed to be finally getting out any minute now.

Finally got a call from The Romantic about that so-called research project he has been telling me about. He came to the realization that it would be better if we met in person than have him send over a bunch of papers....hmmm....I wonder....

And Cozy finalized the plans for dinner for the 27th. It'll be at the last spot that he, me and the juku boss got together. Looks like Cozy will be bringing his wife...according to the boss, she's quite the looker.

I had my first early morning arrival at Speedy's in some weeks since I seem to be now having a dearth of classes. I guess absence truly makes the heart grow fonder; I really enjoyed the McBreakfast this morning. Miss Prissy returned after some weeks; she'd had a good time in Guam and told me that she made the extra effort to use the English she'd picked up in class. Nice to hear. Got an omiyage of Mango Chocolates. Now, basically I'm off til The Music Man comes in at the late hour of 9:15 p.m.